| 08 January 2004 | Thursday | 15 Ziqa'ad 1424 |
Public interest litigation
An emerging India
Victimization culture in Suparco
Suicide attacks on president
Why people commit suicide
Single currency proposal
Kashmir dispute
KIA car scam
Rigged fare meters
NBP workers' pension dues
Tribute to Steve Waugh
Eid moon
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A device wrecked the Lal Bridge (Aamar Chowk) seven seconds after President Musharraf's motorcade passed from Chaklala airport last December 13. Eleven days later the president escaped a two-pronged suicide attack also in Rawalpindi. It is said there have been at least two other attempts on his life during his four-year tenure.
Who was behind the attempts? Al Qaeda is suspected since the president's men grabbed most of the top Al Qaeda fighters now in the US custody. An inside job? Were the culprits disgruntled Islamic extremists furious with President Musharraf for siding with the US in Afghanistan and cracking down on militant organizations with links to Kashmir?
The Lal Bridge explosion "is the handiwork of such powerful forces that are opposed to the conciliation between New Delhi and Islamabad" (Kuldip Nayar).Five days after the first attempt on President Musharraf's life, the US pro-consul in Iraq, Paul Bremer, said he had had a narrow escape in a guerrilla ambush earlier in December.
President Musharraf says it was destiny that saved him from an assassination, and has brushed aside the attempt on his life as "an occupational hazard".
About three years ago, Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's ambassador to the US, in an interview to the CNN, said: "Pakistan was victim of terrorism long before this became a global issue."
The US State Department's counter-terrorism coordinator observed: "Pakistan is helping US check terrorism" and did not merit being designated a state sponsoring terrorism. "Pakistan is a friendly country, they cooperate with us on numerous terrorist issues." He referred to Pakistan's cooperation with the United Sates on counter-terrorism issues and referred to the extradition of an individual back to Jordan for trial.
One day before the first attempt on the president's life, Richard Haas, a former senior State Department official, on a visit to New Delhi, stated, "Pakistan was a threat to the entire South Asian region and the world. Nothing has been done by Pakistan to dismantle terrorist camps that still characterize the situation" and Pakistan is one of the "toughest foreign policy problems" for the United States. After the Lal Bridge blast, Haas again added that Pakistan was one of the most dangerous places on earth.
Is Pakistan a more dangerous place than Afghanistan, Chechnya, Colombia, Indonesia, Iraq, Kashmir, or Palestine? Richard Haas should have the answer.
PROF (DR) P. NASIR
Gujrat
Public interest litigation
Professor Jakrani's death as a sequel to the agony he underwent due to non-payment of his pension is shocking. This is not the only case. There are other cases in which government functionaries do not perform their statutory duties in accordance with the law and, thereby, deprive citizens of the right to be treated equally.
The police and other government official unnecessarily delay such cases, resulting in harassment to the public. The law cannot be enforced in these cases because nobody comes forward to file a case for the public interest litigations. This is so because such cases cannot be filed in the constitutional jurisdiction by an NGO because public interest litigation is not permissible under Article 199, as held by a division bench of the Sindh High Court in a reported judgment.
Such a litigation is allowed only under Article 184(3). And though this can be filed in the Supreme Court at the Karachi registry, its hearing will take place only after scrutiny by the deputy registrar concerned at Islamabad, who may some time dispose it of summarily.
To streamline this procedure, the chief justice of Pakistan may reexamine this matter and issue direction to all concerned that such a petition under Article 184(3) should be heard at the relevant registry where it is filed directly and be placed directly in the court for preliminary hearing, without disposing it of on administrative grounds, and such a petition could be heard on merit and decided judicially.
This will help a citizen living in Sindh who cannot afford to go to Islamabad to pursue a case and engage a counsel and advocate-on-record who can personally appear before the Supreme Court in such public interest litigation in order to have proper control over the state functionary.
It is necessary that such litigation is encouraged and justice done to everyone. I hope the chief justice of Pakistan will look into this matter and allow all citizens to file public interest litigation in any registry and it must be heard at the same registry where it is filed and be placed directly for judicial decision.
Moreover, administrative examination of such petitions should be stopped by the relevant deputy registrar. This arrangement will give speedy justice to the common man.
M. MUZAFFAR-UL-HAQUE
Karachi
An emerging India
Mr Shahid Javed Burki in his article "An emerging India" (December 23) has raised the exciting question about Pakistan's ability to take advantage in the field of ICT in the wake of prospective improvements in the relationship between Pakistan and India.
This issue will leave a significant impact on both the pattern of future development in the ICT sector and overall progress in other fields. Mr Burki has aptly traced the development of ICT in India way back to the '50s when farsighted Indian leaders took a right decision by utilizing financial aid offered by foreign countries for establishing institutions on the pattern and scale of MIT.
Unfortunately, in Pakistan, besides the negligible funds allocated in the budget, the foreign aid provided for the education sector has either been wasted or not properly utilized/underutilized, as reflected in various reports of the donor agencies. As a result, not only the illiteracy rate/percentage has not increased but the standard of education has also drastically declined.
Another problem is the government's gradual withdrawal from this sector, which is providing unlimited opportunities to the private sector educational institutions. Now, owing to the absence of proper regulations, some unscrupulous people have entered in this field for whom it has become a very lucrative industry, there being no checks on the fees they charge.
These institutions have devised various innovative methods to fleece the public. On the one hand, public sector institutions lack even basic facilities, let alone a standard curriculum compatible with the present-day world requirements, and on the other private schools, colleges and universities are extorting people ton one or the other pretext, besides creating a privileged class in society.
Unless these issues are properly addressed by the authorities concerned, our competition in the world market will remain an illusion.
MANZOOR H. KURESHI
Karachi
Victimization culture in Suparco
In my last letter (August 18), I discussed the state of affairs concerning granting of civil awards to Suparco scientists and the attitude of the previous management in recommending the awards to scientists. What I now hear from my friends in Suparco is that the situation instead of improving is getting worse day by day.
Lately, I have been hearing news about my colleagues being victimized in some form or another. I feel extremely sorry for my Suparco friends and I can feel what they must be going through as I was also victim of the same management policies when I was working as general manager two years ago.
When one does not get support from one's immediate bosses, how can one think of getting justice from the top management? This is not a positive sign for an organization to progress.
I thought that with the takeover of the organization by army personnel, the working environment would become more conducive but as I see from the recent past incidents of victimization/harassment, things remain unchanged.
We seriously need to look into the causes that have led to dissatisfaction among Suparco employees towards the top management.
DR SAQIB SADIQ
Via email
Suicide attacks on president
Many people have condemned the recent assassination attempts on the president. However, except for rhetoric, our worthy MNAs and senators have not debated causes for the growing extremism in society, nor have they suggested a remedy as representatives of the people of Pakistan.
In the past, our rulers hired ulema to persuade people to fight the Soviet forces in Afghanistan, with the objective of serving America interest, and, in return, made fortunes for themselves. Their sons are now rolling in money.
However, former Mujahideen, once widely admired as heroes of Islam, are now being hunted, humiliated and even killed as terrorists to achieve the objectives of America.
No one in authority is prepared to recognize their meritorious services rendered in the past and to rehabilitate them to lead to a peaceful and honourable life. Consequently, they are left with no choice but to kill or get killed as martyrs, as indoctrinated by the hired ulema in the past.
Only harsh measures in the hope of crushing these desperadoes, always willing to fight and die, will prove counterproductive.
I hope the president will be kind enough to constitute a task force to find ways and means to rehabilitate these exploited well-meaning sons of the soil who may not be large in numbers but deadly if ignored and hunted.
GHULAM MUHAMMAD
Rawalpindi
Why people commit suicide
I was moved to write this letter after reading about the tragic death of Ghulam Mujtaba, a 20-year-old Sindh University student (November 19), who committed suicide by drowning himself in the Rohri Canal near Kandiaro in the Naushahro Feroz district.
This was not an isolated incident. There has been a phenomenal increase in the number of suicides recorded in the country, specially the rural Sindh. The print media reported 43 suicides there from September 25 to October 25, 2003.
The apathy and insensitivity of the civil administration, intelligentsia and society towards this phenomenon is deplorable. One cannot, in any way, condone these suicides as taking one's own life is forbidden in Islam.
Efforts should be made to identify social and psychological factors compelling people to commit suicide.
Western societies are not immune to suicides. Their occurrence there is attributed to a breakdown of moral values, disintegration of the family unit and abandoning of religion.
Not so long ago, the people in this part of the world led a life of contentment, preserved the joint family system and called for character-building of their children, who were kept under strict familial discipline and firmly coached in religious teachings. Teachers taught them by personal examples on how to become a good human being, instead of relying on rhetoric.
Nowadays, people are becoming more self-centred because of adopting the western lifestyle based on materialism. Roots of the present-day social problems lie in economic factors. Today, people are more eager to embrace get-rich-quick schemes.
Other reasons for the prevalence of depression - a major psychiatric disorder leading to suicides - include the uneven distribution of wealth, the commercialization of education, a desire for acquiring luxuries and dissolution of a greater number of marriages.
The public health services have always failed to provide care to psychiatric patients. While the private sector does provide some facilities in this regard, its efficacy is diluted because it is out of the reach of the common man.
Efforts are needed to create awareness about the futility of suicides. The government should ask religious scholars to issue special edicts and deliver sermons, highlighting the intensity of religious prohibition.
There is also a need to highlight the issue by way of holding seminars and public discussions in this regard, besides conducting research to find ways and means to arrest the ominous trend of suicides.
S. BUKHARI
Karachi
Single currency proposal
This is apropos of Vembar K. Ranganathan's letter "Single currency proposal" (January 6). While it is true that the euro has done wonders for the European Union, one should not forget that the Europeans had a European Union (1992) before they got the euro (2002). Therefore, the Indian proposal to introduce a single currency in the Saarc region is positive but, of course, pre-mature.
We, Pakistanis and Indians, cannot get visas even if we acquire the nationality of some third country. Try calling the Indian embassy, or the Pakistani embassy for that matter, in the US and ask if a Pakistani American can get an Indian visa. So, let's be practical and do things when they should be done.
For starters, easing visa policies and opening visa offices in cities other than Islamabad and New Delhi can do wonders for the process of normalization of relations between the two countries. Otherwise these conferences and summits would go on and on (from Shimla to Lahore to Agra to Islamabad), but would not get the common people anything.
RAZA SYED
Via email
Kashmir dispute
The president's initiative to go beyond the country's stance over Kashmir should be taken with caution, and not without a clear reciprocal response from India. India has always evaded the Kashmir issue, and puts up any argument it can think of, logical or illogical, to justify its stand on the dispute.
Following the Shimla Accord of 1972, India argued that the UN resolutions on Kashmir were irrelevant, being superseded by the accord calling for bilateral negotiations for settling differences, notwithstanding that the accord itself calls for the same to be governed by the charter of the United Nations.
Indian leaders state that the resolutions are outdated, which is a different argument. If Pakistan agrees to set aside the UN resolutions, India will argue that with the resolutions being discarded, the only relevant legal instrument is Maharajah's "letter of accession" to India, dated October 26, 1947.
RAFI AHMED
Karachi
KIA car scam
This refers to the letter "KIA car scam and NAB" (December 30). We are also victims of this scheme. My husband deposited Rs49,000 for an AC KIA car, but neither the car has been delivered nor the money has been returned to us yet.
We approached the Sindh ombudsman, but he said the case was beyond his power. We also approached the production secretary in Islamabad, but to no avail. My husband died in November 1996, and nobody has contacted me about the matter so far.
ZUBEDA BEGUM
Hyderabad
Rigged fare meters
Most autorickshaws in Karachi are running with rigged meters. Because of faulty silencers, they are also noisy and emit toxic smoke.
A few months back, the local traffic police launched a campaign against autorickshaws for not replacing faulty silencers with the new approved ones. More than 400 autorickshaws with substandard silencers were impounded by the police.
But the campaign, started with great publicity and fanfare, has been left halfway, as one finds a number of autorickshaws still plying with the old noisy silencers and rigged meters. Moreover, most of the taxi drivers in the city refuse to go by the fare meters owing to official laxity.
The fare meters in taxis are kept out-of-order. The problem merits immediate attention of the traffic police to save commuters from being fleeced daily by autorickshaw and taxi drivers. There is no use of a meter in a taxi or in an autorickshaw if it is of no help to a commuter.
M. SHAFIQUE AHMED
Karachi
NBP workers' pension dues
It has been more than six months since government employees, both central and provincial, were granted a 15 per cent increase in their pensions. But the retired employees of the National Bank of Pakistan are still waiting for their president to issue necessary instructions to the branch offices to disburse monthly pensions at the enhanced rates.
The employees of the State Bank of Pakistan have already been allowed an increase in their pensions long ago.
The serving employees of the NBP got their emoluments increased earlier this year. It is not unusual with the management of the National Bank of Pakistan to make undue delay in taking decisions in such matters, which is leading to bitterness in the bank's rank and file.
I urge the authorities concerned to intervene in this matter and direct the NBP president to ensure payment of the employees' dues in respect of the increase in their pensions.
SH. AMJAD HASSAN
Lahore
Tribute to Steve Waugh
On his retirement from international cricket, Australian captain Steve Waugh was paid tributes by his team, the visiting Indian team and the crowd in the Sydney stadium on the final day of the fourth Test match on January 6. Sitting on the shoulders of his teammates, he got a standing ovation from the crowd.
Just compare this with what treatment we mete out to our cricket heroes when they retire.
KHALID LATIF
Karachi
Eid moon
The world is divisible in different time zones with reference to Greenwich and dateline (24 time zones). In a big country spread over several time zones, it is impossible to have the moon in place to be able to be visible, while two different neighbouring countries may be in the same time zone, and may sight the moon at the same time.
Theoretically, there can be no difference in the time of sighting the moon and calculating it. The question is: should Eid be observed in the whole country on the same day even if it is very big (like Russia) and the moon is clearly visible in one part and in other part it is not sighted?
Obviously, no authority can give a valid judgment and keep the people away from making a local decision. I hope the authorities help end the dispute.
DR SALEEM AHMAD
Karachi
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