| 27 September 2004 | Monday | 11 Shaban 1425 |
The Southampton debacle
'Touching up history'
Reviving the cinema industry
US and genocide in Darfur
Candidates of small provinces
KESC billing system
Aircraft damage
Threatened heritage
Government website
Ordeal of IDBP pensioners
The uniform tangle
PhDs
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Reference Mr M.P. Bhandara's article (Dawn, July 4). The learned writer is an important member of our National Assembly. He was a member of our previous Kashmir Committee formed by President Musharraf.
He has the privilege of access to the higher echelons of leadership in Pakistan and India. So, his views are important and noticeable. He has pleaded maintenance of the status quo in Kashmir.
He has the right to express his views, some of which call for scrutiny. He says (besides the APHC): "The other 'party' in the Kashmir freedom struggle are the terrorists. Till lately supported by Pakistan, now somewhat orphaned, are the natural allies of the Gillani group, possibly with linkages to terrorist groups in Pakistan".
Mr Bhandara has not cared to distinguish between the so-called terrorists and freedom fighters. This is in line with the New World Order in which the wretched victims of state terrorism in places like Palestine and Kashmir are dubbed terrorists.
Mr Bhandara says that the J&K state is not homogeneous ethnically, linguistically or religiously and Dogras and Hindus of Jammu and Buddhists of Ladakh are ardent Indians.
But how about the poor Muslims who constitute the overwhelming majority in three districts (Doda, Rajori and Poonch) out of six districts of Jammu area and Gol-Gulah Garah tehsil of Udhampur district and Two Tehsil, i.e., Kargil and Drass of Kargil district of Ladakh? These are contiguous areas of the Valley, Azad Kashmir territory and the Northern Areas and have geographic, ethnic and linguistic affinity with them. Any solution should satisfy all Kashmiris and should not create new festering disputes and instability.
It was India and not Pakistan which refused all reasonable proposals about withdrawal of troops put forth by UNICP and UN mediators Sir Owen Dixon, Frank P. Graham and Gunnar Jarring.
India had to withdraw the bulk of its forces in a simultaneous process of withdrawal from both sides, but it refused. It unjustifiably insisted on the expulsion of Azad Kashmir nationals who had fought as irregulars, for which there was no provision in the UN scheme.
India has of late concocted the false bogey of the Pakistani refusal to mislead people who do not know India's long history of resilience and Machiavellian machinations to avoid a plebiscite.
There is not an iota of similarity between the invasion and military occupation of J&K by India in flagrant violation of the principles of partition and accession of princely states and the peaceful acquisition of Gwadar by Pakistan which was celebrated by the local people. Mr Bhandara's argument on this score is absurd, untenable and irrelevant.
KHWAJA MUHAMMAD BASHIR BUTT
Bahawalnagar
The Southampton debacle
This is with reference to the letters "The Southampton gamble" (Sept 24). More than a gamble, I believe, it was one of the most outlandish decisions that have been taken by a Pakistani captain and the team management when Inzamamul Haq chose to bat first in the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy.
The overcast conditions in Southampton, UK, led to a swinging ball that made playing very difficult for our batsmen. On a subcontinent pitch, the ball does not traditionally rear up above ankle height at a fast pace.
Even if the ball rises as high as a batsman's waist, the bounce will be so slow that he will have ample time to play a decent shot. In the West, especially England, playing cricket is an entirely different proposition.
Because at this time of year in United Kingdom, the skies are overcast, which leads to moisture in the air that makes the cricket ball swing appreciably. Hence, Pakistani batsmen suffer considerably there.
Against this backdrop, I am still shocked at what led Inzamamul Haq to chose to bat first after winning the toss. He is an experienced player who has played numerous times in England and, therefore, should have known what to do.
If he had chosen to field, it would have given Pakistan a greater chance of victory. I am not saying Pakistan would have won for sure, but the chance of a win would have been greater.
Coach Bob Woolmer who has plenty of experience of English seaming conditions should have known it ever more than Inzamam that the ball was going to swing. Didn't it strike him to consult with Inzamam or do they believe in mental telepathy to get their views across to each other?
In the match against India, Pakistani batsmen made heavy weather in chasing India's small target of 200 runs. If the team do not improve their batting drastically in the near future, I believe we have no place in tournaments which include the top-tier teams.
NABIL HOODBHOY
Karachi
'Touching up history'
This refers to Mr Ayaz Amir's column "Touching up history" (Sept 24). It is not the first time that someone has turned to Gen de Gaulle to score. I remember his admirers projected Field Marshal Ayub Khan as the "Asian De Gaulle". Looking back it seems so whacky.
General Musharraf is trying to do a Houdini; he wants to wriggle out of the promise he made to this nation through the national electronic and print media to shed his uniform come December 31, 2004.
Another absurd comment by a senior defence writer comes to mind. He once compared Gen Yahya's re-posting (as GOC) to the then East Pakistan to that of General MacArthur's return to Manila during World War II. He (the writer) must have changed his mind after 1971.
In addition to whatever incongruence Mr Amir has mentioned in the analogy, President Gen de Gaulle, when he felt frustrated on not having enough mandate from the people, resigned from his post in 1946 and walked out of the Elysee Palace, leaving his cabinet bewildered.
Just like that. Twelve years later, Charles de Gaulle returned to power by popular vote (78 per cent) and served his nation till 1969. Then again he resigned when people did not support his plebiscite involving senate and regional reforms.
General Musharraf, in spite of being in power, wants more and more of the same. Of course, he beat de Gaulle in the referendum by a wide margin but was gracious enough not to stress the point. I think we need a cram course in history to save ourselves from embarrassment, both locally and globally.
ASLAM MINHAS
Karachi
Reviving the cinema industry
Now that the ball is rolling on positive fronts and it seems likely that Indian movies will be imported into Pakistan and vice versa, it is probably time for the government to consider the following suggestions:
a. We should have institutes like the Indians have in Poona etc., or the Americans have in Los Angeles, New York, Florida, etc., to teach drama, acting, direction, camera work, lighting and music courses to talented youth. More arts colleges should be set up and given tax exemption and other incentives to groom people.
b. Studios, which serve as the backbone of the film industry and provide all technical facilities from recording to developing films, should be given incentives. Further, an authority should be formed to monitor and regulate the performance of studios. For this, an ISO 9002 type certification may also be made compulsory.
c. Cinema-houses should be given long-term incentives so that new cinemas can be opened throughout the country by genuine businessmen. Our industry can only be promoted if new cinemas catering to international standards are built. These cinemas too should have to be certified as in ISO certification so that they ensure proper safety, seating, screening, air conditioning, etc.
If the above happens, it will provide entertainment and employment to people and revenue to the government in the form of taxes.
MOINUR REHMAN
Karachi
US and genocide in Darfur
The western Darfur province of Sudan is the poorest region of the country. After independence in 1956, the National Islamic Front (NIF) came to power through a military coup in 1989, deposing an elected government.
The region experienced genocide as a result of vast oil concessions in 1998 when the African people of the region became targets of a systematic policy of scorched-earth clearance.
The natural reaction has been the small bands of armed insurgents in Darfur, growing out of decades of economic marginalization and a near total breakdown in civilian security. But instead of rectifying the situation, the government in Khartoum responded by organizing and letting loose the Janjaweed (men on horseback) Arab militia which has brutally and systematically destroyed the means of agricultural production throughout Darfur, and by focusing almost exclusively on African tribal groups.
In the 19-month old conflict, 50,000 black Africans have been killed and over 1.5 million others displaced as Janjawaeed started to attack rebel groups in Darfur in February 2003. But the recent declaration by American Secretary of State Colin Powell that "genocide" has been committed in Darfur and that the government of Sudan and Janjaweed bear responsibility" signals an escalation in US efforts to establish itself as the controlling power in North Africa and throughout the continent. Once again, it is about who controls vital oil supplies.
PROFESSOR (DR) P. NASIR
Gujrat
Candidates of small provinces
Ministries, divisions and autonomous corporations (under the administrative control of the federation) announce vacancies through newspaper advertisements and after scrutiny call candidates to either Lahore or Islamabad with the usual condition that "no TA/DA will be admissible in connection with the interview".
This proviso is against the interest of candidates living in Sindh and Balochistan. A candidate who is living in Lahore or in Punjab generally will have to spend nothing or very little to appear for the interview than a candidate living in Karachi or Quetta or other places of Sindh and Balochistan.
I urge the government to consider the following suggestions for immediate implementation by all ministries, divisions and autonomous corporations under the administrative control of the federation:
a. A candidate coming for an interview from a place as far as 300km from the place of interview should be paid return fare for air conditioned railway sleeper, plus a daily allowance as admissible according to the post applied for.
b. A candidate coming for interview from 500km should be paid return air fare, plus a daily allowance.
c. As an alternative, interviews be held in both Islamabad and Karachi so that candidates from all the provinces can reach the place of interview at minimum cost.
SHAH A. HASAN
Karachi
KESC billing system
There was a massive traffic jam on Sept 18 in the SITE area where protesters created mayhem because of load shedding or whatever the KESC's variable excuse for darkness is called. From the reports it would seem that the angry residents were unable to lynch the responsible officers so they did the next best thing.
As I write this on Sept 19 I have been without electricity for over eight hours. Fortunately, I have a generator without which I would long since have been ruined due to electric disruption of business. I would also have been part of some mob. I feel the anger and frustration of those who resort to violence since there is nothing else to resort to.
My September electricity bill is for Rs78,900. On frenetic and fruitless checking, some interesting facts emerged. From January 2003 to date my electricity consumption (LA386380) is based on average and seems to have been 'checked' only four times. I pay my sizable bills regularly. So, when my August bill (18/157) charging Rs -5535.14 actually read 'payment not required' in the appropriate column, I concurred.
Come September and my bill has an arrears of Rs51,860.58. The Society zonal office printed out a four-page report, ZR-10 of 15.9. Their own meter readings start at 58,573 in January '03 to 117,758 in September '04.
The difference, that I should logically have been billed for during this period, is 59,185 units. The sum of the actual units billed and that I have paid for in the same period is 62,425. In simple arithmetic, I have been charged for 3,240 extra units that I have not consumed. And, as the units rise all the charges in the slab rise.
From the 'chota' and 'bara sahibs' came the following interesting responses: 1. Why did you not complain that your meter was not read regularly? 2. When your billing was low, you did not object.
3. Our computer made a mistake giving a negative bill with 'no payment'. So what! 4. We calculate your consumption differently and we are right. 5. That was in August. You actually should be paying for more. 6. You have to pay irrespective or...!
I must pay the bill with the disconnection notice. A win-win situation for the KESC. I wonder if, from the generals downwards, there are any non-lateral insertions from whom I can get sense. Or will the day come when I too have to go on a destructive rampage.
DR MERVYN HOSEIN
Karachi
Aircraft damage
I am sure that the parliamentary secretary for defence was not properly briefed when he recently told the National Assembly that PIA's total losses due to defective tyres amounted to $17,000 for 2004.
The news of a PIA Haj flight in March 2004, where low tyre pressure and defective, re-treaded tyres led to an accident at Jeddah airport was reported in the print media.
More than 300 Hajis miraculously survived when the A-300 lost both its engines because of damage caused after being hit by metal pieces of fragmented wheel assemblies. The aircraft was a complete write-off.
Investigations conducted by Saudi authorities are on record and conclusively point out to defective tyres as the cause of the major accident. PIA did receive insurance, as it did for the Kathmandu and Taif accidents.
But mere payment of insurance does not mean that the airline did not suffer a loss. Nor is it moral for PIA to consider insurance as part of its revenues or assets. The fact that the aircraft was a complete write-off points out to the severity of the incident.
The members of the National Assembly should have been told the complete facts, and this major accident should have been reported as a consequence of losses suffered by PIA due to defective tyres.
N. K. KAKAKHEL
Peshawar
Threatened heritage
This has reference to the editorial "Threatened heritage" (Sept 12). The government of Punjab is trying to turn Lahore into a more beautiful city, whereas in Karachi the builders' mafia is purchasing heritage/protected buildings in old areas, especially in Saddar and on M.A. Jinnah Road, and converting them into commercial complexes.
One such example is that of a heritage building on plot No. 4, survey sheet No. RB-7, on M.A. Jinnah Road, Karachi. A builder has bought it for Rs45 million. Construction is underway at the site, and the fear is that the building will be demolished. It's time the government woke up to the situation and saved our heritage.
M.A. SALAM
Karachi
Government website
The government website www.pak.gov.pk is awful. It is supposed to be a very basic source of information - the mirror of our country - and hence it should be most informative and updated, but it isn't. I have noted down many shortcomings in the website, such as inoperative emails and fax and telephone numbers.
Email addresses are given for five ministers only. There are no telephone and fax numbers or email addresses mentioned against any of the ministers of state. Resumes have been posted of only four ministers. The names of some ministers are not written in full.
HADI ZAIDI
Kuwait
Ordeal of IDBP pensioners
About 450 Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan (IDBP) pensioners and their widows have been anxiously waiting for an increase in their pensions since July 1, 2003 - the date on which the federal government increased pensions of its civil servants - as IDBP pension rules are the same as those for the government, and, accordingly, any change and revision in the rates of pensions made by the federal government are automatically applicable to IDBP pensioners.
These rules were originally passed by the board of directors of the Industrial Development Bank, approved by the finance division and then vetted by the law division.
For the increase sanctioned since July 1, 2003, we have written dozens of letters to our managing director, then to the finance secretary, the minister of state for finance, the prime minister and the SBP governor, but old pensioners have not got even an acknowledgement from any one of them, except from the SBP with no results.
This is not the first time that this has happened. The increase due on July 1, 1999, was paid 12 months later, the increase due on Dec 1, 2001, was paid after 20 months, the increases effective from July 1, 2003 and July 1, 2004, haven't been paid yet. Good governance demands that the relevant authorities look into the matter and do the needful.
ABDUL HAKIM
President, IDBP Retired Officers Welfare Association, Karachi
The uniform tangle
In your editorial of Sept 17 you have stated that Gen Pervez Musharraf in a nation wide radio/ television address, following his agreement with the MMA on Dec 24, 2003, said: "After giving it serious thought, I have decided to give up my uniform before December 31, 2004, for creating political harmony in the country. I will select the date myself within this period."
My personal opinion is that after giving an issue serious thought and thereafter giving a commitment to the nation, there is no room left to back off, no matter what the consequences are. If the general decides to renege on his commitment, then I am afraid he will have the same credibility that General Zia's promise of holding "elections in 90 days" had.
NAZIM F. HAJI
Karachi
PhDs
This refers to the news item "Bureaucratic hurdles cause lapse of funds" (Dawn, Islamabad, Sept 21) in which Dr S.T.K. Naim, a scientist and consultant with Organization of Islamic Conference's Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, has said that "Pakistan is producing only 40 to 50 PhDs every year..."
To keep the record straight, it is pointed out that Pakistan produces about 200 PhDs every year. Public sector universities produced 193 PhDs in 2001, 245 in 2002, 222 in 2003, and 102 from Jan 1 to June 30 this year.
DR A.Q. MUGHAL
Member (Academics/R&D), HEC, Islamabad
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