| August 3, 2005 | Wednesday | Jumadi-us-Sani 26, 1426 |
To send a letter to the Editor
Click here
Inflation: role of central bank
Aid to Afghanistan
British days
The Haiti lesson
Ban on polo players
Wrap up the melting glaciers
Kashmir issue
Islam against terrorism
Dual NICs
West’s attitude
Baab-i-Pakistan
Wagah border
THE JI chief, Qazi Hussain Ahmed has recently said (Dawn, July 27) that voters should defeat the forces of secularism through active participation in the coming local body elections. Secularism as ignorantly interpreted by the religious parties means total exclusion of religion from society. Since no political party has any such plan on its agenda, his challenge is actually aimed at the movement in progress for moderation and tolerance that is gaining ground in Pakistan. The MQM accepts the challenge and asks voters to make a clear choice between modernism and backwardness. Let us ask the people to choose between the following two options:
1. Do they hold in high esteem the Quaid-i-Azam and Allama Iqbal who conceived and created Pakistan or Maulana Maudoodi, who not only opposed the creation of Pakistan but also called the makers of Pakistan as ‘kafirs’?
2. Do they want a modern, progressive and democratic Pakistan or do they want a theocratic Pakistan run by a backward-looking obscurantist clergy?
3. Do they want a stable and economically strong Pakistan or a Pakistan plagued by sectarian and ethnic conflicts?
4. Do they want a secure Pakistan respected by its neighbours and the international community as a country totally devoted to the task of raising the standard of living of its people by employing all its resources or do they want a Pakistan meddling in the affairs of other countries through aggressive and militant emissaries whose bravado could possibly result in Pakistan being declared as a rogue country?
5. Do they want a total Talibanization of Pakistan through the introduction of the Hasba Bill or do they want to live in a free society, which respects human rights and human dignity, freedom of speech etc.?
A small minority has taken over the centre-stage in Pakistan’s politics due to certain unfortunate internal and external factors and they are now trying to impose a Taliban-type culture and society in the country. It is now the duty of the so- called silent majority to assert itself and express its dominant position by backing the parties which represent progressive views.
NASREEN JALIL
Member, MQM Coordination Committee,
Karachi
AN in-depth analysis of the causes of inflation in Pakistan reveals that while cost push impulses, institutional rigidities, structural bottlenecks, monopolistic pricing of public utilities, increases in procurement prices of agricultural commodities, imperfect markets and escalation in import prices have certainly contributed to the persistence of inflationary pressures, the principal price raising factor is the excessive money supply as compared to growth in domestic output (GDP).
During the last four fiscal years 2001-02 to 2004-05, while the annual average rate of growth of GDP was 5.8 per cent, the average per annum acceleration in monetary assets was 17.4 per cent.
In view of the high cost of inflation in terms of the allocation of resources, equity and long-term growth, and the cardinal role of monetary policy in determining its pace and dimensions, the European Union and a few other industrial countries like New Zealand, Australia and Canada have entrusted the task of taming it to central bank, through the device of inflation targeting.
It would be desirable if we in Pakistan could also adopt inflation targeting in order to keep it low.
This would, however, necessitate ensuring considerable degree of independence for the State Bank not only in the legal sense (which it has), but also in regard to the gearing of instruments of monetary policy, towards the attainment of the specified objective of price control.
Countries that are practising inflation targeting generally rely on a model for forecasting inflation that uses the relevant variables and information indicators and have articulated operating procedures whereby the setting of policy instruments depends on assessing inflationary pressures.
In Pakistan, the State Bank must build up its research capability to model and forecast domestic inflation and assess the impact of changes in monetary policy on principal macroeconomic variables.
AFTAB AHMAD KHAN
Karachi
IT is good to see Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz together trying to strengthen the Pakistan-Afghanistan friendship. It is good to see that these two neighbouring countries are working hand in hand to overcome their problems.
In a press conference, the prime minister announced $100 million in aid to the Afghan government. It was really hard to digest the fact that Pakistan offered such a big amount as aid. The only logical explanation is that Mr Aziz, on the spur of the moment and in trying to present the soft-face of Pakistan, went overboard.
It seems that Mr Aziz does not realize the importance of what foreign reserves mean to a country like Pakistan. His “act of heroism” may cost us a lot in the near future. This same money could be invested in the health and educational sectors to help the poor population of Pakistan. Every year hundreds die because they are unable to buy medicines.
Poverty level and death rates are alarmingly high in Pakistan due to the inability of the masses to buy medicines. The situation in Pakistan should be improved first before offering aid to other countries. Every country that donates such an amount to another has to have much more in spare for its own spending. And it is true that our own people are starving to death.
It was a great gesture by Mr Aziz to help Afghanistan by offering aid money, but it was too much.
ZOHAIR BAJWA
Lahore
THIS is with reference to Col (retd) Riaz Jafri’s letter (July 29) in which he has compared present day ACs, DCs, traffic sergeants, railway officers, etc., with those in the days of the British Raj.
The correspondent rightly talks about how simple and hardworking the British officers were. The lethargy and laziness that have set in the railways and the police, etc., are however something not restricted to them alone. It is also deeply entrenched in our defence services which happen to be the largest public sector establishment in Pakistan today. How many batmen and land cruisers and urban plots did our first commander-in-chief General Frank Messervy have?
During the days of the Raj and even long after that, one used to see majors, colonels and brigadiers going to office on foot and bicycle. But not any more. Today even ordinary majors have air-conditioned jeeps at their disposal. The officers in British days were lean and fit and well-read without any golf courses, squash courts, centrally air-conditioned libraries that are considered essential today.
However, one doesn’t need to lose hope. Pakistani civilian or army officers too can start living simply if Pakistan can get a civilian leadership that has emerged from the masses and comes to power through fair elections.
TAHIR JAFFER KHAN
Lahore
THIS refers to the article “The massacre of the poor” by Naomi Klein (Dawn, July 19). The writer sheds some light on the affairs of Haiti and the relations of America’s ex-blue-eyed boy and champion of democracy, Jean Bertrand Aristide. He was granted the throne of Port-au-Prince a decade earlier and was crowned as the “King of the Poor” of Latin states. This year we have seen him leaving his presidential palace in the wee hours of the night and to a destination unknown for many weeks. This was all done by the sole “guardian of democracy and liberty”.
The most important aspect of this sad tale of “change of regime” is the helplessness of a democratically elected president of a republic who enjoyed considerable public support. Here in our country, the ruling junta is extending its rule by taking the Haiti lesson seriously and privatizing all state-owned enterprises and turning military corporations into private oligarchies. For them, increasing poverty and waste of national wealth doesn’t matter; the only thing that matters to them is “the consent of the master”.
Aristide is hopeful about his people and says: “The people are bright, the people are intelligent, the people are courageous. They know that two plus two does not equal five.” Can we say courageously that we are also the same kind of people?
K. M. MOINUDDIN
Karachi
ONE is extremely surprised to read that Qubilai Alam and Shamyl Alam have been banned from playing polo “anywhere in the world”. While Qubilai has been banned for five years, Shamyl has been banned for life.
One fails to understand how the Pakistan Polo Association can the pass the final verdict when the appeal process itself started on July14, only one day prior to the decision being made. It appears that the Alam brothers were not given a fair chance to defend themselves against the allegations that have been levelled. Both Qubilai and Shamyl have catapulted Pakistani polo onto the world scene. They have devoted themselves to the service of this country and have revived this sport that actually originated from Pakistan.
Both Qubilai and Shamyl deserve a fair and unbiased inquiry, especially if the verdict passed is supposed to be applicable the world over. How can Pakistan impose a worldwide ban on its key players when the inquiry itself does not meet international standards?
Why were not Pakistani cricketers banned from playing when betting allegations were proved against them? Was it because there was too much money at stake?
TAIMUR DAWOOD
Lahore
ABOUT a week ago, news of a speeding up of glaciers’ meltdown was published in the world media, including Dawn (July 24). According to the report, a huge Greenland glacier has suddenly accelerated dumping enormous quantities of ice and water into the north Atlantic Ocean.
Scientist from the University of Maine, Canada, observed that after 40 years of stability, the Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier in southern Greenland has become one of the world’s fastest-melting glacier as it is moving at an unglacial 38 metres a day, or 14 kilometres a year.
Earlier a US scientist revealed that sea levels had risen 2.54 centimetres (more than one inch) since 1995 which is twice as fast as the rate the ocean rose during the previous 50 years.
It is also calculated that if the Greenland ice-sheet melted, that alone would raise sea levels approximately seven metres.
News of melting of Kilimanjaro ice-caps came earlier this year followed by the WWF report on March 13, 2005 regarding the receding of Himalayan glaciers at a very fast rate.
A world plan to fight global warming went into force on Feb 16, 2005 feted by its backers as a lifeline of the planet amid sniping at the US for pulling out. The world’s biggest polluter, US accounts for 22.2 per cent of the total global emission. Surprisingly, the Clinton administration had signed the Kyoto Protocol but in 2001 the Bush administration pulled out of it.
The Swiss government plans to wrap up its melting 32,200 square feet of the Gurschen Glacier. Swiss technicians have constructed insulating PVC foam to protect the snow layer from heat, ultraviolet rays and rain. The foam costs some $84,000 and can be stored during winter for re-use. The country’s glaciers have lost about a fifth of their surface area in the last 15 years, according to a Zurich University study linking the loss to global warming, and the icefield above Andermatt is retreating by about 16 feet a year.
The world’s richest nations should think about protecting the melting glaciers by adopting this technique. The US, if it cannot bring itself round to ratifying Kyoto, may provide special funds in this regard by making a consortium with the G-8 to safeguard the globe with the ‘clear and present danger’ of global warming.
RASHID ASHRAF
Karachi
THE US and the UK are mainly responsible for the deadlock in securing for the 14 million people of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir their right of self-determination granted to them by UNSC resolutions. Human freedom is the basic right of a person irrespective of race, colour, creed and country. This principle is the primary objective of the UN Charter.
Almost all US presidents and British prime ministers have been loudly propagating this human right but they have not exerted pressure or influence to resolve the Kashmir dispute and persuade India to withdraw its 700,000 troops from the occupied territory.
The other three permanent members of the UNSC — France, Russia and China — too, should have used their efforts to enable the oppressed people of Kashmir to secure freedom from the slavery of India, which occupied the territory through force in October 1947.
Over the years both Pakistan and India have become nuclear states. In this context, all Pakistani rulers have been urging India to settle the flashpoint dispute by mutual parleys in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiris but the attitude of New Delhi has remained adamant and uncompromising. The Indian leaders have instead blamed Pakistan for encouraging terrorism in Kashmir by infiltration. It is a lame excuse and a big slur on the UNSC. Why don’t the big powers enforce the UN resolutions?
MAQBOOL A. QURESHI
Gujranwala
BEGINNING from 9/11, the number of innocent lives lost in various acts of terrorism creates a terrifying picture of the world today. In Islam, murdering a human being is comparable to murdering the entire humanity. The question arises, how can Islam be responsible for this slaughter of mankind? If this is the case, then what about Cuba and Columbia, which are not Muslim countries?
It should be understood that this war against terrorism is not a war against Islam. It is essentially a war between good and evil. In this case, the evil comprises the intentions of the western world, predominantly the US, and the undemocratic leadership of the Muslims.
The good consists of people among us who understand the underlying cause of this ongoing war on terrorism. In the history of Islam, wars have been fought to achieve peace. However, dominating world resources is a purpose which inevitably will meet with resistance.
Islam is against terrorism. In this context, it is the responsibility of good men of different religions all over the world to collaborate to find a remedy for this slow death of humanity.
JAWAD ALI, SHAHEEN BUTT
Lahore
THIS refers to the notice by Nadra in Dawn regarding persons who have managed to get two identity cards (July 27). This will indeed serve as a deterrent for others who harbour such intentions. A really good job done by Nadra.
Besides registering a fraud case against such persons, Nadra should make those also accountable who attested/verified the application forms for NICs without checking the actual names of the applicants and other particulars against the old NIC/Form B. The names and designations of persons who attested the application forms should also be published in the newspapers. Similarly, action should be taken against the officials concerned of Nadra and district registration offices for processing applications for NICs without proper scrutiny and checking the particulars of the applicants from the record of old NICs/Form ‘B’.
SQN. LDR (retd) S. AUSAF HUSAIN
Karachi
PATRICK Barkham has quoted an inspiring incident pertaining to the boxing legend Muhammad Ali in his article of July 17. Former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali visited the remains of the World Trade Centre. When reporters asked how he felt about suspects sharing his Islamic faith, Ali responded pleasantly: “How do you feel about Hitler sharing yours?”
Mr Barkham also cited another Muslim’s complaint: “Ever wondered ... why a nun can be covered from head to toe and she’s respected for devoting herself to God, but when a Muslimah does that, she’s considered oppressed?”
The hacks interviewing the champ Ali had probably thought that they would be able to embarrass him for being a Muslim by asking that question, but, in spite of being slowed down by Parkinsonism, he was able to knock them out intellectually. There’s a great lesson in it for the world’s Muslims: use your brain instead of your brawn.
The simplicity, humility and present weakness of the ordinary Muslims has caused the Zionists, the neo-cons and their supporters to become arrogant, adopt double standards and a holier-than-thou attitude towards the former.
However, they should remember even the Bible had predicted that the meek and the humble shall inherit the Earth.
SALIM
Karachi
THE Baab-i-Pakistan project in Lahore is a flawed one. We are too poor a country to afford such grand monuments. But then those who struggled for Pakistan must be commemorated. Perhaps it is not too late to convert the 110-acre project into a high quality university, which houses large departments for research and teaching of the history of Pakistan, and for the writing of well- researched biographies of those who got us this country.
Several thousand young people could be educated at this institution and the message that Baab-i-Pakistan is designed to disseminate could be spread with greater depth. This university could be set up in partnership with a foreign or local institution.
MUZAFFAR A. GHAFFAR
Lahore
ON a recent visit to the Wagah border one was taken aback to see some wise persons having come up with yet another idea to cheat the nation and earn extra money. The authorities are now charging Rs10 from every person wanting to witness the flag-hoisting ceremony.
It was even more disturbing to note that the elite (people with “parchis”) were given special treatment and the best spots while ordinary citizens who had paid for the “tamasha” were made to stand throughout the ceremony.
Why are we being charged and where is all the money going?
M. OBAID MUSTAFA
Karachi
You can also send letters to the Editor
Just send your message to the following address: letters@dawn.com
Make sure you include your full name, postal address, e-mail address, and in the case of Pakistan your day-time telephone number.