| 04 January 2005 | Tuesday | 22 Ziqa'ad 1425 |
Fighting religious extremism
Facts about the polio campaign
Gwadar development
Indus civilization
Campus politics
2005: responsibilities of developed countries
EOBI pension coverage
Insider trading
Foreign faculty programme
Errant bus drivers
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So we got the year 2005 gift unwrapped after all. What Gen Pervez Musharraf said in his address to the nation on Dec 30 was expected because on Dec 1 the acting president had signed a bill into law allowing Gen Musharraf to keep dual charge.
Also, in a meeting between Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the leader of the opposition, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, on Dec 29, the prime minister had hinted at changing the NSC structure if the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal agreed to go soft on the uniform0.
The maulana didn't agree. In his speech, Gen Musharraf sounded so unconvincing especially when he said he would never violate the Constitution. Hasn't that been done already?
The MMA and the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy are now one on the agenda of seeing the uniform off. Not only that they don't accept him as president either.
Mr Altaf Hussain of the MQM has declared that his party too is ready to join the opposition against the military intervention in politics and would leave the government to join the movement against the government. Raja Zafarul Haq, the chairman of the PML-N, has said they would not accept Gen Musharraf as president even if he takes off his uniform (Dawn, Dec 31)
No one has challenged his assumption of two offices in the apex court. But Gen Musharraf and his advisers know that the bar associations have already expressed their lack of faith in the judiciary and have decided not to file any constitutional writ against the government. So Gen Musharraf is home free, or so he thinks.
The uniform is very much the issue. This country has been devastated by men in uniform like Ayub, Yahya and Zia. People have to be empowered. Somewhere, somehow the line has to be drawn; the time is just about right and nothing personal. It is a principle of the military doing their duty and sticking to it.
ASLAM MINHAS
Karachi
(II)
Some proponents of Gen Pervez Musharraf have argued in favour of his rule and his retaining the army uniform on the basis of the misconception that democracy is not ingrained in our national psyche. This is a most ridiculous argument.
I would like to ask such people whether the intelligence level of the Indian people is higher than that of the Pakistanis? Is their education level and competence higher than that of Pakistanis? I don't think so.
Then why are the Indians doing well under democracy while we are described as unfit for the same system of governance? The answer is simple: certain quarters in Pakistan simply see democracy as inimical to their interests and will in no way want it to flourish in the country.
There are many reasons why some well-intentioned people are fed up with the democratic process, and one of the reasons is the corruption indulged in by politicians. But military rule is no way a solution.
There is always due process of law to punish those who commit such crimes against the country and its people. The military can play a positive rule by making democratic institutions strong without interfering in the democratic process.
Democracy may have its flaws but it is certainly much better than dictatorship and a government that has come to power without due process of law. I believe the Pakistani people are as deserving and competent for democracy as their Indian neighbours.
SHAKEEL NIZAMANI
Toronto, ON., Canada
Fighting religious extremism
President Musharraf has talked a lot about the changing the culture of extremism in Pakistan. Unfortunately, one doesn't see any real steps being taken toward this goal.
Very few people will disagree that religious extremism is the biggest problem faced by Pakistan. This has several shapes and forms and all are hurting our growth, independence and the ability to stay alive.
Religious minorities in Pakistan have suffered tremendously at the hands of the majority for years. Their houses have been burnt, places of worship demolished, the right to worship has been curtailed and the right to vote alongside other Pakistanis aborted.
They have been kept away from prestigious government positions and hospitals. All this has been done in the name of Islam whose teachings have been distorted and abused by mullahs.
Let us take the case of deletion of the religion column from passports. One's religion should have nothing to do with one's ability to travel. It is absolutely absurd to believe that Saudi Arabia can be kept clean of infidels by retaining the religion column in the Pakistani passport.
No other nation in the world, including Saudi Arabia, requires this. The technology of the 21st century has provided a lot of tools to accomplish the above task, but certainly Pakistani mullahs think it is their duty and not anybody else's to rid the world of non-believers.
I would have considered President Musharraf to be sincere in his efforts to eliminate extremism if he had done anything positive in this matter. It is ironic and mind-boggling to see Mr Ijazul Haq as the Religious Affairs Minister when his father Ziaul Haq is generally regarded as the first leader to use Islam to promote his own rule.
Ijazul Haq has never distanced himself from his father's legacy or tried to correct the wrongs done in the past. I don't expect President Musharraf to have convinced the MMA to let go of the demand for the religion column, but I expected common sense to prevail at least in his own party.
There should have been a consensus among the ruling Muslim League on this issue. If President Musharraf cannot lead his own party to stop supporting extremist views, how can he change the entire Pakistani nation?
I request President Musharraf to start a clean-up from his own house. Gather your ministers and party leaders and talk to them about religious extremism and make a plan and get their support.
Don't just make speeches to the seminary students and their teachers. The issue of the religion column can provide an opportunity to bring your party to adopt a common stand and then fight the extremists.
SAAD MIAN
Via email
Facts about the polio campaign
On Oct 4 last, an elaborate function was held at a hotel in Islamabad which concluded with a sumptuous feast and a few toddlers being given polio drops by the dignitaries who were invited for the occasion.
On Oct 6 UN, the World Bank and other international agency representatives were taken to so-called "fixed centres" in Islamabad where the polio campaign was presented as a complete success.
However, a German expert of the Polio Stop team, who was visiting Pakistan as a consultant in connection with the monitoring and surveillance of the polio campaign activities in the country, gave a totally different picture.
He randomly selected populations in Islamabad to detect gaps in the polio immunization campaigns. His sample included populations where polio vaccine drops were supposed to have been administered during the campaign in October 2004.
His findings and observations were alarming: more than 20 per cent of the children who were supposed to have been administered polio drops in these populations had been overlooked.
This depressing observation of an independent foreign consultant, who had no personal interest being a member of an international donor organization, was obviously not made public.
This is because it will raise many questions about the spending strategy on the polio campaigns and the social mobilization, professional monitoring and planning of the campaigns. But the above scenario does not augur well for the residents of Islamabad, whose children are still at risk of contracting polio.
DR M.I. SHAIKH
Islamabad
Gwadar development
The construction of the coastal highway has reduced travel time by about seven hours. This is quite a feat. With the real estate attraction of the Gwadar area, traffic now has increased on the coastal highway. To attract investors, some other aspects need attention:
a. Can there be ferry service from Karachi to Gwadar so that the sea route is also used to its optimum?
b. There is scarcity of water, in particular drinking water. The Akra Kaur dam is at present the only source and cannot meet the requirements which will increase greatly in the future. Desalination plants to recycle seawater can be considered as an option.
c. The airport should be expanded to accept Boeing flights. The present Fokker service will not be able to meet the requirements.
d. Within the port area, the road is broken and should be reconstructed to take the traffic load.
e. If the Gwadar port is declared duty-free, it will have an adverse effect on business at the Karachi port.
f. The Mirani dam, which can a source for agriculture purposes, should be built at speed.
g. NOCs have been given to many builders. The public should be cautioned against fake builders.
LT-COL (retd) IRFAN HAIDER
Karachi
Indus civilization
Rare antiquities, including lamps and jars of the Jainist era, have been discovered at Sirkup near Taxila. The discovery of the second century AD artefacts is considered a landmark by archeologists, which will open new chapters of the Ghandhara and Taxila valley civilizations (Dawn, Dec 28).
The present post-1977 Pakistani generation has no knowledge of the history of this land. Textbooks give a badly distorted history leaving an impression that Pakistan is co-terminus with the Islamic conquest of the subcontinent.
Ghandhara, Harappa and other early civilizations, including Hindu and Buddhist empires that dominated the region before the Muslims came, have been obliterated from the history books.
They are totally silent in respect of the old religions, viz, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism that prevailed in the subcontinent. I wonder what educational value the discovery of these artefacts will add to the knowledge of the present generation if we disown the past history of the land.
FAQIR AHMAD PARACHA
Peshawar
Campus politics
In his address to the nation on Dec 30, President Musharraf lashed out at politics amongst students. He was of the view that students should remain confined to books and politics should not be a part of our campuses.
Perhaps the president tends to shy away from all the things that are good in the West, campus politics being an integral part of the western educational system. Or perhaps the president would much rather have robots who are channelled in a single direction, albeit a materialistic one.
His approach is quite similar to General Zia's who imposed an unconstitutional ban on student unions. Perhaps our dictators tend to forget that undue restrictions lead to fissiparous tendencies.
SAAD KHAN
Karachi
2005: responsibilities of developed countries
The year 2004 saw bloodshed of the innocent people of Iraq in a bloody war thrust upon them by an arrogant Big Brother. And, as the year was drawing to a close, we had to endure the horrors unleashed by the worst-ever tsunami in Asia.
I sometimes wonder what is in store for all of us in the New Year: is it going to be different from what we endured during this past one year? Or, are we out to witness "more of the same"?
As we see and experience it, the world is getting a difficult place to live in day by day and year by year. The capitalistic economy has resulted in the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.
The globalization to come will make matters worse. In the poor nations the worst-affected are children and the following statistics confirm that notion:
1. Over 1.3 billion of the world's six billion people live in extreme poverty, earning less than one US dollar a day.
2. Some 2.2 billion, out of this six billion are children.
3. Forty-five per cent of the 36 million people killed in wars since 1990 have been children.
4. Every three seconds, poverty kills a child somewhere.
5. Eight million children die each year because of poverty.
6. One hundred and fifty million children under the age of five suffer from extreme malnutrition.
7. One hundred million children live in the streets.
8. More than two million children under 15 years of age have been diagnosed as having HIV/AIDS.
9. Fifteen million children have lost at least one parent to HIV/AIDS.
In the year 2000, a ray of hope had emerged vis-a-vis fighting poverty when the comity of nations had adopted eight millennium development goals during a UN summit. These goals envisaged halving extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal education and promoting gender equality by 2015.
However, at the end of the first five years, these hopes seem to have been dashed. To make this MDG plan a success, the developing countries need to bring the goals into their policies, plans and budgets, to improve their governance and to build up their human resources and work towards realization of the first seven goals; most of them are way behind in all sectors.
And the world needs developed countries to fulfil their commitments on goal eight by giving more aid. We need them to offer more debt relief and trade opportunities, and to end the unfair competition in agricultural trade. This is what is reported in UN and Oxfam reports:
1. Despite the fact that the Group of Seven countries, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Britain, the US and Canada, are richer than they have ever been, they are spending only half as much in development assistance as they did in 1960.
2. This is part of a pattern that began in 1970 when wealthy countries agreed to spend 0.7 per cent of their GDP at a special UN General Assembly development conference.
3. While Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have reached and sustained that target for some time, none of the G7 members is even close.
4. France and Britain have at least set a timetable for reaching it.
5. And, at a meagre 0.14 per cent of its GDP, the US ranked last among all wealthy nations. Its entire development aid spending in 2003 came to only 10 per cent of what it spent on the Iraq war that year.
In the wake of this apathy and indifference, do you see any hope for a better 2005?
FAIZ AL-NAJDI
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
EOBI pension coverage
Through these columns I would like to bring to light the plight of superannuated retired pensioners in private and public sectors who, after getting coverage under the EOBI scheme of the government, at present get a very meagre amount of pension - widows at the rate of Rs730 a month, and retired employees after attaining the age of 60 about Rs2,000 a month.
Even after the announcement made in newspapers (Dec 28) by President Gen Pervez Musharraf to raise the minimum EOBI pension for workers to Rs1,000 a month, the domestic problem of a worker's widow or a poor worker will not be solved.
The rules of pension applicable to federal or provincial government employees and to bank employees are quite different and adequate. The amount of pension sanctioned and paid in these organizations even to a low-paid employee/menial staff is sufficient to enable the pensioner to at least make ends meet.
The Employees Old-age Benefits Institution has enough funds and a lot of assets. It receives substantial amounts each month as monthly contributions from those covered by it.
I would request the finance minister and members of the National Assembly to immediately discuss the question of raising EOBI pensions by at least Rs3,000 a month for widows and Rs5,000 a month for retired workers.
M. ASLAM
Karachi
Insider trading
This refers to Mr A. Rehman's letter "Insider trading" (Dec 16). Mr Rehman has pointed out that recently the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan imposed a Rs0.536 million fine on a certain company, which would adversely affect the shareholders since individuals, and not the company, should have been fined.
In this regard, it is clarified that the decision was based on the facts of the case and in accordance with the proviso of law. The fact of the matter is that the company and its shareholders benefited from insider trading as the trading was done by the company and not by individuals.
The SECP greatly appreciates the concern expressed by Mr Rehman and is fully aware that instances of manipulation, insider trading and front running greatly undermine investor confidence. The SECP's focus will be to detect cases of market abuses and those found involved in cases of market abuse will be punished according to law.
IMRAN INAYAT BUTT
Director, Securities, Market Div., SECP, Islamabad
Foreign faculty programme
The report "Modernized Pakistan is the goal: Musharraf" (Jan 1) was thought-provoking. President Musharraf's goal of improving the standards of university education is lofty, but the efforts being made to achieve this objective are not effective.
For example, the Higher Education Commission's programme to recruit highly-qualified overseas Pakistani professors in the US for graduate teaching and research in Pakistani universities is not proving as successful as it was expected to be.
While overseas Pakistanis, especially professors, are keen to help Pakistan, they may not want to sign up for a one-year commitment in Pakistan that the HEC scheme involves.
Distance education classes by Pakistani professors in the US will allow them to teach classes via satellite TV or the Internet in Pakistani universities. Universities such as the Aga Khan University (medicine), LUMS (management) and the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute (engineering) will attract interest for their distance education classes. Successful distance education classes might lead to the same professors visiting Pakistan to teach for one year under the HEC scheme.
PROF ARUN KHANNA
Indianapolis, IN., USA
Errant bus drivers
Bus drivers are often seen driving recklessly in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Speeding and wrong overtaking are often exhibited by them on roads. Innocent and precious lives travelling in these buses are totally at the mercy of such irresponsible drivers who also pose a serious threat to both moving and stationary traffic.
The traffic police high-ups are requested to look into this and do the needful.
SHAHZAD LODHI
Islamabad
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