| December 16, 2003 | Tuesday | Shawwal 21, 1424 |
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Saddam Hussein’s arrest
Whose responsibility?
QU: the sinking ship
Cease-fire
Sectarian harmony
Preparation of CNICs
Transport network
Death by starvation
Moon-sighting controversy
Missing spirit
‘Halagu Khan did not embrace Islam’
BEFORE this year we had been surplus in wheat, so we exported it. But we are today talking of a shortage of flour and facing a crisis-like situation. We shall have to import no less than 500,000 tonnes of wheat this year, including 100,000 tonnes from India. What a tragic wastage of precious foreign exchange!
We had to drastically reduce our target of cotton production. The production of rice has been much less than what was planned. It is not the failure of the farmers; it is the failure of the teams of agriculture managers in the federal and provincial governments. They have failed to become friends of the farmers.
President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali should immediately consider bringing in farmer-friendly policies to convert the agriculture sector from a pre-position of loss to that of profit. This can easily be done if the following steps are taken:
1. The availability and quality of agricultural inputs like fertilizers, pesticides, water, seeds are managed through a regulatory authority. Such an authority was envisaged by the World Bank and IMF when they were pressuring the government of Pakistan for the privatization of the manufacturing, import and marketing of agricultural inputs. Similar authorities do exist in other de-regulated sectors like energy and telecommunication. The non-existence of such an authority has played havoc with agriculture.
2. Pending creation of the proposed authority, a system of uniform prices for fertilizers should be introduced immediately. This can easily be done by adopting the precedent of petrol and oil products.
3. Those who keep on increasing the prices of diesel must be told that most of diesel’s consumption is in the agriculture sector. The ruthless increases in its price do have a negative impact on agricultural growth. The price of diesel should, therefore, be frozen in so for as its use by the agriculture sector is concerned.
4. The systems of purchase of agricultural produce like sugarcane by sugar mills, cotton by ginners and wheat by the provincial food departments should be so revamped as to eliminate ‘middlemen’.
I hope immediate consideration will be given to the aforesaid suggestions to save agriculture.
SYED MOHSIN RIZVI
Lahore
“WE got him,” declared the US commanding officer at a Baghdad press conference on Sunday, with the president of the Iraqi governing council in attendance.
With that the saga of the vanquished legitimate president of Iraq came to a new turn as the US chose to keep their old ally alive to debrief him under various forms of torture and to use him in their quest to humiliate the whole Arab and Muslim world and govern them by sheer force of arms and brute will, under Israeli directions.
Whatever the spin scenario that the US administration may put out, they should realize that however much the press room resounded with wolf-whistles and anti-Saddam harangues, the net result of Saddam’s capture and his humiliation will leave a big hole in the Muslim heart. Whatever faults he had, however cruel he was, however much was his own perfidy in attacking other Muslim states, however faked his Islamic religiosity was, he was the only leader of some standing and some steely resolve who could stand firm in his tenacity to confront Israel in the Middle East. In that he symbolized the will of the Arab and Muslim world.
Now the space is vacant for others to take up his banner and wipe out the shame of Israeli and American occupation of Muslim lands, and the struggle will continue. The Middle East will not find its destiny and its honour until there is an equitable and just peace between Palestinians and Israelis, and Muslims are free to find their own identity in the new modern world, without any force and tutelage from the West.
GHULAM MUHAMMED,
Mumbai, India
SADDAM Hussein has been arrested. Bush says Saddam was a menace to the Arab world. I agree.
That was why the US was helping him in his war against Iran and that was why the US ordered its allies like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to help Saddam in that war, which they did.
Now Saddam Hussein has gone and Bush has come.
INSPECTOR QABACHA
Lahore
SADDAM Hussein’s arrest is a Christmas and New Year’s present from Bush and Blair to themselves. The poor leaders desperately needed a toy to show their voters.
MUSTAFA MAHESAR
London, UK
IF you are living in any cantonment and taxed unfairly and unjustly, whom will you appeal?
Section 84(1) of Cantonment Act 1924 provides that:
a. Appeal against the tax will lie with the district magistrate or anyone empowered by the central government (i.e. the ministry of defence/director-general of military and cantonments).
b. If the district magistrate was the official member at the time of levy of tax, then the appeal will be heard by the divisional commissioner.
c. Where there is no divisional commissioner, the appeal will be heard by the district judge.
Now both the district magistrate and the divisional commissioner do not exist.
The district judge says: “I am not specifically a district magistrate. I have criminal procedure powers but not the power to hear tax appeal regarding cantonments, but the ultimate appellate authority under the Act is the district magistrate.”
The executive district officer (revenue) says: “I am revenue collector and not district magistrate. Therefore, I cannot hear appeal against the tax levied by the cantonment board.”
Please resolve this imbroglio at the earliest. An easy solution is that under section 84(1) of the Cantonment Act 1924, the central government should empower any district officer, say the DCO or district judge, to hear appeal against the levy of cantonment tax. This does not require any amendment to the Act or a new enactment.
Many an affected person has been facing this problem for the last several years after the birth of the local government system. Neither the ministry of defence nor the NRB has paid any attention to this problem in spite of so many letters/representations. It seems all are lotus-eaters.
COMMANDER (RETD)
HUMAYUN AKHTAR
Multan
THE hallmark of our society is the lack of accountability. Persons involved in the dismemberment of the country were never punished. Plunderers of national wealth are leading a life of luxury, without fearing indictment. Generals have escaped retribution for suspending or mutilating the Constitution.
Take the case of the Quaid-i-Azam University, a premier research institution undergoing a process of degeneration. Alexander Garrett (Dawn, Nov 2, 2003) has reported unscrupulous practices of some education institutions in Europe in awarding degrees which involve no formal study: Trinity and All Saints International University are willing to offer a PhD degree in 28 days after application.
But the Quaid-i-Azam University has beaten all such rivals by awarding a PhD degree to a leading cardiologist of the town who had not even submitted his thesis. And officers involved in this have got off scot-free. The university retired them honourably, granting them all fringe benefits.
Owing to incompetence and ineptitude of the university administration, four students have been murdered over a span of six months. Academic standards are falling abysmally. Quality of research has suffered, and the university has failed to attract competent and qualified teachers as research facilities are dwindling. Frequent electricity breakdowns and shortage of water has hampered research.
Students involved in vandalism and rowdiness are seldom punished. After obtaining their degrees, the students face difficulty in getting jobs on account of declining reputation of the institution.
In view of the worsening condition, it is surprising that so far no action has been taken against the university management. Immediate steps should be taken to remedy the situation.
MUHAMMAD HANIF
Islamabad
HISTORY repeats itself. In our context, however, it repeats too often and too quickly. Our enthusiasm in the Tashkent Declaration, much against the wishes of the masses, bore no fruit. The Geneva Accord against the wishes of the architect of Afghan Jihad bore bitter fruits and now the unilateral cease-fire.
It will help to keep the heat off and break the momentum of the indigenous freedom movement with our morale and political support. It will also help the Indian army in carrying on the cleansing in Kashmir and facilitate fencing of the LoC. The results would be no different from 1965 and 1985.
BRIGADIER (R) ABDUR RAB
Rawalpindi
PRESIDENT Gen Pervez Musharraf’s recent meeting with Ulema, religious scholars and Mashaikh is indeed a laudable effort to promote sectarian harmony, eliminate hatred and put the country on the path of progress and prosperity.
Since 9/11, not only foreign hands have targeted Pakistan but nationalists also tried their luck. At such a time when national unity is direly needed, some selfish and egoistic leaders have found it more appropriate to harm national interest by giving preference to nationalism and sectarianism.
Any regular reader could assess it very easily that a handful group of politicians, a few odd pseudo-intellectuals and a section of regional press are wilfully compromising national interest, hence jeopardizing it for the sake of a bunch of ignorant and self-centred folks. Ironically, this situation is being exploited by hidden hands like RAW.
All those who are preparing agitation programmes against government and trying to sail upstream should realize that the need of the time is unity, sectarian harmony and peace, instead of spawning nationalism and other stray issues.
Let’s act as one and according to what suits best to Pakistan. National solidarity is imperative to restore harmony and put bold front to outside attacks.
JAWAYRIA MALIK
Islamabad
THIS refers to the news item “Preparation of CNICs may take 41 months” (Dec 11).
It appears the reporter has some kind of ambiguity about the subject. Nadra would like to avail itself of this opportunity to clear the ambiguities mentioned.
According to the report, the total population of the Sanghar district is from 1.45 million to 1.50 million, out of which half are eligible for the CNIC. However, according to the census of 1998, the total population above 18 years of age is 425,614. Whereas Nadra has received 182,704 applications for the issuance of the CNIC since 2001, out of which 178,505 applicants have received their CNICs and the remaining applications are under process at different stages.
The remaining eligible people have not applied for the CNIC for personal reasons and still a large number of people are not taking it seriously, as application through Nadra’s swift registration centres is not the only option for this purpose.
The applicants are requested to visit the nearest district registration office/sub-district registration office. The fee through form-based application is Rs50 only. Nadra has capacity to print 100,000 CNICs daily while only 40,000 applications are being received at present, i.e 60 per cent card printing capacity remains idle.
We assure your correspondent that Nadra can issue CNICs to the remaining population, i.e. 0.25 million, within less than 41 days instead of 41 months, provided they file their applications.
SOHAIL ASIF
Director Media, Nadra,
Islamabad
I WOULD like to bring some public welfare ideas to the notice of Karachi’s transport authorities. For the people of the city there is a wide range of network of public transport like buses, minibuses, coaches and inter-city and inter-province buses. Add to this five to 10 per cent of the people who come in and go out of the city every day.
But there is no proper route guide for passengers/travellers. Innumerable people are found daily seeking information from all sorts of people and are mostly misled. It’s so miserable.
It will be of immense help if the authorities concerned publish a table of city bus routes on the pattern of the time-table book of the Pakistan Railways. Such a booklet will come handy, can be made more useful by including some route maps. The cost of the booklet may be minimized by requesting interested sponsors/advertisers. To include changes and additions to the routes, the booklet may be published after every six months or a year, as deemed fit.
The Karachi city government may take up this project as another social welfare act for the people of this city.
It is hoped that the provincial transport minister and the Karachi nazim will look into this matter as a top priority.
M. M. ALAM
Karachi
THIS refers to your esteemed paper’s editorial “Death by starvation” (Dec 13).
The tragic death of a retired professor and his wife in their house in Malir, Karachi, the other day is appalling. The worse is that the death occurred as a result of starvation caused by long delays in the release of pension and other dues the education department owed to the retired professor.
In Pakistan there are a score of retired teachers, clerks and others waiting for their pensions and other dues which different departments owe to them.
The “crime” of the deceased professor, it seems, was to spend his best years in public service. He has taught hundreds of thousands of students and made them great.
Was this the better way to treat the noble professor? This is food for thought.
I would like to request the president and the prime minister to take personal interest and direct the authorities concerned to take action against the official responsible for the delay in release of the dues to the professor.
BARKAT ISMAIL
Turbat
THIS year once again we had Ramazan and Eid on different dates in the country. There were acrimonious debates among members of the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee and, consequently, Maulana Hassan Jan resigned in protest.
The Shawwal moon was sighted in the NWFP on Nov 24 and Eid was celebrated in most parts of the province and tribal areas on the following day.
The Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee sighted the moon on Nov 25 and, consequently, Eid was announced for Nov 26. The moon was clearly visible for almost one hour in the evening of Nov 25. It is common knowledge that the first day’s moon is hardly visible for 10-12 minutes. Could the chairman of the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee tell the nation how the “first day’s moon” was so clearly visible for an hour on Nov 25?
If a mistake was made, he should acknowledge it and inform the people about it. There is nothing wrong with that. All good Muslims are expected to state the truth and admit their mistakes.
MUHAMMAD AZAM KHAN
Peshawar
ALTHOUGH we look to be more familiar with our religion today than before, our longing for evil in all its manifestations remains undiminished in all walks of life and at all levels.
One obvious reason is that while we perform Islam’s rituals with great fervour, we fail to adhere devoutly to its spirit, perhaps due to an erroneous belief that while the performance of the former is the key to heaven, adherence to the latter is not always a divine necessity. GHULAM MUHIUDDIN
Lahore
THIS is with reference to the letter “When Bush visited Iraq” (Dec 7) wherein the writer has tried to establish that Halagu Khan and his commanders while passing through Karbala visited the shrine of Hazrat Abbas and there they embraced Islam.
The fact is that the Mongol army, led by Halagu Khan, sacked Baghdad in 1258. His easy entry into the metropolis was a result of a conspiracy hatched by Ibn Halkmi, the grand vazir, and his right-hand man Nasiruddin Tusi (renowned astronomer). Halagu Khan was the grandson of Genghis Khan from his son Tulai. Tulai had three more sons, of whom Mongku and Kublai distinguished themselves by attaining the highest position of “Great Khan”.
Halagu or his commanders did not accept Islam. However, his nephew Berke Khan and Ghazan Khan (grandsons of Genghis Khan from his first son Jochi and Chughtai, respectively) were converted to Islam. Besides, in the line of Ilkhans, a title used by the Halagu’s progeny, one Abu Said did accept Islam.
Abin-i-Athir, a great contemporary historian, has put the entire blame for the Mongol incursion in Muslim lands on Nasiruddin, the penultimate Abbasid caliph. The caliph had strained relations with Muhammad Khwarzam Shah and, anticipating war, invited the Mongols to attack Khwarzam. This invitation, besides other factors such as maltreatment of Mongol emissaries by Muhammad Khwarzam, led to utter disruption and destruction of most of the Muslim powers which fell before their ruthless might one after the other.
In 1262 Halagu proposed to Louis IX, the king of Franks, to join forces with him to extirpate the last stronghold of the Muslims, i.e. Syria and Egypt which at that time was ruled by formidable Mamluk sultans. However, Mongol invincibility was obliterated and lay buried in the sands of ‘Ayn Jalut’ (this is the same place where Prophet David defeated Jalut) where the forces of Halagu were routed by Sultan Rukanuddin Beybrus, lord of Egypt and Syria, and with this was also destroyed the solidarity of the Mongols as Barke Khan accepted Islam and helped his co-religionist against the Mongols.
Halagu died an infidel in 1265. His son Abaga, who succeeded him, continued his father’s policies with equal enthusiasm. He carried war up to Berke and, at the same time, sent ambassadors to the Vatican, still hoping to enlist the Pope’s support for an attack against the Mamluks. His dreams remained unfulfilled as Christendom still nursed memories of innumerable Mongol attacks against them.
So, Abaga received no help from Europe, and the Mamluks were unimpeded in extending their influence up and down the Mediterranean coast.
MANZOOR H. KURESHI
Karachi
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