| 04 November 2004 | Thursday | 20 Ramazan 1425 |
Princely states' status
Improving mobile services
Turbulence in the tribal areas
PR and containers
Suggestions for energy generation
Conspiracy theories
Awarding scholarships
Eid shopping
Cash awards for medalists
'Rooted in dishonour'
Unilateralism
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Two regional issues have haunted the world for over half a century - Kashmir and Palestine. Wars have been fought. Thousands have been killed. Property worth billions destroyed. Neighbouring countries have been occupied. The lapse of time and ground realities have forced the parties and countries involved to forsake the status quo and seek a fresh approach, specially due to international pressure to find a solution, and combine to rid the world of the menace of terrorism. Europe has involved itself in solving the Israel-Palestine conflict and Kashmir is likely to be on the agenda of Commonwealth, as stated by its secretary-general.
On Oct 25, President Musharraf did some loud thinking about a fresh approach to the Kashmir issue. India's response was cool. The first was the product of a military mind and the response an outcome of political thought. About 24 hours later Israel's parliament approved Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's US-backed plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and parts of West Bank, occupied after the six-day war of June 5, 1967. Mr Sharon was himself a champion of Jewish settlements in occupied Arab land. The plan was approved by a majority of 67 votes to 45 with seven abstentions.
In Camp David Accords-I, president Carter agreed to Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip which was returned in March 1957, on president Eisenhower's insistence, to Egypt by Israel after its occupation during the Suez invasion. Some 8,000 Israelis live among 1.3 million Palestinians there.
The most difficult problem of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the line of division of Jerusalem has yet to be touched. The turnabout of Mr Sharon on Gaza is the result of realizing that peace with the Palestinians is only possible by learning to live with them as equals.
It is clear that compared to the Israel-Palestine conflict the Kashmir issue is a one-window operation. Both Pakistan and India accept that a solution is possible only through negotiation. The Kashmiris have the right to have united families. Their struggle against the Dogra raj began before the one against the British raj. The only solution lies in creating an independent state of Kashmir consisting of Azad Kashmir and the territory held by India.
The citizens of this state would have triple nationality: Kashmiri, Indian and Pakistani. People already settled in Pakistan and India could have dual nationality - families divided since independence would come together.
H.A. HAJI
Karachi
(2)
Joint sovereignty or condominium as spelt out by Mr Anwar Kamal in his article (Dawn, Nov 1) seems to be the only reasonable solution of the Kashmir dispute. If accepted by India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir, it will not only help the people of India and Pakistan come closer but also pave the way towards the formation of a union of South Asian countries on the pattern of the European Union.
M. KHURSHID IQBAL
Islamabad
Princely states' status
It is reported that Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, in his statements or speeches dated June 11 and 17 and July 19 and 30, 1947, advocated that the princely states of the subcontinent, including Kashmir, had some options, including the right to independence.
The Cabinet Mission issued a statement in 1946, whose paragraph 14 declared that "paramountcy can neither be retained by the British Crown nor transferred to the new Government".
The question of paramountcy was finally disposed of by the Indian Independence Act of 1947 through its Article 7(1) (B) which stipulated that "the suzerainty of His Majesty over the Indian States lapses". The legal effect of this stipulation following the British departure from India was that the princely states become completely independent and sovereign and were under no legal obligation to join the new dominions of India or Pakistan and could revert to their pre-treaty status. It shows that the rulers of the Indian states would become fully independent and would be free to remain independent or to accede to either India or Pakistan.
Hyderabad chose to remain independent, as provided in the June 3 plan, but its independence was snuffed out through police action by India. The maharaja of Kashmir entered into a "standstill agreement with Pakistan and also offered India a "standstill agreement". It shows that the June partition plan or the Partition of India Act allowed the princely states to do so.
The British prime minister, in his statement of July 10, 1947, in the House of Commons, stated that "with the ending of treaties and agreements, the states regained their independence" (House of Commons official report 439 H.C. Debate 58.C. 245, cited in Clyde Eagleton's 'The case of Hyderabad before the Security Council', 44 American Journal of International Law, 1950, p283).
Similarly, Lord Mountbatten in his press communique of July 25, 1947, stated that the Indian Independence Act released the states from their obligations to the crown. The states had complete freedom technically and legally (that) they are independent (White Paper on Indian States, Government of India publication, 1948, p160).
The United Nations Security Council took up discussion of the Pakistan case against India on the Junagadh issue on Feb 20, 1948, but it has been kept dormant since then.
HAJI ESSA KATCHI
Karachi
Improving mobile services
Ufone is a government-owned mobile service company. Since it restarted its prepaid service a few months ago, its performance has deteriorated.
At the time of restarting new prepaid connections, Ufone had announced it would add a lot of new cities (about 60) to its network by August this year, but this has not yet been done, to the disappointment of those who took new connections.
Other than Ufone no mobile service company charges customers anything for wanting to know the balance amount. Ufone charges 50 paisa each time for this. I suggest this service should be free.
In other mobile companies, customers can also find out the balance in the prepaid card through an SMS, but in Ufone they can only access the balance by dialling the helpline number which is sometimes busy.
The process of talking to the "customer service representative" through the helpline (#333) is also quite tedious. Customers have to remain on hold for more than eight minutes to talk to the customer service representative. Even after midnight the situation remains the same. The company's explanation for delayed response is that there are already a number of people waiting on the line. This is because it has a large number of subscribers. But service representatives of other mobiles companies with more customers take the call in less than a minute.
Ufone customer service representatives appear to be in great haste and generally give inadequate replies. For example, most of its customers do not know about the various options, including the GPRS setting, and when someone wants to know about the setting of GPRS, the customer service representative asks him to visit the Ufone website instead of explaining the matter himself.
I hope Ufone's higher authorities will take some positive steps to improve service by addressing the above-mentioned issues.
IMRAN KHAN SIAL
Karachi
Turbulence in the tribal areas
While working for a PhD at St. Andrew's University, Scotland, I used to meet one of the oldest living ICS stalwarts, the late Sir George Cunningham, a retired rector of the university who had started his civil service career in India.
His first assignment in the subcontinent was at Hangu where he was posted as assistant commissioner. When he rose to the pinnacle of his career, he was honoured with the position of governor of the NWFP which he remained for a long duration, and his tenure was extended for a year after independence.
Once, during an evening chat over a cup of tea, Sir George mentioned a letter he had received from the government of Pakistan, seeking his advice on how to handle political turbulence which had erupted during that period in the tribal areas of Pakistan. After recounting his past administrative experience in handling such events in the NWFP and the tribal areas, Sir George told me that he had advised the government of Pakistan to exercise restraint and told it that no other option existed except political dialogue through a jirga which was a centuries-old tradition prevalent in the tribal areas. He stressed that a terrain full by hazardous mountains with a porous border could not be administered through guns.
This is a tested recipe which was also adopted by the Father of the Nation, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who, after taking over as governor-general of the newly-created country, ordered the withdrawal of armed forces from the entire tribal territory.
PROF (DR) RASHID AHMAD KHAN TAHIRKHELI
Peshawar
PR and containers
I read with gloom the story of the Pakistan Railways incurring a loss of Rs30 billion in the past four years (Dawn, Oct 15).
I felt sad because my father was a railway employee and I have seen and enjoyed the good days of the Pakistan Western Railways.
Those were the days when PIA was not operating between too many points, the roads were few and there were not many bus services. PWR enjoyed dominance over transport. But it failed to keep up with the times, with results that we can see.
Passenger traffic has been taken over by airlines and buses. Goods business has gone to truckers. Containerized shipment is the need of the hour but the PR is not ready for this change, though it still has a share in the business. Trucks have taken over this new, emerging market also and are doing thriving business. The main reason is that they deliver goods from door to door.
Why can't Pakistan Railways provide this facility to its customers? If it lacks funds, it can contract this job out. It is just a matter of having appropriate cranes at the railway stations and trucks to transport the containers. Pakistan Railways can deliver cargo from Karachi to Lahore in less than 24 hours without a problem. If the Shalimar Express can do it, why can't a goods train do the same? Time is money; few people send letters through the post office these days because it is slow and most prefer courier service.
The railways can offer container/courier services at a speed no other means of transportation can match.
S. NAYYAR IQBAL RAZA
Karachi
Suggestions for energy generation
Through these columns I submit the following for examination by experts in the relevant fields:
a. In East Africa, may be at other places as well, a system exists through which 'water for irrigation can be lifted from a small stream flowing at a lower level to fill a tank placed at a higher level. In this system no source of power like electricity, gas and oil is required because the hydraulic ram works on its own mechanical arrangement of valves. It can work round the clock and keep filling the overhead reservoirs, nonstop. This system needs to be examined by experts since it would be of immense use in our hilly areas like those in Balochistan, the Frontier and Sindh.
b. It is essential to provide gas for fuel to each homestead in the rural areas to conserve whatever is left of our heritage of forests. Since natural gas is also not limitless, gas from kerosene can be produced economically and very easily in each village and supplied through pipes to where it is needed. The idea of biogas from manure did not work.
Before the discovery and availability of Sui gas, each laboratory of each college, university, etc, in our country was equipped with a gas plant of its own. It was very effective and not much capital or paraphernalia were required except a suitable fuel to heat a retort and evaporate the oil, and a couple of tanks to store the gas thus produced. Such plants may still exist at laboratories without sui gas.
Sir, there is no natural gas in England, yet every home and office has round-the-clock supply of kerosene gas stored in huge tanks that are quite a landmark of the cities there.
Wastage of natural gas through indiscriminate consumption in our country can be minimized by installing plants to produce gas from kerosene in each village to be available right at the doorsteps of the consumer.
Since the system has existed in our country from the British times, our engineers must be familiar with it. The expertise needs to be revived.
c. We have the great gift of an ocean that shows tides up to two or three metres twice in 24 hours. It is unlimited power that can be harnessed to produce electricity at least for the coastal areas. Along the western shore of Europe, enough electricity for domestic purpose is obtained from the rise and fall of tides. We can also avail ourselves of this magnanimity of nature and produce power, in small amounts but enough to feed homes situated on the shores of Balochistan and Sindh.
d. It is highly satisfying that measures are already in hand and we may soon start generating wind power. The more-than-necessary sunlight appears still to be beyond our approach.
DR SAYEDAIN JAFFERY
Karachi
Conspiracy theories
This is with reference to Mr Nadeem Zafar's letter "Conspiracy theories" (Nov 2) which says that the recent videotape from Osama bin Laden confirms that Al Qaeda was behind the 9/11 attacks.
There have been many conspiracy theories as to who carried out the 9/11 attacks. Some people are of the opinion that Israeli and US intelligence agencies were involved and there was no involvement of Osama or any Muslim organization. There is also a conspiracy theory, which I myself support, that the attacks were carried out by Muslims but not without the connivance of US intelligence agencies. After all if it had not been because of the war on terror, the US would not have had an excuse to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. It is also pertinent to note that Bush was not a popular president in the US and it was only after he started his warmongering following Sept. 11 that he became popular.
Furthermore, the ease with which Osama is able to release videotapes from time to time makes me wonder if he resides in Hollywood instead of the rugged mountains of Afghanistan or Pakistan.
ANIL KHAN LUNI
Karachi
Awarding scholarships
The Pakistan government is spending millions of rupees to help its employees get higher education in foreign countries such as China, Malaysia and France. But most scholarship holders quit their studies midway because they find it difficult to study in a foreign country.
There are many countries where education is free of cost even for foreigners, such as The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. So if the government were to offer a scholarship to cover living expenses and travel costs to anyone who gets admission in these countries, a lot more people will get the same level of education for a lot less money.
Also, people applying for scholarships will have to apply for admission themselves and go through the entire admission and visa process on their own. In this way only the determined will be able to get admission.
SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEER
London, UK
Eid shopping
Markets in the country remain open for extended hours after iftar but there are not enough customers.
The reason seems to be the sky-rocketing prices of groceries and foodstuff, coupled with the burden of utility bills, which have dented the budgets of ordinary households.
The people are facing extreme difficulties in meeting the usual expenses of Ramazan, with the government failing to control prices.
RAFI ADAMJEE
Karachi
Cash awards for medalists
It is very heartening to read in newspapers that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has announced Rs75 million for each medal winner in the SAF games. Each gold medalist will receive one million rupees, a silver medalist Rs0.5 million and a bronze medalist Rs0.2 million.
The president has already announced that five million rupees will be given to every medal winner in the Asian Games and Rs10 million to every medal winner in the Olympics. This would not only encourage athletes to participate in competitive tournaments.
In this backdrop, it is recommended that each medal winner in the recently-concluded 29th National Games should also be given cash awards because sports stardom starts from the national games of every country. At least Rs100,000 for each gold medalist, Rs50,000 for each silver medalist and Rs25,000 for each bronze medalist should be announced. Roughly, this amount would be about Rs25 million, which is far less than the Rs75 million announced for the SAF game winners.
If encouraged, these national games winners will put in greater effort to excel at the international level.
SAFINA NAZ
Karachi
'Rooted in dishonour'
This is apropos of Mr Ardeshir Cowasjee's column (Oct 24) in which he has described qisas as an exemption to 'honour killers' from any minimum mandatory punishment. I should point out that in line with the tenets of Islam, qisas and diyat have been declared as options to settle murder-related crime. In addition to punishment, the option of pardon has been provided.
Thus, if my understanding is correct, there is no mandatory punishment for a killer in the light of our religious tenets. Should the heirs of the murdered man opt for qisas, the murderer will be held accountable, and this will result in capital punishment.
NADEEM MEMON
Karachi
Unilateralism
A few days ago I was watching a political debate on America on the BBC. One of the members of the panel made a statement which I think summarizes the way the Bush administration dealt with situations like Afghanistan and Iraq.
The panelist stated that previously US governments had not openly defied the opinion of the civilized world. However, the Bush administration chose to act unilaterally. Its motto is to act unilaterally and proceed multilaterally only if it is inevitable.
Let's hope that this stance changes following the presidential election.
KASHIF A. KHAN
Karachi
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