| 29 September 2004 | Wednesday | 13 Shaban 1425 |
Musharraf and de Gaulle
Human smuggling
Islamabad 'a paradise lost'
College girls' plea
Tribute to a novelist
Street criminals
Banning plastic bags
Relocating diplomatic missions
House tax bills
Hospitals under siege
'Violation of the city'
Citizenship for Hafsa Aman
Khokhrapar railway
Shortage of water
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From India's point of view, as recently advocated by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his address to the UN General Assembly, UN Security Council reform is long overdue as it does not reflect post-Cold War realities and is heavily skewed in favour of Europe and the trans-Atlantic alliance.
India officially announced its candidature for permanent membership of the UNSC in the 49th General Assembly in 1994. After being recently backed by the UK, it hopes that the United States will also support its efforts to gain a permanent seat on the Security Council.
One motivation for seeking permanent membership is India's traditional rivalry with China. It argues that the two countries are the most populous in the world. China's permanent seat makes it diplomatically more powerful than India.
The US will probably have little reason to back India. A 1997 analysis of UN votes shows that India - the fifth highest recipient of US aid in 1997 - had voted against the US at the UN 80 per cent of the time, more than any of the top 10 American aid recipients.
India which takes pride in its traditional independent stance sided with the US on UN votes in 1999 less than 22 per cent of the time. Russia by comparison voted with the US 46 per cent of the time. Among Asian nations, only China, Laos, Vietnam, Burma and North Korea voted with the US fewer times than India did.
India today lacks great power clout in that, for the most part, it cannot make other important states comply with its demands. Nor can it obtain all that it desires in the international arena.
It can neither compel nor persuade technology suppliers to ignore non-proliferation strictures and supply new power reactors to it. Nor can it alone win preferred trade terms in World Trade Organizationnegotiations.
And the most glaring truth is that, owing to its arrogant policies in the South Asian region, especially its atrocities in occupied Kashmir, India holds a very disputed reputation in the comity of nations. Its quest for a permanent seat on the Security Council will, therefore, continue to be thwarted at least in the near future.
S. Q. AFZAL RIZVI
Karachi
(2)
India is paving the way for itself to gain a permanent place in the UN Security Council with veto power, notwithstanding its failure to resolve the border dispute with China and the five-decade old Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.
According to World Bank statistics, India, the world's largest democracy, has the world's leading concentration of impoverished people in the range of 360 million - in the current decade another 40 million Indians have slipped into absolute poverty.
But India is throwing away billions in taxpayers' money to acquire sophisticated weapons systems and test-launch missiles that are capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads up to 1,560 miles - within striking distance of any of India's immediate neighbours.
The enduring arms race in the subcontinent will increasingly drive people into absolute poverty. The countries at odds must adopt people-friendly policies and strive for the eradication of poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy. Running after a permanent place in the Security Council will neither lessen hunger nor quench the thirst of India's people.
It must remember that there is no cause half so sacred as the cause of a people. There is no idea so uplifting as the idea of service of humanity.
LT-COL (retd) SYED AHMED
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Musharraf and de Gaulle
General Musharraf has likened himself to General de Gaulle. "How did General de Gaulle continue in uniform as president of France, a democratic country?" he asked last week in an interview with The New York Time.
General de Gaulle became president of the provisional government of France in October 1945 after organizing and leading a resistance movement against the occupation of his country by Germany. Within less than 90 days, however, de Gaulle bowed before the will of the people, who refused to support him, and resigned in January 1946.
Nearly two decades later, de Gaulle was elected president in 1962 in direct elections held under the Constitution. As presidents in other democracies, he also was the supreme commander of the French armed forces, but not its chief of army staff. Nor was he in uniform.
In 1968 de Gaulle ordered a national referendum on some constitutional amendments. On referendum day he left the Elysee Palace and went to his village to watch the results of the vote count on television.
Before the official count was announced, de Gaulle saw the writing on the wall that the people had rejected his proposed amendments. Under the constitution, he was not required to resign but he did and thereafter never returned to Paris. His one-line resignation letter read: "I cease to function as the President of France and this decision comes into force with immediate effect."
SENATOR FARHATULLAH BABAR
Islamabad
Human smuggling
British High Commissioner Mark-Lyall Grant reportedly stated at FIA Headquarters, Islamabad, (Sept 23) that some top people belonging to political parties and bureaucrats were involved in illegal smuggling of human beings to the United Kingdom.
He also said that one of the novel methods of human smuggling was seeking political asylum and that only in the last one year, 2,500 Pakistanis had applied for political asylum but all of them had been turned down. This is most deplorable and must be stopped.
Mr Faisal Saleh Hayat, the former interior minister and now the minister for Kashmir affairs, is on record as having made a statement alleging that some top-notchers in political parties from Punjab were involved in this heinous trade.
Besides, there are press reports about how unscrupulous recruiting agents grease the palms of politicians in order to smuggle a labourer seeking job in Korea. Some time back there were reports that hundreds of visas had been received by the labour ministry from Malaysia. People would like to know if those were also distributed as political privilege.
All this is in violation of the Emigration Act of Pakistan. Will the government do something to stop violation of these laws and come out with a fact-sheet on the charges levelled by the British government on human smuggling?
ALI ASHRAF KHAN
Karachi
Islamabad 'a paradise lost'
The peaceful and tranquil atmosphere of Islamabad has been destroyed in recent years through increasing commercial activities. A thoroughly commercial environment with its usual evils is engulfing this city.
As long as the capital was developed in accordance with its master plan, it was an urban ideal for the entire country. But, sadly, as commercial interests in the city gained weight, priorities shifted and the capital as it stands today is a far cry from the original vision.
The same evils that have made life a nightmare in older cities - corruption, haphazard development by private parties and private societies, water shortages, a bizarre traffic situation and complete disregard for urban planning - are now entrenched in Islamabad.
Apart from destroying the values of the capital as an urban centre, the new commercial environment and its culture of expediency and unfair practices have contributed to raising corruption in public institutions, including those responsible for the development of the federal capital.
For all practical purposes, Islamabad is a paradise lost, particularly for less-paid public servants for whom it was originally meant.
ARIF QAMAR KHAN
Islamabad
College girls' plea
I would like to draw the attention of the Balochistan governor and the chief minister to a vital issue affecting the education of a large number of girl students.
These students were admitted to MA English (Literature) classes of the Government Girls College, Quetta, in April this year. However, only after one-and-a-half months, the teaching staff mostly engaged from the Balochistan University refused to take classes and demanded that the additional allowance being paid to them should be increased.
The classes have remained suspended for the last three months and the students are suffering because of the tussle between the teaching staff and the provincial education department over the allowance issue.
Now when Balochistan University has announced the dates for the MA annual examinations in November, the students are in a fix about their classes and the required attendance for appearing for the examinations. The Balochistan governor, who is also chancellor of the university, should take notice of this situation and immediately resolve the issue.
AMNA ILYAS
Quetta
Tribute to a novelist
It was a relief to finally read an article about Nadeem Aslam, the Pakistani-born British writer whose second novel Maps for Lost Lovers was included this year in the long list for the prestigious MAN Booker Prize. ("Books & Authors", Sept 26). Although he did not make it to the shortlist of six books, his is a commendable achievement that needed to be acknowledged in Pakistan much earlier.
Kamila Shamsie, reviewing the novel for The Guardian in June, noted with pleasure the rich metaphorical style of the author replete with imagery, and the finely etched characterization of the protagonists.
Nadeem Aslam's own life appears stranger than fiction. He was a 14-year-old lad growing up in Gujranwala in the early '80s when his father, an avowed communist, fled with his family to England. He appears to have instilled his Gandhian beliefs of austerity and self-denial in Nadeem.
For his novel which he completed in 11 years, Nadeem received a handsome grant from the UK Arts Council. He, however, returned a part of the grant, saying that it was more than he needed, and requesting that it be disbursed to some other deserving artist. Nadeem Aslam, apart from being a sensitive writer, is also like his father a caring person.
ASAD SIDDIQI
Lahore
Street criminals
This refers to the news item "Ibad calls for action against criminals" (Sept 26) which says that Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad has issued a directive for launching exemplary action against street crimes without any discrimination and pressure.
What is required is action not only against street criminals but also against criminals who have somehow been able to come into power and who provide protection to street criminals.
ANIL KHAN LUNI
Karachi
Banning plastic bags
This is with reference to the editorial (Sept 26) on the above subject. Plastic bags are undoubtedly a deadly menace to the environment as they are not biodegradable and choke gutters and sewerage lines, emit toxic fumes and end up dangling from tree branches and as heaps of garbage on street corners.
Help line Trust once launched a campaign against these bags, with the help of the then Karachi commissioner. Unfortunately the campaign was a failure as there was strong resistance from plastic bag manufacturers, who are mostly located in katchi abadis and have strong political clout. However, some civic-minded shopkeepers have voluntarily stopped using plastic bags.
If such a campaign is to be successful, the manufacturers will have to be consulted and provided with an alternative source of income. The other way to stop this menace is that consumers should refuse to accept any product packed in plastic bags.
Unfortunately we are all aware of the apathy on the part of consumers and the lack of consumer activism in Pakistan. We have failed to demand consumer protection laws or protest against substandard, adulterated and counterfeit food, beverages and medicines. Therefore, to expect the citizens to take a stand against plastic bags seems wishful thinking at the moment.
However, this does not mean that we should give up our efforts. Other cities in the world have succeeded in banning plastic bags. So let us hope that we too will be able to rid ourselves of these bags.
HELPLINE TRUST
Karachi
Relocating diplomatic missions
Without diminishing the importance of the security of consulates and other diplomatic missions, I would like to ask if it wouldn't be appropriate to take concrete steps to solve this problem instead of increasing the misery of the common people.
Because of the blockade of Karachi's Abdullah Haroon Road leading to the US consulate, there have been extraordinary traffic jams daily at adjoining roads, one of which leads to one of the few government hospitals (including Jinnah) of the city.
The government should shift these diplomatic missions to an area on the outskirts of the city and develop that area as a diplomatic enclave. This will make the commercially important area available to common citizens and businessmen.
BHAOZAIN BABAR
Karachi
House tax bills
Gone are the days when cantonment boards used to send house tax bills to their residents by post some time in August. Now the residents have to go to the department concerned to collect their bills. Most of the time they face hardship as the relevant staff are not present and they have to make a number of visits to obtain their bills.
In the old good days, residents could pay these bills in one of several banks. Now it is only one bank within the entire cantonment board's jurisdiction where they have to stand in a long queue in the sun to pay their bills.
The boards charge seven rupees for preparing a bill as if it were not their job to do so. I am sure they are the only institutions in the country which charge to prepare bills.
Why can't bills be prepared free, and why can't they be sent by post? Why can't a number of banks be authorized to collect taxes? Is it the policy of the cantonment boards to make the system more and more difficult for their residents?
M. ASAD CHAUDHRI
Rawalpindi
Hospitals under siege
While much has been written about the traffic chaos created by the IDEAS-2004 arms exhibition which was recently held in Karachi, the plight of patients, their families and hospital staff has not received sufficient attention. The JPMC, NICVD, NICH and the Kidney Centre were under virtual siege.
How any government can cause so much suffering to an already marginalized section of the people and claim it is in the 'national interest' is beyond comprehension. Clearly human suffering and possible fatal consequences are not a source of concern for the city administration or President Musharraf.
Every time he visits Karachi, the Jinnah Hospital road and other roads in the vicinity become impassable. It may be much more important to the citizens of Karachi as to where he stays rather than what he wears.
DR A. AHMED
Karachi
'Violation of the city'
In my column of September 26, I wrote that Syed Sardar Ahmad was commissioner of Karachi in 1976. This was a typographical error - the year was 1986. I hope Mr Ahmad will forgive this mistake.
ARDESHIR COWASJEE
Karachi
Citizenship for Hafsa Aman
The news (Dawn, Sept 25) that Ms Hafsa Aman has finally been granted Pakistani citizenship is welcome. Her original application should not have been rejected. Under the Citizenship Act, a woman who marries a Pakistani citizen is entitled to Pakistani citizenship.
It was obvious that officials who made this legally flawed decision based it upon their personal insecurities and prejudices (at the time she was an Indian citizen) and not the law of the land.
I would like to make a suggestion to Ms Hafsa Aman and her husband: please do not exclude the child's Indian grandparents from his life. This child's claim to live in two great countries will always be undisputed.
I echo the sentiment expressed by the child's Indian grandmother in a letter to her daughter. Let this child grow up to be a symbol of hope, unity, understanding, solidarity and love between the people of two great countries. After all, on both sides of his grandparents lies a great common culture of affection, kindness and strong respect for elders.
SIDDIQUE MALIK
Louisville, KY., USA.
Khokhrapar railway
Mr Salahuddin Mirza's letter (Aug 30) has contradicted the railway minister's version that the meter gauge track has disappeared and has to be replaced by broad gauge with new rolling stock at a cost of Rs600 million. As against this, it is claimed that the track is intact and even a weekly train service is operating.
In the 1980s I had an opportunity to see a section when only a small portion of the track near the border was dismantled. Beyond our border a long meter gauge line was operating. Therefore, converting the line to broad gauge on our side will even otherwise be counter-productive.
This deserves a public inquiry which should ascertain how such costly projects are proposed for execution at public expense in our debt-ridden poor country.
S.M.H. RIZVI
Karachi
Shortage of water
The residents of Metroville No.3, Block II, Scheme 33 near Gulzar-i-Hijre, Karachi, have been facing an acute water shortage for the past four months. We have complained to all relevant authorities, but nobody has taken any action to solve our problem.
In an area adjacent to ours, people daily receive water, but we have to buy water from a tanker mafia. This has made our lives very difficult. The high-ups at the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board are requested to immediately restore the water supply to our area.
AFFECTED RESIDENTS
Karachi
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