| August 12, 2005 | Friday | Rajab 6, 1426 |
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Shifting of PCCC
British days
Sales tax confusion
Telephone lines
Internet performance
Protecting national heritage
Pensioners’ schemes
Kashmir dispute
Honorary citizenship
Import of new cars
Better late than never
Robin Cook’s death
Polo ban
REFERENCE Mr Zafarul Haq Memon’s letter (July 22), the argument that the three assemblies have spoken about Kalabagh Dam does not gel. One correspondent has already said that if politicians are going to decide high-tech matters, then let them decide all space, rocket, nuclear, military and even medical matters. Let us retire everyone else.
He says that all the people of Sindh are against having the Kalabagh dam. Obviously, they have been misguided by unscrupulous politicians. The Kalabagh dam will not block even one cusec of water flowing at present to Sindh. It will only store surplus water, when available. It will only distribute surplus water. So where is the problem?
Obviously, the 38 MAF flowing past Kotri is not getting distributed evenly over the 365 days of the year. The problem is of distribution and not of lack of water — 38 MAF is a hell of a lot of water. However, the situation cannot get worse with the Kalabagh dam, it will only improve with the (regulated) 37 per cent share of Sindh in the Kalabagh storage.
Regarding the Chashma Link Canal and the Thal Canal, if certain wrongs were committed in the past because of the confrontational atmosphere then prevailing, should we not try to make a fresh start now? With a sincere person like President Musharraf prepared to take personal interest in matters, should we lose this last opportunity and keep on with the old business of ‘them’ and ‘us’; Karachi vs Lahore?
As regards power generation, does Mr Memon see no difference in thermal power and hydel power? We are paying through our nose for having lined the pockets of other people. Industry is suffering. Investment is retarded.
Any number of small dams could never have done what one Kalabagh can do. The economy of size works against it. Why this scoffing at the 37 per cent extra water that Sindh will get from the Kalabagh dam? The 37 per cent includes a sizeable grant from Punjab, which has voluntarily reduced its share.
Without Kalabagh and Bhasha dams, has Sindh any alternative means of increasing the quantum of water by five MAF which it will need additionally in five years’ time? Sindh will not become a desert because of the Kalabagh dam. But it will, without the Kalabagh and Bhasha dams.
And the responsibility will be squarely on the shoulders of those blindly opposing Kalabagh for the last 20 years. In these 20 years, 20 million acres have gone barren.
KHURSHID ANWER
Lahore
SOON after partition in 1947, Pakistan scientists replicated the Indian Central Cotton Committee (ICCC) into the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) to expand cotton research and development work in the new country.
The foundation stone of the PCCC’s PICRT building was laid by Khwaja Nazimuddin, governor-general of Pakistan, and it was inaugurated by Chaudhry Mohammad Ali, prime minister of Pakistan.
The PCCC is now being uprooted from its majestic building to let the US consulate come there. It has advertised for office accommodation. Its building was designed for its requirements. Rented accommodation may or may not provide such spacious premises as the PCCC’s present premises.
How can we expect our research organizations to make progress if our attitude towards our research organizations is so apathetic?
M. SHAFIQUE AHMED
Karachi
HOW the PCCC is going to shift with its heavy odds and ends to rented accommodation, not designed for its needs, is a matter of great concern. The PCCC is a quasi-research organization engaged in more than 75 per cent of cotton research in the country. The committee generates its funds through the Cotton Cess Act, under which every consumer or exporter of a cotton bale is required to pay a certain amount of cess money to work far cotton research and development in the country.
The present building of the PCCC was also made out of cess money. Thus the beneficiaries of research are required to persuade the government not to agree to a proposal that can jeopardize cotton research, which is a substantial foreign exchange earner for us. The benefit supposed to be gained by the shifting of the PCCC is not in the national interest. The US consulate can be allotted 28 acres at any other place in this metropolis without shifting the PCCC and other government offices from their present locations.
ABDUL QAIYOOM KHAN
Karachi
THIS refers to Mr Tahir Jaffar Khan’s letter (Aug 3). During British days, the army officers were not allowed batmen while at peace stations. They were allowed batmen only at field stations. At the end of the war in 1945, when our convoy reached Jallandar cantonment from the Burma front (Southeast Asia command) for demobilization, the commanding officer, a British major, promptly returned a combatant batman to lines and employed a civilian.
Similarly, officers were not allowed government conveyance from residence to place of duty. They had to reach offices by their own arrangement. Thereafter they would move in government transport on duty. Thus one could see majors and colonels walking or cycling to their offices. A few senior officers had cars. I saw a British colonel (the centre commandant) in 1948-49 going to his office on foot even in winter. Maj-Gen Akbar Khan, commanding a division in Quetta in 1948, sometimes walked (alone without escort) from his residence to the divisional headquarters, promptly responding to salutes on the way.
The situation remained the same even in the early days of Pakistan, but started changing when Gen Ayub Khan took over as C-in-C. Officers were allowed batmen (one each but there could be more — a cook, driver, etc.) and (mis)use of government transport started.
The luxurious lifestyle of army officers, bureaucrats and the ruling classes is not appropriate with around 40 per cent of the population living below the poverty line. However, let us hope Pakistan will have real democracy soon where all segments of society shall be equally looked after.
ABDUL SAMAD KHAN
Karachi
IN the new sales tax return-cum-payment challan for commercial importers, there is no column for excess amount of input tax carried forward from the preceding tax period for the period from July 2005 onwards. Hence commercial importers are confused as to how to fill up sales tax returns for July 2005, as the sales tax department in Karachi is unable to clear this confusion in spite of personal visits.
According to what was explained by the member, sales tax, at a recent meeting held at the FPCCI, Karachi, the matter of carried forward amount is merely meant for account purposes by commercial importers and the sales tax department has nothing to do with it once the sales tax plus the value addition sales tax have been paid at customs — unless the declared value addition is in excess of 10 per cent already charged by customs at the import stage.
But are commercial importers supposed to pay for the second time sales tax for goods sold in July in the absence of column where the carried over balance may be mentioned and against which output tax can be adjusted? Supposing a commercial importer had closing stock of Rs100,000 on June 30, 2005 for which sales tax of Rs15,000 plus Rs1,500 value addition tax had already been paid. How can a commercial importer adjust output tax recovered for goods sold in July against Rs16,500 already paid by him in June, unless there is a column in new sales tax returns where the carried forward balance for the preceding tax period can be mentioned and adjusted?
The CBR is requested to clarify this confusion to avoid problems of commercial importers as the last date for filing sales tax return for July 2005 is Aug 15.
SIDDIQ KAPADIA
Karachi
MOST telephone users complain about unserviceability of their telephone lines every now and then, causing unnecessary mental torture and stress to their users.
I suggest the following to the PTCL: line rent, including CLI, etc., should not be more than Rs75 a month; 100 per cent serviceability should be ensured on telephone lines; a central complaint monitoring cell should be established to ensure 100 per cent serviceability. Divisional engineers and others should only deal with technical matters and be answerable to the head of the central monitoring cell.
Moreover, telephone linesmen should be kept available on 24-hour shift duties, even on Sundays and holidays, and a telephone line be made serviceable within an hour from the time of complaint. In case of rectification of a fault, the report should signed by the consumer who made the complaint. A separate slip may be attached with the monthly telephone bill to get the consumer’s comment about the service being provided.
Z.U. QURESHI
Karachi
PAKISTAN has a total of 500 megabits/second of Internet bandwidth available at its disposal from the submarine cable source. However, the actual bandwidth requirement of the country is about one gigabit/second and, therefore, it is no wonder that in the district towns the Internet does not function properly, which works to the great advantage of the telephone company.
This is so because there are thousands of Internet users experiencing defective performance and as they try to reconnect to the ISP again and again in quest of better service, this repeated action nets thousands of extra calls to the PTCL bringing it millions in extra revenue annually.
This constitutes a gross injustice to the people which was brought to the notice of the minister concerned many times before but to no avail. The federal ombudsman is requested to put a stop to this by making PTCL charge a fixed monthly amount for telephone use specifically for Internet.
ABDUL GHAFOOR
Muzaffargarh
YOUR editorial ‘Protecting national heritage’ (Aug 7) has very rightly advised the government that control of our cultural heritage should be given back to the federal archaeology department which is better qualified and equipped to take care of relics of national importance.
In Hyderabad alone, 175 assets/buildings of historical significance were declared by the heritage department of the Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA) as ‘national heritage’. However, by now 112 such edifices of historical importance have reportedly been subjected to the brutality of the land mafia. According the latest report, one more historical site on Station Road is being demolished to raise a commercial plaza. This recent aggression against the national heritage has delivered a big shock to the conscientious residents of Hyderabad and illustrates the callous and neglectful attitude the respective agencies towards preservation of relics of national importance.
In pre-independence days, Hyderabad was famous for its elegant buildings and beautiful gardens and parks. These fine-looking buildings and gardens were a contribution by the affluent Hindu community of Sindh — Warkis/Bhai Bands and Amils — flourishing in the city. The well-planned areas of Hirabad and Amil Colony in spite of the neglect of more than five decades still reflect the beauty of the past.
Although the builders’ mafia and avaricious landgrabbers have played havoc everywhere in the country, the worst sufferer is Hyderabad where their capricious activities are going on unhindered due to the collaboration of some black sheep in the departments concerned and lack of resistance from society as a whole. Solitary voices raised against their anti-civic activities do not create any impression in the right quarters. It is, therefore, upto the media and the residents to urge the HDA to immediately get anti-heritage activities stopped.
MANZOOR H. KURESHI
Karachi
THE government has increased the profit rate on Pensioners’ Benefit Scheme and Bahbood Scheme of NSS with effect from July 1. The maturity period of these two schemes is 10 years. Premature withdrawal is subject to service charges of Rs2,000, Rs1,500, Rs1,000 and Rs500 for the first and fourth year, respectively. These service charges are on withdrawal of Rs100,000.
Unfortunately, the new rates of interest are not applicable to deposits before July 1. These will continue to earn profit at the old rates till maturity.
Senior citizens and retired government servants who invested their savings before this date have been deprived of the better profit rates. The maturity period is too long and withdrawal and reinvestment is, therefore, financially not feasible considering the rate of service charges.
I request the NSS director-general to either allow new rates of profit to old depositors or reduce the maturity period to one year.
QAZI BASHIR AHMAD
Lahore
HOW long it will take for something concrete to emerge from the haze of make-believe created by confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan?
President Pervez Musharraf’s formula for a region-wise solution of the Kashmir dispute was based on a realistic appraisal of the geographical and historical situation of the Jammu and Kashmir state. Earlier, Sir Owen Dixon, UN representative on the Kashmir dispute, had envisaged a region-wise plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir, underscoring the geographical and ethnic division of Kashmir state.
It is well known that Jammu and Kashmir is a conglomerate of disparate regions, ethnically, religiously, geographically and historically.
The governments of India and Pakistan should seriously ponder the formula offered by President Musharraf to break the logjam on Kashmir. The most feasible measure involving the least dislocation that suggests itself is to convert the de facto occupation of Ladakh and Gilgit by India and Pakistan, respectively, into a de jure status. Let the people living in Ladakh and Baltistan feel free citizens. They have been living under an uncertain constitutional dispensation for half a century for no fault of theirs.
SYED AFZAAL HUSAIN ZAIDI
Islamabad
ON the auspicious occasion of our Independence Day, would it not be a good idea to confer honorary citizenship of Pakistan, as part of the ongoing confidence-building measures, on eminent Indians born in our country?
A beginning could be made with Manmohan Singh, I.K. Gujral and Kuldip Nayar. India could reciprocate by honouring, among others, Gen. Musharraf, Dr Mubashir Hasan, Sahibzada Yaqub Khan and M.B. Naqvi.
I.R. SIDDIQI
Karachi
THIS refers to Mr Nasir JamaI’s report ‘Import of new, used cars picking up’ (Dawn, April 6).
This is correct. Most of local assemblers have stopped new bookings, and the public has to pay a premium to the agents of the assemblers.
It is proposed that the government should allow import also of new cars at lower duties.
IQBAL AZAD
Karachi
THERE is no denying the fact that India is half a century ahead of Pakistan in solving its socio-economic problems. It had diagnosed the ills and found remedies. Soon after gaining independence, it found that the remedy for many problems lay in reorganization of provincial boundaries and abolition of feudalism. At the time of independence India had only nine provinces; now it has more than 30.
The effect of this exercise was that today there has emerged a sizeable middle class which is necessary for the success of democracy. Hundreds of princely states and powerful feudal lords have disappeared. Elections have been held regularly, and there has never been any interruption by the defence forces.
Pakistan’s first prime minister was shot and killed at a public meeting, and his murder was never properly investigated. Except the U’ren Report which suggested that the murder was the act of a deranged mind, the general feeling was that the prime minister was removed from the scene because he wanted to follow the Indian example. Pakistan today has the same problems which India had half a century ago. So why not learn from its experience, and apply the same solutions?
ZEYAUR RAHMAN
Karachi
ONE read with a heavy heart the sad news about the passing away at the age of 59 of Mr Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary of Britain.
The world has lost a statesman with a great sense of justice and truth, even when perceived enemies of his country were involved.
If Mr Blair had heeded his sane advice about the Iraq war, London would have been saved from the trauma of 7/7 and British taxpayers from having to bear the burden of their country’s participation in the illegal occupation of Iraq and the guilt of the killing of thousands of innocent Iraqis and abuse of prisoners.
Mr Cook, until before his death, had been writing articles in an attempt to make his government see the harm of continued involvement in Iraq. Unfortunately, no one paid any attention. He strove to bring peace to this tormented world, and may his soul rest in peace.
KHALID CHAUDHRY
Karachi
I HAVE been following the letters on the polo ban on Shah Shamyl Alam and Shah Qubilai Alam. Many people are speaking up against this injustice.
At last year’s Polo World Cup Paris, the highlight was our national team’s participation in it. Our win against Mexico surprised everyone — the other teams, their supporters, the organizers and yes also the French. We were no longer some unknown Asian team. The French, the English, the Mexicans, the Brazilians, the Australians were actually sorry that we did not make it to the final.
So are we Pakistanis going to be petty and self-destructive? How can we ban the two polo players who have made it possible to raise our head high as a nation? It is time that the Polo Association reconsidered its decision in the interest of not only justice but also to promote a soft image of Pakistan.
SHAZIA SHAH
Lahore
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