| 14 December 2004 | Tuesday | 01 Ziqa'ad 1425 |
Islam and science
Incomplete vaccination cards
Private science candidates
Waziristan operations
Dealing with unemployment
Growing ties with Russia
PTA's tariff policy
Need for road humps
'Dual-office law'
Protecting Islamabad's environment
Umrah flight mess
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As a Kashmiri I was grieved to read about the views of Mr Altaf Hussain expressed at an international conference in New Delhi. He said the "LoC should be accepted as a de facto border, by virtue of being a ground reality which has existed for the past three decades.
What is wrong with it? If both countries resolve that crossing this line would be considered as aggression, doesn't it in laymen's terms amount to an international border? If not, what is an international border? And, if this is not an option, then what options are left, another war?"
The MQM chief applauded Gen Pervez Musharraf for discarding plebiscite as an option and said: "I had always maintained that it was never a practicable or implementable option (Dawn, Nov 7)."
He talked about two things: ground realities and the LoC. As regards the ground realities, he disregarded the sacrifices of Kashmiris and their political and armed resistance that started in 1931.
As for the LoC status, he failed to appreciate that it is not a political demarcation line; it is a line on the military maps of the two armies, showing their respective positions as on the day of cease fire (Dec 17, 1971). It is defined and governed by the cease fire agreement of Dec 17, 1971. It is nothing more, nothing less.
Its violations are monitored by the UNOGIP. The recent unilateral and illegal fencing of forward areas by India is a flagrant violation of the Karachi Agreement and the Shimla Agreement and does not constitute any form of demarcation to appreciate the ground realities. Mr Altaf Hussain should visit occupied Kashmir and meet common people of whom he made no mention in his speech.
Jawahar Lal Nehru used all sorts of irrelevant, absurd and even inhumane pleas to retract from his pledges on Kashmir. He blackmailed and exploited the Indian Muslims and threatened that if the Kashmiris reject India, the safety of Indian Muslims would be at stake.
He thus treated them as hostages. The fact remains that there is no nexus between the two matters. While the Kashmiris were promised a plebiscite thought the UN resolution of August 1948, the Indian Muslims were granted unconditional fundamental rights as citizens by the Indian constitution in 1950.
Mr Hussain may safeguard the interests of his community, but it should not be at the cost of the rights, suffering and sacrifices of another oppressed community.
KHWAJA MUHAMMAD BASHIR BUTT
Bahawalnagar
(2)
What will India discuss with Pakistan when it publicly says Kashmir is its integral part? It is not even budging an inch while Pakistan is giving it concession after concession. There has to be a limit. Pakistan or India should not try to force a decision on the Kashmiris. It's the right of the Kashmiris to decide their own future.
Pakistan and India should withdraw their troops from the entire region of Kashmir, place it under UN supervision for six months and then let the Kashmiris decide what they want for themselves.
The much publicized assertion of India that Jammu is a Hindu majority area is not true. The Muslim percentage in the Jammu region is still greater than that of the Hindus. So, division of Jammu and Kashmir is not a solution.
I have spoken to several Kashmiris (Hindus) in Canada. All of them agreed that they want to maintain their Kashmiriyat. They were not interested in integrating Kashmir with India. They wanted to have their own Kashmiri identity, as they also do not consider themselves a part of India.
So, Gen Musharraf should not push for a division of Kashmir. It is not a piece of cake which can be divided between two countries. Let the Kashmiris decide their future through the UN.
SHAH AFFAN
Toronto, Canada
Islam and science
Very interesting thoughts are being expressed these days by eminent scholars, writers and columnists on Islam, science and democracy. Of the three disciplines, democracy as an institution is the youngest.
Religion and science are much older. In fact, after Islam there is no room for a new religion. So, there are only two left that are changing all the time. Science cannot exist without change. It is almost engulfed in convulsions. In fact, that is the life of science - perpetual change.
It is democracy that is evolving and developing all the time. Yet the basic concept of democracy is almost unchanging. The basic definition of democracy recently given by Mr Henry Kissinger is perhaps the best that I have found. He says: "Democracy in the West evolved over centuries.
It required first a church independent of the state; the Enlightenment, which asserted the autonomy of reason from both church and state; The Age of Discovery, which broadened horizons; and, finally, capitalism with its emphasis on competition and markets (Dawn, Nov 8).
Let us see how intellectuals in Pakistan define democracy. The first that comes to mind is Allama Iqbal. His famous concept of democracy, that is diametrically opposed to Mr Henry Kissinger's, is: Juda ho deen siasat say to reh jati hai changezi.
This concept has not been challenged by anyone in Pakistan yet and perhaps it will never be. Mr Asghar Ali Engineer is a well-known Muslim scholar and one of the most progressive and broad-minded persons. On the subject of democracy and religion, he says: "In fact, religion and democracy are not incompatible with each other" (Dawn, Dec 4). Does this statement destroy Mr Henry Kissinger's statement?
R.H.USMANI
Karachi
Incomplete vaccination cards
Vaccination is the process through which the defence system of the body is made stronger to fight various diseases. To effectively carry out the vaccination process, the ministry of health started an expanded programme of immunization (EPI). Due to the failure in achieving its goals, a campaign to fight polio has been continuing for the past couple of years.
Instead of the expanded programme, the EPI carries a constricted vision. It only covers polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and measles, as these are the only vaccines written on the EPI card issued to parents by public sector hospitals.
We all are aware that it is difficult for the government to provide every vaccine free of cost, but the government can provide correct information regarding vaccination. Due to incomplete EPI cards, many parents are misguided and they assume that vaccination of their children has been completed.
Important vaccines missing from the EPI card include mumps, rubella, hepatitis and HIV. Other vaccines are for influenza and chickenpox. Mumps may result in infertility if it attacks males after puberty and an attack of rubella during pregnancy can result in fetal malformation. All girls before puberty require rubella vaccination.
Likewise, a lot is now known to the public about hepatitis B due to the efforts of doctors involved in dealing with this grave problem. It is, therefore, suggested that at least the names of all these vaccines should be included in the EPI card.
Pamphlets about vaccination should also be distributed to parents. Advertisements in newspapers, as well as on the electronic media, should highlight all these vaccines.
PROF SHOAIB TAUHEED
Chairperson, Physiology Department, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi
Private science candidates
I want to draw the Punjab chief minister's attention to thousands of private science candidates who have been deprived of their fundamental right to education by the education department, which has barred all private science candidates from appearing for the SSC examinations starting from 2006.
My daughter is a victim of this arbitrary notification. She could not continue her education at a local school due to unavoidable circumstances. I arranged home tuition for her so she could prepare for the SSC Part I examinations 2006.
Now I have come to know that private science candidates have been barred from appearing in the SSC examinations with effect from 2006. It has been a great blow to my hopes and my daughter's future.
Every year thousands of private science candidates appear in the eight boards of the province. According to the gazette notification of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Rawalpindi, 20,825 private science candidates appeared for the examinations in 2004.
And some 166,600 candidates appeared for all eight Punjab board examinations in 2004. These statistics show that the education department is bent on ruining the careers of at least 166,600 candidates in 2006.
The education department's impugned decision is unconstitutional and violates sections 37 (a), (b) and (f) and 38 (d) of the Constitution under which the state is responsible for free and compulsory secondary education for all citizens.
In my opinion the education department's order is mala fide and serves the vested interest of the officials concerned. I appeal to the chief minister to declare the order of the education department illegal in order to protect the careers of thousands of private science candidates.
DR SHAH DIN RAFIQ
Rawalpindi
Waziristan operations
The ISPR chief recently announced the death of over 250 "terrorists" in Waziristan. The figure obviously includes civilians - men, women and children. More deaths have occurred there since then.
The slain militants hailed from various parts of the Muslim world. They had left their hearths and homes, their near and dear ones to fight anti-Islam forces, whether Indians in Kashmir, the Russians in Chechnya, Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq or the Israelis in Palestine.
It is alleged that they are armed with heavy weapons. Well, how else should they have been armed to face the mightiest army on earth? It is a pity that we were made to believe that we cannot stand in the way of Zionist designs. This advice stands belied by the strong resistance put up by the Iraqis.
A small country wrecked by factional strife is facing, with remarkable courage and determination, a swarm of Zionist allies. Whether Waziristan will be calm again looks improbable, as the operation there is being supervised by the Americans who won't allow this.
BASHIR AHMAD
Lahore
Dealing with unemployment
In spite of the apparent improvement in Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves, there are no visible signs of improvement in economic activity, employment and growth. The real culprit is the establishment which is involved in real estate business and an artificial boom in estate prices due to manipulation by the powers that be.
Government lands and funds for development and defence are being diverted to benefit a few elite members of our khaki-cum-civil bureaucracy. Banks are involved in what are unhealthy practices such as giving more and more bank loans that are at the disposal of the plot mafia which is well-entrenched in the corridors of power.
The net result of such irregularities is that nobody seems to be interested in legitimate business activities, which alone can generate growth and provide employment to skilled and educated middle class professionals.
Our exports are on the decline and so are tax revenues. Law and order has deteriorated to an alarming extent. Human resource development is on the decline because the state neither invests in education or health nor provides employment opportunities.
The few jobs that are available are doled out to retired military men and political hangers-on. It is time President Musharraf stood up and faced the ground realities, instead of listening to sycophants, who are skilled in the art of flattery.
Employment opportunities must be given to the best qualified Pakistani nationals instead of those Pakistanis who have migrated to other countries and abandoned their motherland. Nations are recognized by the worth of their citizens and the quality of indigenous human resources.
Pakistanis who hold dual nationalities or foreign immigrant status must be employed only if no local is available with the same qualifications. Those already employed in state-owned enterprises such as Wapda, PIA and KESC must be given a choice of either forgoing their foreign residential status or seeking premature retirement.
The present policy of providing jobs to officers of armed forces who fail to qualify for promotion must be curtailed and they be should eligible for specific jobs like security and investigations only, so that they do not take away the right of promotion of those who have worked for years. Such a policy will encourage patriotic Pakistanis to return home after they have attained foreign specialized education.
Pakistan needs to evolve policies that encourage real economic growth. The state must use its force to put a stop to the plot mafia so that our investors invest in legitimate business activities which lead to growth in exports, revenues and improvement in the lives of the lower middle class and poorer sections of our society.
Law and order will only improve if there is rule of law, the independence of the judiciary is respected and jobs are given on merit that prevails in the international market and not the one which is tailor-made for the nominated elite.
GULL ZEE
Paris, France
Growing ties with Russia
I write with reference to Ambassador Mansoor Alam's letter (Dec 8) on the much-misunderstood non-visit of Mr Liaquat Ali Khan to Russia. In addition to Mr Hassan Zaheer's account, there is ambassador Sajjad Hyder's account, "The visit that never was", in his book Pakistan's Foreign Policy: Reflections of an Ambassador (Chapter 2).
The chapter includes as well cameo portraits of ambassador Mirza A. H. Ispahani, with whom he served in Washington from 1948; ambassador Raja Ghazanfar Ali, our first envoy in Iran; and ambassador Sahibzada Yaqub Khan, who succeeded him in Moscow in 1979.
REHANA HYDER
Islamabad
PTA's tariff policy
I wonder why the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority stopped a mobile telephone network from reducing its "air time charges" on the ground that "the service provider should ask the PTA before reducing any tariff".
I think a service provider should ask the PTA only when it is increasing its tariff, not when it is reducing it. I would like to see a single subscriber in the whole country who would have any objection to a reduction in tariff.
As the air time charges of almost all service providers have been exceptionally high for the last many years, it would be a relief to the users if call charges are reduced.
It would be wise of the PTA to take back its instructions and ask the company concerned to allow immediate reduction in outgoing call charges.
WAHID ALI
Lahore
Need for road humps
There is urgent need to have road humps on Street 21, F-8/2, near the University College, Islamabad (UCI). It concerns the safety of students and residents of the surrounding area.
Since this road is one of the main streets leading to F-8 Markaz, all types of traffic move on this, mostly at high speed. As a parent, I feel greatly concerned about the safety of all children studying at UCI.
I hope the matter will be accorded due consideration by the Capital Development Authority.
CONCERNED PARENT
Islamabad
'Dual-office law'
Your editorial "Dual office law" (Dec 2) was a pointed criticism of the way the acting president of Pakistan signed the bill. But it also pointed out that the acting president may have been "technically" right in signing the law.
The dual office law is virtually a constitutional amendment. I would like to know the opinion of the legal minds of Pakistan as to whether "technically" the acting president can also dismiss the prime minister and dissolve parliament.
WASI-UZ-ZAMAN
Rawalpindi
Protecting Islamabad's environment
I would like to endorse Ms Aisha Riaz's concerns that she raised in her letter (Nov 28). The Capital Development Authority should take all necessary steps to avoid any environmental degradation while planning and implementing development projects.
It should also conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA) study as part of the planning process of all development projects, as required by the law. Conducting an EIA study and having it approved by the Environmental Protection Agency is a legal requirement in Pakistan. However, implementation of this law is very weak in our country.
The CDA is advised to follow the environmental law, conducting EIA studies for all future development projects such as those planned for the Rawal Lake. Islamabad is by far the most beautiful and perhaps the only planned city in the country.
By giving due consideration to the environment (and by following environmental laws and regulations), the CDA will not only be preserving nature and the city's surroundings, but will also be setting a good precedent for other city and town planners in the country.
M. OMAR KHALID
Islamabad
Umrah flight mess
This is in response to Mr Ghulam Mustafa Lodhi's letter "PIA's Umrah flight mess" (Dec 5). I could not agree more that the system needs to be overhauled and replaced with a better one through a well-thought-out plan that could ensure transparency and better service to PIA customers.
More importantly, senior officers who are the main architects of such large operations need to be held accountable for their failures. Instead, PIA decided to send two of these officers to Saudi Arabia to investigate the matter. The flight mess was not the fault of the airline's local employees in Jeddah; it was a planning failure on the part of those who were at its head office.
Which other organization would assign such an important task to officers who rather than being penalized for mismanagement are actually leading an investigation which, if done transparently, will lead back to senior officers like them within the organization?
This fiasco has not only caused PIA passengers great inconvenience and the airline a great loss in terms of its credibility, but more importantly it also created an embarrassing situation for Pakistan abroad. What we need is a transparent inquiry into the flight mess.
TAIMUR KHAN
Missouri, USA
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