| 15 January 2005 | Saturday | 04 Zilhaj 1425 |
Probe into space
Trickle-down effect
Anti-India bias in Bangladesh
The Basant bug
West and Islam
Condition of domestic helpers
Sea festival
Corruption
Politicking during Haj
'Sacred names'
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This has reference to your editorial "Symptoms of a deeper malaise' (Jan 11). I believe that you are incorrect in associating the incidence of recent gun battles in Balochistan with "an absence of genuine democratic and constitutional mechanism for solving national problems."
There is no such relationship even in the best functioning democratic systems. I had alluded in a previous letter in response to your editorial "2004: a bad year for democracy" (Jan 1) that democracy is a growing plant in different stages of maturity in different parts of the world.
Our plant has only broken roots and has a long way to go. Army rule squashed this plant, whereas Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif never watered it. All these individuals were autocrats in resolving national problems.
The problems of Balochistan and those of the Northern Areas are ancient. The British left the feudal lords of these areas alone. The early leaders of Pakistan also chose to ignore it.
Subsequent governments were not able to bring these areas in the mainstream of society, the military rulers ignored them by choice and the "democratic" governments were ineffective in managing them.
Somehow, we believe that talking to these feudal lords in a democratic manner will solve the problems. This is a misunderstanding of the democratic process. Even the better developed democracies in the West deal with such incidents very harshly through their law-enforcement agencies and military force when necessary.
All people in a democratic society must abide by the law. The feudal lords of Balochistan and the Northern Areas will not give up their power without a fight.
If we are really serious about liberating the oppressed people of Balochistan and the Northern Areas, we ought to deprive the feudal lords of their power and bring millions of oppressed people in the mainstream of Pakistani society.
DR AMAN ULLAH KHAN
Lahore
(II)
The reaction by Gen Musharraf (Dawn, Jan 12) to the attacks on gas installations in Sui and the warning issued by him that much greater force than the military operation of the 1970s would be used against "nationalist elements" indicate that the military is planning a major offensive against the nationalists.
The fact is that action has been going on for some time. On Dec 13 leaders of the Baloch Students Organization were arrested in Quetta for merely expressing discontent at the discrimination against Baloch youths in appointments in mega projects. The fact is that these projects are creating more economic unevenness in the poorest province of Pakistan by denying jobs to local youths.
One wonders what the general has to say about Layri, Badin, Thatta, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Nawabshah, Okara, Renala, Wana, Waziristan, Gilgit, Quetta, Gwadar and Kholu.
These are just a few places where Gen Musharraf's policies have exacerbated the law and order situation, including gang wars, mafia killings, sectarianism, water riots, land erosion, land-grabbing, terrorism and narrow nationalism.
From the 1970s' suppression of Baloch nationalists, it appears that the military has not learnt any lessons. The situation now is more complicated. The interest of outside nations in our ports and the establishments of cantonments to protect highways are leading even some nationalists and ethnicists to seek help from the same powers that are launching mega projects.
The government fails to comprehend the magnitude of the sufferings caused to people by the implementation of the agenda of the IMF, WB and ADB through economic liberalization, privatization and deregulation. If liberalization and development are working, then why are people attacking the symbols of authority?
DR RIAZ AHMED
Karachi University, Karachi
Probe into space
This is apropos of the letter "Probe into space" (Jan 10) by Mr Nasir Riaz. The year 2005 is just days old and we already have someone questioning why millions are spent to probe deeper into space.
The answer to this question is that the study of the cosmos allows us not only to address the origin of the universe but also the origin of the largest structures that matter has formed, the origin of stars, the origin of planets that offer the likeliest sites for life, and the origin of life itself on one or more of these planets.
All of that also leads to understanding what goes on in our environment and understanding how earthquakes and tsunamis occur. Dr Kerry Sieh, a professor of geology at Caltech's Tectonics Observatory, has been studying giant earthquakes of southern California, China, Taiwan, Turkey and Sumatra.
In a recent article in Time Asia, he wrote: "In poor countries, living is so hand to mouth that there is scant time to think about the distant future. In July and August last year, people on the islands (Sumatra) were totally surprised to read in our posters that they might experience a devastating earthquake and tsunami. No one there had ever known of such things..."
During the second Clinton administration, the Global Disaster Information Network was set up which was an internet-based system to help disaster managers around the world plan for calamities and respond more effectively.
The other initiative taken was the setting up of an Environmental Intelligence Centre which did some path-breaking experiments by applying intelligence systems to disaster management. So these are some measures that one of the rich nations has undertaken to prevent human suffering.
In short, the knowledge of the cosmos has revealed that we live on a cosmic speck of dust, orbiting a mediocre star in the far suburbs of a common galaxy, among a hundred billion galaxies in the universe.
The fact of our cosmic unimportance triggers two types of responses in the human psyche: one is to ignore science and judge it as opaque or opposed to the human spirit and the other is to actively seek to disprove scientific results that annoy or enrage some. It is against this backdrop that a small minority continues to find scientific methods to best understand nature and the cosmos.
F. GHADIALI
Dallas, Texas, USA
Trickle-down effect
This is with reference to Mr Rasheed H.Lodi's letter "Growth with justice" (Jan 9) which says that the so-called trickle-down effect has never worked in such large economies as the US and is not likely to work in a minuscule economy as ours, no matter how flushed we are with expatriate dollars today.
I endorse his views as the trickle-down effect is nothing but a mirage showed by the elite to the poor. In a capitalist society, there can be no trickle-down effect as such a society leads to concentration of wealth in a few hands.
The rich become richer while the poor poorer. Few companies emerge as winners and the rest are wiped out from competition. The middle class narrows down, which diminishes economic activities as the purchasing capacity of the people decreases.
It is perhaps only socialist countries such as Cuba which can boast of coming close to wiping out poverty, for in a socialist set-up it is considered the responsibility of the state to provide the basic facilities of life to its population.
Instead of relying on the private sector, the government should take the matter in its own hand and come up with a viable plan to boost economic activities in the country.
Instead of selling out government-owned institutions, corruption should be weeded out and the institutions be made profitable. The profits made from these institutions should be spent on the employees to provide them with good salaries and basic facilities like education and health.
This will result in a strong educated middle class which will be willing to spend money to purchase goods rather than stash their cash in banks because of insecurity.
The demand for goods will rise, boosting economic activities in the country. The president also would not need to deliver speeches in foreign countries to persuade foreign investors to invest in Pakistan as they themselves would like to do business here once they witness domestic investors making profits.
ANIL KHAN LUNI
Karachi
Anti-India bias in Bangladesh
Mr Abul Shamsuddin ("Anti-India bias in Bangladesh", Jan 7) seems to have taken an apologetic posture in denying that there is no anti-India bias in Bangladesh. While applauding the Indian role in the freedom of Bangladesh, he has asserted that the "unequivocal Indian support and sacrifices of their soldiers during the 1971 war will always be remembered with deep gratitude by the Bangladeshi people".
One observes that India is off and on blaming Bangladesh on many counts, including sending intruders into Indian territory, to help anti-Indian insurgency. The accusation of an anti-Indian bias seems to be a part of its overall strategy.
India has never been a benefactor of the Bangladeshi people. Had it been so, it would have at least resolved with Bangladesh on the basis of justice and equity crucial issues like the sharing of water of the River Ganges and the construction of the Farrakah barrage during the last quarter of a century.
India's interference in the 1971 war was not because it was a benefactor of the Bangladeshi people or had sympathies for them, but because the war itself was the result of conspiracies at the international level in which both superpowers - the Soviet Union and the US - were involved and which wished to dismember Pakistan.
India intervened as its aim too was to destroy Pakistan. The then Indian prime minister, Indira Gandhi, asserted immediately after the cease fire that "the two-nation theory has since been drowned in the Bay of Bengal", which reflected the real Indian intentions.
If one correctly recalls, Khawaja Nazimuddin, the veteran leader, used to say in the 1960s that the western superpower wanted to get the then eastern wing of Pakistan separated and that he had furnished evidence to that effect to president Ayub Khan.
GHULAM MUHAMMAD
Karachi
The Basant bug
This is apropos of the news "Lahore to be made 'biggest kite-flying city in the world'" (Jan 10). Plans are afoot to achieve this goal by 2010. Basant is approaching and my head is already filled with interminable noises coming from several hi-fi decks playing on different rooftops at the same time with celebrations starting many days ahead of the stipulated date and which will continue many days after it.
This din is interrupted only by electricity failures which are almost invariably preceded by an explosive sound each time a stray-kite flown with a metallic wire brushes the high intensity electric supply cables.
In recent years Basant has grown into a 24-hour affair duly patronized by the government and the electronic media. My father is old and suffers from arthritis. He comes home to have a few hours' rest after the day's toil. Probably every second or third household has one such individual who has no choice but to suffer the agony of Basant.
ISHRAT SALEEM
Lahore
West and Islam
The letter "West and Islam" (Jan 11) paints a one-sided picture of the relationship between the West and the Islamic world, with all the blame lying with the West and no responsibility assigned to the Muslims.
The correspondent laments the rise of Christian fundamentalists under the Bush administration, which is indeed worrisome, but he does not express any such concern over the far greater and alarming rise of fanaticism and extremism in Muslim countries.
The view unfortunately held by a large percentage of Pakistanis that the West is inherently inimical to the interests of the Muslims is an absolute fallacy.
Prior to the adoption of terrorism as a political weapon by extremist Muslims, western societies openly accepted Muslims in their midst, as attested to by the presence of six million Muslims in the United States, five million in France and an equal number in the rest of Europe.
The West has intervened on behalf of Muslims as in Bosnia and Kosovo against its own co-religionists, a situation which almost certainly wouldn't have occurred if the roles were reversed.
In the tsunami disaster in which the majority of sufferers were Muslims, the Muslim 'Ummah' save Pakistan sat placidly while billions of dollars in aid poured in not only from western governments but from ordinary citizens in the West as well.
Since religion permeates the daily lives of Pakistanis so intrusively, it is hard for many of them to imagine that in deeply secular societies which the European countries tend to be more than America and Canada, religion does not lie at the core of every issue.
In considering various matters of concern, people are motivated more by general compassion than affinity only to their Christian or Jewish brothers and sisters. The animosity towards the Muslims around the world has been triggered not because a religious war reminiscent of the mediaeval times is under way but because westerners now believe that while all Muslims are not terrorists, all terrorists are Muslims.
As far as the long festering international disputes are concerned, where the cause of the Muslims is undeniably just such as Palestine and Kashmir, western countries act according to what they consider to be their self-interest.
Resolution will come about when they realize that peace in these areas is good for the West as well and not through senseless acts of violence, as the newly-elected president of the Palestinian Authority clearly points out.
It is in the self-interest of Pakistan to be firmly allied with the West without ignoring the shortcomings of these countries and for Pakistanis to keep a sense of balance in evaluating the attitude of the West towards their country.
MASOOD HAIDER
New Jersey, USA
Condition of domestic helpers
According to news reports, a woman working as a maid was allegedly molested and set on fire in Karachi. Recently a night watchman at a Gulistan-i-Jauhar apartment was apprehended for molesting a teenage girl.
Later it was said that he was extorting money and asking for sexual favours from those looking for work. In another instance, a man brought scores of girls from the interior of Punjab and sold them out as maids to households.
There is dire need to protect the labour force working as domestic helpers by the labour ministry. I suggest the following:
1. Working hours should be fixed. At present domestic servants can be made to work round the clock without any overtime.
2. The minimum wage should be at parity with the minimum wage paid to factory workers. It should be revised according to the inflation rate.
3. Domestic helpers should be entitled to all gazetted holidays. If they work on holidays, they should be entitled to extra payment.
4. It's high time our government defined the age limit for people employed at home and car workshops.
5. The labour department of local governments should prescribe do's and dont's for domestic helpers.
6. Employers should provide safety gear to labourers employed in hazardous professions.
7. In every locality there must be a complaint cell at the local councillor's office where domestic helpers could go in case they are tortured or they see any threat to their lives or honour.
8. Last but not least, local governments should define this workforce as labour in their books. All maids/helpers and those who are on the lookout for work should be required to register themselves at the local councillor's office so that they cannot be exploited or manhandled. further permeating in our society.
MISBAH NOMANI
Karachi
Sea festival
The recently-concluded Sindh Sea Festival was a good example of bad management and planning. Without any prior warning, a large portion of a major road in Clifton was blocked off by the organizers who did not even bother to ask the traffic police to make alternative arrangements for traffic. As a result, one could see chaotic scenes as vehicles went into bylanes to get across from one side to another.
Further, no arrangements were made for parking and this added to the problem since people had to park on the same roads that were being used by the traffic that was trying to get through. One can imagine the choas caused.
NASIR KHAN
Karachi
Corruption
Gen Musharraf has effectively controlled corruption at higher government tiers, but at the lower echelons of the civil service we are seeing a phenomenal rise in corruption.
Common people seem helpless against this menace. One can get one's work done only by greasing the palms of the official concerned or through 'connections' in the department. Will the president ensure elimination of this public nuisance?
SIRJA ULMULK
Chitral
Politicking during Haj
According to press reports, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, chief of the MMA, is scheduled to meet Mr Nawaz Sharif during his Haj sojourn this month. Not surprising, but one needs to remind the MMA head that he was the one, among other mainstream leaders, who had warmly welcomed the take over by Gen Musharraf in his statement on Oct 13, 1999.
The JI leaders welcomed the overthrow of Mr Nawaz Sharif and called it a timely step. Qazi Hussain was calling Nawaz Sharif a security risk for the country. He had also described Benazir Bhutto a security risk, no matter his MMA deputy, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, rushed to meet Ms Bhutto's husband a day after the latter's release on bail from jail.
Now Qazi Hussain will meet the same "security risk" in Jeddah in the interest of the country's security because he has also given a fatwa against the president that "Musharraf is a security risk for the country".
Everything is fair in politics, which is now the game of religious adventurers. They can justify their right to do politics but the question is will Qazi Hussain disown his own actions of the past? And should such a sacred occasion like the Haj be used for seeking political alliance with a leader he disliked?
ALYA ALVI
Gujrat
'Sacred names'
This is with reference to the news item "Actresses told to stop using sacred names" (Dawn, Jan 7) about advice to actresses in Multan by EDO (literacy) Prof Sharif Nishtar, the head of the committee which monitors stage dramas in Multan.
The advice by the professor to actresses to change their names or else face detention has nothing to do with religion or sanctity of names. It is an individual's right, according to religion and law, to choose his or her name or profession. Religion or state has nothing to do with this.
DR KHALIL NIAZ
Karachi
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