27 August 2004 Friday 10 Rajab 1425 Law and order situation Balochistan committee Plight of special children Mass casualty management system Blocking highways Targeting Iran Shifting planetarium How much provincial autonomy? KBCA's neglect Muslim world and Olympics Fruit sellers in DHA Helping the Afghans Terrorism in colleges Poverty in Murree PTCL ad campaign Nadra's working Electricity connections To send a letter to the Editor Click here Law and order situation The people are facing a law and order breakdown in the country. They are not safe in villages, in towns and cities, on roads and streets and not even inside their homes anymore. Villagers face dacoits, kidnappers, criminals, rapists and the brute forces of feudalism that don't allow the poor people to even breathe easily if they fail to say "Salam Wadera Saaeen" almost every day (Here one can replace 'wadera' for chaudhry, khan, raees, sardar or nawab depending on the area where one lives). The situation is not any better in the urban areas, where, besides common criminals, car jackers, kidnappers, rapists, thieves, etc., we also have another breed of outlaws: terrorists and extortionists. They operate on their own or have the blessings of some political groups and militant organizations, which get their share from the bounty very regularly. It is understood that more than one political or other groups harbour criminal elements that are involved in heinous crimes. A number of complaints of terrorism, extortions and "bhatta khori" by individuals and groups surface in the press every now and then, but mostly they are muzzled as powerful groups behind such acts don't hesitate to show their muscle. It is feared that things may worsen with the passage of a recent bill in the National Assembly aimed at further curbing and curtailing freedom of expression. The only people who would be happy are some of the political and military leadership and civil and military bureaucrats, militant organizations, political and criminal mafias, land grabbers, builders, contractors, violators of human rights, feudals and the like elements as there won't be an effective check on them anymore. The question here is: what should be the role of the civil society to face the situation and how to devise ways and means to impress upon the government to bring to law such elements and provide security to the citizens so that they can live a peaceful life without any fear? This is an important and urgent matter. The life, liberty and freedom of the people are at stake. It will be all of us, the ordinary citizens of the country, who will continue to suffer if we remain silent. AZIZ NAREJO Via email Balochistan committee Chaurdhry Shujaat Hussain has proposed formation of a Senate committee to resolve the Balochistan issue. He himself wishes to be a member of this committee. The aim is twofold; one to identify and resolve the main problems of Balochistan and two to achieve provincial harmony through a process of dialogue. The approach is correct as political issues should be resolved only through political process. There is no gainsaying the fact that some sense of deprivation exists in the smaller provinces. They feel they have not been done a fair deal by the federal government. Balochistan with a large land mass demands more development funds to bring it on a par with other provinces. It has the potential of becoming the granary of Asia with more water and electricity. Development of marble, coal, manganese, copper and gold mines has lagged behind. Despite the success rate of oil exploration among the highest in the world, enough oil wells have not been dug. There is bickering over the fact that Balochistan is not getting its due share of gas royalty. As for Sindh, there is a vast disparity in the quality of life between rural and urban Sindh. Basic amenities of life like food and water are scarce in rural Sindh. Large deposits of coal lie untapped there. Alternative sources of cheap energy like wind and solar energy have not been developed. The NWFP and Fata have their own grievances. It is time someone heard them seriously and did something to satisfy them. Tarbela royalty and Kalabagh issues need to be explicitly resolved. An enduring solution should be found for Fata's political, economic and administrative problems. S.M.H.BOKHARI Rawalpindi Plight of special children I am the father of a special child - my daughter is blind. Before I returned from Canada recently, I used to read how much attention the government was paying to the welfare of special children. However, I find that the reality is far from the truth. It is a fact that the country has limited resources, but I think it is not the resources that have affected my conclusions, it's rather the attitude. When my daughter appeared in Class IX (humanities group) examinations, I was shocked by the following: a. In her maths and science papers she was expected to draw diagrams. Course books are neither available in Braille nor on tape. b. The writers they had to use belonged to a junior class; the time allotted was the same as that for sighted students. In this age most of these children can be taught to use computers and they can type out their answers. There is a software available by the name of jaws which can read what is typed and what is on the screen. It does not need any special kind of computer for running this software. I had written to the board and I asked her teachers at Ida Rieu to talk to the board officials. They said they had tried but with no result. The result was obvious: out of the 18 blind students who appeared for the examinations from that school, only six cleared all the papers. These hardworking children were dejected and sad. It is their disappointment that has prompted me to go to the press with this issue. We need to do a lot for them. We have a responsibility to ensure that these special children do not end up as beggars. We want them to be looked after and supported in a manner that they become independent and can lead as normal a life as possible. FIRDOUS NAQVI Karachi Mass casualty management system Bomb explosions, road accidents involving multiple vehicles, earthquakes, rail/air crashes, torrential rains/tornadoes and volcanoes have prompted health organizers globally to set up mass casualty management systems. The World Health Organization, with the active collaboration of the Pan-American Health Organization, has chalked out a comprehensive plan which is practicable in even resource-constrained country like Pakistan. In the last three months we have experienced quite a few incidents which call for establishing a mass casualty management system so as to cope up with disasters and stop deaths and disability. A multi-sectorial rescue chain is the essence of a mass casualty management system involving the ministry of health, accident and emergency departments of government/private hospitals, blood banks, fire services, NGOs, transport services and communications. People at the helm of affairs should wake up to the challenge and allocate funds to this end and constitute a separate team of doctors and paramedics, specifically trained for disasters, which should act as a rapid deployment force and reach the disaster site for search and rescue, evacuation and field care, transportation of victims to the nearest health facility. The existing staff in the accident and emergency departments is preoccupied with routine work and whenever mass casualties are brought, it only results in chaos. SURGEON M. HANIF AWAN Mirpurkhas Blocking highways This is with reference to Dr Akbar Mansoor Kundi's letter on his experience while travelling from Karachi to Quetta with his family (August 26). Blocking roads and highways is now a hobby with the people of Pakistan. Anyone angry with a perceived or real act of injustice blocks roads and highways. Truck drivers, students and honourable men of religion may be unhappy with someone's arrest or murder, but they punish fellow citizens by trapping them on roads and highways in the burning heat of summer. Even religious parties are not averse to blocking roads and tormenting people - the old and the sick, included - for an act which the government or their political opponents might have done. This is often followed by the burning of innocent people's cars and buses. They do not realize that this is a great sin. In civilized countries suh acts are never tolerated, and those who indulge in this kind of vandalism are made to go to court. Is there anyone who can stop this trend toward the blocking of roads and highways? Believe me, there must be shoot-on-sight orders for such criminals. JAMAL RIZWAN Karachi Targeting Iran Finally the US has revealed its design of raiding Iran if the latter remains adamant that it will pursue its nuclear programme. One wonders if the US is the sole power responsible for maintaining peace and amity in the world or has it assumed the job of the UN? The fact that it is the sole superpower does not entitle it to chastise any nation. As Iran has repeatedly asserted, its development of nuclear technology is intended for peaceful purposes, the US should let inspectors of the International Attomic Energy Agency testify these assertions. If after investigations Iran is found involved in the proliferation of nuclear technology, it is the United Nations which is legally empowered to deter Iran, and not the US. George W. Bush has already impregnated Muslims with enough venom by his misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. Any other such attack would expose the world to more extremism. FAISAL JAVED Lahore Shifting planetarium This is apropos of the news item regarding shifting of the PIA planetarium from Hasan Square to Karachi University. The shifting of the planetarium is a step towards depriving the people of Karachi of an informal educational facility on the pretext that this is not a commercially viable project. The country has just one other planetarium, in Lahore. Cities like New York and Tokyo have more than eight planetaria, and India has over 20 and the number is growing. This just shows the apathy of our bureaucracy and government towards promotion of education in general. It is even sadder that this whole issue of shifting the Karachi planetarium started because a fast-food operator may be interested in opening an outlet there. It is good that a university has shown willingness to house the facility, but it would be better if we had a new planetarium, with new equipment and new programmes. The existing equipment is at least 20 years old and is not fully functional; besides, it requires an operator all the time and the programmes for this projection system are also no more available in this age of digital media. The news item was misleading in saying that the planetarium will be used for research. A planetarium is for laymen and students to learn science rather than for space scientists to undertake research. If this planetarium is being closed down as this is not considered profitable by PIA, how would Karachi University run this planetarium far off from the city centre, with restricted and limited public access? It is a fact that universities like Karachi University hardly have funds to run their laboratories and expecting them to spare around Rs200,000 per month on a planetarium is ridiculous. It is recommended to HEC Chairman Dr Ataur Rehman to let this planetarium continue. I also recommend that the government through the EPB and PIA should invest in upgrading the existing facility to cover up the deficit as claimed by Pakistan International Airline. SOPHIA HASNAIN Karachi How much provincial autonomy? This is with reference to the article "How much autonomy for the provinces?" by Mr Ghayoor Ahmed (August 24) in which he says: "In most of the federations in the world, all kinds of disputes, procedural or substantive, are settled by following democratic procedures, without recourse to fiddling with the prevailing system or scrapping it altogether. The United States, Switzerland and Canada are the most outstanding examples of nations settling differences between the federation and the federating units through political negotiations." Unfortunately, Pakistan has not been a democracy for most of its existence. It is a country where the rule of law is undermined by repeated military coups. How then can the writer compare Pakistan to those great democracies of the world? The repeated military coups have left little respect for the laws of Pakistan where no general has ever been held accountable for undermining the Constitution. KHALID HAFEEZ New Jersey, USA KBCA's neglect Builders are playing havoc with their construction of apartments for those who are working abroad. The worst thing about this is that almost 100 per cent of the plot area is being covered, blocking even the neighbours' share of fresh air and sunlight. This illegal activity seems to have the blessings of the KDA's field staff. Although nearly one-and-a-half months have passed when a list of some such plots was provided to the KBCA high-ups through the office of the Karachi city nazim, no action has so far been taken in this regard. AFFECTED RESIDENTS Block Nos. 2 & 3 Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Karachi Muslim world and Olympics We often describe American and European cultures as shallow and decry their 'shallowness'. We look down upon their materialistic achievements, ignore their scientific progress and find ulterior motives in their philanthropic actions. Will someone objectively explain why such degenerated cultures produce the best athletes in the world? I dare not ask why we in the Muslim world fail to inspire any talent in athletics. MUHAMMAD TARIQ RAJA Via email Fruit sellers in DHA This letter concerns avoidable atmospheric pollution caused by fruit merchants in Street No.4, off 14th Street, Phase V, Defence, Karachi, who dump their packing materials like waste-paper, grass, etc., on an empty plot adjacent to 20C, 14th Street, and set it on fire. The smoke thus emitted is so nauseating that even those in sound health are disturbed, not to speak of those who suffer from allergic conditions. Why aren't the fruit sellers told to make use of DHA disposal vans? AKBAR KHAN Karachi Helping the Afghans Headline: "Karzai sure of Pakistan's help for peaceful poll' (Dawn, August 25). It seems we are now exporting our 'expertise' in rigging elections to other parts of the world. NAEEM UR REHMAN Rawalpindi Terrorism in colleges My son who studies at the Dow Medical College, Karachi, is being threatened by a student organization with dire consequences if he does not join it. He has now stopped going to college as he fears that he will be forced to join the organization. Isn't this terrorism too, due to which our children cannot even go to their educational institutions without being harassed or threatened? WORRIED MOTHER Karachi Poverty in Murree This refers to the letter "Growing flowers" by Mr S. Nayyar Iqbal Raza (August 25). He says that he saw children selling roasted corn on the cob and daisy garlands on the roadside in Murree and Nathiagali. These are some of the most beautiful areas in the country. Countless people visit them during summer and winter. But nobody takes notice of the fact that people of these areas have been suffering since ages. There are villages without water, clinics, schools, roads, etc. A large number of people are very poor - so much so that their children have to work to make a living. One can see children doing all sorts of work, from selling garlands and roasted corn to fetching water and cleaning hotels and shops. Through these columns I wish to appeal to the president to look into the plight of these people and ensure some relief for them. N.M. ABBASI Lusaka, Zambia PTCL ad campaign The Ptcl has flooded the media with advertisements regarding a reduction in ISD charges and across-the-board fixation at the rate of Rs20 per minute. The first impression that we get is that we have to pay Rs20 a minute for an overseas call. It is only by turning the paper 90 degrees that we can read in fine print that sales tax is excluded from the tariff displayed. This has created problems for public call service providers where stray users come and insist on paying Rs20 per minute. When they are confronted with the fine print, they are reluctant to accept the extra payment. The PTCL is requested to conspicuously mention sales tax in its ads so as not to cause any misunderstanding. S.M. FARID Karachi Nadra's working This has reference to Nadra's letter (August 14) in response to Mr Ali Gohar's grievances. Although Nadra is doing a good job in preparing computerized national identity cards and has adopted methods for rapid service, innumerable CNICs bear typographical and errors which need to be rectified. Nadra's policies and procedures must be people-friendly. I suggest that for correction and rectification Nadra should rely on the same original and authenticated documents which were considered at the time of issuing a new CNIC. The court procedure will be cumbersome, lengthy, time- and money-consuming and will cause harassment to applicants. CAPT (retd) SOHAIL SULTAN Karachi Electricity connections More than 100 applications for new electricity connections have been pending for four years at the KESC office in New Karachi's 11-G Sector. Will the relevant authorities look into this matter and ensure that the applicants do not have to wait for connections any longer? MUHAMMAD HUSSAIN Karachi You can also send letters to the Editor Just send your message to the following address: letters@dawn.com Make sure you include your full name, postal address, e-mail address, and in the case of Pakistan your day-time telephone number.

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