| 07 February 2004 | Saturday | 15 Zilhaj 1424 |
Remembering Zafrulla Khan
Cooperative housing societies
Curbing underage driving
PMDC's working
Individual and society
Indo-Pakistan cricket series
Textbook boards
'The new jehalat'
Kashmir figures
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This is an update concerning the import of wheat as the prices of wheat and flour continue to escalate due to an exorbitant procurement price being paid by the Pakistan Agriculture Supply and Storage Corporation (Passco) without any check.
Early July last year the ministry of finance and other relevant authorities were apprised of a possible wheat shortage because the so-called availability of the commodity in abundance was on paper only, and the international prices were close to $140-165 per tonne.
The ministry's response (letter No. I(I) AEA (C)/ 2003-769, dated 4.8.2003) was positive in stating to the extent that "at present sufficient quantities of wheat are available in the country and no imports are required at this point of time".
The question arises: how come the so-called "sufficient quantities" in the country disappeared and the need arose for import of large quantities and that too at a high price of $224.75 per tonne C&F FO (free out) Karachi from Australia at their first tender which opened on January 6, 2004, for 145,000 tonnes, requiring the entire quantity to be delivered by February 15? But the finally-awarded contract allowed the arrival of cargo up to March 6.
American suppliers lodged a protest with Minfal and Passco for relaxing the arrival schedule asked for in the original tender. Incidentally, Egypt placed an order for a similar cargo from Australia at $165-175 per tonne.
It is an irony that Passco's 150,000 tonnes of Australian wheat is meant for the poor of Sindh and Balochistan. Surprisingly, Passco called for yet an additional quantity of 150,000 tonnes tender, but this time for medium hard wheat which is still costlier in international market and a quality that has never been imported in Pakistan. Once again Passco made last-minute changes to the specifications, disallowing soft white wheat and thus reducing the number of contenders from 14 in the first bidding to five at the second calling. And the award went to an Australian supplier, as earlier, at $224.75 per tonne, ignoring the lower offer of $214.00 from Australia.
Contrary to the foregoing, the Indian wheat which conforms to and meets Passco's specification is available at about $170/MT C&F FO (free out) Karachi. Moreover, this cargo could reach much before our wheat harvesting, whereas Passco's first award of 145,000 tonnes of wheat cannot arrive in time unless it is a floater cargo, which is disallowed as per the award.
The Indian prime minister has also recently offered to export any commodity required by Pakistan, but Minfal and Passco are ignoring import of wheat from India on the pretext that the same is infected. While cotton and other commodities are being imported from India, why are we reluctant to import wheat to save about $20 million that can be spent to reduce poverty in Sindh and Balochistan.
The matter calls for immediate investigation.
KHWAJA WALI NIZAMI
Karachi
Remembering Zafrulla Khan
On his birth anniversary, February 6, many of Zafrulla Khan's admirers, individually and collectively, paid homage to the memory of a very able man who rendered devoted and selfless service for well-nigh the better part of a century to the people of British India, Pakistan and the Muslim world.
Worldwide he commanded stature as a jurist, political leader and diplomat. Even at the very young age of 40 while cross-examining Winston Churchill at the Joint Select Committee - the sequel to the Round Table Conferences - meetings on issues surrounding the movement of India towards independence he exacted enviable, though left-handed but rich, compliments from him on his ability, and the courteous and constructive manner in which he conducted the questioning.
This was an interesting encounter. A giant being hemmed in by a green blade. Zafrulla Khan himself in his memoirs so graphically captures the scene, ambience and Churchill's personality. He writes: "My attitude was deferential, tone respectful bordering almost on the apologetic, with a slight touch of deference. Mr Churchill was cautious, but made a reluctant concession here, a grudging admission there, hedged round with ifs and buts and provides.
When he perceived that he was letting himself be persuaded to yield ground, he began to evade the question put to him, so that it had to be reframed with great care. On one occasion, he slipped out of answering the question in one direction, and when the question was carefully rephrased, he slipped out in another direction. My tone, then, became blander, almost humble: Mr Churchill, I beg to be forgiven. I am under a disadvantage. English is not my mother tongue. I have twice failed to make my meaning clear. Will you permit me to try once more?
The response was a gracious: Please, please. The question was put a third time in a shape that did not admit of evasion. Thereafter, both the examiner and witness became more alert. The committee adjourned. The examination was resumed next morning and continued for another hour. When the questioner concluded with an expression of thanks to the eminent witness, the witness went on record with: My Lord Chairman, May I be permitted to say that I have not noticed that Mr Zafrulla Khan suffers any disadvantage from lack of knowledge of the English language?
"When at the end of the fourth day his examination was completed, the cheers of The Committee had the quality of an ovation. He rose from his seat, shook me by the hand and growled: You have given me the two most difficult hours before the Committee."
M. J. AS'AD
Karachi
Cooperative housing societies
With an investment of over Rs100 billion, Punjab cooperative housing societies pose a big challenge to the provincial administration and the judiciary. The default ratio is more than 25 per cent.
In Rawalpindi alone, more than 40 schemes have been registered. There is just one grade 17 officer who has got all government and judicial powers.
The management of this department has been a tale of scandals since the early '90s. Some people, without having basic knowledge of the law, wanted to keep judicial powers with the department. So, they deliberately and legally bound the public not to approach any court for justice. They wanted to do the judiciary's work without having a degree of law or any formal training. The concentration of all powers in one department has harmed the interest of cooperative societies.
In a PTV programme some time back, speakers admitted there were grey areas in the working of cooperative societies. Those invited from the government side, including the provincial cooperatives minister, said their role extended to the point of only assisting the societies in important matters, and the societies could appoint auditors themselves to verify the accounts.
The societies had elected bodies to look after the problems, he said and remarked that the Cooperative Act of 1925 was too old. For necessary changes, a bill will be submitted soon in the provincial assembly for its approval.
But another hidden truth is that in the tenure of the same minister, the deputy registrar, Rawalpindi, was transferred. Since last September the same circle registrar has been doing the additional work of the deputy registrar. The most interesting element in this issue is that a notification of the governor was issued in which the same circle registrar was declared unfit/premature to deal with larger societies having more than 25,000 shares.
Thus, he was not supposed to deal with four topmost societies of Rawalpindi, and instead an officer of grade 18 should do that work to safeguard the interest of the public. But soon after this, the grade 18 officer was transferred, and the same circle registrar of grade 17 started dealing with more than 40 societies. Because of the extra load he is unable to start hearing the case submitted to him last November.
I request all - the governor, the chief minister, the cooperatives minister and the Punjab chief justice - to spare some time to resolve the problem. The judiciary must be separated to ensure justice to the public.
PERVAIZ NADIR
Islamabad
Curbing underage driving
It was nice reading in your paper of January 25 what Mr Omar R. Quraishi has said about "curbing under-age driving". Apart from what he has drawn our attention to, worse is the sight which one sees every morning when school buses shoot past red traffic lights and schoolchildren scream in glee over the bravery of the drivers who have a munificent smile playing on their face. If from that tender an age our children learn that breaking laws is an occasion to rejoice and that rules are made to be broken, what hope do we have for future?
Once I had the temerity to ask a traffic constable why he did not check a young driver who had jumped a red light and the answer I got was pretty stunning. The constable said that Hum ko apni naukri ko khatray main naheen daalna. Give this remark a serious thought. How do we expect any public servant to perform his duty with dignity and honour when high-ups and influential people of our society consider it their privilege and that of their children to break rules and take pride in doing so?
Once I had the unique honour of meeting a minister in days gone by and was told quite blatantly that he being the representative of the public had every right to make or break any and all rules, for after all they were made in the interest of the public and he being the representative of the public had every right to do as he deemed fit in the interest of the public. I immediately receded into my shell lest his honour should find it fit to bash my face in the interest of the public.
In the past it was considered a display of good breeding and education if those in power followed rules, but today it is a matter of honour and dignity to violate any laws and rules. Those who do not do so are considered to be cowards.
S. M. JUNAID
Karachi
PMDC's working
It is a matter of satisfaction that the health minister has categorically informed the Senate that no medical and dental colleges will be recognized unless they fulfil the standards set by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), a regulatory body for such institutions. However, the criterion for recognition of medical colleges set by the regulatory body is different for the private medical colleges from the one prescribed for medical colleges in the public sector.
Similarly, PMDC inspectors view things differently when they are inspecting the two sets of medical colleges - the private and the public. If the standards were applied to the public sector medical colleges, none of them would merit recognition.
The PMDC should, therefore, set uniform standards for both the private and public medical institutions and avoid discriminatory attitude towards the private medical colleges. If done, it will be an act of justice and improve the image of the council in the eyes of all concerned.
I hope the health minister reviews the recognition criteria. It is suggested that recognition of all those institutions - whether public or private - which do not meet the standards set by the council should be withdrawn forthwith to set an example.
DR ARSHAD HUSSAIN
Karachi
Individual and society
Freedom is an exclusive privilege of all individuals. Still in the final analysis, we find all man-made institutions shaped to work against the liberty of human beings.
Individual liberty has always been intrinsically at odds with the restraints imposed by society. Individual-family relationships and individual-clan relationships are all examples of how life can be studied in its institutionalized conduct.
If man is by nature free and loves freedom, then why at all bow to any social authority is the question which has to be addressed first. However, one thing needs to be noted that man by nature will bow to the authority of society only when he is driven by selfish motives, otherwise he will have to be coerced into submission.
Whenever a social, economic or political order evolves, it always evolves around an unwritten understanding of give and take between society and individuals. No individual will ever readily surrender his freedom but only on the understanding that in the bargain he will gain more than what he will have to lose.
Primarily, it is individual security which he bargains for at the cost of the personal freedom. On the one hand he surrenders some of his rights to whatever institution he becomes the member of, and on the other he gains some guaranteed protection and such assistance as will make his individual existence easier and more comfortable.
In the beginning of society, individuals always emerged as beneficiaries. But societies, as they grow more organized, tend to become lopsided in the distribution of power between them and the individual. The larger the ratio between the membership of society and the ruling few grows, the greater becomes the danger of misappropriation and exploitation of power by the ruling minority.
One dividing line between animals and the humans which distinctly separates them is the powerful tendency in man to be fraud and cheat, and break the laws of nature. In this game the human outpace all other animals by a phenomenal margin. It is human alone who can wilfully ignore his responsibilities and usurp the rights of other members of society, knowing it to be wrong.
So, individual freedom in relation to the collective responsibility man owes to any institution is undermined by his propensity to break laws, commit frauds and corruption of all sorts, and act wrongfully, yet hoping to run away with whatever he can. This has been the tragedy of human society throughout the ages. No institution is exempt from this. This inevitable built-in flaw in the individual social relationship promotes the tendency among systems towards the ever-increasing legislation.
Apparently, every new law is aimed at protecting the right of the individual on the one hand and the right of society on the other from unjustified trespass into one another's exclusive domains of rights and prerogatives. But unfortunately, because of corruption in man, legislators fail to remain loyal to the principles of absolute justice.
During the collective process of legislating, many a time the individual will be deprived of his fundamental rights at the hands of the very institutions which were created to defend him. Hence the dire need for practical legislation to ensure checks and balances and to maintain enduring equilibrium in society.
COLONEL M. ZAMAN MALIK (RETD)
Abbottabad
Indo-Pakistan cricket series
Zaheer Abbas, our batting maestro of the past, in his column (January 25) predicted that the Indians would have the upper hand in the forthcoming Indo-Pakistan cricket series. He based his prediction on the recent performance of the Indian cricket team in Australia and that of Pakistan in New Zealand.
The majority of cricket fans in Pakistan are also thinking on the same lines. This means that in the coming series all the pressure will be on the Indians to perform up to their stature achieved in the international cricket rating after drawing the Test series against Australia in Australia.
Before the Indo-Australia series, the cricket media predicted that Australia would easily won both the Test and one-day series against India. These predictions put Australian under a lot of pressure in front of their home crowd who had great expectations from their team. The Indians started the series as the underdogs, but they, with their hard work, proper planning and consistent performance of their senior players, turned the tables on the Australians.
The same thing can happen in the Indo-Pakistan series, too. For this, our players will have to perform exceptionally well and our team management has to chalk out a proper strategy to exploit the weaknesses of the Indians.
I believe that our team have the capabilities and if they honestly put in efforts, they can beat any team in the world.
KHALID SULTAN
Lahore
Textbook boards
The provincial textbook boards in the country are responsible for the publication of textbooks. As compared to others, particularly Punjab, the Sindh Textbook Board (STBB) appears to have been lagging behind in pursuit of its goals. The STBB mostly fails to bring its textbooks in the market in due course of time. As a result, students are obliged to buy old books available in the market.
Further, changes in books are not properly notified, because of which students who buy old, unchanged books at the beginning of an academic year have to spend more money to buy new, modified books which are made available in the market much later.
Moreover, the quality of editing and printing of the STBB books is poorer than that of the Punjab's. The STBB must, therefore, notify well in time if any changes are to be made in the courses for the next academic year. This, if done, will save the students from additional expenses.
The board people should improve the editing and printing qualities to make their books more useful for the students and the teachers.
AGHA ALI GOHAR KHAN
Ghotki
'The new jehalat'
Reading Mr M. P. Bhandara's article "The new jehalat" (January 25) about the kind of society we are living in brought tears to my eyes. Why are we so ignorant in this modern enlightened world? Perhaps the answer can be found in Mr Ardeshir Cowasjee's January 25 article 'Intolerance? bigotry? ignorance?' in which he says that in Pakistan education has always been given the back seat.
No government after the Zia era would listen to our demands to repeal the Hudood Ordinance - a stigma on the face of the nation. The laws of the Hudood and Qisas ordinances usually punish women, the victims of rape, but the rapists go scot-free. If a general can promulgate these laws, why can't another general repeal them?
We, the people, who hang our heads in shame should still be screaming to stop this cruelty. I line up with the learned writer in asking a pertinent question: "why can't the Supreme Court take 'suo motu' cognizance of such prima facie injustice?"
S.M. KAZIM NAQVI
Karachi
Kashmir figures
Reference a news item by AFP regarding the total number of casualties in occupied Kashmir (February 6).
The agency said more than 40,000 people had been killed since 1989 "according to official Indian figures." The news agency is wrong.
India's official position was stated in the Lok Sabha (lower house) by Home Minister L.K. Advani. Speaking on the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance in March 2002 (toward the end of the month, possibly between 26 and 28), he said 61,000 people had been killed during the (till then) last 15 years.
AFP should not make such mistakes. It can check this record from Indian parliamentary proceedings.
RIZWAN YASIN
Karachi
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