| December 12, 2003 | Friday | Shawwal 17, 1424 |
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Good governance?
Unemployed engineers
Complaint to PTCL
Doctors’ training fee
Seminar on women
Garbage dump
‘A wrong move’
Chopped tree
Polo World Cup
Pakistan-India strategic imbalance
Shirin Ebadi’s speech
OLD pensioners waited with bated breath to hear the prime minister’s address to the nation on radio and TV, hoping that he would order redressal of their grievance vis-a-vis just and timely dispensation of pensions. But their hopes were dashed by the prime minister despite the fact that he undoubtedly knows that an old pensioner receives one-fourth the pension of his more fortunate compatriot in the same grade.
The ombudsman also ordered that the inequality be removed but his orders were not implemented.
The finance minister has boasted of increases in the GNP and foreign exchange reserves, whereas, according to a SBP report, poverty rose from 20 per cent to 33 per cent in the last financial year. One judges the tree by its fruits. There is only one touchstone to judge the popularity of the government, namely improvement in the lives of the people.
Thousands of people in cities and towns who enjoyed some comfort from their investments in the national savings schemes have been left teetering at the edge of poverty and privation owing to the reduction in the profit on their investments in the savings schemes. They have been advised to invest in stock exchanges, despite knowing the fact that at least 80 per cent of the people living in cities and towns other than Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad do not have access to the stock exchanges, nor are they conversant with the mechanics of the purchase and the sale of shares of companies listed at the stock exchanges.
SYED AFZAL HUSAIN ZAIDI
Islamabad
LATELY, the prime minister has constituted an aristocratic committee for poverty alleviation and employment generation, with dictate to submit its report to him within a month.
What is the necessity of this pretence? Doesn’t the leader of the house know the state of poverty and unemployment in the country?
Even the common people know that the poverty line has risen to 38 per cent. Also, the unemployment rate today stands at 6.7 per cent or thereabout. Each time with the increase of cost of commodities and transportation, the poor man is deprived of a loaf of bread.
How come the prime minister is not aware of Shaukat Aziz’s highly-publicized poverty alleviation programmes?
Apart from the august house, the prime minister perhaps believes nothing of what he hears and not even a bit of what he sees about the common people.
LT-COL (RETD) SYED AHMED TI(M),
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
THE government loses no opportunity to boast about its good governance but the facts are to the contrary.
The Sindh government has not been able to appoint provincial ombudsman in more than two months’ time since the term of Justice Haziq ul Khairi as ombudsman ended on Sept 24.
It has become the talk of the town that since ombudsman is appointed by the governor, this time round it will be a selection of his leader in London, for which hectic canvassing is going on. It is really painful that instead of appointing a capable and upright person for the respectable post of ombudsman, the process is being politicized.
It appears that destruction of one more institution, which provided relief to thousands of people in Sindh, is likely.
Moreover, under the influence of the provincial education minister, the Sindh government has taken away from the purview of the Sindh Public Service Commission recruitment of thousands of posts in the education department. The reasons for the change could be anything but good.
This may be read with the statement of the chief minister (Dawn, Dec 5) that the PML workers will have a quota in government jobs. So, let us not talk about good governance.
PRO BONO PUBLICO
Karachi
WITH reference to the two letters “Unemployed engineers” by Lala Fazal Ahmed (Dec 5) and Mr Sajjad Khan (Nov 7), I would like to shed some light on another issue which affects engineering jobs in Pakistan.
There seem to be no regulations in the country regarding the technical staff in industry, and if such laws and rules do exist, they are completely ignored.
Diploma-holders are hired to run factory operations because they can be hired for much less a salary than an engineer demands. We see factories hiring trainee engineers but what we overlook is that these employees do not get a poor salary, work on contract and are not sure whether they will be regularized when they complete their probationary period.
The main reason why our engineers tend to migrate to greener pastures is that they do not have a future, financial guarantees and job satisfaction in the country. If we want them to work in Pakistan, we should at least provide them with reasonable financial packages or else they know, as do we, that they can earn a lot more abroad.
MUHAMMAD YOUSAF MALIK
Sargodha
THE telephone number 4981670 of the Gulshan-i-Iqbal exchange, Karachi, has been in my use for five years. Recently, when I shifted from my apartment to another apartment in the same building, I applied to the PTCL on Oct 23 to shift the number to my new residence.
After various telephonic calls and two visits to the Gulshan-i-Iqbal exchange, I was able to get a demand note for Rs1,150 on Nov 7. I deposited the money in the bank on Nov 8 and submitted the paid demand note on the same day to the exchange.
On Nov 22, a lineman came to my residence for the shifting of wire and did his work. He told me that in the evening my telephone would be restored. It has been 20 days now, but the telephone has not been restored.
It is hoped that the relevant authorities will look into the matter and ensure restoration of my telephone without any further delay.
SANAULLAH
Karachi
I AM a doctor and doing my FCPS-II training in surgery at a hospital in Lahore. I paid Rs36,000 as registration fee to the College of Physicians and Surgeons.
The fee includes the cost of four workshops plus their registration fees.
One-and-a-half months back, the registration fee was Rs22,500, and now rumour has it that the CPSP is further increasing its fees to Rs50,000 for the registration of FCPS-II trainees. Moreover, most of the doctors like me are doing this training without any pay.
I request the authorities concerned to inquire into the fee matter and save the future of doctors like me.
DR M. IMTIAZ HUSSAIN SHAH
Lahore
A SEMINAR on “Violence against Women and Gender Discrimination” was organized on Dec 10, jointly by the directorate of human rights, Sindh, under the federal ministry of law, justice and human rights; and the Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid.
Although your newspaper gave adequate coverage to the seminar, highlighting the names of speakers, the name of Regional Director Muhammad Mazahir Hussain, who delivered the first speech representing the federal ministry of law, justice and human rights, as well as the regional directorate of human rights, Sindh, was advertently or inadvertently not focused in the news columns of this paper.
Out of the nine speakers sitting on the dais, the names of eight were published but the name of Mr Hussain who represented the government of Pakistan was left out, creating a doubt in the minds of the readers whether deliberate discrimination had been made.
MAJ (RETD) NAZRUL ISLAM
Deputy Director,
Ministry of Law, Justice & Human Rights, Regional Directorate, Human Rights,
Karachi
THE plot next to our house at 191 Karachi Memon Society, Osman Issa Bhai Memon Road, Hill Park, has been lying vacant for a long time, and is being used by area residents as a garbage dump.
The garbage attracts flies and mosquitoes and has become a health hazard to the families living in the area.
I appeal to the authorities concerned to attend to this matter by serving a notice on the owner of the plot, asking him/her to construct a compound wall so that the garbage dumping is stopped.
HAJI EBRAHIM SATTAR
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the clarification (Dec 7) by the general-manager of the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP) in response to your editorial (Dec 5) in which you have rightly questioned the decision to restart this plant through indigenous refurbishing.
The KANUPP official seems to have missed the point made in the editorial, which is, is it worth it? Is it worth spending millions of taxpayers’ rupees in refurbishing a plant that will produce a fraction of power? Is the risk worth having an outdated nuclear plant produce power that is negligible in terms of the national requirement at a time when power generation supply is ample in the country? Why should we allow this white elephant to continue when there are dangers, no matter what precautions you take.
When a nuclear power plant operates, there is always a possibility of leakage of one sort or another. Or, is it just a matter of saving a few jobs at a risk that is unimaginable to the people of Karachi?
AHMAD SULEIMAN
Karachi
ABOUT three weeks ago, while driving up Sharea Faisal on Sunday at 6.30am, I observed that a large eucalyptus tree had been chopped down, keeping a part of the trunk, right in front of the gate of the military station headquarters, to make room for a massive advertising hoarding (opposite Crown Plaza Hotel).
All over the city there are signboards saying: please grow more trees and keep the city green.
If the authorities concerned were sleeping, the military officials could have stopped the persons involved and taken them to task.
FAROOQ MIRZA
Karachi
THE preliminary World Cup Polo Tournament among the five nations in our zone has evinced tremendous interest of public towards a forgotten game called at one time ‘king of the games’.
I congratulate a private TV channel for screening live these delightful matches. We are looking forward to watching our stars play against Australia and India.
The Singapore team includes Abdul Sattar, a protege of Ja Ja Mian from Karachi.
Lastly, let us compliment the beautiful spectators and very well-branded horses for their blood.
BRIG (R) A. S. NASIR
Karachi
The interesting article “The Strategic Imbalance” by Mr Irfan Husain should act as an eye-opener to the policymakers in Pakistan. I have never read a more practical article about the present era polemics of the subcontinent.
Another facet of practicality needs to be added here. Indian culture (specially Hindi film/music and the brand ‘India’ — whatever that means) influences audiences spanning the subcontinent from Singapore/Bangkok to West Asia — so much so that this itself has the potential of being a great bonding factor for the entire population, which could be close to two billion.
The spread and popularity of many facets of Indian culture, though, would add negatively to Pakistan’s (strategic?) imbalance, fortunately it could be used as a great weapon for mending many irritants in the subcontinent.
There is a need for dwelling on the kind of rich dividends (financial and otherwise) that Pakistani artists receive from their Indian promoters? Why not promote this to the fullest and let Pakistani culture prosper through Indian money? Will it not be great work of fusion? When will the people of the subcontinent understand that a Pakistan (which has very unfortunately held itself hostage to the Kashmir issue), with its rich natural resources, can surely compete with the surging India and may surpass India in a couple of decades or maybe in a decade (if not more) once it shuns the Kashmir factor and starts investing in its rebuilding process?
How come Korea, after following Pakistan’s five-year plan of 1960-65 (when per capita income in both countries was more or less equal), has increased its per capita income to above $8,000, whereas the per capita income of a Pakistani still stands at $460? Where are the ills?
Why is it that an unimaginably diverse and complex country like India has surged ahead? I think the key reason vis-a-vis Pakistan is that in spite of the existence of many Kashmir-like factors in India, the strength and freedom of institutions and politico-judiciary-executive troika would never allow such Kashmir-like factors to hold India hostage as much as Pakistan has allowed itself to.
Why is it that Pakistan is yet to have its desi (local) car? How wonderful it would be to see a made-in-Pakistan car competing with a ‘TATA’ or a ‘Maruti’ or a ‘Mahindra’ in the subcontinent and world markets? How about the infosys, wipros and satyams doing its BPO activities from Lahore/Karachi through establishment of call centres? Where has the dream gone sour?
We have been waiting too long for our policymakers to understand the need for a better economy and the need to attack poverty and promote education and ‘health earnestly rather than submerge in ideological impracticalities.
But it is never too late. Better start just now, when the wind is blowing in the right direction. Pakistan will be deluged with American dollars if it shows good promise of attacking its militant roots. Why not cash it on right now? Probably, you will not have a better chance.
It is in the interest of Pakistan to side with India in matters of “anti-militantism” and anti-fundamentalism. The road to happiness would be much easier if Pakistan fights this menace together with India.
B. R. PRADHAN
New Delhi, India
THE acceptance speech by this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman from a Muslim country, packed a real surprise for the US/UK capitals and their captive media, who had held the Nobel peace prize award to an Iranian women’s rights activist as a one more tool to crack down on Iranian mullahs and prepare her for possible leader to rule Iran after the planned post-regime change in Iran.
In the event, Shirin Ebadi in her speech did not leave any doubt that she was a true-blooded liberal of the kind that has to make no apologies for Islam, in the subject of either women’s rights, human rights or freedom of religions.
Standing on the world stage with the international media fully tuned to receive a pro-West and anti-Islamic and anti-mullah diatribe that could further fuel western propaganda against Islam and Muslim Middle East, she proved that she was nobody’s “poodle”.
A strong person that had gone through life’s ups and downs was not prepared to lose the chance to address the world audience with some very unpalatable truths.
She directly attacked the US/UK coalition for attacking Iraq and Afghanistan on the pretext of fighting international terror. She pointedly mentioned the horror of Guantanamo Bay prisoners, whose imprisonment was in abject defiance of international human rights and Geneva Convention commitments by the US.
She brought out the stark western discriminations when she questioned: why is it that some in the past 35 years, dozens of UN resolutions concerning the occupation of the Palestinian territories by the state of Israel have not been implemented promptly?
And, she said, “yet, in the past 12 years, the state and people of Iraq, once on the recommendation of the Security Council, and the second time in spite of UN Security Council opposition, were subjected to attack, military assault, economic sanctions, and ultimately, military occupation?”
She proudly registered her multiple identities, as an Iranian, a Muslim and a woman and vowed to work in the cause of defending human rights in Iran, as well as all around the world.
In conclusion, she said: if the 21st century wishes to free itself from the cycle of violence, acts of terror and war, and avoid repetition of the experience of the 20th century — that most disaster-ridden century of humankind — there is no other way except by understanding and putting into practice every human right for all mankind, irrespective of race, gender, faith, nationality or social status.
Post-speech, there is the imminent danger that Shirin Ebadi will be dropped by the US/UK/Israel axis as persona non grata for the ungrateful tone of her speech criticizing the West from one of the most nobel platforms of the world, over the worst of criminal offences that the US and the UK are inflicting on a hapless world. If she had been as pliable as the US/UK/Israel axis had expected of her, she could have been projected as the next leader of Iran, if and when the axis could manage a regime change in Iran, either through invasion or manipulations. After all, they would not have okayed a Nobel peace prize for anything less than their own grand designs.
GHULAM MUHAMMED
Mumbai, India
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