| 6, April 2005 | Wednesday | 26 Safar 1426 |
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Wake-up call
Academic’s visa
Hydro-electric power
Where are the tickets?
Problems of Muslims
Shifting ICC to Dubai
Expatriates’ role
Bullets from Pakistan
‘Jhuggi’ hotels
INSTEAD of buying F-16s from America at $25-million each —- escalating the levels of military terror in the region —- Pakistan and India would be better off spending the money to build a more harmonious relationship. What if the two neighbours exchanged tens of thousands of students, humanitarian aid workers, religious leaders, and government officials? In that way, Indians and Pakistanis would learn to walk in each other’s shoes, to recognize they are walking the same road in life, carrying similar burdens.
By rejecting President Bush’s offer, Pakistan and India would do America a favour. That’s because the F-16 manufacturer, located in Mr Bush’s home state, would have to lay off thousands of workers. People who earn their living making machines of death will sleep better once they find peaceful jobs. The US must turn away from military responses to complicated political and social problems.
America has become the new warfare state. It has engaged in most wars in the last half century; it is the largest armaments manufacturer in the world; it is the number one armsseller on the planet; it spends more on its military than all other nations combined; it operates the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal; and it is the principal practitioner of torture in the world — a clear signal it has lost its soul.
Instead of buying warplanes made in America, the peoples of India and Pakistan could unite to boycott American products to protest the illegal and deadly war President Bush has inflicted upon Iraq. Don’t buy anything from America, especially weapons that kill your neighbours’ children, because they are your children, too.
SHERWOOD ROSS
Founder, League For Nonviolent Solutions
Florida, USA
(II)
PAKISTAN is a friend of the US, not its strategic partner; India is. Friends are usually accommodating and are content with what is given to them, partners are demanding. This is what is happening in the Pakistan-India context. As we rejoice over the offer of the F-16s (still to be ratified by the US Congress), the US is trying to appease India by offering F-16s and a number of F-18s that will radically tilt the balance in India’s favour.
The peace process between the two nuclear rivals that was just gathering momentum will suffer a setback and a new arms race will ensue. It is hard to think that Washington is oblivious of its repercussions.
India is demanding transfer of technology and wants to develop indigenous capability to progressively manufacture 100 F- 16s out of the first consignment. As part of a long-term strategic partnership, India is seeking cooperation in advanced space technology and is negotiating the purchase of the Patriot missile system that will neutralize our missile capability.
The capability and weapon systems being offered to India are already in Israel’s possession. This gives a tangible shape to the US-Israel-India axis. Pakistan should not close its eyes to this development, particularly in the backdrop of the perception of an Islamic bomb which still lurks in some minds.
The US attitude towards Pakistan is making us believe that like always it has only a tactical interest in us. This interest hovers around the “war on terrorism” and is likely to wane with a reduction in its intensity. Where do we go from there?
Pakistan and India should seriously consider resolving their differences peacefully and calling a halt to the arms race. India must realize that it cannot become a world power merely by amassing a lethal arsenal.
As a major regional player,
it should first win the confidence of its neighbours and cultivate ties of friendship with them.
Can the leadership of Pakistan and India stand up, bury the hatchet, freeze defence expenditure at the current level and politely decline the US offer of defence sales to the two countries? This may surprise the world but will usher in a new era of friendship, mutual understanding, cooperation and development in this region. We will then be able to divert the money thus saved on the amelioration of the plight of millions of people living below the poverty line. We should be wise enough to know what is good for us. All right-thinking people should support this campaign.
LT-GEN (retd) S.M.H. BOKHARI
Rawalpindi
THIS refers to the news item “Kilimanjaro without snowcap after 11,000 years” (March 15). This is a wake-up call for the big polluters of the world like the US, China and India. The Kyoto protocol on reducing greenhouse gases came into force in February but is still shunned by the world’s biggest emitter, the United States (22.2 per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions). It puts low limits on China, a country rising fast up the ranks. Carbon dioxide emissions in North America grew by nearly 16 per cent between 1990 and 2000. President Bush’s rejection of the international treaty has not only drawn much criticism from the world media and EU governments, but also widened the rift in US-Europe relations.
On March 13 the world’s leading conservation group WWF revealed in its report that the Himalayan glaciers are receding at a very fast rate due to global warming, threatening water shortages for millions of people in China, India and Nepal. The Gangotri Glacier in India is also receding at an average rate of 23 metres a year, the report added. Melting of large ice-sheets in Antarctica and on Greenland was reported earlier.
In the US, the biggest polluters are the electric companies which burn enormous amounts of petroleum to provide electricity to American homes and, according to reports, the US will need between 1,300 and 1,900 new power plants over the next two decades.
The Bush administration turns its back on the challenge of the Kyoto protocol. The entire world is silent and nobody is brave enough to break the silence. It must be remembered that remaining neutral during such situations would imply remaining neutral between the aggressor and the victim.
RASHID ASHRAF
Karachi
AFTER about 30 years of service, I retired last year from the Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, as dean of the faculty of social sciences. A few months ago I received an invitation for a conference jointly organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies (ISS), Islamabad, and the Allama Iqbal chair at Cambridge University, which is to be held in April in the UK.
I submitted my passport and other necessary papers to the British high commission in Islamabad for a one-week visa. After about a month, the high commission returned my passport, with a note rejecting my request for a visa. The note, which is written in the first person without any name and signatures, also specifies that I do not enjoy the right of appeal, though it does not debar me from applying again. But, of course, this has to be done after paying the requisite fee. Four grounds have been for the refusal.
First, the high commission contends that my “arrangements for attending the conference are at best vague”. I do not think that the arrangements are vague. The ISS letter clearly states that “(t)he Institute will cover international travel, while local hospitality at Cambridge will be taken care of by the Allama Iqbal Chair”. Since the ISS has issued letters with the same language to several Pakistani academics invited to the conference, I wonder why this objection has been raised only in my case.
Second, the high commission that it is not satisfied about the business/employment claimed by me. It does not behove the high commission to make an unsubstantiated charge against anybody. It would have been more appropriate for it to call up the law firm where I have been working since my retirement.
Third, it is said that “(t)he cost of the trip is not commensurate with the benefits to be gained and there is no indication as to who is paying for the trip”. The first part of the observation is funny because the high commission is trying to measure academic benefits in economic terms. I was planning to go for an academic seminar and not a business trip. The ISS letter unambiguously states that it would pay for international travel while the local hospitality would be borne by the Allama Iqbal chair at the Cambridge University.
Finally, the high commission says: “You have not submitted any evidence that you have sufficiently strong family, social or economic ties to Pakistan to ensure that you intend to leave the UK on completion of your visit”. This appears to be the most unkindest cut of all because it implies that I might become an illegal immigrant.
PROF IJAZ HUSSAIN
Via email
THIS refers to Mr Latif Qureshi’s letter “Hydro-electric power” (March 9). I endorse the views of the writer that hydroelectric plants in the public/private sectors are the only alternative to costly energy. Pakistan and Azad Kashmir are full of rivers and natural water resources through which electricity can be produced and even sold to India, Iran and Afghanistan at low rates as the hydro-electric system is the cheapest way to generate energy. Pakistan and Azad Kashmir, including the Northern Areas, have the potential to produce 50,000 MW power through hydroelectricity.
Azad Kashmir alone has the capacity to produce 30,000 MW electricity through hydroelectric projects and has enough water resources to produce power for about 50 years.
Recently, Azad Kashmir announced a plan to establish seven hydroelectric projects in the private sector to be set-up at a cost of two billion dollars. These projects can together produce 1,800 MW electricity — Munda hydel project (740 MW), Kohala hydel project (600 MW), Rajahni project (132 MW), Kotli hydro-project (97 MW), Matlinaz hydro-project (84 MW), Gulpur hydro-electric project (60 MW) and Laraeb Energy Limited’s hydel project near Mangla (79 MW). Laraeb Energy Ltd., a hydro-project, will be completed in 2006 in the private sector with an investment of $100 million and the AJK government will earn Rs65 million per annum from it.
Pakistan and Azad Kashmir can use water and river resources for an industrial revolution by setting up hydro-electric projects.
SAALIM SALAM ANSARI
Karachi
as TWO Pakistan-India one-dayers are gone; four are left. But there seems to be no information even now on when, where and how fans in Pakistan can purchase tickets for the one-day series. The way the Indian high commission in Islamabad has dealt with the matter has not helped. Instead of accepting receipts for tickets, the high commission staff are insisting that visa applications to watch any cricket match must have the actual ticket. This was not the case last year when the Indian team toured Pakistan and fans wanting to visit Pakistan were issued visas on the basis of a receipt. In fact, at that time, and to its credit, the Pakistan Cricket Board had placed a sizable chunk of the tickets for sale on the Internet, something that had obviously greatly helped fans both in Pakistan and especially in India.
The number of Pakistani fans who saw the first Test in Mohali was supposed to be around 5,000 but in the end it transpired that around 3,000 were able to obtain visas and a good number of the tickets were returned by the PCB to the Indian board. The second and third Tests, perhaps because of distance and unavailability of direct flights to either Kolkata or Bangalore from any city in Pakistan, saw only a handful of Pakistani fans in attendance. The fact that the Indian high commission was offering visas only for one particular match might also be a disincentive to fans since the visa holder is expected to return to this country the day after the match ends.
Whatever the case might be, the Indian Cricket Board has to be a bit more forceful with the respective cricket associations hosting the next one-day matches. The local cricket associations provide tickets to the Indian board which will in turn provide them to the PCB for sale in Pakistan. But when that will happen remains to be seen.
And it’s not as if the PCB hasn’t brought this to the notice of its Indian counterpart. According to several Indian newspaper reports, PCB chief Shaharyar Khan was quite unhappy with what he called the “frustrating” delay in issuing tickets to Pakistani fans for the one-day series. For the last match in New Delhi the PCB has reportedly sought 5,000 tickets (compare this with the 8,000 tickets the Indian board was provided for the Lahore ODI last year).
Mr Khan told the Indian Express that the PCB had asked the Indian high commission in Islamabad to give visas to fans even if they had not yet bought their actual tickets so that they could at least travel to India. What has or will become of that request however remains to be seen. He had also said that local cricket associations hosting the various matches should have given the tickets “at least 10 days in advance” but this has not happened either, much to the chagrin of cricket fans in Pakistan.
According to the PCB, in the case of the Bangalore Test, the Karnataka State Cricket Association had delayed things to such an extent that the PCB had to send one of its own officials to Bangalore to bring the tickets to Pakistan. the PCB chief said they had “repeatedly” asked the Delhi and District Cricket Association (hosting the last ODI in New Delhi on April 17) for tickets to accommodate 5,000 fans from Pakistan but the request had yet to be honoured.
For followers of the game in Pakistan, nothing can be a more mouth-watering prospect than an ODI series between arch-rivals India and Pakistan. And there are many who, provided that they can get visas on time, will want to make the trip to India. One can only hope that the Indian board is able to impress upon the various cricket associations hosting the remaining one-day matches to act with the same promptness and efficiency so fans this side of the border can watch cricket.
A CRICKET FAN
Karachi
THERE are about 200 independent states in the world. Among them more than 60 are Islamic countries. Islam is the second largest religion in the world. But the Islamic community is helpless, and beset by crises. The non-Muslim nations consider them to be fundamentalists. There are many problems before the UN. But only those which concern non-Muslims are picked. East Timor was granted freedom within no time because they were non-Muslims. Serbs and Croats were helped for similar
reasons. On the other hand,
the Chechens are being ignored. Chechen leader Maskhadov was killed in broad daylight. The Russian government celebrated this murder while the West and the UN kept silent. It is this disparity, this double dealing that has created many serious problems for the world. This is the answer to the US president’s question: “Why people hate us?”
Worldwide there is a movement to eradicate injustice, illiteracy and poverty as the UN has declared these as its millennium objectives. Are these objectives only relevant for non-Muslims?
Ignoring Muslims would only breed contempt and this would result in a clash of civilizations.
M. AKRAM SAQIB
Sahiwal
THE headquarters of the International Cricket Council (ICC), located at Lord’s cricket ground, London, since its establishment in 1909 are likely to shift to Dubai shortly. The move is necessitated by the ICC’s inability to pay corporate taxes imposed by the British government. On account of the British government’s taxation policy and attitude towards sports bodies, rugby moved to Ireland, athletics to Monaco, table tennis to Switzerland, badminton to Malaysia and now cricket is packing up for Dubai.
The ICC has a budget of only $10 million, peanuts by today’s standards, especially when the body has to provide development funds to countries where the game is still in its infancy. One wonders why the authorities do not realize that sports bodies are not commercial organizations. Their funds are spent on development of sports, building stadiums, holding sports competitions, providing training to sportsmen and, most important of all, looking after their welfare. These bodies which have scores of people working in an honorary capacity should not be subjected to taxation.
The shifting of the ICC from London will shatter the traditions of the game and may also cause a setback to it. Considering the atmosphere, Dubai is not the right place for the ICC.
RAFI NASIM
Lahore
THIS has reference to Mr Shahid Javed Burki’s article “Expatriate’s economic role” (March 29). I do not subscribe to his view when he says that “like the Jews, the Chinese and some Indians and some Pakistanis are also naturally diasporic people”. Historically speaking, the only community which can be called “diasporic” is the Jew as the word diaspora itself was coined when the Jews were scattered outside Palestine after abylonian captivity during the seventh century BC. The city of Babylon was destroyed by the Assyrians in 689 BC. The rest of the groups of people which Mr Burki has mentioned in his article had, in most cases, left their native lands voluntarily in search of green pastures out of economic expediency. They, therefore, hardly qualify for the definition.
MANZOOR H. KURESHI
Karachi
I ENDORSE the concern expressed by Mr Khalid M. Khan in his letter “Bullets from Pakistan” (March 22), pertaining to the USA plan to buy bullets in a huge quantity from Taiwan. Our global relationship is cordial in general, and more significant with many, especially the US, China , Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Sri Lanka and the Central Asian republics.
Why do Taiwan and other armament producers exercise aggressive sales promotion efforts while concerns in Pakistan do not? What have been the country-wise market participation, production and product contribution of the Pakistan Ordnance Factory in Wah during the last three years? What short and long term plans have been drawn as part of a customer development strategy?
Our diplomatic channels will have to play a more positive and resulted-oriented role.
M. J. NASAR
Karachi
THIS is to draw the attention of Karachi city district government towards the unethical environment found in “jhuggi hotels” around the city.The unorganized and temporarily located hotels display prohibited cable channels. Teenagers are being provided quite secure places to waste their leisure time. Many boys run away from their schools and spend their time smoking, eating and watching cable channels.
These hotels provide a great place for anti-social elements. They also try to attract kids to join gangs. Drug sellers also get an opportunity to sell their drugs to a captive audience.
MUHAMMAD ZEESHAN
Karachi
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