| 04 December 2004 | Saturday | 21 Shawwal 1425 |
Is Benazir an exile?
Guantanamo's orange gowns
Illegal educational institutions
Medical students' enrolment
Condoleezza Rice's agenda
Property prices
Palestinians' future
F-16s
Energy waste
Appeal to governor
Islam and science
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The military operation in Fallujah has left the city in ruins. Thousands of civilians have been killed and American troops are till facing sporadic resistance. Fallujah was considered a stronghold of insurgents. But what surprised the American troops upon entering the city was that most of the insurgents had left the city before the military operation began.
November has been one of the bloodiest months for the Americans since they have lost more than 130 soldiers. There seems to be no end to the bloodshed and the coalition troops now find themselves in a quagmire.
What is more unfortunate is that the fighting in Iraq has much to do with a struggle for power than with the liberation of Iraq from the coalition forces. The Shias want elections to be held on Jan 30 while the Sunnis want them to be postponed till security in the country improves.
The claim of Shia cleric Moqtada al Sadr to fight to death till Iraq is liberated has turned out to be mere rhetoric. At the moment, Sunni fighters are involved in attacks on American and Iraqi security personnel, but it is feared that civil war between the Shias and the Sunnis may break out in the near future.
US oil companies and the war industry have gained a lot from the invasion of Iraq. Oil worth millions of dollars is pumped out daily. There have been a few attacks on oil pipelines but not enough to raise concerns for the oil companies.
Companies manufacturing weapons in the US are also content as their industry flourishes in times of war. No wonder they sponsor leaders involved in war-mongering. For them it is about making profits and even the loss of their own countrymen means nothing to them.
Thus, the losers of war are the ordinary Iraqis and American soldiers who belong to lower-income groups. It needs to be realized that democracy cannot be introduced at gunpoint.
Besides, one doubts if Iraq has been invaded because the Bush administration wanted to impart democratic values in the country. The question arises: why does America not invade other countries of the region, such as Saudia Arabia and Jordan, which also lack democracy?
It has been alleged by religious parties that the US is against monarchy in the Middle East because, with the introduction of democracy, their societies will become liberal, which is considered a first step towards secularism.
What they fail to understand is that the US prefers the Middle Eastern countries to remain under the rule of monarchs as they work for its interests. The ordinary people of the region are against the US and, if democracy is allowed to take root, the whole of the region will turn against America.
The only good news about the fighting in Iraq is that the insurgency has exposed the limitation of the sole superpower of the world. The US has adopted the British policy of divide and rule in Iraq and is making endeavours to create animosity between the Sunnis and Shias. It is hoped that the two Iraqi sides realize that the only way they can end the occupation is by uniting.
ANIL KHAN LUNI
Karachi
Is Benazir an exile?
This refers to Senator Farhatullah Babar's letter (Nov 28). Some observations made by the senator require to be put in their correct perspective. At the outset, it may be mentioned that the Supreme Court did not acquit the lady of the charges levelled against her in the "Cotecna" case.
The court, accepting the plea that the high court judges trying her were prejudiced against her, had ordered retrial of the case in the high court. The "plethora of evidence" was in fact with regard to proving the prejudice of the trying judges.
It is not known why the government as a prosecution did not start a retrial of the case despite the lapse of about three years. That the lady was represented in the courts through her counsel in each hearing is not of much relevance because this interpretation may hold good viz-a-viz the civil cases, but in criminal cases, the accused must be present in the court unless exempted by the court.
GHULAM MUHAMMAD
Karachi
(II)
Senator Farhatullah Babar defends his party's "lifetime" chairperson, an anomalous designation in itself, by citing Ms Benazir Bhutto's lack of conviction in Pakistan. However, he fails to mention her conviction by a Swiss court which can be hardly accused of having an axe to grind.
In their zeal to portray the obvious in a better light, some of Ms Bhutto loyalists in this country have gone to the extent of making an accusation that the Swiss judge was bribed $5 million by the US to come up with the guilty verdict.
There is a mountain of circumstantial evidence pointing to the misdeeds of Ms Bhutto and her spouse during her regime. People like Mr Babar should reflect carefully at their own posture and decide if the time is not already past due for discarding their 'leader for life' and develop new leadership more in concert with their demands for democracy in the country.
M.HAIDER
New Jersey, USA
Guantanamo's orange gowns
This refers to the news item "Guantanamo prisoners being tortured: ICRC" (Nov 30). The news report is self-explanatory and bare in content, though it is another hammering knock on the deaf ears of the United Nations whose members are just sitting spectators watching the big game.
There have been lots of reservations on the subject and one or two accounts of people who tried to convey the 'steady' walks of individuals in 'orange gowns'. It still haunts some of us when we think of that robotic walk of people there, taken from one cell to the other.
What are the achievements of Guantanamo? Why is it run and who is in charge of the legal side? Maybe it is an alien station, and the aliens there are performing some experiments on 'terrorist minds' in their bid to ascertain what went wrong with those brains.
These actions will bear fruit in the form of discrimination which is going to be hard to face and tackle with and will be the next intriguing factor in the growth of out-of-control elements trying to snatch their rights with more terrorism, more suicide bombings and more evil genius ways.
There is a need for world heads, both civilian and defence, to sit together and chalk out a plan to deal with the menace of terrorism and 'counter-terrorism'. Proper handling of cases of the people involved and those not involved should be ensured, giving them the full extent of law and justice, thus creating an atmosphere where everyone can feel secure and safe until he does something wrong.
ANAS A. KHAN
Edmonton, AB., Canada
Illegal educational institutions
Recently the Higher Education Commission ran a press advertisement warning parents to be aware of illegal private universities. This was a 'matchless' piece of advice from those who are responsible for bringing such institutions into existence in the first place.
It was only when the government had found it impossible to cope with the needs of the increasing population in the field of higher education that it allowed entrepreneurs to set up universities.
The principle of supply and demand made such enterprises a lucrative business proposition, and market forces attracted elements of all hues to the field. Government controls and requirements notwithstanding, many businessmen prospered and, in accordance with the spirit of Gresham's Law, drove serious and prudent educators out of the field.
But what do the parents do? When they find government institutions overcrowded and substandard, they are forced to send their children at a much higher cost and inconvenience to government-approved private institutions. After they have spent substantial amounts of money and time, they are told that at least half the 'approved' institutions are not so well approved after all.
Now what passes for measures of control and direction in the gilded chambers of authority nobody knows. But parents do await an explanation from the relevant quarters as to how substandard educational institutions were allowed to function in the first place.
PARENT
Karachi
Medical students' enrolment
Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan has done a commendable job by taking a rational step to end the unnecessary war of words between the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) and the University of Karachi (UK).
The news (Nov 25) that the governor has issued directives that the matter concerning examinations, enrolment and degrees of the students of Karachi's two public medical colleges be sorted out to the best interest of the students is pragmatic handling of a issue dealing with the future of our most precious resource, the students.
The Higher Education Commission should look into this matter and consider neutral dispute resolution or arbitration councils for dealing with such situations. Academic autonomy brings independence, responsibility, sensitivity and, above all, an engaging leadership.
DR KHAWAR MEHDI
Karachi
Condoleezza Rice's agenda
While the appointment of Dr Condoleezza Rice as US secretary of state has given strength to the hawkish lobby in the Bush administration whose credo is to expand 'US imperialism via military socialism' in the world, particularly in Muslim countries, it has equally made the future of the world community highly unsafe and unpredictable.
In January 2000, Dr Rice published an article in Foreign Affairs, which was considered a blueprint for the prospective Bush administration's foreign policy. In September 2002, her office released a congressionally-mandated document called "National Security Strategy", which begins by asserting that there is "a single sustainable model for national success" - America's, that is, - "right and true for every person, in every society."
It hails the unprecedented power of the United States, declares traditional doctrines of containment and deterrence to be bygones and asserts that we will "be strong enough to dissuade potential adversaries from pursuing a military build-up in hopes of surpassing, or equalling, the power of the United States". America, it declares, "will not hesitate to act alone, if necessary, to exercise our right of self-defence by acting pre-emptively" via military action.
A Democrat convert, Republican conservative Miss Rice (like Mr Henry Kissinger), has been an ardent advocate of the "moralist school of thought" in foreign affairs. And she is believed to have been intellectually influenced by American political theorist Hans J. Morgenthau, author of the famous book Politics among Nations, who in his famous 14 points writes: "Morality has two faces: a 'real' morality which keeps aspirations for power within socially-tolerable bounds, and an 'ideological' morality which is used to mask power aspirations under a cloak of reason and justice.
"Policies of power are often explained and justified in ethical, legal, or biological terms. This is especially true of the policy of imperialism. That is, ideological rationalization and justifications conceal the true nature of policy.
"...What is needed [for permanent peace] is a radical transformation of the existing international society of sovereign nations into a supranational community of individuals."
The preoccupation with the all-out war on terrorism has circumscribed the global agenda. A number of explosive regional crises are being given only the most limited attention.
The post-Iraq war crisis in the Middle East, increasing suicide bombings, the growing resentment in the Third World, the deteriorating international financial situation, the rise of transnational crime and the explosion of crushing global poverty and pandemic diseases are but a few examples of this.
Globalization is wreaking havoc on the global economy and politics. The Washington-imposed new world order advocating 'pre-emption-cum-liberation' is at a crossroads. The Democrats' administration had divided the world into allies and 'rogue' states, leaving some space in between for countries with other political opinions.
The Republicans' administration has defined the world as comprising a "coalition against terrorism" and an "axis of evil", with nothing in between. The neocons' insistence on a high-powered militarism and political hounding are creating a new class of "rebel states" in the Middle East and elsewhere - a loose alliance (in the old Europe) that is determined to halt 'US extra territorialism'.
These factors appear set to define a new system of international relations in which rebel states and the superpower are continually at loggerheads. This dangerous course of action is neither desirable nor inevitable.
Indisputably, Dr Rice's agenda of 'ultranationalism' needs a volte-face, leading a drive towards establishing a new global contract for an equitable world order aiming to realize the objectives stated by the UN Charter.
A new and courageous dialogue is needed - a dialogue that will not shy away from giving weight to the causes of terrorism and not only the 'war' against it. The dialogue should not be monopolized or manipulated by governments but should be led by genuine voices of civil society.
S. Q. AFZAL RIZVI
Karachi
Property prices
People with black money are heavily involved in property price speculation. This trend is also beneficial to the DHA, Karachi. Property prices in this area are out of proportion to their real worth, considering that Defence doesn't even have a proper water supply system. Why then are the prices disproportionately high there?
Official neglect of this area has also led to the skyrocketing of the prices. The status symbol of military elitism and the collaboration of builders, estate agents and the DHA have kept up the prices, and genuine buyers have shied away as suggested in a write-up by Mr Kamal Siddiqi on Nov 10.
I do not agree with Mr Siddiqi that property prices will remain high. Original allottees pay very little and even speculators are cutting their losses and moving on. The prices have started coming down.
It is by no means a crash but a downward trend is clearly discernible. Quite a few grand houses have been on sale without a buyer for some time now. The quality of some of the commercially-built houses is highly suspect and buyers are staying away for that reason.
It is unfortunate that the relevant authorities do not intervene in what is obviously a racket, not genuine development.
NASIR HUSSAIN
Karachi
Palestinians' future
When the news of the death of Yasser Arafat spread, the whole world, especially Muslims, was worried about the future of the Palestinians. There was a risk of infighting between various Palestinian factions. However, they have completed the first stage towards their future very peacefully.
Al Fatah has nominated Mr Mahmood Abbas as president of Palestine and the Al Aqsa Brigade has endorsed it, which is good news for the future of the Palestinians.
Palestinians have shown a lot of maturity, tolerance and unity, which was the need of the time. If they are united, they will achieve their goal of an independent state.
MUHAMMAD RIAZ
Malakand Agency
F-16s
With the Americans dilly-dallying about the supply of F-16s to Pakistan, I think we should rely more on military aircraft of French and Chinese origin. It is time we realized that a bird in the hand is worth two "with Bush".
ASHFAQUE NAQVI
Lahore
Energy waste
City streets in the West are numbered so that even a stranger would find his way. How hard is it to put up small street number plates at street intersections in Pakistan?
School instructors in Pakistan make students memorize content that had better be left as reference. This happens even at the university level. Wouldn't it be better to direct that energy towards analysis and understanding of the subject?And these are just two examples.
ABDUL HAFEEZ SHAIKH
Edmonton, AB., Canada
Appeal to governor
My father, Manzer Imkani, a journalist, was killed on June 17, 1997, by unidentified people. The Sindh government promptly promised to provide succour to the bereaved family and look after his orphaned children. The then chief minister, Liaquat Jatoi, announced the following relief package for the bereaved family:
a. The deceased's children would get free education through the courtesy of the Sindh government.
b. The eldest daughter would be provided with a permanent job in the Sindh government.
It has been seven years now but the promises made by the government have not yet been fulfilled, though we also wrote to the present governor about our hardships. Through these columns I once again appeal to the government, specially the governor, to fulfil its promises as we are desperately in need of relief.
Moreover, my father was issued a plot in the Journalists' Society, Hawkesbay, Karachi, and had paid the first instalment only. I would request the governor to waive the payment of the remaining instalments, levy and taxes, as well as provide a boundary wall for the plot so that it could be protected from the land mafia.
FAHMIDAH YOUSFI
D/o M. Manzer Imkani (late) R-36/102 Asifabad, Green Town, Karachi, Pakistan. Phone: 0300-2501031, 0300-2373486
Islam and science
This is with reference to the letter "Islam and science" (Dec 2) by Prof Mukhtar Ali Naqvi. I fully agree with him that it is a worn-out topic. But the most fundamental question is: why is there a need to establish a link between Islam and science in the first place? We have never heard of Christianity and science or Judaism and science, so why Islam and science?
The attempts to create a link between Islam and science are nothing but a cover up of our own failures in science and technology. Since we have nothing to hang on to or to contribute to the enormous scientific achievements by the West, we take shelter under Islam to give the impression that Islam has given rise to the scientific age and we (the Muslims) should be proud of it.
This kind of thinking is the result of the absence of a critical analysis of how we do things in our societies.
KHURRAM HANEEF
New Jersey, USA
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