| 28 March 2004 | Sunday | 06 Safar 1425 |
Let's try to co-exist
A sidelined bowler
Need to review flawed laws
US consulate and the public
Prison reforms in Sindh
Muttahida ministers, advisers
Bahria Town affairs
PTV advised
Transfusion malaria
Non-Nato ally status
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Yet another week has passed by with Pakistan armed forces engaging suspected terrorists in the Wana area. What has alarmed me the most is not the fierce resistance put up by the militants, but the support extended to them by our religio -political leaders sitting in and out of the assemblies. According to one such religious leader, the resistance faced by the armed forces, to apprehend suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists, is due to the fact that it is against the tribal "tradition" to hand over "guests" to the authorities even if they are suspected of being hardened criminals and enemies of the state.
It seems that the loyalties of our tribal communities shown towards the "guests" take precedence over national interests. Far worse do religious leaders who support such activities and threaten the nation with civil war, rather than condemn the tribal actions and exert their influence in bringing this ugly scenario to an end with the apprehension of not just the Al Qaeda and Taliban suspects, but all those involved in harbouring criminals in their homes and villages.
The mixed messages that we are sending across the world, with this continued standoff between the terrorists and the armed forces, the countrywide support offered to the terrorists by the majority of our clergy in the form of inflammatory statements, rallies and demonstrations, could prove extremely harmful not just to the nation, but also to the image of millions of peace-loving, moderate Pakistanis living abroad.
We must be mindful of the situation Pakistan is facing as it is, especially since we are on the brink of being designated a non-Nato ally of the US, and the word community has started to view Pakistan and Pakistanis in a different perspective. We are being seen as a nation committed to fighting terrorism and religious intolerance, with all previous negative associations slowly being shunned.
In the wake of the 3/11 Madrid bombings, and the 9/11 inquiry commission being conducted in the US, I would not be surprised that as a proposed plan of action for the future, much emphasis would be laid on pre-emptive strikes targeted at individual organizations and countries which show a strong tendency towards supporting and perpetrating religious extremism. The ongoing support shown by our religious leaders and their followers towards terrorism would certainly put Pakistan in the lead as a strong contender amongst the list of the above-mentioned countries.
I'm glad that the religious parties with their preferences over Pakistan's interests have come out in the open. The demands by the religious parties to abandon the Wana operation, where lives of Pakistani forces have already been lost at the hands of terrorists and tribals, should act as an eye-opener for the entire country. It should now be clear to every Pakistani whether the so-called religio-political leaders are truly loyal to the country and their actions match what's in the nation's best interests. What we as a nation need to do in the existing circumstances is to be ever more vigilant and be able to identify those whose actions are harming our national security and who have hidden interests up their sleeves.
I appeal to like-minded brothers and sisters both in Pakistan and abroad to be aware of their surroundings, to take notice of the content of sermons being served at their local mosques and other religious gatherings and to judge for themselves whether Pakistan's integrity is being challenged in the form of rhetoric against the government and the armed forces. It's time everyone joined forces against activities which pose a greater threat to Pakistan, Islam and the Ummah from within than the visible external enemies.
DR SHAAZ MAHBOOB
London, UK
Let's try to co-exist
Much has been written about how similar Indians and Pakistanis are and how well the two peoples get along when they are outside their home countries, not just recently but also over the years. The current cricket series has now added a totally new dimension to India-Pakistan relations. A warm welcome to not only the Indian cricket team but also the Indian cricket fans has been extended in Pakistan, and not in some third country.
This should be an eye-opener for all of us. While love and affection alone will not resolve disputes like Kashmir, the current warmth clearly shows that we should at least learn to live together as neighbours.
I suggest that we should set small, but realistic and achievable goals, and perhaps getting along with each other is the kind of a start we need to make without getting our hopes sky high.
HARMIT SINGH KAMBOE
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
(2)
Delhi newspapers headlined their stories as "Host Pakistan win goodwill series 5-0" (March 27). They of course referred to the Pakistani crowd and hospitality shown to the Indians who visited Pakistan for the recently concluded ODI cricket series.
I hope we get an opportunity to show our hospitality soon. One of the good changes which I saw come over me when I watched the matches on TV was that I found myself less emotional and was actually cheering good cricket.
Having lived in the UK for a certain period of time and having had lots of Pakistani friends there, the only thing that I can say about the subcontinent is: we are the best.
As nations, we have so much to gain through cooperation. In a way I feel that the last 56 years have been wasted years. Let us hope that the next 50 years are better.
MANEK SHERGILL
New Delhi
A sidelined bowler
It was sad to see great Pakistani fast bowler Waqar Younis sitting with retired Indian cricketers (Dawn, March 26) as if he himself had retired.
After Pakistan's nightmare in the previous World Cup in South Africa, eight senior players were dropped. Out of them Wasim Akram, Saeed Anwar and Rashid Latif have quit the game. Other players, i.e. Inzamamul Haq, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar and Saqlain Mushtaq, have made their way back into the national team without showing any credible performance in the domestic circuit. All these players were selected on the basis of experience and their potential. One wonders why Waqar Younis is not able to find a place. Is he being deliberately ignored by the selectors or is there any other reason? He still has the highest strike rate in Test cricket and is far more experienced than the current bowlers.
Sanath Jayasuriya still rates him as one of the top bowlers in the world. And English county Warwickshire has signed him for the 2004 season, which proves he still has the potential to play high quality cricket.
If Waqar Younis had been selected in the Test squad, he would have helped bowlers like Shabbir Ahmed and Mohammad Sami who had a problem in controlling their line and length in the recently-concluded one-day series against India. He still has got at least two years in him to play at the international level. He is an asset of our country and should not be wasted like this.
I hope some sanity prevails with the selectors and they change their attitude towards Waqar Younis. I also hope he gets selected in the team in the future and we see him get more wickets.
AHMED ALI MEMON
Karachi
Need to review flawed laws
I am sorry to say but anything good on the statute book is never implemented and in this instance, it is Section 465 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which clearly authorizes a sessions court to order examination of a person accused of blasphemy by the district surgeon or the medical officer concerned to determine his mental health should it feel that the accused might be of an unsound mind or not in a position to defend himself.
However, it is not compulsory for the courts to acquire expert advice and naturally consultation with a psychiatrist on the mental state of the accused becomes more of an option that a judge may use at his discretion.
Attitudes cannot change overnight and that leaves us with a fragile system of justice that is loaded with discriminatory laws such as the Hudood ordinances, the blasphemy law, etc., which have not made Pakistan a better place. All controversial laws that are badly interpreted need to be reviewed.
The judgments of the superior courts regarding these laws suggest that people are often acquitted, which means the laws are flawed. Implicating the accused by giving false testimony (again a common practice) is an offence, and it is strange that the theocratic lobby is perpetually silent on this aspect.
The authorities do not seem genuinely interested in cleaning up the mess left by Ziaul Haq. I think Rousseau was right in his assessment: "If I were a prince or a legislator I should not waste my time saying what ought to be done: I should do it or keep silent."
NADIRA RAHMAN
Karachi
US consulate and the public
It has now been well over a year since US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca visited Karachi to explore the possibility of shifting the US consulate premises to a more secure area in Karachi. However, the Bush administration has decided not to shift the consulate. May I request the US ambassador in Islamabad to look into this issue afresh, keeping the following factors in mind:
1) The fight against terrorism is going to be a long one and during this period it will be unfair to add to the agony of the citizens of Karachi by closing a section of Abdullah Haroon Road, diverting 50 per cent of traffic from the consulate.
2) For all practical purposes, this consulate has lost its purpose as far as the citizens of Karachi are concerned as they have to go to Islamabad for visa requirements.
3) While diverting traffic on this road, the parallel road behind Sind Club - Fatima Jinnah Road - is also heavily guarded and it becomes difficult to drive through this road as it houses the residence of the US consul-general.
4) The consulate is also immediately next door to a five-star hotel and it inconveniences both foreign and local visitors. It also does not help in giving Pakistan a better image abroad if visitors see such heavy security in the area.
5) The US ambassador may consider recommending to her superiors in Washington to consider shifting both the consulate and the residence of the consul-general to a safer location on the city's outskirts like in DHA Phase 8. There the entire complex can be cordoned off to prevent undesirable traffic or unauthorized entries.
SHIRAZ SACHEDINA
Karachi
Prison reforms in Sindh
This is with reference to your editorial on prison reforms (March 11) and a letter to the editor (March 17).
All the governments in the past used jails to victimize their opponents. As a result, the jail staff used coercive measures to squeeze large sums of money from the detainees.
Although various committees were formed for jail reforms, all their recommendations were put in cold storage. President Musharraf's government too formed a committee, headed by Mr Justice (retd) Haziqul Khairi who visited jails in Sindh and made recommendations for ending the problems of overcrowding, improving prisoners' health, hygiene, diet and for providing education (both technical/general) to enable prisoners to live a respectable life after serving their terms.
The officers of the regional directorate of Human Rights, Sindh, which is a part of the ministry of law, justice and human rights, government of Pakistan, located at Karachi, visited prisons of the province as part of their duty. Reports on such visits in the shape of observations and recommendations were sent to the ministry at Islamabad for passing them on to the interior ministry for incorporating these recommendations through provincial governments.
During the last two years, almost all the central prisons of Sindh were visited and a consolidated report prepared in consonance with the report of Mr Justice Khairi. The main recommendations were:
1. A committee of district and sessions judge and DP should be formed in each district, who should release the UTPs languishing inside jails on minor offences.
2. All UTPs not found guilty of the alleged charge (excluding those involved in heinous crimes/anti-state activities/terrorism) and who have completed 50 per cent of the punishment, so laid down for such charges, should be released on parole, provided they are the bread-winners of their families.
3. All those who are over 65 years should be freed immediately as per the jail manual.
4. Women UTPs whose children are also languishing in jails and convicted women prisoners who have completed 50 per cent of their punishment should be released immediately. They should be sent to government-owned Darul Amans because their husbands/parents may not be prepared to accept them. The government should also grant them loans from banks so that they can support themselves.
5. A proper medical centre, with one ambulance, should be provided to each jail, with the help of government/NGOs/philanthropists.
6. The police department should be bound to produce witnesses on the day of the hearing of their cases, failing which benefits should be given to the UTPs/accused.
7. A judicial court complex should be established in all the central prisons as has been done in the case of the central prison, Karachi, to enable the trial to proceed on a day-to-day basis. This will ease the production of prisoners vis-a-vis arrangements of guards/transport.
8. New jails within Sindh and new barracks in those jails where plenty of vacant land exists should be constructed.
The ministry of law, justice and human rights has examined these recommendations and confirmed that funds are available for implementing them. The Sindh home department has been informed accordingly, and it is up to it to expedite its demand for obtaining funds. Further, the establishment of a judicial courts complex, that is a part of jail reforms, can also be taken up on a priority basis simultaneously.
MAJOR (retd) NAZRUL ISLAM
Deputy Director, Regional Directorate of Human Rights, Karachi
Muttahida ministers, advisers
I would like to draw your attention to the MQM's recent change of two of its provincial ministers and advisers. Interestingly, in this internal rotation, they replaced the health adviser with an MPA who is an engineer. Although it is the right of every party to nominate anyone, this seems odd because the MQM has many provincial legislators who are trained doctors.
It is the usual practice in our country that whenever we choose federal or provincial cabinet members for health and education, we do not care to appoint people who have experience in the respective fields.
I do hope that in future appropriate persons will be nominated by our political parties.
DR ALFRED CHARLES
Karachi
Bahria Town affairs
Thousands of applications were invited for allotment of plots in Bahria Town in Rawalpindi, and months were spent on their registration. Now these applications are being registered again. The question is: what right does Bahria Town have to seek re-registration?
As far as a membership fee is concerned, it is demanded by any housing society only once, but in Bahria Town one has to seek fresh membership every time one applies for a plot. Such illogical demands involving astronomical charges that are hidden come as a rude shock to buyers.
If Bahria Town can afford to spend millions on the publicity of their projects, why can't they waive the re-registration/membership charges and end this injustice.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has stopped housing societies/ motor vehicle companies from taking public money without the actual handover of plot/ vehicle. Will the SECP look into the affairs of Bahria Town and see when it will honour applications for delivery of plots?
M. TARIQ KHAN
Gujranwala
PTV advised
PTV Khabarnama ends up every day by showing the pollen count in Islamabad so that the elite living there are forewarned.
I suggest that PTV should also show the "pollution count" of Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta for the benefit of the suffering people living in these cities.
SALEEM M. QURESHI
Karachi
Transfusion malaria
This refers to Dr S. A. Mujeeb's letter "Doctor's death: blood screening" (March 25).
It is correct that microscopic screening of blood of donors is unreliable because the carriers generally have low parasitemia. However, a number of malarial antigen detection kits are now available, which are more sensitive than microscopy and easy to use.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is also very sensitive and primers suitable for the Pakistani strains of parasite has also been published (Tran.Roy.Soc. Trop.Med.Hyg., 2001,95,391-397). At least, a few teaching institutions in Karachi are able to perform this test. Large hospitals should also establish this capability, as it would be useful for detection of other infectious diseases as well.
I don't think giving prophylactic anti-malarials to the recipients is a good idea as P.falciparum in Pakistan is resistant to almost all the anti-malarials, with the exception of Quinine and Artimisinin. These drugs should only be used for the treatment of malaria.
Daily smears for malaria should be done on all recipients of blood transfusion if there is fever or other signs suggestive of malaria. Treatment should be started without delay if the smears are positive, as even few hours can make a difference between life and death.
DR VIQAR ZAMAN
Karachi
Non-Nato ally status
The non-Nato ally status will hinder Pakistan's democratization process. It has been accepted by President Musharraf without any debate in parliament. No vote was taken to see whether representatives of the people agree to it or not. No law has been passed so far to legalize a treaty or discussion initiated on how far sovereignty is being lost.
The happiness over getting more military equipment, including helicopters and aircraft, etc., and billions of dollars of aid, has kept parliament silent, but what will happen when a military ruler is no longer there? The people must be involved.
SAM BAIDYA
Toronto, Canada
Daylight
In 2002 the government introduced "daylight saving time" (DST) from April to October. This was a great decision as it helped in increasing productivity in industries/ offices and also provided an opportunity for rest and recreation.
I hope the government will consider reintroducing the daylight saving time.
AKBER D.VAZIR
Karachi
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