| 17 July 2004 | Saturday | 28 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425 |
Postponement of US polls
'No-man's land'
Aims of teaching
Former PS employees' grievance
Objectivity in news broadcasts
Inflation and deposit rates
Qasimi chair at SU
Sodium lights & bird menace
Bush's message
Withholding tax
American mind
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Mr Shahid Javed Burki ("Evolving a new system", July 13) has made a case for restructuring the institutions of governance in Pakistan by introducing a semi-presidential system. He asserts that without "oversight by a powerful institution such as the military the country cannot hope to escape chaos".
I would like to highlight some potential pitfalls associated with the semi-presidential system. Oversight by the military in Pakistan is not healthy for the political process.
Despite its merits, the semi-presidential system suffers from some serious disadvantages. If, for instance, the president and the prime minister come from ideologically opposed parties, then the probability of the entire executive and legislative process grinding to a dead halt increases substantially.
The probability of this happening will be even higher in Pakistan where, despite repeated elections, the democratic process is not consolidated. Moreover, the semi-presidential system can suffer from 'hyper-presidentialism' in which the president comes to dominate constitutional and political domains.
Good institutions, indeed, are the sine qua non of good governance; nonetheless, institutions do not work in a vacuum: their performance is affected by economic and cultural factors.
In addition to economic and cultural factors, institutions are also affected by other institutions. The military has become disproportionately strong in comparison with the other institutions in the country.
This not only results in a 'crowding out effect' for the development sectors, but also leads to Napoleonic tendencies in the military. For this reason, the political and democratic institutions in Pakistan will gain strength if the military agrees to play by the rules of a democratic society.
Such an agreement will entail a doctrinal shift at the GHQ, whereby the military budget goes down as a percentage of GDP and the military decides not to intervene in the political process.
Merely replacing the parliamentary system with the semi-presidential one will not bring about democracy, prosperity and happiness. Furthermore, the military cannot possibly provide oversight forever, and the military's decision to extricate itself from the political process will strengthen civilian institutions in Pakistan.
AQDAS AFZAL
Columbus, Ohio, USA
Postponement of US polls
News out of Washington is that the November elections may be postponed due to a perceived terrorist attack. One hundred and forty years ago, a situation arose where the demand for the postponement of elections gained steam. President Abraham Lincoln had this to say in a speech after the elections on November 10, 1864:
"It has long been a grave question whether any government, not too strong for the liberties of its people, can be strong enough to maintain its own existence in great emergencies.
On this point the present rebellion brought our republic to a severe test; and a presidential election occurring in regular course during the rebellion added not a little to the strain.
If the loyal people, united, were put to the utmost of their strength by the rebellion, must they not fail when divided, and partially paralyzed, by a political war among themselves? But the election was a necessity.
"We cannot have free government without elections; and if the rebellion could force us to forego or postpone a national election it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.
The strife of the election is but human nature practically applied to the facts of the case. What has occurred in this case must ever recur in similar cases. Human nature will not change.
In any future great national trial, compared with the men of this, we shall have as weak, and as strong; as silly and as wise; as bad and good. Let us, therefore, study the incidents of this, as philosophy to learn wisdom from, and none of them as wrongs to be revenged. "But the election, along with its incidental, and undesirable strife, has done good too. It has demonstrated that a people's government can sustain a national election, in the midst of a great civil war.
Until now it has not been known to the world that this was a possibility. It shows that, even among candidates of the same party, he who is most devoted to the Union, and most opposed to treason, can receive most of the people's votes.
It shows also, to the extent yet known, that we have more men now, than we had when the war began. Gold is good in its place; but living, brave, patriotic men, are better than gold."
MIKE BAXTER
Karachi
'No-man's land'
Defence View, Karachi, is a residential complex consisting of over 2,500 houses and flats. It is situated between Kashmir Colony and the Korangi Expressway. This project was undertaken by a private firm six years back.
The problem is that even after six years residents are being denied their civics rights. The locality, in fact, is a 'no-man's land' because, on the one hand, it is taken as unauthorized and, on the other, property tax is being levied.
The civic agencies concerned, now functioning under Jamshed Town, are recovering water, sewerage, fire and conservancy charges from the residents without providing the services.
The builders initially arranged a four-inch-dia water main which failed to meet the requirement of the residents. They even did not bother to arrange equal distribution of water.
The water supply was finally disconnected due to non-payment of dues. An army monitoring team, on the request of the residents in June 2000 and the Water Board vide letter No. KWSB/SE/WTM/Circle/F/00/738 dated 03-06-2000 admitted that the main was insufficient for such a big project, and said that provision of an additional main would be considered if the builders applied for that. But this did not materialize.
However, on the intervention of the Jamshed Town nazim, the KWSB asked for a deposit of Rs8.339 million for clearing the outstanding dues and for providing an additional three-inch-dia water connection vide letter No. SE /WTM /Circle /KW&SB /2001/507, dated 20.10.2001.
The residents had no option but to accept this demand to survive. Most paid their share ranging between Rs3,500 and Rs5,000, according to the size of their houses. But they still do not get the required quantity of water, though they pay bills for full supply. They also pay for sewerage/conservancy and fire cover, but these services do not exist.
Through these columns residents of Defence View demand that the city nazim, the KWSB managing director, the town nazim and the UC-II councillors should ensure that all civic amenities are provided to us without further delay.
LT-CDR (retd) MUNIR A. RAJA
Karachi
Aims of teaching
If teachers are imparting textbook knowledge, they are doing their duty as prescribed. But if the aim of teaching is to develop the ability to analyze and evaluate as well, then teachers in Pakistan seem to be of little help to students.
Teachers assume that imparting textbook knowledge is their only responsibility. But how textbook knowledge may help students in their practical lives is an important challenge that teachers in Pakistan fail to meet.
The result is that our educational institutions are churning out a large number of graduates who find it difficult to relate their knowledge or skills to the demands of society.
Take, for example, doctors. Their profession requires them to be kind, caring and generous, but these ethics are not followed by them and their status in society has been on the decline over the years.
Similarly, civil servants are competent in administration but are unable to serve the public, with the result that there is a gap between the civil servants and the people. Where does the fault lie?
The education department offered no training programmes on my selection as a lecturer. I consulted my colleagues about classroom activities and teaching methodology, but they were as ill-informed as I was on my first day.
I got some tips, entered the classroom, looked at the faces of students and started delivering what came to my mind. It was a joke. I wondered if there was any training for teachers.
Teaching and education are two sides of the same coin. But teaching is meant to provide textbook knowledge while education is meant to educate students about their role in society.
SOHAIL KHALID
Toba Tek Singh
Former PS employees' grievance
We are foreign-trained professional engineers who started our careers with Pakistan Steel between 1976 and 1980. We were inducted into service against permanent posts as graduate/trainee/probation engineers and were sent to the USSR (now defunct) and other foreign countries for training in different fields for six to 12 months.
At the time of joining we were asked to provide surety bonds to serve Pakistan Steel, which we did for more the 20 years but unfortunately had to leave the organization when unfavourable conditions were created to harass us. We had no option but to opt for the volunteer retirement facility.
At the time of payment, we were given once again another setback when our two years' training/probation period was not considered as regular service. Here also discrimination was made between various batches.
Engineers of the eighth, night, 11th and onward batches were deprived of the payment of two years' gratuity, whereas engineers of the 10th batch having similar qualifications and training were allowed payment of two years gratuity.
The underlying principle is that whenever any induction is made against permanent posts, length of service is counted from the original date of joining. But Pakistan Steel ignored this criterion. When we approached the mill authorities, we didn't get any proper reply. In spite of our long and dedicated service, we were given small amounts.
We appeal to the president, the prime minister, the Pakistan Engineering Council chairman and human rights bodies to help us get us our rights.
SHAH NAWAZ SHAH
President, Pakistan Steel Foreign-qualified Engineers Committee, Karachi
Objectivity in news broadcasts
Ms Iffat Idris's article "Objectivity in news broadcasts" (July 12) gives laudable calls for greater impartiality, but is missing important pieces in its explanation for the state of affairs.
Far from being an exception to otherwise independent reporting, the Iraq war as reported in the US is only the most recent example of heavily filtered and framed news stories.
Most importantly, the writer does not make adequate reference to institutional factors shaping the output of mass media. In directly government-controlled media, with little transparency it is easy to see reporters and editors face the threat of losing their jobs for filing a wrong story or offering a politically unacceptable perspective.
In the case of privately-held corporate mass media, institutional forces shaping news stories and entertainment products are also strong, but it is more difficult for the average viewer to identify them.
Ms Idris mentions ratings pressure but doesn't explain its context. Corporate media organizations are in the business of providing a service to their clients - the advertisers.
That service is delivering advertiser messages to specific audiences and demographics. Advertisers, therefore, have the potential to exercise vetoes over news story content.
But this is only one of several well-documented institutional filters. Others include the sheer size of media conglomerates (making it difficult for new competitors to enter the market), political leanings of the ownership (giving media moguls like Rupert Murdoch enormous global influence), the role of flak organizations (lobbies organized to give negative feedback, threaten lawsuits, and call for editorial firings, when faced with news stories they don't like), news sourcing (information desks that share pre-written news stories with journalists, providing a cosy, uncritical shortcut for reporters, such as the Pentagon's enormous daily press briefing apparatus), and framing (where elite opinion supplies a basic model for understanding the world, such as the Cold War or the war on terror, and reporters and editors mould descriptions of individuals, organizations and situations to fit that model).
A simple call for more ethical reporting that doesn't take these institutional factors into account will be ineffectual. Deeper restructurings, including the breakup of conglomerates for more competition, increased diversity in news sourcing, and insulation from the pressures of flak organizations are needed for improved corporate mass media content.
Finally, journalistic integrity matters, but institutional pressures should be shaped so that they reward journalists for speaking the truth rather than for conforming to filtering and framing.
ANAS MALIK
Assistant Professor, Political Science, Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Inflation and deposit rates
This is with reference to the report "Inflation turns deposit rates negative" (July 14). It is generally accepted that negative weighted average deposit rates to a great extent represent a function of the changing magnitude of liquidity rather than of inflation.
The monetary expansion during July-March 2003-04 amounted to Rs254.8 billion (12.26 per cent) compared with an expansion of Rs211.2 billion (11.99pc) in the same period of last year.
The bulk of this expansion took place in net domestic assets (NDA) rather than in net foreign assets (NFA) which was the single largest trigger for higher inflation.
The increase in the NDA has resulted mainly due to a massive expansion of private sector credit at Rs190 billion in July-March 2003-04, up by 116 per cent compared to July-March 2002-03. Private sector credit stood at immense proportions at 74 per cent of the total monetary expansion.
Credit expansion growth rates for agriculture (115 per cent), mining and quarrying (194 per cent), manufacture of textile, textile products and leather (82 per cent) and credit to exporters (98 per cent) give evidence of the government's focus towards economic stability and progress which necessitated our commendable achievement of 12 per cent growth in textile exports.
Balancing growth and inflation can be knavish for any country because of the underlying laws of economics; hence the onus remains on prioritizing our growth targets rather than on wholly emphasizing a one-window solution.
KHURRAM FAHEEM
Karachi
Qasimi chair at SU
The Sindh University academic council's decision to establish an Allama Ghulam Mustafa Qasimi chair (Dawn, July 8) is a laudable step. There can be no better way to appreciate the invaluable services rendered by such an eminent educationist and scholar of Islam in the field of education and religion. He was, in fact, an embodiment of knowledge and humility.
I now suggest the following steps:
- All books, articles and speeches delivered by Allama Qasimi should immediately be retrieved and printed.
- At least five scholarships per year should be announced for deserving students who are interested in carrying out research on the different aspects of the works of the Allama.
- A scholar may be engaged by the university to write the Allama's biography so that coming generations can benefit from the experiences of this distinguished scholar.
MANZOOR H. KURESHI
Karachi
Sodium lights & bird menace
The Karachi city government is doing a great job by installing sodium lights at various intersections. Not only are these lights of great help to motorists; they have also attracted eagles that occupy the top portion of almost all sodium lights.
The eagles have changed the direction of these lights, and they now do not focus where they should. At some places the beam is directed towards the sky and at others at the pole itself.
Will somebody in the city government or at the KESC please ask the relevant departments to take notice of this and remove the eagle nests? Sharp- pointed pipes can be installed at the top to keep the birds away.
SHAHAB SHARIF
Karachi
Bush's message
During a visit to the state of Tennessee recently, President Bush said: "Three years ago, Pakistan was one of the few countries in the world that recognized the Taliban regime.
Al Qaeda was active in recruiting in Pakistan and was not seriously opposed. Pakistan served as a transit point for Al Qaeda terrorists leaving Afghanistan on missions of murder.
Yet the United States was not on good terms with Pakistan's military and civilian leaders, the very people we would need to help shut down Al Qaeda operations in that part of the world. Today the governments of the United States and Pakistan are working closely in the fight against terror."
One sees an indictment of Pakistan summed up in the first two sentences of Mr Bush's remarks. However, the third sentence mildly chastises the faulty American foreign policy that centered on 'constructive disengagement' with Pakistan.
Then comes the last sentence which is a kicker: it asks Pakistan to help the US. The question is: what if Pakistan does not help the US the way Washington wants it? The answer is obvious: non-complying Pakistan will be implicated on the charges packed in the second sentence of Bush's remarks.
Real-politick demands that Pakistan strategically helps the US by sending troops to Iraq; otherwise, the nuclear proliferation issue associated with Dr A.Q. Khan will be revived and used against Islamabad.
SHAUKAT KHAN
Juneau, Alaska, USA
Withholding tax
The National Savings Centre on Tipu Sultan Road, Karachi, continues to deduct a withholding tax even from the profit on Bahbood savings certificates due after July 1, 2004.
Their contention is that the tax has been withdrawn on certificates issued after July 1 and not on the existing ones. The word "withdrawn" used by the finance minister clearly relates to the existing ones; otherwise, he should have said there would be no tax on certificates to be issued after July 1, 2004.
Will the authorities concerned clarify the position and issue necessary instructions to the savings centres to avoid confusion?
SOHAIL NAWAZ
Karachi
American mind
"The genius of you Americans is that you never make clear-cut stupid moves, only complicated stupid moves which make us wonder at the possibility that there may be something to them which we are missing."- Gamel Abdel Nasser, former Egyptian president.
What Nasser said about the Americans is still valid in the backdrop of the Iraq war. And it is quite interesting that a lot of heads of small nations missed the fine points while endorsing the attack on Iraq by US forces.
MIR TABASSUM MAIRAJ
Islamabad
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