| 27 April 2004 | Tuesday | 06 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425 |
Indian consulate in Karachi
Nato's domain
Status of tribal areas
Tree-felling
Mashraqi's son-in-law
Exposing double standards
KW&SB: recovery of tax arrears
Vital lessons to learn
Delayed justice
Per capita income
Khalilzad's remarks
Sewage in sea water
Sukkur BISE
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I am writing this with regard to the letter "Repealing Hudood ordinances" by Dr Fazlur Rahman (April 23). The writer asserts that various quarters believe that "since these laws were framed and promulgated under the dictatorship of General Ziaul Haq, they must be essentially bad". That's playing with words and indeed a queer way of putting it, because I don't think anyone has been queer/unintelligent enough to argue on such a stance by mingling these two aspects and that too on an extremely clumsy note.
A person will naturally regard anything as wrong when he has solid reasons for his arguments. The Hudood laws are called bad because they were badly drafted and enacted in the era of General Zia during his mindless Islamization drive (a fact that cannot be denied).
Dr Rahman says: "Another specious argument forcefully put forward is that these laws have been widely misused." Anyway, how is it specious? In 1979, there were only 70 women prisoners throughout the country.
At present, around 80 per cent of the women languishing in jails are there under the Hudood ordinances which are not equally applied to men. It apparently proves beyond any reasonable doubt that the nature of abuse is by all means out of control - as good as all laws in Pakistan are either open to abuse or not implemented in their true sense.
However, it doesn't imply that people should stop protesting against them. And a wrong will remain wrong even if people keep mum about it.
Other points of view are also worthy of attention. Just because "various quarters" don't think on the same wavelength as that of the writer, he shouldn't label them as victims of a "diseased mindset" and "morbid sensitivity". This is by no means constructive criticism.
You have the right to search for flaws inherent in the viewpoints of others and support your own argument by giving evidence instead of belittling people because of their mindsets.
The writer also believes that people who are all for the blotting out of the Hudood ordinances are "wrongfully in favour of the perpetrator of the crime," which sounds specious logic to my mind.
It's too big an assertion that some cannot even differentiate between right and wrong; therefore, they side with the culprits rather than with the victims. The question arises: in which slot would you place women like Zafran Bibi?
The Hudood laws were controversial right from the day of their promulgation. Though in 1981 the FSC ruled that the punishment of "rajm" was repugnant to the injunctions of Islam, before the appeal could be heard, the constitution of the FSC was altered to allow the court to sit in appeal against its own decision and the bench was reconstituted owing to the pressure of theocratic forces on Ziaul Haq. As a matter of course, in 1982, the reconstituted bench overruled its previous decision and found the punishment lawful.
However, I agree with the part that misuse of a law also indicates a serious breakdown of the law-enforcement machinery. Even a good law doesn't necessarily ensure dispensation of justice because law is one thing and justice quite another.
Nevertheless, a bad law plays havoc with countless lives that are ravaged by suffering, humiliation and loss. And laws are made for the safety of humans, but if any law fails to protect them, then it is defective whether we like it or not.
NADIRA RAHMAN
Karachi
Indian consulate in Karachi
This refers to Dawn's news item (April 21) on the above subject. As far as I know the Indian consulate in Karachi was closed during the second term of Ms Benazir Bhutto on the untenable plea of her interior minister, General Naseerullah Babar, that the consulate was responsible for causing a law and order situation.
It was the government that had created a law and order situation - through extrajudicial killings - and put the blame on the Indian consulate in Karachi.
With the improved relations after the agreement between India and Pakistan on February 16 last, it was expected that the consulate would soon be opened in Karachi. In fact, Mr Shivshankar Menon, high commissioner of India, came to Karachi in late February for a week or so with the intention of opening a camp office in Karachi immediately.
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry offered a full floor to the high commissioner for opening the office. But he was not able to do so because the next day the media carried a report that our government had not yet given permission to the high commission to open a camp office in Karachi.
Will the government clarify the position?
ENGR. S. M. ZAKERYA KAZMI
Karachi
(2)
Despite an early assurance by the Indian high commissioner, it seems that little headway has been made in the setting up of a visa office, whether in the shape of a camp office or the reopening of India House in Karachi. Priority needs to be given to this since the Indians in Delhi seem to get Pakistani visas quite quickly.
NAYAB UMAR
Hyderabad
Nato's domain
This refers to the letter "Major non-Nato ally status" (April 23) by Mr Abdel Karim, giving his views on the scope of Nato.
I agree and recognize that the primary mission of Nato is military one. But the modern-day mission of Nato is also aimed at achieving security that plays a major role in providing economic stability which all members and associated nations benefit from in terms of new, additional employment, jobs created due to the work of Nato, military-associated civilian sector jobs and manufacturing jobs.
Nato historically has sought weapons and armament production from and among all its members to create an integrated, common use logistics system which involves jobs and economic benefit to any "producing" Nato member or affiliate nation.
The following quotes are from the current Nato internet webpage, the second quote being from the sub-web page entitled "Nato Parliamentary Assembly" which was formerly known as the North Atlantic Assembly.
"The NATO Parliamentary Assembly is the inter-parliamentary organization of legislators from the member countries of the NATO Alliance as well as 20 Associate members.
The Assembly provides a critical forum for international parliamentary dialogue on an array of security, political and economic matters. Its principal objective is to foster mutual understanding among alliance parliamentarians who represent a broad spectrum of political parties.
"19 February 2004 - NATO Parliamentarians Discuss Global Economy at OECD. Following three days of mainly closed meetings in Brussels on Alliance and European Union issues, NATO parliamentarians moved to Paris on Wednesday, February 18 for the annual exchange of views with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)."
GEORGE SINGLETON
Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Status of tribal areas
Mr M. P. Bhandara in his article "Our tribal cross" (April 18) has floated the commendable idea of holding a plebiscite to assert Pakistan's full sovereignty and to enforce the writ of law in the Federally-Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata) and said we should not be afraid if the Fata agencies opt for independence.
These regions do not have the infrastructure or the means to remain independent, nor will they get support from the government in Kabul. Since independence, the political leadership of the country has remained incapable of incorporating Fata into Pakistan.
As a result, this autonomous region has harboured fugitives from justice, criminals and religious zealots. The people of Fata are orthodox and cling to outdated customs and social values.
Many in Pakistan have succeeded in promoting a general perception as to honour, bravery and piety of the tribal Muslims, who were, are and will not tolerate outside interference in their matters. So, it is argued, we have to continue with this so-called non-interference policy and let them remain aloof from the outside world in this era of globalization.
We must give up this perception and Pakistan should try to establish its rule and writ in these areas as in any other part of the country.
JALAL-UD-DIN
Karachi
Tree-felling
The Punjab government's unrelenting depredation of the greenery of the historic city of Lahore, known for its gardens and parks, is painful to watch ("Tree-felling must stop", April 23).
The obsession with underpasses is resulting in the destruction of trees that lined the canal and made it one of most pleasant drives in the country. Now the trees have been cut down, and the canal bank is fast becoming a concrete jungle. Do we have to make Lahore into another Los Angeles, a city built for cars? Shouldn't we invest in a mass transit system instead of defoliating this once-green city?
As if this wasn't bad enough, we now have 10 kanals of the Lahore Zoo expropriated for inclusion in the chief minister's secretariat. Why penalize the poor people of this city by encroaching upon public parks and gardens? The Burney Bagh adjacent to the Alhamra Arts Council on The Mall is also being truncated.
Several kanals have been hived off for more than doubling the width of the road leading to the council. Open spaces which are intended for the people of the city are being increasingly usurped by the rulers for their own aggrandisement.
There has regrettably not been a squeak of protest out of the World Wildlife Fund or other NGOs dedicated to the protection of the environment.
ASAD SIDDIQI
Lahore
Mashraqi's son-in-law
Reference the article "A Gift from Hitler" (April 11) and a letter from Mr M. A. Sabzwari (April 20), I would like to set the record straight. The late Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan (my father) was indeed the son-in-law of the late Allama Mashraqi. He had three daughters and one son from his first marriage with Allama Mashraqi's daughter. After she passed away, Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan married again and had one daughter from the second marriage.
Those who are interested can visit the following websites created by one of Allama Mashraqi's grandsons: http://www.allama-mashriqi.8m.com and http://akhtar-hameed-khan.8m.com.
AKBAR KHAN
Pickering, Ontario, Canada
Exposing double standards
Dr P. Nasir has quoted Dr Eqbal Ahmad and the late king Hussein of Jordan in his letter "Terrorism: double standards" (April 18). He writes: "The late King Hussein of Jordan urged Arab states to stand up against double standards." Do such words of wisdom have any impact on US policy? Why does the US show an absolute apathy towards the rhetoric of Muslim heads of state?
Perhaps the book Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate (pages 44-52), by Bob Woodward can help us better answer these questions. On February 16, 1977, he interviewed President Carter when he was working on a story that the CIA had made secret payments to King Hussein of Jordan for intelligence and had done favours for the king.
Carter said Hussein had been "our most reliable source" of information in the Middle East. He also confirmed that the operation started during the era of Eisenhower in 1957, the same year the US Sixth Fleet rushed to his aid to help him survive a coup attempt. The initial payments apparently ran in the millions of dollars but they were sharply curtailed to the $750,000 level last year.
Carter asked if there were some way to run the story without naming King Hussein. On hearing a "no", he said he would like to get a 24-hour notice if the story was going to be published.
Forty-eight hours later, The Washington Post's headline across the entire top of page one was "CIA paid millions to Jordan's King Hussein". Almost the same moment, US Secretary of State was meeting with King Hussein in the Jordanian capital.
Dr Eqbal Ahmad had described King Hussein's funeral as "the diplomatic funeral of the century" (Dawn, February 14, 1999). Four American presidents (Ford, Carter, Bush and Clinton) had attended his funeral, plus five Israeli prime ministers (Netanyahu, Peres, Shamir, Sharon and Ehud Barak) were also there.
His whole life was a prime example of contradictions and double standards. We don't have to quote him in order to blame the US of having double standards.
IMRAN KHALID ARAIN
Ontario, Canada
KW&SB: recovery of tax arrears
In an effort to recover tax arrears from consumers, the KW&SB is resorting to unhealthy practices by claiming water and sewerage taxes from people residing in highrise residential buildings in Clifton's block 2, who are not provided with water and sewerage connections. Whatever water and sewerage lines they have, they have never been functional.
They are buying water from water tankers at exorbitant price and managing the disposal of sewerage, again at exorbitant cost, themselves. Since they are already paying for these utility services, it is against natural law to ask them to pay for the same services twice.
Those who have challenged the dishonest practice of the KW&SB in courts have been provided the requisite relief by restraining the KW&SB from collecting taxes from them and at least, in one case, even ordered the KW&SB to refund the water tax collected from a consumer without providing water. However, everybody does not have time or money to seek relief from a court.
We have brought this anomaly to the notice of the managing directors of the KW&SB time and again but without any result. We now appeal to the city nazim, Niamatullah Khan, to come to the aid the of affected people for justice and fairplay.
SARA HASSAN, S.A. MADNI ISAR AHMED, HANI KHAWAJA & OTHERS
Karachi
Vital lessons to learn
Mr Kunwar Idris (April 25) makes out a convincing case for vigorously pursuing the Indo-Pakistan detente in his article "Vital lessons" (April 25) as both the countries have much to learn from each other. It is good to see the stirrings of the democratic impulse in Pakistan triggered anew by the totally free, though obstreperous, elections being held in India.
The writer has, however, erred in concluding that "the Indians, whether in practising democracy or running an administration, have refused to be innovative".
The electronic voting machine deployed on a scale never witnessed before by any other country in the world, not even the US, in the present elections and the growing lot of cyber-savvy chief ministers like in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states show that those in the government too can be innovative and think 'outside the box'. Many states in India have opted for 'e-governance' as a tool for improving speed and efficiency in their day-to-day operations.
KANGAYAM R. RANGASWAMY
Madison, WI., USA
Delayed justice
According to a press report published on April 14, the National Accountability Bureau is upset about delays in disposal of its cases in different courts, and has asked the "competent authorities" to take cognizance of this situation.
Will NAB be kind enough to inform, through a press release, the victims - widows, orphans, pensioners and others -- about progress on the petition, dated January 28, 2000, submitted by the management committee of the government Superior Services of Pakistan Cooperative Housing Society Limited, Lahore, for recovery of over Rs90 million allegedly embezzled by a former official of this society?
PROF. ABDUL MAJEED
Lahore
Per capita income
This is with the reference to the finance minister's statement that Pakistan will achieve $600 per capita income this year. I ask what would be the benefit of this when the poverty rate is increasing day by day? We are the sixth biggest nation of the world in terms of population and 35th area wise. The difference between these two facts is huge.
What is alarming is that our population growth rate is about 2.4 per cent and our literacy and life expectancy rates are very low. Up to 40 per cent of our population is living below the poverty line. Two basic problems for them are food and clothing. About shelter they are never worried because it is almost out of their reach. This situation leads them to become terrorists, robbers and murderers. What is the meaning of per capita income for them?
I request government officials to pay some attention to the half-clothed naked children on our roads, the miserable old people hovering around hospitals and the insults suffered by mothers and widows in courts and police stations.
The time has come to eradicate poverty, otherwise the situation may worsen,
MUHAMMAD ABDULLAH
Lahore
Khalilzad's remarks
I am disgusted by the remarks of Mr Zalmay Khalilzad, President Bush's adviser on Afghanistan. To say that Pakistan is not doing enough is absolutely ridiculous. Our soldiers have been killed trying to stop terrorists, who first entered from Afghanistan. What will be 'enough' for Mr Khalilzad?
SAIMA ABBAS
Karachi
Sewage in sea water
I was appalled when I saw sewage being drained into the sea into the Clifton beach near Sea View. Untreated sewerage being dumped into the sea with so many picnickers around is typical of how government agencies treat the residents of this city.
Will the DHA look into the matter and set things right?
MUNSARIM SAIF
Karachi
Sukkur BISE
I would like to draw the attention of the Sindh education minister towards the poor working of BISE, Sukkur. It held the SSC examinations last March but has not been able to hold practical examinations so far.
What the board does is that it fixes the date for practicals but after some time puts it off.
Because of this, we have not been able to start our new classes due from April 1.
AFFECTED STUDENTS
Classes IX & X, Ghotki
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