| 06 February 2004 | Friday | 14 Zilhaj 1424 |
The Mangla heritage
Role of farm research
Safety of nuclear facilities
Mobile phone service
Colour scheme
Benazir government and the Taliban
Poaching by daredevils
Chaos around hospitals
Bahria Town scam
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With reference to the recently-concluded talks on Safta and its wide media coverage, the general impression being conveyed is that in such regional free Trade agreements (FTAs) economically smaller countries benefit more than bigger countries. Empirically speaking, this is a myth.
It is true that the volume of trade of smaller countries increases significantly in FTAs, but that is not the best measure of prosperity. Most of the benefit of this increased volume is restricted to a very small class of urban traders, and the trickle-down effect on the common man is marginal.
A number of regional FTAs exist around the globe, but the two major ones are US-Canada and EEC agreements. The US-Canada FTA, which was implemented towards the end of the 1980s, resulted in a whopping 25 per cent of the manufacturing sector workers being laid off in Canada. The FTA in Europe had better results, but that was primarily due to the fact that there was no "giant" country in the agreement.
In the Saarc region, India accounts for nearly 80 per cent of the total dollar GDP (unadjusted) of the seven countries - it is definitely a giant in the region. At the recently concluded Saarc conference in Islamabad, only the concept of Safta has been agreed to and the details are yet to be worked out.
I do not oppose "freer" trade between Pakistan, India and the other Saarc nations but I do believe the finer points of such an agreement have to be well-thought-out. The agreement has to fully protect the interests of the country and the common citizens. It has to be ensured that no unemployment is caused by the FTA, our currency is not unduly weakened due to balance-of-payment pressures, there is no demand-pull inflation caused, and the production of our manufactured goods is increased.
This is a tall order and I am not sure whether our present set-up is geared to meet this. But it can be achieved. In this respect the following suggestions are offered:
- A national commission on free trade should be set up under the chairmanship of the commerce minister. The commission should include representatives from all walks of life concerned, including traders, manufacturers, farmers, trade unions, service sector providers, financial sector and consumers. All proposals for the FTA must be cleared by this commission. The commission should actively hold seminars, public forums and invite open public debate on the issue.
- We should strengthen our anti-dumping laws and set up an independent board for reviewing anti-dumping cases and tariff rates.
- We should invite foreign experts to help us review the impact of each and every measure in the proposed FTA. Admittedly, we do not have the local expertise.
- We should have a comprehensive social security system in place, including employment support programmes and unemployment insurance in some cases. Pakistan cannot afford to have so many of its men and women unemployed only to meet the whims of a few.
RAUF BAKSH KADRI
Karachi
The Mangla heritage
Mangla, named after Mangla Devi, the daughter of King Porus, is situated on the banks of the Jhelum River. It is famous for its historic fort, man-made lake spread over 100 square miles, dam, headworks, hydroelectric power station and army garrison, as well as fresh water fish of the Mangla Lake and the Jhelum River (specially mahasher). Mangla is known as the "gateway to Kashmir" where the natural boundaries of the Jhelum River divide Punjab and Kashmir.
The Mangla fort was built before Christ on the hilly side of the Jhelum River, as the water for the river comes from the Himalaya "Vari Nag" fountain and the Wular Lake from the mountains of Kashmir. According to Indus Pacet, a dam was constructed at Mangla, a historical place from where Alexander the Great crossed the Jhelum River, and 10 miles away at a place called "Khari" the forces of Alexander and Raja Porus fought a final battle in which Alexander's armies succeeded. "Khari" is situated at the left bank of the upper Jhelum canal, also known for the shrines of Hazrat Baba Per-i-Shah Ghazi known as "dameirain wali sarkar", and Hazrat Mian Mohammad Sahib, the author of the folk "Saif-ul-Malook".
Maharaja Gulab Singh, the first Dogra ruler of the Jummu and Kashmir state, started his career in the Sikh army as a soldier at the Mangla fort on a salary of Nanakshahi rupees two only.
The Mangla powerhouse generates 1.2 million K.V. electricity which meets 35 per cent demand of the national consumption. The Rohtas fort is 15km from Mangla and five kilometres from G.T. Road. The Rohtas fort was built by Sher Shah Suri in the 16th century and was used as a garrison and Sher Shah Suri had appointed his close companion general Khawas Khan to eliminate the Ghakhar tribe. The headquarters of Ghakhars was the Sultanpur fort situated eight kilometres from the Mangla Fort. Sher Shah Suri's companion, general Khawas Khan, died at Rohtas and his tomb is adjacent to the main gate of the Rohtas Fort known as "Khawas Khani Gate".
Jhelum city is 25km from Mangla on the Jhelum River. The Jhelum city is on the name of the favourite horse of Alexander the Great, "the Jhelum", who died and lies buried at the same place where the city is situated.
It is the need of the time that the Mangla fort be declared as an "international heritage side" and an independent Mangla fort improvement authority be established to rebuild and/or to promote the fort as an international tourist spot.
SAALIM SALAM ANSARI
Karachi
Role of farm research
Your editorial on the "Key role of farm research" (January 20) has appeared at a time when we are in the process of importing wheat in 2004 after attaining self-sufficiency during 2000-2002. The cotton leaf curl virus has again caused serious loss in cotton production this year, which is a cash crop of Pakistan.
The evolution of semi-dwarf Mexican wheat variety and rice Irri varieties was the result of international effort in Mexico and the Philippines which brought about a green revolution in the 1960s in developing countries.
The Mexi-Pak wheat and Irri rice with the passage of time need heavy input (fertilizer and pesticide) for increasing the output. The cost of input and output is, therefore, no more beneficial to farmers. There is, however, an urgent need to raise our crop productivity to attain self-sufficiency in food.
The Punjab governor has advised the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, to establish an agriculture college at the district level (January 25) and thus transfer agricultural skills for maximization of production. Considering the role of agricultural science in the national economy and in agriculture -based industry in Pakistan, the University of Karachi has started teaching agricultural science. The district of Karachi has many a vacant land where fruits and vegetables can be grown profitably. For evolving high-yielding and disease-resistant plants, we should take indigenous varieties of domesticated and wild plants.
The sustainability of plants evolved by crossing indigenous plants will possess inherited properties passed down and acquired through ages in the soil and agro-climatic conditions of the country. Such indigenously-evolved plants will not be easily susceptible to the attack of pests and parasites present in that country.
The alien plants are generally found to succumb to the injuries of local pests and parasites and to the harsh climatic conditions of the country. The process of advanced farming knowledge, skill, and expertise must be had and should be a continuous process for boosting farm production.
DR M. JALALUDDIN
Department of Botany, University of Karachi
Safety of nuclear facilities
After Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan's apology to the nation was televised worldwide, giving her reactions on the subject to the BCC, Ms Asma Jehangir expressed her worries about the "risk to the people of Pakistan". Responding to the newscaster's request for clarifying what she meant by "risk to the people of Pakistan", Ms Jehangir explained that it arose from Pakistan's nuclear facilities being in less-than-secure hands.
One would hope that she said so of her own volition, but the lobby that is out to force the wrapping up of Pakistan's nuclear programme (now the only nuclear power in the Muslim world) would be overjoyed by Ms Jehangir's response. And why shouldn't they? After all, she is building up their case for them.
In an earlier letter I pointed to the fact that, given the publicity she has lately received in the West for her point-blank condemnation of Pakistan's military rulers, Ms Jehangir now believes that she can offer an opinion on any subject under the sun.The overconfidence with which she passes judgment on every issue is frightening because it betrays lack of an objective analysis of each situation and an appreciation of the dangers involved in being tactlessly open. Worse still, it manifests irresponsibility.
There is a whole army of home-grown tactless persons who, without often really meaning to do so, can harm Pakistan's interests beyond repair. Dr Qadeer Khan himself is one such person. What we face today is the result of his many tactless public statements beginning with the one he gave to an Indian journalist in 1984. He too wanted to become Pakistan's Dr Abdul Kalam realizing little that, given India's size, Indians can afford many a blunder, including nuclear proliferation, and can also elevate the likes of Dr Abdul Kalam to the office of the country's president. Pakistan can't afford such luxuries, not after 9/11.
A. B. SHAHID
Karachi
Mobile phone service
The mobile telephone is playing a vital role in the country's economic development. In the near future there will be more cellular subscribers in the country than the fixed-line telephone users, and the Pakistan Tele-Communication Authority (PTA) is expected to expand its infrastructure according to market dictates.
Qila Didar Singh, Gujranwala, is one of the biggest rice markets in Punjab. It is a pity that mobile phones of all subscribers become inactive as soon as they reach Qila Didar Singh because of non-provision of connectivity. The PTA chairman is requested to provide the service to the city.
MUHAMMAD NAZIR CHAHAL
Gujranwala
Colour scheme
Can any of the PIA higher-ups tell me what they were thinking while accepting the national airline's new colour scheme? This has to be the most tasteless and bland colour scheme ever to have been painted on PIA aircraft. I am utterly disappointed. The colour scheme should be done away with as soon as possible.
NAEEM
Singapore
Benazir government and the Taliban
This has reference to the letter "Had Benazir been in power" by Mr Taj Haider (January 4). It is quite ironical to say that Ms Benazir Bhutto could have stopped the Taliban from entering Kabul from Kandahar. In this respect I would like to make the following two points:
One, in whose regime were the Taliban given birth, nourished and allowed to emerge as a force? Was it not her one federal minister who privately or otherwise would boast of doing so, so much so that he claimed to conquer all of Afghanistan in one year? The fact is that if Ms Bhutto's government had not been dismissed in 1996, the Taliban would have overwhelmed Afghanistan, including Kabul much earlier.
Two, if for a while we believe Mr Haider that she could stop the Taliban from entering Kabul from Kandahar, the question arises: why in the first instance were the Taliban allowed to take over Kandahar?
I know that the PPP's serious circles would strongly contradict such indictment, but let me quote excerpts from recent unclassified papers from America's Defence Intelligence Assessment.
"A well-informed source claims that the burgeoning Taliban movement in Afghanistan is being directly supported by Pakistan; believes Pakistan's interior minister is the principal patron of the Taliban, and that the ISI advised against supporting them.
"The ISI Dirgen (director-general) reportedly told ... that he had strongly recommended to PM Bhutto that the GoP not support the Taliban in any way. ..... The (director-) general predicted that the Taliban could become a dangerous and uncontrollable force which could harm both Afghanistan and - potentially - Pakistan."
"Comment: .... is an extremely well-informed and reliable source and we do not doubt that .... there appears to be little doubt that some elements in Pakistan (private and/or governmental) have supported the Taliban ... ."
Had Ms Bhutto had a third stint in power, the scenario could not have been any different from the earlier two. An operation against the MQM could have been another manifestation, with no less force and brutality than in Bosnia, Kosovo, West Bank and Kashmir, that could further alienate the Urdu-speaking community.
In the Kashmir case, she could not have mustered the courage to solve it, as it is now going to be. The PPP is and will remain a major party, but not the biggest. It missed the first bus on the Indo-Pakistan relations at Tashkent during the Ayub era when the founder-chairman of the party was the foreign minister. The second bus was missed at Shimla in 1972 when the founder-chairman was the chief executive of the country. The third was missed when the then Indian prime minister visited Pakistan and was host to Ms Bhutto. The fourth bus was missed in 1999 when the present Indian premier crossed the Pakistan border to Lahore in a bus, and Ms Bhutto opposed it.
She should now be patient and watch this fifth and, perhaps, the final chance through Saarc, with much seriousness and flexibility on both sides plus a strong commitment to leaving their past baggage behind.
Fortunately, for the government and South Asia's 1.4 billion people, and unfortunately for the PPP, Ms Bhutto is not in power today. In the Indian foreign minister's words, they touched the issues and arrived today at something that was not only difficult but also impossible yesterday.
KUNWAR KHALID YUNUS
Islamabad
Poaching by daredevils
I was shocked to read the news (January 16) that a group of senior civilian officials and a lieutenant-general had poached partridges in the Pai forest game reserve of Sindh.
It was shameful the way a lieutenant-general, a chief irrigation engineer, an executive engineer, a medical superintendent and local influential people showed their disregard for the law prohibiting poaching in the reserve forest which has been closed for hunting for three years. Not only that, they have also poached crocodiles in the sanctuary which has been given the highest conservation status.
If it had been a group of ordinary villagers being trigger-happy, one would not have viewed it with such seriousness, but the crime committed by such responsible officials in complete disregard to the law and restrictions is a matter which cannot be ignored. The crime seems more heinous as it was committed with the support of a police and army contingent.
Since cases against these people have been registered, they should not be allowed to wriggle out of facing the law. To begin with, they should be suspended so that they cannot influence proceedings. Their departments should also not provide any protection to them. Let them face the music so that an example is set that the law is still the supreme authority in the country.
MAJ (R) SYED ALAMDAR HUSSAIN
Karachi
Chaos around hospitals
I am a frequent traveller on Karachi's Rafiqui Shaheed Road which happens to have four large busy hospitals, namely Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, National Institute of Child Health, National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and the Kidney Centre. Emergency patients are rushed to the first three hospitals.
This road is said to have two lanes each side. However, one side from School Road/Old Kalapul towards Sharea Faisal hardly operates in one lane only. Traffic rolls bumper to bumper from the Kidney Centre to the petrol pump adjacent to the NICVD. The reason is that the footpath has been encroached upon by chemists shops and tea/fast food vendors, and pushcarts are parked on the road. A few taxis also hang around and, therefore, one lane is not operational. Buses and coaches stop anywhere they wish to either drop or pick up passengers.
Ambulances transporting emergency patients to the three large hospitals are helpless in spite of the sirens blowing to the maximum and the emergency lights revolving on top of the vehicles. The journey from the Regent Plaza Hotel corner on the road up to the hospitals may cost them five to 10 minutes or more. During this period what can happen to patients is not difficult to imagine.
M. TAZAM SHAIKH
Karachi
Bahria Town scam
The Bahria Foundation (Pakistan Navy) launched two projects of Bahria Town in Islamabad/Rawalpindi and Lahore in 1996/1997. The projects were widely publicized and people were invited to purchase plots of various sizes. A membership fee, besides down payment of the land, was charged. Development charges were to be paid in five instalments.
People overwhelmingly subscribed to this scheme because it was a project of the Bahria Foundation. In all stationery, advertisements, circulars and news letters, the project authorities prominently displayed the two logos of the Bahria Foundation PN and Bahria Town, a project of the Bahria Foundation Pakistan Navy.
In their news letter in 1998 they even informed the members/purchasers that they had already completed the development work, and all other related works were being completed according to schedule. Provisional allotment letters were also issued.
Unfortunately, without the members' consent, the Bahria Foundation sold both projects to a newly- incorporated private company, known as Bahria Town (Private) Ltd. This was in breach of the trust reposed by the people who had purchased plots because of the fact that the Bahria Foundation was the promoter of the projects.
After collecting all instalments and other payments from the members, the new management of Bahria Town (Pvt) Ltd. arbitrarily demanded exorbitant additional development charges and threatened to cancel the allotments if payments were not made.
I also purchased plots in the name of my children in both the schemes and am a victim of this scam. I request the president, who is also the chairman of the joint chiefs of the staff committee, to order an inquiry into this residential scheme sponsored by the Pakistan Navy.
A VICTIM
Karachi
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