Skyrocketing property prices

The recent announcement of additional development charges has burst the bubble of Phase VIII, DHA, Karachi. This situation was anticipated by seasoned investors but new money was being pumped into it at an unprecedented rate. The prolonged and superheated boom was bound to collapse sooner or later and the DHA announcement triggered it.

Instead of going for steady and long-term investment, there is a trend among the investors to get rich overnight. This is a dangerous trend and may result in huge losses. The need of the hour, therefore, is to diversify one's investment.

However, because of unscrupulous developers who misappropriated funds meant for development, investors have shunned housing societies in the private sector, except a few reputable ones, and prefer the DHA, army, navy and CDA schemes. This has led to concentration of investment in a few choice projects and the consequent high land prices there.

If watchdog organizations such as the KDA (now the city district government), registrar of cooperative societies and the NAB had done their jobs properly, these societies would have been developed and the public would have had an economical alternative for housing.

Hundreds of cooperative housing societies are lying dormant in Scheme 33 on the Super Highway for the last 30 years, with no prospects of development in the foreseeable future.

The city government must, therefore, make arrangements to develop the dormant societies to reduce the severe housing shortage and provide alternative venues for investment in real estate.

ASIF JAH

Karachi

(2)

For two years, property prices have been skyrocketing in the country, especially Karachi. This price hike is artificial and the result of black money being utilized for this business. Income tax officials seem to be conniving with estate agents who as middlemen are making a quick buck.

To control this abnormal increase, the income tax department should ask all estate agents to declare the names of plot buyers and sellers so that the sources of income through which these transactions are taking place can be ascertained.

The government can increase its revenue if it ensures transparency and efficiency in the working of the income tax department.

LT-COL (retd) RAZA ABID

Karachi

Lands & cantonment staff

I endorse the views expressed by Mr Irfan Zaidi and Mr Muhammad Javid Mian (letters, Aug 6) on good governance in the cantonment department. All indications are that the entire cadre of civilian officers of the military lands and cantonment group, who were inducted into service by the Federal Public Service Commission, is being shown as completely useless, incompetent and inefficient, and these officers are being either phased out or ousted from the department to make room for militarymen.

The post of director-general of the department previously held by a civilian career officer has already been assigned to a major-general - thus putting a stop to further promotions of career officers to this post.

Ever since the assumption of the DG post by a serving general, service conditions for career officers have been made so frustrating that most officers now have no option left but to ask for premature retirement - others have been dismissed on such flimsy grounds that the Federal Services Tribunal finding nothing of substance in the allegations made out for their dismissals has promptly reinstated.

Further, favourites no matter how junior have been given senior appointments and seniors have been given very insignificant posts. Recently the cantonment executive officer of the most senior post of the Rawalpindi cantonment has been summarily posted to Loralai, the most junior appointment.

There is no criterion for postings, nor is there any for promotions. This is creating great resentment among officers and adversely affecting their professional confidence and working.

Will the prime minister look into the matter and demilitarize the affairs of this civilian department and, for a start, give its reins (the DG post) back to the senior most civilian career officer of the cantonment group, especially since the prime minister has said that he is going to periodically review the working of various government departments for bringing about further improvement? This being the case, revival of the ML&C department's civilian structure is necessary for ensuring a more efficient and better working environment.

ASHFAQ AHMED CHOHAN

Lahore

Is terror gaining in Iraq?

Ever since 9/11 when President Bush declared "either you're with us or with terrorists", the world has never been the same again. The sham sovereignty of Iraq, June 28, 2003, with President Bush's note "let freedom reign", has left in its wake nothing but bloodshed and a hostage-taking spree.

The insurgents are Iraqis, Syrians and Jordanians. Many of them are members of Attawhid wal Jihad (Unity and holy war), a militant group loyal to Jordanian Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted terrorist in Iraq and believed to be Al Qaeda's chief operative in Iraq.

The group's black flags flutter from palm trees and buildings along Baghdad boulevard, an area known as Haifa Street, which is a no-go zone, like Fallujah, for US forces.

A Pentagon civilian says: "There is a one-in-three chance of civil war." Once the American and Iraqi troops pull back from the troubled areas, the insurgents reappear, as usually happens in Baghdad's Haifa Street.

Abu Khalil, leading a faction of militants, has said: "A year ago, the American departure was a dream, but now it's realizable. We control entire cities, and we're looking to expand."

The insistence by the Iraqi interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, and many US officials that foreign fighters are streaming into Iraq to battle American troops runs counter to the US military's own assessment that the Iraqi insurgency remains primarily a home grown problem. "What is the main threat? It's internal," said a senior military officer.

Much of the country is beyond the control of US forces and the new Iraqi government. There is a growing concern in the US that President Bush was right when he told NBC TV: "War against terror I don't think you can win it" (Dawn, Sept 7). But he later said he was less articulate when he had said that. And President Bush's opponent Democrat candidate for presidency, John Kerry, has remarked, "We have traded a dictator (Saddam Hussein) for a chaos that has left America less secure."

PROFESSOR (DR) P. NASIR

Gujrat

Sialkot and Multan carnage

In the backdrop of the Multan car bomb blasts and killing of 40 people, a complete ban has been imposed by the government on religious gatherings other than Friday prayers and Taravih congregations in Ramazan.

Seemingly, mosques will wear a deserted look on all other days - prospects for Eidul Fitr, Eidul Azha, Muharram and Eid-i-Miladunnabi congregations are not yet clear. However, there is no ban on political gatherings.

My assumption based on Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed's 'sermon' that there would be no more bomb blasts in any part of the country has been proved wrong. The fact is the government has failed to protect public life and property.

While the nation was still in shock because of the Sialkot suicide attack which left many people dead and scores of others wounded, another agonizing event took place in Multan on October 7. This time two car bombs ripped through a religious gathering, killing 39 people and wounding almost 100 other (Dawn, Oct 8).

I wonder why enough security measures had not been taken before the distressing event - the security agencies must have known that the first anniversary of Sipah-i-Sahaba leader Maulana Azam Tariq was going to be commemorated under arrangements by the Ahl-i-Sunnat-Wal Jamaat on the night of October 6-7 in Multan.

Political parties using a religious platform should propagate tolerance, create an atmosphere of harmony among people of all ethnic backgrounds rather than driving Gen Musharraf to distraction on the issue of uniform. Correspondingly, the government ban on religious gatherings is not in good taste and an open invitation to trouble.

LT-COL SYED AHMED

Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Jobs for local people

Sindh is facing numerous problems, foremost among them being an acute water shortage, widespread lawlessness (especially in upper Sindh) and unemployment. There is a strong feeling among Sindh is that their rights are being systematically usurped by the centre.

One grievance is that business ventures and projects in Sindh do not use indigenous labour. An example of this can be seen in the oil and gas exploration projects that are mushrooming across the province.

Leaving aside the controversy over royalties, one cannot help but notice that almost all the workers are non- Sindhis. Of course, there is the usual excuse of the need to hire technical staff. However, several jobs in such projects do not require people with technical or vocational training.

For instance, I would imagine that there would be security personnel, gatekeepers, equipment carriers and the like. Sadly, the reality is that even these jobs are given to non-locals.

Another example is the staff hired to collect toll on the highways. The staff required in such cases are ticket collectors and armed security guards and even here local Sindhis are not hired. As a small gesture towards the beleaguered people of Sindh, the government should implement a policy of hiring local labour for such projects.

SYED BASHIR AHMED SHAH

Ex-MNA, Karachi

South Court in Mumbai

This has reference to the letter "Quaid-i-Azam's house in Mumbai" (Oct 3). Enjoying the nomenclature of South Court, it is still very much there, inscribed on a metal plate, embedded in the pillar at the entrance gate.

Nowhere does Jinnah House figure. South Court overlooks the splendid view of the Hanging Gardens (Kamala Nehru Park) and the Pearl Necklace of Bombay. The Indian government is locked in a legal dispute with the founder's daughter, Dina Neville Wadia, nee Dina Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Titles of South Court in Bombay municipal records are vested with Ruttie Mohammad Ali Jinnah, though, during the post-partition phase of communal riots, the additional custodian of evacuee property, Mr Narimann Meher, capriciously declared South Court as evacuee in December 1949.

Occupants then of South Court were Jinnah's daughter Dina and her children, Nusli and Diana. Custodian Meher advised Ms Dina to leave South Court, or else. Dina complied but over the years she has sought restoration of South Court from the custodian of evacuee property.

Political expediency demands that the status quo should be retained. Parties to the litigation, namely Mrs Dina Neville Wadia and the Maharashtra government, therefore, by mutual consent amicably take prolonged six months' dates. South Court is shut down, but its periodical repair/painting is undertaken by Nusli Wadia.

My late father, Haji Bhai Esmail Dossa, had a close liaison in Bombay and subsequently in Karachi with the founder's immediate family, particularly Fatima Bai Jinnah. Father's version: South Court was purchased by Jinnah from Sir Victor Sassoon in 1912 on the advice of Jinnah's close Parsi friends, Sir Dinshaw and his brother Sir Khusru Petit, for Rs125,000, as cited in Bombay municipal records.

From the log of the marriage register of Khoja Isna'asheri Jamaat, Pala Gali Mosque, Bombay, on June 2, 1948, my father has hand-written the appended details of Right Honourable Mohammad Ali Jinnah's marriage to Ruttie Dinshaw Petit: "Item No.118, date April 19, 1918, Rajab seventh, Meher fixed, Rs1,001, gift Rs125,000 Pesh Imam, Maulana Hassan Najafi, witnesses: Rajab Ali Ebrahim Batliwala, etc."

The cited gift of Rs125,000 is identifiable with the declared valuation of South Court in municipal records of Rs125,000 as per mutations of April 1918, corresponding to the endowment, figure registered at the Nikah in Pala Gali Mosque.

On July 4 last I met Bombay's noted business, career woman, Scherize Ali Mohammed Padamsee, in Karachi. She was here to attend a family wedding. She is a good friend of Jay and Nez Wadia, great grandsons of Jinnah.

Jay and Nez are also the sons of Maureen and Nusli Wadia. Scherize told me she had put the question to Jay and Nez at the Willingdon Club. She anticipated that the lawyers in Crawford Bailey would win the case for their mother for acquisition of South Court.

To the question whether Dina Neville Wadia, in the changed circumstances, would countenance to gift South Court to the Pakistan government for the proposed consulate, the answer to Scherize from Jay and Nez was emphatic: "No way."

South Court does not, never did belong to the Indian government to give for our consulate. We must look for an alternative in Bombay for the envisaged visa office and not remain beholden, rigid, to South Court.

MOHAMMAD AZIZ HAJI DOSSA

Karachi

Expansion of Security Council

It is ironic that democratic powers do not practise what they preach at the United Nations. Some members, including Germany, Japan and India, are demanding that they should be given permanent membership on the Security Council. A sensible step would be to bring democracy to the UN. This will ensure that General Assembly resolutions are binding.

The Security Council should be reserved for deliberating upon objections on resolutions to be approved by the General Assembly. If any permanent member objects to a resolution, it should explain the reasons for its disagreement. If the General Assembly feels that the objection is justified, it can propose changes in the resolution or else overrule the objection.

These measures will also dispel fears of religious discrimination and of being irrelevant. They will help rein in the hegemonic attitude of big powers which have so far failed to ensure sovereign rights for weak nations.

RAFI ADAMJEE

Karachi

Morning rush

I refer to Mr Nuruddin Ibrahim's letter (Oct 6) and totally disagree with his suggestion that schools should be advised to relax and amend the morning reporting time.

Schools are a symbol of discipline, punctuality and the base for building our children's character. It is not at all a good suggestion to allow students half an hour's grace time in the morning.

I don't know how far is Mr Ibrahim's children's school from his residence. But whatever the distance, why can't each of us who have to rush to school leave 15 minutes earlier from home?

I have two daughters and drive my elder daughter first at around 7.30am and then the younger one at around 8.45am and so far we have never been late. And both the schools are about six to seven kilometres from my house. It's just a matter of putting in a little effort and you are through.

IMRAN SURIYA

Karachi

Unannounced load shedding

For the past many days, the KESC has been resorting to unannounced loadshedding at different times of the day and at night, with power cuts totalling six to seven hours in the F.B. Area, North Nazimabad and almost all blocks of Nazimabad. It appears that the government has given a free hand to the KESC to shut down power supply.

It is unfortunate that even after 57 years of independence, there is nobody in the government to successfully run the public utility.

ABDULLAH FAZLI

Karachi

Encroachers at work

The football ground opposite the Marine Academy, main Hawkesbay Road, Karachi, is poised to be taken over by encroachers, and preparations for this are in full swing.

Recently a street has been sealed with blocks and gates at both ends. No one has so far intervened. Fearing no action from any quarters, the encroachers may occupy the ground any day. The KBCA, CDGK, area nazims and all others concerned should take immediate action to rectify the situation.

M. K. KHAN & OTHERS

Karachi

Fahrenheit 9/11 - after thoughts

I just saw the movie Fahrenheit 9/11 for the third time, and each time I see it, my blood reaches a point way past boiling. The documentary has been brilliantly put together by Michael Moore and truly depicts how dirty politics is even in the greatest democracy of them all - the US - a country that believes it has the God-given right to propagate and implement democracy all over the world, especially where its interest lies, such as in countries rich in oil and where dictators like Saddam or regimes like the Taliban are not their puppets.

One thing that really bothered me about the documentary was when I saw little children lying dead on the streets of Baghdad, their arms blown apart, or parents running around picking the limbs of their loved ones, and similar gruesome pictures.

All this made me wonder how inhuman we must all be, including the West and the East, that we have forgotten about the value of human life. All this bloodshed is for oil, money and power.

FARHAN Z. FAROOQI

Via email

Teachers' salary

World Teachers' Day was observed throughout the country on October 5 to pay respect to teachers for their valuable contribution towards enabling young people to become respectable and educated citizens.

Barring a few prestigious institutions, most schools in our country pay salaries as low as Rs1,500 a month to their teachers. Even peons, janitors, cooks and drivers earn more. Although school authorities demand exorbitant fees and donations from parents, they do not pay their teachers adequately.

Teaching is a sacred and a full-time job and if we have even the slightest realization of the importance of education, we would improve our education system and the quality of the teachers by paying respectable salaries to them.

LT-COL (retd) SARFRAZ AHMED KHAN

Karachi

Parking fee

The Karachi city district government has officially withdrawn the charged parking scheme, but contractors continue to fleece the public at different places in the name of cantonment boards, such as outside a shopping mall on Rashid Minhas Road and at a parking space on Stadium Road.

Will the cantonment board authorities clarify whether they have authorized anyone to collect parking fees, and why?

DR S. RIZWAN HAIDER

Karachi