| May 29, 2005 | Sunday | Rabi-us-Sani 20, 1426 |
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Destruction of mango trees
Encroachments and ‘bhatta’
Tax evasion in Pakistan
‘Kashmir struggle’
Closure of roads
Bari Imam blast
‘Taj Mahal’
Remembering Martin Lings
An exemplary case
EOBI pension
THIS is with regard to the news item that Pakistan has requested the US for the purchase of 86 F-16 fighters (Dawn, May 27). This is an extremely disturbing news for most well-wishers of Pakistan, for it means that we are well on our way to repeating previous disasters.
It’s not just the Americans who are surprised at the “magnitude of the PAF order” but all well-wishers of Pakistan and the PAF, as well as all neutral experts.
In 1960, the PAF spent scarce funds on purchasing F-104 Starfighters which were the most expensive planes of the day merely out of the need to “feel good”, although they would make no difference against the three times larger Indian air force. The planes had to be retired in a mere span of 12 years as the Americans imposed sanctions on Pakistan after the 1965 war . We pleaded and begged the US to supply us the spare parts for these planes, for the F-104s were spare-parts guzzlers.
Then we tried cannibalizing to keep the F-104 fleet afloat but in the end we had to retire these planes and opt for the “less glamorous” Chinese F-6 fighters as the mainstay of our air defence. We were the first users of the F-104s to retire them, even before the USAF. Other buyers of the F-104s continued to use them for decades more. The official historians and commentators of the PAF have spent ink by the ton narrating this sad story of betrayal. The sole surviving F-104s can still be seen in the PAF museum in Karachi .
After this incident, one hoped that we would have learnt our lesson. But no, we didn’t. In 1990, the Americans slapped sanctions on us and declared that the US would not honour its deal with Pakistan to supply it 71 F-16s. But strangely we kept paying them for the F-16s they had refused to supply. And we kept doing so until we had paid them US$658 million.
Forget the 71 F-16s; the US refused to supply basic spare parts for the F16s we previously had and at one stage we had to ground the entire fleet. This is revealed in the official history of the PAF itself. But apparently the Pressler sanctions had a positive consequence. For, the PAF had to come up for the first time with numerous innovative low-cost but highly effective solutions to meet Pakistan’s air defence needs. Instead of blowing up several billion dollars on purchasing a few (F-16 substitutes) Mirage 2000s that the PAF was interested in, it bought hundreds of medium-tech Mirage 3-5 and Chinese F7s and had them thoroughly upgraded with modern avionics at a fraction of the cost of Mirage 2000s. And, also for the first time, the PAF had to give some serious thought to indigenization. It spent billions of rupees on joint projects with China for developing the K-8 trainer jet and the Super-7 fighter. There were savings in billions of dollars by following the “innovative route”, for the PAF’s arms purchase expenditure during the last 15 years were almost the same as that of the Pakistan Navy.
But all this is now under threat as the US has lifted the ban on the sale of F-16s. If we buy F-16s from the US on a scale that the news item reported, then we are going to be beholden to the US for the next three decades. The F-16s consume a huge quantity of spare parts and once we buy 86 F16s we will be throwing away efforts of more than a decade to diversify and indigenize.
SHAHBAZ KHAN GHURKI
Lahore
ACCORDING to a news item, 10 per cent of mango trees have been destroyed this year due to a disease in which six fungi and one bacterium have been reported (Dawn, May 21). A review of literature would reveal that these fungal and bacterial diseases have been reported separately and at times together, causing the disease complex from time to time in the subcontinent.
The most dangerous parasite or pest or a pertinent reason for the sudden death of mango trees like the sudden death of “shisham” trees reported to occur during last two to three years in Pakistan has not as yet been found out.
Plant gum is produced naturally by many species of forest trees and horticultural (fruit-bearing) plants. The gum can be extracted by making a scar with a knife on tree trunks. Gum can automatically come out when the tissues of a tree trunk are in an advanced stage of pathogenesis caused by a parasite.
Many fungi subsequently grow in the necrotic tissues of the affected tree trunk, and beetles in search of food enter the cracks and crevices of the bark in the diseased tree trunks. The dying trees show many diseased symptoms; yellowing and drooping of leaves invariably occur even when only the roots are affected. I have seen gum oozing out from the cracks on barks of stems and buttresses of roots in heavily affected forest trees in East Africa. It was very difficult to pinpoint a primary causative parasite or pest in such circumstances.
It was good to know that the federal ministry of food, agriculture and livestock has formed a team of plant pathologists drawn from the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council to diagnose the causative organism(s) or reason responsible for the sudden death of mango trees, leading to measures to stop the recurrence of disease. A standing team of plant pathologists should be formed to look after the health of plants of economic importance on a regular basis with the facility of plant disease forecasting for the prevention of plant diseases. Prevention is better than cure.
DR M. JALALUDDIN
Adjunct Professor of Agriculture, University of Karachi
Karachi
ENCROACHMENTS in Block-17-18 of Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Karachi, under the Cantonment Board Faisal (CBF), are protected and patronized by certain unscrupulous elements in the authorities concerned. A day after each clean-up operation, all encroachers re-assemble, “possess” spaces on the service-road, footpaths, even on the main road and use it, denying passage to pedestrians, blocking traffic movement and creating an environmental mess in the area.
As one of the vendors confided, each encroacher (hawker/ vendor) is required to pay “bhatta” of Rs100-130 per day to the representatives of the “gang of land grabbers”, who actually maintain a formal register for making entries of “bhatta” collection, which is onwards delivered to some officials of the area police, CBF, CDGK and the KESC for “kunda” power supply, as per the share agreed upon.
Shops have extended their occupancy on the service road beyond their allotted space. From evening till late night all restaurants place their furniture, especially heavy tables for cooking and serving barbecue items, on service roads as well as on a large portion of the footpath outside their shops and various cabins have been permanently established on the service road/footpath. In addition, pick-up vans, mini-trucks, coasters and even big buses are permanently using and occupying large spaces on all service roads around “Jauhar Chowrangi” for 24-hour parking of their vehicles against payments of “bhatta” at the rate of Rs70-100 per vehicle to the same land-grabbers.
It is the duty of the CBF, collecting property tax from citizens, to provide a peaceful living environment in the residential area without encroachments. The governor of Sindh and the DG cantonment areas, Islamabad, are requested to intervene.
IFTIKHAR CHOUDHRY
Karachi
IT is unfortunate that Pakistan is among countries where incidence of tax evasion is very high. A report compiled by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) says that the Pakistan government is losing Rs314 billion in tax evasion. The government is hoping to collect more than the target of Rs580 billion by the end of this fiscal year. It was able to surpass this target last year as well. But an undocumented economy and the resultant tax losses continue to be a prominent feature.
How can a cigarette pack sell for Rs7 or even at a lower rate when a minimum of Rs8 is payable to the government in taxes and duties on each packet and the minimum price per pack is around Rs10? Is the manufacturer or the seller paying the tax as well as the extra cost from his pocket? There is nothing charitable about it. It is business and those involved in it are certainly in the trade to make profit.
How they ensure it is not hard to understand either. They do so by remaining out of the legal system of taxes and duties, do not pay a single penny and can offer their product in the market at extraordinarily low rates.
The government is losing a heavy amount of Rs8 billion annually due to tax evasion in the cigarette industry. This amount can play an important role in the development of our country. But due to small and illegal cigarette manufacturers we are not able to utilize this amount. One hopes the CBR would look into this matter and will take stern actions against tax evaders.
PROF ARFAT SAKANDAR
Lahore
WHAT can be more distressing than to find men of eminence such as Mr M.P. Bhandara going public with declarations on Kashmir that show not only a lack of familiarity with facts or how the United Nations works but a willingness — surely not intentional — to be entrapped by the half-truths that have been India’s stock-in-trade on Kashmir since it went back on the international agreement brought about by the mediation of the commission appointed by the UN Security Council. Let me briefly deal with Mr Bhandara’s latest (letter, May 22) on Kashmir.
He makes much of the fact that the Security Council resolutions on Kashmir were not passed under Chapter VII but Chapter VI of the UN Charter. Of course, those resolutions were passed under Chapter VI, and contrary to what he alleges, there is not a single instance where any Pakistani representative or government has claimed otherwise. But unlike most resolutions the Security Council, whether under Chapter VI or Chapter VII, passes, the Kashmir resolutions were negotiated with the parties by the United Nations Commission and formally accepted in writing by the governments of India and Pakistan. It was those resolutions — that we know as UNCIP resolutions — that brought about the cessation of fighting in Kashmir and created the Ceasefire Line. As such, they constitute a binding international agreement signed, sealed and delivered by the two governments.
Of course, these resolutions are not unalterable, but they can only be altered by mutual agreement. India has never approached the Security Council seeking an alteration. As such, it remains in violation of a solemn international agreement that it was a willing party to. I find telltale signs of lack of knowledge in your correspondent’s assertions as to how the UN works. It is not a function of the UN secretary-general to make a pronouncement on Security Council resolutions or offer a clarification. Only the Security Council can do so. I would leave it to India to offer the kind of spin that Mr Bhandara has attempted, since the Indians are adept at it, having perfected it since going back on what they had pledged in Nehru’s words “before the whole world”. May I also point out that the UNCIP resolutions involve a third party, the people of Kashmir, and under a well-known principle of “no change in an agreement that affects the rights of a third party” — in this case, the Kashmiris — can be made without reference to that party. It is grossly unfair on Mr Bhandara’s part to accuse every Pakistani government of “deliberately” feeding the public “on a diet of half truths” about the status of the UN resolutions, when he does not himself know what the truth is.
Mr Bhandara has accused Pakistan of not having pulled out its troops from Kashmir as required by UNCIP resolutions. This is a standard charge made by Indian spokesmen, but it is false. Let me explain why. Demilitarization of the state as envisaged in UNCIP resolutions did indeed require Pakistan to begin to withdraw its forces before India would begin the process on its side. The resolutions also required the completion of the process to be synchronized and to be simultaneous on both sides. This needed an agreed-upon plan, which was prepared by the commission — called the Truce Agreement — and presented to the two governments. After India raised several issues, President Truman and Prime Minister Attlee issued a joint appeal to the two governments to accept the arbitration of the plebiscite administrator-designate on the points raised by India. Pakistan promptly accepted the proposal: India rejected it. Later, two distinguished UN representatives, Sir Owen Dixon and Frank Graham, made intense efforts to secure India’s agreement so that the plebiscite administrator could be inducted into office to dispose of the forces remaining in the State, as he deemed fit. They failed to persuade India to cooperate. No one blamed Pakistan for failure or refusal to withdraw the troops.
As for Mr Bhandara’s argument that Shimla and UNSC Resolution 1172 have “changed the legal matrix altogether”, implying that the UNCIP resolutions have become redundant, I would like to inform him that India’s interpretation of Shimla is contrary to the text and stated purpose of the agreement. Shimla recognizes the need for a “final settlement”. According to Prof Ali Khan, writing in the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law in 1994, “It would defeat the purpose of the (Shimla) Agreement if bilateralism is invoked merely to cut off the Kashmir dispute from international fora that can contribute to ending it. Furthermore, it would be unlawful to use the bilateral clause to postpone indefinitely a final settlement of the dispute, with the intention to freeze the status quo.”
KHALID HASAN
Washington DC, USA
THE Sindh traffic police’s clarification in response to a news report and a write up in Dawn regarding the closure of roads on May 21 due to the prime minister’s visit to Karachi and his subsequent movements include a time log which details the minutes and seconds for which the respective roads were sealed. The explanation claims that the maximum time a road was closed was for 18 minutes and in some areas only for three and six minutes. It is obvious that the police chief fails to see the point of the argument put forth in the write-up.
The point made in the write-up was that whether the roads were closed for 20 minutes or two hours, the tragedy lay in the total unconcern for the welfare of the masses. The point of debate is the traffic jams that inevitably occur due to road closures — irrespective of the time-frame — which last for hours. During that time the citizens face intense trauma and even lives are lost when critical services like ambulances and fire engines cannot reach their destinations in time.
The governing authorities should shed their myopic vision, which looks at the requirements of only one segment of society, and instead make the well-being of millions of citizens their priority. Finding a solution — rather than assuming an argumentative and defensive attitude — is the need of the hour.
Constructing a helipad at all the frequented destinations of the VVIPs (including hotels and other government headquarters) could be one solution. Or, restricting their movements to Sundays is perhaps another option when the streets are not jammed by people commuting to their workplaces.
It is time that people’s welfare became the top priority for officials handling crucial amenities and that they get proactive to ensure that such conditions do not hamper the common person’s activities and movements in future.
MAHEEN A. RASHDI
Karachi
THE blast at the Bari Imam shrine on the outskirts of the capital city of Islamabad is one in a series in recent years that have killed hundreds of innocent poor civilians in Pakistan.
Personally I don’t care who the victims were. For me they are human beings and, according to the Holy Quran, human life is more sacred than anything else in this planet.
We know well which “sacred” forces are behind these brutal killings of innocent humans — I just wonder how some of us still believe in the fake sentiments of these evil forces, especially when they talk about the desecration of the Quran in Guantanamo Bay or about mistreatment of Muslims.
These vicious forces as our “enemies inside” are uglier than the enemy out there. Two and half centuries back Bulley Shah wrote:
Mullah te mashalch, donu iko chit Loka karday chanan, aap andheray wich (The mullah and the torch-bearer Hail from the same stock They give light to others, And themselves are in the dark.)
ASJAD BUKHARI
Canada
DAWN’s editorial on “Taj Mahal” (May 20) and the letter by Mr Shafique Ahmed (May 27) portray a clear picture of the hatred and backwardness of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
The VHP attitude underlines the growing extremism of orthodox Hinduism, which hurts the feelings of Muslims not only here but throughout the Islamic-world.
Routine threats to demolish various places of worship and monuments of Muslims in different cities of India are contrary to the Muslim endeavour to protect Hindu temples and monuments in Pakistan.
The Indian government must protect Muslim places of worship and the lives and property of the Muslims in India when the two countries are sincerely promoting CBMs.
HASAN ADIL MALIK
Karachi
THIS is to draw your readers’ attention to the demise of Martin Lings (Shaykh Abu Bakr Sirajuddin) at his home in Kent on May 12 at the age of 96.
Shaykh Abu Bakr was a respected man of many talents, a scholar, sufi and a philosopher par excellence. He visited Pakistan many times, including last year where he lectured on Islamic calligraphy at the NCA, Lahore.
His excellent “seerat” of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), “Muhammad: His life based on the earliest sources,” won the National Seerat Conference prize for the best seerat in 1983.
To this day it remains the best seerat in the English language.
It would be fitting if Dawn was to publish an obituary.
RIZWAN
Via email
AN exemplary case of justice: a judge of the Peshawar High Court has ruled “that the civilian workers of military farms can face court martial”.
If so, can the judiciary explain why defence personnel cannot be tried in civilian courts for crimes committed in civilian areas?
A. REHMAN
Hyderabad
THE present amount of EOBI pension is Rs700, which is insufficient for survival. The prime minister is requested to raise the amount by four times to enable us pensioners to afford at least a meal a day for our families.
RAZI-UZ-DIN
Islamabad
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