Ends and means

The first advice and guidance on means and ends was given to me by my father in 1936 when I was about to take a train journey to Bombay to join the INMTS, "Dufferin" as navigator-cadet.

My father argued that taking donations from liquor shops by the Indian National Congress was morally wrong as the Congress policy was prohibition of alcohol. My father held firm that only good means could lead an individual to good ends.

I remember reading Aldous Huxley's "Ends and means" and also Shelvankar's "Means are ends". Huxley is not clear, nor is he positive as he provides for a "compromise".

It is my view that we should take guidance from Immanuel Kant's Critique of Judgment which emphasizes that an individual must consciously make true moral value judgment.

Kant says all human beings are capable of making value-judgments, and in making these judgments an individual is guided by the hypothetical imperative on the basis of trial and error. And in this way an individual achieves the capability of 'categorical imperative' in making moral value judgments.

Kant emphasizes that it is the moral and socio-cultural responsibility of individuals to aim at, acquire and be guided in making moral and socio-cultural judgments by the self-acquired categorical imperative. We must also appreciate that an individual's moral value judgment must be absolute.

Hundreds of years before Kant, Greek philosopher Epicurus had said: "I am a human being, and it is in my being to be truthful in all that I say and in all that I do."

Immanuel Kant, and before him Shelvankar, agrees that in fact the end is approached in the progressive application of means. The emphasis is on approached because as a human being approaches a certain end, it escalates with an individual's knowledge and experience. Indeed, the end must escalate because our sensibility and appreciation of moral and socio-cultural values elevate with our knowledge and experience.

However, this apparently ceaseless pursuit of ends must not cause dismay. In fact, every human being must accept this fundamental concept of daily life as an important and necessary imperative of our daily life, and our inter-action with fellow human beings: indeed, with all the beings of our beautiful wandering planet, our law-governed universe.

M. J. SAYEED

Karachi

Musharraf's Kashmir initiative

First of all, let me state that it is absolutely shocking to see the confusion that dwells in the minds of quite a few Pakistanis with regard to the Kashmir issue. The recent hue and cry over President Gen Musharraf's statement provoked me to download the UN resolutions over Kashmir.

Much to my surprise, it is stated in the resolution that the Pakistan government agrees to withdraw its forces from 'occupied Kashmir' (now called Azad Kashmir). That would then be followed by withdrawal of Indian troops from the Kashmir valley and the resolution then goes on to ask the Indian government to conduct a plebiscite in that state.

Is that the resolution we want the UN to enforce? Certainly not. If the resolution is implemented, won't Pakistan be required to give up Azad Kashmir as well? For ages we have continued to blame the army for not being interested in resolving the Kashmir issue. However, the sorry fact is that our foreign office and our diplomats have thoroughly been outperformed by the Indian diplomatic lobby and now just because of them we find ourselves in a difficult situation.

Gen Musharraf's bold remarks should be taken in their true perspective. Yes, Kashmir runs in the blood of each Pakistani, but the fact is that what Gen Musharraf recently stated was a conducive offer. He never mentioned that Pakistan is changing its stance on the issue of Kashmir.

He just offered an alternative proposal to the Indians. He need not prove his commitment to Pakistan at each and every stage of his era as head of the state.

There's a marked change in Pakistan's global image. We have been accused of supporting terrorism throughout. But the sorry part is that we refuse to accept it. Why on earth is everyone bent upon accusing Pakistan of that? So, let us acknowledge the fact.

Hats off to Gen Musharraf for promoting Pakistan on the international front by being a key ally in the war against terrorism.

MUHAMMAD SAAD KHAN

Toronto, Canada

Unfair service charges

This is to draw the attention of the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan to the recent levy of service charges on PLS accounts by the SBP through its BPD circular No. 23, dated July 4, 2003.

However, in the above circular the SBP has exempted the salary accounts of government employees from such charges. I have been approaching the Banking Policy Department of the SBP since July seeking a similar exemption for the private sector employees but my request has not been entertained yet. Instead, I have been provided with the following justification/ clarification by the Banking Policy Department of the SBP:

"Large expenditures are incurred by banks to maintain accounts, which do not maintain minimum balance. Banks are functioning on commercial basis and depriving them from recovering even the cost of maintenance of account(s) is not appropriate as the same is also affecting their profitability. By virtue of cost incurred on such accounts, the other account holders are penalized unnecessarily."

I do agree that the banks incur cost for maintaining such accounts and the burden of one account holder should not be shifted to other account holder. However, I am unable to understand the logic behind the SBP's contradiction of its own justification by exempting the salary accounts of the government employees from such charges?

The SBP governor is requested to instruct the Banking Policy Department to exempt salary accounts of the private sector employees from levy of such charges. It would be unfair to penalize the private sector employees by shifting the burden of the government employees to their shoulders who already pay much more taxes to the national exchequer as compared to government sector employees.

I hope the SBP authorities will consider my request sympathetically.

MUHAMMAD IJAZ KHAN

Karachi

Cricket: counting on individuals

Yousuf Youhana drove through the extra-cover boundary and Pakistan coasted through the second Test match in Wellington a few days back, much to the relief of Inzamam who must be learning the ropes of captaincy, with every passing game.

While speedster Shoaib Akhtar fired all his cylinders, one wonders how the skipper would have manoeuvred hadrain entirely washed out the final day's play.

Shoaib Akhtar is, no doubt, a match winner but he cannot win every game for Pakistan single-handedly. And the heavy reliance on him has to be done away with if our team wants to make any real progress.

A Pakistani bowling attack without Akhtar is as good as England's - and that too lacks penetration as was evident in the first innings in Hamilton. He really forms the spinal cord of our otherwise pedestrian bowling lineup. Other bowlers like Mohammad Sami and Umar Gul too should step ahead and keep getting breakthroughs, instead of giving extra runs.

In this Test series, our batsmen also failed to impress, with only Youhana and Inzamam excelling. Get these men out cheaply and the game is in your pocket (Moin, of course, was a dark horse while scoring his highest knock in Test cricket).

This dependence of ours on individual brilliance instead of collective output might cost us dearly in future. With the Indian tour round the corner, if these shortcomings are not rectified, the writing will be very much on the wall regarding the outcome of that series.

It's time our cricketers learnt to function as a unit, otherwise they can win on a particular day, but will indeed be remembered as losers in the annals of cricket.

SYED TALHA IDREES

Karachi

'Benefiting from the brain drain'

This has reference to the letter "Benefiting from the brain drain" by Saif Khan (December 31).

Mr Khan is absolutely right and I am one such person who would like to come back to Pakistan and work for its progress. Unfortunately, it is not that simple financially. My reason for leaving the country was that I did not see myself capable (financially) of educating my growing children and so I decided to emigrate.

Not wishing to severe all ties with my country, I tried to get leave (I had three years of earned leave to my credit) from my office abroad, which was not allowed. Consequently, I had to resign. What little money I had saved or I got from my C/GPF was utilized on the emigration.

Now I would like to leave and settle back in Pakistan but have no way of doing that unless I have a job. One agency was interested and funded my visit to Pakistan and we liked each other and agreed on a compensation package.

However, I received details of that after one whole year had passed and the salary agreed was less than what had been negotiated. Neither was there any package for returning to Pakistan. What should I do? What can I do?

I am sure there are many others like me who have become the "prisoners of fate" and cannot return despite wishing to do so.

DR TAHIR RASUL

London, Ontorio, Canada

Is being Pakistani & Muslim a crime?

This is with reference to the letter "Is being Pakistani and Muslim a crime?" (December 13).

As a Muslim and Pakistani, I condemn the type of ill treatment which is being meted out to Muslims or Pakistanis abroad. But at the same time I understand the security risks and problems that the US and other western countries are facing, and that have compelled them to make these laws/policies.

Unfortunately, some of our brothers by mistake or because of emotions have painted a distorted picture of Islam. But most rational and knowledgeable persons throughout the world feel that Islam teaches peace, love, affection and tolerance.

No religion, and certainly not Islam, allows killing of innocent people and destruction of civil property. Therefore, we should condemn openly not only the Sept 11 incident but also other suicidal attacks in other parts of the world.

We cannot interfere in policy matters of any country. Every country is free to make laws which the people of other countries should respect.

The laws should not be in such a manner that they insult others; the time and the method of interrogation and scrutiny should not be long and must not inflict mental torture on anyone so that one may lose his/her patience. And again when interrogation or scrutiny is over and nothing objectionable is found, there should be some laws to show regrets and apology to the person who was held in doubt but found innocent. The laws should make compensation for the harassment or mental agony and wastage of precious time.

The policy of pointing out only Muslims or Pakistanis is more dangerous as the criminals belonging to other segments of society will succeed in escaping from the clutches of laws. A criminal is a criminal. Whether he belongs to the Muslim community or other communities, he should be dealt with according to the law.

I appeal to the US government to reconsider these laws, and modify and amend them, wherever it is necessary, so that innocent and respectable citizens of other countries do not suffer so much and so long.

H. M. KAFEEL

Karachi

'Illegal' allotment of land

This refers to the news item "Illegal allotment of land alleged" (December 19, 2003).

On my recent visit to Islamkot, Tharparkar, to which I belong, I was surprised to see that illegal construction of shops near a bus stand and its surrounding has changed the landscape. I was unable to find a passage for my vehicle as all lanes and open areas had been covered by illegal constructions.

The Tharparkar district government is constructing farm-to-market roads through the private survey agriculture land, which includes my land (survey No. 298 Deh, Islamkot, Mithi taluka), on which a road is being built to connect Islamkot to Khankhnihar.

When I approached the district officer, works & services department, about the unlawful construction, I was told that the roads were being built with the consent of the landlords. However, on the route on which my plot lies there are 20 more private plots but no consent has been taken from their owners.

I submitted an application on December 8, 2003, to the district officer for compensation under the Land Acquisition Act, as is being done throughout the country, but I was informed on the telephone that there was no such provision in PC-I. After this reply I wrote another letter to the district officer on December 16, with a copy each to the nazim, DCO and EDO (W&S), Tharparkar.

I appeal to the high-ups in the Sindh government to kindly revise PC-I to make allowance for such a compensation. When the Desert Road Project operating in the Tharparkar district is paying such a compensation, and Wapda is also doing that, there is no reason for the district government not to pay compensation to the affected people.

A. CHANDANI

Tharparkar

Eliminating stray dogs

About seven years ago India adopted on the advice of WHO an "animal birth control programme" to reduce the population of dogs, and to check rabies and dog-bite cases in the country.

For 50 years the municipalities of India killed dogs by electrocution, beating, gassing and whatever else they could think of. However, these steps could not eliminate rabies, nor could they check the incidence of dog-bites.

Then the animal birth control programme was launched as an alternative and since then every city has been implementing it - municipalities in tandem with NGOs. Many cities have become almost rabies-free within three years and the cases of dog-bites have gone down. It is now part of the government policy and endorsed by four high courts.

If any organization in Pakistan or any government municipality likes to learn about this programme, we will be happy to send literature on how the programme works. You can contact us at gandhim@parlis.nic.in or at Smt. Maneka Gandhi, 14 Ashoka Road, New Delhi 110001, India.

MANEKA GANDHI

New Delhi, India

Request to Nadra

People in Turbat are facing great hardship in obtaining computerized national identity cards. Only one centre has been set up by the National Database Registration Authority for the entire population of this town, with the result that people, including children, women and elderly, have to stand in long queues for getting and submitting NIC forms.

Nadra authorities are, therefore, requested to either set up at least one more centre or increase the number of its staff of its lone centre in the area.

ABDUL KHALIQ

Turbat

Peace process

"Eight Palestinians killed and 34 injured, eight of whom are in a serious condition, in Israeli raid" (Dawn, December 25).

In fact, I have been reading such news items since I was a schoolboy. And now I am over 65. It appears that the UN and the US have only one word for the Palestinians, 'wait'. And that too for any reason or pretext which may become handy from time to time.

On the day of the massacre, a US spokesman, out of his office duties, routinely said, "The US wants the peace process to continue." I know that I do not know (thanks Rumsfeld) whether anything can be common between the peace process and the unending death of Palestinian civilians for about half a century.

Z.A. KAZMI

Karachi

Quoting foreigners

In these columns on Dec 30, Mr S. G. Jilanee has taken exception to Mr Kunwar Idris's quoting in his article "A bad deal for the people" (Dec 28) Barry Bearak from The New York Times on Pakistan.

Leaving the pedigree and prejudices of the Americans aside, shouldn't the people here know what the world's largest newspaper of the world's most powerful and richest country thinks about Pakistan?

Then, Mr Bearak should be credited with some objectivity for while he calls the politics of Pakistan a great hole of duplicity, he describes the people of Pakistan as "warm, generous and protectively".

When Mr Jilanee pleads for our countrymen to be quoted instead of foreigners, should Mr Idris and other writers quote Shujaat, Jamali and Shaikh Rashid or Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif and Javed Hashmi on Pervez Musharraf and his policies?

It is sad to see people like Mr Jilanee pleading for curbing free expression of views when the government has relaxed its censorship.

MUHAMMAD HUSSAIN

Lahore

VVIP medical cover at PIMS

With reference to the Dawn report of December 29 on the above subject, I wish to clarify that a part of the administration block of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), and not the VVIP block itself which has been in disuse for a long time, has been declared as sub-jail for lodging Mr Asif Ali Zardari.

No VVIP ambulance has been placed at his disposal. Mr Zardari is taken to court for hearings in an ambulance of the children's ward of the hospital for which he is charged by the hospital administration.

The excess telephone bills of the hospital may be due to any reason but it is not because of Mr Zardari who has no access to the official telephone facility in the hospital.

NAZIR KHOKI

Media Office, Pakistan People's Party, Islamabad

New electricity meters

I support the views of Mr Mohammad Rizwan ("New electricity meters, December 30) regarding fast running of the newly-installed electricity meters by the KESC in a bid to recover line losses and theft of electricity from the general consumers.

The KESC is penalizing poor consumers for the corrupt practices and negligence on the part of its employees.

I would like to bring it to the knowledge of the general public that an electrical inspector of the government of Sindh has the authority to redress the grievances of aggrieved consumers. He is independent and only reports to the government.

With the powers provided in the Electricity Act, electrical inspectors should be able to provide some remedy to the aggrieved consumers.

A.H. SHAH

Karachi