| 24 January 2005 | Monday | 13 Zilhaj 1425 |
City government and old Karachi
Additional marks for NCC students
Land ownership
Changing one's religion
Bush's policies and Muslims
Adopted schools
Why forex bonds?
'Wide speed'
Clarification
Departure of CEC
Quota system in QAU
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This refers to the letter "Mullah-military nexus" (Jan 19) by Samar Hussain Qadari. Until a few years back, Pakistan was in the tight grip of intolerance, extremism and cynicisms.
The power elites harboured and nurtured intolerant forces in our society, starting with the removal and hanging of an elected prime minister, accepting a surrogate role in the Afghan war, raising the Taliban and using madressahs as a recruiting ground for the Al Qaeda and many jihadi organizations operating in Kashmir and elsewhere, and providing them with a safe haven everywhere in the country, especially in the tribal areas - all in the name of protecting the national interest.
This patronage of extremists destroyed the very fabric of our society and the state, and the country's national interest was badly tarnished. A reversal was needed. Today, the power elites are going in the reverse direction, and once again in the name of protecting the national interest.
Of late, the chief patrons of these extremists have grudgingly, but rightly, realized that Pakistan is "misperceived" by all major powers and civilized people of the world as a fundamentalist, intolerant and irresponsible state and society.
Therefore a rollback of previous policies and strategies is imperative. The question is whether we will be able to sustain these new efforts, or they will be reversed again if and when US pressure is withdrawn.
A country where parliament is hostage to the wishes and whims of the military, where authority is derived from the barrel of the gun, where foreign policies and national priorities are formulated and approved by the GHQ, where individuals rather than institutions matter, where elected representatives and elected assemblies are accountable to government servants, where a large chunk of the budget goes to military spending, where half of the population is illiterate and live below the poverty line, where women live and die in miserable conditions, where the leaderships of political parties have turned into dynasties and dictators in their own right, how can we expect that society and the state machinery will become tolerant, pragmatic, forward looking and pluralistic in outlook?
Unless there is a realization that the two pillars of protecting the national interests are participatory democratic governance and sound economic management, we will not be able to move in a clear direction.
Democratization of the state machinery and society and development and promotion of a vibrant civil society, including rights groups, labour, student and journalist unions, consumer protection groups, art groups, literary forums, bar associations, NGOs, trade and business associations, and last but not least, political parties and pressure groups, are the only way to fight terrorism, extremism, intolerance and cynicism.
Political institutions should be strengthened rather then individuals. Knowledge and education serve as a shield against intolerance. All social sectors must get national priority. The army should be involved in social development with all its resources and infrastructure.
Civil society organizations and the private sector should be strengthened and involved in governance at all levels. Nuclear technology and science and technology should be used for human development.
G.A. BEG
Islamabad
City government and old Karachi
This refers to the letter "City govt and old Karachi" by Mr Gheewala A.G.M. (Jan 7). I would like to clarify that parts of Lyari such as Chakiwara, Nawabad, Moosa Lane, Kalri, Bihar Colony, Kalakot, D. D. Chaudhary Road, Mir Mohammad Baloch Road, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Road, Shah Waliullah Road fall within the limits of Lyari Town and not Saddar Town, as mentioned by Mr Gheewala. Of course, both Lyari and Saddar towns are headed by the city nazim.
It is correct that the city nazim or his colleagues have no plan to provide basic civic amenities to the aforementioned areas of Lyari Town, the oldest area of the metropolis.
Almost all these areas are affected by water scarcity. Hygienic conditions are pathetic. All these areas, including the main roads linking the other parts of the metropolis, are full of potholes and in a dilapidated condition. Some of the roads are totally ruined.
Manhole covers are missing and drains overflow even near mosques. Lyari Town remains neglected by the city district government. An open, ill-maintained nullah, dug opposite Jan Bai Maternity Home on Main Bhittai Road a year ago poses an acute threat to the life of patients and small children studying in the nearby Aga Khan School.
No significant work was carried out during 2004. The progress of road repair work is slow due to lack of coordination and proper planning. Mir Mohammad Baloch Road, a main road linking Lea Market and other parts of Lyari, is in a shambles and repair work has been pending for last more than three years.
In the absence of proper planning by civic agencies, problems continue to aggravate and no serious initiative has been taken to resolve these most basic and important public issues.
There is no difference of opinion regarding the reports of the activities of the city nazim appearing in the media. It can be safely said that he is exclusively devoted to areas such as Gulshan, Gulberg, Landhi, Malir, Nazimabad and other Central District parts.
Lyari Town has remained entirely neglected since the inception of the city district government. The worthy city nazim is requested to have a look at the problems of the poor residents of Lyari, who are paying huge amounts of taxes.
ABDUL AZIZ KHATRI
Karachi
Additional marks for NCC students
Until some years ago, five additional marks were granted as an incentive to those students who qualified for the National Cadet Course (NCC). This was to give the NCC qualified students leverage in their admission to colleges. The NCC programme was abandoned for reasons best known to the concerned authorities.
I suggest that the same number of marks, primarily with the same objective, be granted to those Muslim students who voluntarily qualify in the reading and understanding of the Holy Quran in its correct, current, social and scientific perspectives.
There is an ongoing programme of "Hafiz-i-Quran", which grants 10 marks to those students who learn the Holy Quran by heart. While in no way underrating the importance of being a "Hafiz-i-Quran", most of the students only absorb the Quranic text at a very young age by rote learning, without reading or understanding the translation or being instructed in the relevant commentary of each verse, etc.
Thus, they remain ignorant of the true message and guiding spirit of the Quran, its implications, and applications in daily life. Obviously, such individuals fall easy prey to the enemies of Islam. The core reason behind my proposal is that the forthcoming Pakistani generations need to be correctly educated in Islam, beyond the prescribed academic programme.
The proposal if implemented will provide high quality, enlightened teachers of the Quran and gradually create a number of respectable job opportunities (particularly in the private sector) for post-graduates in Islamic-Quranic studies from various universities of Pakistan whose academic talent is being wasted in pursuit of irrelevant professions.
Only such teachers will be able to convincingly convey the correct and enlightening message of Islam to children in their formative years. This in turn will also help correct the convoluted view of Islam at present prevailing in the West.
The programme will also effectively counter-balance the production of half-baked, misled, so-called Islamic scholars who, generation after generation, have misled the youth into seeking emotional and irrational solutions to religious, social and scientific problems that Pakistan today faces.
SYED SHAMIM AHMED
Karachi
Land ownership
A report published in Dawn on Jan 17 concludes with an extract from a paper, "Transition of poverty in Pakistan: Evidence from the longitudinal data", presented by Rashida Haq, a research economist at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, at the annual meeting of the Pakistan Society of Development Economists.
The extract says that uneven land distribution is the main cause of poverty. This is true, as highly skewed land ownership is discriminatory and thus plays havoc with the fabric of society.
Firstly, it creates discrimination in the social status of the people, resulting in humiliation and disgrace for the majority of people. Secondly, it tends to establish a discriminatory education system which leads to a low standard of education among the have-nots.
Thirdly, it discriminates between political rights of the people, as whatever the political system prevails, leadership and power slots remain reserved for a privileged few, and it becomes almost impossible for a commoner to even think of playing a significant role in society.
Fourthly, it strengthens nepotism so that discrimination becomes a permanent phenomenon in employment, various amenities, including health facilities, and justice.
Fifthly, it leads to uneven accumulation of other economic resources, too, so that the whole economy becomes a mistress of a small privileged minority. This uneven land distribution ultimately results in a critical vicious circle of poverty in which we seem to have entangled ourselves.
ABDUL JABBAR
Chakwal
Changing one's religion
This refers to Prof Arun Khanna's letter of Jan 14 in response to Mr Irfan Husain's earlier assertion that we cannot decide the faith into which we are born. Prof Khanna says he is an Indian citizen and lives in America, which he loves, was born a Hindu but became an Episcopalian in adulthood. He further said that unlike Pakistanis, the Indians can decide which faith to follow.
Why does one need to change one's faith? Only if one is dissatisfied with it. As a graduate student I, too, had spent time in the US which I came to like a whole lot. Being no fanatic, my many friends of various religions and nationalities over there had included some Christian ministers and missionaries as well.
They had an easy time converting many Far Eastern students who were Confucianists, Taoists, Buddhists, etc. But, despite trying very hard, they couldn't convert me because Islam had provided me with answers no other religion could.
Many people in Pakistan have embraced another religion but they were poor and illiterate, having little or no knowledge of Islam. I have never heard of an educated Pakistani Muslim from the middle or the upper class (who tend to be well-versed in Islam) changing their religion.
Prof Khanna is sincerely advised to read about Islam. Thousands of upper class Britons have accepted Islam in recent years and it is the fastest spreading religion in most places.
KHALID CHAUDHRY
Karachi
Bush's policies and Muslims
This refers to the report "Many Muslims like US policies: Bush" (Jan 17). This is yet another statement from President Bush, which can be added to a list of statements in the Michael Moore documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. There is a sharp contradiction in President Bush's statement.
The US is a country, while Muslims are people who practice Islam as their religion. There is no way one can compare the two. Moderately estimated, there are over 10 million Muslims in the US, and Islam is the fastest growing religion in the country.
Religion and national identity are two separate things. Many Americans are Muslims. This does not mean that they endorse or condemn the US government's policies and decisions. Their national identity being American, their religion is still Islam, which comparison cannot be made in the manner Bush has tried to suggest.
The US is waging war in Afghanistan and Iraq, both Islamic countries. It is beyond comprehension how could Muslims still possibly like the US policies, as President Bush claims.
How his policies are seen by his own people has been starkly exposed lately in the most divisive elections ever in US history; hence it is not a question of Muslims or non-Muslims.
Mr Bush's statement is not true, and can only be seen as a way to create a division between Islam and the US. How a common US citizen feels has nothing to do with religion and cannot be taken into account in light of anyone's faith, let alone of Muslims.
Mr Bush's claim that Afghanistan tops the list of Muslim nations really happy with the US actions to 'liberate' them from Taliban is another attempt to falsify the real story.
Mentioning US assistance to the Muslim victims of the Dec 26 earthquake and the consequent tsunami seemed a rather cheap effort to win hearts. How democratic Mr Bush is can be adjudged by having a look at his past actions, internationally and nationally both - he is always keeping US citizens on tenterhooks and always mentioning a 'terror threat'.
People who are not so happy with Bush's policies are not necessarily just Muslims but belong to every faith and religion. It is the individual and his regime that people dislike, as he himself is on record (documented in Fahrenheit 9/11) as having said: "I am a war president, that's what I am."
ANAS A. KHAN
Edmonton AB, Canada
Adopted schools
Ms Zubaida Mustafa has very appropriately spotlighted a crucial issue in her article "Must the school adopters wait?" (Dawn, Jan 12). Provisional education departments' performance in handing over schools to adopters has been, to say the least, disastrous.
The bureaucracy has not been able to digest the Promethean idea of handing over "sick" schools to willing NGOs to uplift them and make them useful to the community.
The hostility of the department can be gauged from just our example. A nationalized school in Hyderabad - Jamia Arabia High School - was ordered by the then education secretary to be handed over to the Sindh Historical, Educational and Cultural Society, along with all records.
When the principal of the school was approached for delivering the school, he refused to comply with the orders. He also refused to see the president of the society. The education department was approached on several occasions, but in vain. The case is still pending.
As things stand at present, it appears that the entire scheme has been consigned to the cold storage. Ultimately it will wither away and the whole project will be shelved for good.
I sincerely request the provincial government to take up this very important project in all earnest, as it has all the promises of serving society and improving the quality of education.
NAZAR M. QURESHI
Hyderabad
Why forex bonds?
Euro bonds worth $500 million were floated earlier, and now Islamic bonds of the same value are being floated. Obviously, huge commission in forex is paid to western banks for publicity and sale of these bonds, followed by payment of hefty interest or profit to foreigners on maturity of the bonds.
The same amount of forex inflow is possible without any payment to foreigners if the government provides hassle-free protection under the original, unamended Protection of Economic Reforms Act 1992 to resident Pakistanis, including former expatriates who transferred their forex from local banks to overseas banks or deposited it in overseas banks before May, 1998 to save their money from being frozen.
Those at the helm of affairs have to decide whether foreign exchange deposits of resident Pakistanis should stay with overseas banks or conditions conducive to attract this should be created.
SHAKEEL AKHTAR
Rawalpindi
'Wide speed'
Shoaib Akhtar, in the second ODI against the West Indies in Brisbane on Jan 19, bowled only two overs which contained seven wides. Will he receive his full match fee? If yes, does he deserve that hefty amount?
AMYN LAKHANI
Karachi
Clarification
This refers to the news item "People donating generously for tsunami victims" (January 11) published in the Metropolitan section of Dawn (Jan 11). The name of our organization is Church World Service-Pakistan/Afghanistan (CWS-P/A) and not Christian World Church (CWC) as printed.
Secondly, you have mentioned that according to a press release we are establishing a fund of $500 million. In the press release that we issued through the APP, it was mentioned that we are establishing a fund of $5 million, not $500 million.
FARRUKH MARVIN PARVEZ
Director, CWS-P/A Karachi
Departure of CEC
This refers to the letter from Mr Aslam Minhas (Jan 16) in which he has commented on the departure of Justice (retd) Irshad Hasan Khan as the chief election commissioner.
His reference to the book by Chief Justice (retd) Ajmal Mian ("A Judge May Speak") reminds one of the views of another chief justice, Justice (retd) Sajjad Ali Shah, about the outgoing CEC.
In his book Law Courts In A Glass House, while discussing the appointment of Justice (retd) Irshad Hasan Khan as judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice (retd) Shah categorically expressed his disappointment while assessing Justice (retd) Khan and said: "I found him to be a very sincere person. This is where I was wrong. Later, it turned out that I was mistaken in my opinion of him."
Probably these two recorded versions of his predecessors about him must have contributed to his elevation to the office of chief election commissioner of Pakistan. One may or may not agree with the views of the CEC on his retirement but for anyone who is aware of the need for an engineered democracy, conscience can only be an impediment.
NAZAR AKBAR
Karachi
Quota system in QAU
This is with reference to Pervez Hoodbhoy's articles (Jan 3-4) on university reforms. He has mentioned the problems faced by Pakistani universities, with special reference to the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU).
Most of QAU's problems, I think, stem from lack of entrance criteria in line with modern standards. The quota system is the reason behind inducting regional student groups. Imagine the desperation and frustration of the many deserving students who fail to get through to QAU because of its faulty system that gives prime importance to affiliations and backgrounds rather than qualifications.
The first step towards reforming universities in general and the QAU in particular should be taken by making sure that only the best students get there. The quota system has to go.
AMBREEN SAADAT
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