| June 11, 2005 | Saturday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 3, 1426 |
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South Asian economic union
Geologists’ role in water exploration
Imports of second-hand cars
PCCC and US consulate
Countering suicide bombing
Government salaries
Wages of
A financial challenge
PML chief’s reaction
Post-budget prices
The declaration and the interview emphasized the desirability of a common currency, the South Asian Free Trade Association (Safta), and a customs, tariff and monetary union. These aims have been the pet themes of Indian public figures even to the extent of a borderless subcontinent which was mentioned in the speeches made by the Haryana and Punjab chief ministers on their visits to our Punjab.
THE fallout in India from Mr Advani’s comments on the Quaid-i-Azam has been unexpected and extraordinary.
Objectively, it would be difficult for anyone to reach any other conclusion about Mr Jinnah but that he had a liberal and enlightened approach in politics — his urbane and cosmopolitan lifestyle; his long association with the Indian National Congress before Hindu diehards hounded him out; his untiring efforts to forge Hindu-Muslim unity on equitable terms; his unreserved acceptance of the Cabinet Mission plan of 1946; his sense of deep emotional distress at the unforeseen massive movement of inter-dominion populations with the attendant suffering; and his speech of Aug 11, 1947 to Pakistan’s constituent assembly.
Having said that, one would want to applaud Mr Advani’s courage — without getting into the “ifs and buts” of his motives — in refocusing his assessment of the Quaid and recognizing his vision and pre-eminent stature in Indo-Pakistan history. If anything, this is a confidence-building measure of considerable significance at the people’s level.
M. J. AS’AD Karachi
MR Ahmad Noman Sadiq (Dawn, June 2) seems to be all praise for Mr L. K. Advani, but does he know that the latter is firm in his stand that there are over a thousand mosques on Indian soil which are to be demolished? The massacre that occurred in Gujarat some years ago under the aegis of the notorious chief minister of the state, N. Modi, was also fully patronized and endorsed by Mr Advani, then home minister of India.
Nevertheless both India and Pakistan are in dire need of peace and an atmosphere of co-existence.
But how to achieve it? If one party goes to the one extreme of flexibility while the other side not only refuses to move forward, but stiffens its stand, who can call this reconciliation and peace? The definition for such a situation is retreat or defeat, not peace.
HAFIZ MUHAMMAD IDREES
Lahore
The European Union, which has inspired these speeches and declaration, took more than 50 years to materialize. The EU became possible because the member-states were bold enough and honest enough to forget the past political and historical bitterness without playing clever games with each other. It was a modest start with coal and steel community advancing step by step via postal, customs and tariff-free union. Labour, banking an monetary policies, were aligned in order to facilitate the movement of capital and workers. But the basic ingredient was the resolution of political conflicts.
In the case of Pakistan and India there does not appear to be a genuine wish and effort to solve, through give and take, territorial issues. We are not even prepared to make a modest start with Siachen and Sir Creek, let alone Jammu and Kashmir.
In this context Pakistan, and President Musharraf, have floated several ideas showing considerable flexibility. The response from India has been either silence or diplomatic double-speak. One can be excused if one draws the conclusion that India expects us to get exhausted.
Unless we stop playing clever games with each other, all this talk of modelling Indo-Pakistan relations on the pattern of the EU is either so much wishful thinking or dishonesty.
At any rate, we have to take small steps as did the European countries, especially France and Germany, in their march to the final goal of an economic union.
F.H. ANSARI
Karachi
EXPLORATION of water resources and their conservation have been of prime national interest. This task was previously being performed by Wapda through its water wing. Teams of geologists at Wapda are engaged in all stages of tubewell construction from drilling development and testing equipment installation, etc.
Wapda is tapping underground water resources through construction of tubewell in order to irrigate millions of acres of uncultivated lands. In this context, it is necessary to mention that many development projects were launched by the government through Wapda’s SCARP-I to V in Punjab. North-South Rohri (F.G.W project), Ghotki and LBOD projects in Sindh are also some of the many projects completed by Wapda geologists.
Moreover, similar projects were also launched by Wapda through the hydrogeology directorates in Peshawar and Quetta. These projects have now been completed by teams of geologists and subsequently handed over to the provincial irrigation departments for subsequent maintenance.
But it is quite distressing that the desired results have not been achieved even after completion of projects. The main reason is non-availability of geologists when such projects are handed over to the provincial irrigation departments by Wapda. Nor do the departments have any technical team of geologists and no effort is made to obtain the services of geological staff on the basis of secondment to run technically complicated projects.
Thus, investment of billions of rupees has been wasted, with negligible improvement in the quality of land management. There is a great need for having geologists in the irrigation departments in order to facilitate effective management of water resources through installation of tubewells.
NAIMATULLAH BHURGRI
LBOD geologist,
Mirpurkhas
IN a surprise move, the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) issued an SRO (# 577(1)/2005) after the 2005-06 federal budget announcement on the evening of June 6, according to which the rate of depreciation allowed on used or second hand cars imported into Pakistan has been increased from one per cent to two per cent per month. Surprisingly, this change was not announced by the minister of state in his budget speech, nor was the SRO changed on the CBR website.
As a consequence, used cars with no check on their quality, road worthiness and fuel emissions will be imported into Pakistan. Furthermore, the availability of spares and service facilities for these cars is also not ensured.
Contrary to the government’s expectations of a positive impact through duty reduction on import of reconditioned cars, Pakistan has already begun to face the aftermath of the government’s inconsistent policies. As one industry expert said, “It is for the government to choose if they want Pakistan to develop a strong industrial base and make cars locally, or convert the Pakistani market into an international dumping ground for used and reconditioned vehicles.”
H. RABBANI
Karachi
THE rate of depreciation allowed on used cars imported into Pakistan has been increased from one per cent per month to two per cent per month. This change was not announced by the minister of state in his budget speech. The increase in the depreciation rate practically means that used, second-hand cars will now flood the market at very low prices.
The government has been following a policy of self-reliance and has taken several measures to encourage indigenous manufacturing that generates investment, employment, revenue and technology transfer. But apparently some officials in the CBR are not aligned with this policy and are bent upon destroying the local automobile industry and want us to remain a nation of traders. Apparently there is some power-play going on within the ministry of finance and also the cabinet as another measure of imposing withholding tax of six per cent on locally manufactured cars was also taken without approval from the cabinet.
Will some one from the quarters concerned explain what is going on?
A. A. SAEED
Karachi
THE Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) was established in 1949 with headquarters at Karachi. It was assigned the task of improvement and development of the growing, marketing and manufacture of cotton. The federal minister for food and agriculture is its president and the day-to-day work of the committee is looked after by a full-time vice-president, based in Karachi.
To widen its scope, the PCCC established the Pakistan Institute of Cotton Research and Technology (PICRT) in 1956 for research in technological aspects of cotton required for trade and cotton breeders. To boost cotton research in the provinces, it established two central cotton research institutes, one at Multan in 1970 and the other at Sakrand (Sindh) in 1976, with the already existing network of cotton research stations and sub-stations in the provinces to disseminate cotton production technology developed by the PCCC, and to extend cotton cultivation to newly-reclaimed lands in the country.
The PICRT provides evaluation of fibre properties, yarn characteristics, carries out spinning tests, research on cotton fibre, yarn, cloth, and cottonseed, besides providing testing facilities to trade, industry and exporting agencies. The PCCC houses not only the PICRT, but also the newly-built Pakistan Standards Institute (PSI) for standardization of cotton. The PCCC has hosted international seminars on cotton and has been visited by a number of renowned cotton breeders from the UK, Turkey, Egypt, Iran and Syria.
The PCCC is playing a pivotal role in evolution of cotton varieties, dissemination of cotton production technologies and extension of cotton in new prospective areas, which has made Pakistan the fourth largest producer of cotton in the world. Its present location at M. T. Khan Road has been found to provide a peaceful atmosphere to research workers and an easy approach to users of its services.
The sad news is that the place where the impressive PCCC building has stood for over 50 years without a dent may be considered as the new site for the US consulate after acquiring the whole land of Wool Test House (also a government institute for wool testing), PCCC, PICRT and the PSI. It is not a well-thought-out idea to dislodge the well-equipped laboratories to make room for a consulate.
M. SHAFIQUE AHMED
Karachi
THE threat of suicide attacks has gripped the country since last year when suicide bombers blew themselves up in the Hyderi mosque in Karachi, killing scores of people. Recently the shrine of Bari Imam in Islamabad and the Madinatul Ilm mosque in Karachi have been targets of suicide bombers.
The suicide bomber can only achieve his aim if he has easy access to the target area, which is often a place where a large number of people gather. Their targets can be mosques, shrines, churches or temples. So, to protect these sacred places, the police in cooperation with the managements of these places and the worshippers should chalk out a plan to pre-empt terrorist/suicide attacks.
The management of all mosques and shrines should form a committee to keep vigilance during prayers. The local residents should provide necessary financial support to the vigilance committee for employing watchmen or hiring private security guards, if possible.
Entry and exit points of mosques should not be more than two, which should be guarded at all times. The mosque or shrine should be re-designed or modified to make it inaccessible to an intruder from any side of the building. The imam of a mosque or members of a vigilance committee should advise worshippers about their responsibilities that when they suspect someone they can alert the vigilance committee. The vigilance committee should organize a neighbourhood watch system in coordination with local shopkeepers, hotel/ restaurant owners, hawkers and residents of the area around the mosque to inform them if they suspect anyone or see any other abnormal activity in their area.
Moreover, the government should consider installing close circuit television surveillance cameras with video cassette recorder in prominent mosques and shrines to enable monitoring of the internal and external area by the police during prayers and other special occasions.
A body search of all persons at the entrance gates of the main mosques and shrines should be carried out by mosque security staff. A siren should be installed in mosques and shrines with the control buttons at the entrance to alert the people inside in case of any danger.
SQN. LDR (retd)
S. AUSAF HUSAIN
Karachi
THE budget is receiving accolades from the government benches and the public for increases in basic pay scales. But do these people actually know as to how this increase will effect them? Take the example of BPS-15. The total increase in the pay is a mere Rs1,050, including the increase in medical and conveyance allowances.
While the increase in house rent is Rs972, taking it to Rs1,701, it is a folly to even consider that a house in Islamabad can be rented within this amount.
Major hikes in power tariff and in the prices of household items, petroleum and numerous other items offset the increase in basic pay scales. Our honourable members of parliament only accept a pay increase of 50 to 100 per cent and no less, the majority of them already having other and large sources of income.
What was the logic behind increasing the pay scales of the members of parliament again in this budget when they had already received a 100 per cent increase twice in the last fiscal year? It is about time something was actually done for the people of this country who are trying very hard to earn a living.
HASSAN AHMAD QURESHI
Islamabad
MR Anwar Syed has referred, in his article “Wages of intolerance” (June 5), to historical wholesale massacres that kings and conquerors ordered in cities they have ravaged. I quote:
“Alexander in Persepolis, the Abbasids in Damascus, the Christian knights (crusaders) in Jerusalem, Halaku Khan in Baghdad and Babar in Hangu (in our own NWFP).”
Mr Syed seems to have ignored (or forgotten?) Nadir Shah’s destruction of Delhi and Mahmood Ghaznavi’s raid on Somnath. I agree that the city of the rich temple — Gujarat — was not ravaged but people were killed.
In both cases the pattern of punishment by the conquerors was the same: killing of locals — some 50,000 of them in each case in three days of swordsmanship.
In the last part of his article, Mr Syed narrates the story of Rao Sikandar, our defence minister, slapping the district police officer, Okara. He says that the “victim of (Rao Sikandar’s) outburst might be disciplined — meaning he would be ‘fixed’ — (instead of compensated for his injuries)”. And why not? Doesn’t he know that Rao Sikandar is an influential man — because he was once a school friend of President Musharraf?
If that police officer didn’t know, then he must know what the Nawab of Kalabagh, Amir Mohammad Khan, governor of West Pakistan, had done to the principal of the King Edward Medical College of Lahore for not admitting some below standard candidates. He too was slapped.
We should know whether we like it or not that this country is ruled by the influential. How dare can anyone defy or think of defying the influential?
S.M. KAZIM NAQVI
Karachi
ACCORDING to an estimate, 40 per cent of Pakistan’s trade is free of bank interest, forward-trading and other un-Islamic modes. This trade is in the hands of small entrepreneurs. Since this sort of business is unorganized and deprived of modern financial modalities, it cannot flourish and progress. Most Pakistani Muslim traders are desirous of an honest income free from bank interest.
Thus the challenge for Islamic-minded financial experts is that they should plan and implement a project to organize, finance and develop this sort of trade.
In view of the success of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, it can be that a similar project can succeed in Pakistan. A supplementary benefit will be that a certain percentage of its profit can be reserved for important welfare projects. Similarly, if collection and distribution of Zakat in the private sector is managed in a reliable and efficient manner, huge funds will be made available for poverty alleviation and welfare projects.
DR MUHAMMAD AMIN
Lahore
ACCORDING to press reports, PML-Q leader Imtiaz Shaikh, who was sacked as Sindh’s revenue minister on charges of corruption, has finally tendered his resignation. While reacting to his resignation Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the president of the PML-Q, has said that now Mr Shaikh will be made PML-Q vice-president at the central level.
The strange reaction of the PML-Q president is shocking. The minister and the Sindh chief minister had levelled accusations of financial corruption against each other. Mr Shujaat Hussain has very conveniently let both the parties go scot-free.
The whole episode leads one to believe that by not taking action against anyone and promising to make Mr Shaikh vice-president at the centre Mr Hussain is patronizing alleged wrongdoing.
Instead of sweeping the dust under the carpet, Mr Hussain should institute an enquiry into the matter and take stern action against whosoever is found guilty.
S. TAUQIR HUSSAIN
Lahore
THOUGH the budgetary increase in the prices of cigarettes will be applicable effective July 1, cigarette manufacturers have already increased the prices, effective June 6, the day the budget was presented in the National Assembly.
The government has given a free hand to the cigarette manufacturers to charge the increased price even before the budget comes into force. The retail price printed on a pack of 20 cigarettes of one popular brand is Rs32.63 + sales tax Rs4.89, making a total of Rs37.52, but after the announcement of the budget it is now being sold for Rs41.00 per pack in the open market. This means that on every packet the manufacturers are charging Rs3.48 more from customers than the original price printed on the packet.
The question arises: will the manufacturers pay sales tax and income tax from the date when they increased prices in the open market, i.e., June 6, or will they pay them from
the new fiscal year effective July 1?
SYED A. MATEEN
Karachi
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