| 3, April 2005 | Sunday | 23 Safar 1426 |
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‘Picking up the pieces’
Quaid’s birthplace
Influx of beggars
Robbers on the prowl
Of maids and servants
Under-trial prisoners
Co-operative encroachment
Pension dues
‘Enlightened moderation and the right’
Employment policy
Bank charges on loans
ONE read with mixed feelings the news that the US has, at last, decided to sell F-16 Falcons to Pakistan. The sad part is that we had to wait for two decades and most perhaps had to strike a deal about sending centrifuge parts to the IAEA for inspection to help verify Iran’s claims about its uranium enrichment programme.
The other thing is that to overcome New Delhi’s manipulative and totally unwarranted opposition to the sale — in spite of having the more advanced SU30s and other planes in much greater numbers — the US had previously expressed willingness to sell the very lethal Patriot anti-missile system as well as 126 F-18s, with most of the latter to be manufactured in India.
As if that wasn’t enough, the US has now gone even further out of its way to appease our neighbour by offering to help it become a major world power. This plan includes the manufacture of the more sophisticated F-18 Hornets, also under licence, civilian nuclear energy and cooperation in space technology. On top of that was the earlier approval of supply of the Phalcon AWACS by Israel that will greatly undermine Pakistani airspace security. Thus, instead of our imbalance vis-a-vis India getting reduced, it will actually become worse.
The F-16 is a third generation fighter whose production had begun in the 1970s. The fourth generation aircraft such as the SU30, Mirage 2000, Rafale and others hit the drawing boards in the ‘80s and came off the assembly lines in the ‘90s.
Russia and India are jointly working on a fifth generation fighter, as are some other countries. Another worrisome fact is that Lockheed Martin, the manufacturers of F-16, are on the verge of discontinuing the production of this old plane. On the other hand, the PAF would end up using these for the next 20 years. Where would the spares come from?
While the force has done a commendable job in keeping our F- 16s flying despite the American sanctions, will it be able to do that for a couple of more decades? Hopefully, the PAF plans directorate would be seized of this problem as well.
That leaves us with the following options. One is to go for some other fighters. The other is to start producing the F-16s in Pakistan, as will be done for the JF17 being developed with Chinese assistance. I believe Turkey, too, has the ‘C’ and ‘D’ types of these, but one is not aware if these are Block 50/52 that we plan to get, and they may also be making some spares. In any case, by collaborating with them, the fighters could be manufactured jointly at a lower cost due to economics of scale to meet Turkey’s needs as well. The planes and/or spares could even be exported to such friendly air forces as those of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
KHALID CHAUDHRY
Karachi
TO sell F-16s to Pakistan, which wanted them since 1988, is a right decision by the US.
The simultaneous offer of helping India to become a major world power, which includes sale of F-18s with a licence to produce them in India, providing “civilian” nuclear energy and cooperation in space technology, is the wrong message both to India and Pakistan. To India, it will be an assurance that Pakistan’s F-16s would be no threat to them, thereby giving them a sense of military superiority.
In an earlier report, India was offered an unspecified number of F-16s with transfer of technology. Lockheed Martin, the manufacturers of F-16s, was contemplating closing down the production line and laying off 5,000 employees before the decision came through. This company had earlier indicated that the production of F-16s could be stopped for newer versions as this aircraft’s buyers, Turkey and probably Israel also, have the licence to produce them locally.
Now what happens if after Pakistan buys the F-16s and Lockheed Martin then decides to close down its production line. From where would Pakistan get its spares — India or Turkey? Why would India supply spares to Pakistan? India would be treaty-bound with the US not to supply spares to any other country, like Turkey is.
Pakistan must insist on transfer of technology with the purchase deal. What good is the status of a non-Nato ally if we cannot make the supplier see the wisdom of our requirements?
S.M. KAZIM NAQVI
Karachi
“WHAT now remains to be seen is whether the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan will be more serious about cleaning up the market and making dealings more transparent.” This was hope expressed in your editorial “Picking up the pieces” (March 26).
It has brought much to the notice of the SECP. However, going by the fate of numerous commissions established in the past, the probe to investigate the crash will never see the light of day and if it comes out, it will be nothing more than a plethora of unconvincing reasons.
Sections of the media played a distinctive role in presenting the stock market bullish trend forecasting that it will go beyond 12,000 marks. People began treating the market as a casino to make easy bucks. This was all happening under the eyes of the SECP which failed to see what was going on.
The same conditions will develop one fine morning in the National Commodities Exchange. Cash crop commodities will fall within the hands of a very few traders who will create such a speculative market that commodities will only be available at the prices they demand.
Sir, to be a successful banker is quite a different matter from being the chief executive of a country. In a bank, it is the lending of finance packages to prospective clients that matters whereas in a country the population, growth and means of growth for the livelihood of the people are required to be explored and distributed in equilibrium. Similarly, it is easy to be a general of the army but most difficult to be a politician to understand the needs of a vast population.
Unfortunately, as deplored in your editorial of March 23, even after more than a half century, the country has been so stalled that the people are simply living on hope.
GHEEWALA A.G.M.
Karachi
THIS is with reference to Mr Qutubuddin Aziz’s letter “Quaid- i-Azam’s birthplace” (March 26) wherein he has dilated upon the news item “Thatta: Quaid’s birthplace” (March 19). The item was about MPA Humaira Alwani commending a statement by the Sindh education minister, Dr Hamida Khuhro, that the actual birthplace of the Quaid was Jherruk, a small town on the bank of the river Indus in Thatta district.
She proposed that the relevant authorities should rectify the historical record accordingly. In support of her contention she quoted the curriculum of Sindhi Adabi Board, Karachi, which shows Jherruk as the birthplace of the Quaid, which is also mentioned in a book published by the National Book Foundation.
Mr Aziz has, however, contended that there is no documentary evidence available to establish the veracity of the above claim. As a consequence, he goes on to place his entire reliance on a passport, an enrolment record of the High Court and a reception given in honour of the Quaid where Mr Hatim Alvi, the then mayor, mentioned his birthplace as Karachi. Mr Aziz has failed to appreciate the fact that at that time the entire district of Thatta was part of Karachi district, and mentioning Karachi as the birthplace of the Quaid was apparently in a broader perspective. Moreover, the town of Jherruk remained uncontested as the birthplace till 1958 when the martial law authorities one morning by an edict changed it to Karachi,
In a letter, “Quaid’s birthplace” (May 19, 1996), Mr Manzoor Hussain Kureshi had suggested the need to sift facts from fiction to arrive at a consensus. If a body of scholars and educationists is formed to examine all relevant records, with a mandate to visit Jherruk and meet local notables, there is a possibility of finally settling the issue.
DR ALI AKBAR M. DHAKAN
Chairman, Sindh Development Foundation
Karachi
I DON’T recall the last time I stopped at a traffic signal and I was not confronted by one or more persons waving and thumping hard on the car windows to get my attention and seek money. In the end, I am almost blackmailed into opening my window and wallet. I realize that I am doing more harm than good by extending help to the suppliants. On one hand, it is an act of kindness which may get them through one day and, on the other, it rewards them for begging. Therefore, drastic measures have to be taken on a long-term basis to combat the problem.
Previous efforts of the government have failed and in recent years number of beggars has increased dramatically. We are relentlessly pursued by them in every nook and corner. If they can invest so much time and energy in this profession, they can certainly put the same effort in something constructive. All they need is proper guidance and support to get out of this life of failure and misery.
As a first step, the government should address the issues of illiteracy and unemployment more seriously, and then explore other avenues for these underprivileged members of our society. For this, we should aim at setting up training camps and providing them with proper incentives to work. Also, the numerous NGOs which work diligently for the advancement of humanity should set up shelters, educate the beggars’ children and help them to be self-sufficient. We, as a society need to come up with a plan that takes beggars off from the roads, and places them in a more productive environment.
R. M. ISMAIL
Karachi
ROBBERS have lately been having a field day in ‘N’ Block of North Nazimabad, Karachi. A gang of three or four sturdy persons trawls the area in a car or on bikes, which are then parked on the main road or streets.
They ring the door-bell to ask for a random address in the locality and when the door opens, they storm in and take the inmates by surprise. The inmates are threatened if they fail to hand over valuables.
Even wristwatches, clothes, mobile phones with chargers, cameras, transistors and other small electric gadgets are taken away. In some cases, iron grilles are also cut and low walls are scaled to get into and have the door opened for their fellow-robbers. Robberies are committed not only at night but even in broad daylight when most menfolk are out at work. The residents of street Nos. 6, 8 and 13 (west) feel most insecure.
Robberies committed recently have not been reported to the police because of the threats given by the robbers.
Now the residents of these streets have decided to hire private guards and pay a hefty amount of Rs8,000 a month. They have also fixed a barrier on both corners of the street.
If the residents ultimately feel the need to hire private security guards, then what is the duty of the police and the city government? What role do they play for the protection and security of the citizens?
HIRA ANWAR
Karachi
ON a trip to Lahore, two of my friends and I decided to have lunch at a popular modern-looking restaurant. As we were about to enter, we saw four metal plates hanging outside the door. One said: “No servants or maids allowed.” I could feel the blood rushing to my face upon reading the rude statement, but wasn’t sure how to address the issue. I decided to request an explanation from the management, because as a Pakistani and more importantly as a Muslim who believes in equality I could not dine at that place until I knew why that sign was up there.
Once inside the restaurant, I asked one of the staff members the reason for the condescending sign that was no better than colonial signs such as “No dogs or Indians allowed”. The man who I spoke to said: “People bring their maids and servants here, and they themselves don’t allow them to sit at the same table.” He went on to explain that servants often loitered around the restaurant, and on one occasion someone had stolen a guest’s cellphone. Also they were mostly not appropriately dressed for the place.
After all, he did have a point. If people cannot be civil enough to allow those who work for them to have a seat at the same table, how can one expect a restaurant to babysit someone else’s staff? But then, anything can be justified with a few clever explanations. It is true that many people are awful to their servants, but that’s no justification for a restaurant excluding someone on an arbitrary basis. If they are having a problem with people loitering on the premises, can’t they take steps to prevent it?
Later that week I found out that the golf club in Karachi has exactly the same sign up. In fact a friend of mine told me that she had seen a couple come in with their servant who was then asked to remain outside.
How can we as Pakistanis allow elitism to take over to such an extent that we feel free to put in writing who can and cannot enter a restaurant? After all, some of those people who go to such places are scruffily dressed as servants. However, they are still eligible to enter because they have the cash. I am sure there are teenagers who are kleptomaniacs or steal other people’s cellphones for fun, but based on their social standing these youngsters are allowed into restaurants.
If any of us look at such a sign, and feel the same way as I do about it, then it would be a shame if we don’t make at least some form of protest.
FALAK MADHANI
Via email
ON March 15 I visited the Court for Narcotics Suppression No. 1 for the 50th time and in the process celebrated the golden jubilee of appearances in a single court in a single case and still returned empty-handed. I am not the exception. There are hundreds of prisoners visiting trial courts for years and are still unable to get justice.
I have been in jail since Oct 29, 2002, and so far the complainant has failed to prove charges levelled against me in the FIR.
I appeal to the chief justice of the Sindh high Court to order an inquiry into my case No. DEC/049/2002 with CNS Special Court No.1 and fix responsibility for the undue delay in deciding my case.
MOHAMMAD IQBAL
Under-trial prisoner,
Karachi Central Prison, Karachi
A LARGE number of plot owners in Sector 4-A of the Quetta Town Cooperative Housing Society (KDA Scheme 33, Super Highway, Karachi) are denied an opportunity to build their houses right now because sector 4-A of the society has been encroached upon.
The most affected are returning expatriates and overseas Pakistanis who want to invest their money as early as possible so that they can have their own homes. A year back a task force was formed to get the encroachments vacated but no result has come to the fore as yet. The other day the Sindh governor issued orders for removal of all encroachments in Scheme 33 by April 15 but things do not seem to be moving. Those in possession appear to be well-entrenched.
M. A. ULLAH
Madinah
(On visit to Karachi)
MY mother, Parveen Akhtar Chaudhary, served as a professor of chemistry at the Government College of Education, F. B. Area, Karachi, for 25 years. She retired from this post on Oct 10, 2002. Till date she has not received a single penny to her name as pension, gratuity, GP fund and even six months’ pay after retirement.
Her files have been moved from department to department across numerous bureaucratic layers, and corrupt clerks demand their own piece of flesh in expediting the process. More than two years have passed and she is now chronically depressed and emotionally distraught.
Is there anyone who can solve my mother’s case?
TAIMUR RAJPUT
Karachi
MR Iqbal Haider’s article “‘Enlightened moderation’ and the right” (March 29) gives an excellent assessment of how the government is now caving in to the most unreasonable demands of fundamentalists who represent barely 15 per cent of public opinion. The reason why this is happening is also fairly obvious. The intention is to impress upon our American friends the present government stands today as the only effective bulwark against the rising tide of anti- American opinion in this country.
Although it may even be much ado about nothing (like the religion column in passports), the larger the crowd — mostly only curious passersby — the more impressed the gullible Americans become. This is what our religious leaders are planning to and are doing. The government is not likely to stop them. But a continuing policy of acquiescence can soon become counter-productive and the government would do well if, even now, the matter concerning inscribing the holder’s religion in his passport and proclaiming him (or her) as belonging to an “Islamic” republic is put to a vote in parliament where a comfortable government majority could still restore sanity in a matter of vital public importance.
S. ASIF MAJEED
Karachi
THIS is with reference to a news item on the draft labour policy published in newspapers. The draft policy has recognized employers’ right on many issues. But what about employees’ rights?
At present thousands of employment-related cases are pending in services tribunal, in many lower courts, high courts and the Supreme Court. Hundreds of cases are initiated daily.
In most of the cases, a lot of time and energy is required to establish the jurisdiction of the courts and the legal standing of the employees as well as of the organizations hiring these employees.
In most cases, indirect references and interpretations are used from various other labour-related enactments over and over again to establish the correct status. In this process almost everyone forgets that in certain cases not only one person but a whole family and dependants face difficulties and hardships.
It is, therefore, only proper that a comprehensive employment policy delineating rights and duties of both corporate employers and employees should be formulated and put into practice.
SYED SAYEF HUSSAIN
Islamabad
COMMERCIAL banks are charging Rs100 on each withdrawal and repayment of loans and advances under the State Bank of Pakistan’s schedule of charges. Loans and advances are not only granted on huge mark-ups but also involve many other penalties and hidden charges. Any fee or charge on withdrawals and repayments is absolutely unjustified and directly hits the borrowers who face numerous challenges and financial hardship while repaying loans. The State Bank is requested to do away with such charges as was done in the case of the stamp duty on cheques.
MUMTAZ
Karachi
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