| 26 May 2004 | Wednesday | 06 Rabi-us-Saani 1425 |
Qadhafi's decision
A wise move
'Reading comprehension'
Combating child abuse
Encroachment by shopkeepers
Impact factor - a misunderstood parameter
Another Convention League?
PAF fee system
Unfair banking
Overhauling in police department
Diplomatic missions
Readmission to C'wealth
To send a letter to the Editor
Click here
Whether Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction or not has become irrelevant at this point in time as the existing need in Iraq is to maintain peace and stability to bring in a democratic system.
The reason Iraq has been invaded is not because Saddam directly threatened the US, the UK, Spain or Poland with WMDs, but because Israel was under threat. The US has always come to the aid of Israel and this time it has dragged in countries like Britain as well, which traditionally refrain from blindly supporting Israel's policies.
It's a shame that Arab and Muslim countries as a whole never got united, as did the western nations which, in spite of centuries-old rivalries, a couple of devastating world wars and decades of Cold War, are today united as Nato and the European Union.
According to Middle Eastern nations, the issue of Palestine has always been an "Arab" problem rather than a "Muslim issue" as perceived by those in Pakistan. On top of this, there has been a general lack of support for the Chechen and Kashmir issues amongst Arabs. The British policy of divide and rule still seems to be working.
In order to preserve their authoritarian, repressive and non-democratic rule, Muslim countries have always relied on the US and the West for support. Saddam needed US support to wage war against another Muslim country, Iran.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Gulf nations relied on the US and the West to develop their economic and defence infrastructure and still continue to do so. All this at the expense of allowing the US to gain a strong foothold in the Middle East, which in turn has actually made Israel more secure than ever before and a force to be reckoned with.
The evidence for this can be found from the results of the Six-Day and Yom Kippur wars, where Arab armies faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of Israel-US unity.
What's actually happening in Iraq at present is not a struggle against occupation, rather a quest for power. The insurgency by Baathists and followers of Al Sadr is fuelling the scepticism that Iraq will plunge into a civil war once the US and allied forces pull out. Such senseless insurgency might prompt the UN to endorse prolonged deployment of foreign military forces.
To avoid all this, Iraqis should support the democratic system that is being initiated and learn to accept any decision taken by the majority. They should shun practices such as blowing up humvees, oil pipelines and school buses or kidnapping and mutilating foreigners. On the contrary, they should help create such a peaceful atmosphere as would provide no excuse for the occupation forces to stay in Iraq any longer.
DR SHAAZ MAHBOOB
London, UK
Qadhafi's decision
A few days ago I read a column in a section of the press criticizing Libyan President Moammar Qadhafi and his son Saiful-Islam, who had asked the Jews of their country to come back to Libya and resume their properties which had been occupied by the people when the revolutionary government had taken over the reins of the country.
I have lived in Libya for about 11 years and studied its political system. Before the revolution, the country was ruled by King Idrees al-Sanusi who was just a figurehead.
His foreign advisers ran the entire government machinery. He was an agent of British imperialism, incompetent and corrupt. He had allowed America, Britain and Italy to have military bases in his country.
American and British multinational companies had control over the oil wealth, which was the only source of income of Libya. About 2.5 million people in those days living in a country bigger than Pakistan had no source of income and mainly lived in the desert.
Sheep and goat-rearing was their main occupation. They had no share in business and trade, which was in the hands of the Jews. All consumer goods were imported from Italy and other western countries. The Jews also controlled the bullion markets of Tripoli and Benghazi.
It was under such circumstances that a group of enthusiastic military officers under the leadership of Col Qadhafi had overthrown Idrees al-Sanusi on September 1, 1969, and taken over the country.
They banned foreign military bases, nationalized the country's oil resources, declared Libya a republic, provided the people with basic facilities of education, health, employment and guaranteed their fundamental rights.
During the transition period, there were anarchic conditions in Libya and the people started a massacre of the Jews and occupied their properties, shops and business centres. The Jews were displaced. The question is: are we Muslims against the Jews?
President Qadhafi by returning the properties has proved himself to be a true Muslim and laid the foundation of religious tolerance, justice and peace and prosperity. We should take stock of the changing political scenario with patience.
ZAFAR HUSSAIN QAZI
Lahore
A wise move
Sonia Gandhi, a naturalized Indian citizen, having renounced her Italian nationality almost 25 years ago, has decided not to give a chance to her opponents to use it as an issue to destabilize her adopted country. This is the spirit of a true citizen. Her decision is commendable, especially since it was taken in spite of the popular mandate she won.
We in Pakistan need to learn lessons from our neighbours. It is very logical for civilized democracies to conclude that those who have no faith in the long-term stability of their country or have no stake in its continued survival or emergence as a developed nation must not have a role in decision- and policy- making.
Such restrictions also exist in Israel which receives huge financial, political and moral support from Americans and Europeans of Jewish extraction. Jews settled all over the globe invest the bulk in the state of Israel.
Unfortunately, our corridors of power are dominated by elements who consider it their right to earn billions in Pakistan, only to transfer the money to foreign countries and foreign bank accounts.
As compared to them, lower middle class expatriates sweat it out in the Gulf, the ME, Europe and repatriate their hard-earned savings to Pakistan for investment and the welfare of their immediate families.
Pakistan's problems are due to those citizens who hold privileged positions and having settled their children abroad finally intends to migrate once they are no longer in positions of authority It is this group which has damaged this country by formulating wrong policies to achieve their personal agendas.
Pakistan has given us an identity. Our sovereignty as a nation hinges on the policies that we make today. Let us rise above petty self-interest and give Pakistan our loyalty.
NAZEER ABRO
Hyderabad
'Reading comprehension'
This refers to the letter "Examination system" by Faqiha Q. Abbas (May 18). Apart from the many problems the writer has mentioned, the examination pattern and the question paper setting also call for serious consideration. Consider the following:
I observed an English paper issued by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Hyderabad, for HSC-I students in a recent intermediate examination. Question 2 in the paper was about reading comprehension. The questions given for the passage do not tally with the content of the passage. The passage is as under:
"The central and Principal Organ of the UNO is the General Assembly, where every member nation is represented. Each member nation can send five representatives to the Assembly, but each member has only one vote.
"The General Assembly may consider any question related to the peace and advancement of happiness and justice in the world. It elects its own President at each sitting.
"Besides six main committees for its usual work, committees of many kinds are appointed for special purposes, and to prepare the work for regular sittings of the assembly."
The questions were:
1. "How many members are there in General Assembly?"
2. "What is the designation of Chief Executive of the General Assembly and for how much period is he elected?"
3. "Describe the jurisdiction of the General Assembly."
SAHIB KHAN BHAND
Jamshoro
Combating child abuse
All forms of child abuse are prevalent in Pakistan as in most other countries. There are numerous cases which are not made public. We do not openly fight against it out of fear of isolation from society. Needless to say that most child abuse cases occur within families.
What we have to do is to learn to accept the idea and find out ways to avoid it. Parents and grown-up relatives must not let their egos come in the way of increasing their awareness and accepting truth around them. The overwhelming majority of victims of sexual abuse are girls and since ours is a male-dominated society, it is hard for men to accept their own weaknesses.
Victims of child abuse carry the psychological trauma throughout their lives. They should start helping themselves by seeking professional help. In the case of child abuse the best person to contact is a psychiatrist. Besides, all of us should try to help child abuse victims by listening to them and by respecting their feelings and emotions.
The other thing that one can do is start accepting child abuse victims and not treating them as strangers. As for parents, they should be more careful about their children and never trust anyone with them.
It is not bad for parents to discuss aspects relating to the facts of life with their children. It is always good for children to get proper information through their parents than from people outside because it will also teach them how to protect themselves from being abused.
KEZIA KHAN
Via email
Encroachment by shopkeepers
While sympathizing with the residents of Karachi's Mansfield Street and others, as highlighted by Mr Gulzar Ahmed in his letter (April 7), I would like to bring to the notice of the authorities concerned that there is another place where shopkeepers selling all sorts of foodstuffs are doing a roaring business by occupying footpaths and even some portions of the road.
This is the main road to the F.B. Area (Blocks 1 to 3). The pedestrians are compelled to walk on the road, with every risk to their life from heavy traffic.
Even during the rainy season, these shopkeepers do not spare the footpaths, and the hapless pedestrians are left to walk through dirty water on the road.
The civil authorities should remove these encroachments.
SALEEM ATHAR
Karachi
Impact factor - a misunderstood parameter
A programme "Research Productivity Allowance" has been introduced by the ministry of science and technology. For the award of the allowance, scientists are invited to submit their CVs, with their research publications.
Although it is a good practice and should be appreciated, allowances are distributed on wrong assumptions. Scientific works are judged by the impact factor, with some other recently-introduced criteria.
The impact factor is a bibliographic indicator that was first introduced in 1963. At that time, it was not a measure of scientific quality, but unfortunately this bibliographic measure has been taken as a criterion of quality.
The impact factor is a simple ratio of citations and papers. The numerator is the number of current year citations to all of the papers published by a given journal in the previous two years.
It is unfortunate that the impact factor has been equated with excellence without complete understanding of calculations. The impact factor of a current year may be different from the previous year.
In any journal (having a very high or low impact factor), some articles have an exceptionally high level of citation whereas some articles don't have any citation or hardly at all.
It is, therefore, clear that the impact factor of a journal is a different thing, as compared to citation of individual article published in that journal.
The impact factor was initially used to evaluate and select journals for listing and to subscribe by libraries. As the impact factor provides information about the average number of citations to articles published in a journal during the previous two years, it does not mean that the particular paper has achieved its usefulness during this period. Many articles receive citations after two years or even later.
In Pakistan, some national peer reviewed journals are indexed and are international. The impact factor of national journals is also hardly known. Finally, for the eligibility of research productivity allowance, there should be different categories of scientists according to their nature of job.
For example, a) researchers working in a research organization, b) teachers of universities and c) teachers of colleges. In this way, everyone should get fair chance for the award and appreciation.
PROF SHOAIB TAUHEED
Head Of Physiology Department, Dow Medical College, Karachi
Another Convention League?
General Pervez Musharraf has expressed his satisfaction over the unification of Muslim League factions. It is an open secret that the ruling party has been enjoying the support of the military.
It seems that history is going to repeat itself. It was Ayub Khan who masterminded a king's party in the '60s to give the impression of a politician rather than a military man. Under his auspices a new party, the Convention Muslim League, emerged on the political scene. It went into oblivion with the fall of its founder in 1969.
The united M.L. is similar to the Convention League. The stalwarts are a progeny of Ayub Khan's courtiers. Sardar Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari has confessed that he was persuaded by Gen Sahib to merge his party with the unified M.L. So the Sardar decided to oblige. In the near future, the unified party will pass a resolution requesting the general in the best interests of the nation to head the PML (united).
Why are politicians so spineless?
HAFIZ M. IDREES
Lahore
PAF fee system
We, retired PAF personnel, are being subjected to unjustified policies regarding our children studying in PAF institutions since 2001. A 10 per cent quota has been fixed for our wards in PAF schools and colleges whereas the quota system has been abolished in the country to increase the literacy rate.
We are allowed to have only three children admitted to PAF schools/colleges and are supposed to pay full fees amounting to Rs1,600 per month. This deprives our wards of quality education and badly affects their future.
Now it has been decided to effect a 100 to 350 per cent increase in the fees of children of retired personnel studying in PAF institutions. They are to pay up to Rs800 and Rs1,300 per month instead of Rs400 a month. This has created financial hardship for them since they have limited source of income.
We appeal to the government of Pakistan to advise the air force authority to cancel this unjustified increase in fees.
RETIRED PAF PERSONNEL
Sargodha
Unfair banking
I am a credit card holder of a foreign bank. I received a call from their office offering me an insurance policy. The catch was that if I was not interested, I would have to call them in 15 days. In other words, if I did not call them up, I would be automatically registered for the scheme as a card-holder.
This is an unfair business practice and I hope the State Bank takes notice of this. The onus to opt out of such schemes should not be on the hapless customers. This is yet another smart marketing gimmick to lure consumers.
KAMAL AHMAD
Karachi
Overhauling in police department
Whosoever caused the bomb blast in the mosque of my old school - Sindh Madressah - has committed a most loathsome crime. One fails to understand why our agencies - there are more than a dozen working in Sindh - never appear to have any inkling of such murderous plans. The government of Sindh - poor and needy itself - continues to spend millions for the upkeep of these agencies.
It is time these agencies, including the Rangers, were withdrawn and the amount so saved spent on health, education and population welfare where it is needed most.
The security job, including intelligence and surveillance of the criminals and their henchmen, should be given to the police who can do it better for they already know the criminal gangs and sectarian groups, anti-social elements, etc.
But before doing so, the police department be overhauled. The Sindh police boss has already taken up this job but he needs help from the public representatives in weeding out the corrupt ones from the force.
M.IBRAHIM MEMON
Karachi
Diplomatic missions
Mr Anwer Mooraj has correctly highlighted the gross negligence and lack of interest of our diplomatic missions abroad (April 19). I have one such damaging incident to narrate.
In 1980 I was on deputation to a Libyan bank in Tripoli where a trade fair is held every year in September. One Pakistan firm participated in the fair and procured an export order for Pakistani leather goods.
The terms of the agreement were that 98 per cent would be paid against L/C and the balance of two per cent after inspection of the consignment on arrival in Tripoli. As the order was for a substantial amount, the condition of two per cent payment later on was irksome.
The proprietor of the firm contacted the Pakistan embassy and was told that as it was a private deal, the embassy could not intervene. In contrast to this, he told me that in an identical case the Indian embassy pleaded with the Libyan government on behalf of an Indian firm and was able to get the balance payment percentage reduced to one per cent.
S. UNWAN HASAN
Karachi
Readmission to C'wealth
Congratulations to both the government and people of Pakistan on the nation's readmission to the Commonwealth. This is indeed in recognition of a great deal of democratic progress made throughout Pakistan at a very tough time.
GEORGE L. SINGLETON
Birmingham, Alabama, USA
You can also send letters to the Editor
Just send your message to the following address:
Make sure you include your full name, postal address, e-mail address, and in the case of Pakistan your day-time telephone number.