| June 26, 2005 | Sunday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 18, 1426 |
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Kalabagh Dam
Advani’s statement
Sialkot pollution
Investment climate
Overhead bridge
‘Who’s who?’
Pillion-riding
Shelterless children
Mukhtaran Mai
Pakistan’s strength
Clarification
IT is heartening to note that the industrialized world has somewhat tardily realized that the implementation of intelligent debt relief measures for low-income countries is unavoidable if the international finance system is to be spared the disastrous consequences of widespread debt defaults. It is also now widely appreciated that social and political instability will infest low-income countries which have reached the limit of their ability to borrow abroad and instead are forced to undertake internal economic austerity measures to maintain their international financial standing.
The LDCs facing severe external debt problems have a small number of alternatives, namely, (a) taking measures to increase exports to earn additional foreign exchange for debt servicing; (b) cutting imports, usually involving reductions in investment, consumption and growth rates, to save foreign exchange for debt-servicing; (c) seeking relief of debt burdens through re-scheduling of payments and other measures; and (d) defaulting on payments obligations.
The continuing use of protectionist trade policies in the industrialized world effectively eliminates the possibility of substantial increased export earnings as a realistic alternative for a large number of countries afflicted by the debt crisis. On the other hand, the already widely used option of cutting imports is constrained by domestic developmental and political considerations. Therefore, in order to avoid the possibly disastrous consequences of debt defaults, it is clear that the alternative which combines most realism and least danger involves the implementation of intelligent debt relief measures.
It has, however, to be appreciated that a satisfactory solution of the LDC debt problem is not possible without addressing questions relating to the adequacy of present international financing facilities and, where these are inadequate, the nature of new or improved financing arrangements. This issue involves an examination of the role of the major existing or potential financing institutions, the World Bank group, the IMF, regional development banks, the governments of industrialized countries, the Opec countries and their network of financial organizations, the private banks and other international financing agencies.
Again, it is now universally admitted that for easing the debt burden of LDCs, pursuit of a liberal import policy by the developed world with respect to products of developing countries and support for measures that may prevent excessive fluctuations in the prices of their products is crucial.
AFTAB AHMAD KHAN
Karachi
LETTERS keep appearing in the press as to how three of the four provincial assemblies prefer the Bhasha Dam over the Kalabagh Dam and that a large section of public opinion also has the same preference. Mention is also made of the sanctity of people’s opinion, witness the rejection by the French of the EU Constitution.
Dams and hydrology are highly complex, technical matters, outside the grasp of many assembly members and lay people. The assemblies have their own narrow concerns. Dams are not built for this province or that province they are for the whole country. All the pluses and minuses have to be balanced.
Such complicated matters cannot be left entirely even to local experts, and foreign experts have to be involved. You do not go in for a multi-billion dollar project purely on public say so. The repercussions of a faulty decision can be deadly for the national economy. Uninitiated persons should not even write about such subjects, and the press should know better than to print such letters.
The simple fact is that the Kalabagh Dam issue has been mischievously politicized, misleading people all over the country. Ms Benazir Bhutto opposed it, tooth and nail, in the Zia period, merely because “it was Zia’s dam” (her own words), but was willing to build it during her tenure, “having been advised by my experts”, as she put it. All this is on the authority of Mr Ghulam Mustafa Khar, her minister for water and power. She actually congratulated him, saying “we are going to build your dam”. If she had not gone out of power, work on the dam might have started. Later on, she again opposed it because then it became Nawaz Sharif’s dam. What can you do with a person like that?
Ms Bhutto has a lot to answer for, for creating this unholy confusion in the public mind, so much so that it appears that the Kalabagh dam will never be built. Thousands upon thousands of acres of barren land will never get much required irrigation water now, more so in Sindh.
Pakistan cannot be compared to France. The French are educated, enlightened, empowered people, who know what they are doing. The day our people come anywhere near to what the French are, all our problems will be over.
KHURSHID ANWER
Lahore
MUCH has been said about and written on the visit of Indian opposition leader L.K. Advani to the mausoleum of M. A. Jinnah, his glowing tribute to the founder of Pakistan and his impression recorded in the visitors’ book on June 4 in Karachi. This was a follow-up to the process started by A. B. Vajpayee who had visited the Minar-i-Pakistan in Lahore to normalize relations with Pakistan and justify the creation of the country established in 1947. At this juncture, a review of the creation of Pakistan is necessary.
Had the All-India Muslim League desired to carve out a country from undivided India on the basis of the two-religion theory, the Muslims of the Muslim minority provinces would have retorted: “Are we not Muslim?” and would not have voted for Pakistan.
If the genesis of Pakistan was solely Islam, then why did Islamic parties like the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, the Jamaat-i-Islami and the Majlis-i-Ahrar, and personages like Maulana Abul Ala Maududi and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad oppose the establishment of an Islamic state, i.e., Pakistan. It is a fact that India was divided on the basis of the two nation-theory, into two sovereign states as “Hindu India”, i.e. Bharat, and “Muslim India”, i.e., Pakistan.
The ideology of Pakistan was that the Muslims and non-Muslims should live in their respective majority-dominant regions according to their cultures and civilizations but allow the minorities to flourish with freedom in all spheres of life.
It would not be a digression to say that Mr Jinnah was a true Muslim and he, like Attaturk Mustufa Kamal, Syed Ahmad Khan and Allama Mohammad Iqbal, believed in the dogma of ‘ijtehad’. So, he wanted to see Pakistan as a socio-democratic Muslim country, with Muslims following the injunctions of the Holy Quran and Sunnah with wisdom and not blindly, as dictated by the clerics. This is evident from his inaugural speech in the Pakistan Constituent Assembly on Aug 11, 1947, which could be made the groundwork of the Constitution of Pakistan.
During the last six decades, several colonized countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia like India, Pakistan, Burma, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines have achieved independence from their respective European rulers; but hardly any one of them, except for Pakistan, has added any prefix to their constitutions such as Islamic, Hindu, Christian and Buddhist on account of the religion of the majority of the population.
Besides this, Muslim countries like Turkey, Egypt and most Arab states do not officially describe themselves as “Islamic” .
S.A. HAIRAT
Karachi
THIS refers to a report on environmental pollution owing to the untreated effluent discharge from a cluster of tanneries in the city of Sialkot (Dawn, June 15).
The report revealed some alarming details of the threat to which the citizens of Sialkot are exposed. Over 264 small and medium-sized tanneries have been set up in the city and its outskirts and more units are expected to be established in the future. Hundreds of acres of fertile agricultural land have been destroyed while people are suffering from various diseases, including hepatitis and liver and stomach disorder. The seriousness of the matter can be evaluated with the fact that in Zafarwali village, effluent being discharged has reached the residential areas and is believed to be a source of skin disease.
According to a survey, the most frightening aspect of the entire episode is the contamination of underground water resources in Sialkot, Daska and Sambrial tehsils.
In Punjab, ground water is the main source of irrigation and domestic uses. The right to a clean environment has now become an alien concept in Pakistan, a nation of 150 million people.
The heart-rending Kalalanwala bone deformity case (2000) is still fresh in mind in which more than 500 people were affected in four villages with many of them having to undergo surgery for a crippling bone disease alleged to have been caused by industrial pollution of ground water.
This matter should be taken seriously by our government. Besides building a tannery zone in Sialkot on an urgent basis, a combined effluent treatment plant should be set up in the city like the one functioning in Kasur. Permission for upcoming tannery projects should be given only after conducting an environment impact assessment by a reputable independent monitoring consultant. Moreover, the demand of local citizens for the installation of a water treatment plant and laying of an underground pipeline for effluent discharge ought to be considered immediately.
RASHID ASHRAF
Karachi
DR Tariq Hassan, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, while addressing the American Business Council in Karachi recently, said Pakistan was ripe with lucrative opportunities for foreign investors. With law and order at its lowest ebb, how can Pakistan be “ripe with lucrative opportunities”? Dr Hassan is naive to think that foreign investors do not watch TV and do not read newspapers and that they are an ignorant lot.
Pakistan is not a dream-come-true destination for foreign investors. Nobody in his proper frame of mind would want to invest in a country full of religious strife and jihadis. Investment in the capital market like stocks is at best transitory. Even investment in the stock exchange is not a viable proposition after the tussle between the SECP and the brokers left people high and dry.
Foreign investors are also human beings who value and cherish life more than lucrative investment opportunities. This is a country where those who are responsible for law and order themselves move under heavy armed escorts.
SALIM D. DADABHOY
Karachi
MANY pedestrian overhead bridges have been built on different roads and crossings in Karachi. But most of them are poorly utilized. Their siting is one problem.
Overhead pedestrian bridges are needed most in busy business areas. One such busy road is I. I. Chundrigar Road where thousands of people come to work every morning. There is an overcrowded crossing between the National Bank building, Soneri Bank, Chartered Bank and the Central Post Office. A overhead pedestrian crossing is badly needed here.
S. IQBAL AHMAD
Karachi
I WRITE to you in reference to Mr Hafizur Rahman’s article ‘Who’s who?’ (June 22). I would like to point out that the schoolboy he identifies in the picture as Sir Sikander Hyat Khan’s son is not his son but Mian Bashir’s son, Mian Manzar Bashir. This particular picture was taken at their family house ‘Bashir Manzil’. Having some interest in historic photographs, I recall my grandfather Sirdar Shaukat Hyat Khan discussing this picture and identifying master Bashir in it.
I could not agree more with Mr Rahman’s observations and fully agree with his suggestions. He is also right to point out that most people of that era are no longer with us and it would be a pity when we finally wake up and start to do something about our history, etc, there will be very few people present to help.
My grandmother Begum Sirdar Shaukat Hyat Khan, now in her 80s, is one such person who is a treasure trove of historic anecdotes and pictures. Therefore anyone remotely interested in Pakistan’s history and old photographs surely should contact her.
ADIL ALI KHAN
Islamabad
IN a country like ours, law and order is a troubled subject for every government. A major incident occurred in Quetta in June 2002 when 11 police recruits were gunned down by two persons on a motorcycle at Sariab Road. It was a sad event for everyone.
Initially, the provincial government banned all motorcyclists from carrying male pillion-riders. The step was taken keeping in view the safety of the people. It gave the administration time to look for the terrorists who had killed so many recruits on their way to the training school after spending the weekend at their homes.
Motorcycles have frequently been used as a means to carry out acts of terrorist activities in all major towns and cities of Pakistan. But prolonged bans on pillion-riding hit lower-income groups. Such a measure should be for a short term as seen in other provinces. The Balochistan government should improve administrative efficiency rather than create problems for the people. In Quetta people are suffering as a result of the continued ban on pillion-riding.
FAIQA ABDUL HAYE
Quetta
THIS has reference to your editorial ‘Homeless and exploited’ (June 10). Children — the makers of tomorrow — are often victimized, exploited and abused in our country. Derelict children are often marginalized due to no fault of theirs. Whenever children are caught by a gang of criminals, they turn them into pickpockets or maim them and send them out to beg from street to street.
The situation of homeless children who leave their home due either to parental negligence or poverty is worse. Maltreatment at home can make children run away.
The main thing is to keep population in check and give quality education and good skills to offspring so as to make them good citizens of tomorrow. In this regard, family planning is necessary. The fewer the children, the better off a family will be. And the more poverty increases, the more shelterless children will be seen wandering in the streets.
It is common to see that derelict children sent to jail where they live as juvenile prisoners. Institutions should be established for them in order to educate them. They should also be trained in technical fields so that they can grow up to live like respectable citizens.
ASIFA GHULAM RASOOL
Turbat
ON going through the articles by Mr Irfan Husain (June 18) and Mr Ardeshir Cowasjee (June 19), the following facts emerge:
a. Mukhtaran Mai did not commit any crime.
b. Still she was punished by putting her name on the ECL and by depriving her of her passport.
c. She was barred from travelling abroad, her birthright as a free citizen, given by the Constitution.
d. Her assaulters were rewarded by giving them freedom to move about.
e. The persons who are responsible for this episode have not been punished.
f. According to Minister of State Nilofer Bakhtiar, the whole nation was wounded, but she felt helpless. She did not even report to the president.
g. Senator Kulsoom Perveen advises such victims to seek justice from Allah.
One hopes the Supreme Court will keep these points in view while dealing with the case.
During the last days of the Abbasid caliph, Moatassim Billah, conditions had worsened so much that the poet Saadi had to lament:
(The sky is right to shower blood on earth, so pathetic are the conditions in the reign of Amirul Momineen Moatassim Billah).
S. MUSLEHUDDIN AHMED
Karachi
AS days go by, it is becoming exceedingly apparent that Mukhtaran Mai’s case will go the way Dr Shazia’s case went. No matter who gets sacrificed, some one must be saved.
But Mukhtaran Mai is no ordinary person. She is now almost an icon. After all those who are riding the waves now are gone and forgotten, Mukhtaran Mai will remain and shine forever.
To keep her memory alive, can we not name or re-name some important roads, crossings, bridges, etc, after Mukhtaran Mai on the lines of the Mai Kolachi bypass in Karachi?
We can establish a school in her name, promote it to a degree college status and ultimately to a university, so that in a 100 years from now, if some ones asks, which is the best university in Pakistan, the answer will be of course the Mukhtaran Mai university.
Philanthropists can build a hospital system in her name like Bombay’s Nanavati (600 beds?). Gulab Devi lives because she has a hospital in Lahore. Give Mukhtaran her life back. Please give her a hospital. The clerics will not let us put a statue of hers in front of the hospital (whenever it comes) with outstretched arms, saying Come, stand up and be counted.
N.A. FARUQI
Karachi
PAKISTAN’S biggest strength is not its size, its resources or its military; rather our real strength is our strategic location. India and China need energy and we have the channel of distribution.
It is a proven business fact that it is not the product that has real value but the channel of distribution. All the oil in the world is worthless if it cannot be accessed. With our nuclear deterrence, we can assure safe delivery of goods (i.e., energy resources) to our neighbours and this will lead to immense growth and prosperity.
FARAS KHAN
San Juan Puetro Rico
THIS is with reference to the letter ‘Investments in banks’ (June 22). The writer has expressed his doubt about the regulatory role of the State Bank of Pakistan.
We would like to clarify that the State Bank has not been regulating the investment banks since November, 2002. It now regulates only commercial banks and the development finance institutions. The non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), including investment banks, are now being regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.
The State Bank monitors the activities of the banks and DFIs and also regularly carries out on-site and off-site inspections to ensure the soundness of the banking system of the country and employs modern methods and techniques of risk appraisal and measurement.
SYED WASIMUDDIN
Chief spokesman, SBP
Karachi
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