| 06 January 2005 | Thursday | 24 Ziqa'ad 1425 |
Fate of the Khokhrapar link
Remembering Renata Tebaldi
Returning the debt
Reaching out to tsunami victims
Cricket debacle: reforming ourselves
Campus politics
A surge or a bounce?
US visa fee
Cost of living
Winter uniform
New passport
To send a letter to the Editor
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It is now 33 years since Bangladesh attained independence, and for exactly the same length of time a quarter million Pakistanis have been spending life in captivity, having paid with their own freedom for siding with the Pakistan Army which fought the Indian-backed Mukti Bahini in 1971.
When the surrender documents were signed with the Indian Army, those very patriots who had sacrificed everything for this country were not fortunate enough to make it to Pakistan, unlike those who were taken prisoners of war and brought safely here within a year.
Consequently, they were thrown out of their houses and sent to camps set up by the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), which was also supplying them only three kilograms of wheat per family per month.
A total of about 300,000 people were scattered over hundreds of camps in Bangladesh. Half of them were brought to Pakistan by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1973 under the tripartite agreement (with India and Bangladesh), and the rest were left at the mercy of the Bangladesh authorities on promises of early repatriation.
I would like to draw the attention of the peoples and the governments of Pakistan and Bangladesh towards the humanitarian aspect of those quarter million people. While the first generation living in the camps has almost faded away, the second lives in misery and without hope.
On the plea that it had spent billions of takas during the past 32 years and hence could not shoulder the recurring expenses any further, the Bangladesh government cut off the supply of wheat, water and electricity to the inmates of the camp in the beginning of 2004.
Neither Bangladesh nor Pakistan ever approached the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to secure a subsistence allowance for these people. When Dr Francis Lamand, a member of the UNHCR and president of Islam and the West, approached the UNHCR to secure for these people the status of 'refugees', he was advised that a formal request must either come from the host (Bangladesh) or the passport (Pakistan) country.
UNHCR would only consider them 'homeless' if they did not meet the requirement of 'refugees'. President Pervez Musharraf met Mr Naseem Khan, chairman of SPGRC (Stranded Pakistanis General Repatriation Committee), in Dhaka in June 2002 and promised that he would take some measures to solve the humanitarian and national issue.
In Paris, Dr Francis Lamand submitted to President Musharraf the PRC proposal of 'repatriation and rehabilitation on a self-finance' basis during the banquet given by the French foreign minister on July 3, 2003. Earlier, Dr Lamand met Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar in Islamabad to discuss ways to solve the issue.
The Pakistani Senate had passed a resolution in 1981 in favour of their early repatriation which ultimately resulted in the establishment of the Rabita Trust in 1988. In June 2004, a delegation of the PRC sought official reactivation of the Rabita Trust which was established in July 1988, and which had generated enough funds to repatriate a few hundred families and rehabilitate them in Punjab in January 1993.
The Rabita Fund was frozen in October 2001, and it not only stifled the process of repatriation, but also stopped the settlement of electricity and other utility bills of at least 63 families which settled in Mian Channu in 1993.
Dr Abdullah Omar Nasseef, president of Motamar-i-Alam Islami, met President Musharraf in Islamabad on June 9, 2004, and the latter asked Dr Nasseef to present the overall scenario and suggest ways to solve it.
Dr Nasseef submitted his proposal with a copy to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in September. It is hoped that the issue will be discussed when Mr Aziz goes to Dhaka for the Saarc summit and will be amicably settled.
SYED EHSANUL HAQUE
Via email
Fate of the Khokhrapar link
This refers to Mr Murtaza Razvi's article "Fate of the Khokhrapar link" (Dawn Encounter, Dec 25). He has rightly pointed out that the Pakistan Railways (PR) is dragging its feet as regards the opening of this important link between the southern part of Pakistan and India.
From the recent meeting of the two countries' foreign secretaries, it is clear that India is keen on opening various routes between the two countries, but our government does not appear to be so keen on taking the initiative in this regard.
Although there is a human rights division in the law ministry, it is unmindful of the misery of Sindh's people whose close relatives live across the border. The whole emphasis is on routes between the two Kashmirs across the LoC, ignoring millions of divided families in India and Pakistan, which have been unable to see their relatives for decades.
The rail link between Khokhrapar and Munabao was operative before September 1965 when a majority of the people from India and Pakistan used to travel by it because it was safe, quick and inexpensive.
The late Mohammad Khan Junejo, immediately after assuming the office of prime minister, declared in a speech at Karachi's Nishtar Park that the Khokhrapar rail link would be operative within six months, but that plan could not materialize perhaps because of the uncaring approach of the then establishment in Islamabad.
Now when President Musharraf, realizing the miseries of the poor people of Sindh, wants to open the route at the earliest, the PR seems to be on the lookout for excuses to delay its opening.
It says the project will take a minimum of two years to complete and will require big funding. But it should be noted that a more difficult project - the Karachi Circular Railway - was originally designed, constructed and made operative in one-and-a-half years when the PR was being rehabilitated after the bifurcation of the then North Western Railways (NWR) between India and Pakistan. One may ask how it was so swiftly done.
This was because an upright and strong-willed man in the person of Gen Azam Khan was the then rehabilitation minister who had two big housing projects completed on a priority basis in Korangi and North Karachi, for which he wanted access to the inner city, industrial area and Karachi port.
They say: if there is a will, there is a way. To meet the longstanding demand of the poor people of Sindh and India, the president or the prime minister may assign the rail link project to the FWO and road work to the NLC.
SYED MOHAMMAD ZAKERYA KAZMI
Ex-MNA, Karachi
Remembering Renata Tebaldi
Ms Renata Tebaldi's death (Dawn, Dec 20) has marked the end of one of the most glorious chapters to have ever gone down in the history of world opera music. A soprano of extraordinary calibre, Tebaldi's art continued to resonate in the hearts of millions of her admirers in spite of her retirement from active singing by 1972.
A rival to the great Maria Callas, both in phenomenal talent and monumental fame, Tebaldi forged her own individual style of 'verismo' singing and was classified by many as the more accomplished of the two.
In her interpretation of all the great Puccini heroines ranging from Mimi (La Boheme), Cio Cio San (Madma Butterfly), Tosca (Tosca), Manon (Manon Lescaut), Minnie (La Fanciulla del West) to those of Verdi: Desdemona (Othello), Leonara (Il Travatore), Amelia (A Masked Ball), Leonora (La Forza del Destino), Elisabet (Don Carlo), Aida (Aida), Violetta (La Traviata); Ponichielli: La Giocanda (La Giocanda); Mascagni: Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana); Cilea: Adriana (Adriana Lecouvreur); Giordarno: Maddaleine De Coigny (Andrea Chenier); Smetana: Marenka (The Bartered Bride), Tebaldi's universally feted vocals displayed an exquisitely beautiful lyrical quality as well as tremendous dramatic power.
With regular appearances in all the major opera houses of the world, such as London's Covent Garden, New York's Metropolitan Opera and Milan's La Scala, she was also reputed for her skills as a stage actress and met with resounding success as a concert singer too.
What is more admirable is that in spite of the intense competition between Tebaldi and Callas (avidly fuelled by the media, always hungry for sensationalism), neither felt the need to indulge in desperate measures of self-projection and one-upmanship of the nature employed by singers from our part of the world.
DARIUS KAKALIA
Karachi
Returning the debt
Karachi has provided many opportunities to the varied groups of people who have come to the city from various parts of India and Pakistan after partition. As the first capital city with a port, it soon became the financial hub of Pakistan. For settlers, it provided a golden chance to do business and become rich.
Unfortunately very few of those who are the beneficiaries of the vast wealth of Karachi have repaid their debt either to the city or to the country. Those who are entrusted with the task of developing the city seem least interested in making sure that funds earmarked for the development of Karachi are judiciously used.
Newly-built roads and overhead bridges develop cracks and other structural defects within months due to corruption. Lawlessness, car jackings, kidnappings, etc., are a daily routine, and the bhatta culture seems to have become an accepted way of life.
Most of the city's problems are due to its affluent citizens and the political establishment. For most of the elite it is no more than an economic transit station where they spare no opportunity to make hay while the sun shines.
The amount of federal funds provided to Karachi far exceeds those allocated to the whole of Balochistan, the NWFP and the interior of Sindh. It is misappropriation of these funds and financial irregularities that cause lawlessness and corruption in this unfortunate city.
The federal government and the establishment are also responsible since political exigencies dictate their policies and not national interests. It is time the various communities that make up the population of Karachi decided to pay back their debt and did something concrete.
SHAHZAD KHALIL
Sialkot
Reaching out to tsunami victims
Sunday, a day of rest, became a day of death for hundreds of thousands of people due to tidal waves caused by the Asian tsunamis on Dec 26. Horrifying images of destruction were flashed up on TV screens from India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The Asian tsunami hit Somalia and Kenya, too. Bangladesh and Burma also felt its effects.
Glued to news channels, one watched in numbed fear tidal waves sweeping into coastal resorts and cities of many Asian countries. Survivor stories - children snatched away from parents, villages wiped out, etc., were reported and one BBC TV reporter said: "It is a disaster of biblical proportions."
It is good that the government of Pakistan has sent relief goods to some of the affected countries. Shouldn't we, the citizens, join world efforts and help rehabilitate the affected people? Food and water are needed.
Let us send them. And for those who have weddings/occasions to celebrate, they should go ahead by all means but with sobriety. When neighbours grieve, we cannot and must not ignore their sorrow.
NUR ALA NUR
Karachi
Cricket debacle: reforming ourselves
This refers to "Burning effigies unhelpful: Woolmer" (Dawn, Dec 23). The news item states that Bob Woolmer said: "It's a strange world we live in when people criticize you for not doing things you're already doing, because they don't know - they're six or seven thousand miles away."
Referring to the burning of effigies of captain Inzamamul Haq and vice-captain Yousuf Youhana, Woolmer said: ".... are you trying to burn the people who are doing their job, instead of encouraging them?"
After all, what does Woolmer expect - a bouquet of roses, hugs or kisses from the disappointed cricket fans? The 491-run defeat inflicted by the Australians represents a new low for the national cricket team. It is the worst run loss since England's by 425 runs to the West Indies at Old Trafford in 1976.
Pakistan, facing a huge 564-run target to win, crumbled to a paltry 72 in the second innings, their fourth lowest score. Our reply to Woolmer is: we know everything even if we are far, far away from the scene. His remarks have hurt us.
We felt frustrated over Pakistan's humiliating capitulation in the first Test at Perth. Woolmer is reported to have said: "It's the criticism before the match and the criticism continually of everything that undermines the players and everyone around the team."
I would like to remind him: wasn't he the very first person to criticize his team's performance after it lost to Australia by 491 runs in Perth when he said: "Obviously, there is an element of mental confusion or mental awe within the performance."
In response to the above statement, a former Pakistan cricket team coach said: "Criticizing one's own team with such remarks is an insult of not only the players but of the entire nation and it would be better if the coach handles the situation by motivating the players."
Sir, the Perth debacle was not as frustrating and shocking as Woolmer makes it look. His statements have hurt our sentiments. It is strange that the PCB instead of taking notice of such statements has defended both Woolmer and skipper Inzamam.
The PCB chairman is reported to have said: "Under Woolmer's coaching Pakistan had defeated India four times and came close to beating Australia twice in one-dayers." (Dawn, Dec 24.)
We are trumpeting that we have beaten India in four ODIS on the trot but no one talks about the loss of the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, the early exit from the Champions Trophy, the bad defeat in the tri-nation in Lahore at the hands of the Sri Lankans, the failure in Holland and drawing the two-Test home series against Sri Lanka.
The Pakistan team needs a leader, with a strong desire to succeed. The solution lies in developing and nurturing batsmen technically by overhauling the entire faulty system of cricket in our country.
Our team lacks mental toughness, motivation and national spirit. It is unable to handle pressure because of the lack of dressing-room leadership. It also lacks a top quality spinner. We should have a special spinners camp to find out if there is any talent waiting in the wings.
The PCB, the coach, the team management, the selection committee and the captain should learn good lessons, rectify their shortcomings, develop a strong strategy and alternative plans to cover for periods when things stop going according to the main strategy and within that planning every individual must know what he is supposed to do. There should also be after-the-event accountability.
NAIMA ASLAM KHAN
Karachi
Campus politics
This is with reference to Mr Saad Khan's letter "Campus politics" (Jan 4). I strongly disagree with him because he is speaking out of context. The example he gives is of the western world and is not applicable to educational institutions in Pakistan.
Western education and students are very different from us. They use their student associations to develop themselves as mature citizens, but here in Pakistan student unions do not function independently; they are used by political parties to achieve their vested interests.
As I come from this system, I have witnessed some student activists fighting one another like terrorists on the campus, and in one such incident a student nearly lost his life. Do we want these types of citizens in our society?
AHMED ALI MEMON
Karachi
A surge or a bounce?
I read with great interest Mr Shahid Javed Burki's article "A surge or a bounce?" (Jan 4). At least it wasn't as anti-American as so many others I read every now and then.
He does, I think, hint that the US is responsible for the rise of radical Islam. I think that would have happened anyway, but it was nice not to be harangued about it.
Many of America's past policies took place while I was not on the planet, but I must admit when I learn of them, I am puzzled and sometimes ashamed of my country's dealings with your part of the world. However, we are not responsible for everything.
CAROLLANE WHITE
Via email
US visa fee
The US visa section in Islamabad gets Rs6,500 on each application from our citizens. Most of the applications are rejected at the interview stage. One cannot raise any objection as it is their privilege to allow or not to allow an outsider to enter their country.
But to be fair in such cases, they should refund the visa fees. At most they can deduct a reasonable amount as service charges. But swallowing the entire amount without giving a visa is not justified from any angle.
They must be making about two million rupees every day from roughly 300 to 400 applicants who visit their office each day for interview and come out disappointed.
A PAKISTANI
Karachi
Cost of living
A loaf of bread is available at Rs3 and a handful of rice at Rs5. Milk and eggs cost Rs22 per litre and Rs46 per dozen, respectively, and the price is increasing.
Ever since the death of its founding father in 1948, Pakistan has been suffering from constitutional crises, from ineffectiveness of the rule of law, from the mushroom growth of political parties, from lawlessness and corruption.
The rural and urban aristocracy and rich industrialists and businessmen, as well as Islamabad and the cantonments, have monopolized the entire wealth of the country, leaving nothing for the downtrodden. The ruling elite should mend its ways and serve the people.
MIRZA GHULAM HAIDER
Multan
Winter uniform
During winter a private school in Karachi, part of a chain, follows a strange dress code. The girls are allowed to wear tights but the boys are supposed to wear shorts.
Imagine your four-year-old child going to school wearing shorts in this weather. Why are they made to wear sweaters? Surely these brave little men can do without sweaters as well.
In North Nazimabad, parents are sent warning notes if they dare to dress up their little ones in trousers. Lately, the school authorities have started to threaten parents with adverse remarks on the child's report card if he shows up in trousers during winter.
WORRIED PARENTS
Karachi
New passport
I back the decision of deleting the religion column from new passports and suggest this column should also be deleted from other documents such as school, college and university admission forms.
MIRZA RIAZ BAIG
Hyderabad
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