| 15 August 2004 | Sunday | 28 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425 |
Chomsky on US election
SBP working
Religious graffiti
Why the targets?
Denationalization of colleges
UET admission test policy
Pending cases
The plight of teachers
Absence of streetlights
Complaints on website
Urban ruins
Clifton casino
Troops for Iraq
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This is with reference to the letters of Mirza Aslam Beg (July 5) and Syed Imran Ali (July 16) on the above subject.
Karachi is infested with car thieves, with the government doing little to crack down on this growing menace.
Stolen vehicles are also used for criminal activities as is evident from the fact that the van used by those who ambushed the Karachi corps commander's convoy was stolen.
It has also been reported in the press that a substantial number of motorcycles are smuggled into Afghanistan. On average around 15 cars and 20 motorcycles are stolen or snatched in Karachi every day. Growing incidence of theft has also increased the cost of insurance with the result that many car owners don't even bother getting their vehicles insured.
One factor that has affected the smooth functioning of the Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) is lack of coordination between the traffic, operations, and anti-car theft branches of the police. This needs to be sorted out. Besides, the ACLC should be revamped and should have a new post of SP (operations). This officer should report directly to the city police chief (CCPO).
Furthermore, 27 checkposts should be set up around the city, with control handed over to the army. Secondly, the traffic kiosks manned by the traffic police should be properly staffed and their working improved. In any case, most of the traffic policemen seem more interested in harassing motorcyclists on frivolous or concocted violations rather than in their job of managing the city's traffic.
Another fact that does not help is that the conviction rate is dismally low. Only a minuscule 0.11 per cent of the 1,100 alleged carjackers arrested by the police in 2003 were convicted by a court. The courts should be more proactive so that decisions can be expedited. Those against whom evidence is found should be severely punished.
The ACLC, like any other branch of the police, utilizes the services of inspectors and sub-inspectors to represent it in court. Because of their lack of judicial knowledge, lower rank, and the inability of the cell to provide extra incentives to its staff, prosecution suffers.
The police should consider hiring the services of capable and dedicated lawyers to arraign alleged car thieves in court. However, these lawyers charge high fees and this is a severe handicap for the ACLC which is already strapped for financial resources.
In order to defray this cost, perhaps the insurance companies could be convinced to subsidize lawyer fees.
MAJYD AZIZ
Karachi
Chomsky on US election
As much as we love to see the regime change in the United States in the coming presidential elections, it is increasingly frustrating to see the current position of Senator John Kerry. In spite of the enormous failings and shortcomings of the Bush administration, it is, in fact, the worst administration after Nixon's, one wonders why Mr Kerry and the Democrats have not been able to take the advantage of the situation. They should have been way ahead in the polls. Instead, they are neck and neck.
I recently had a privilege to speak to Professor Noam Chomsky about Mr Kerry's election campaign and how surprising it was that he did not have an edge in the race. He gave me the following reply:
"It is awful, but it is not surprising. For one thing, the people around Kerry do not differ much from Bush on foreign policy, apart from style. On domestic policy, they are somewhat different, but try to downplay issues in favour of 'personal qualities', 'leadership', etc. That's the way US politics works.
There is, basically, a single party, the business party, with two factions (Republicans and Democrats). The PR industry, which largely runs elections, trains candidates to keep to 'qualities', not 'issues' because raising issues enters into dangerous territory: on many crucial issues the population differs significantly from elites, and the goal is to marginalize the public, not engage them in decision-making."
KHURRAM HANEEF
New Jersey, USA
SBP working
The State Bank of Pakistan takes pride in spearheading reforms in the banking sector and continues to remind us about how "people-friendly" it has become. Given this packaging, one can only wonder why it fails to take action as and when required.
Two examples that come to mind are the ongoing Bank of Punjab Crore-Pati scheme, which is clearly a gimmick being conducted under the guise of banking and the instance where the HBL charged it customers a fee for processing their PPL subscription forms. This despite the fact that no such fee was part of the process and the bank did not give any official receipt for this payment.
Several letters have appeared in the media over the past couple of weeks on these two issues but the relevant banks and the SBP both have remained silent. This brings into question the ability of the SBP to take action in instances where an obvious wrong is being committed in the name of banking.
It reminds us of the time when the finance companies saga in Sindh and the cooperative bank scandal in Punjab looted millions of poor and middle class people of their savings, as the finance ministry and the SBP remained silent.
One wonders if the same approach will be taken this time round. It seems that the SBP only wakes up when most of the damage has been done and this only shows how inefficiently the central bank is being managed despite millions of rupees that have been poured into it to strengthen its working and make it more efficient.
The SBP's directives also continue to be flouted by the commercial banks. In a more recent instance, the SBP has ordered banks to set up complaint cells where customers could come and complain against issues related to that particular bank. Not one bank has implemented this directive.
SATTAR KHAN SADOZAI
Peshawar
Religious graffiti
In the past 10-15 years all of us have seen and become accustomed to numerous types of religious graffiti on public and private property all over Pakistan. Some are mere slogans, while others are quotes from the Holy Quran or the Ahadis
Most of these Quranic verses or duas have been calligraphically inscribed on public/private property without the consent or approval of the owners or the government agencies concerned. The activities of people behind this illegal act of damaging and defacing public or private property under the garb of promoting religion need to be checked.
Karachi's city government should take action against such misguided people. These people have not even spared national monuments. For the past few years everyone who has visited Clifton must have noticed that the Teen Talwar monument which proudly proclaimed the motto of Mohammad Ali Jinnah - Unity, Faith and Discipline - on three elegant white marble swords now has religious graffiti on it. There is nothing wrong in this but such actions should not be used to damage national monuments.
Of late the monument is being cleaned and a scaffolding has been erected around it. I hope the people responsible for the cleaning ensure that all illegal writing on this monument is also erased. My friends who want to see the calligraphy at that intersection should put their money where their feelings are and pay for a billboard where beautiful calligraphy (that is not just pleasing to the eye but also spiritually fulfilling for the sponsors of the sign) can be written.
SYED IMRAN AHMAD
Karachi
Why the targets?
In Pakistan, the law and order situation has always been of concern, irrespective of the fact whether the army ruled or democratic governments had been running the affairs.
This, at times, has crossed unthinkable limits. The attack on the life of President Musharraf is an unanswered question. Soon after, the Balochistan chief minister was targeted and prior to that the prime minister-in-waiting. The Karachi corps commander was another target who miraculously escaped death.
After such incidents, we are quick to lay off officials, transfer others and constitute a commission. The top brass issue statements pronouncing that the culprits will be punished harshly, when caught.
We can see this from another angle and pose a question as to what instigates our own Pakistanis to commit such heinous crimes against our own leaders? Our leaders claim that they are not self-imposed dictators or rulers but have been popularly elected and approved through referendum. If this is true, our masses should not be attacking them.
Nobody wants to lose their life but all those who attacked these VVIPs lost their lives. Were all these attackers mentally imbalanced? But if so, why did they target VVIPs only?
IQBAL HADI ZAIDI
Kuwait
Denationalization of colleges
This is with reference to the Sindh education minister's defence of denationalization of colleges. It is a bit ironic that those who are in government do not have much faith in the government-run educational system.
Instead of introducing new methods and techniques to raise the standard of education in public institutions, Sindh's education minister has decided to go ahead with denationalization without thinking how this will affect those from low-income backgrounds who will not be able to afford education after denationalization.
The education minister thinks that denationalization will improve the standard of education and increase competition. But is it really necessary that for standards to improve institutions must be in private hands?
In the US, for instance, public educational institutions do a very good job of educating their students. Instead of denationalizing colleges, the Sindh government is advised to take measures to improve the quality of education being imparted in government institutions.
ABDUL HAMEED PANHWAR
Jamshoro
UET admission test policy
On July 25 I took the admission test at the UET, Lahore. The test given to us had some serious mistakes. There were certain questions with answers that did not match with any of the given ones.
The staff present there was promptly informed and they said we would be compensated for those flaws in the test. Not to speak of any compensation for those mistakes in the test,
I have been given embarrassingly low marks (223 out of 400). I have scored 896 marks in the intermediate examination and I had done reasonably well in the test, hoping to get admission in one of the top three engineering colleges.
With such low marks in the test and a high weightage given to the test for the admission, I am left with no option but to wait for another year to get admission in an engineering institution of my choice or to go for the self-finance scheme etc.
I can point out tens of questions in the test paper which were lifted from many of the books for the entry test preparation (having wrong answers) available in the market. Since no effort was made to prepare the test by the department or attention paid to the plagiarism practised by the test makers is playing havoc with students' future.
It is said that the admission test is meant to check the analytical and reasoning abilities of the students, but what about checking such abilities of the test-makers who put out such mistake-ridden tests? Moreover the weightage given to the test and the intermediate marks, i.e. 30 per cent and 70 per cent, respectively, is absurd. It seriously undermines a student's two years of hard work.
The mushrooming of hundreds of profit-making preparatory institutes exploiting the situation and making money is putting a huge financial burden on parents. Naturally, those who can't afford such tuitions end up in a state of despair like me.
How long will this continue is anybody's guess. It is suggested that either the admission test be done away with (especially the kind of plagiarized and mistake-ridden test conducted at the UET) or at least its weightage should be considerably lowered (it must not be more than 10 to 15 per cent), as it is not serving much purpose besides adding to the worries of the students.
ASAD ALI KHAN
Lahore
Pending cases
In a programme recently aired on PTV, a panel of retired judges highlighted the need and means for expediting the disposal of pending court cases, some of which had been under trial for over three years. Habibur Rehman has in his article "Children in jails" (July 21) also talked about a similar problem.
I know of a criminal case pending in a court for nearly four years. The case in point is No. FIR/282/00 u/s 302 P.S Saeedabad, case No. 159/01 pending in Court of Third Additional Sessions Judge, (West) Karachi. Both the alleged accused are minors and belong to very poor families of Baldia and can hardly afford a lawyer.
Three judges have come and gone, nearly 80 hearings have already been held, witnesses are still being examined and there is no end in sight. Truly, justice delayed is justice denied. Perhaps the honourable High Court of Sindh should get the case expedited. Imagine the sheer waste of public money involved just in bringing the two juveniles from Malir Jail to the district courts and back.
The cause for delay in such cases, however, does not lie at the judges' door. It is the very system of the delivery of justice that is antiquated and must be changed. Already, clogged as it is with the plethora of Hudood cases, delays in the disposal of other cases will only get worse. The call for reform on this issue is loud and clear.
S. ASIF MAJEED
Karachi
The plight of teachers
The DHA, Karachi, initially provided inexpensive housing to retired armed forces officers. With the same object, the DHA schools were established to provide relief for people in uniform. The objective and intentions were sacred but this is now turning into a commercial venture.
DHA educational institutions employ teachers who are given permanent employment on government scales. In most schools the rules under which these teachers are employed are not shared with them. The agreed terms and conditions are unilaterally changed by the DHA directorate and teachers are forced to obey.
Lately, the decision to provide freeship to teachers' children was revoked and continuity benefits changed / withdrawn which is a cause of concern for teachers and their families.
In educated societies, decisions are made with consensus and teachers are given respect and dealt with judiciously.
AHSAN KAMAL
Karachi
Absence of streetlights
Faisalabad suffers from absence of streetlights on the newly-constructed roads like Sheikhupura, Sargodha and Jhumera roads. Other roads like University Road and Satiana Road do have streetlights but many of them are out of order. These roads connect Faisalabad with other cities or towns and become very dangerous to travel on at night.
Will authorities concerned to look into the matter and do the needful?
MUHAMMAD RIZWAN
Advocate, Faisalabad
Complaints on website
I registered three complaints on the official website of the Sindh governor (numbers PRB-738-03,739-03 and 740-03) regarding bad roads, poor sanitation and drainage problems in Hyderabad's Baldia Colony. I have received no response so far on any of the complaints made. My advice is that such websites should not have a complaints' registration facility because it's good not to let down the public like this.
NIZAMUDDIN SHAIKH
Hyderabad
Urban ruins
There are a number of buildings all over Pakistan which are covered by heritage laws, whereby no alteration or demolition is permitted.
Some of these buildings lie in a derelict state with collapsed roofs, broken windows and termite-infested woodwork. Why do we need to retain such embalmed mummies of our colonial past?
Some Karachi landmarks like Mereweather Tower, Frere Hall and Kothari Parade have been sandblasted and restored to pristine condition. These monuments deserve regular maintenance for nostalgic admirers.
If, in fact, some buildings are really worthy, they should be renovated and turned into libraries and art galleries.
It is requested that the heritage list be revisited and unwanted properties which are eye-sores on the skyline be struck off the list and demolished to make way for new construction.
RAFI ADAMJEE
Karachi
Clifton casino
The Clifton casino in Karachi, or what remains of it, is being torn apart, limb by limb. This building, which has stood the vagaries of weather rather well, is perhaps being torn down to accommodate another shopping mall or housing complex.
This grand old lady has graced our beach side for almost three decades. With her demise, the sad reminder of what it was supposed to be and what it had become, owing to the politics of Pakistan, will also be gone.
The building is part of history of new Karachi - the post- partition period. It is also a testament to the vision of one of our greatest democrats and how it was shot down by the rightist forces intent on keeping Pakistan in the middle ages.
It also signifies the lack of vision on the part of our bureaucracy and leadership, which did not find a use for this magnificent structure for thirty years, despite the fact that it was in very good condition and could have been used for a number of purposes.
SYED KARAMAT
Karachi
Troops for Iraq
In your editorial of July 26, you stated that "... (Iraq) must be salvaged, its infrastructure rebuilt, conditions of normality restored and elections held to pave the way for a democratic Iraq." You go on to argue that troops should not be sent now as this would be seen as helping the occupying powers.
Surely there is a more valid reason for this important resource to remain in Pakistan. Namely, to achieve these noble aims here and now. Perhaps someone should remind the president that charity begins at home.
TAJ JAMAL
Karachi
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