| March, 20 2005 | Sunday | 09 Safar 1426 |
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Cricket’s conscience
Sui rape case
LNG import project
Misplaced notions of honour
Justice for women
Social realities
The Quaid’s example
Utility bills
DR A. Q. Khan’s alleged activities of proliferation carried out in the past have, once again become a serious issue for the nation. It may be clarified at the outset I have no political affiliations and my only concern is the welfare of Pakistan, so it is hoped these words will be read dispassionately. Ms Benazir Bhutto has committed a grave error by publicly revealing in the US certain things relating to her role in Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programmes, besides implicating us in helping North Korea’s nuclear venture after her exit from power. The Americans have, understandably reacted angrily. This regrettable and utterly unnecessary move by her has again pushed the country into a corner. She has also called for an independent inquiry to ascertain Dr Khan’s innocence or guilt. Presumably, as a result of that, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, as the government’s main spokesman, has been constrained to make a statement regarding Dr Khan’s supply of centrifuges to Tehran. Nevertheless, the necessity for doing so remains obscure.
Now, the PPP parliamentarians and other opposition parties are demanding a public debate on the issue. They are appearing to hold Pakistan responsible by identifying an individual’s actions with that of the government, despite the minister’s assertion to the contrary and are also charging that Islamabad has deliberately tried to hurt Iran’s interests.
A few facts need to be remembered. First, neither our government nor the American (or other western) leaders have held the Pakistani establishment responsible for the doings of the Khan network. Second, it was the sudden revelation by Iran (and Libya) about the atomic enterprise, including the acquisition of centrifuges, without first informing us about it that had put Pakistan in the dock.
Finally, Iran has mastered technology to enrich uranium. But this capability could not have been achieved through the obsolete P1 centrifuges supplied by Dr Khan about a decade back, which had been discarded by Tehran some time later, according to a report.
Another very important thing is that declassified American documents show the US itself had taken the lead in facilitating Iran in acquiring nuclear technology and know-how by supplying a research reactor and highly enriched uranium, etc, in 1967. Germany had been setting up two nuclear reactors in Bushehr, work on which had continued into the 1990s and a lot of sophisticated equipment supplied. France and some other European countries had also collaborated and now Russia is continuing with that project.
The question is, why is all the focus and pressure on Pakistan although so many other entities, official and private, from a number of countries were involved?
The West has, in any case, known about the network’s involvement in Iran and Libya for some years and had alerted President Musharraf about it. That is how Pakistan’s own investigations into the affair began. Sheikh Rashid’s acknowledgement of this, therefore, does not amount to accepting official responsibility for the same or subverting Tehran. Significantly, Islamabad has counselled Washington and its allies to resolve the dispute with Iran peacefully, instead of militarily, while asking the latter to allay their fears.
It is well-known that some forces hostile to Pakistan are trying to put an end to our nuclear and missile programmes. We must understand this and nobody, whether from the government or the opposition, should ever try to settle old scores with anyone else by exploiting such an extremely sensitive matter. Patriotism demands that all sides working together must contain the damage already done. Otherwise, in the end it is Pakistan and all of us who will suffer.
As far as Dr Qadeer Khan is concerned, regardless of his other activities, the fact remains that he is the father of the Pakistani bomb and we ought to treat him accordingly.
SALIK QADRI
Karachi
HOW shall we remember Omar Kureishi? As the nostalgic writer of The Past is Another Country or as a pioneering voice of live radio commentary? As the creative engine behind PIA’s advertising of the 60s and 70s or simply as a straight talking patriot? Each of the thousands of people fortunate to have worked with him or enjoyed his company as relatives and friends, even passing acquaintances, shall remember him in a special way. But all will agree that he was an artisan when speaking and writing his thoughts. He was a multi-media specialist long before the term was invented. I was but a passing shadow for him, for his coterie of friends stretched across the world. Whichever media room I entered across the world, leading journalists would ask about him. He remained and will remain the icon of Pakistan cricket writers. In his death Pakistan cricket has lost its dearest friend, unfailing benefactor and, above all, a loyal and devoted guardian. He was our village elder, the man on whom we could rely for wisdom, especially when we knew not which way to turn.
Yes, he was Pakistan cricket’s conscience. His words would cut through all foliage that excuses by others had conjured up in their defence. He said it like it was, simply because he had lived his life that way.
He had strong likes but never strong dislikes, if at all. His ire was reserved only for the bigots or the meek. He was Kardar and Imran off the field, and perhaps the only one who could talk to them tersely while looking in their eye.
With Jamsheed Marker, he formed the perfect odd couple, the quietly descriptive spiced with the briskly evocative.
He was a clever strategist. Before the start of the 1987 tour of England, he recalled pulling Imran Khan and Haseeb Ahsan into his room and told them that the tabloid press would target the team as they always did to unsettle the tourists. His strategy was that Haseeb Ahsan should take on the British press and divert all attention from the players. It was one of the most off-the-field incident-free tours ever undertaken by Pakistan.
I shall always miss the ocean of knowledge and stories he told — and had still to tell. When I last met him he was compiling another of his life’s works and had entered into a prequel deal with a foreign newspaper. “The only reason is that the looming weekly deadline will compel me to keep writing,” he told me when I asked why he would reveal ahead of time the contents of his book. It was perhaps a veiled hint by the man of iron will that he was getting tired. He never once signalled his inability to meet anyone but on that one evening he told me that he was not well and would call me. Sadly, God called him first.
SOHAIB ALVI
Karachi
THE judicial tribunal of the Balochistan High Court with Justice Ahmed Khan Lashari was formed on Jan 17 to look into the Sui rape case. The tribunal had to submit its report within 15 days but it took nearly 50 days to do so. As expected by even a layman, guilt could not be proved. The main accused was quoted by a Sindhi daily as having said, “I belong to a religious family and have started memorizing the Quran.” Belonging to a religious family or memorizing the Quran can certainly not be taken as a clean chit for one’s piety. What is worse is that even the president said he knew that the officer was not involved even before the tribunal had submitted its report. What message did the president want to give to the world and the victim who told The Guardian newspaper: “In Pakistan there is no law, no protection, nothing. Who can we trust? Nobody.” The report (as published in the newspapers) has emphasized that Dr Shazia Khalid had not reported to the police even on the third day of the incident. How could she inform the police when she was given tranquilizers, brought to Kandhkot in an ambulance, then flown to Karachi and finally admitted to a psychiatric hospital? And why was the head constable from the local police station not allowed by the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) management to meet the assaulted lady?
The PPL administration should be taken to task. But who will do that? The president? The prime minister?
Newspapers and human rights organizations are raising a little voice today but with every passing day things will get to be as usual. Reports now say that Dr Shazia and her spouse have gone abroad.
We as a nation should be ashamed of ourselves that we could not do anything for her. But, as part of its duty, the mass media must keep the issue alive. Because rape is never just an individual issue; every such act is equivalent to the rape of humanity.
A. N. SOOMRO
Karachi
THIS refers to a news item (March 10) according to which the Sui Southern Gas Company is setting up an integrated liquefied natural gas import project, the first of its kind in Pakistan. The purpose is to provide additional gas to meet new growth demand from independent power projects and industrial customers. The expected delivery capacity would be 2.5 million tons of LNG per annum, which is equivalent to about 300 million cubic feet per day with the option for larger volumes of up to 500mmcfd of natural gas. LNG is natural gas in its liquid form. When natural gas is chilled to minus 259 degrees Fahrenheit, it changes to liquid and later on is again converted into gaseous form in a LNG conversion plant by heat exchange. Currently, the local demand of gas is about 3,500mmfcd. According to SSGC officials, this projected demand would outstrip indigenous gas supplies by about 2010.
Pakistan has 26.8 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of proven gas reserves, and currently produces around 0.8 tcf of natural gas per annum, all of which is consumed domestically. The largest currently productive field is Sui with the production rate of 650 mmfcd. Sawan, Zamzama, Adhi, Kandhkot, Mari and Kadanwari are the other gasfields. It may be reminded that the US has recently showed its concern over Iran’s pipeline project because of Iran’s nuclear programme and there appears to be no immediate solution. It is the first time that the US has formally conveyed its reservations at the long- running proposal to build the pipeline that will go through Pakistan.
Keeping in view the current stand of the US against Iran and with no major addition expected in gas supply over the next couple of years, the SSGC announcement of importing LNG is a productive gesture. The government should plan to set up a few additional LNG projects in the country to cope with the increasing demand of natural gas both from IPPs and domestic customers.
RASHID ASHRAF Karachi
A WOMAN local councillor was paraded head-shaved and was disrobed only a few months in a case of biradri revenge. Today women in our male-dominated, feudalistic and socially-fractured society are confronting numerous challenges. Honour killing is one of the most serious issues affecting women. It has become a cancer for society. Honour killing is the killing of women for illicit relations or for violating self-proclaimed customs and traditions of family or tribe. Despite claims to the contrary, honour killing continues to take place all over Pakistan under one guise or another. Originally, this disgraceful practice was a Baloch and Pashtun tribal custom but during the past couple of decades has become a common practice in Sindh and spread to Punjab. The Sindh districts of Jacobabad, Ghotki and Larkana top the bill for the number of reported honour killings, according to some statistics. It was somewhere in the early 1990s that what has become known as honour killing was reported in the press. According to the prime minister’s adviser on women’s development, 1,250 fell prey to honour killing in 2004 all over Pakistan while many others were killed in incidents of domestic violence. In 2003 the number of killings was 930.
The rate of increase is more than 30 per cent annually. According to one report, 150 women were killed in the name of honour only in southern Punjab and 167 others were killed in incidents of domestics violence. In Sindh, government statistics suggest that one woman is killed every day in the name of family honour.
The state’s role as the custodian and protector of women rights has been disappointing. But in comparison to other years, 2004 ended well, with the president signing into law a bill on karo-kari. All it did was increase the punishment for honour killing to 25 years. All other loopholes that had been a problem in the first place stayed.
The main lacuna in the bill, known as the honour-killing bill, is that it has not made punishment mandatory, which has defeated the purpose of introducing the legislation. Secondly, by providing the higher penalty for honour killing, the bill has lessened the chances of conviction. While the intention of providing a higher penalty may be good, this can prove to be counter-productive where courts are already reluctant to give harsh punishment in cases of honour crimes. Laying down a minimum of 25 years imprisonment may discourage courts from convicting the accused in these cases, just as mandatory death penalty in gang-rape cases makes conviction near impossible.
The bill had no provision to ensure that others who are usually involved in such incidents and are, therefore, primarily responsible for encouraging such practices, like jirgas and panchayat or family members, should also be liable to punishment.
On March 2, government parliamentarian Kashmala Tariq proposed amendments to the bill. These amendments relate to the compound ability of the crime, no concession in punishment, right of appeal and determination of wali. Until these amendments are okayed, we must analyze the root causes of this crime.
The main factors are acquisition of property and personal vendetta besides illicit relations and marriage by choice. As far as marriage of choice is concerned, religion allows a woman to marry a man of her choice, and the apex court has permitted it. Another point is that standards of honour and chastity are not equally applied to men and women in Pakistan, though the honour code applies to both equally. In surveys conducted, men were found going unpunished for illicit relationship whereas women were killed on the merest rumour of impropriety.
In short, this crime is eroding the very fabric of our society. The basis of karo-kari will not be stopped unless the state immediately bans the jirga system, the prime protector of the karo-kari tradition. Arrest and punishment of the guilty should be made certain and swift.
Today we have 33 per cent of women in local bodies and nearly 20 per cent in parliament. All of them should shun their political differences and collectively fight for the betterment of women.
MUZHAR JAVED MALIK
Via email
YOUR editorial “Seeking justice for women” (March 8) and the write-up on the Multan gang-rape victim, Mukhtar Mai (March 8), would get a supportive echo in the heart and soul of every self-respecting Pakistani with an awakened conscience. The agony and injustices we inflict on innocent women in Pakistan tarnish Pakistan’s image worldwide. Setting free a hapless woman’s gang-rapists because of some loophole in the law is the height of injustice. In international forums, government spokesmen bamboozle world opinion by claiming that women in Pakistan are treated well and no human right relating to them is violated. Kudos should go to such brave women as Mukhtar Mai. If Pakistani women take a lesson from her defiant reaction to the wrong done to her and organize a movement of defiance and indictment of savage men who molest and persecute women in diverse ways, justice will be done to them, and the shameful practice of karo-kari will vanish in the limbo of forgotten memories.
Joan of Arc in France, who fought against injustice, remains a legend and a beacon of inspiration for successive generations. If our law-makers have a conscience, the plight of Mukhtar Mai should compel them to enact laws that protect Pakistani women.
QUTUBUDDIN AZIZ
Karachi
YOUR editorial “Justice and social realities’ (March 13) deserves appreciation. Its concluding lines read: “People will continue to look up to the judiciary to introduce an element of social justice in the system and to act as a force for reform and progress” Can we expect such judicial activism in the light of our social realities? One can find an answer in the same editorial: “There can be little hope of social justice unless the entire system is democratized.” Regarding the present so-called democratic system, Mr Anwar Syed in his article “Politics and public interest” (March 13) has observed: “They (president, PM and PML-Q) claim that democracy is flourishing under their stewardship, democratic institutions are in place, working satisfactorily. Many independent observers, both domestic and foreign, regard these claims as bogus.” I think hardly any patriotic Pakistani will disagree with these remarks and observations.
BADAR QURESHI
Karachi
THE Quaid-i-Azam visited Aligarh every year. He called it “my yearly pilgrimage.” He usually travelled from Delhi in his car. Once he went by train. The Aligarh station was small. The platform was filled to capacity by his followers, mostly students of the Aligarh Muslim University. Even the parking area was overflowing with slogan-chanting admirers. It took the Quaid more than an hour to come out of the station towards the waiting car. I was there and pushed myself to get close to the Quaid. I saw him very tense, he was neither smiling nor waving his hand to acknowledge the greetings. The same evening the Quaid addressed the students in Strachey Hall. This is how he started his two-hour address. “I am grateful to you for turning up in such large numbers to receive me this morning. However, let me first apologize to other passengers who were inconvenienced and the train was delayed because of me. If you had stood in lines, I would have walked through, thus you would have seen me and I would have seen you from close proximity.” From the above remarks, two things are apparent. The Quaid was publicly apologizing to the other passengers who were inconvenienced and his emphasis was on discipline. There is food for thought here for our VVIPs and the traffic jams and inconvenience they cause to the public.
F.U. AHMAD
(Former vice-president, Aligarh Muslim University Union) Karachi
A MAJORITY of those using electricity, gas and telephone pay their bills regularly, despite the fact that they have to wait in long queues to do so. This exercise has to be undergone thrice a month, since the issue and due date for the three utilities is staggered over the month. This way, as soon as one gets through with one bill, one receives the other and subsequently the third. The tension start all over. If the three utility bills are issued simultaneously, and a similar ‘due date’ is given, the user will be facilitated to pay the three utility bills in one go, and will have to stand in a queue only once during the month.
I wish the three companies coordinated a little.
LT COL (retd) ZAFAR
J. USMANI Karachi
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