| 02 October 2004 | Saturday | 16 Shaban 1425 |
Jirgas: defying the court
Tackling water shortage
Partitioning music?
Safety of nuclear assets
Driving licence staff
Need for desalination plants
Passport office working
Transport for women
Water scarcity
A better life for all?
Bridge cracks
Preventive medicine training
Investment climate
The horse traders
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Prices of property are skyrocketing in Lahore, Islamabad and in all major cities. Trading of files without plots is rampant and people are blindly buying them to make a quick buck. Some may be hoodwinked and may never see the face of a plot.
Some housing societies have evolved a novel way of amassing wealth by offering undisclosed number of plots and opening and closing the membership the same day, thereby creating an artificial shortage of application forms and engineering a trading of forms at prices up to Rs30,000 for a form of the face value of Rs500. Most of the forms are purchased by real estate companies and their agents.
On 'opening' a file (a technical term to deposit file-opening charges), a premium of up to Rs100,000 is added on to the file. The file is then quoted in the market on a daily basis like shares on the stock market. There is no documentation and the government gets no taxes at all.
In Lahore, the price of a one-kanal plot file in a new phase of a society is up to Rs6.5 million. The development of this phase has yet to commence. All this is adversely affecting the productive sector and the stock exchange.
Investors are diverting their money to property both here and abroad. Foreign exchange is reportedly going out through couriers in suit cases in addition to 'havala' for this purpose. Construction activity has slowed down on account of high plot prices.
Urgent steps are required to check the unabated growth of the file mafia, including legislation prohibiting the sale of files without plots.
S.M.H.BOKHARI
Rawalpindi
(2)
A Property mafia in collusion with property brokers has artificially raised the prices of plots beyond the reach of genuine buyers. Unless immediate action is taken, the situation will turn so grave that common citizens will find it very difficult to build a house.
Will the prime minister look into this matter?
DR A.A. FAROOQUI
Karachi
Jirgas: defying the court
At the same time as Ms Zubaida Mustafa's article "Jirgas: defying the court" (Sept 29) appeared in Dawn, coincidentally, The New York Times in an op-ed piece "Sentenced to rape" (Sept 29th) expounded on the plight of Mukhtaran Bibi.
Mukhtaran Bibi, as one might remember, was gang-raped at the orders of a local panchayat in June 2002 in an act which can be conjured up only in the sickest of minds.
In a nation which considers itself religiously conservative, the event triggered much soul-searching and introspection at the time. While many denounced this barbaric act and demanded dismantling of the jirga system, others claimed that the system actually provided an alternative to courts and thus was in essence a means of providing justice.
Mukhtaran Bibi's case well demonstrates the type of 'justice' these alternative 'courts' are capable of delivering. Unfortunately, the evil system of jirgas and tribal councils still exists, deeply rooted in our culture, and a court decision dismantling this vice still remains to be enforced.
While the debate continues to the day, much can be learnt form Mukhtaran Bibi who should be considered a true hero of the nation. After attacking and exposing the criminals in the panchayat in a court of law, she went on to build a school in her village using the money she was provided with as compensation on orders of President Musharraf.
The symbolism of her acts (intentional or otherwise) could not be more praiseworthy. Education of the nation is without doubt the answer to social evils of our society. More immediately, though, the jirga system needs to be forcefully stamped out of existence.
As a nation, and through our inaction, our collective conscience has incurred a huge debt of guilt towards Mukhtaran Bibi. We can lessen that burden by preventing others from suffering the same fate.
MUBASHIR KHAN
Indianapolis, IN., USA
Tackling water shortage
There IS great concern over the shortage of water which is affecting crop cultivation in Sindh and Balochistan. This situation will remain until the coming Rabi season.
One way to tackle the shortage under the farm-field condition to an extent is to make use of biofertilizer technology. Bountiful nature has provided symbiotic fungi and bacteria in soil all over the world. The fungi fix nutrient elements and root nodule bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen in plants, which are the two major nutrient elements required by the plants.
Symbiotic fungi called mycorrhizas are found in association with 95 per cent plant roots which absorb phosphate, copper and zinc dissolved in water with the help of their very fine thread-like mycelia. Mycorrhizal fungi are endowed with the intrinsic capacity to tolerate toxic elements in soil (bio-remediation), adverse pH and high soil temperature.
The mycorrhizas are known to inhibit parasitic root-rot fungi, bacteria and nematodes (biological control) and to fight out stress caused by drought. The fine thread-like structures of mycorrhizas permeate in soil around plant roots for absorbing nutrients dissolved in water.
The plant roots do not ramify and reach soil particles to the extent the fine thread-like structures of mycorrhizas do and in doing so absorb the last drop of water available in farm-field soil.
In the prevailing water shortage, we should adopt mycorrhizal biotechnology for increasing on-farm water use efficiency. This technology can tackle the problem of water shortage to the extent that the water present in farm-field soil, which cannot be reached and absorbed by plant roots, can be made available by mycorrhizas. It thus improves water relationship with plants.
I have participated in two Asia network workshops on mycorrhizas and its biotechnology in New Delhi and Bangkok and seen the benefits accruing from this technology, which are proven beyond doubt and are now well documented in scientific literature.
DR M. JALALUDDIN
Adjunct professor, Faculty of Science, University of Karachi
Partitioning music?
I agree that we should pay tribute to all outstanding singers, music directors and lyricists of the pre-partition era, regardless of their creed. As regards the post-partition era, good and pure South Asian music can be enjoyed.
Unfortunately, such music is seldom composed these days and bad music is used for cheap entertainment purposes, but that in no way belittles the importance and utility of good and pure music.
The trouble with us is that we want to abdicate all pre-partition achievements in literature, arts, music, sports, science, etc., because of present-day India. We fail to realize that it is our heritage which we cannot surrender. We had differences on other matters, and these persist. I am talking of pure music as an art which provides solace, satisfaction and happiness.
Muslims have developed and enriched, enlightened and purified classical, semi-classical and folk music and also given different forms and dimensions to the subcontinent's pure and light music. Other things can be partitioned but not pure music. Singers and musicians may adopt Pakistani, Indian or Bangladeshi nationality, but music can adopt none, because it has no nationality.
Saigol's ever-lasting 'Dia Jala, 'Do nainaan', 'Toot gae sab sapney merey' (music Khursheed Anwar), Aay diley beqarar jhoom' (music Naushad Ali); and Geeta Roy's 'Mera sundar sapna beet gia' captivated the hearts of both Muslims and non-Muslims.
Similarly Roshan Ara Begum's 'Nagri meri kab tak younhee barbad rahe gi' (lyric by Josh Malihabadi), Talat Mehmood's 'Tasver teri dil mera'; Surrya's 'Woo paas rehain', 'Panchi ja pechay raha hai', Shamshad Begum's 'Akhyan mila ke', Noor Jehan's 'Aaj ki raat', 'Awaz de kahan hai', 'Too koun si badle mein', 'Koi prem ka de ke sandesa', 'Kya yehi tera payar tha', 'Kis terah bhole ga dil', 'Dia jala kar aap bhujaya' and 'Toor dia dil mera' were fascinating for everyone irrespective of creed.
KHAWAJA MUHAMMAD BASHIR BUTT
Bahawalnagar
Safety of nuclear assets
This is with reference to the statement (Dawn, Sept 28) by US Senate candidate Barack Obama that if General Musharraf loses power in a coup, America may carry out military strikes to destroy Pakistan's nuclear assets to ensure that they do not fall into the wrong hands. The question arises: what is Pakistan's stand on this highly critical issue?
There has to be a high-level command under the aegis of the joint staff committee, which ensures that our nuclear weapons are in safe custody at all times. A tactical plan should be devised to safeguard these weapons in case of any contingency.
If unfortunately a time arises when there is a leadership gap in Pakistan, our nuclear warheads will be our most vulnerable assets and will surely be sought after by many, and at that time it will be the utmost duty of our armed forces to protect these weapons to avoid any eventuality.
It should also be made crystal clear to everyone that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is our lifeline, and any attempt to jeopardize it will be dealt with full force and will be considered an act of war.
ALTAMASH LONE
Karachi
Driving licence staff
The opening of a driving licence branch in Nazimabad, Karachi, is a commendable step. On Sept 23 I visited this office for obtaining a licence and had the pleasant experience of meeting courteous staff and officers.
I later found out from them that the branch was looking forward to extending the present hours (9am to 1pm) to 4pm if the post office or a separate post office booth/counter was set up to facilitate them.
I request the authorities concerned to extend this facility at the earliest. I hope this will be a result-oriented step to attract those who are willing to obtain/renew their driving licences but are not able to go to the office because of a clash with their business hours.
QAMARUL HUDA
Karachi
Need for desalination plants
On August 20 President General Pervez Musharraf performed the groundbreaking ceremony of a desalination plant in Karachi's Defence Housing Authority. He described the plant as a vital project leading to a new direction which was important in the national perspective. He said he shuddered to think as to what would happen after 25 years when drinking water would be scarce.
The need for desalination plants all along the coastline to convert seawater into drinking water was felt in the early 90s when the then DHA administrator did the spadework for a large desalination plant. He could not launch the project since he was moved to Islamabad.
His successor shelved the desalination plant project and initiated a 300-bed hospital costing around Rs600 million, whose ground breaking ceremony was also performed. But in 1995 the hospital project was shelved on reaching plinth-level.
The successor's successor built a five-star hotel consisting of 80 suits adjacent to the Creek Club and a unique featured 18-hole golf course spread over 150 acres of DHA's prime land in the proximity of the picturesque Arabian Sea. Each project was worth several hundred millions of rupees.
The residents of both Sea View and Darakshan repeatedly demanded that the authorities should first install desalination and water treatment plants in DHA for the benefit of all residents rather than setting up golf clubs where only members of the elite class could gain entry.
The DHA was one of the richest organizations in the city, capable of taking conscious decisions, but the one-man-show lacked the will of getting its priorities right. As a result, the authority is going to lose nearly 165 per cent due to price escalation.
LT-COL (retd) SYED AHMED
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Passport office working
Recently I visited the office of the deputy director (passports), Karachi, about renewal of my passport. As he examined my application form, he abruptly said: "You were born in Dhaka", as if insinuating that it was a crime to be born in the former East Pakistan.
I said I was, as my father was posted there. He went on to say: "When did you come to Pakistan?" Quite amazing, as all my previous passports were made in Pakistan and I am also a holder of a valid national identity card (both old and new).
He then stated very authoritatively: "You can only get your new passport if you come with a copy of the old ID card." Of course, I do have a copy of the old card but why should it be required when we all have been issued new cards through Nadra and it has been announced by the ministry of interior, not once but several times, that the old ID cards would not be acceptable after December 31, 2003? Is it because I was born in East Pakistan? I wonder what Pakistanis who were born in India after partition have to go through. Let's for once get our act together.
Will bureaucrats stop harassing the common citizen in getting something as simple done as getting a passport?
QUDSIA K. KHAN
Karachi
Transport for women
I am a student of a girls college in Karachi and take the route X-10 minibus to reach my college. But it has become very difficult for me and other college girls to travel by these minibuses, especially in the morning, as the women's compartment is mostly occupied by men.
It is embarrassing for us to travel in such poor conditions, because either we have to stand with men or, if we get a seat, we have to put up with their stares. Would the authorities concerned keep men away from the women's compartment so that we too can travel without any worry?
REHMA TIRMIZEY
Karachi
Water scarcity
The residents of Clifton Block 2, Karachi, have not been getting water since March. They have complained on the telephone hundreds of time, submitted joint applications, paid personal visits to the relevant authorities, but to no avail.
I request the Karachi nazim to look into the matter and restore the water supply to the area.
AFFECTED RESIDENTS
Karachi
A better life for all?
During British Premier Tony Blair's speech at the Labour Party's annual conference under the slogan "A better life for all", the way a protester against the government's policies on Iraq was booted out of the hall proves that true democracy is a far-cry to date, be it Britain or Baghdad.
WAHEED TUNIO
Karachi
Bridge cracks
Cracks have appeared at various places in the Jam Sadiq Ali bridge which connects Karachi with the Korangi Industrial Area. These cracks not only make driving unpleasant but also cause serious damage to vehicles.
Will the city nazim look into this?
MUHAMMAD ZUBAIR
Karachi
Preventive medicine training
The old saying that 'prevention is better than cure' still holds good. Ours is a cure-oriented society and we are still fighting with preventable diseases causing morbidity and mortality.
In the West, public health or community medicine is religiously practised and inquiries are made about any spread of infectious diseases. Prime importance is given to vaccination and elimination of food-related and water-borne diseases. Iodine and nutrition deficiencies can be prevented by nutrition and health education. Unluckily, the preventive side is given less importance by us.
Preventive health training, i.e., post graduation/ master's in public health (MPH), is available at a few universities like the Punjab University. In future health programmes it will play a major role in preventing killer diseases such as cholera, typhoid, malaria and hepatitis B.
Young doctors should be encouraged to acquire MPH qualifications in order to promote community health, as well as to join the public health services to play their due role.
DR RAFIQUE AHMED MIRZA
Karachi
Investment climate
Our population is growing at an alarming pace, more so because great numbers are being added to the very poor who, in the absence of gainful employment and social justice, are adopting desperate ways.
Break-ins, daylight robberies and murders no longer merit headlines. That space is increasingly being occupied by more serious stuff, which is being conveniently palmed off as a fight against terror.
The tribal belt in the NWFP and many parts of Balochistan are reportedly up in arms. Sindh is also a powder keg primed to explode the moment a large dam on the Indus is announced.
Given all this, how is financial investment going to materialize? With no consistency of policy, no incentive, no safeguards for life and property, who would like to risk investing money here? A few who bask in the glow of the powers that be are growing amazingly rich and living the life of pashas but this disparity itself leads to further instability.
Those who can think must stand up and be counted. The edifice of a nation is built on the bedrock of democracy, while military dictatorships spawn rebellion at home and criticism abroad.
JAVED KHAN
Haripur Hazara
The horse traders
Mr Altamash Manzoor H. Qureshi's letter (Sept 16) on 'Lahore's Kakkazai horse traders' of Kucha Chabaksowaran mentions the "omission" of the name of Mr Abdullah Malik from the piece.
While writing the piece, Malik Sahib was always on my mind, as was Ghazi Illmuddin Shaheed, as well as the late Hameed Al-Makky and a host of other names over the ages. Each one of them deserves a separate piece, such is the colourful nature of Lahore, both old and new.
The intention was to focus on the Kakkazai clan in their ancestral pastime and not on any one person. I wrote a complete piece on Abdullah Malik and his Kucha Chabaksowaran and Kakkazai origins on his death.
MAJID SHEIKH
Lahore
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