| 04 February 2005 | Friday | 24 Zilhaj 1425 |
Postal savings accounts
Visa-seekers' ordeal
The Sui situation
Basant hazards
Ordeal of a PTCL subscriber
Exams in May
Threat to Iran
New profile?
Malignant priorities
IDBP in doldrums
Do Talwar
Sharing views
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This refers to Mr George Singleton's letter (Jan 26) in which he suggests that the help of former US president Jimmy Carter should be sought by Pakistan as a mediator on Kashmir.
Mr Singleton has said that despite being a Republican he liked Democrat Carter for being "a highly idealistic and moral man". I fully share his regard for Mr Carter and agree with the suggestion.
Seeking mediation is an eminently sensible and efficacious route to resolving a problem where the bilateral approach has failed. Islamabad should have no difficulty in accepting such mediation. But the trouble is that Pakistan's repeated appeals to India for involving a third party have always been rejected. The obvious reason is that India knows well the weakness of its case which any unbiased mediator would quickly unravel; therefore, it sticks rigidly to bilateralism, hoping to derive benefits from its bigger size and greater power.
Nevertheless, one wishes to thank Col Singleton, who was based in the US embassy in Karachi in the '60s, for his interest in helping resolve the Kashmir dispute, reflected in his many letters pertaining to issues facing Pakistan.
It would be opportune to point out the goodwill that many American military officers appear to have for this country due to time here or interaction with their Pakistani counterparts visiting the US.
Once a group of Pakistani students of which I was a part came across a retired major of the US Air Force near Santa Barbara in California in the mid-80s. When he discovered our nationality, he said "I like Pakistan" and took us to his home and presented us with some fruits grown in his orchard.
Similarly, other touching stories have been narrated by some Pakistani officers known or related to me of their experiences with American armed forces personnel and civilians.
Another thing that Col. Singleton has mentioned is that he feels that the Kashmir negotiations are more about water rights and water control issues than about ethnic or religious issues.
It is true that Bangladesh too is having serious problems with India on water-related issues and has asked for international mediation (Dawn, Jan 28). However, in Kashmir this is only coincidental, the basic problem being the question of the rights of the Kashmiris, including the right of self-determination.
As also noted recently in a review of the book Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights and the History of Kashmir " by (apparently) Indian writer Mridu Rai (Books and Authors, Jan 2), the genesis of the Kashmir unrest can be traced back not to the birth of Pakistan in 1947 but to a century-and-a-half ago.
In the mid-19th century, the British had given sovereignty over Kashmir to a Hindu Dogra chieftain, Gulab Singh of Jammu, as a counterpoise to the powers of a Sikh prince.
Thenceforth, the Muslims were persecuted economically, politically and religiously. For instance, a famine was engineered in Srinagar by the maharaja in the 1870s, which claimed more than 60,000 lives, all of them Muslims.
This persecution continued after the Indian occupation of Kashmir in 1947. The writer notes that what India is reaping today is the "whirlwind of earlier times and is the fulfilment of Hugh Rees James's 'prophecy'" in 1856 that the reaction, when it comes, will be powerful. Of course, India's own misdeeds have greatly intensified it.
Unfortunately, instead of dealing with the matter fairly and expeditiously, notwithstanding the thousands of casualties every year and the possibility of a nuclear catastrophe, India has kept on delaying a solution and used the smokescreen of 'cross-border terrorism' to divert attention from the real issues and perpetuate the occupation.
The only and speedy way out is for the world leaders to jointly exert maximum pressure on India to agree to a UN-held plebiscite or third party mediation. There can be no peace without justice.
KHALID CHAUDHRY
Karachi
Postal savings accounts
When the British rulers of Pakistan noticed that the majority of the people of this country, mainly illiterate or semi- literate, were forced to exist on charity in their old age, they introduced the postal savings bank account. It was operated without much written transactions.
Both deposits and withdrawals were made through forms available at counters in post offices. More than half a century after independence, old people are still seen at post offices requesting staff at the counters to fill in the forms for their deposits or withdrawals.
They even request other customers for help. This alone demonstrates the public interest in the scheme and the need to keep it going. Another savings scheme, the Khas Savings Account, was subsequently introduced and renamed as the Special Savings Account.
Both the schemes were exempted from the deduction of 10 per cent withholding tax from profits. In the last two years a withholding tax of 10 per cent has been deducted from six-monthly profits of Special Savings Accounts.
One of my widowed sisters, a septuagenarian, has all her life's savings in one such account in the GPO, Karachi. In the financial year 2003-04 an amount of Rs7,596 was deducted from the profits as withholding tax with the initial income of Rs80,000 being exempted from tax; her entire income of Rs 75,960 was tax free.
She is therefore due for a refund of the entire amount deducted as withholding tax. Another sister and I, both over 70 years, also have a joint savings account in the GPO, Karachi.
An amount of Rs21,308 was deducted from it as withholding tax. We had both paid income tax while in service. Income exempted from tax on our joint account was, therefore, Rs160,000.
The taxable income of both of us was therefore a little over Rs5,000 which would be reduced to Rs1,000 in the year 2004-05 with the increase in amount exempted to Rs 100,000 in the year 2004-05.
Will the ministry of finance direct the income tax department to return the excess amounts recovered from the two accounts and stop the deduction? Over a year ago, two Bahbood schemes with 10.08 per cent profit per annum without withholding tax were introduced but no such benefit has yet been extended to postal savings accounts.
Senior citizens would be saved from the agony or dread of submission of income tax returns if postal savings accounts had a tax-free profit of 10 per cent (less than the Bahbood schemes).
H.A. HAJI
Karachi
Visa-seekers' ordeal
I applied for a US visa. Fortunately my application was speedily processed and within a week's time I was called for an interview. The fact that I couldn't manage to get the visa is another part of the story but I was shocked to see the conditions visa-seekers are subjected to.
At this time of year Islamabad's weather is bitterly cold, and in order to avoid a long queue, I set out by 6am. The visa-seekers were made to wait in an open ground as we had to first get a ticket each for a bus which takes you from the convention centre to the embassy.
The ticket window opens at 7am and by then a long queue has already formed. By the ticket centre are two small counters where one has to deposit their mobile phones and bags (not to mention a five-rupee note as fee for their safe-keeping).
I was lucky enough to board the bus first. But I could see a sea of human heads braving the strong winter wind, waiting for their turn to get into the bus. When we reached the embassy, we were asked to wait in front of a garbage dumping area and to form another queue.
After almost half an hour the line finally started moving and we were subjected to a thorough security check. We again waited in a line for roughly another half an hour. We were again subjected to a thorough security check when entering the building.
Finally leading us via a dark narrow passage the security guard asked us to form another line and wait for our turn. The entire visa processing procedure took the US consular official only about 10 minutes and we found ourselves outside the embassy again.
We were made to wait for another half an hour for the bus. Finally we were taken back to the convention centre and my day at the embassy was over. I found the exercise tiring and fruitless.
The most shocking part was the behaviour of some of the officials. Not American officials whom I found helpful and even if not in the mood to provide us with a visa, sympathetic, but the Pakistanis who were working inside and outside the embassy.
When you are already having a bad day, the one thing you can't bear is someone being rude and bossy, which exactly describes the way our fellow countrymen behaved. All I can say is, honestly, you've got to see it to believe.
SUMAIYA ZAIDI
Karachi
The Sui situation
I do not agree with the views of Messrs Aziz Ahmed and S.M. Kazim Naqvi (Dawn, Jan 16). Sitting hundreds of miles away from Sui, they are not fully aware of how the Bugti tribe has been protecting the Sui gasfields for the last more than 50 years, rendering great sacrifices.
During recent clashes no direct attack has been launched on the main gas installations. Rather, the Sui gang-rape case accused were targeted by the armed men and incidentally a part of the purification plant, with nothing to do with gas supply, was damaged and this marginal fault, according to engineers, could have been repaired within a few hours. But this was not allowed in an effort to create an atmosphere against the nationalists. The so-called development process launched by the centre in Balochistan in the name of mega-projects has put the future and career of qualified locals at stake.
The Makran coastal highway was constructed without any direct link with the divisional, as well as provincial, headquarters. Previously in the Saindak and Hub industrial projects no respectable job facility etc was provided to the educated people of the local population and now in Gwadar, too, well-qualified local persons are being ignored and people are being called in from other parts of the country which, I feel, is creating a sense of deprivation among the Baloch.
Initially the government started a dialogue process with the nationalists on the core issues of mega-projects but hints of forthcoming a military operation in the Dera Bugti area left no room for the tribal leaders but to boycott the process.
SHAKIL BALOCH
Quetta
Basant hazards
'Jashn-i-baharaan' or Basant as it is commonly known is being celebrated across the country, especially in Lahore, from Feb 3 and will continue till Feb 6. The government of Punjab has announced Feb 6 as Basant day in Lahore. Lahore will become the largest cultural spot for kite flying by 2010, according to the organizer of Lahore Basant Festival.
Some people think that those who are opposing Basant arereligious fanatics or pessimists and they do not want our depressed men and women to find a moment of relief and entertainment out of their pressing social engagement.
Irrespective of the divergent views of the people it is a fact that we celebrate this event at the cost of severe inconvenience and great loss of lives of our citizens.
People fly kites with metal wire attached to the string. When it touches electricity cables after being cut off from the string, it causes a spark on the wires, subsequently tripping electricity.
Such tripping always results in power fluctuations, damaging power installations and household appliances. And that is not the end of it. When a stray kite with metal string touches electricity wires from one side and kite-catchers' hand on the other, it causes instant death.
On Basant, the government always claims that it has made necessary arrangements to prevent the use of metal wire by kite-flyers and kite-catchers but the incidents of death are rampant. Kite-catchers attach a metal wire to the string to help entangle stray kites. Sometimes they even use motorbike's clutch wire.
During the festival citizens who are not interested in it have to suffer unnecessarily and are exposed to serious hazards. An event which is meant to welcome the spring season turns into a nightmare for many.
The kite-looters also are a weird breed who not only risk their lives on the road running after stray kites but also pose severe threat to the commuters. Excessive use of the fireworks, display and fire-arms and loud music have also become the by product of Basant.
The festival has been overshadowed by vandalism and the event which was meant to celebrate the spring seems to have been taken over by the multinational-culture. Multinational companies arrange special events for their prime customers; the city's rooftops are rented at great costs.
Special invitation cards are printed and distributed among valued customers, government officials and the elite of society. Television transmission is organized by spending millions of rupees and sponsored programmes are held to gain maximum publicity.
ZEESHAN UL RUB JAFFRI
Karachi
Ordeal of a PTCL subscriber
I have been a Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) subscriber having telephone numbers 5886518 and 5892761 (36-B-II, Khayaban-i-Behria, Phase VII, DHA, Karachi) for nine years and have never defaulted on payments.
During this long but often unhappy relationship it has become a routine that one of the phones and sometimes both are out of order every two months or so. On each occasion I have to go through much agony before getting the telephones back to working order.
It might be my misfortune that although the phones become operational after a couple of weeks, always there is disturbance in the lines. Despite umpteen calls to everybody who is somebody in PTCL, no action is taken. Due to the disturbance, using the internet has become very difficult.
Sometimes PTCL's "highly efficient" officials do visit and reassure that the fault will be rectified soon, citing various reasons which a non-technical person like me has no stomach to digest. Will somebody at PTCL help me out of this predicament?
REHANULLAH SIDDIQUI
Karachi
Exams in May
I fail to understand why the Sindh education minister has decided to hold the annual examinations of schoolchildren in April and intermediate students in May which is the most humid and the hottest month of the year in the province.
The humid atmosphere and high temperatures of May make children very uncomfortable. Children of primary and secondary schools should have their annual examinations in March when the weather is pleasant.
The two-month summer vacations should be given in May and June as July is always less humid and less warm than May and June. It is not at all necessary that the summer vacations should be in the same months all over the country as the weather varies from province to province.
A. RAZAQ
Karachi
Threat to Iran
The latest American threat of invading Iran is a part and parcel of the global strategy of the US to subdue Muslim countries by threat or by force and keep them under its control through Muslim rulers amenable to US pressure.
Immediately after the 9/11 tragedy, Pakistan provided logistical support to America, when the latter invaded Afghanistan, and it is still in action along with its strategic partners from all over the world.
Absolutely oblivious of these eyes-opening realities, most of the rulers of Muslim countries and their privileged classes back America and the countries of western Europe. So much so that rulers of several Muslim countries are willing to go to any lengths to be in America's good books for their own survival.
MIRZA GHULAM HAIDER
Multan
New profile?
The EU has voted 13 to 11 against suspension of the anti-dumping duty of 13.1 per cent in addition to 12 per cent customs duty.In fact, Pakistan is the only country that has entered the WTO regime with 25.1 per cent duty on its export of bed-linen.
And the prime minister claims to have "repositioned" Pakistan. As he puts it, "Pakistan's new profile is being accepted". Can he explain, how?
S. M. NABEEL IMTIAZ
Islamabad
Malignant priorities
From the report of the fatal shooting of a Karachi mullah and his bodyguard a couple of days ago, I was appalled to discover that the late guard was an active duty policeman officially deputed to protect a man representing a banned sectarian/terrorist outfit.
The common citizenry suffer to keep an uncaring, ungrateful and even unconstitutional government in place. For their taxes they live in constant mental anguish and physical fear because of a total lack of law and order.
And then the government that talks of 'enlightened moderation' gives armed protection to members of banned organizations.
DR MERVYN HOSEIN
Karachi
IDBP in doldrums
President Gen Pervez Musharraf in a recent TV talk said that due to the appointment of capable persons as heads of Pakistan Steel Mills and PIA, these institutions had registered a turnaround and were making profits.
The Industrial Development Band of Pakistan (IDBP) is one of the oldest government banks, which has financed the industrial sector to set up thousands of industries, mostly in the small and medium sectors.
At present, it appears to be a completely ignored institution as no activity is taking place, except for downsizing, golden handshakes and follow-ups at courts and the CIRC for the recovery of past loans.
The high-ups responsible for IDBP supervision/monitoring appear to have lost interest in this organization because there are rumours of its privatization or liquidation or amalgamation without any action.
During the past 10 years the IDBP was assigned to several managing directors one after the other but none of them was able to turn it into a profitable concern. Even the board of directors behaved in a lethargic manner.
This being the case, how can the government claim that it appoints capable persons to head such institutions? I appeal to the president to look into the affairs of the IDBP and appoint a suitable person as its head or privatize it as soon as possible.
GHULAM SARWAR KIBRIA
Karachi
Do Talwar
The Do Talwar roundabout in Clifton, Karachi, has been vandalized by the addition of a series of ambiguous objects that probably correspond to someone's definition of sculpture. It is hideous and an eyesore.
There should be a limit to what the citizens of Karachi allow to be thrust upon them in the name of art or under the pretext of beautification. It is bad enough that the offices of the nazim have been taken over by a compulsive park builder with little or no aesthetic sense.
Now, even those few roundabouts that were comparatively pleasant to look at are being defaced by personal expressions of seemingly untrained minds. There should be a body of artists and architects that carefully reviews any object that is about to be put up for public display or any design for a public space that is about to be executed so that we can be spared these monstrosities.
ZAIN MANKANI
Karachi
Sharing views
"Many Muslims like US policies": Bush (Jan 17). Yes, we do share the US leadership's views if by 'Muslims' Bush means just the Arab and Muslim rulers.
Z. A. KAZMI
Karachi
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