| 29 November 2004 | Monday | 16 Shawwal 1425 |
Jammu's demography
Military spending
Two-nation theory
Asif Zardari's release
Thai orchid pavilion
Media attitudes
Islamiyat syllabus
Unlit road
US media and Kofi Annan
The influential
Speed limit
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This is with reference to the editorial "Still at the bottom" (Nov 24). While fully agreeing to the contents I would like to differ with the conclusion that "unless the government significantly increases its education budget, Pakistan will remain associated with those countries that are unable to ensure free and compulsory primary education for their citizens, especially girls".
Educational development is one area in which the role of the state may become quite important and strong in terms of all functions, from policy-making, planning and provision of funding to regulation and promotion of education.
It is, however, sad to note that state functionaries responsible to bring about a radical change and improvement in education have only brought us shame and disgust in the comity of nations.
Before the government increases its budget on education, a thorough probe into the spending of education funds should be carried out by an independent body. The public as the main stakeholder must be informed of the conclusions of this inquiry and those found responsible be dealt with severely. Unless this is done, our educational authorities will not wake up from their deep slumber.
It has become customary with our educational authorities to issue statements and cry hoarse about the paucity of funds only in the hope of gobbling up more while making a mockery of our education system.
The education department is no more a poor man's domain, and gone are the days when people in authority would frown and look down upon those who were associated with education. Education has become the most lucrative department of the government, with funding coming from abroad.
Nowadays to associate ourselves with education has become a fashion and status symbol. Even retired bureaucrats and armed forces officials having no educational management background are heads of a large number of educational institutions.
The concerns depicted in the editorial are genuine and the overall state of education in Pakistan is far from satisfactory. In fact, the empowerment value of basic education has not received due attention either from political or social leaders or from government circles.
The act of going to school is often an important challenge to traditional inequalities especially among girls. Besides, pupil achievements are extremely low due to overcrowded classrooms, lack of teaching aids, absence of classroom activity, poor teaching standards and related deficiencies of the schooling system.
Parental commitment to female education is inadequate in many areas and even parents who realize the importance of education may not always be willing to send their children to school on a regular basis. The poor functioning of our schooling system is one reason for this.
The failure of government primary schools is not gender-neutral, especially in the rural areas. The underdevelopment or breakdown of a government village school typically affects female children much more than male children.
Our policymakers must know that the right to elementary education is best seen as a right of the child vis-a-vis society. First and foremost, it is a responsibility of the state which has to provide the necessary facilities, outline a curriculum, and make sure that teachers are qualified and accountable, but ultimately this social commitment cannot be accomplished without political will.
CDR (retd) NAJEEB ANJUM
Principal, Sir Adamjee Institute, Karachi
Jammu's demography
As we are in the process of tackling the brass tacks of the Jammu and Kashmir imbroglio, we should have firm knowledge of the pre-partition population census of the state.
I am afraid it appears that this is lacking at important levels among us. According to S. M. Burke and Salim-ul-Din Quraishi, the population figures of Jammu and Kashmir state, on the eve of transfer of power, were as follows:
I have reproduced the population figures exactly as given in the well-researched and documented book British Raj in India - an Historical Review. It is, therefore, clear that before partition, anyway, the whole state of Jammu and Kashmir was a Muslim majority area.
The Hindus, despite their concentration in Jammu, were in a minority in this region too. Religion-wise enumeration and their choice of India or Pakistan, provided they were contiguous with the state of their choice, was dependent on demography.
If the current complexion of the population has become different, and the Muslim majority in Jammu is now a minority, it is entirely the work of the 700,000-strong Indian army stationed in the state, one soldier for every six Kashmiris, during the last 57 years - something that the world should take note of.
It was India that took the matter to the UN and their award was a plebiscite, even though the terms were much watered down in case of India, to which India was solemnly committed, but later found refuge in atoot ung. India is said to be the world's largest democracy, and also claims to be secular despite the Hindutva programme which vies with secularism.
Obviously, their secularism is their strategy rather than policy and practice. If the latter were true, then a plebiscite, which indeed is pure and simple democracy, should be held after the status quo ante.
PROF MUSHTAQ HASAN
Karachi
JAMMU
Muslims
1,208,675
61%
Hindus
772,760
39%
KASHMIR
Muslims
1,489,988
92%
Hindus
139,217
8%
JAMMU & KASHMIR
Total Muslims in the state
3,101,247
77%
Total Hindus in the state
809,165
21%
Total sikhs in the state
65,903
Total Buddhists in the state
40,696
Total population
4,021,616
Military spending
While criticizing Pakistan's military spending of 5.6 per cent of its GDP, Mr Sam Badiya (Nov 13) has said: "GDP is the only criterion used by the civilized world to calculate overspending or under spending (on defence)..."
This implies two things. One, that every country of the world has a similar security environment/threat perception, and, two, that Pakistan is an uncivilized country.
First, Pakistan is faced with a giant-sized adversary which has (i) fought three wars with Pakistan, (ii) dismembered it in 1971, (iii) been engaged in a bitter dispute over the nuclear flashpoint of Kashmir since its creation in 1947 and has also tried to hurt this country in many ways since then.
Very tellingly, most of India's nuclear and conventional weapons are Pakistan-specific. Why? Hardly any "civilized" country. e.g., Australia, Canada, France or Switzerland, is faced with such a dire situation and can, therefore, afford to have a normal defence budget.
Mr Badiya also has no satisfying answer to a correspondent's (Nov 11) sound argument that Pakistan's per capita spending on a soldier is only $5,000 per annum compared to India's $16,000.
Secondly, which civilized country deploys 700,000 troops in a territory the size of held Kashmir that has been occupied by India but is shown as disputed territory in all the maps of the world - except those of India - and is engaged in killings, burnings, rapes and other atrocities over there?
A recent front-page Reuters picture in this newspaper showed a Kashmiri woman, presumably a housewife, throwing a stone at the police in protest against the raping of a mother and a daughter by an Indian soldier (Nov 11). Isn't it tragic and shameful that a South Asian lady should have been driven to such an uncharacteristically desperate act?
It would certainly be much better for the ordinary people if Pakistan and India could reduce their defence spending. But that will only be possible if the Indian leaders live up to their numerous promises made since the time of Mr Nehru about Kashmir, the water treaty, Siachen and other matters.
KHALID CHAUDHRY
Karachi
Two-nation theory
Syed Ahmad Khan said that "Hindu-Muslim unity is like the two eyes of a beautiful bride for the political set-up of India in the future". Dr Mohammad Iqbal idealized every particle of Indian soil.
The ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, not only through the Luck now Pact (1916) but also through his 14-point formula (1929), strove for a politically united India, in equitable partnership between the Hindus and the Muslims, who belonged to diverse cultures.
Born and brought up in the cradle of a caste-afflicted society, the thumping majority of the Hindus could not come up to the spirit inherent in the "theory of unity in diversity" between the Hindus and Muslims for a future constitutional set-up of India for their compromised co-existence.
Thereupon, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, who was president of the Indian National Congress for its session at Canada in 1923, while presiding over a public meeting in Mumbai in 1930, was grieved to complain: "The Muslims have been oppressed and persecuted by the excesses of Hindus, but Gandhi never tried to condemn Hindu terrorism against the Muslims."
Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, forgoing the demand of 1940 for a separate Muslim state in the subcontinent, accepted the Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946, in its entirety. Had the Indian National Congress also conceded to it in full, partition of India would have been averted for 10 years and perhaps forever to ensure a peaceful get-together.
Prior to partition of the subcontinent into two independent states in 1947 and until now, India has left no stone unturned to annihilate Pakistan root and branch. For its all intents and purposes, the two-nation theory intended to cement two diverse nations into political harmony since they had been culturally poles apart from each other.
Some leaders mistakenly look down upon the concept of the two-nation theory as a folly. They hold the nationality of Pakistan but are spiritually baptized against it.
MIRZA GHULAM HAIDER
Multan
Asif Zardari's release
I am not a PPP supporter and, as a matter of fact, I oppose any organization that pretends to be a political party but functions like a family concern. However, I welcome the release of Mr Asif Zardari and regret that it took eight long years to materialize. If one looks at the matter with impartiality, it becomes obvious that the cases against him have been used as tools of exerting political pressure on the PPP.
Unfortunately, it is in the nature of Pakistani politics that personal interests of the party leader automatically supersede the interests of the party and the country.
Thorough this wrong approach a political party lends itself to the kind of abuse of which Mr Zardari and his wife (and for that matter any Pakistani politician) become victims as soon as they walk out of the corridors of power.
Politicians can seal this conduit to their torment by allowing the principles of utmost integrity and true democracy to guide their conduct, rather than their personal egos and greed for power and ill-gotten money.
No government will ever dare to arrest a politician of such standing; the masses will not permit it. If the British colonialists never arrested Mr Jinnah or could not keep Mr Gandhi and Mr Nehru behind bars for a protracted period, there was a reason for it.
Mr Zardari has often been used as a bargaining chip by the government of the time, and for that matter, by the PPP itself. In the aftermath of the 2002 elections, the nation saw the drama of a 'prisoner' playing an important role in a political process of immense national importance, i.e., the post-election process of government formation (his participation in these attempts failed to bear fruit, though).
If a government handles a legal case in a political way, it automatically generates public sympathy for the accused, regardless of whether or not he/she is culpable. This adds to his/her political strength and may be the reason that desperate and uncharismatic politicians are sometimes willing to take this judicial abuse.
Any accused (politician or not) must be tried speedily with the full force of the law and then if he/she cannot be convicted, he/she should be set free immediately. Prosecuting one case at a time so as to increase the severity of the predicament of the accused amounts to justice delayed and consequently justice denied.
By allowing his release to go forward, the government has admitted that it cannot successfully prosecute Mr Zardari because of the expected inability of the evidence against him to withstand judicial scrutiny. Therefore, the government should do the next honourable thing and withdraw all pending cases against him.
If the government could not rest its case for eight years, it is time to drop these cases. This will remove the persistent temptation by vested interests (both in the PPP and the government) to whip up unethical and undemocratic deals, and help cleanse the process of political manoeuvring in Pakistan.
SIDDIQUE MALIK
Louisville, KY, USA
Thai orchid pavilion
I enjoyed reading the report of Mr Bhagwandas in (Dawn, Oct 4) regarding the Thai orchid pavilion. I was most amused to read in the report the comment of the project director of the Race Course garden regarding the plastic sheets that he is wrapping around the entire pavilion to stop the winds. I wonder what his technical background is to make this ludicrous statement.
Orchid plants are rain forest plants with free wind movements. You cannot confine these plants to a glass house. I wonder who the expert botanist he talks about is. Did he check with the Thai consul that they were satisfied with the garden?
The Thais are the most polite and decent people I know. I believe that it is only in their decency they have decided not to make any controversial statements of this wanton destruction of the beautiful gift of the Thai Royal Foundation of the orchid pavilion to Pakistan.
SHAUKAT AMIRALI FANCY
Karachi
Media attitudes
This is with reference to Mr Ayaz Amir's Nov 19 column in which he stated that "discourse in Pakistan is quite unfettered" nowadays even more than in India. As a regular Indian reader of this newspaper I can certainly praise Dawn for its bold viewpoints. Ever since I gained access to the Internet six years ago, I have been a regular reader of Dawn both when I was in India and now when I am abroad.
Coming to Indian publications, I have long seen very vigorous criticism of domestic policy in Indian publications, The Indian Express and the left-oriented Frontline, but when it comes to foreign policy or Kashmir, as Mr Ayaz Amir states, Indian newspapers "seldom arrive at positions not sanctioned by the establishment". And the mainstream US press, which I also follow, is by-and-large even more close-minded than those in the subcontinent on established positions.
SANTOSH GEORGE
Minneapolis, MN., USA
Islamiyat syllabus
While endorsing Mr Arslan's letter (Nov 18) on the gross inadequacy of the Class IX syllabus prescribed by the Federal Board, I would like to point out that at no stage from Class I to matriculation is Arabic taught as a subject and, as such, the students are in no way prepared to translate Arabic text into English or Urdu.
Besides, students depending on rote memory do not understand the importance of the Suras in question. This in no way enhances their insight and understanding of the fundamental principles of Islam.
The authorities concerned should rationalize the syllabus and subsequently the question paper by asking for comments on the substance of the Suras already given in translated form in the question paper both in English and in Urdu, rather than requiring the candidates to translate them.
SADAF IJAZ
Karachi
Unlit road
There is urgent need for streetlights on Karachi's University Road between Malir Cantonment and Safoora Chowrangi. There have been a few fatal night accidents on this unlit road.
MAJOR (retd) MUSARRAT KHALIQUE
Karachi
US media and Kofi Annan
This refers to the news item (Nov 24) that the US media has beefed up its campaign against UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. It is deplorable that a media which claims to be the freest in the world should stoop to such a level. Derogatory comments such as the one published in The Washington Times can do nothing to the stature of persons like Mr Annan.
The fact of the matter is that in the garb of protecting human rights and the freedom of speech, the United States and its media want to impose their views on the world.
Only when Mr Annan started questioning America's credentials for going to war and its claims of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq that Mr Annan became the target of American pundits.
One may advise these so-called gurus that they direct their admonitions to Mr Bush so that he may be restrained during his second term. If the US president does not change his course, it will cost America dearly.
According to a survey conducted by GMI poll, many European and Asian consumers are unwilling to buy US products in the eve of re-election of President Bush (Dawn, Nov 24).
MISBAH NOMANI
Karachi
The influential
Dawn printed on Nov 20 a picture of Faislabad's Gulberg Road which was barricaded and covered with tents by an influential family. It seemed that the paper was being sarcastic about the main road being misused by the influential family.
Don't be obtuse. How else will the influential show their clout? The influential have every right, besides the 'road right', to trample on the laws of the land. Whom does the land belong to and why are laws made if not for the benefit of the influential?
Mainly waderas, chaudhrys, sardars and their henchmen who are only two per cent of the population and who fill the National Assembly, Senate and provincial assemblies are our rulers. The rest of the people are the ruled.
S.M. KAZIM NAQVI
Karachi
Speed limit
I am writing with regard to the letter "Murder on the highways" by Mr Salim Akbar (Nov 26). The writer incorrectly says that the speed limit on the highways in Canada is 60km per hour. It is in fact 100km per hour. I should know as I live in Toronto.
OMAR MUMTAZ
Toronto, Canada
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