| 16 February 2004 | Monday | 24 Zilhaj 1424 |
The mighty vis-a-vis the not-so-mighty
Steps to prevent bird flu
Reviving the railways
US spring offensive plans
Dr A. Q. Khan and IBS
Sindhi Adabi Board
National heritage
PSO Loyalty Card
KU affairs
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What enabled Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan to sell nuclear technology was that he already knew the market; it was from there he acquired material and information needed to realize Pakistan's ambition of possessing nuclear capability to match India's. This is not to justify Dr Khan's dealings. What he did was wrong.
The intriguing question here is: why did Iran and Libya betray Pakistan and provide all the details of the deals? Perhaps they were wiser after the downfall of Saddam Hussein.
Another question is: why are other European and Asian countries not being questioned in the same strong way as Pakistan is? The nuclear black market flourishes only because these countries offer technology for sale. Nuclear scientists from the former Soviet Union are available to sell all they know. Why are they not being pursued?
Obviously, Pakistan and Khan are being dragged into the controversy because countries like Israel are uncomfortable with Muslim country possessing a nuclear capability.
Pakistan had to go nuclear in order to maintain a strategic balance with India. Pakistanis need to handle this issue with maturity. They must unite to fight this matter intelligently rather than play into the hands of enemies for a small gain. It is time to grow up.
ZAFAR RAJA
London, UK
(2)
The apology tendered by Dr A. Q. Khan and the pardon given to him by the president appear to have temporarily settled the issue. But it has been mentioned by political observers that this issue will resurface as soon as the American mission is accomplished in Afghanistan for which the United States badly needs Pakistan.
It is also interesting to note that when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) asked Israel to open its nuclear facilities for inspection, Israel flatly refused to do so, saying that it was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The current environment is very tricky and needs to be carefully considered by the government.In order to determine precise foreign policy objectives, there should be a consensus between the government and political parties. It is, therefore, very imperative that the question of nuclear proliferation is brought before parliament and thoroughly discussed and a consensus is reached whereby a uniform policy is adopted that prohibits the proliferation of nuclear technology from Pakistan.
In this respect I support the suggestion in your editorial (February 6) for to a constitutional provision that prohibits the proliferation of nuclear technology.
MOHAMMED CHORWADIA
Chicago, Ill., USA
(3)
This refers to Professor Naqvi's letter (February 10) regarding the grant of pardon to Dr A. Q. Khan. Indeed, this matter should be kept above any party politics. But I cannot find myself (and there are others with me) in agreement with any suggestion that Dr Khan should be lionized to the extent of elevating him to a position completely beyond the pale of responsible conduct and the laws of the land.
Sentiment in such matters as nuclear proliferation has to be weighed against national interests, since it inevitably comes to be examined at the bar of world opinion.
President Pervez Musharraf is worldly-wise enough to know the consequences of a totally amnesic whitewash.
S. ASIF MAJEED
Karachi
The mighty vis-a-vis the not-so-mighty
On the eve of the 12th Saarc summit held recently in Islamabad, President Musharraf had extended the olive branch to India by lifting the ban on Indian passenger flights over Pakistan, and Prime Minister Jamali ordered a ceasefire along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. India reciprocated both the gestures.
The ceasefire is holding to the satisfaction of both India and Pakistan. Pakistan political observers are asking: how long can Pakistan maintain the one-way goodwill towards India without India matching the same in proportion to its bigness, its might?
Ms Benazir Bhutto gave Rajiv Gandhi the whole lot of intelligence reports on the Sikh militant freedom-fighters - reports on which president Zia had kept the lid. The Sikh militants were wiped out by New Delhi, allowing normality to prevail over East Punjab.
What did Rajiv Gandhi or his successors give Pakistan in return? Nothing the Pakistanis know of, while New Delhi has been able to focus its attention single-mindedly against the Kashmiri freedom fighters.
In other words, Ms Bhutto's favour to India amounted to a stab in the back for the Kashmiris. What is not understandable is that umpteen parties contested the October 2002 election in Pakistan, but not one, except Imran Khan's Tehrik-i-Insaf, raised it in a panel discussion on a Dubai-based private TV channel.
The mutual lifting of the bans on passenger planes over Pakistan and India is more beneficial to India than to Pakistan. In the Hindu mythology, in which alone great rulers seem to have lived, Lord Krishna left a guideline for the high and the mighty towards the not-so-mighty.
In lieu of a handful of roasted channa (were they peas?) brought by his boyhood friend, Bhakta Kuchale, as nazrana, Lord Krishna gifted seven villages to enable him, his children and coming generations to live comfortably.
The guideline is really that the gifter gives according to his status while the beneficiary gives nazrana according to his status.
In case those in New Delhi are not aware, Muhammad Ali Bogra paid a visit to New Delhi when he was the prime minister of Pakistan in 1954 and happened to address prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru as "big brother".
If India had treated Pakistan as its younger brother, perhaps the thaw that we are seeing nowadays between India and Pakistan would have become the norm of our relationship a long while ago and the common people of both the countries would have been enjoying better lives for long. Hoping hearts in New Delhi are bigger now.
JALAL AHMED
Karachi
Steps to prevent bird flu
It is hoped the discussion on bird flu will now come to an end after proper elaboration of the prevailing situation by knowledgeable persons through the press conference, as reported in your esteemed paper on February 1.
What we should do now is that:
a) The farmer should concentrate on producing chicks, eggs and meat. In order to maintain ideal health and productivity of their flocks, and to avoid any possible repetition of such an adverse situation, he should give a top priority to the basic imperatives of modern farming technology, i.e. periodic culling of the unhealthy, proper disposal of farm wastes (including dead and the culls) and establishment of fool-proof bio-security at his farms.
b) The consumers of poultry products, who somehow got misguided, should feel at ease and resume their culinary preference towards poultry products.
c) The veterinarian and animal husbandry man should guide the farmer in achieving production targets which is possible only if the fundamental rules of this high-risk, high-tech science-based venture are respected and obeyed in toto.
d) The public health department, in order to monitor the possibility, though very remote, of bird flu mutating into human influenza, ought to organize a countrywide watch, specially in poultry -raising sectors of the country. Soliciting coordination of WHO in this regards will be extremely helpful.
e) The government of Pakistan should also set their house in order relating to the award of licences for the import, manufacture and sale of potent drugs (vultures are already on the brink of extinction, Dawn, January 29) and vaccines containing live strains of exotic virus.
A thorough study on the epizootiology of diseases needs to be conducted to assess the prevalence of pathogenic microorganisms in the ecological macrocosm of the country.
DR M. SAYEDAIN JAFFERY
Ex-president (1996-2002), Pakistan Veterinary Medical Association, Karachi
Reviving the railways
Revival of the railway system is essential for economic development. Huge investments made in our country's railway infrastructure, including rolling stock, remain underutilized as the bulk of transport has shifted to highways. As a result the roads are crumbling under the heavy loads of long vehicles and road travel has become unsafe, while a parallel and safer railway system remains idle.
The modal split between roads and railways is 75 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, but the ratio of their investment and maintenance costs are the other way round. The government is thus sustaining two-fold losses on account of heavy expenditure on rehabilitation of roads and huge losses suffered by the railways due to underutilization.
Renewal, refurbishing, dualization and improvement of the railway system will reverse the trend. The exercise will, however, be meaningful only if innovative measures are taken to divert the cargo back to the railways. Introduction of express cargo train service between major industrial and trade centres could be one such step to achieve the objective.
The National Logistics Cell has been playing a pivotal role in the long distance haulage of goods by road.
They have attained sufficient know-how and expertise in the field. It is proposed that the task of managing the goods transport through railways should be assigned to the NLC.
Passengers ticketing and reservation services can be entrusted to private concerns. The railways own efforts should be concentrated on upkeep of the track and signalling systems, as well as on improvement of service and observing punctuality.
FAQIR AHMED PARACHA
Peshawar
US spring offensive plans
On January 28 the Chicago Tribune reported that the US military was making plans for a major spring offensive in Afghanistan that would reach inside Pakistan in the coming months to destroy the Al Qaeda network. The execution of the plan depends on events on the ground.
One day earlier, US General James Jones, the military chief of Nato, complained in a testimony before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee of lack of helicopters and other equipment in Afghanistan to begin deployments of soldiers.
However, a spokesman for the Pakistan Army has denied the Chicago Tribune report by saying that no foreign troops will be allowed on our land.
It is also important for us to note that under Secretary of Defence Ronald Rumsfeld's direction secret, US commando units known as "hunter killers" have been ordered to "kick down the doors" all over the world in search of not only Al Qaeda members but also their sympathizers. One may read this along with President Bush's famous proverbs of not seeking anyone's permission slip for the purpose.
In fact, the US neocons (a respectable name for American extremists) want to target the Al Qaeda sympathizers in Pakistan in a big way after spending and doing so for over two years in Afghanistan in piecemeal. The war referred to above "depends on events on the ground" and is meant to reach these sympathizers.
The spring offensive has all the ingredients, after US failure in Iraq, of an alternate election agenda for Mr Bush to ensure his victory.
Z. A. KAZMI
Karachi
Dr A. Q. Khan and IBS
Please refer to Mr Ardeshir Cowasjee's column published in your esteemed daily on February 8.
The following is submitted to put the facts on record:
1. Dr A. Q. Khan never physically took over the Institute of Behavioural Sciences (IBS) at the head of a posse of armed men as in some B-grade wild West movie as painted by Mr Cowasjee. He did not need to "take over" an institute of which he himself was (and still is) the chairman. However, no further comment will be made on this issue as it is already sub judice.
2. The "IBS doctors" were never physically prevented from entering the premises while in possession of a valid court order and no court official ever arrived to serve any such order. The vacation order had already been appealed against before the "IBS doctors" approached the premises. A group of doctors were later given permission by the Sindh High Court to see patients at IBS and they were given all facilities to do so, till such time as they themselves stopped coming to the institute.
3. From December 2002 up to the end of December 2003, the Dr A. Q. Khan Centre Institute of Behavioural Sciences drew, without charging any fees of any kind, be it for consultation or for medicines, a total of 40,085 patients, of which 14,101 had psychiatric problems and 25,984 had general medical problems. The number of patients with psychiatric disorders seen now at the institute is three times the number prior to December 2002.
A systematic quality assurance programme with elaborate patient feedback procedures is in place. The premises and its inventory have been duly inspected by a nazir appointed by the Sindh High Court at which time all records, especially with regard to inventories, were found to be absolutely accurate. These facts can be verified by all who wish to do so on any working day.
Mr Cowasjee is incorrect when he says that patients have been deprived of free treatment. Patients were being charged up to Rs 500 consultation fee at the institute prior to December 2002. This, too, can be verified from our records.
DR TARIQ UZ ZAFAR
Executive Director, Dr A. Q. Khan Centre Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Karachi
Sindhi Adabi Board
The Sindhi Adabi Board once a well-organized literary institute has since long been the hallmark of mismanagement, inefficiency and corruption.
The board which did good in distant past has virtually stopped its publication works owing to a tug of war among the literary figures of Sindh. It has even failed to ensure regular publication of its magazines such as quarterly Mehran, monthly Gulphul and Saratiyoon, in spite of a sizable budget that it receives from the government, as well as from other sources. In fact, the prevalent state of affairs has disappointed the well wishers of the board.
Since Mr Irfanullah Marwat, the Sindh minister of education, has assumed the charge of the chairman of the board, it is hoped he will be able to clear the mess prevailing in the board and, as a first step, restore discipline to it, besides ensuring a regular publication of Mehran, Gulphul and Saratiyoon.
It is also hoped the chairman of the board will look into the row that is going on uninterruptedly among the officials of the board, which, in effect, is the root cause of the board's decline.
AGHA ALI GOHAR KHAN
Ghotki
National heritage
This is with reference to the letter "The Mangla heritage" (February 6) proposing that it should be declared as a site of international heritage.
The suggestion is good and should be implemented. In fact, all monuments/sites of significance like the Fort of Rani Kot should get similar attention.
Rani Kot is spread over 20 square miles and is located in the present-day Dadu district, Sindh, on the right bank of the Indus. Because of its gigantic size, very typical architecture and location in the hilly track of the Khirthar range, the fort has acquired a historical importance.
However, until now no proper scientific research has been carried out to determine the actual period of its construction. But as per local traditions, it was built in the pre-Arab Sassanid period. A few adjustments/improvements/additions were made in the subsequent periods of the Kalhoras and the Mirs. The magnificence and antiquity of the fort qualify it to be declared as a site of international inheritance.
As regards the name of the Jhelum city I would like to add that after a shattering victory Alexander the Great held athletic and gymnastic games at the site of his crossings of Hydaspes (the Jhelum River) and planned two new foundations, one at the site of victory, duly named Nicaea, and the other at the base camp named Bucephala in honour of his great horse which was killed during the battle. So the name of Alexander's favourite horse was not Jehlum but Bucephalas.
MANZOOR H. KURESHI
Karachi
PSO Loyalty Card
I have a PSO Loyalty Card for the past couple of years bearing No. 8092-1400-0192-8585. My place of permanent residence is Karachi but I do travel nationwide. During July 2003 I visited Islamabad for 10 days. On July 28 I got a filling of petrol amounting to Rs855 from an Islamabad gas station. Probably I left my card behind and the card was misused by the staff of the gas station.
According to the summary of PSO Loyalty Points, on July 29 lubricant was sold for Rs1,999 five times the same day. Likewise, lubricant was sold on July 30 for Rs1,999 thirteen times. From the period of July 29 to August 4 lubricant was sold for Rs155,955 and commercial diesel for Rs322,559 from the same pump.
From the sale of diesel and lubricant it seems that the purchaser (or myself as the card was issued to me) was either bringing drums / barrels, on a truck or trailer to have lubricant and a tanker to have diesel of Rs322,559. The wise guy had the audacity to redeem 3,900 points imitating my signature.
The matter was taken up with the PSO Customer Service but they showed their inability to rectify the points redeemed fraudulently, and the genuine points earned by me went down the drain as the redemption of points against my card is prohibited.
A similar incident had occurred in the past when 700 points were redeemed from a Defence petrol station in Karachi fraudulently and when the matter was taken up with the PSO, the points were credited to me.
Through your columns I would like to advise the PSO to improve their system, otherwise a person like me had to discontinue using the card.
M. TAZAM SHAIKH
Karachi
KU affairs
It has been nearly two months since your paper reported 'serious' action being taken against employees of exam/ accounts sections. The chancellor was also reported as directing the vice-chancellor of Karachi University to submit a report on the matter. No action has been taken in this regard.
A PARENT
Karachi
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