| 18 January 2004 | Sunday | 25 Ziqa'ad 1424 |
Saarc: the road ahead
Woe betide the tax-paying consumer
The balcony of Chajjoo Bhagat
Civil hospital remains neglected
There is an ideology that is universal and the evidence lies in every greeting card. In October, hundreds of millions of Hindus sent Diwali greetings; in November hundreds of millions of Muslims did the same for Eid; and in December hundreds of millions of Christians had the same message for Christmas.
One simple phrase was common across continents, cultures, religions, languages: we all wished one another 'peace and prosperity'.
It is easy to believe in prosperity. Even those politicians who sabotage prosperity pay lip service to it. Peace is a different matter. It must compete against the muscular rhetoric of war. What chance does a dove have against an eagle? The eagle has perched on the banner of empires from Rome to Washington. Has any nation been so foolish as to provide its standard-bearer with a dove to hold? The dove might flourish in Picasso's hand but those who paint Guernica are not given the helm of nations.
The gods of war have, understandably, given peace a bad name. They have advertised it as a synonym for submission. They hint slyly that it is sentimental rather than hard-headed. But peace is anything but sentimental. War is the tool of oppression. Peace is the ultimate objective of every sense of security. Peace is a dove with steel talons.
It is a relationship between equals. It is not an equation from algebra, for no two nations can find the precise symmetry of myriad factors that will create the algebraic balance. Peace is better defined by another word that derives from Arabic, alchemist (the Arabic al is added to the Greek kimia; for those interested in trivia, alcohol is also originally from Arabic, a variation of al-kohl). Peace is a solution found in chemistry, the dream of a political alchemist.
The ranking alchemist in politics is surely Atal Behari Vajpayee. When was the last time that an executive head of Pakistan paid such fulsome tribute to a prime minister of India? When was the last time that Indian and Pakistani leaders embraced one another as warmly as Vajpayee and Zafarullah Khan Jamali did? It was not the kind of act you can put on.
President Pervez Musharraf was sincere when he gave credit to Vajpayee's "vision, commitment and flexibility" for the breakthrough in Islamabad in the first week of January. Each of the three words is significant: we will understand the extent of the flexibility over time, but there is no doubt about vision and commitment.
Remarkably, nothing in Vajpayee's past prepared him for such a future. He has been part of an ideological movement that sought to marginalize India's Muslims and then confront Pakistan after it was created. He grew up in the Jana Sangh before becoming the father figure, and now the indispensable vote-winner of the Bharatiya Janata Party. There were signs along the way that while he was of the party, he also had a vision that raised him above it.
He could not restrain his tears at the death of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964. When the mistakes of Indira Gandhi enabled him to become foreign minister in 1977, he used his three years in office to set a liberal agenda for his country. In 1977, the memory of the Indo-China war was only 15 years old, but Vajpayee sought a thaw across the Himalayas and made a vital visit to Beijing. He also eased the terrible strain in relations with Pakistan created by the wars of 1965 and 1971, principally by easing the visa regime and encouraging cricket between the two nations.
Morarji Desai as prime minister took all the credit and was even awarded the Nishan-i-Pakistan by General Ziaul Haq, but the initiative was Vajpayee's. (Morarji had a variant approach to foreign affairs. He believed for instance that Indira Gandhi made a mistake by ensuring the creation of Bangladesh: it was not Bangladesh that was liberated from Pakistan, he believed, but Pakistan that was liberated from Bangladesh. Thirty years later the view is at least worth examining.)
When more than five years ago, a series of silly miscalculations by his opponents enabled Vajpayee to become prime minister, he set out to implement a simple but powerful vision for his country and the region: peace and prosperity.
His own party faithful had problems with this vision. They were apprehensive, to say the least, of any deal with Pakistan, and they were vociferous about the means Vajpayee adopted to reach a measure of prosperity. Curiously, hardline elements in the Hindutva family spoke the language of socialists and swadeshi to sabotage the exceptional thrust to liberalization that is now producing results.
Peace really has only one definition in the context of the subcontinent: peace between India and Pakistan. If the two cooperate, the seven nations of the Saarc can hope for a way out of their poverty. We have seen what happens when they do not.
There are moments when one feels both overwhelmed and underwhelmed. The opportunities that await the region through peace are astounding. But it has rained so often on the parade of events that India and Pakistan now protect themselves with nuclear umbrellas. So why should a free-trade zone by 1 January 2006 be nothing more than a mirage, two more years within which we can all fool ourselves? Why should the joint statement in which Pakistan gave a commitment that no territory under its control would be used to foment cross-border terrorism be nothing but a piece of paper, a means to extend the conflict by other means?
We have every right to be cautious, but not cynical. Vajpayee was cautious when he left for Pakistan.
Just before Pakistan's high commissioner in Delhi, Aziz Ahmad Khan, left for Islamabad in late December to join his delegation for Saarc and the attendant bilateral talks, he went for a highly unusual meeting. He called on Vajpayee and his trusted confidant, national security adviser Brajesh Mishra. The meeting could not be kept a complete secret, but it was shrouded in silence.
It is reasonable to assume that every step of the diplomatic tango that took place in Islamabad was carefully choreographed. But wise men never travel without an insurance policy in their pockets, and Vajpayee, having lived through Kargil and Agra, took no chances. Word was deliberately put out that nothing much would happen. The body language on arrival was polite rather than cordial. The embrace at departure signalled that much had been achieved, and more was in the works.
Why? One very good answer is because Musharraf was now ready for a positive response. Again, why? There is tacit agreement that the cost of confrontation has taken too heavy a toll on two generations, and should not be visited upon a third. An age of economics has replaced the ideologies of conflict. People want a peace that brings prosperity. This is not a sentimental conclusion.
In India voters have rejected the rhetoric of confrontation and are demanding good governance. They are not partisan about it. They defeated the Congress where it could not deliver, and put it back in power where it could. Vajpayee ordered his party's campaigners not to demonize Musharraf in their search for votes in the crucial recent Assembly elections.
In Pakistan, the massive outlay on the military is visibly affecting economic progress. There is a genuine 'feel good' factor across India: when both Sehwag and the stock exchange start hitting high numbers, you have every right to feel good. Pakistanis want their economy to move at the same pace.
Vajpayee has placed the options before the subcontinent clearly and candidly: choose between rational economics and petty political prejudices. Choose between mistrust and trust, accord and discord, tension and peace. Open the borders, he said, and have the courage to dream. If Europe could defeat its history to become the model for the future, why not South Asia?
Goodwill, of course is not good enough. Kashmir as a problem will not disappear. Musharraf has made it equally clear that India and Pakistan have to heal a wound that has turned septic. Vajpayee has delivered on his side of the commitment: there will be three rounds of talks at the level of foreign secretaries in February alone. We do not know what will happen, but we have a clue. Vajpayee told Pakistan Television that in his view Kashmir has never been discussed between the two countries as honestly as it should be.
The strategies of peace are more complex than those of war. The process will take its time, but the parameters have been fixed: there is space at this round table for anyone with a grievance, but without a gun.
No one ever drew a gun on a greeting card.
The writer is editor-in-chief, Asian Age, New Delhi.
Saarc: the road ahead
In an interview with the BBC at the end of the Saarc conference, Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali spoke of the road ahead for India-Pakistan as one beset with "speed breakers" rather than "road blocks".
This is an apt description of the tasks, challenges and the risks ahead for the top leadership of the two countries. "Sacrifices," Mr Jamali said, "would have to be made by both to help resolve all long-standing issues and ensure regional peace and tranquillity." Those opposed to the process of peace and brotherhood could be countered only through the determination of the peace-makers to stand fast by the resolutions made at the conference.
Mr Jamali's optimistic view of the journey ahead, though ingrained in the successful conclusion of the conference, had a flip side too. Embarked on a potentially perilous journey, there would be hardly any skipping or skirting around the pitfalls suddenly leaping out of the dark to impede if not derail the peace process.
On the Pakistan side, the "speed breakers" include the rage of the fundamentalists and their loud protests over the 'sell- out' of the Kashmir jihad, 'the process of equating jihad with terrorism', the perceived compromise on the nuclear programme and the ongoing investigations into the conduct of some of our nuclear scientists under American pressure. These may well turn into road blocks.
The military government's expedient volte face vis-a-vis India from President Musharraf's post-Agra 'lay off' to the terms of endearment used for visiting Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his entourage raised eyebrows in the national press and political circles.
The president's statement that there was neither a "winner nor a loser" in the bargain would do little to assuage the anger of some editorial writers against Pakistan's perceived succumbing to Mr Vajpayee's "moves". One paper (and quite a few others sharing its views) has placed the full and final resolution of the Kashmir dispute above all other issues.
The supreme commander of the Azad Kashmir-based militant Hizbul Mujahideen group and the Muttahida Jihad Council, Syed Salahuddin, has dismissed the Islamabad Declaration and all the other agreements concluded at the conference as 'nothing but paperwork'. It will not stop the 14-year-old 'insurgency', he commented. Without questioning the right of the guerrilla leader to speak his mind for or against Pakistan's strategy for a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue, one could take exception to his using Pakistan's soil for voicing his militant views.
After the sea change in the global and regional geo-strategic environment and the ensuing war against terrorism, Pakistan can ill-afford to let the jihadis have the benefit of sabre rattling from its side of the LoC. This would be particularly so after the declaration of a unilateral ceasefire along the line and India's matching response to it.
It's time for the jihadis, therefore, to realize that by continuing to use Pakistani territory as their operational base and for their forays across the LoC and deeper, they will be undermining the true indigenous character of the Kashmiris' freedom struggle besides hurting Pakistan's security. Apart from such diplomatic and moral support as Pakistan has been extending to the Kashmiri freedom fighters, its deeper, physical involvement with it will be counter-productive. It will do serious damage to Pakistan's credibility internationally without advancing the image and character of the freedom struggle as one of Kashmiris, by Kashmiris and for Kashmiris.
A major point to consider is that the 'jihadi' chant and the label attaching to the Kashmiri struggle, because of the unguarded utterances of Pakistan-based militant groups, sucks the country into the uncharted realm of terrorism. The militants must now stop and debate the wisdom of saddling a purely patriotic and indigenous freedom fight with the image of jihad. The problem now to face arises from the distinction between jihadi militancy and terrorism.
India and much of the world continues to look at the Kashmir freedom fight as a foreign-supported terrorist campaign despite some 60,000 to 70,000 Kashmiris having already lost their lives in it. The additional protocol on the Suppression of Terrorism adopted at the Saarc summit used UNSC Resolution 1373 of September 28, 2001 as its bedrock. This, to my mind, has been a serious omission when viewed strictly in the bilateral India- Pakistan perspective.
India's meat may well be Pakistan's poison when coming to grips with a working definition of the Kashmiri armed struggle as a jihad or a terrorist campaign. While the Saarc protocol stands, the Pakistani media would do well to go slow on the jihadi idiom and imagery used for what is essentially a people's war in Kashmir against an occupying force.
As for the 'road blocks', no less than four stand out for us to see and avoid as far as possible. These are the threat to the personal security of the president, the issues attaching to the safety and protection of nuclear assets, a sudden about-turn by India under internal pressure and as a part of their snap election strategy, and, unrelated to the Saarc summit, a violent resurgence of aggressive tribalism under the banner of Islamic jihad in the wake of our ongoing operations in Waziristan and elsewhere.
In a contingency like that ever arising, the role of Pakistan-unfriendly elements in Afghanistan could not be ruled out.
As for road-block one, concerning the threat to the personal security of the president, it would be hard to exaggerate it after the two attacks in the second and third weeks of December right in the middle of the Rawalpindi and the Chaklala cantonments. About the safety and security of our nuclear assets, the allegations against some of our top nuclear scientists peddling nuclear technology for money cast a shadow, long and dark, on our ability fully to safeguard our nuclear secrets and assets.
The remnants of the jihadi militants regrouping and emerging, with renewed energy and resolve, their 'terrorist' campaign is also a cause for worry. They have extensive networks and supporters in and outside the government.
Regardless of the bumpy and tricky path ahead the 12th Saarc summit had been an unprecedented achievement destined to move on like the 'expanding torrent' turning around the obstacles slowing it down where forced but keeping up its forward thrust. The process the summit has initiated can be reversed only at tremendous and unaffordable cost to India, Pakistan and the region as a whole.
The Islamabad Declaration is a peacetime protocol to prohibit, armed conflict and eradicate irritants leading to it. Read with the Social Charter, it provides the framework for regional development, sustained peace, good-neighbourliness, and respect for the "principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity (and) national independence" for the member states.
The writer is a retired brigadier of the Pakistan army.
Woe betide the tax-paying consumer
This young colleague of mine who has just bought a small house for his family in Gulistan-i-Jauhar was complaining about the quality of the construction of the premises. There was something philosophical about the mildness with which he was going about his narration of detail. And in particular, there was one aspect of his lament that was disturbing, to say the least.
In fact it was horrifying. He said when he walked briskly on the roof there was a feeling of some kind of tremors. He is an engineer and knew what he was saying. Would the roof cave in?
Some others who heard him found it funny and laughed. Before I forget, let me underline the fact this colleague is a safety engineer, and so his perceptions have a professional dimension, and authenticity as well.
Now I don't think that all this criticism of the quality of the newly-bought house was any laughing matter. Nothing funny, honestly speaking. It is grim reality. The man has perhaps been cheated, and he wanted to know why there wasn't any building law that could provide him any relief.
One felt this poor colleague reflected the general helplessness of the consumer and the tax-paying citizen in this society. One has deliberately mentioned the tax-paying citizen or the tax-paying consumer in this society, for there are non-tax paying consumers who do not feel the pinch as such, or as much. They do not pay their taxes, or underpay and do not bother about having that National Tax Number. How they get away with it is strange, and baffling. Though not quite.
Stretching the example further one can underline the fact that this society has no roadmap at all for the poor consumer. The white collar worker finding it miserably uphill to keep that collar white. His interests are not even taken into account, and he is a loser all the way.
One sarcastic citizen said the best and only protection for the consumer was to be affluent and have the purchasing power that enables you to tide over the crisis created by unscrupulous traders, and exploitative businessmen. Someone added that they should be described as straightforward cheats, and not as regular traders. "You can't be sure of anything being original", he said.
And there is no genuine, effective platform to protect the rights of the consumer, the tax-payers, argued some Karachiites, over lunch during the week, as they contemplated the fact that there was held a seminar on Monday (12th January) on "protection of consumers interest, fostering of consumer resistance, and the necessity of consumer courts." It was organised by a certain Consumer Council.
Now lets face it: we have heard such seminar talk before. But this one was reportedly different and said a news report that "Due to utter disregard by the ruling elite of welfare and development of the oppressed section of the society exploitation of consumers has reached its height as the country has never seen such a culture of plunder and loot before". One would like to underline the anger and the despair in the tone of this report.
The report further says that "despite many incentives given to the various sectors the present government has apparently failed to check the price hike of all consumer goods, ranging from cars to essential commodities. By deliberately enhancing economic disparity among the different regions as well as individuals, the morally and intellectually corrupt ruling elite have divided the society into different segments to propel their interests".
It is significant that there are now being heard voices that contend that the ruling elite are responsible for the exploitation of the consumer. More and more voices now insist that the decision makers have to be held responsible, all kinds of decision makers.
It could well be a matter of debate as to who should be held responsible and who is guilty of having let down the poor consumer. Disappointing is the fact that in half a century plus that we have had independence, we have failed to create consumer platforms that would do justice to the enormity of the challenge that cheats have posed, repeatedly, and with impunity.
The problem of the tax-paying consumer (white collar worker) is that there is not just the price hike that is eroding his purchasing power, and self-respect, there is the frustration too of dealing with fake, counterfeit and substandard goods. Even our food items are fake, and counterfeit, and this long-standing adulteration only endangers and aggravates the health of the individual. That malnutrition is a huge impediment in providing quality of life to the average citizen is yet another dimension to the way in which the majority lives from day to day.
Indeed the day-to-day story of the citizen is amply reflected in the way he gets his daily water supply. That is if he gets it. It is not difficult to imagine the dread and the despair of the affected citizens when they read that a 48-inch diameter water pipeline burst for the fourth time in two weeks near the Nagan Chowrangi, which of course is a locality that is densely populated, and where reside the low=income common man of this city.
It is worrying also for those who were unaffected by this particular water pipeline burst as it was indicative of the general state of the water pipelines in town, a rich town which has never spent enough on its infrastructure; where the citizens have improved upon their personal property, or residence at the cost of the society as a whole. Rich people, poor city. That tells the story of this country also, in a way.
Take the water context. The water supply lines are old, have outlived their utility. The water supply in terms of being fit for human consumption is often a matter of doubt, and disbelief. So what the affluent citizens have done is to have switched over to the mineral water option, and that mention alone tells you what one is alluding to. Eat cake where there is no bread. No Atta for that matter.
In the case of this water-main burst, they said mischief was also a cause, and which reminds one of the bomb blast that took place near the Pakistan Bible Society reading room opposite Avari Towers. Let the Karachiites think of the elitist nature of the locality, and all the VIP property and places that are located in that vicinity.
There was some mention in that water pipeline burst story of some kind of an official "promise" that all the pipelines in the city are going to be changed at a cost of Rs1.2 billion. We hope that it is not a pipe dream.
The consumer, especially the tax-paying consumer, has been fed on promises and pipe dreams for long. One feels weary and let down even as one says this.
Things are so disappointing and hopeless in a way that one is hardly ever sure of buying the genuine and the original items in our commercial areas which are thriving on the spurious, the bogus, and the counterfeit.
One Karachiite commented, stretching the lament further, that the bogus was not limited to goods and services alone. "There is a network of bogus people too". So beware.
The balcony of Chajjoo Bhagat
Lahore has always had an exceptionally deep connection with the mystic. The eternal search for truth remains part of the Lahori character, and men who sought the truth have always been respected. One such seer was a man named Chajjoo Sahaf.
Most people in the old city remember Chajjoo Sahaf with reference to his balcony, or Chubbara as it is known. Chajjoo Sahaf underwent a transformation from a sahaf -- goldsmith -- to become Chajjoo Bhagat. Born inside the walled city almost 450 years ago in the days when Emperor Shah Jehan was reigning, he belonged to the elite Bhat Rajput clan, and, in all probability, was originally called Chajjoo Bhatti.
He had a goldsmith's shop inside the walled city and was known as an honest and God-fearing man. His interest in the world around him led him to start a search within himself for what was the 'ultimate' truth. The stage was set for him to seek out sages, and it was during his free hours that he would spend long hours with well-known men of his times.
Among his many friends were Hazrat Mian Mir, Balla Pir Lahori, Washah Balla Dal and Sheikh Ismail, also known as Mian Vaddah. There is no doubt that such company is a rare honour in any age or time, and it was under the influence of such men that Chajjoo Sahaf began to question the issues of life and death. As he was a man of means, he decided to spend more time on his search for truth. By this time he had built a house just outside the walled city in the Gowalmandi area. If you happen to head from Gowalmandi Chowk along Railway Road, just 200 yards ahead is a building with a huge balcony jutting out. This is the 'Chubbara of Chajjoo Bhagat'.
Chajjoo decided to lodge on the first floor and cut off all entry to his balcony except for a ladder, which he would lower when the need arose. From there he would observe the world and think about the issues that bothered him. He would leave in the evening to discuss issues with his friends, and return at night, or early in the morning, to his position on his balcony. The stories about Chajjoo abound as to his mystical and occult powers.
But being a Bhagat, he was sworn never to drink alcohol, eat meat, tell lies and to worship only the Almighty. He believed that the Almighty, no matter how you address him, could be reached by searching within oneself, for this search gives man immense power. It was a simple message, but one that appealed to every religious belief.
As time passed, the fame of Chajjoo Bhagat spread far and wide. One legend has it that once an official of the Moghal court came to him with a purse of gold coins. He implored him to examine them and tell him whether they were real or fake. Chajjoo smiled as he took the purse and said: "Your intentions are not clean, and visiting me will change your life". He examined the gold and informed the courtier that they were all genuine. Once the purse had been returned, the courtier accused Chajjoo of stealing one coin. This accusation he rejected and told him to go away. Very soon, the court guards arrived and searched the entire premises. Nothing was found. On this, the courtier beat up Chajjoo Bhagat and left asking him to make good his loss within a few days.
The legend goes on to say that when the courtier reached his home, he found his dear wife twisting and turning in pain as if she was being beaten up. She very soon reached the point of dying when she was told that the courtier had just the same day beaten up Chajjoo Bhagat for stealing a gold coin. The wife promptly confessed to stealing the coin. On this, the courtier rushed to Chajjoo to beg forgiveness, which he promptly gave.
There are other such stories about this remarkable bhagat, who soon began to be recognized as a sufi sage. But all the people who came to him were asked to leave and search within themselves. "Do not waste your time on a mortal like me, search for the beautiful human within you", he would advise.
When Chajjoo Bhagat died in 1054 AH, the same courtier who had whipped him built a marble temple at the place where he used to spend his time. The balcony was never touched. Over time other Hindu priests lay claim to his lineage and made good money out of his name. In the evenings, hymns and qawwalis used to be sung there, and one learns from several elders inside the old city that one could never make out to which religion he belonged. The universality of the appeal of Chajjoo Bhagat continues to this day.
At the time of the partition of the Punjab, people occupied the house of Chajjoo, but no one dared to touch the balcony. With time it began to decay. During the "dark ages" of the Zia era, several "men of God" tried to burn down the balcony. Locals inform us that it just would not catch fire. In the end an old-timer from the walled city told the mob of the story of the royal courtier and how they risked injuring themselves.
An eyewitness of this scene confessed that within a few minutes everyone left the place never to attempt to harm the balcony of Chajjoo Bhagat. The house of the 'priest' who led the mob burnt down a week later, or so the legend goes in the area.
Hazrat Mian Mir is said to have advised a pupil of his: "Go to meet Chajjoo Bhagat if you want to know the ways of the Almighty, for you will never make out his religion because he is a man in search of the Almighty". In this age and time when we have learnt to hate others with such vehemence, it makes sense to remember what Chajjoo Bhagat said: "Why preach, why not cleanse ourselves first?"
Civil hospital remains neglected
The district headquarters civil hospital seems to be a neglected institution. Patients are suffering badly due to acute shortage of paramedical staff, medicines and necessary equipment.
According to a survey conducted by this correspondent recently, DHQ was the sole government-run hospital in the region for a population of 3.8 million which was being neglected for the last one decade and remains deprived of modern methods of treatment.
The DHQ is a 400-bed hospital. It has two medical and two surgical wards. There are two gynae and ENT wards, besides departments for orthopaedics, urology and cardiology. There is also an operation theatre and an emergency ward. However, these are insufficient to meet the needs of the growing number of patients. There are five ambulances most of which are out of order. People have to hire private vans for shifting serious patients to Lahore.
According to a report, an ultra-sound machine and two X-ray machines could not fulfil the requirements of patients many of whom have to obtain the services of private clinics for the purpose.
The sole telephone exchange of the DHQ was lying out of order and the administration was facing difficulties in contacting the doctors and paramedical staff. It is stated that medical superintendents in the past did not take interest in resolving these problems despite enough funds. Instead, complaints of irregularities and corruption in issuing medico-legal certificates by some doctors have surfaced.
When contacted, the new medical superintendent, Dr Nisar Ahmad Cheema, confirmed this and hinted that he was taking strict action against the corrupt and inefficient medical officers and staff following an inquiry.
He pointed out that previous medical superintendents could not resolve the problems of the biggest civil hospital of region and government funds worth Rs5.7 million had lapsed. He said that about 1,000 patients came to the DHQ daily for treatment but they were facing a lot of problems due to acute shortage of doctors and paramedical staff, besides the crucial medicines and equipment.
He revealed that only one gynae lady doctor out of six was working here and women patients had to face many problems. Similarly, around 70 male medical officers and paramedical staff were working in DHQ who could not handle a large number of patients daily.
He suggested that the number of medical officers and paramedical staff should be increased instantly and sufficient medicines and funds be provided. At the same time, the operation theatre and emergency ward should be expanded and the number of beds increased. He said that the problems of indoor and outdoor wards should be resolved on a priority basis and waiting rooms and an information department be set up.
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Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) claimed to have issued over 157,000 telephone connections through 285 exchanges in the region so far while the capacity of new telephone connections was more than 200,000.
This was stated by Gujranwala telecom region (GTR) general manager Muhammad Anwar at a meeting here the other day. Deputy general manager Chaudhry Muhammad Bashir, director telegraph Ilyas Pretem, director development Chaudhry Muhammad Hanif, director accounts Amanullah and other senior officers attended.
The meeting was told that about 50,000 new telephone connections would be provided to the people who had filed applications in the region during the current fiscal year as the lines were being laid in various districts and cities. The meeting was told that about 30,385 subscribers were availing the CLI facility and 45,547 subscribers the internet facility at their telephone connections.
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The traffic police claimed to have issued 374,705 challan tickets and fined vehicle owners Rs76.61 million collectively on the charge of violation of traffic laws in the six districts of the division during the year 2003.
This was stated by SP traffic at the monthly traffic meeting here the other day. The meeting was told that about 166,389 challan tickets were issued in Gujranwala, 62,174 in Gujrat, 74,235 in Sialkot, 14,300 in Narowal, 26,212 in Mandi Bahauddin and 31,395 in Hafizabad during the year.
He pointed out that about 2,355 people were booked on the charge of reckless driving while 1,781 driving licences were suspended and 677 route permits of various vehicles were cancelled on serious charges. He said that the traffic system was being revamped.