| 23 April 2004 | Friday | 02 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425 |
Repealing Hudood ordinances
The textbook controversy
Major non-Nato ally status
Khalilzad's outburst
The rank of field marshal
'Cinema in crisis'
Poor sanitary conditions
Self-created problems
Bangalore experience
Cricket team's performance
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Having spent 18 precious years of his prime youth under Israeli detention, Mordechai Vanunu was conditionally released on April 21. His crime had been unveiling the 'shrouded secret' of Israel's nuclear arsenal that consisted of 200 atom bombs.
Born in 1954 in Marrakesh, Morocco, into a large and deeply religious Jewish family which emigrated to Israel in 1963, Vanunu served for three years in the sappers' unit of the Israeli Defence Force after he left school. He then became a technician at the Dimona nuclear reactor centre in the Negev Desert, where he worked from 1976 to 1985.
In 1986, as an act of conscience, he gave information regarding Israel's nukes, including inside photos, to the London Sunday Times. While waiting for the Sunday Times to verify his information before publication, he was lured from London to Rome, where he was kidnapped by Mossad agents.
Drugged, chained and taken to Israel for a secret trial, Vanunu was convicted of treason and espionage and sentenced to 18 years in prison. For the first eleven-and-a-half years, the Israeli government kept Vanunu in solitary confinement in a 6 x 9-foot cell, with very little human contact - conditions Amnesty International called "cruel, inhuman and degrading".
He was held under very restrictive conditions at Ashkelon Prison: no phone access; his outgoing mail was censored and held for months; he was allowed infrequent visits only with immediate family, clergy, and his lawyer.
Media attention and interest around the world grew as the date for his freedom approached. The most significant of these has been a BBC documentary, Israel's Secret Weapon, which was first broadcast in March 2003.
The film tells the story of Mordechai Vanunu and Israel's nuclear arsenal. Public awareness and interest has also been on the rise. On September 30, the 17th anniversary of his kidnapping and imprisonment, vigils calling for his freedom were held at Israeli embassies, consulates and other locations in more than 20 cities around the world, including Toronto and Vancouver.
Sabby Sagall, one of the founding members of the London-based Campaign to Free Vanunu and for a Nuclear-Free Middle East, said: "He is one of the bravest and most inspirational people of our time. If Bush and Blair want to find weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, Vanunu has told them where to go."
The security services noted Vanunu's increasing radicalism, his professed sympathy for the Palestinians, and the fact that he had links with an organization called the Movement for the Advancement of Peace.
Mordechai Vanunu, who is 49 and a converted Christian, has become a symbol for the international peace movement. He has been nominated for a Nobel Peace prize, and a long-running campaign has sought his release.
There are thousands around the world, including prominent leaders such as Nobel Peace Laureates Joseph Rotblat and Mairead Maguire, who view Vanunu's act as courageous and heroic.
S. Q. AFZAL RIZVI
Karachi
Repealing Hudood ordinances
An argument almost invariably put forward by various quarters to repeal the Hudood ordinances has been that since these laws were framed and promulgated under the military dictatorship of General Ziaul Haq, they must be essentially bad. If this is a valid argument, why shouldn't it be seen as equally valid for repealing the family laws promulgated under the military dictatorship of Ayub Khan?
Another specious argument forcefully put forward is that these laws have been widely misused. It could be pertinently asked: is there any law which has not the potential of, or is not actually, being misused? Could it be sensibly controverted that the most misused law in the history of our country is the Constitution itself? Should the country be run without a constitution? Should the entire corpus of laws be abolished?
Misuse of any law is never a sure indication of its being inherently evil of weak. It actually indicates a serious breakdown of the law-enforcement machinery. Such a situation demands a restructuring of the system of dispensation of justice and effective implementation of laws instead of a call for repealing the laws concerned.
The constitutional validity of all legislative activity in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan depends upon its conformity to the Holy Quran and the Sunnah. The basic question is: do the provisions of the Hudood ordinances contravene the letter and spirit of the injunctions of the Quran or the Sunnah or the principles contained therein? If yes, they are already ultra vires of the Constitution. If no, what is the justification for their abolition?
Justifying abolition of the Hudood laws by maligning them as barbaric, primitive and uncivilized reflects a diseased mindset and a morbid sensitivity wrongfully inclined in favour of the perpetrator of the crime, unjustifiably feeling more sympathetic and soft-hearted towards the wicked and unscrupulous culprit than towards the wretched victim of his villainous atrocity.
True, Islam does never tolerate injustice, oppression and zulm. The ultimate social aim of Islam is eradication of injustice and establishment of adl. However, the dividing line between adl and zulm will have to be drawn with reference to the values and principles as enunciated in the Quran and Sunnah and not in accordance with any system alien to Islam.
DR FAZLUR RAHMAN
Karachi
The textbook controversy
It is a good omen that the education department has finally decided to revise textbooks and bring them on a par with international standards. Unfortunately, we have taken to the annoying habit of rejecting any change whatsoever even if it is done in good faith.
This has been a contributing factor in the downfall of our education system, be it secular or religious education. In the former case we have lagged far behind the rest of the world in science and technology while in the latter case our schools and colleges have been producing students with rigid mindsets by instilling hatred against other faith systems.
But, most importantly, this has deepened sectarian divisions. For example, in the textbook of Islamiat right from the primary to the higher levels, everything that is taught largely conforms to one sect's interpretation of Islam.
As a result, a student who later in life comes across different interpretations of which he was unaware tends to reject them and labels people with a different interpretation as "infidels".
The president, the prime minister and the federal education minister should look into the matter and give serious consideration to ensuring a diversity of views and understanding how this can be a source of strength.
KARAM MANJI
Karachi
(2)
A controversy has been raging on in the press about the proposed changes in school textbooks for some time now. In the process of arguments and counter-arguments, a culture of hypocrisy is staring us in the face. In the face of angry clergymen, our Education Minister Zubeida Jalal became so defensive as to call herself a fundamentalist while our 'enlightened moderate' President Pervez Musharraf is also not coming forthwith on the issue.
The argument in favour of teaching Jihad at school level is that removing it from school books is tantamount to removing injunctions of the Holy Quran and Ahadith because Jihad is there as well. May I propose to the proponents of the Jihadi syllabus to make sex education part of the syllabus? After all, Islam has its own opinion on sexual mores.
FAIZULLAH JAN
Peshawar
Major non-Nato ally status
This refers to the letter "Pakistan, Nato and Iraq war" (April 21) by Mr George Singleton. He is trying to equate the military alliance (Nato or MNNA) with economic alliances (EU, Nafta or Asean). The two operate in entirely different domains.
Nato is primarily for defence and security purposes, whereas the agenda of organizations such as EU, Nafta or Asean is to enhance political, economic and social cooperation. Major non-Nato ally status is a military alliance between the US and any of its allies.
Even in the military domain, MNNA status does not entail the same mutual defence and security guarantees that are afforded to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) members.
Will Pakistan be able to acquire desperately-needed weapons to maintain the increasing imbalance in the South Asian region? Will the United States come to our rescue against any aggressor? Last time we were abandoned using the Pressler amendment. What is the guarantee that this time it will not be the same?
As for economic benefits, Dr Mahnaz Fatima writes in her April 5 article that "Pakistan's status as the US's major non-Nato ally may not bring a whole lot of substantive economic fallout in the form of equity and poverty alleviation/eradication even if the alliance turns out to be of a longer duration".
We still have to wait and see. But the history of past relations doesn't paint a rosy picture.
ABDEL KARIM
Columbus, Ohio, USA
Khalilzad's outburst
On Dawn online, April 20, there were two headlines side by side. One said: "US government split over Pakistan" and the other said: "US-UN request under study: FO - Pakistani troops for Iraq."
I wish to make the following submissions: First, my appreciation for the positioning of the two headlines. It says volumes. As to the first story, let us deal with its central character, Mr Khalilzad.
To understand his superficial stridency, it should be recalled that he is not a native American. Perhaps, he is not even a born American. Zalmay is not alone. Fareed Zakaria, editor of the Newsweek International, is another.
They are sort of proselytes. They, therefore, try to prove their patriotism with a display of ardour that outsmarts the native American. So these blokes emit more fire than the real American firebrands of the class of Wolfowitz, Hoagland, et al.
As to the story about Pakistan sending its troops to Iraq, it should be read in the light of information that America's closest and best friend, Israel, has not committed a single soldier. No Muslim country, not even Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are Iraq's neighbours, have sent any troops.
On the other hand, Spain has already announced an immediate pullout, followed by Honduras. Nicaragua has not sent any replacement for its contingent which returned home after completing its period of foreign assignment.
S.G. JILANEE
Karachi
The rank of field marshal
Mr Aslam Minhas's letter "The rank of field marshal" (April 21) makes for interesting reading. If the baton of Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck was taken for a few minutes and copied, tell us from where all other civil and military decorations or emblems of various institutions in Pakistan have been copied.
Gen Claude Auchinleck did not receive his rank fighting on the field. He was removed from his command after successive defeats inflicted on him by Field Marshal Rommel who drove him to the gates of Cairo. Gen Auchinleck was replaced by Gen Montgomery who took over a demoralized Eighth Army in North Africa. Gen Montgomery later became field marshal.
Gen Auchinleck was promoted to the rank of field marshal when he became commander-in-chief of the Indian Army. I take this opportunity to make a mention of an article published in Dawn's Sunday Magazine (April 11, 2004) by the same writer (Mr Minhas) on why Musa was made C-in-C. The following is my version of the event:
On October 29, 1958, a meeting was called in Karachi to decide as to who the next C-in-C of the Pakistan Army would be. The generals present were Gen Ayub Khan, Lt-Gen W. A. Burki, Lt-Gen Azam Khan, Lt-Gen K. M. Sheikh, Maj-Gen Yahya and Maj-Gen Hamid along with some other officers. I was also present as ADC to the C-in-C.
Gen Ayub opened the meeting by stating that the generals in the cabinet would have to give up their command, and that he would also give up the post of C-in-C and a new C-in-C was to be selected.
He proposed the name of Maj-Gen Habibullah Khan who was then doing a course at the Imperial Defence College in London. Lt-Gen K. M. Sheikh opposed the proposal and put up the name of Maj-Gen Musa Khan who was senior to Maj-Gen Habibullah Khan, though both passed out from the first batch of officers from the Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun, in 1932.
Gen Ayub Khan in a sense was outvoted by the majority present. Maj-Gen Musa was designated the C-in-C and Maj-Gen Habibullah chief of staff with the rank of lieutenant-general.
Unfortunately, the relations between Gen Musa and Lt-Gen Habibullah did not move smoothly. Gen Musa kept Lt-Gen Habibullah on foreign visits. On a visit to Rawalpindi I had lunch with Lt-Gen Habibullah when he came back from the GHQ. I was rather surprised to find him talking in a bitter and derogatory tone about Gen Musa.
Before leaving, I told my mother-in-law-to-be that the general's talk disturbed me. He, I suppose, would be talking to other officers, who would not miss an opportunity to add colour and carry the tales to Gen Musa. I also informed her that in the army an unwritten code exists that when there's a clash between two officers, it is invariably the junior officer who suffers.
As for Lt-Col Musa, who had been promoted to this rank in 1947, being assigned the task of holding an inquiry against Brig Ayub Khan, it would not happen even in any small rag-tag army of some small state in India or Pakistan. An inquiry officer has to be senior.
GOHAR AYUB KHAN
Islamabad
'Cinema in crisis'
Why should the fortunes of the Pakistan Film Exhibitors Association be linked with the indifferent, if not downright execrable, quality of the output of local film producers? ("Cinema in crisis", April 19).
The people of this country deserve to see the best that the world of cinema has to offer, in particular the cinema of countries with which Pakistan shares a linguistic, religious and cultural affinity. This translates into allowing the screening of Indian films (of all regional languages), as well as those from Iran, Bangladesh, Egypt, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
People with cable and DVD, etc., already enjoy access to such films. So, why deny the facility to the general public? Exposure to these films will lead not only to an appreciation by cinemagoers of the varied aspects of cinema but also to an improvement in the quality of Pakistani films. The fortunes of film exhibitors will hopefully coincide with an elevation in the artistic merit of local films.
ASAD SIDDIQI
Lahore
Poor sanitary conditions
Gulistan-i-Jauhar in Karachi is filthy beyond description. The air there is so fresh and exhilarating, the greenery is good, but the surroundings are awful. The nazim's office at Gulistan-i-Jauhar has given up cleaning the area, saying that the sweepers were withdrawn in August. The responsibility of cleaning lies with some other civic agency and several reminders have remained without response.
In the event of such callousness, what are we, the citizens, to do? Remain silent looking at those heaps and heaps of garbage, plastic bags, overflowing gutters and what not? Beautifying roundabouts, replacing good and solid kerbstones with feeble ones, and laying tiles are unnecessary expenses in the face of what the need of the hour is.
To clean Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Block 16, manual labour will not be enough. It needs bulldozers and trucks to remove those heaps from not only the main roads but also from the lanes.
FATEMA FUTEHALLY
Karachi
Self-created problems
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them" - Albert Einstein.
Coalition forces must understand the message from a great genius and hand over Iraq, as well as Afghanistan, to the United Nations. Otherwise it is going to be worse than Vietnam.
MIR TABASSUM MAIRAJ
Islamabad
Bangalore experience
I would like to refer to Mr Brijesh Parbhakar's letter (April 4) from Bangalore on the IT boom in India. While it is true that Bangalore is becoming a major world-class technology hub, it is equally true that there is a very serious long-term problem which, if not resolved, would cancel out the wonderful strides made in this city where 25 per cent of India's IT professionals work.
Bangalore suffers from a poor infrastructure, corruption, and a rapidly increasing pollution. If Bangalore falters, one of the main reasons would be its poor infrastructure - the city has always been short of water and electricity.
Now this brings up a very good lesson for our own Karachi and I must refer to the letter (April 3) by Mr Aftab Mohammad Khan in which he has very wisely recommended a uniform development code for the whole of the city to keep in one shell all the 18 agencies working in as many directions without any cohesion due to which no meaningful development has taken place in the last 50 years.
Indeed the Bangalore experience proves that there is a very strong correlation between technological development and the physical development of a city and unless this is put on proper scientific lines by the enactment and implementation of appropriate town planning laws, no development either technological or physical is possible and our dream of competing in the global economy would remain a far cry.
SHAHAB AFROZ KHAN
Karachi
Cricket team's performance
The much-awaited Pakistan-India cricket series has come to an end. It is regrettable that the Pakistan cricket team did not perform according to its potential. From this series one thing is clear that our players do not apply common sense. Our team management is responsible for this debacle. They cannot devise strategies according to ODI and Test profiles.
In the first and final Test, our batsmen failed to stay at the wicket. Another important factor is fielding. Fielding has played a vital role in Pakistan's poor performance. Our players need to learn and practise the basics of cricket. Teams like Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka play to their potential because of application of basic cricket techniques. Their bowling has always been well supported by the fielding.
In the end I would like to say that there should be no drastic changes to the current Pakistan side. Young players, for instance, Imran Farhat, Taufeeq Umer and Yasir Hameed, need time to learn and settle down. These young players require motivation, not criticism. To be consistent, our players should be given opportunities on a regular basis.
MANSOOR A. KHAN
Karachi
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