| 02 January 2004 | Friday | 09 Ziqa'ad 1424 |
Burns unit project in doldrums
Not many people in this material world may resist the temptation of enriching themselves with the hefty bounty of 25 million dollars, plus undeclared additional benefits, negotiated between the Iraqi informer and the US authorities that offered this amount for the arrest of President Saddam Hussein.
Reportedly, Saddam's aide betrayed and stabbed his former benefactor in the back when he was already down and under. The quisling may get US safety and protection but in the process he has earned the abiding shame of the people of Iraq. So does the cookie crumble in shady deals.
The capture of Saddam raises weighty questions. President Saddam was a controversial and ruthless ruler during his long 35 years' tenure in power. Some western countries projected him as a tyrant who brutalized his people and prepared a plan (never implemented) to assassinate President George Bush.
The list of his alleged dictatorial acts is long, hideous and hard to defend. He terrorized Iraqi society and silenced those who dared to cross his path. He is accused of using chemical weapons against Kurds in 1988 in the town of Halabja in which about 5,000 people reportedly lost their lives.
It is now an open secret that Washington aided and abetted Saddam in waging a war against Iran that lasted eight years. His invasion of Kuwait weakened the Palestinian cause and jeopardized the already fragile unity in the Arab world.
The western-controlled media launched an orchestrated blitzkrieg against weapons of mass destruction clandestinely acquired by Saddam's Iraq. This allegation was used as the pretext for attacking Iraq and capturing its oil-rich Arab country by power duo of President Bush and Prime Minister Blair.
The US and Britain had long claimed that Iraqi Kurds loathed Saddam's rule; that the Sunni-Shia divide in Iraq was an explosive issue and Saddam exploited it to perpetuate his personal rule; that Saddam had links with Osama bin Laden and Mulla Omer; that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, ready to be launched within 45 minutes, posed a grave security threat to Europe and that given an opportunity, the people of Iraq waited for the chance to topple the unpopular, non-elected and harsh ruler imposed on them.
These fabricated myths boomeranged and suddenly evaporated in thin air when facts surfaced after the occupation forces captured Iraq. The 'highly-rated' Iraqi army melted away without a fight; Kurds behaved as Iraqi nationalists; the Sunnis and Shias resisted in unison against the foreign occupation forces; the people of Iraq, far from welcoming the attackers as predicted, loathed the occupation of their country; Saddam secretly fled without a fight and the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction turned out to be the figment of imagination of the self-serving scheming minds of the US and British authorities.
The occupation forces thoroughly combed the entire territories but failed to recover weapons of mass destruction or found evidence of their presence in the country.
It became abundantly clear that the security threat to Europe and the US was wilfully conceived and mischievously projected to prepare ground for the occupation of Iraq, control of its oil and securing a foothold for future operations elsewhere.
The people in Iraq jointly and firmly resisted the illegal occupation of their country and their struggle continues unabated. The military offensive against Iraq, based on the arrogance of power, lacked legal and moral authority and was in violation of international law.
The UN was bypassed and so was the global public opinion. Bush and Blair lied to their own people and deceived the world with their false claims and baseless accusations.
President Saddam was not a saint. A shrewd dictator, he governed with a firm hand and in the process made some mistakes. His one-man harsh rule was a mixed bag of success and failure.
On the one hand, people suffered under his dictatorship. On the other, Iraq made considerable economic progress and improved the quality of life of the people. Saddam's capture caused euphoria in the US and Britain.
President Bush declares that 'Saddam will now face justice he denied to the millions'. Ironically, President Bush is himself on trial. All eyes are now focused on how fair and impartial will be the trial of Saddam Hussein.
The rule and misrule of Saddam did not bestow authority on outside powers to invade Iraq and occupy its oil resources. If Saddam was harsh to the people of Iraq, the occupation forces have been no less brutal and cruel to those who resist their illegal occupation.
The media is periodically fed with reports about the loss of 200 US lives in Iraq since the occupation of this country. The loss of human lives is invariably regrettable.
However, it is worth noting that no mention is ever made about the large-scale killing of innocent Iraqi people by the aerial bombardment and ground firing of the allied forces. The brutal killing of Saddam's sons, Uday and Quasy, did not bring laurels to democratic justice. Will Saddam get a similar type of 'democratic justice' is a question being asked.
Those who accused Saddam's Iraq for possessing weapons of mass destruction lost credibility and are now hiding their faces behind indefensible excuses. If Saddam Hussein did commit any crime, justice and morality demand that proper charges be framed against him and he must get a visibly fair and impartial trial.
For the present he gets only media trial even before charges are formally framed against him. Saddam's trial should take place after the sovereignty of Iraq is restored and the genuine representatives of Iraqi people take control of their country.
The Iraqi government chosen by the Iraqi people under the Iraqi law may try Saddam Hussein. Neither the occupation powers nor the government currently imposed by them on the people of Iraq has the moral and legal authority to hold such a trial.
Let posterity judge the performance of President Saddam Hussein. In the annals of history Iraq was always a difficult country to rule. Its past is replete with horrors of wars, massacre, turmoil and uneasy peace.
Western style democracy does not have roots in this country. Kings and dictators have invariably ruled Iraq. Saddam was one such ruler. He deserves pity. When the sun of power set during his unfortunate rule he chose degrading surrender over regal death. This humiliation, and the ridicule of his people, may haunt him for the rest of his life.
Saddam facing death penalty will die only once. On the other hand a living Saddam shall die many times every day. Political prudence demands that his fate must heal the bleeding wounds of his country, not worsen them any further. The people of Iraq have suffered too much for too long. They deserve respite, enduring peace and reconstruction.
For the present, the arrogance of power has carried the day in Iraq. With Iraq humbled and Saddam captured, internal political developments in the US may improve the chances of President Bush in the presidential elections due in 2004. The declared Anglo-US objective of changing the Iraqi dictator has been achieved.
The occupation powers may take advantage of this development, claim success in operations and announce a plan for the immediate vacation of Iraq and introduction of a democratically elected government in that country.
The global searchlight is focused on the US. Will Bush display vision and political wisdom and accept that Iraq was treated unfairly. By so doing he may enhance his image. Or, will he succumb to the temptation of timely gains and indulge in vendetta. He shall be painting himself in murky colours if he does so.
he writer in a retired general of the Pakistan Army.
Burns unit project in doldrums
The fate of the 90-bed Punjab Institute of Burns and Reconstructive (Plastic) Surgery at the local Allied Hospital hangs in the balance due to strong opposition of an influential lobby in the province which wants to get it shifted from Faisalabad to Lahore.
This project was conceived on the persistent demand of various medical associations and an NGO, Association for Treatment of Acute Burns and Imperative Rehabilitation (TAABIR). The Pakistan Baitul Maal had undertaken to inject capital for the construction of the building and provision of equipment.
The Allied and DHQ Hospitals attached to the Punjab Medical College for under-graduate and post-graduate training have 1,660 beds providing medical care and management to the patients of Faisalabad and Sargodha divisions, besides some far-flung areas of the province.
Currently, there is a Department of Burn and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery having 30 beds 12 of which have been allocated for acute burn patients. Due to lack of space, facilities and staff, most burn patients are admitted to the Emergency Department under the care of the general surgeon.
Patients can only be shifted when beds become vacant, which usually takes 10 or more days. The remaining 18 beds are for reconstructive plastic surgery patients.
In fact, facilities for burn patients are quite insufficient to cater to the demand. Moreover, no modern burn unit is available either in the government or private sector in Faisalabad or anywhere else in the province.
The need of an independent burn unit was felt acutely owing to the incident of Rodu Sultan, district Jhang, in which 120 people were burnt by fire on an oil tanker.
The vehicle slipped on the road causing tons of inflammable liquid to leak and catch fire. The fire destroyed almost everything within radius of 500 metres. As many as 16 persons died on the spot.
The patients were immediately shifted to Allied Hospital. However, due to rush of burn patients and lack of medical facilities, 30 of them died. Another incident took place at Toba Tek Singh in October 1999, when the main Suigas pipeline (Multan-Faisalabad) caught fire during repair.
Resultantly, 40 people were burnt, 10 of whom died on the spot. Thirty patients were shifted to the Allied Hospital where four died and the rest were discharged after treatment and recovery.
Statistically, on an average one person gets burned every eight minute in Pakistan. Fortunately, most of these burns are minor and transient in nature and no hospitalization is required for such injuries.
Record of burn patients at the burn unit of the Allied Hospital revealed that from 1997 to 2002, as many as 975 patients were treated out of whom 412 were male, 328 female, 117 minor boys and 118 minor girls. Out of a total of 975, up to 390 expired and 136 remained under treatment for months.
In this backdrop, a modern burn centre was considered to be set up at the Punjab Medical College Complex for saving patients having critical burn injuries caused by gas-cylinder blast, flame, electricity, chemical and acid as well as bomb explosions and other mishaps.
Experts were of the view that there should be at least one burn unit in Punjab and Faisalabad. The latter because of its location, could easily cater to the needs of Faisalabad, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Sargodha, Bhakkar, Khushab and Mianwali, having a population of more than nine million.
They opined that due to lack of a proper and model burn and reconstructive plastic surgery unit in the government and private sectors, serious burn patients could not be properly managed and saved and the only way was to set up a centre duly equipped with all facilities for taking care of critical patients as only 40 percent of the total body surface burnt can be salvaged according to latest research.
A number of medical and technical experts and organizations after in-depth study and inspection of various sites were unanimous that it was not possible to start an independent reconstructive plastic surgery unit in the present building of PMC Complex owing to shortage of space and other required facilities.
According to experts, there were different types of burn injury including thermal burns (flame burns and scalding), inhalation burns, electric burns, chemical and radiation burns.
No government agency took cognizance of this state of affairs and came out with the idea of setting up a full-fledged burn unit. Finally an NGO - 'TAABIR'- undertook the responsibility of constructing and developing an independent burn centre at Faisalabad.
This NGO after a lengthy exercise of more than 10 months succeeded in formulating a PC-I and completing other requirements for approval and establishment of a full-fledged, independent burn unit here. Not only this, the NGO also succeeded in prevailing upon the Pakistan Baitul Maal to sanction a grant for the project.
According to the building plan, an area measuring four kanals on northern side of the main road leading from CCU to PMC was earmarked for the Burn Centre to be constructed through donation of PBM. Additional two kanals were allocated as open area or for parking.
The institute will consist of 85,000 square feet with 26 beds for Burn Unit, 24 beds for Plastic Surgery, 12 beds for private rooms, eight beds each for private room (burns), Emergency and ICU and four beds for side room (burns).
The total cost of the project was Rs159.523 million. The Pakistan Baitul Maal after securing approval of various bodies gave the go-ahead for construction of the centre.
In fact it was a unique project in that on the one hand a vast population of the province could avail of the facility of burn treatment in consonance with the present-day requirements without any burden on the government and, on the other hand, precious human lives could be saved, especially of women who reportedly formed the majority of burn victims and the poor patients could be given free treatment.
However, due to red-tapism and the stiffneck attitude of the top hierarchy of the provincial government who could not digest the fact that the countryside would have such sophisticated and modern facilities, impediments were created in the smooth implementation of this project.
A senior officer of the provincial Health Department told Dawn on condition of anonymity that Faisalabad had no more been left a choice for establishment of the burn institute.
What a pity that a project which had been got sanctioned by hectic and painstaking efforts and made ready for takeoff had been put in jeopardy by an influential lobby.