| July 7, 2005 | Thursday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1426 |
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PIA planes
Forest mafia
DHA’s policies
Indo-US defence accord
Issues of identity
Karachi’s Civil Hospital
FIA ‘black sheep’
Investment in banks
‘A shambles’
‘Helping Africa’
THE wizards of this government decided to make a mountain out of a molehill. The best PR man could not have given Mukhtaran Mai the projection this government has given by default. Rape, like murder, is a crime as old as mankind. When the beast in man overcomes his humane mindset, he commits rape or murder.
The beast needs to be caged, punished and given exemplary punishment. There are no ifs and buts, it is either that the law takes its course or the law is hostage to the beasts of this world.
Mukhtaran Mai was raped by orders of a panchayat. The police, which breed criminals and protect them, tampered with the evidence. The crime was reported by the press and electronic media. Government should have taken to task all members of police and the DIG, SSP etc, for failure to discharge their duties as per law.
The legal and political advisers of this regime have goofed. They need to set their own house in order. There should be some semblance of rule of law. Who could have imagined that Muktaran Mai could one day be a world famous figure? Lessons need to be learned. The presidency and the PM’s house must let the law take its course. Had Mai gone abroad, there would hardly have been any news. Denying her permission to proceed abroad has been more disastrous.
A rape occurs every hour in the US. In Africa it is a common event. This crime occurs also in Europe, Australia and the rest of Asia. However the government is not seen to be protecting the perpetrators, but being on the side of the victim. That at least is the perception that is projected. In Pakistan the reverse has happened or that at least is the perception.
Since the Khalid Shazia case, things have taken a wrong turn. Political exigencies to cobble up a coalition of all sorts and at any cost is a recipe for disaster. Criminals must not be given a clean bill of health for supporting the regime. Politics is too complicated a business to be handled by soldiers. Slogans alone do not create a soft image. The government must be seen to respect women and protect their rights. The judiciary must decide family cases within stipulated time-frames. Female workers in semi-autonomous corporations like PTCL, KESC and PIA must be protected from any sexual harassment as and when it is reported.
ANEELA CHANDIO
Karachi
“PRESIDENT Pervez Musharraf offered to organize an international conference for female victims of injustice the world over and invite them to narrate their ordeal and recommend remedial measures. He also declared his government’s commitment to help all victims in their quest for justice according to laws” (Dawn, June 30).
Any offer of help to the helpless can only be appreciated. But for achieving the desired results it does require some homework. Accordingly, the following points may need consideration.
Holding such an international conference presupposes that its organizers and all the participants have a working knowledge of each other’s societies, their culture and also some rules and regulations as to what they do not and cannot have. One reference may suffice to clarify the point. In the state of Nepal, a woman is authorized to marry more than one husband. Under the circumstances, many recommendations or conclusions of the conference may not be suitable for all victims in all countries.
The government’s commitment to help female victims in their quest for justice is in fact a reminder of the state’s responsibilities towards its citizens. The relevant laws need to be revised and strengthened so that they can take full care of the victims and also improve the working of our union councils. The primary duty of the government should be to develop such a society where victimization of others, particularly women, is eliminated. This is possible when minds can be changed for the better through more education and awareness.
The people the world over regard us as an Islamic society because “the Islamic Republic of Pakistan” is the official name of our country. Then why should we be surprised when they want to know as to how a girl in Pakistan can be punished to be gangraped by an order of a council or jirga? The holding of the international conference won’t provide an answer.
Z.A. KAZMI
Karachi
THE induction of the B-777s in the PIA fleet has apparently not proved to be the profit earner it was publicized to be.
According to PIA managers, the B-777s will be able to write-off their debt in 25 years. Then came the dry leasing of six vintage A-310s which will cost the PIA a huge sum of US$600 million as lease rental in 10 years. This was followed by the sale of six PIA-owned A-300s for a mere US$10.1 million. An honourable member of the treasury had supported the sale by declaring these six A-300s as “unsafe” and non-airworthy. PIA managers happily stated that the buyers of these planes had contracted PIA to carry out D-checks and other maintenance work for them. Incidentally, the buyer itself is a company which has an extensive maintenance complex of its own.
The delivery process of these A-300s has started now with the test flight of the plane with the manufacturer serial number 064. An airworthy RVSM complaint used A-300 fetches about US$8.3 million in the international market. Now we are seeing off the ever reliable jumbo jets of PIA. Two B-747-200 passenger aircraft are up for sale while a similar type is being acquired on wet lease.
One won’t be surprised to hear very soon that two B-747-300s would be retired early next year because of section 41 modifications. These important details were overlooked during the feasibility studies of these former Cathay Pacific aircraft. On the other hand, section 41 modifications had been carried out on the two B-747-200s that are up for sale.
What I wish to point out is that PIA is selling off its owned aircraft with used or newer planes that are being acquired on bank loans which will grow into billions of dollars because PIA managers would like to fill their aircraft to capacity by cutting down fares. PanAm revisited?
G. M. RASHID
Lahore
FORESTS are the backbone of a country. They provide a pollution-free atmosphere and other benefits. Forests are undoubtedly one of the most precious assets of a nation.
But Pakistan has become the paradise of certain mafias, and the forest mafia is one of the most powerful. It has long been making money by cutting and selling mountain and flat area forests by underhand methods. The forest department high-ups have numerous excuses to satisfy the government. Hill- slides, monsoon rains, dying trees, new forestation policies, etc., are some of the common excuses.
The most successful tactic of the mafia is to set a forest on fire through their agents. The network of the mafia is always alert and the most favourable season for them is the dry summer.
I had a chance to visit Ziarat for a few days recently. The mountains around the city were once full of redwood trees. Redwood is a very precious tree. I was deeply perturbed when a responsible person told me that hundreds of redwood trees are being cut down every year by the mafia.
According to him, many influential people have used the wood lavishly in the building and decoration of their bungalows. The mafia also use the wood in making furniture and selling it to foreigners at high prices. At present, the redwood trees left on these mountains can be counted on one’s fingers.
Similarly, the mountains of Chitral, the upper and low area hills of Abbottabad, Ayubia and the mountains in Azad Kashmir are also being robbed of trees by the forest mafia.
I request the president to establish special courts so that the members of this mafia can be caught and punished.
PROF. M. IKRAM MIRZA
Rawalpindi
THE attention of the authorities concerned is drawn towards the problems I have been facing while dealing with Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA).
I purchased an amenity plot in Karachi in 2002. In May 2004, the DHA arbitrarily stopped transfers of all plots without any communication or information to owners.
In spite of repeated efforts to get information from the DHA nothing was forthcoming from them.
In October of the same year, I received a letter from the DHA asking me to pay development charges on the plot. When I tried to pay the development charges the DHA refused to accept the payment without giving any reason. I wrote to DHA authorities in December last year complaining that despite my several attempts to pay the amount the authority had refused to accept the payment without any convincing reason.
I wrote a letter to the DHA in February this year. I received a shocking two-line reply informing me that M-series plots were located in an area that had not been leased to it — the property was repeatedly sold in the open market, transferred and leased by DHA a number of times. There are 55 other Marina Club plot owners who are affected.
Even if it is accepted that there is a dispute with regard to the lease to the DHA, it has nothing to do with me as I was not informed at any stage and unless I had written to bring this up, I would still be in the dark.
Even after the passage of a year, the DHA has not indicated how long it is going to take to sort out this issue.
SYED S. RAZA
Canada
THIS refers to the 10-year agreement on defence and security cooperation between the US and India. It covers issues like combined operations in third countries, patrolling and protection of commercial sea lanes and cooperation in ballistic missile defence, besides co-production of weapons system.
The issues identified for cooperation places the agreement in a different category from earlier agreements.
This is the result of close understanding and meeting of minds at the military and government levels. US projection of India as a potential world power has also influenced Indian thinking.
Pakistan appears to have naive perception that America is a reliable ally. Statements issued by the US ambassador and other officials suggest that the US is not happy with our role in Afghanistan and they suspect us of harbouring militants and not doing enough despite the loss of 300 soldiers who sacrificed their lives at the altar of this one-sided friendship.
This agreement is going to further increase the conventional imbalance between the two neighbours which would not be disturbed even by the induction of 75 F16s. It would also make our deterrent ineffective to a large extent. Pakistan would have to find a solution to counter this unholy alliance.
Our cooperation with China will have to be further strengthened and enlarged.
We will also have to broaden our foreign policy horizon to win Russian sympathies and understanding without, of course, forgetting and ignoring Iran.
KHAN A. SHAMSHAD
Karachi
MR Anwar Syed’s article ‘Issues of identity’ (June 26) should be an eye-opener for those who look outward to shape the Pakistani identity instead of getting inspiration from what is indigenous.
Our official history starts with the advent of the Arabs in Sindh as if the region was a mere land mass before their arrival.
Pakistanis are inheritors of a sui generis civilization that is apart from the rest of the subcontinent, as well as from Central Asia and the Middle East. The Indus Valley civilization was characterized by towns built on a grid-like plan with granaries, drainage systems, and public buildings, copper-bronze technology, a standard system of weights and measures, and steatite seals with hieroglyphic inscriptions, which remain undeciphered.
The civilization’s economic wealth was derived from sea and land trade with the rest of the subcontinent, Afghanistan, the Gulf, and Mesopotamia. Only one thing needs to be clarified: that the Indus valley civilization was confined to present-day Pakistan.
The remains of about 1,500 cities and towns of the integrated era of the civilization are scattered over 280,000 sq km in Balochistan (Mehrgarh), Sindh (Moenjodaro), NWFP (Rehman Dheri), Punjab (Harappa), Rajasthan (Kalibangan) and Kutch (Dholavira and Lothal).
It was a homogeneous civilization and people across the entire north-west India used one single language which is yet to be deciphered. They shared costumes and customs. The civilization had pre-eminence in political and economical affairs for centuries.
The lower Indus valley from Multan to the Arabian Sea formed the nucleus of the civilization due to its topographical features — the Khirthar mountainous range, great lakes (Hamal, Manchhar and Keenjhar), savannah-like landscape, flood plains and deltas of the Indus and Sarasvati rivers.
Gregory L. Possehl in his book, Ancient cities of the Indus, writes: “..... there are abundant signs of cultural continuity in Sindh, Gujarat, Punjab and adjacent areas of north India.”
The region remains a melting-pot of different beliefs and cultures. This is a region where cultures converge and civilizations synchronize.
Linguists are of the view that the Indo-Aryan languages — Hindustani (Urdu and Hindi), Sindhi-Seraiki, Punjabi, Gujarati and Bengali and the Dravidian languages (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam) — may have originated from the common lingua franca spoken by people in the Indus and Sarasvati river valleys.
If we stop deriving inspiration from others and start looking at our own strength, we are sure to make a strong progressive and democratic nation.
MANZOOR CHANDIO
Karachi
THE attention of the Sindh government is drawn to the problems of postgraduate doctors working in Karachi’s Civil Hospital.
In Punjab and NWFP postgraduate doctors are being paid Rs10,000 and so is the case in private hospitals and federally-administered government hospitals in Karachi. But in the biggest hospital under the administration of the Sindh government postgraduate doctors are getting Rs6,000.
The Sindh governor had announced that these doctors would be paid an amount equal to that of doctors elsewhere in the country but one year has passed without any increment in pays/stipend. The doctors are finding it hard to look after their families as well as fulfil the demands of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPSP).
As a result, they have been engaging in private jobs and practices, and unintentionally but ultimately making patients suffer.
The Sindh governor, the Sindh chief minister, the provincial health minister and the vice-chancellor of Dow University of Medical and Health Sciences are requested to look into this matter in order to improve the efficacy of this highly dignified but underpaid profession.
DR SHAHNAWAZ ALI
Karachi
THIS refers to your correspondent Munwar Azeem’s report on the FIA’s search for black sheep (Metropolitan, July 2).
This note is to convey the resolve of the director-general to ensure that the entire gang of human traffickers involved in this case of illegal immigration of Afghan women and children is arrested and prosecuted.
The main trafficker, a carrier and a facilitator inspector of the FIA immigration staff, Islamabad airport, have been arrested.
Efforts are under way to apprehend the official of an airlines as well as the agent based in Peshawar. No one within the FIA involved in criminal activities related with human trafficking and smuggling will be spared.
In addition, departmental action for negligence and lack of supervision will also proceed in accordance with the commitment of the FIA to value professionalism, competence, efficiency and, above all, integrity.
TARIQ KHOSA
Additional director-general, Immigration & FIA spokesman,
Islamabad
APROPOS of the clarification (June 26), I still doubt the regulatory system of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The chief spokesman should see for himself one of the latest certificates issued by the Islamic Investment Bank (IIBL) on Jan 25, 2004 which states: “IIBL incorporated in 1990, regulated by State Bank of Pakistan”.
Why didn’t the SBP take notice of the fact that this bank was not being regulated by it, and why was the public not informed about this? How can any bank make such a declaration in the presence of regulatory authorities such as the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the SBP? Pensioners, senior citizens and other poor people have deposited their hard-earned money in IIBL because of the false belief that SBP was regulating this bank. Will anyone from the SBP clarify why it had never taken action against the bank?
M. ASLAM
Peshawar
THIS is with reference to Mr Mohsin Malik’s letter “A shambles” (July 1). If a Lahori can have so much to complain about the city government regarding the miserable state of a city like Lahore, then just imagine the mismanagement prevailing in Hyderabad and the vulnerable state of its citizens.
Just look at the water we get and you will get the impression that you are being served lemonade in this scorching summer. Go for a long drive at night and you will have the privilege of travelling in the ‘Dark Ages’. No wonder one respects our torch and lantern inventors more than our nuclear father.
The slogan that rules in this country is: No doubt all are equal but some are more equal than others. This thought alone has shifted the focus from common objectives. It is high time we learnt to stop lamenting and coped with the circumstances.
A. ZUBEDI
Hyderabad
YOUR editorial ‘Helping Africa’ (July 5) says: “These countries have already agreed to forgive $40 billion that Africa owes to the IMF and the World Bank, although only 18 countries will benefit from it and there will be no substantive reduction in Africa’s external debt burden of $300 billion.”
The appropriate word at this occasion should have been ‘write off’ as ‘forgive’ sounds like charity. The rich countries are not doing any charity by ‘writing off’ the $40 billion. The African countries have already paid back more than what they borrowed in terms of consultancy fees and interest.
ASHAR J. KHOKHAR
Leeds, UK
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