| 7 April, 2005 | Thursday | 27 Safar 1426 |
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Tribal feud in Sindh
Role of army
Abolishing Durand Line
Tribute to Pope
Pollution in Karachi
Financing of cars
aJobs for special persons
Security guards
Mai Kolachi bypass
THIS has reference to the letter “Quaid’s birthplace” (March 26). As I had decided not to write on Jherruk, my native place, both as the birthplace of the Quaid and the seat of Aga Khan I, I had handed over all clippings of letters, articles, etc, on the two subjects to my younger brother in London who has added to it from the British government’s record of the role of Aga Khan I in the politics of Iran and his shifting from Mumbai to Kolkata at the request of the British representative in Iran.
My paternal stepgrandmother was from the Poonja family of the Quaid. The last of her children, M. Asghar Haji, over 80, died last year.
Jherruk was the first port of ocean ships and river boats. Mr Hasan Ali Effendi, the founder of Sindh Madressah, was employed at the port.
Although a railway line was constructed from Karachi to Kotri, people travelled by train up to Meting Station and went further to Jherruk in comfortable bullock carts.
The residents of the Ismaili community (Poonja and mine) in Kharadar considered the saline air of the sea unsuitable for recovery after illness or childbirth.
The ladies of the community spent a short period in Garden East and West areas where there were fields on the two banks of the Lyari river (Lalukhet). The others chose to go to Jherruk.
A letter of sanction of leave to my youngest uncle by the officer commanding in March 1919 indicates that the family house in Jherruk was still being used by the ladies of Poonja and my family. The Quaid was born in Karachi and may have gone to Jherruk as a child with his mother.
The spot now being pointed out to visitors as the site of the Poonja family house is, in fact, the site of the house of the Aga Khan I’s wazir.
Karachi district extended up to the right bank of the river Indus, including Jherruk and Thatta, before 1947. Record of localities outside the limits of the KMC was maintained in the office of the Karachi district local board, constructed at the site of the bungalow of the veterinary surgeon which was taken over by Radio Pakistan. The records were shifted to Thatta district when Karachi district was divided. These records should be searched, or information collected from the relatives of the Quaid should be taken as final and authentic. H. A. HAJI
Karachi
(II)
AN unnecessary and futile controversy is being raised with regard to the birthplace of the Quaid-i-Azam.
Mr Qutubuddin Aziz in his letter (March 26) made a reference to the welcome civic reception given to Mr M. A. Jinnah by the Karachi Municipal Corporation in which my late father, Mr Hatim Alavi, as the mayor of Karachi presented a welcome address. Mr Aziz has rightly made a reference to the mayor’s address but in reply , Mr Jinnah reconfirmed his birthplace to be Karachi. I am sure the KMC record would prove that the Quaid-i-Azam confirmed his birthplace to be Karachi and not Jherruk.
At the time when the Sindh Assembly adopted a similar resolution, I wrote to the then governor of Sindh, Lt-Gen (retd) Moinuddin Haider, making a reference to this speech of Mr Jinnah and requested that necessary amendment be made keeping in view the Quaid’s own confirmation of his birthplace.
May I urge all those raising this controversy to please spare Mr Jinnah and accept his birthplace as Karachi? Dr Dhakan (April 3) in his observation has mentioned that there is no documentary evidence to establish the Quaid’s birthplace. Knowing the Quaid and his disciplined personality he would not make any misdeclaration in his passport, which states Karachi as his birthplace.
I hope this controversy will end and Karachi will be accepted as his birthplace.
MAHER ALAVI
Karachi
IN the rural areas of Sukkur and Shikarpur, two dominant tribes of the Mehars and Jatois are fighting a battle to defeat each other. The vendetta started during 1988-89 on a piece of land. the battling tribes enjoyed good relations prior to this. So far the feud has claimed as many as 168 lives and injured many. As villages of the two tribes are adjacent and fall on the road connecting major cities of the area like Larkana, Sukkur, Shikarpur and Jacobabad, the people from these areas face constant hardships.
Every now and then armed people come out on the road and stop the flow of traffic for hours.
The law-enforcers who have never played any role in stopping the feud run their vehicles on the sides and humbly negotiate with the tribesmen to lift their blockades.
As both tribes are headed by politicians now sitting on the treasury benches and enjoy the trust of the government, it has become difficult for the law-enforcers to deal sternly with the matter.
Armed bands are maintained by the villagers to contain the fighting. But these armed bands resort to robberies and kidnapping for ransom.
The situation has affected all sections of the people, specially students, teachers and health providers.
It is the responsibility of the provincial and federal governments to exert their influence on the tribal chiefs to settle the dispute and address the root-cause of the problems.
Also, district authorities should be given powers to strictly deal with the persons who have continuously put lives of the common people at risk.
RAZA NAREJO
Karachi
THE Command and Staff College Quetta supplement (Dawn, March 30) made interesting reading. It took me back to the early ‘50s when I was a young policeman in Balochistan. The Staff College’s “wise owl” emblem still had an imperial crown on it and I still wore one on my uniform since Pakistan had yet to become a republic. The college was commanded by Maj-Gen Tilly.
My boss, an Englishman named R. G. Mellor, and I were sitting in the Quetta Club downing a frothy when in walked Gen Tilly who gave us a lecture on civil and military relations. In his opinion the army and the civil never really mix, since they have hardly anything in common”.
It certainly seems a very far cry from those days, now that almost every important civilian job is manned by either an active or retired army officer.
It may be an unkind cut, but a friend of mine jokingly remarked that they are all over the place. Turn a brick and what do you find? — even the ants are wearing khaki. Yes indeed there are plenty of square pegs fitted into round holes.
But to be fair, credit must be given where it is due. The army is by and large making a really good job of it.
The danger, of course, lies in the fact (and this is becoming more obvious by the day) that the cancer of corruption is spreading far too rapidly to be controlled by the higher echelons of the army.
Corruption, politics and the running of a civilian government are always best left to parliament and elected politicians.
S. ASIF MAJEED
Karachi
THIS refers to the news item “Nationalists call for abolition of Durand Line” (March 31). The Durand Line is a cartographic division of frontiers between Pakistan and its neighbours in the northwest. It has many dimensions under international law and cannot be scrapped without the consent of those of our neighbours affected by the Durand Line. When the British Indian government granted independence and sovereignty to the newly-born state of Pakistan in August 1947 and Pakistan obtained membership of the United Nations, the then cartographic delineation of Pakistan was accepted by the UN as the geographic composition and set-up of the new state of Pakistan.
If Pakistan unilaterally wants its geographic dimension and its borders to be delineated anew, as the unilateral abrogation of the Durand Line would imply, Pakistan should not allow a new minefield of difficulties and problems to be created.
Pakistan should consult the world’s best firms in international law before even thinking of accepting the proposal from some uninformed circles in Peshawar.
Unilaterally changing a country’s old internationally accepted borders is not an easy task. It should be carefully examined in the context of all conceivable implications. Pakistan is bedevilled with many problems and it seems a bit silly to trigger the birth of new problems and hazards for our already harried state.
QUTUBUDDIN AZIZ
Karachi
POPE John Paul II was the third longest-serving pope in history, the first non-Italian since 1952, and the first Slavic pope. In his message for the 2004 World Day of Peace he had said: “Today men and women, in the face of the tragedies that continue to afflict humanity, are tempted to yield to fatalism, as if peace were unattainable….” The Pope further said: “Peace remains possible. And if peace is possible, it is also a duty.” He also said that “war is not our fate. We must not be resigned as though war were inevitable”.
On March 16, 2003, while a meeting in preparation for the invasion of Iraq took place in the Azores Islands between the United States, Britain, Spain and Portugal, the Pope said, “I say to all: There is still time to negotiate; there is still room for peace; it is never too late to come to an understanding and to continue discussions. To reflect on one’s duties, to engage in energetic negotiations does not mean to be humiliated but to work with responsibility for peace.”
Pope John Paul II will always be remembered by all peace-loving citizens in the world, wherever they live, whichever religion they practice, for his contribution towards global peace.
SYED A. MATEEN
Karachi
THIS refers to a news item (March 15) according to which the Punjab provincial government, after the reinforcement of helmet law, is going to launch a campaign to control hydrocarbon-based pollution. The city of Karachi also needs steps to control pollution which is increasing because of the ever rising number of vehicles on the roads. Many NGOs and other organizations are working on it but no improvement is in sight.
According to studies, Karachi was designed for one million people, then re-planned in the 1980s for six million; today the population is 14 million, and increasing. Air pollution in Karachi is estimated to be 20 times higher than the maximum levels recommended by the World Health Organization.
In Pakistan increasing prosperity and population growth have resulted in accelerated growth in the number of vehicles and vehicle kilometres travelled. The road length which was about 94,000km in 1980-81 increased to 232,000 in 1997-98, indicating an overall increase of 147 per cent over 1980. Section II, subsection (I) of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997 (PEPA-97) strictly prohibits discharge or emission of any air pollutant in an amount, concentration or level of which is in excess of the NEQS. Also, PEPA-97 section 15, subsections 1 to 3 clarify regulation of motor vehicles.
But the reality is something different, and bitter. According to the latest (2005) initial findings of the Karachi city’s air quality assessment being carried out by Suparco, there has been an almost 100 per cent increase in carbon monoxide in last six years. The per million molecules prevalence of carbon monoxide (CO) in the ambient air of Liaquatabad has risen to 13-14 as compared to the 1998 study which showed the level at 5-6 ppm molecules. The threshold limit is 10 ppm.
In addition to that, initial data collection at two of the busiest Sharea Pakistan traffic sections and Karimabad Chowrangi confirmed 13-14 ppm of carbon monoxide in air samples.
To tackle this situation, strict periodic testing of vehicles for emissions and subsequent penalization in case of non- compliance is required.
Extensive work is also required to promote the usage of CNG in autorickshaws through motivation and incentive schemes by the government.
Further, promotions of CNG at a frozen price and improvement in traffic management are some other measures which have to be taken without any delay.
A piece of information for Karachiites: according to studies carried out in Malaysia and Pakistan, Vitamin C, if taken in regular doses, has the potential to reduce accumulated lead from the human body.
RASHID ASHRAF
Karachi
THERE is an increasing trend for car leasing/financing by all major banks. People are so eager to get new cars that they don’t bother to read the terms and conditions of the agreement which they sign.
I had an occasion to examine an agreement offered by a bank duly cleared by its legal department where there is no provision of transfer of the car in the name of the lessee after the expiry of the lease term or payment of the lease amount as per the laid-down schedule by the bank.
On the contrary, the agreement contemplates that
upon expiry of the lease agreement the lessee would return the car to the bank which would refund the security deposit.
All intended lessees are reminded in their own interest to get this clarified from the bank before signing the agreement.
The State Bank of Pakistan should also take immediate notice of this so as to protect the people from any complication at a later stage. Bank high-ups are also requested to look into the matter and rectify the error.
ANEES QAMAR
Karachi
RECENTLY some handicapped people held a hunger strike outside the Karachi Press Club, urging the government to provide them with jobs.
Special persons are also an important part of society, but unfortunately our government and society have little or no consideration for them. Owing to this they have to face a lot of problems.
Although some of the special persons are highly qualified, they find it difficult to get jobs in private or public sector organizations. In the long run, they lose hope and stop struggling anymore.
Special persons are like normal human beings. They have their own needs, to fulfil which they want to earn and be a part of a respectable profession.
It is commonly observed that special persons belonging to a lower class or community are treated badly when they go out for choose an honourable way of earning.
Their attempts often prove futile and willy-nilly they take to begging.
The government has allocated only two per cent seats for them in private and public sector organizations, but even this is not implemented.
To provide a honourable livelihood to special persons, the government should make allout efforts to strictly implement the law and punish those organizations that don’t want to accommodate them.
SUFIA NOORUDDIN
Karachi
I FULLY back Syed A. Mateen (April 1) that with extremely low wages, 12-hour working days and with no medical facilities, if a security guard does not become a robber, then who else will be? Moreover, this is a uniformed job, but shockingly guards are not provided with proper outfits. Being a resident of Bath Island, Karachi, I am a regular witness to the way in which security companies treat their guards / employees.
In the early mornings and at sunsets the old and ill-maintained vehicles of one such security company, unworthy of plying on the road, polluting the environment of the area, carry their guards to the far end of Street No. 1 facing the railway for handing/taking over of duties. The most depressing scene is when the guards take off their uniforms and hand them over to the men coming on duty who put on the same outfit on the road in the presence of passersby.
There must be some authority or agency which not only regulate the functioning of the mushrooming security companies but also look after the well-being of their employees/ guards on whose services they are thriving.
ALTAMASH MANZOOR
H. KURESHI
Karachi
THIS has reference to the letter “Mai Kolachi bypass” (April 2). The project of widening and reconstruction of the Mai Kolachi bypass and Khayaban-i-Saadi, Khayaban-i-Roomi and Khayaban-i-Jami roads in Karachi have been awarded to the Frontier Works Organization.
In order to reconstruct the roads, we create diversion for the normal flow of traffic. So, the old service road on Mai Kolachi was carpeted for the purpose of diversion only to take the traffic for a few months.
The road under discussion is basically a diversion road which will become redundant after the project is completed. Therefore, it does not possess a proper sub-base or base aggregate layer to sustain a heavy traffic load, and needs to be repaired frequently. It has nothing to do with the quality of work being done by the FWO.
LT-COL AKHTAR ZAMAN FWO,
Karachi
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