| 22 October 2004 | Friday | 07 Ramazan 1425 |
Biotechnology and Asia
Light-rail project
Saving life's savings
RCD Highway
Development and popular aspirations
Politicizing educational institutions
Kerry's 'tilt'
Railway losses
Muslims and Nobel prize
Ensuring merit
Pillion-riding
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Some official statements recently appeared in the national press, indicating that the National Assembly would possibly start debating the proposed bill meant to eliminate 'honour' killings.
This is a welcome move, though belated. Everyone should appreciate the initiative. However, before this really happens, the ministry concerned should take into account the concerns and apprehensions being voiced by women's rights groups. These groups, at a pubic rally held in Islamabad on Oct 9, expressed total dissatisfaction with the official bill because, in its present form, it will defeat the whole purpose. The official bill is full of lacunae and does not address any of the demands of the women's groups.
The problems with the present bill is that it exempts several categories of close relatives from the imposition of qisas and provides legal protection to those who commit 'honour' crimes (fathers, husbands, brothers, sons and others) against maximum penalty. It also allows compromises between the parties and compounding of punishment of offences and does not lay down the minimum mandatory punishment for murder. This leaves courts with unlimited discretion to decide whether any penalty should be imposed on the perpetrators. As a result, most of them manage to get away with minimal or no penalty.
Civil society groups have suggested a draft bill to amend the Pakistan Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code. The primary objective of these proposed amendments is to ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes do not escape punishment either because they are not liable to qisas under the law or because of compromises based on waiver or compounding of the offence by the victims or their walis. The official bill on 'honour' killing, as pointed out earlier, does not address these issues. The most fatal problem in the bill is that it has not made punishment for 'honour' crimes mandatory, which will defeat the whole purpose of introducing legislation in this regard.
The provisions of waiver and compoundability which inevitably pave the way for compromises within close members of the family remain valid in cases of 'honour' crimes. The other problem is with the definition. While 'honour' killing has been included in the definition of fasad-fil-arz and a minimum penalty of 10 years as ta'zir laid down (with a maximum of 14 years' jail term), the awarding of a penalty in cases where the right of qisas has been waived or compounded has been left completely at the discretion of courts. As in the past, this provides loopholes for murderers to get away with minimal or no penalty.
Moreover, where the penalty of ta'zir is waived or compounded in murder cases, the only stipulation made is that permission of the court is required and subject to such conditions as it may deem fit. As such, apart from giving the court complete discretion in terms of awarding a ta'zir penalty, there is not even a minimum penalty laid down for such cases. This also applies to all other offences. There are several other serious problems in the bill which need to be addressed in order to make it an effective piece of legislation.
SHAHID FIAZ
Karachi
Biotechnology and Asia
This refers to the letter "Biotechnology and Asia" by Mr Alan Williams (Oct 10) commenting on the article "Is Asia becoming a dustbin for biotechnology?" (Dawn Economic and Business Review, Oct 4).
Mr Williams has said farmers have been altering the gene structure of crop plants for 8,000 years. This is not correct. The present-day (food) plants have evolved by chance cross-breeding between wild plants by the process of evolution and natural selection through the ages. He is, however, right in his remark that genetically-modified plants (GM plants) have been developed by manipulating genes biotechnologically, which is accurate, effective and efficient.
In natural cross-breeding between plants, gene shuffling takes place at random and there is no precision. In this regard it is to be remembered that it was through the process of natural selection that highly poisonous plants like death-cap mushroom (amanita phalloides and hemlock - conium macculatum) evolved.
Even today people die of eating mushrooms when they fail to distinguish between edible and poisonous mushrooms. Socrates was forced to drink the decoction of hemlock (plant) in 399 BC, which ended his life. The chance evolution of crop plants met the food requirement of mankind with good agronomic methods till 1960.
From 1960s onwards, the "green revolution" has sustained the increasing world population, particularly in South and East Asia. However, with the passage of time, on account of the high cost of inputs (chemical fertilizer and pesticide), it is no more cost-effective. Moreover, on addition of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, there has been degradation of farm field soil and an increase in environmental pollution.
In the circumstances, biotech food produced by GM plants is needed most to fight out hunger and so far has not been reported to produce any ill-effect on human beings and livestock.
DR M. JALALUDDIN
Adjunct professor, B.S. Programme in Agriculture, University of Karachi
Light-rail project
As reported in Dawn of Oct 1, a committee of the planning commission has insisted on BOT (built-operate-and-transfer) financing while the Karachi city and Sindh governments have demanded that the memorandum of understanding signed some time back with a Chinese firm to construct a light-rail on Corridor-I from Sohrab Goth to Mereweather Tower should be honoured and the project should be carried out with the firms's $600 credit financing offer. The city government has offered to bear 10 per cent of the cost, amounting to about Rs3,600 million. Thus, the important project is again in the doldrums.
One wonders if in this amount, even in local currency, a five/six-kilometre basement level subway can be built with rails fitted, without much disturbing the traffic flow and connecting the Karachi Circular Railway from the Tower to the Quaid's mazaar or the Jahangir Quarters area where the central bus terminal is proposed to be established. This RTS plan was presented before a meeting of the Council of Common Interest in 1976 and its technical and financial feasibility can be updated in a short time, with some foreign expert's review as ordered by the CCI meeting.
Thus, the subway, with rails fitted, can be built within two years or earlier, on which any BOT company can easily operate diesel or electric-run trains, offering affordable fares with suitable incentives, to pay back even non-rail income subsidy. Till a BOT company comes forward, KCR trains from North Karachi can be profitably utilized in the subway as, even in the earlier London subways, steam engines were used for several years with automatic air circulation using tall chimneys actuated by train movements.
Instead of allowing the project to be delayed once again, the authorities concerned should take the above aspect into consideration. The 1976-8 RTC report is readily available and can be updated by any local consultant, with minimum foreign expert assistance, within a few months and at little cost.
S.M.H. RIZVI
Karachi
Saving life's savings
During the function for partial refund of people's life savings deposited with Taj Company, the prime minister warned against fraudulent schemes and said: "I would earnestly advise the public not to play into the hands of cheats and robbers who are launching various schemes just to deprive them of their hard-earned savings" (Dawn, Sept 29).
A century ago the British rulers had detected the tendency to defraud the aged, so they introduced a system of postal savings bank accounts and also assured a secure life for a family with postal life insurance. Mr Shaukat Aziz's government is in the final stages of converting this scheme in the present enlarged form, the Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS), into autonomous National Savings Corporation (Dawn, Sept 29). His government should not absolve itself of the responsibility of the welfare and security of the aged who have devoted the last years of their life to the service of their country.
The public is fully aware that the only reliable agency in this country is its government in spite of the mismanagement of NIT and it is this faith that has kept alive Postal Savings and Special Postal Savings. The special savings account, instead of receiving similar consideration as the Behbood Schemes, has been penalized two-fold with reduction in the rate of profit and deduction of 10 per cent from it as withholding tax.
Senior citizens of 70 years and over, who have their entire life savings in such accounts, will have to submit income tax returns to get back the amounts deducted. At this age their income should be tax-free as they are physically not able to go through the income tax process. To help the aged, the disinvestment of government assets in companies should be made available to them. The minimum investment should be between Rs50,000 and Rs100,000 with a restriction of at least one year of their transfer. The government holdings in PSO and PPL should be released for them.
H.A. HAJI
Karachi
RCD Highway
I have been travelling daily from Karachi to the Hub industrial area on the RCD Highway for the last 20 years. This industrial area was planned without a proper communication set-up and the result is a badly maintained single-lane so-called highway.
The road is always under tremendous traffic pressure due to soaring industrial activities. One can see mammoth trailers and tankers, along with speeding coaches, plying throughout the day, whereas the maintenance activities are rare.
The traffic flow comes down to a snail's pace while in Hub city due to encroaching thela-wallahs and coaches. There is no bypass for Hub city. We daily waste at least 15-20 minutes while passing through the city limits.
About three years ago the NHA authorities started collecting toll tax from road users and must so far have accumulated millions of rupees from the users. Unfortunately, they appear reluctant to spend anything on upgrading the road. It is only during exhibitions such as "Ideas 2000" that this road receives some temporary repairs to cater for the needs of VVIPs. Otherwise the road from Shershah to Hub is always a threat to its users. It is also in the use of defence and Kanup authorities but strangely enough they have never bothered to highlight its condition.
Recently this road was dug up from Shershah to Baldia Town for the laying of a new water line. This work was started without any appropriate planning, thus leading to chaotic traffic jams for hours. The helplessness of the traffic police in this situation is a treat to watch and we enjoy this show every day. The pressure of traffic is so strong that the adjacent streets of Baldia and Saeedabad are also choked with heavy traffic.
The National Highway Authority is once again requested to own this road from Shershah to Quetta. In future they should plan properly for a smooth traffic flow before undertaking any such ventures.
M. Z. JAFRI
Karachi
Development and popular aspirations
Of late a new controversy has caught the attention of the public in the form of frequent statements from our nationalist brothers in Balochistan, Sindh, southern Punjab's Seraiki belt and the NWFP. One concern being expressed by Baloch nationalists is about the development of the Gwadar region. I would like them to consider the following:
a. No development can take place without money. Bigger projects need bigger money and expertise. The people of Gwadar and Balochistan perhaps do not possess all of these, otherwise they would have done it on their own long ago. This means it has to come from outside Gwadar/ Balochistan.
b. On the other hand, consider the example of Dubai and Abu Dhabi emirates which possessed money but did not have technical know-how, expertise or manpower. So they invited these from all over the world, including Pakistan, and people from the four provinces helped modernize the two UAE states, so much so that the original inhabitants of the UAE, the Arabs, became a minority in their own land. The same fear is being expressed by our nationalists, but they need to think positively and not just find faults with their country.
c. This fear will not be there if proper regulatory legislations and laws are enforced. Even in the UAE over 80 per cent of people are from outside. The laws there protect the local inhabitants, who are now sending their children to acquire knowledge from all over the world in order to become self-reliant.
d. Therefore, there should be no fear of money/ investment coming into Gwadar, and obviously this will mean more jobs for the local population and people from the other provinces may go there for jobs, as happened in Karachi where economic growth since 1947 has attracted businessmen, craftsmen and workers from all provinces. This has helped Karachi become a modern and developed city.
e. Many in Sindh are themselves old settlers. They were either Syeds from Hijaz or Baloch, Pathan and even Persian migrants both before and after Mohammad bin Qasim's invasion of Sindh, which permanently changed the complexion of the province.
We should improve our conditions by peaceful and legal means and by respecting the rights of all the people in Pakistan.
KHANZADA EMRAN
Karachi
Politicizing educational institutions
The onus for politicizing the Karachi University and other educational institutions lies entirely on the political parties. In the early days when there were problems of high fees (the fee used to be paid on a yearly basis), expensive books, etc., there would be agitation in Karachi but it would be in the interest of education. Generally, it was not aimed at influencing examiners or insulting teachers.
A religio-political party had its own student wing which, in fact, started violence in the student community. Later on others also formed their groups. This gave rise to violence in educational institutions.
Karachi University is a big institution and has developed a faculty in every discipline. New institutions are coming up. The community and the government are making every effort to achieve standards that can be accepted in the world. It is about time people like Prof Pirzada Qasim and other vice-chancellors and teachers came forward and discouraged political activity on the campuses.
The standard of education has gone down because the parties have indulged in objectionable activities. The boys now threaten the examiners. Copying has become the order of the day. I hope political parties will impress upon the students not to adopt unfair means.
Students should debate political issues but maintain decorum and express their views in a civilized manner.
A.J. SYED
Karachi
Kerry's 'tilt'
Mr S.M.H.Bokhari (Oct 19) has clearly spelt out the bias being shown by Senator Kerry in the ongoing election campaign. With the polls indicating a very tight race, every vote is being wooed. The senator's 'tilt' is simply based on the assumption that there are far more Indian-American voters in the US than Pakistani Americans.
Despite all the current talk about peace, Indians still love references like 'cross-border terrorism'. In all likelihood, Mr Kerry will soon use another favourite, i.e., "proxy war", to try and seal the issue and secure the Indian American vote.
JAWEED NIAZ
Caldwell, New Jersey, USA
Railway losses
This is in response to the Dawn report (Oct 15) about the Rs30 billion losses suffered by the Pakistan Railways in the last four years.
I think General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz should publicly take the responsibility for this huge loss to the exchequer. They keep telling people their story of the so-called success in the last five years but the magnitude of this loss will offset many of their successes.
SAFDAR AKBARI
Waterloo, Canada
Muslims and Nobel prize
In your editorial on the above subject (Oct 8), Muslims have been reminded of their past intellectual achievements and urged to recapture "their position in the realm of thoughts, ideas, research and studies".
I am not in a position to say anything about the other Muslim countries, but as regards Pakistan, perversity, coupled with dogmatic minds, controls intellectual endeavours, resulting in despair for those who struggle.
Dr Salimmuzaman Siddiqui was an authority on organic chemistry and had no parallel in his field. He developed a drug from indigenous herbs to control blood pressure and it was meant to confront a multi-national drug in control of the medicine markets in Pakistan.
Dr Siddiqui's drug was also put to the test in the then USSR and certified as fit to control blood pressure. But our government of those days failed to support marketing of the drug because of the usual lukewarm attitude of vested interests; otherwise Dr Siddiqui would have earned a Nobel prize in organic chemistry.
Dr Abdus Salam, the Nobel laureate of Pakistan, was fortunate enough to have left his country of birth. Otherwise, his intellectual wings might have been clipped at the hands of those who seek to inject the academic atmosphere with their own political and vindictive considerations.
GHEEWALA A. G. M.
Karachi
Ensuring merit
Transparency in selection demands that a public representation committee should hear candidates. The non-existence of merit is one reason that good governance is still a far cry in our country.
In the presence of a culture of caring first for one's own family, caste and tribe and one based on favouritism and nepotism, how is it possible that merit can prevail? Which procedure is being followed to select deserving people for jobs? Which panel of experts conducts interviews for high-profile posts? How are chairmen of the Board of Investment, Export Promotion Bureau, Pakistan Steel, Pemra, Nepra, PTA, Wapda, Ogra, NAB, PIA and NRB selected? Have the incumbent chairmen of these organiztions ever previously worked in such organizations?
ENGR SUHAIL SHAHZAD
Lahore
Pillion-riding
After a bomb blast at an imambargah last year in Quetta, the government banned pillion-riding to avert any recurrence. The ban still continues, without any improvement in the law and order situation. This has created a great problem for people who can only use motorbikes.
The government would do well to lift the ban now and be more vigilant to foil acts of terrorism.
FARHAD SAMI
Quetta
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