| 01 November 2004 | Monday | 17 Ramazan 1425 |
Facts about Quaid's death
Police escorts for VIPs
Madness on the road
Undermining Iraq's cause
Spirit of Ramazan
'Karachi: a unique mega city'
Sale of F-16s to Pakistan
Traffic jams
'Gaza: fake withdrawal'
Bulletproof cars
Road names
Edhi Village
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The statement by Commonwealth Secretary- General Donald Mckinnon in Islamabad (Dawn, Oct 23) after holding talks with the president and the foreign minister that the Commonwealth would endorse President General Pervez Musharraf's retaining his army uniform beyond Dec 31 as long as it was done through the parliamentary route must have come as a shock to the people of Pakistan, particularly the opposition political parties, as well as to the intelligentsia.
Talking to newsmen in New Delhi on Friday (Dawn, Oct 30), Mr Mckinnon 'lamented' President Musharraf's attempt to retain the post of army chief but in the same breath and quite ironically said it was important that the dispute (over the uniform) should be settled through parliament and the judiciary. The question is: if Mr Mckinnon truly believes in parliamentary democracy, why would he lament any decision taken by such a parliament?
Mr Mckinnon seems to be either ignorant of or is feigning ignorance about the facts of the military takeover of the country and the removal of an elected civilian government in violation of the Constitution, the arbitrary and illegal removal of president Mohammad Rafiq Tarar, the appointment of General Pervez Musharraf as president through an unfair referendum, the amendments made by the general to the Constitution through the Legal Framework Order and thereafter the passage of the 17th Constitutional Amendment in parliament brought about under a dubious deal between the government and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal.
The primary object of the 17th Amendment was to sanctify the referendum and obtain a vote of confidence as president of the country from the members of the king's party in the national and provincial assemblies and the Senate, for which a series of illegal and unconstitutional acts and measures such as pre-poll and post-poll rigging, deliberate suspension of the provision against floor-crossing by doling out profitable posts, ministries and other privileges and by misuse of state resources were adopted.
Notwithstanding the controversial composition and stature of the treasury benches, it is not befitting for a person holding such a high office and responsible position in the Commonwealth as Mr Mckinnon to have given his verdict that a president in uniform if allowed by parliament was no longer an issue with the Commonwealth and that Pakistan's status in the world body would remain unaffected if the president continues to hold both offices.
I draw the attention of Mr Mckinnon and through him of the Commonwealth that a constitution is the most basic law of a country. In the case of Pakistan it is the 1973 Constitution.
Consequently, none of the institutions of government or the institutions or offices created by it can go beyond the powers vested in them by the Constitution. Even otherwise the concept of a fundamental and basic law is that a constitution is itself law and that it is the function of the courts, not the legislature, to interpret the law.
That is why in the world of politics there are both expressed and implied limitations on the lawmaking powers of parliament. The English judiciary has, however, gradually allowed the supremacy of the law to be subordinated to the supremacy of parliament. But the Commonwealth secretary-general may never think of, nay imagine, to say in his own country what he has stated in Pakistan.
SYED IQBAL AHMAD
Karachi
Facts about Quaid's death
Quaid-i-Azam's last journey from the Mauripur airfield to the Governor-General's House, Karachi, on the tragic day of Sept 11, 1948, in an ambulance that broke down en route causing unspeakable pain and agony to the dying founder of Pakistan, has been painfully recollected by Mr Mahmud Ali (Dawn, September 18).
A myth has been woven around this unfortunate incident that Liaquat Ali Khan's government contrived to send a ramshackle ambulance to fetch the Quaid from Mauripur airfield.
Brig N.A. Hussain, the army ADC to the governor- general, who was on duty at Quetta and Ziarat, in an article published by The Muslim in its issue of Sept 11, 1981, recollected the incident as follows: "The ambulance picked from the best available in Karachi of 1948 was detailed by the Personal Physician and Military Secretary who had been left behind in Karachi by the Quaid-i-Azam."
As regards the absence of protocol on the Quaid's arrival, Brig N.A. Hussain wrote that before the Quaid's departure from Quetta, Miss Fatima Jinnah had ordered him to inform the military secretary that the governor-general's arrival at Karachi would be strictly private and no official other than personal staff should receive the Quaid. Miss Jinnah's orders were duly conveyed to the military secretary.
Col Said Ahmed, who was medical superintendent, Jinnah Hospital, at that time, confirmed Brig Hussain's version of the episode of the ambulance. In a letter published in Dawn on May 12, 1979, Col Said wrote: "I was the medical superintendent of the Jinnah Hospital and had not received any information about the gravity of the Quaid's illness either before or after his arrival in Karachi.
The hospital received a call from Col Knowles, MS to the governor-general, asking for an ambulance to be sent to his residence for an important person who was arriving that afternoon. The hospital had at that time two ambulances. The one that was in better condition was cleared and dispatched. Unfortunately on the way back from the airport it suffered a mechanical breakdown which resulted in a very depressing situation."
SYED AFZAL HUSAIN ZAIDI
Islamabad
Police escorts for VIPs
Out of the 27,000 policemen available for the protection of about 15 million Karachiites, 13,000 personnel, 100 vehicles and a large number of motorcycles are reportedly deployed as escorts and gunmen for the security of VVIPs and mostly for persons not legally entitled to any such security.
In Karachi there are 89 police stations manned by 55 to 60 policemen each. If the above-mentioned force is used here, the strength will increase to 160-200 policemen per police station. This could cause the crime rate to drop substantially.
Even industrialists and businessmen who can easily afford private security get approval from the police IG for police guards. Doctors and the likes too want police protection. Also, ex-officials, including former governors and two former home secretaries, move with escorts. Civil judges are not entitled to any armed guard but they too like to have one. Similarly, ministers, MNAs and police officials and others enjoy such privileges while the silent majority is exposed to the danger of lawlessness.
Police guards are required to be in uniform and display name tags, but they move all over the city in civvies, brandishing sophisticated weapons. Instead of ensuring a sense of security, they spread terror.
M. M. ALAM
Karachi
Madness on the road
This is a plea for enforcing some sanity on our roads. To say that this is a crying need would be stating the obvious. However, this is not just a case of observing traffic regulations. With an exploding population - most of them gravitating towards urban centres for a livelihood - congestion on city roads is bound to increase.
The problem is compounded by the absence of civilized public transport and mass transit system. No mega city in the world today can afford to be without one - waste of time and fuel, environmental degradation, loss of precious human lives, chaos, and nerve-racking traffic jams are the inevitable fallouts of the mess we have created on our roads.
The latest thing to aggravate the situation is security concerns for our VVIPs and VIPs, whose comings and goings heap misery on ordinary road users. The government can ignore this situation, being oblivious to public concerns, but in doing so it is setting scene for an explosive situation. Thirty bulletproof cars for Rs3 billion will achieve little for the common man.
The same amount could be put to better use as seed money for an overhead rail track between Rawalpindi and Islamabad, saving billions and easing the misery of harried commuters.
JAVED KHAN
Haripur Hazara
Undermining Iraq's cause
The hostage-taking by the militants, specially of a woman, one who has devoted her life serving the people of Iraq as a worker for a charity, is an act most abominable as stated in your editorial (Oct 24). You rightly conclude that such acts serve only to strengthen the hands of Iraq's enemies.
Mrs Margaret Hassan has nothing to do with the Anglo- American attack on Iraq, and is herself an Iraqi national living in the country for last 30 years.
If the militants cannot be persuaded to release her unharmed, the Iraqi cause itself, for which she has done a lot, will suffer immensely. Moreover, the faith of the people who are performing such noble deeds while undergoing innumerable ordeals in the host countries will be shattered.
In this connection the Arab League and the OIC should persuade the captors not only to release Mrs Hassan immediately but ensure that in future also selfless workers are spared.
RAFIQ AHMED SIDDIQUI
Karachi
Spirit of Ramazan
This refers to Ms Ghazal Mir's letter "Spirit of Ramazan" (Oct 27).
We are holding on tightly to Islam as a religion but have distanced ourselves from it as a deen. The whole spirit of Ramazan is overshadowed by festive activities and big iftar parties. Rituals are all we have. All mosques are packed with worshippers for taravih prayers (nawafil) but are empty after Ramazan for the five times' prayers (farz). We are blessed to be alive in Ramazan and must spend as much time as possible in the remembrance of Allah. We should follow the Sunnah of our Prophet (pbuh) in adopting simplicity in our lives.
FAISAL A.B.
New York, USA
'Karachi: a unique mega city'
This refers to Mr Shahid Javed Burki's perspicacious analysis of Karachi's ethnic composition, economic predicament and its overstretched resources in his articles "Karachi: a unique mega city" (Oct 5), "A turn towards violence" (Oct 12) and "Three raging storms" (Oct 19).
Mr Burki's write-ups coincide with the "Jewel in the Crown: Karachi under the Raj 1843-1947" exhibition going on at the Mohatta palace museum. He rightly points out that the city shaped Pakistan's political and social texture in ways that had not been imagined by Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
Mr Burki starts with the post-partition influx of refugees into the country's capital city, but avoids mentioning the fact that even when Pakistan came into being, Karachi was a thriving commercial and political centre.
There were railways, tramlines and Rolls Royce cars plying on city roads. There was a seaport and there were civil and military airports. There were businessmen from Kutch and Kathiawar - the Sindhi-speaking areas in India.
Also, there were several technical and vocational institutions in Sindh before the making of Pakistan. If there was Aligarh, the Sindh Madrassatul Islam was here for Sindhi Muslims.
When Pakistan came into being, the Sindh Assembly was made the National Assembly, the Sindh Secretariat as the Pakistan Secretariat and the Sindh High Court as the chief court. The Sindh University was renamed as Karachi University. About 300 Sindhi-medium schools were closed down in the city.
Finally, the Sindh government was asked to pack up and shift the capital to Hyderabad. The Sindhis were deprived of their capital and institutions they had made after decades of untiring struggle and a lot of sacrifices. Please refer to "The glory of the East- still a dream" by Dr Hamida Khuhro (Oct 9).
The government even breached the promises made by the Muslim League to Sindhi Muslims that they would be empowered after Pakistan had come into being.
Alienation of Sindhis began at this juncture, which provides a ready ground for Sindhi nationalism.
At present, the number of long-distance immigrants may exceed those of the locals, but the fact is that only Sindhis have an emotional empathy with Karachi because the city is a part of Sindh - their motherland.
Mr Burki rightly points out that Indian Muslims had come to Karachi "pulled by the promise of a better life in the capital city of the country."
In his book Muslim separatism in India: A brief survey 1858-1947, Mr Abdul Hamid, writes: "Those [Hindus] who had planted themselves in positions of vantage could be neither dislodged nor persuaded to share their spoils with Muslims.
"Consequently, the Indian Muslims, who were an underprivileged group at the beginning of the period under review, remained so throughout," i.e., from the War of Independence to the making of Pakistan.
This was true because with the fall of the last vestige of Mughal India in 1857, the supremacy of the Muslim community in India sank into torpor and degradation.
"They [Muslims] were a strangely inarticulate people in an age of noisy politics. When, eventually they attempted to influence foreign opinion [through press], they found themselves helpless against [Hindus] who were already in the field," writes Dr Hamid.
By the 1980s when upcountry migrants manipulated police, transport, construction, export-import and government contracts, the city reached its saturation point. Mohajirs discerned a breach of the "promise of a better life" like the Sindhis in 1947. There was one loaf of bread and several of the hungry. A clash of interest was inevitable.
MANZOOR CHANDIO
Karachi
Sale of F-16s to Pakistan
A report by Dawn's Washington correspondent which says that India has protested against the proposed sale of F-16s to Pakistan (Oct 22) should justify a protest against India's acquisition of a nuclear-powered submarine from Russia.
It seems illogical to think that the supply of additional F-16s would start a arms race. The Pakistan Air Force already has some of these jets in its inventory.
The reason put forward by the members of the US-India forum as told to US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is that the sale of these jets to Pakistan, though manageable by the Indian armed forces, would be taken badly by the Indian public.
I have news. India and the Indian public have taken even the existence of Pakistan badly.
S.M. KAZIM NAQVI
Karachi
Traffic jams
Despite spending a large sum of money on widening the Peshawar Road in Rawalpindi, traffic jams can still be seen and get worse due to an alteration in the operation of traffic signals.
Previously, green signals on both sides of the road came on at the same time. Now traffic proceeding on the Peshawar Road or turning right is allowed in one direction at a time, resulting in cars piling up on the other side.
One has to stop at every signal and sometimes more than once due to the long queues caused by allowing traffic to move only on one side at a time.
To ensure a smooth flow of traffic, the traffic signals also need to be synchronized so that vehicles being driven at 50km an hour may pass through green signals all the way on the Peshawar Road and the Mall Road.
K. MUZAFFAR
Rawalpindi
'Gaza: fake withdrawal'
I could not agree more with your editorial "Gaza: fake withdrawal" (Oct 28).
The reason for pulling out of Gaza is that it is a colossal waste of resources, and now that Israel has rendered Gaza virtually uninhabitable, it is more practical to turn it into a prison where people can rot. No wonder Israel still want to control the borders and entry points indefinitely. You never leave the gates of a prison open.
KHURRAM HANEEF
New Jersey, USA
Bulletproof cars
Thirty bulletproof cars are being imported at a phenomenal cost of Rs3 billion for VVIPs. The decision appears to be sequel to the deadly attacks on the president and the prime minister who are the primary target of terrorists and who already have such cars. If the safety equipment of these cars is outdated, it can be upgraded or at best a few new ones with state-of-the-art safety equipment can be imported. Visiting dignitaries may be provided safe cars from the existing pool of special cars. Some of them in any case bring their own vehicles.
As regards our ministers, they are elected representatives of people and should feel safe with their constituents. They should be happy with their brand new saloons.
S.M.H.BOKHARI
Rawalpindi
Road names
This is apropos of the news item "Suggestion sought on capital facelift" (Oct 27).
While the Capital Development Authority has named roads as Chambeli Road, Sohni Road, Luqman Hakim Road, etc., it has not named roads to commemorate political leaders who were in the forefront of the Pakistan Movement and without whose efforts Pakistan would never have been achieved.
A list containing the names of leaders of the freedom movement was published in Dawn of Aug 14, 2003, which may be used by the CDA for naming roads in the future and perhaps for renaming the aforementioned roads.
M. KHURSHID IQBAL
Islamabad
Edhi Village
The report about the Edhi Village is hair-raising (Dawn, Oct 25). Edhi homes are a blessing for those who have no one to look after them. But the practice of elderly relatives of well-off people being brought there to be admitted is cruel.
This trend shows that we are forgetting our own finer values and are being influenced by the western life-styles, which are materialistic and devoid of values such as divine fear, love, respect for our elders, etc., which are the hallmark of our life. In such cases, admissions should not be given to the Edhi houses until the facts are verified by one or two respectables of the area concerned.
One should not forget that youth is not everlasting. One who is young today has to grow old tomorrow.
M. SHAFIQUE AHMED
Karachi
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