| 27 October 2004 | Wednesday | 12 Ramazan 1425 |
Spirit of Ramazan
'Trussed like animals'
Sabzi Mandi development plan
Cleanliness campaign in Karachi
Spread of deadly diseases
Telephone bills
National savings authority
Residents' woes
DHA football park
Medical students' enrolment
Transfer of property
Letters of offer
To send a letter to the Editor
Click here
As the debate continues on Karachi's deteriorating law and order situation, there have been calls for hiring more policemen as one step to reduce crime in the city. This would have absolutely no effect. In fact, there are chances that more policemen recruited through the faulted system of hiring currently in place will add to criminal activity in the city. Reports that have appeared in Dawn indicate that there is a rise in crime in Karachi as most policemen have been placed on anti-terrorism duty at the expense of fighting city crime.
It has also been revealed that in many instances police officials and other state functionaries have been given police guards in disregard of rules that do not allow such a facility. This is where our extra policemen, who are being supported on taxpayers' money, are being used.
Recruiting more policemen is not the answer for a number of reasons. First, we already have a very large police force. What is needed is for senior government officials, particularly police officials, to let go of their guards so that these personnel can be used for regular police work. How can one justify hiring more police officials when on one evening I saw a police official of DIG rank being escorted to his home by eight bodyguards - seven sitting in two police vehicles and one riding a motorcycle?
Then the whole process of hiring policemen is faulty. Recently some policemen were hired but most of these had the backing of either a political party, the bureaucracy or the military. In other words, there was no merit involved in their recruitment. As a consequence, the loyalty of such policemen lies only with those who have helped in their hiring.
Training too is an area that has been neglected for long. The police training academy lacks facilities for proper police training with the emphasis only on physical exercises and a mediocre course of studies. Most trainees run away from the academy in the first week and their attendance is recorded by proxy. They then reappear at the graduation ceremony so that they can receive their appointment.
If that is not enough, the devolution plan has added to the confusion. Most police officials say that no matter what name you give it, the real power vests in the police and the bureaucracy and not in the elected officials or representatives.
All these issues need to be studied carefully so that we can understand that the answer to better policing lies not in more policemen but in better quality of police officials.
IHSAN MIAN (RETIRED PSP)
Hyderabad
Spirit of Ramazan
One of the most noticeable aspects of Ramazan in Pakistan is the sudden increase in food consumption. Piles of street food tempt the fasting public, restaurants are thronged with people and many more wait outside, dates in hand, waiting to be let in.
Growing up in the 80s I always knew that eating was a priority in this holiest of months, but ever since the franchising and commercialization of food in the 90s there has been a sharp transformation of the Ramazan restaurant scene. Nothing wrong with this per se, but don't you think the "all you can eat" sehri and iftar deals at the popular restaurants undermine the spirit of this month?
Other than abstinence from food and drink, what else should fasting mean to a Muslim? I believe fasting requires a return to simplicity and piety, and overcoming our desires. When a fasting person feels the pangs of hunger he is supposed to be able to empathize with those for whom hunger is a daily reality.
Needless to say, we are hardly likely to feel anything for anyone during the course of our day when we have a buffet style iftari or sehri to look forward to. The need for role-playing is now much more than it ever was before. There are 842 million people in the world that go hungry every day, I repeat, every day.
Moreover, in the Third World more than 1.2 billion live below the poverty line, which exposes them to hunger and hunger-related disease and death. Out of these 11 million children under five die each year, and more than half the death toll is caused by hunger-related causes. In our own country, approximately 27 million people are in the grip of almost perpetual hunger.
Clearly the true spirit of Ramazan would be to fight chronic hunger and seek to eradicate it from this planet or, at least, from our own neighbourhood rather than patronize the web of commercialized over-consumption.
We may not have to worry about our next meal, but millions of others have to. The time to do something is now and Ramazan is the month when we should vow to find enduring solutions to hunger and poverty at our own individual level.
GHAZAL MIR
Little Rock, USA
'Trussed like animals'
People who have understood the meaning of 'enlightened moderation' must have been aghast to see the picture (Karachi Metropolitan, Oct 19) showing a dozen citizens, trussed up with rope like animals, in the city courts "for allegedly violating the rules of the fasting month". This made a mockery of the efforts of the president and his team to project Pakistan to the civilized world as a tolerant state. Has Hisba arrived to haunt Sindh, ahead of the NWFP where the government is just a couple of steps behind emulating Taliban governance?
How can Pakistan be portrayed as something other than a theocracy where religion has become a business of the state and has been institutionalized? The federal ministry for religious affairs, the Council of Islamic Ideology and the Shariat courts - to mention a few - are all discharging sacred responsibilities. Madressahs, whose number is estimated to be over 80,000, are performing an educational service to interpret and teach the brand of Islam they wish.
In seven years they produce educated young men who would not qualify for a job in commercial firms or any industrial organizations. The profusion of religious TV programmes hijack individual introspection, analysis and discretion to pursue religion according to one's own understanding, faith, figh and tradition.
The Holy Quran says: "If your Lord had so willed, He could certainly have made mankind one people, but they will not cease dispute. Except those on whom thy Lord hath bestowed His mercy - and for this did He create them" -11: 118-119).
Our ominous drift from democratic secularism to authoritarian theocracy cannot be halted by verbal exhortations. The federal and provincial governments must be unambiguously debarred from legislating on any religious tenets, percepts or rituals. Political expediency may require enactment and enforcement of such laws. If so, then enlightened, moderate Muslims must be given the right to opt in favour of state statutes applicable to all citizens so that they can pursue Islamic obligations in peace and according to their faith, figh, rituals and traditions.
MUHAMMAD A.B.
Karachi
Sabzi Mandi development plan
This refers to the news item "Resolution of Sabzi Mandi issue urged" (Oct 6).
It is apparent that the Sindh governor is introducing a comprehensive and coordinated development plan in the province. At a meeting on Oct 5 he directed the Karachi city government to resolve the Sabzi Mandi issue, including its layout plan.
The Sindh chief justice, in a suo motu decision, assigned Justice (retd) Haziq-ul-Khairi the responsibility of resolving the problem by ending maladministration at the new wholesale fruit and vegetable market on the Super Highway and by arranging its shifting in an orderly manner.
The Sindh ombudsman considered all aspects - those that went wrong right from the start, including selection of the site, appointment of consultants, preparation of layout plans, building plans, design of services - and passed a judgment for approval of the layout plan in the framework of the KDA master plan by the KDA, now the city government.
But in spite of the directive, the plan was never finalized while changes and modifications continued. It is evident from the governor's directive that even today the layout plan stands unapproved and has no legal status.
I hope the governor will see it through. The following being a normal town planning procedure can be used for a transparent solution:
a. Appointment of a town planner, registered with the PCATP, to prepare a layout plan according to the existing site conditions and finalization of the plan according to the Pakistan Council of Architect and Town Planning and the Pakistan Engineering Council laws.
b. To be effective, direct supervision of the project by the governor.
AFTAB MUHAMMAD KHAN
Karachi
Cleanliness campaign in Karachi
This is apropos of a news report (Oct 15) on the above subject. The campaign launched by the Karachi city government (for 10 days) was doomed to failure. Ten days are too short a period for such campaigns.
From time to time, letters appear in these columns about the unhygienic conditions in different localities of the city, but they fail to draw the attention of the relevant authorities. There are hardly any cleanliness- conscious people in departments which matter.
What is required is to make people cleanliness-conscious at the grassroots level by using different means. To educate the masses about the importance of cleanliness - starting particularly from those living in the run-down localities - is important.
People responsible for ensuring cleanliness in the city should be trained in doing their job satisfactorily. They should clean the city as a matter of routine throughout the year, especially during the rainy season, and of course during Eidul Azha.
HAJI ASHFAQ
Muscat
Spread of deadly diseases
Dawn has lately helped raise awareness about one of the main causes of the spread of deadly diseases in Pakistan. Thousands of families whose loved ones are suffering do not want others to suffer. Although multiple factors are responsible for the spread of such diseases, in Pakistan the single biggest factor remains spurious syringes. I would like to suggest the following measures to help eliminate the problem.
First, it should become an important duty of hospital administrators to conduct monthly seminars on control of deadly infections, with the objective of creating awareness among the hospital staff. All hospital administrators should post easy-to-understand instructions and information on the noticeboard to educate patients on deadly diseases and spurious syringes.
The fact that more infection is acquired in hospitals and the unhygienic conditions in almost all hospitals clearly tell us how much more needs to be done on this front, especially by doctors since they are the decision-makers.
Second, the health ministry should launch a campaign to educate people on basic hygiene and create awareness of various deadly diseases. This campaign should also educate people on what to expect from their healthcare providers and in particular which types of syringes they should use.
Third, as a letter-writer pointed out on Oct 4, the question of import duty on blister-pack syringes should be reviewed.
Fourth, advanced countries use blister-pack syringes that are autodisable with safety locks or safety retractable features. However, in Pakistan autodisable syringes will not provide a workable solution because, even without any taxation, autodisable syringes will not be affordable. Fortunately, there are blister-pack syringes available here that offer good safety in the form of a breakable plunger. After giving an injection healthcare professionals can easily break the plunger. Once the plunger is broken, the syringe cannot be put to second use.
Fifth, international donor agencies clearly spell out what type of safety syringes should be bought when they provide financial aid to various government vaccination programmes. Our government should do the same when it provides funds, including Zakat funds, to various hospitals. It should prohibit hospitals using these funds from buying spurious or dangerous syringes.
DR RUMAAN BASHIR SHAH
Peshawar
Telephone bills
Monthly bills for my two office telephones - 4822670 and 4823565 - are never delivered to me. Every month I have to send my representative to collect duplicate bills which are not annexed with details of mobile and long-distance calls. As such, it is not possible to check when and where these calls were made. Moreover, a number of times I have to pay late payment surcharge.
I have lodged complaints with the divisional engineer and the accounts officer of Karachi's Gulshan-i-Iqbal exchange but without any result.
I request the authorities concerned to look into the matter and redress my grievances.
ABDUL QADIR
Karachi
National savings authority
This refers to a Dawn report (Oct 16) about making the national savings directorate an authority instead of a corporation.
As a senior citizen and an investor in national savings schemes I favour the setting up of an authority for national savings instead of a corporation.
I appeal to the government to publicize the outlines of the authority project and invite public comments. In fact, prospective investors should be invited to offer their views at public hearings in major cities. The government should announce clearly what will be the modus operandi of this authority in rural areas and the nature of products it will offer to the potential investors, with some indication of the probable return to investors.
The federal finance secretary should visit the NSS offices to see how investors are treated.
In this respect, the authority should use the existing post office networks or a scheduled bank having experience in dealing with the national savings schemes.
QUTUBUDDIN AZIZ
Karachi
Residents' woes
We are residents of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Block 11, Karachi. Our entire locality has been without a sewerage system for more than two decades. Sewage gushes out of the drains of our apartments and inundates roads.
We are facing tremendous problems because the relevant departments do not pay any attention to our complaints. Despairing of all official help, we laid a small makeshift sewerage line at our own cost. The problem was solved to some extent. After some time, however, encroachments sprang up next to our houses, putting extra pressure on the small sewerage line.
As a result, it has started choking frequently. Since our houses are not built on an even surface, the residents living lower down find dirty water entering their premises and getting mixed with tank water. The matter has been reported to the relevant authorities but so far there has been no response.
AFFECTED RESIDENTS
Karachi
DHA football park
The DHA football park on Khayaban-i-Rahat, which doubles as an Eidgah, is in serious need of repair. Earlier this year I wrote to the responsible official at the DHA, asking him to take notice of the situation and make some improvements. He replied that the DHA had agreed to renovate the park and the football ground and a tender had been awarded.
It is six months now but there has been no work done. The railing that borders the football ground is in need of replacement and has been propped up to keep it standing.
AMIR MURTAZA
Karachi
Medical students' enrolment
The University of Karachi is right in stressing the need for an enrolment choice for the students of the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS). It is astonishing that the DUHS has failed to honour its commitment to have a consensus among students as regards their transfer from Karachi University to the medical university.
Students who are enrolled with the KU chose it over other universities. The KU has a responsibility towards safeguarding the interests of its students. It cannot just transfer them to any other university without first seeking the students' consent. The degree in medicine by KU unlike the degree from the DUHS is one of the most prestigious degrees in Pakistan and recognized the world over. The Dow Medical College and Sindh Medical College would not have been chosen by these students had they not been affiliated with the KU.
Carrying out re-enrolment without the students' consent will simply set a precedence in which two universities may decide to swap students according to their own fancy. I wonder if it is even legal for a university to transfer students to another university without the consent of the students.
With the MBBS examination approaching fast, it is important for both universities to concentrate on having the exams conducted properly and on time. Even if the DUHS has its way, it will find it impossible to have enrolments transferred and conduct exams within the time left.
ADEEL NAFIS
Singapore
Transfer of property
Illegal transfer of properties is increasing. There have been numerous instances whereby properties of parents are transferred illegally by way of gift deed, by a member of a family in his own name and by taking advantage of aging and mentally incapable parents.
In the process of such illegal transfer of properties, the beneficiary spends a lot of money for registration of the gift deed, mutation, etc. The transfer of such properties not only deprives the parents of their life-time assets but renders them homeless or dependent on others.
This is all the more worrisome for those living abroad. Cases of illegal transfer of properties could be checked if the departments concerned made it mandatory for the beneficiary to submit an authenticated NOC from all members of a family.
NAVAID M. KHAN
Karachi
Letters of offer
It is a matter of great concern for those who have passed that although the combined competitive examinations 2003-04 were conducted by the Sindh Public Service Commission more than four months back, no letters of offer have yet been received.
Will the president, the prime minister and the Sindh chief minister look into the matter and do the needful?
SHAHID RAZA & 13 OTHERS
Karachi
You can also send letters to the Editor
Just send your message to the following address:
Make sure you include your full name, postal address, e-mail address, and in the case of Pakistan your day-time telephone number.