| July 28, 2005 | Thursday | Jumadi-us-Sani 20, 1426 |
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Indian PM’s statements
Traffic problems
Petroleum prices
London attacks
Madressah reforms
Extravagant spending
PIA fares
Reporter’s arrest
Wall chalking
ON account of lack of adequate appreciation of its role in the development process and the penchant of our rulers (civil as well as military) for subordinating considerations of efficiency, integrity and public welfare to political/personal loyalty, public administration is in a state of disarray. Citizens by and large regard it as corrupt, irresponsive, wooden and at times even inhuman.
The inadequacies of public administration do not primarily stem from lack of ability, training or experience of public servants. To a considerable extent these can be attributed to our social and political milieu and the desire of our rulers to misuse and exploit the administrative machinery for their selfish manipulations. Long periods of martial law and quasi-martial law have also adversely affected the performance of administration as it is unlikely to function impartially in the public interest when the rule of law is in question and fundamental rights and freedoms are denied.
Circumscription of the role of public service commissions and the removal of constitutional safeguards designed to protect the bureaucracy from arbitrary, unjust and mala fide actions of the government have also in no small measure contributed to administrative decay and demoralization.
Again, persistent inflation which is a form of invisible robbery so far as public servants, pensioners and other un-indexed wage and salary earners are concerned has also significantly impoverished and demotivated public servants and aggravated the vicious phenomenon of corruption which has assumed prodigious proportions.
It has also to be conceded that some high-level civil servants, for personal considerations like out-of-turn promotions, re-employment after the statutory age of retirement and prestigious postings debased themselves and became tools for serving the survival interest of their political/military masters and gave it priority over service to the people. A few amongst them developed political ambitions and this had most unfortunate consequences for the growth of democracy as well as for the public image of the bureaucracy.
It may be added that the bureaucracy of a country will have all the defects of social character that are endemic to society as a whole. Nepotism, corruption and lack of work ethic will have to be fought on a societal level. But the bureaucracy is a part of the intelligentsia and is a relatively privileged sector of society and public expectations regarding its performance are, therefore, high. Moreover, reforms in the bureaucracy can be introduced directly and immediately, while political culture can change only through mass conscientization and politicization.
Administration reforms to be meaningful have to be interpreted in broad terms. Citizens’ satisfaction, popular participation, openness in administration, public accountability, administrative morality, professionalism, and democratization of administration are among the essential contents of administrative reforms which should receive attention today.
AFTAB AHMAD KHAN
Karachi
PRESIDENT Musharraf keeps claiming that Dr Manmohan Singh is sincere about resolving the Kashmir and other issues with Pakistan. However, during his recent state visit to the US and, especially while speaking in Washington at its conclusion, the Indian prime minister was seen to be doing everything he could to malign Pakistan and hurt its interests.
Exploiting to the hilt the anger and scare created in the West against Muslim extremists by bombings in London, he warned that Pakistan’s nuclear assets could fall into the hands of the radicals (July 22). On the possibility of Pakistan signing a nuclear deal with the US similar to the one between the US and India, he cleverly tried to subvert the issue by again referring to “the role terrorist elements have played in the last few years in... Pakistan.”
As an added measure he also threw in some old stories about Islamabad’s ‘reckless (nuclear) proliferation’, referred to the creation of the Taliban and the “thousands and thousands of madressahs... set up to preach jihad based on hatred of other religions”.
Another ominous development has been his sudden change of stance on several important issues pertaining to Pakistan-India relations. One of these relates to the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project. Now, he says, it is fraught with risks and has expressed doubts that any international consortium of bankers would underwrite it. This has also led to a disagreement between Dr Singh, his oil minister and his left allies (July 23).
What presumably happened is that the American leaders may have indicated to him implicitly or explicitly their displeasure over the project. As a quid pro quo for bestowing huge favours upon India by way of the defence pact, agreement to sell the latest version of Patriots and to recognize it as a nuclear power along with the offer to provide nuclear reactors for power generation, they may have wanted him to scrap the impending deal with Iran and Pakistan.
What Pakistan needs to do now is to wisen up to the whole game. We will be able to live without the royalty we may have received from India but the latter can’t do without additional sources of energy.
Now that ‘security’ has suddenly become dubious for him, let India build an offshore pipeline or buy LNG from Qatar. Nor should we include them in the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline project, whose implementation is in any case doubtful because of the unproven quantity of reserves in the Daulatabad field and insecurity in Afghanistan.
If Dr Singh had been sincere towards us, he would have helped Pakistan acquire the status of a recognized nuclear power, just as Islamabad while pleading its case has also been trying to do so for New Delhi through the many statements given out by the foreign office and in speeches in international forums. Or, at the very least, he should have desisted from undermining this country’s interests. Pakistan has always been fair game for India but it is surprising that Dr Singh should betray Iran to earn American pleasure.
ABDUL ALEEM
Karachi
THIS has reference to Mr S. Akhtar’s letter (July 24) regarding traffic problems on Karachi’s Sharea Faisal during VVIP visits. One solution offered by a Malaysian company recently was to build a long flyover on this road from the airport to some point in the city centre, as done in Malaysia, possibly up to Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road or KPT, with a few ramps, at the company’s cost at the rate of $4 million per kilometre.
The company was sure that its entire cost and profit could be recovered within a few years from the toll, after which the structure could be transferred to the city authorities. This could then be utilized for rail mass transit on corridor 4. In such a situation, VVIP traffic could use this for quick access to and from city areas, for a short duration, during which time all traffic on it could be stopped, avoiding the problems being faced on the existing road.
During the construction of this four-lane flyover, the two central lanes could be provided with rails for a future light rail system. After the flyover is transferred to the city, any BOT company could be invited to operate LRT at very little cost, utilizing locally fabricated vehicles and other systems, under licence, offering very low LRT fares, by cross-subsidizing the O & M cost, through toll from road vehicles, using the other lanes.
During the last three decades, all efforts to build a mass transit system in Karachi have failed primarily due to the fact that the fares, calculated to make the project viable, were unaffordable by the majority of mass transit commuters, who are from the low-income category. This scheme offers a way to solve both the problems at no cost to the government.
As a matter of fact, such a scheme could be utilized fruitfully on other mass transit corridors in Karachi, as also in Lahore and other cities too, while in the meantime licences and designs of LRT vehicles and systems could be obtained for fabrication in local factories.
S.M.H. RIZVI
Karachi
THE committee formed by the government to determine the prices of petroleum products has presented an unprecedented ‘gift’ to the nation by announcing an exorbitant increase in the prices of petroleum product from July 1. Its effects on the national economy and the life of the common person need no elaboration.
Since the inception of this committee there have been only a few occasions when prices have been revised downward; otherwise we are always further burdened on the pretext of rising prices in the world market and the inability of the national exchequer to subsidize the cost of petroleum to provide relief to the people. This argument is valid, but the irony is that the government is instead profiteering and fleecing the citizen.
The price we pay at the petrol pump consists of two parts, i.e., cost and taxes. These taxes are not fixed in terms and amount but are based on percentage of the cost of petrol. Whenever the cost is revised, the taxes are also revised. If the rate of petrol is, say, Rs40 with a 50:50 cost-tax ratio and the price is enhanced by, say, Rs10, actually only Rs5 will be going towards the cost while the other Rs5 will be going into government coffers as bonus. If the government is earnest in mitigating the plight of the people, it should not increase the tax part of the price nor keep percentages as the basis of taxation.
Another aspect is the ratio of profit per share of the petroleum companies. If we look back a few years and analyze the graph of their profits, we can easily find out where these profits are coming from.
Yet another question which needs to be answered is regarding the increase in the price of natural gas. Is natural gas also being imported from Opec and its price being raised by a cartel? Will someone be kind enough to explain?
FARRUKH SEER
Lahore
LONDONERS deserve praise for their exemplary display of tolerance and harmony, though traumatized by the recent attack. I salute London mayor Ken Livingstone for bringing life to normal within two days.
But I see no sense in pumping five bullets into an overpowered suspect in a country where a person in custody is treated with respect until proven guilty. This must have anguished Livingstone, Brian Galloway, Tony Benn and other sane politicians and frightened Britons of Asian origin. They will now be scared to wear loose or padded clothes, carry briefcases or run to catch a bus or a train. The end result will be more alienation and distrust that may promote extremism in the UK and elsewhere.
However, despite all these humiliating provocations, I as a Muslim appeal to my fellow Muslims to show restraint as Islam teaches modesty and forgiveness.
M.M.RAB
Karachi
THE article ‘The chequered history of madressah reforms’ by Mr Omar R. Quraishi (July 24, Education section) encapsulates our government’s ineptitude on the registration of madressahs. The writer is quite right when he says that the present drive against madressahs is the result of the London attacks. A campaign has already been launched by our law-enforcement agencies to weed out suspected terrorists. The clerics who are associated with these religious seminaries are also being hounded and even a women’s madressah was raided the other day in Islamabad.
President Musharraf has now set a deadline for the end of this year for the registration of madressahs. This appears to be a good move to combat religious extremists in Pakistan. However, the fact is that what our worthy president told us in his nationwide address on July 22 was nothing new to our ears. We have already heard the president say the same thing several times in the past.
In his speech of Jan 12, 2002, the president had vowed to fight religious fanaticism in Pakistan and also to launch a vigorous campaign to reform religious seminaries. But as we all know, nothing much came out of it. Due to the faulty approach of the government, the scheme of reforming the madressahs fizzled out in its initial phase. So the problem remained where it was.
In the absence of the leadership of the two mainstream parties, the mullahs found it easy to bag many seats in the 2002 elections. Moreover, the atmosphere at that time favoured them greatly because anti-American feelings were running high. These factors helped the religious parties to form governments in two provinces, and in the National Assembly, too, they became a force to reckon with. The religious parties voted for the 17th Amendment which gave the president the right to continue keeping his army post as well. Such cordial relations with the powers that be also won them (the religious parties) the coveted slot of leader of the opposition in the National Assembly.
To prolong his rule, the president had to abandon the programme of reforming the madressahs. He could not afford to attract the ire of the mullahs as they performed the role of a “friendly opposition”, much to the satisfaction of the establishment.
In the light of these facts, it becomes very easy to grasp exactly why the government beat a hasty retreat on issues such as the religious column in the passport and mixed marathons.
The gist of the matter is that President Musharraf needs to put his own house in order before rooting out fanaticism. Every once in a while we hear him preaching the doctrine of enlightened moderation. There is nothing wrong with it. But the problem is that there are certain elements in the cadres of the ruling party who want to appease the mullahs at all cost. The PML president is one such individual, and he sided with the mullahs on the issue of the religious column. Now as Mr Quraishi points out in his article, Chaudhry Shujaat has said that madressahs do not produce militants.
The president should ensure that those in his government at least toe the official line on madressah reform. That madressahs are turning out to be breeding grounds for militants is a fact that cannot be denied. A concerted effort is needed by the government so that the names of Islam and Pakistan do not get tarnished.
Moreover, those who run the seminaries must bear in mind that instead of exhorting their pupils to take up arms, they should inculcate in them love for learning and scholarship. A saying of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) says that the ink of a scholar’s pen is more sacred than the blood of a martyr. It’s time we realized the true meaning of Islam.
ALTAF HUSSAIN ASAD
Kot Abdul Malik
Sheikhupura
WE are one-seventh of India. Our forex reserves are said to be $12 billion, while theirs are more than $155 billion, with the second largest developing economy in the world. While they have 575 seats in the Lok Sabha for 1.05 billion people, we have 342 for 150 million, relatively seven times more — with poor performance and lack of a democratic culture. The same is the case with the upper houses of the two countries. Large amounts are spent by us from the public exchequer on parliamentarians who belong to the richer classes. Our parliamentarians have lodging arrangements besides many other perks and privileges.
The public expenditure on foreign tours of our rulers, parliament members, bureaucrats and their large entourages is many times more than that of the Indians whose foreign tours are strictly controlled by the prime minister’s secretariat. Unlike Pakistani leaders, they do not spend public money on personal tours or for performing religious duties.
The Indians often use government buildings for conferences and official functions while we generally use five-star hotels for such purposes. The discretionary grants dished out by our rulers as prizes and awards have no parallel in India.
K.M. BASHIR BUTT
Muzaffarabad
NOTWITHSTANDING the difference in Indian and Pakistani currency rates, the unprecedented rise in fares by PIA for travel to India is shocking. Last year the fare of a Karachi-Mumbai-Karachi return ticket was Rs12,000. This year it is Rs18,000. Indians travelling on the same PIA flight from Mumbai to Dubai via Karachi, with a three-hour flying time, pay Rs10,000.
The new, draconian tax just added to the myriad taxes’ list is called ‘war risk’ fuel tax costing Rs600. It is actually ‘insurance’ in mid-air. My co-passengers smilingly boarded PIA, delighted with a three-hour travel time and a comparatively low cost return ticket.
When I made inquiries with my travel agent, reality struck — the actual Karachi-Mumbai-Karachi fare is Rs 11,060, airport tax is Rs 1,500, foreign travel tax Rs700, fuel surcharge tax Rs3,900, war risk tax Rs600, Indian airport tax Rs330, capital value tax Rs165. The total taxes are worth Rs7,195, which is 1.5 per cent of the actual fare.
Will PIA curtail surcharges and taxes of every type and give relief to its own countrymen? The distance is only 500 kms for the above-mentioned flight.
All senior citizens in India receive specially discounted tickets on Indian Airlines. How about PIA obliging?
My mind harks back to the times when our national airline was a real friend.
SHAMEEM DALLAZY
Karachi
I WAS shocked by the reported arrest of the daily Star’s reporter, Mr Rasheed Channa (Dawn, July 25).
The circumstances pertaining to his seemingly arbitrary detention as mentioned in the Dawn report make it obvious that he has been penalized for truthfully reporting the sins of omission and commission of some high-ups in the provincial administration.
More than the blight of extremism which often breeds terrorism, the administration’s intolerance of press criticism is the bane of good governance. Unless the government and its minions respect freedom of the press, democracy will not function freely. The governor of Sindh should have this assault on the freedom of the press investigated impartially and punish those responsible for it.
QUTUBUDDIN AZIZ
Karachi
THERE was a good article by Mr Noman Ahmed about wall chalking (July 17). The provincial or city government seems helpless to stop this ugly menace. Two or three ethnic and religious organizations have monopolized writing on the walls. To stop this menace the SHOs of the areas should be advised to arrest the painter under Section 144 and impose some fine. If this is put into action, this menace will be stopped. When a person sees the wall ads for sex drugs, palmists, magicians and quacks, admission of schools, his blood pressure goes up.
Now there is another menace — pasting big posters on telephone booths, letter-boxes and signboards, etc. During Ayub’s era a notification was issued for seizing printing presses that did not print their names on the posters. Now everything is allowed.
A. R. SIDDIQI
Karachi
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