| 03 January 2005 | Monday | 21 Ziqa'ad 1425 |
Reforming judicial system
Pension, commutation & GPF
Postal inefficiency
'Shape of things to come'
Rickshaw pollution
Israel's tactic of 'nuclear opacity'
Refereeing in squash
Reinstatement
Hypocrisy
New Year reflections
PR's reply
Our cricketing
To send a letter to the Editor
Click here
In his address to the nation on Dec 30, President Gen Pervez Musharraf announced that he would retain the offices of president and chief of army staff. I am happy and support this decision because the problems being faced by Pakistan can only be solved with one person retaining both offices.
The Kashmir issue can be solved only if the chief of army staff and the president are the same person.
SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEER
London, UK
(II)
President Musharraf has finally decided to retain both portfolios, those of president and chief of army staff (COAS). The nation has not been able to understand the rationale behind the president's decision to keep the portfolio of COAS.
As president, he enjoys vast powers under the Constitution. All major incumbents in the armed forces are directly his appointees; he has hand-picked the prime minister; he is supported by a cabinet that includes those allegedly involved in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases by virtue of which they cannot disobey his commands; and parliament too is always ready to endorse his each and every order by passing laws without debate; and, above all, he has developed a fine relationship with the president of the United States who has recently given his commitment to work with him during the next four years.
The claim that retaining the COAS portfolio is in the interest of running and strengthening democracy is a mere delusion. The 2002 general elections and the consequent set-up comprising the national and provincial assemblies and the unprecedented extraordinary large federal and provincial cabinets have not at all changed the status quo.
GHULAM MUHAMMAD
Karachi
(III)
This is with reference to President Musharraf's address to the nation on radio and television in which he said he just "cannot violate the Constitution that allows him to retain both offices".
Gen Musharraf who single-handedly changed the Constitution to such an extent that one now feels embarrassed to refer it to as the Constitution of 1973 is concerned about the violation of the Constitution. Mr President, don't blame the nation if they find this hard to swallow.
ANIL KHAN LUNI
Karachi
(IV)
The headline of a Dec 31 Dawn story says: "Musharraf says he will keep army post." The reason given by him is: "I just cannot violate the Constitution that now allows me to retain both offices." What about the Constitution which he violated when he seized power in October 1999?
Only when those leading the masses become scrupulously honest will the nation receive Allah's blessings. And only when people will become honest and God-fearing will the rulers be good.
HASHIR RASUL
Mississauga, ON., Canada
Reforming judicial system
A stale judicial system is a major hurdle in the way of provision of justice and basic human rights in our society wherein awareness of law is almost zero. People look towards courts for redressal of their grievances and are made to pay a heavy price in the form of lawyers' fees.
But often cases take a long time to be decided. This is partly so because cases are wrongly handled by lawyers and partly because of misreading of cases by court officials.
Delay in deciding a case is also caused by repeated adjournments allowed to litigants who are unable to provide evidence in support of their claims but gain time on false pretexts.
The leniency showed by courts to such defaulting litigants and their lawyers is a source of frustration. To ensure speedy trials and provision of justice, it is suggested:
a. That adjournments be allowed only on genuine grounds with the consent of the other party, and that too not repeatedly.
b. That absenteeism among presiding officers be checked and courts not be left vacant. In the event of long absence, relief arrangements should be made to ensure continuation of proceedings.
c. That judgments and decrees be supported with execution orders, announcing punishment for defaulters. Such orders should be served on the losers through bailiff to avoid confrontation between the parties.
d. Judgments and decrees should be written within two days of the passing of an order.
e. That no pleading whatsoever be entertained once the sides have closed.
If the above suggestions are implemented, much relief can be brought to suffering litigants.
NASEER A. MALIK
Karachi
Pension, commutation & GPF
Although various pay-scales of government employees have been revised, retirees have been ignored. The latest rate of pension formula is based on the old strategy that 70 per cent of the pay last drawn is divided between pension and commutation at the rate of 60 and 40 per cent of 70 per cent of the last pay drawn.
An increment of 15 per cent and 16 per or eight per cent, as the case may be, does not help to lessen the burden of the rising cost of living. The retirees do not get a job in a private organization because the latter are interested in young workers.
The national savings organization has a good investment scheme for the retired persons but it is a pity that the government has reduced the rate of interest to such an extent that it has become impossible for retiree investors to make ends meet.
It is proposed that the rate of pension and gratuity may be decided on the basis of 100 per cent of the last pay drawn instead of 70 per cent and equally distributed along with the increment of 15 per cent and 16 per cent or eight per cent (as it is now). The commutation formula may also be revised as the government has reduced it further.
Moreover, the profit rate on GPF accumulation has come down and the process is continuing. It is assumed that this profit will come to an end or this system will be abolished altogether and no profit will be given on employees' deposits.
The government would do well to revise upward the present rates for these facilities to enable the retirees to meet their daily expenses.
DILSHAD AHMED KHAN
Karachi
Postal inefficiency
Post offices in the suburban localities of Karachi are guilty of neglecting their duties. Delivery is not only erratic, it also remains suspended for days on end when the area postman absents himself from duty or leaves service and goes away for good.
A case in point is that of Gulshan-i-Maymar and Ahsanabad (as also surrounding) areas, spread over 50sqkm, which the New Sabzi Mandi post office served through one postman. As a result, different sectors of the areas receive their post intermittently.
One cannot blame the postman because no single person can cover this entire area of 50sqkm in a day. Now that he has reportedly resigned, delivery of post has remained suspended for several weeks.
The residents have to visit the post office to collect their mail. Many have found urgent and registered articles lying uncared for and undelivered. Even the lower staff at post office counters are not properly trained. One can imagine the type and quality of service such untrained staff can provide to the public.
The postmaster-general should stop making claims of all-round improvement and instead visit different areas regularly to solicit public views and comments to improve service.
S. ABDUS RAFEY
Karachi
'Shape of things to come'
Exactly what Mr Shahid Javed Burki would have us believe is not really clear from his article "Shape of things to come" (Dec 28). After all, we have been here before.
Pakistan's security alliances of the 1950s to contain communism, our status as a frontline state of the 1980s to combat the Soviets in Afghanistan, and now this fight against terror, all are reminiscent of a historical continuum - all have lacked political consensus, our establishment's posturing to the contrary notwithstanding.
This posturing, which is being sold as policy-making, has been concocted by one part of the establishment and as such will again fail to engage the largest stakeholders in Pakistan, the citizens at large.
Where countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia have acted with honour, wisdom and foresight, we have muddled through, refusing to learn from our historical experiences and bandying about phrases and clichés. This will not do. In the absence of a political consensus, the shape of things to come is likely to be the same as it is today.
MAZHAR AZIZ
Nottingham, UK
Rickshaw pollution
The effect of pollution in Karachi is deeply felt by its citizens. The biggest contributor to this menace is none other than the motor rickshaws whose number has grown over time, thanks to our law-enforcement agencies.
Their faulty silencers and smoke-emitting engines pollute the environment and affect public health. It is time the relevant agencies put their act together to come down heavily on these polluters of our city.
M. RAFIQ MERCHANT
Karachi
Israel's tactic of 'nuclear opacity'
Although everything is well exposed regarding Israel's high-tech nuclear programme, the Israel National Command Authority yet fosters the country's longstanding policy of nuclear opacity or deliberate nuclear ambiguity - visibly possessing nuclear weapons while denying their existence. Its nuclear policy of political anachronism is aimed at defending the following characteristics/objectives such as:
I. A continuing policy of total ambiguity could cause an enemy state to overestimate the vulnerability to its first-strike attack of Israel's nuclear forces. This could be the result of too-complete a silence concerning Israeli measures of protection for nuclear weapons.
Or it could be the product of Israeli silence on its defence potential, a silence that could be understood by belligerent states as an indication of inadequate ballistic missile defence (BMD).
2. Israel's nuclear deterrence policy is based on two foundations: prospective attackers' perceptions of Israel's nuclear capability and its willingness to use this capability.
The selective telegraphing of the country's strategic nuclear doctrine could, therefore, enhance its nuclear deterrence posture. It would do this by heightening enemy state perceptions of both Israel's capable nuclear forces and its willingness to use these forces in reprisal for certain stipulated first-strike and retaliatory attacks.
3. To deter an enemy attack or post-preemption retaliation, Israel must prevent an aggressor by threat of an unacceptably damaging reprisal or counter-retaliation, from deciding to strike.
Here, security is sought by convincing the potential Arab/Islamic attacker that the costs of a considered attack will exceed the expected benefits. Assuming that Israel's state enemies (i) value self-preservation most highly and (ii) always choose rationally between alternative options, they will always refrain from an attack on an Israel that is believed willing and able to deliver an appropriately destructive response.
The enemy states might also be deterred by the prospect of a more limited Israeli attack that is directed at national leaders as such, that is, by plausible threats of "regime targeting".
4. The factor must communicate such a belief is Israel's technical "capability". There are two essential components: payload and delivery system. It must be successfully communicated to the prospective attacker that Israel's firepower and its means of delivering that firepower are capable of inflicting unacceptable levels of destruction.
This means that Israel's retaliatory or counter-retaliatory forces must appear sufficiently invulnerable and sufficiently elusive to penetrate the prospective attacker's active and civil defences.
It may or may not need to be communicated to a potential attacker that such firepower and delivery vehicles are superior. The capacity to deter may or may not need to be as great as the capacity to win.
5. Israel's nuclear doctrine kept silently in the "basement", the Arab/Islamic states could conclude, rightly or wrongly, that a first-strike attack or post-pre-emption reprisal would be cost-effective, albeit open - were the doctrine - to the Arab states, it could have not defended Israel-US interwoven strategic interests.
Israel's nuclear visibility may not be in America's interest. Both the Israeli and American strategists agree that the Israeli nuclear arsenal will become less useful "out of the closet" and possibly spur a regional arms race.
Would regional mutual second-strike capability, easier to acquire than the superpower mutual second-strike capability, result in regional stability? Some think so. The seventh Israeli president, Ezer Weizman (1993-2000), said that "the nuclear issue has been gaining momentum [and the] next war will not be conventional".
Yet Washington's complete cover for Israel's nuclear programme while curtailing Iran from the same clearly reflects US divided yardstick or double standard on the Mideast nuclear issue.
As for the Muslim world, nothing is now shrouded in mystery about the US-Israel nuclear collaboration, and nothing remains in the secret about the evolving nuclear relations between Israel and India, as evidenced by a recent visit of 80 Indian nuclear scientists' team to Tel Aviv.
S. Q. AFZAL RIZVI
Karachi
Refereeing in squash
In the recently-ended World Open squash tournament, no Pakistani player reached the main rounds. But we saw a few of them advancing in the Pakistan Open held in Islamabad and in the CNS Championship held in Karachi.
Does it not sound strange that against almost the same group of opponents, Pakistan players perform better in Pakistan but fail to qualify to the main rounds in the Gulf countries, England or elsewhere in the world?
Is it the home crowd that helps them in Pakistan? Of course, not. It is biased refereeing that helps them. The better playing foreign opponents are penalized by being not awarded 'strokes and lets' and Pakistan players are awarded strokes in their favour when there is none.
All players and participants knew exactly what was happening, as favouritism was quite obvious. If the president of Pakistan, the minister for sports and the president of Pakistan Squash Federation do not intervene, we will never get back the glory the great Khans brought to us in squash.
KHALID MEHMOOD
Karachi
Reinstatement
This refers to the item headlined "Sacked DIG wins long-drawn legal battle" in the Metropolitan section of Dec 30. What was really newsworthy was the grant to me of pro forma, post-retirement, promotion to the rank of inspector-general of police in grades 21 and 22 from the dates on which my juniors were so promoted prior to my retirement on 12.12.85.
A Gazette of Pakistan Establishment Division notification, dated August 2, 1995, had notified my reinstatement in service retrospectively from February 13, 1969, thus nullifying my illegal dismissal by Yahya Khan on February 5, 1970.
It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had declared Yahya Khan to be a "usurper" and his regime as illegitimate. Would it not have been just as newsworthy if the headline had said "retired DIG wins..."?
S. ASIF MAJEED
Karachi
Hypocrisy
Maulanas are demanding that the army should restrict itself to safeguarding the borders and not meddle in politics. Their demand may be justified but the question arises: why do they not confine themselves to mosques, madressahs and tabligh?
MUHAMMAD UMAIR
Karachi
New Year reflections
We wish we could say we had a fabulous year in 2004. Some people still claim that this was so, but nothing could be farther from the truth. At this juncture, the following excerpt from the speech delivered at the American University, Washington D.C., on June 10, 1963, by the late American president John F. Kennedy would be worth remembering:
"What kind of peace do we seek? I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, not only peace in our time, peace in all time. Our problems are man-made; therefore they can be solved by man.
No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's future, and we are all mortal."
KHURRAM HANEEF
New Jersey, USA
PR's reply
This refers to Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan's letter "Express train" (Dec 10). The 8-Down Tezgam, at present running between Rawalpindi and Karachi, is a well patronized train and its occupancy from Rawalpindi is 100 per cent.
This train has become a "traditional" train because it has been running on its present route since its introduction. Run for the convenience of the public in the twin cities, this is one of the most prestigious trains in the Pakistan Railways' network. Eight sectional coaches are attached at Lahore, and their occupancy is also 100 per cent.
The Tezgam leaves Rawalpindi at 8am and takes 25 hours to reach Karachi. After its arrival at Karachi the next morning, a full working day remains available to the passengers for business.
Changing its route to go through Faisalabad, as suggested by the correspondent, will mean more travel time as the track condition between Wazirabad-Sangla Hill is unsatisfactory. If the timing of the train is changed to 3pm at Rawalpindi, it will reach Karachi at 4pm the next day.
DIRECTOR,
Public Relations, Pakistan Railways, Lahore
Our cricketing
The Pakistani cricket team now in Australia is more like a touring hospital. Their failures can be summarized as the lack of physical fitness, mental toughness and poor shot selection by batsmen. Test cricketers do not respond to coaching. We need a coach for the 13/17-year group of talented cricketers to build a team for the future.
AKHTAR ISMAIL
Karachi
You can also send letters to the Editor
Just send your message to the following address: letters@dawn.com
Make sure you include your full name, postal address, e-mail address, and in the case of Pakistan your day-time telephone number.