| 25 October 2004 | Monday | 10 Ramazan 1425 |
Stuck in a rut?
Gujral's viewpoint on Kashmir
Bureaucratization of Azad Kashmir
'Miracles, wars and politics'
Bush's stance on anti-Semitism
Musharraf's policies
NIC case
Locating key sites
College admissions
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I refer to Cdr (retd) Najeeb Anjum's letter (Oct 23) in which he has briefly mentioned the role of "the mutiny of the innocents" - the naval ratings' mutiny on Feb 18, 1946 - as the last straw that broke the back of the British Raj and made Mr Attlee settle the Indian question once and for all.
I fully agree with his assessment, and it would not be out of place to recapture some of the details of that forgotten but heroic gesture by a few thousand young men of the Royal Indian Navy that unwittingly produced such momentous results as the emancipation of one-fifth of the human race from bondage.
As a 19-year-old midshipman of the Royal Indian Volunteer Reserve, serving on board the laid-up minesweeper "HMIS Oudh", I had no inkling on the morning of Feb 18, 1946, that I was about to witness an epoch-making event in history. As I walked back from our mess in Dhanraj Mahal (opposite the Gateway of India) after having my breakfast - there being no cooking facilities on board - along the pier at the end of which were tied four Indian navy warships lying abreast of each other, my ship being the outermost, I heard some shouting from the deck of my ship. On boarding the ship I realized that I was in the midst of a full-scale mutiny and the ratings had got hold of the commanding officer, Lieutenant Smart, and chief engineer Lieutenant Leegood, both Britishers and both elderly.
It seemed that as hostilities started early in the morning, the two had gone down to the ammunition store and carrying ammunition boxes to the deck had dumped them into the sea. The ratings were livid and on my appeal for respect for human life and for old age, they remonstrated with me, crying: "How are we going to fight back the British troops already firing at us from Ballard Pier?" Then they cried in unison: "Let us tie them to the anchor and let them follow the ammunition into the sea."
Most of the ratings were from Punjab and had a lot of respect for a Punjabi officer. My appeals for clemency finally prevailed and after having the two hostages change into mufti I escorted them ashore among a hail of bullets coming the Ballard Pier.
My dear friend, Haroon Ibne Ali, then lieutenant and later commodore, watched the whole drama of the rescue of the two hostages from his ship lying next to us and even today as we meet we recall this incident - the good old days when even in the heat of battle the spirit of chivalry was still alive and there was no beheading of innocents.
I must also take my hat off to the British authorities for their statesmanship. They negotiated a settlement with the mutineers, granting complete amnesty, and promised to redress their grievances. They stuck to their word. Nobody was punished, for they realized that the ratings were on a higher moral ground.
CAPT ABDUS SALAM KHAN
Rancho Cucamona, CA., USA
Stuck in a rut?
The 17th Amendment has turned out to be a big whammy for the two signatories - the MMA and General Musharraf himself. Things must be real bad for the treasury if Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed has to claim on TV that the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal is being misguided by the PML-N and the ARD as if such a thing was possible in the first place.
The situation turned from bad to worse when treasury members were prevented from attending the session where the no-confidence motion was being tabled against the National Assembly speaker on Oct 22. The opposition lost but it exposed the cracks within the ruling party. The prime minister had to refute that there was any forward bloc in the offing.
While the treasury benches showed no confidence against their own members in the house, the general on the uniform issue is expressing his concern by not appointing a full-time army chief.
An Urdu columnist, who has the general's ears, told him that he would not be able to respond to the movement to be launched by the opposition against his uniform and if he did (and it would be a handicap being a serving officer) it would result in anarchy. The general agreed. As if all that was not enough, the leader of opposition and possibly the chief minister of the NWFP may not attend the next NSC meeting called by the general. The NSC thus is heading for a premature demise.
What are the lessons in this? Managed referendums and elections cannot turn a house into a functional unit. The National Accountability Bureau holds some of the ministers on the leash. The treasury's is a house divided against itself and it won't pass muster.
Ayub found himself adrift soon after the 1965 war, and Zia after appointing a prime minister. General Musharraf finds himself in the eye of a hurricane after rotating three prime ministers. But people may not accept today what they did in 1958, 1969 and 1977.
ASLAM MINHAS
Karachi
Gujral's viewpoint on Kashmir
Former Indian prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral, who recently visited Lahore as a guest speaker at a South Asians for Human Rights meeting, surprised the audience by his point of view on the Kashmir issue. He went to the extent of saying that the subject of human rights was a non-issue for the organization. While reacting to a question whether peace between India and Pakistan was possible without a resolution of the Kashmir dispute, Mr Gujral put a counter-question: "What is the link of Kashmir with this?"
The issue arose when Mr Gujral became assertive on the need for people-to-people contact and establishment of trade relations between the two countries which, according to him, had no other option but to develop friendly ties. He implicitly told the South Asian countries that they had no future unless they moved together, accepted Indian hegemony and gave concessions to India on its term, while for any government in India it would not be possible to make any concession on secularism or territory.
In the backdrop of the recently taken confidence- building measures between India and Pakistan, it is hard to digest the tone in which Mr Gujral was addressed the press and the meeting.
The European Union and the world at large admit that Muslims in Kashmir are struggling for their right of self-determination which was promised to them by no less a person than one of the founding fathers of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. Frank Moraces, the biographer of Pandit Nehru, admits that he could not justify the Indian leader's changed stand on Kashmir after having himself set the ball rolling in the UN.
So what Mr Gujral and other human rights activists are saying about Indian secularism and Indian territory is nothing but a crude joke. Justice demands that the people of Kashmir should be given their right to decide their fate under the aegis of the UN.
ALI ASHRAF KHAN
Karachi
Bureaucratization of Azad Kashmir
Azad Kashmir is perhaps the only territory under the control of the Pakistan establishment where in the last 56 years the posts of chief secretary and inspector-general of police have belonged to either the Civil Services of Pakistan or the Pakistan Police Service. This has been in line with the well-known regal tradition: do not trust the natives. There has been only one exception (enough to prove the rule) when Mr A. H. Suhrawardy, a career civil servant of the pre-partition Kashmir Civil Service, was made chief secretary for a few months.
It is indeed humiliating for every sane AK national when he is told everyday that it is a base camp for the liberation of the entire state, when he fully knows that even the heads of the administration and police are selected in Islamabad and sent on loan to rule him and the state in a vice regal fashion. It is common in Muzaffarabad city to see the roads lined up by contingents of traffic police day in and day out whenever an officer on loan leaves or returns to his residence/office.
These people invariably maintain double residences and offices, one in the AK capital and one in their province of domicile or in the federal capital. The local bureaucracy is treated by them in similar fashion as the "outsider sahibs" treated the Balochistan civil servants. The AK civil servants (even BPS-20 officers) are so deflated that they address these officers on loan as honourable sirs in their official communications and on files.
This whole situation needs to be rectified now on an urgent footing.
G. H. BUTT
Muzffarabad
'Miracles, wars and politics'
This refers to the letter "Miracles, wars and politics" by Mr Essam Sohail (Oct 13).
Firstly, students from Pakistan do not "line up" every year for US colleges due to America being an "enlightened country". It is purely for monetary reasons and nothing else. They feel they will be able to earn better wages in America than in their own country.
Mr Sohail seems to be living in a fantasy world if he believes that America after Sept 11 is an open society welcoming all into its fold. Far from it; it has after Sept 11 built walls around itself barricading itself from the rest of the world and saying "you are either with the United States and if you don't support them then you are against it". Any society that has a president who lives by that rule is anything but an "enlightened country".
In previous decades, America was an enlightened country to some extent. They did have welcoming arms accepting people from many different countries. I would like to add one thing, though. The US would incorporate many people as long as they would offer something to the country, e.g., conferring US nationality on sports stars such as Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles, countless Cuban and Puerto Rican baseball and basketball stars playing in their national leagues and the smartest scientists in the world. Most of the Nobel Prize winners this year were from the US but they were originally born in Europe. Case in point: as long as you are gifted, athletically or academically, the US will give you nationality. It is as simple as that.
This way America maintains its scientific hegemony over the world by ensuring that the best and the brightest people from other countries come to the US.
However, US student visas are anything but "coveted", as Mr Sohail suggests. Studentswould rather study in the UK, Australia or in Asia. Less and less people are choosing to go the US for higher education after 9/11. So visa is no longer "coveted" nor the country is an "enlightened one".
NABIL HOODBHOY
Karachi
Bush's stance on anti-Semitism
According to a news report, President George Bush has signed into law a bill requiring the US State Department to monitor global anti-Semitism and rate countries annually on their treatment of Jews (Oct 17).
This move comes at a time when anti-Bush and anti-American sentiments are sweeping the globe, including some countries considered to be the closest US allies.
A poll conducted by 10 of the world's top newspapers in as many leading countries (Oct 17) shows, among other things, that:
1. Voters in eight out of the 10 countries want to see John Kerry defeat Bush.
2. The majority of voters in Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Japan, Spain and South Korea share a rejection of the Iraq invasion, contempt for the Bush administration and a growing hostility to the US.
3. In Britain 60 per cent of the voters say they don't like Bush, while 77 per cent of those under 25 feel the same way.
4. The rejection of Mr Bush is strongest in France at 72 per cent and in S. Korea at 68 per cent.
5. A startling 51 per cent of British voters say that American culture is threatening their own. This fear is shared by Canadians, Mexicans and South Koreans (let alone Muslims).
6. More than 60 per cent of people in France, Japan, Canada, South Korea and Spain say their view of the United States has deteriorated since 9/11, while 45 per cent of Britishers think similarly.
This shows that Muslims are not alone in having such sentiments and, being at the receiving end, actually feel much more angry, as recently shown by several reliable surveys.
One must also consider another report (Oct 18) which reveals that most Asians want Mr Bush out of office and 80 per cent of Japanese oppose the Iraq war. Also, nearly a couple of hundred former American and British diplomats and senior military officials have in recent months publicly voiced their concern about the policies of George Bush and Tony Blair, especially towards Muslim countries. According to them, these have served to alienate the world's Muslims and also made the Americans unpopular and unsafe almost everywhere. Mr Kofi Annan has called the Iraq invasion illegal, saying that it has made the world more insecure.
Instead of focusing on matters that directly affect his compatriots and country, the American president has imprudently chosen to please his Jewish constituency and Israel merely to gain their support in the elections.
Another consequence of the aforementioned wrong policies is that some Muslims have been pushed into militancy and terrorism, leading in turn to Islamophobia, largely in the West. In the US all Muslims are being profiled, where the FBI has launched its fifth dragnet against them. Shouldn't Mr Bush instead please this second largest religious group in America, most of whom had voted for him last time?
If peace and sanity are to prevail, then it would make eminent sense on the part of US leaders to eliminate Islamophobia which affects 1.5 billion Muslims, and anti-Americanism which perturbs 300 million Americans, in addition to anti-Semitism that relates to 14 million Jews.
KHALID CHAUDHRY
Karachi
Musharraf's policies
Addressing a gathering of lawyers on Oct 20, President Pervez Musharraf claimed that Pakistan had gained international respect and earned a new status due to its policies, including the fight against terror, and now the entire Muslim world looked up to the country for a leading role (Dawn, Oct 21).
In recognition of his bold policies, the United States designated Pakistan as major non-Nato ally for the purposes of the Arms Export Control Act. However, Pakistan does not enjoy mutual defence and security guarantees as Nato allies do.
I wonder which of the following events has gained Pakistan international respect:
1. Failing to take effective steps to prevent elements bombing worshippers in mosques and fuelling religious fanaticism.
2. Imposing a ban on religious gatherings other than Friday and taravih congregations in Ramazan.
3. Angering both the Frontier tribes and conservative Islamic militants throughout Pakistan by extending the US "war on terror" within its own boundaries in Wana.
In an effort to introduce social reforms and convert their countries into progressive and mainstream welfare states, General Mustafa Kemal in Turkey and Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt cracked down on religious scholars and the religious hierarchy.
Let us not try militaristic recipes. First and foremost is to establish peace and harmony in the country; therefore, General Musharraf should try and bring ulema, scholars and religo-political figures on one platform and have them renounce the prevailing segregation in mosques.
In 1939, with his egalitarian approach and political vision, Allama Inyatullah Mashriqi was successful in putting an end to sectarianism in Lucknow. By restoring public confidence, Pakistan can ultimately become a moderate Islamic country.
LT-COL SYED AHMED
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
NIC case
This has reference to Mr Abdul Hameed's letter (Oct 9). On investigation it was found that the CNIC of Miss Hina Abdul Hameed was blocked as an E-case (more than one citizen was registered on the same "old national identity card" number). In this case one more application was received, and the other applicant provided the same national identity card number. Necessary rectification to this effect was carried out and her case was cleared.
Her CNIC number is 42201-7415483-8 and was dispatched on Oct 16 in box # 745928 to the central distribution centre (CDC), Karachi. The card is at the CDC, pigeon-hole # ANN and its location is 442.
MALIK SHAHNAWAZ KHAR
Director, Media, Islamabad
Locating key sites
As I write these lines, I feel sorry for the lack of proper management and planning skills on the part of our nazims, town planners, managing boards and all the big shots of the country. While the city nazim was engaged in inaugurating parks and delivering speeches on the importance of parks in the development of a healthy environment and society, Karachiites were in the grip of utter chaos as a result of the Ideas 2004, "Weapons for Peace", exhibition.
Blocked roads, jammed traffic, sizzling heat all of it had to be borne by the poor citizens of Karachi. The reason for such a chaotic scenario was none other than the prime location of the city's exhibition centre.
But the misery doesn't end there. Another problematic location that seems to consistently bother citizens is the vacant building of the US consulate. What is the point in having such an important building located on the city's main thoroughfare when it fails to accommodate foreign staff due to security reasons?
This issue has been raised repeatedly in the media - many articles have been written and discussions held - but the matter seems to fall on deaf ears, and one wonders why. The answer is simple: while the city's top management is busy inaugurating roads, bridges and parks, holding seminars, awarding degrees and attending functions, it fails to bother about the basic rights of the people.
FAWAD LATIF
Karachi
College admissions
I took my daughter to Karachi's Khatoon-i-Pakistan College on Oct 2. Despite a rainy day, a large number of students had turned out to seek admission. The college was open, the admission staff were present and hundreds of students were inside the college but nothing was moving because the principal was missing from the scene. Everyone waited for four hours and it was then finally declared the forms were with the principal and she was unable to come to the college that day. The entire crowd stood without any shelter at the college. Everyone was asked to come on Oct 4 which was also the last day for the submission of forms.
The Monday queue started at 8am, but the relevant office's window opened at 9.15am. There were no guidelines for admission seekers, so people faced great hardship. The same thing happened during the enrolment process.
Each student was asked to go to the Tariq Road branch of the National Bank twice - once for depositing the college fee (and showing a paid voucher to the college authorities) and then to obtain another blank voucher for enrolment. Much time could have been saved by issuing vouchers at one time. By the time one returned to the college after the second trip from the bank, college time was over.
AFFECTED MOTHER
Karachi
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