Caught in the crossfire

IT is heart-wrenching to hear the horrific accounts of the survivors who witnessed the London tube bombings last week. As a British Muslim mother of two, I am appalled and ashamed of these so-called Muslims who commit these atrocities in the name of our religion.

My sympathies are with the victims of the bombings, yet at the back of my mind I wonder why stories of the countless Iraqi and Palestinian civilians who have been bombarded indiscriminately with western missiles and bullets are not sufficiently focused on in western media. Should they also not be bracketed as victims of terrorism?

They are killed, maimed and mutilated in a war that has nothing to do with them. No ‘moments of silence’ are ever observed for them. Are their stories not as relevant to the West? Is their grief not as substantial? Is their loss not as real? It is obvious that the value of human life varies on which side of the fence you are on; western blood seems to be worth more than Iraqi/ Palestinian blood, at least that is what one gathers when one sees the one-sided coverage on CNN and the BBC.

Perhaps it is this realization of western double standards that triggers terrorists to commit their outrageous acts, perhaps they seek tit-for-tat vengeance, perhaps they want the West to have a taste of its medicine — the senseless killing of innocent civilians, the random, thoughtless, brutal taking of blood. The difference is only that instead of indiscriminately raining down bullets or missiles, they intentionally plant bombs.

It is time western governments understood that they have not just contributed to but in fact directly caused these barbaric atrocities to take place. The typical reaction, which is hyping up security in western cities, is not the long-term answer, but in fact a case of treating the symptoms and evading the real cause. Can the West guard every conceivable corner of its cities to ensure that such atrocities do not occur again?

Where there is a will, evil will find a way. So western leaders ultimately need to see what they and their governments are doing that is producing evil of such unimaginable proportions. They need to re-evaluate their position on terrorist acts and terrorism. They need to see terrorism in a broader dimension, not just as the heinous taking of human life by the standardized ‘suicide bombers’ or so-called ‘Islamic militants’, but as mass murder, that would include some western governments themselves.

This realization will affect biased western foreign policies towards Iraq, Palestine and the Muslim world in general and that would in all probability appease the terrorists. In the meantime it seems that innocent bystanders on both sides of the fence will continue to suffer pointlessly — the Palestinians and Iraqis who are now drained and virtually lifeless from the carnage they have faced and which they still encounter every single day as a direct or indirect result of western policies, and now innocent civilians in the West who are suffering for the atrocities committed not by them but by their governments. This cycle of retribution will continue and blameless westerners will continue to be drawn into this deadly crossfire unless governments in the West recognize their own involvement in this tragedy.

They need to acknowledge that the wounds they have inflicted on others run as deep as the wounds their own people are now facing, that loss to human beings outside their territory is as real in every sense of the word as the loss suffered by their own people, and that deaths on Palestinian/Iraqi territory are every bit as futile and every bit a result of barbaric terrorism as the recent deaths in the London bombings.

SHAMA IMRAN
Jeddah

Road accidents

A FEW days ago, many people going to work witnessed a horrible road accident right opposite Lahore Gymkhana when two motorcyclists were run over by a car and a bus.

At least one person appeared to have lost his life while the other was bleeding through a split skull. There was no policeman in the vicinity, no wireless communication and complete lack of any appropriate transportation to take the injured to the hospital. Both were being ‘loaded’ on to a rickshaw by twisting and turning their bodies to fit the small contraption that passes off in our country as a mode of transport.

I know that nothing will happen. People have been dying in road accidents for as long as I can remember, but except for rehearsed stale rhetoric from officials nothing practical has been done. For our planners and policymakers, the easiest route to solving traffic problems has been to chop down beautiful, decades’ old trees on the roads to widen them.

But through this letter I wish to lodge a fervent appeal with Pakistan’s civic planners and policymakers to do the following:

Instead of chopping down trees to widen roads, please instil a sense of discipline in traffic by educating and training traffic police in the management and control of traffic and in the internationally adopted right-of-way principle. Just a cursory look at the mayhem and madness on any of our roads will tell anyone that motorcyclists have no regard for this rule, and stubbornly insist on riding their bikes in the middle of the road, often zigzagging between cars.

Heavy fines should be imposed on undisciplined car drivers and motorcyclists who do not behave as per rules, impede the flow of traffic through wrong turnings, turn without indicating, overtake from the wrong side, break the traffic signal, and drive vehicles that emit noxious smoke.

Driving licences of serious offenders, those for instance who break traffic signals, should be cancelled.

Unfit vehicles ought to be off the roads. This single factor will result in enormous clearing of unnecessary congestion and suffocating smoke.

Also, the traffic police should be given authority to book influential traffic offenders who belong to the “untouchables” category. When the public will see these people being hauled up, the fear of the law will take hold in everyone.

Medical facilities should be provided for those injured in accidents so that no one loses his/her life for want of medical attention. People don’t help the injured for fear of being wrongly booked for a crime they haven’t committed.

Handsome cash rewards or bonuses can be given to traffic policemen or a benevolent fund created with the amount collected from challans so that the money could be used for the education of traffic policemen’s children, provide better medical facilities to them and their families, and accommodation.

And lastly, but most importantly, please don’t chop down trees to widen roads, especially the graceful Mall of Lahore. These trees have done nothing to deserve the woodcutter’s axe. They are the character and life of this city, and have been sentinels to the passage of history of this land. There is no other city in the world that has as beautiful an avenue as The Mall of Lahore. Please don’t destroy that, and protect it through a special legislation, if need be. No one chops down trees in Paris, or London, or Munich, or Vienna to widen roads, although the traffic density there is many times more than that of Lahore. They do it through traffic management.

M. ABRAR AMEEN
Lahore

‘Perceptions of Pakistan’

BRIG (retd) A. R. Siddiqi’s column ‘Perceptions of Pakistan’ (July 14) is a statement of actual events in the history of Pakistan since its birth. Nations are not made in a few decades; it takes centuries. I am grieved to learn that one of the speakers at a select gathering of intellectuals said: “Pakistan is a dying country”.

To my mind this is not the correct perception, though since the day Pakistan came into being we have been in a mess which mostly occurred due to poor leadership. For instance, the 1965 war was unnecessary but some highups in the military and the political establishment forced Ayub Khan to enter into an armed conflict with the neighbour to resolve a political issue.

The other folly was the armed action on March 25, 1971 in the then East Pakistan in order to resolve a political problem through military action which bounced and caused the loss of one wing. The people of East Pakistan never wanted this. They were in favour of forming a federation.

Again, the policies followed at the instance of the superpower led to the Afghan mess. To my mind, today’s terrorism is the direct result of the superpower’s unflinching support to Israel and its military involvement against Afghans and the bloody war in Iraq.

Pakistan, I think, has learnt a lesson by making mistakes. I have faith in the younger generation who are more qualified and determined to make Pakistan progress. The pessimistic view of the speaker expressed at the Karachi gathering appears to be due to the complexities of the bureaucratic system in vogue and the bossy attitude of sardars, khans, waderas and chaudhrys who call themselves pillars of parties and absorb a major share of power and pelf through ghost employments, loans and write-offs in the interest of people whom they say they represent.

But Pakistan is going to live for ever. Long live Pakistan.

IQTEDAR A. KHAN
Karachi

Dwindling ‘Iranis’

IT was very interesting to read about Iranian restaurants in Karachi (‘Dwindling Iranis’, Karachi Notebook, Dawn Metropolitan, July 4), and at the same time it is sad to notice their gradual demise. The good thing about having these restaurants in the city is that it brings us closer to more cultures — which, in return, brings about cultural harmony and teaches people to have a greater level of tolerance for others.

Today, we must learn to respect others and their cultures/religions. Modern Karachi is a metropolitan city that has people from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Nigeria, the Central Asian Republics, etc. My ideal street should be one where there is a Muslim living with Hindus, Christians, Zoroastrians, Sikhs — but, stop, let me first understand how difficult it is for a Muslim Pakistani to live with his own brother in peace and harmony.

It is bizarre to know of the great pride we take when we kill our praying Muslim brothers in mosques and give it the name of ‘jihad’ — ‘mullah culture’ zindabad!

By the way, Karachian, thanks for the lovely piece and why did you miss my favourite Irani eatery, Challoo Kabab Subhani, situated at Lucky Star?

NIAZ H. JAFRI
Karachi

Economic self-reliance

MR Amin M. Lakhani (Dawn, July 8) suggests that the prime minister should tax agricultural income and recover defaulted loans, etc., to create a more equitable tax base for implementing a more ambitious socio-economic programme.

But the prime minister cannot do that because some of the feudal lords and loan defaulters are his coalition partners. They are in assemblies and in cabinets (federal and provincial) as ministers/advisers with liberal perks and privileges. The prime minister takes them for Umrah and on numerous foreign trips in planeloads just to keep them happy.

They need money for lavish living. Therefore, they adhere to an old adage: “Beg — begging bowl; borrow — banks/ DFIs and steal — by corrupt practices”.

Exploitation of the masses shall continue. Perhaps there is no precedence in history where vested interests have voluntarily given the people their rights. These always had to be taken by force.

ABDUL SAMAD KHAN
Karachi

Beggars

I WAS in Saudi Arabia recently to perform Umrah. During my visit I noticed a large number of beggars in Makkah and Madinah. It was sad to know that 90 per cent of them were professional beggars from Pakistan. These beggars can now be seen even in the Masjid-i-Nabvi and while performing the Tawaf in Makkah. It is a matter of disgrace for our country.

The Pakistan embassy in Riydah and the Pakistan consulate in Jeddah must take action to curb this.

AFSHAN MASOOD
Karachi

Standards in homoeopathy

THIS is with reference to the letters by Dr Haseeb Alam and homoeopathy doctor Zaki Alam (July 5 and 8).

Dr Haseeb Alam has shown his reservations as regards homoeopathic dispensaries and has suggested that every homoeopath should do his/her MBBS before becoming a homoeopathic practitioner.

Being a consultant homoeopath, with allopathic qualifications, I believe the NWFP government’s idea of having homoeopathic dispensaries is good but I will suggest that every homoeopathic doctor should undergo an examination regarding homoeopathy and knowledge of conventional therapeutics, just as it is practised in the UAE. Through this we can reduce quackery and improve the standards of homoeopathic education.

Acquiring allopathic knowledge and skills is really good because a homoeopath is constantly faced with patients who are or have been taking allopathic drugs before consulting him.

There is no need for a homoeopath to pass the MBBS first because homoeopathy itself is a complete system of therapeutics and is not dependent on any other system.

This issue can be solved by improving standards of homoeopathic education and by adding a subject of “interaction of homoeopathic remedies with conventional therapeutics” in the homoeopathic curriculum.

Dr Zaki Alam has welcomed the idea of homoeopathic dispensaries but he has raised the question of expiry date labels on homoeopathic remedies. Dr Zaki should know that by observing ideal standards of preservation any remedy can be stored indefinitely. This is because (a) homoeopathic medicines are made from natural resources unlike synthetic drugs, (b) water is not used as it is not a good medium for preservation owing to the possibility of micro-organism growth over time and (c) alcohol is an excellent preservative and can be relied upon to maintain potencies indefinitely.

This means that expiry labels are not much of a problem rather it is the absence of instructions about how to store medicines that is the problem. As a result, most consumers are confused. It will be of great help if manufactures mention guidelines such as avoiding exposure to direct sunlight. Also, there is no need to store medicines in a refrigerator — a cool dry place is all that is required. Strong aromatics like perfumes and peppermint should not be used simultaneously.

Quality education in homoeopathy is the only way out to establish the system.

ABDUL QADEER KAWAN
Karachi

Senior citizens

THIS refers to Mr Hafizur Rahman’s article ‘Farce or fiction’ (July 13).

The federal government should tell the nation what was done by the task force it had set up for senior citizens.

As a senior citizen I wish to know in what ways has the government implemented the recommendations made by the UN General Assembly for the benefit of the elderly.

Our government had pledged to implement the UN recommendations. I had attended at my own expense a senior citizens’ convention called by Nawaz Sharif at the Convention Centre in Islamabad. His charter of benefits and rebate in air and train fares for senior citizens was drummed for days on end on the government’s air waves and then flushed down the drain when he was dethroned from power by the army.

Will the present government revive that charter of benefits for senior citizens and forget about the comatose task force referred to by Mr Hafizur Rahman?

QUTUBUDDIN AZIZ
Karachi

Urbanization pitfalls

THE process of urbanization is not an unmixed blessing. On the one hand, we see towns and cities as hectic engines of growth not only creating skills and wealth for the nation but also generating employment for migrants from rural areas. On the other hand, these urban centres have also generated brutal and inhuman conditions, with large sections of citizens living in squatter settlements.

The overcrowding in the slums and the desperate lack of water and sanitation lead not only to severe health problems but to abject degradation of human life.

The inefficiency of our cities and towns is being perpetuated by obsolete laws, regulatory provisions and norms.

There is, as such, a strong case for the constitution of a national urbanization council to formulate urbanization policies, to prepare guidelines for implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and overall research in the urban field.

AFTAB AHMAD KHAN
Karachi

Unclean water

I WOULD like to draw the attention of Wasa to the fact that people in Hyderabad are being supplied dirty and putrid water for some time. This has been causing water-borne diseases like gastro-enteritis, hepatitis and typhoid.

The authorities concerned are requested to look into the problem.

DR M. ARIF SIKANDARI
Hyderabad

LB polls and army

GEN Pervez Musharraf”s transfer of power to the common people has borne fruit in four years. In every nook and corner one can see the changes. What has happened in Karachi is surely a beacon light for rest of the country. Series of flyovers, carpeting of roads to international standards, repairing of sewerage systems, improving basic health units, model parks and roundabouts, etc.

But over the last one year numerous killings have been carried out in Karachi to frighten the people. A series of killings witnessed last month and the attacks on the KFC and Madinatul Ilm should not be separated from the efforts to frighten people and change the public mood.

The law-enforcing agencies should come forward and make the atmosphere congenial for free fair and impartial elections in Karachi. Karachi is the hub of the country’s business activity. A disturbing situation in the city could hamper the ongoing government efforts to bring foreign investment to Pakistan. In the present situation it is felt that these elections should be held under the supervision of the army. The Elections Commission and corps commanders should come forward and save the system from collapse.

MRS KHADIJA SIRAJ
Karachi

ECL list

WITH reference to the news item “Dead and high on ECL” published in Dawn on July 20, it may be clarified for the benefit of the public that the Exit Control List is maintained by the interior ministry and not by NAB.

The names of accused facing cases in accountability courts are placed on the ECL on NAB’s recommendation.

SPOKESMAN, NAB
Islamabad