| June 7, 2005 | Tuesday | Rabi-us-Sani 29, 1426 |
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‘Kashmir struggle’
Sectarian attacks
Remembering Sunil Dutt
Godhra case inquiry
Minimum balance
Mideast Hospital
Railway timetable
DHA waste
Karachi’s Civil Hospital
PM’s profile
Hesco affairs
NEVER in the history of Pakistan were budget presentation dates announced without a meeting of the National Finance Commission (NFC). This happened this year.
Throughout this outgoing financial year, the government of Pakistan simply ignored calling a meeting of the NFC. The Constitution of Pakistan lays down that it shall be the duty (no less a stipulation than “duty”) of the NFC to make recommendations on: (i) the distribution between the federation and the provinces of the taxes contained in the divisible pool (ii) the grants-in-aid by the federal government to the provincial governments (iii) the exercise by the federal and provincial governments of the borrowing powers conferred by the Constitution.
Items (ii) and (iii) are never brought on the agenda of the NFC by the ministry of finance. And the all important function of the commission at (i), i.e., to assign shares of taxes to the federal and provincial governments is assumed and aired in statements by all and sundry, the chief minister, the prime minister and the president. This is none of their business.
Experience has it that even a whole year is insufficient for the deliberation of the NFC. Differences may arise amongst the members of the commission, even an impasse may occur, yet it is essential that the commission should meet, debate, and thereby fulfil its constitutional duty.
This unconstitutional and sorry state of sidelining the commission occurs because, though the membership of the nine-member NFC is heavily weighed in favour of the provinces (two members from each province) with only the ninth, the central finance minister representing the centre, such is the predominance of the finance ministry that the provinces become just recipients of the centre’s dole. Declaring what the centre will retain, and what it will give to the provinces, is not the centre’s, or the so-called federation’s business. It is the business and duty solely of the NFC.
The commission has become so dispensable because the four provincial finance ministers lack the courage of their conviction. Belonging to the political party in power, or to coalitions thereof, they do not have the ability to stand up to the high-handedness of the centre. There is therefore need for urgent reform. As in other federations — India, for example — their NFC is a wholly independent body. No ministers, central or provincial, are part of its membership. No government officer can be co-opted on the commission. Even the entire secretariat of the commission comprises non-government officials. And the commission itself decides when its meetings should be called. The ministry of finance has no role in this or any other matter. The states (provinces) of India and its central government are at par before the commission. Furthermore, the commission is located in premises it owns. Persons who have distinguished themselves in whatever walk of life are chosen as members of the NFC and the chairman is of the same eminence.
A constitutional amendment needs to be made to make our NFC genuinely perform its duties. Since no meeting of the NFC was allowed to be held this year, one cannot assume that it failed to make its recommendations on an award. However, since ours is a government dominated by the army, the president who is also chief of the army staff has declared that he will decide upon the award this year. Whether he will arrange for a meeting of the NFC to adopt his “award” and recommend the same has yet to be seen.
Article 160 of the Constitution provides for the setting-up and functioning of the NFC. Its sub-section (6) does authorize the president to make amendments to or modifications in the law relating to the distribution of revenues between the federal and provincial governments, but does not confer upon him the function of giving an award.
Whatever he may do about the award, the president is indeed authorized to come to the rescue of the resources-denied provinces in their following outstanding deprivations:
Restore sales tax to the provinces. This revenue was taken away by the central government from the provinces in 1952, with the promise of return, but this was never done.
Allow them to receive their share of the general sales tax deduction, in lieu of octroi, as actually collected in each province, prohibiting its distribution, on population basis as decreed by the ministry of finance.
Order that the amount charged by the CBR from the provinces for collection of the taxes given to each province be at actual and not at five per cent, which works out to five times the actual amount spent on collection.
Exonerate the provinces from paying the exorbitant compound interest on the cash development loans which the central government extended to them for carrying out development. These loans pertain to past decades. The provincial governments’ request to borrow inexpensively from the current market and repay these loans has been turned down by the finance ministry. In a meeting held in 2002, and attended by this correspondent, the president himself agreed that these high interest rates amounted almost to “riba”.
If we desire to be a genuine federation, there should be a partnership relation with the provinces. The president may like to promote such a relationship.
ABDUL KARIM LODHI
(former NFC member)
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the letters from Mr M. P. Bhandara and Mr Khalid Hasan under the title “Kashmir struggle”.
Regardless of what Gandhi meant to accomplish when he contacted the ruler of Kashmir (at the time of partition of India), or whether the Security Council’s Kashmir resolutions were passed under Chapter VI or Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the crying reality is that this issue is a serious irritant in India-Pakistan relations, and it needs to be resolved.
Soon after independence, as the Indian government proceeded to cultivate democracy in India, it ensured that democracy was kept away from Kashmir. In the early days of the problem, Indian prime minister Nehru had pledged to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir but later reneged on this pledge.
Subsequently, the issue became a tool for Indian rulers and politicians: it came in handy whenever the need arose to shift the Indian electorate’s focus away from bread and butter issues. It was only when Dr Manmohan Singh (current prime minister) as finance minister liberalized the Indian economy that the economic tide started to turn in India. It would thus not be surprising if a solution to the Kashmir problem is reached under his stewardship.
India’s leaders have been terribly unfair to their own country. It is disgraceful that the world’s largest democracy will not allow the people of Kashmir, whom it calls its own citizens, to vote their own destiny. When you have democracy, why fear the outcome of a vote or a plebiscite?
The Indian parliament maintains empty seats in the house that are supposedly reserved for representatives of the part of Kashmir that is under Pakistani control. What about the democratic rights of the people of the Indian side of Kashmir? They may have representation in parliament, but what about their real aspirations?
If India had given democracy a full chance, one likely outcome would have been Kashmir becoming an independent country, making Pakistan irrelevant. Pakistan’s own power-hungry politicians and generals must have loved India as it kept enhancing Pakistan’s relevance to the Kashmir issue. Pakistan has spent more years under army rule than under democratically elected governments. It lost its eastern wing because it treated its inhabitants the same way India treated Kashmiris: by suppressing them and thus making a hostile neighbouring country more relevant to the issue. Its constitution carries discriminatory clauses that officially treat its non-Muslim citizens as second-class citizens.
It is amazing that with a huge democracy-deficit (that the Kashmir issue helps mask) Pakistan has become a torchbearer of the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination, and India must blame itself for this. But India has finally realized that its strategy is also not going to work in Kashmir. Moreover, Pakistan has realized that it is never going to “conquer” Kashmir, no matter how many “jihadis” may converge on the Line of Control. I join Mr Bhandara in supporting these realizations.
The Himalayas that have wept over the plight of Kashmiris for almost six decades must now be smiling over recent positive developments. One hopes that this thaw will continue until the meltdown is complete. If this disappoints those who would rather live under illusions, then let it be their turn to weep.
SIDDIQUE MALIK
Louisville, KY, USA
IT begins all over again and flows out in a very predictable pattern. An explosion at a place of worship or the target killing of a religious leader takes place. There are casualties. the authorities begin to issue statements — people should eschew sectarianism; people must show tolerance; people should give up bigotry; people should support the government in uprooting sectarianism. Sermonizing by those in seats of power sounds strange. The rulers have vast human and material resources at their disposal and are expected not to waste time preaching and moralizing but to put to use their immense resources to anticipate and prevent terrorist acts.
There is no point in preaching morality to the people at large for the simple reason that people in Pakistan are not involved in sectarian violence. Sunnis live peacefully in Shia localities and Shias have no problem going about their business in predominantly Sunni areas. More often than not they live side by side in mixed localities and have pleasant, neighbourly relations. Members of the Ismaili and Bohri communities run their businesses throughout the length and breadth of the country without let or hindrance. There is no sectarian strife on the streets of any town or city in the country. Every community victimized has always shown extraordinary maturity in preventing retaliatory actions, thus refusing to play into the hands of the perpetrators — be they local miscreants or foreign agents.
It is those in authority who fail time and again in discharging their obligation to provide security of life and property to the citizens. Their actions are limited to sermonizing, visiting the scene of carnage, solemnly announcing that the culprits would be soon apprehended and doling out money to victims and their families and to hoping that people would soon forget the whole thing. A new incident spawns the predictable scenario yet once again.
What else can one expect in terms of determined action against crime and terror from a government whose functionaries are constantly working at cross-purposes against each other and ever seeking to milk the country’s resources for their own use? How can they find time for any sustained, positive activity?
WAJID NAEEMUDDIN
Karachi
THE news about the death of veteran Indian actor and politician Sunil Dutt was received by his admirers with a deep sense of shock and grief. Apart from being a good actor, Sunil Dutt was a caring person. He rose above barriers of caste, creed and religion and throughout his life he treated everyone with the same love and affection.
His marriage to the then leading heroine and “Lady in White” Nargis in 1958 was a big surprise for cinelovers of India and Pakistan. At the time of Nargis’s death in 1981, the question of her last rites worried her actor brothers Anwar Hussain and Akhtar Hussain. But Sunil Dutt had no hesitation in agreeing to a Muslim burial.
He first came to Pakistan in 1987 when he attended the marriage ceremony of Ms Benazir Bhutto. His last visit to Pakistan was in 1998 when he accompanied Dilip Kumar who was awarded the Nishan-i-lmtiaz by the government of Mr Nawaz Sharif.
His commitment to upholding brotherhood and love amongst all sections of society is the true legacy of Sunil Dutt. That is why he will always be missed and remembered by everyone.
RAFAT MAHMOOD ANSARI
Islamabad
THE outcome of an official inquiry into the Prevention of Terrorist Activities law from the central review committee, India, has just been released (Dawn, June 2). According to the report, an altercation between the karsevaks (Hindu volunteers) and Muslim tea vendors and an alleged attempt to abduct a Muslim girl at the Godhra railway station were among the incidents referred to by the committee. The only act of retaliation observed from the Muslim mob pertained to stone pelting. Had there been any conspiracy, the passengers travelling in coach S-6 would not have been allowed to disembark from the compartment for taking tea and breakfast, the report said.
Earlier in its report publicized on Jan 17, the Indian government tribunal, headed by Justice U.C Banerjee, a retired judge of the supreme court, had concluded that “it was caused by an accident and not by a terrorist act and there was a preponderance of evidence that the fire in coach S-6 originated in the coach itself without any external input.”
This statement has negated the early forensic science laboratory report (July 3, 2002) which confirmed that 60 litres of inflammable liquid were poured from inside the S-6 compartment of Sabrmati Express.
The intention behind such preplanned and state-sponsored events is obvious: attacking the Muslims in India. State chief minister Narendra Modi went on record to say that the anti-Muslim pogrom in the state was a reaction to the Godhra incident in which Muslims were alleged to have set fire to the train.
This tragic twisting of facts has ruined the lives of thousands of Muslims who were slaughtered, burnt alive and forced to quit their homes.
After the Godhra incident, Human Rights Watch in a widely publicized report titled “We have no orders to save you; State Complicity and Communal Violence in Gujrat”, published on April 30, 2002 claimed that “the post-Godhra violence was planned even before the Godhra incident occurred and attacks on Muslims in Gujrat were “state-sponsored.”
The Muslims of India have been targeted by extremist Hindus for decades. They are always vulnerable. In such a situation, human rights groups, the media, intellectuals and governments of civilized nations largely remained silent. The United Nations should act swiftly and firmly so that the Indian government understands that the world will not accept such gross violation of human rights even in countries as powerful as India.
RASHID ASHRAF
Karachi
REFERENCE the numerous letters published in these columns, I will request all banks to waive, as a goodwill gesture, the service charges for all account holders who are drawing Rs10,000 or less.
As far as manipulation of accounts, harassment and illegalities are concerned, all banks are requested to refrain from such acts. To my good
fortune, whilst browsing, I
hit on a Pakistani website www.bankproblemspk.com, quite an enlightenment this site. It really bailed me out.
ESTES SAVILLE
Karachi
PETITIONER Syed Sabir Shah should be praised for legally challenging the construction of a shopping plaza at the site of Karachi’s Mideast Hospital (Dawn, June 1). It is sad that the doctors and staff of the Mideast Hospital did not come out in protest and take up this issue.
An amenity plot out of a residential plot was a gain for the residents but for a shopping plaza to come up in its place will be a setback.
S. BABAR
Karachi
APROPOS of Mr Jalaluddin Shad’s letter “Railway timetable” (May 22), it stated that owing to unavoidable operational reasons, the new timetable has been introduced with effect from May 15 and 2,000 copies of the timetable were earmarked for Lahore division for distribution at the stations.
However, keeping in view the demand of the travelling public, a further 200 copies have since been made available at the Sialkot railway station.
MASOOD AHMED
Director, Public Relations, Pakistan Railways
Lahore
I WOULD like to ask Gen Pervez Musharraf, the president, whose salary I help pay through my taxes, when will he direct the administrator of DHA, Karachi, whom he appoints, to start a garbage disposal system for DHA, Phase 5, of Karachi. Currently I use the empty plots which are fast disappearing.
S. AHMAD
Karachi
THE attention of the authorities concerned is drawn towards the absence of a full-time working professor in charge of medical unit number 1, Civil Hospital, Karachi, for more than 10 years now.
Ever since the posting of the then professor in charge of the unit as principal of the Dow Medical College in 1994-95, and later his elevation as health secretary, no one is working as professor and head of the department there. As a result, not only the quality of treatment being offered in the unit is compromised but also the training of postgraduate and undergraduate students.
Ironically, the professor still remains the head of the unit on paper; his physical whereabouts are not known to anyone. After the award of university status to the Dow Medical College and recent efforts to improve the academic outlook of the institution, can someone take notice of this lacunae existing for more than 10 years?
DR SHABI AHMAD
Via email
I FOLLOWED a link to the website of the city district government, Karachi (CDGK) after reading a related news item on the BBC website. On the CDGK’s homepage (www.karachicity.gov.pk), it shows a photo of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, but one click on his photo reveals that the website still carries the profile of former prime minister Zafarullah Jamali.
HIREN RAVAL
Brighton, UK
HESCO has made life miserable for the common citizen in Larkana. Power shutdowns are frequent, often prolonged and mostly unannounced. With electric theft down significantly, it’s mind boggling to see Hesco’s apathy towards its paying customers. It’s amazing that the government is thinking of privatizing a profit-generating institution like the PTCL, while the thought of privatizing a dead weight, white elephant like Wapda and its newly created subsidiaries should be the real targets on top of this list.
Mr Shaukat Aziz is indeed merely a high profile banker and can never be a good economist.
DR JAMAAL NASIR MEMON
Larkana
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