| August 19, 2005 | Friday | Rajab 13, 1426 |
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Prolonged injustice
The China factor
DHA’s priorities
Khairpur University projects
Why Bush won’t budge
Aug 14 interlude
Project planning
Agricultural country
‘Causes of extremism’
Above the law?
‘Engaging personalities’
SINCE a lot is being said and written about our relations with Afghanistan, the following extract from a write-up by Tim McGirk in the mid-August issue of Time magazine is well worth quoting:
“Ghafar (an engineer interviewed by the magazine) says he was the first member of the mujahideen to obliterate a Soviet chopper with a Stinger missile. And by coincidence, Ghafar was standing in exactly the same field when (a US) Blackhawk appeared over the hills 19 years later.
“‘Amazing’,” he exclaims, “‘they are following the same flight pattern as the Soviets’. The engineer saw this as a kind of omen: that one superpower acted much the same as another, and that unless the
United States became more careful, it would, by the grace of Allah and the ferocity of the Afghan warrior, meet the same fate as the Soviets. It was a warning I heard constantly throughout my travels in Afghanistan.”
This pretty well mirrors the sentiment that prevails in most parts of Afghanistan today. We know it, the western alliance knows it and so does the Kabul government, but no one is willing to call a spade a spade and do something about it out of fear of the American overlords, who keep accusing us of ‘not doing enough’ to quell Al Qaeda in South Waziristan.
The Afghan government accuses us of helping the Taliban. The fact is that the calm that seems to prevail in Kabul and northern Afghanistan is more apparent than real since the rest of the country is seething with anger and discontent caused by the continued denial of commensurate political representation to the Pushto-speaking Pathans who form the majority in the country and who live on both sides of the border.
The Mujahideen who fought and ousted the Soviet invaders of yesteryear are the Taliban of today but are not all extremists. They too must be brought into the mainstream of politics and power before any meaningful peace can be expected.
At this point in time the dominant issue central to the future of Afghanistan is neither Al Qaeda nor the hunting down of Osama bin Laden, but what is a sine qua non is the providing of building blocks for establishing a stable representative democratic set-up which the present regime in Kabul certainly is not.
S. ASIF MAJEED
Karachi
IN the backdrop of terrorism linked to Muslims or the western bias against Muslims, an enlightened interview with Mr George Galloway, a member of the British parliament, was aired by a Pakistani channel on Aug 13. It was indeed a remarkable exposition of the truth about what the West, spearheaded by the US and the UK, is doing to the East, particularly to Muslims.
Mr Galloway talked unflinchingly and fearlessly. He is of the view that all the ills that Muslims are facing have been generated by the West, and in this persecution corrupt and selfish leaders, rulers, despots and kings of Muslim countries have aided their protectors to keep them happy as well as to prolong their unjust and ruthless rule over the innocent and helpless people.
Among the many mindless and thoughtless actions by Muslim rulers, he singled out an important aspect — financial mismanagement. He laments that wealthy Muslim countries have deposited the bulk of their surplus wealth with western countries which have kept them divided — and sometimes instigated wars between some of them — so that their wealth dwindles and weapons are sold to them at exorbitant prices. The examples are the Iraq-Iran and the Iraq-Kuwait wars, and even the Pakistan-India wars in a different perspective.
Mr Galloway cites one country’s example which shows our endemic inability to realize the reasons for the West’s ostensible friendship. Saudi Arabia has invested as huge an amount as $3 trillion in the US banking system and another $3 trillion in stock exchanges. He worries that Saudi Arabia’s staggering amount of $6 trillion is as good as gone. The US might invent any reason or a variety of reasons, like aiding terrorism or not introducing democracy, to freeze the deposits and later guzzle them up.
Allow me to pose a question. In fact, it was the question which Z.A. Bhutto had posed to the oil-rich Muslim countries in 1974. Could not the savings or the surplus funds be deposited with the central bank of a Muslim country, say, Pakistan, or with a group of Muslim countries like Pakistan, Egypt and even Jordan to stabilize their economies? Without the oil-rich nations strengthening Muslim countries, the one billion-strong Muslims across the world will remain weak, ignorant and backward.
S.M. KAZIM NAQVI
Karachi
TO say that the ongoing rapid economic growth of China for the last over a decade is a matter of some concern for the West, particularly the US, is an understatement. It is equally a factor to awaken Third World countries to the need for their own economic progress.
But China has an advantage. Behind its astonishing progress lies the respect it commands internationally. For five decades, its policies have been so measured that the country has been beyond the influence of major powers.
At the time of independence in 1949, the Chinese economy was like that of any other Third World country. Today, it is one of the biggest financier of these countries. The first essential for sustained economic growth in the Third World would be to take the people into confidence. This cannot be achieved by repeatedly talking about the economy, holding conferences, meetings, seminars or forming task forces. They have failed to improve the quality of life of the people for years, hence they have no sense of togetherness with the government.
We need to understand China’s system of planning and working. They work among the people. Reportedly they can collect thousands of workers, arrange for their tools, food, water and ready-to-fix shelters, etc, and get work started in weeks for any project anywhere in the country.
Chinese financial discipline is better organized as compared to many other countries. Have we ever started any medium-sized project without foreign loans? And also, was the Chinese economy better than ours when we got independence in 1947?
Z.A. KAZMI
Karachi
I HAVE heard that the DHA, Karachi, is expanding, renovating and reinvigorating its golf club and golf course and will deliver a state-of-the-art luxury facility to its members (only). Splendid. It is not a bad thing altogether to invest in five-star leisure clubs, hotels, condominiums, promenades but it is definitely an appalling idea if you cannot provide the very basic needs to its residents (the general public). I am talking about essential amenities like potable piped water, removal of garbage, streetlights and decent roads. To top it all, it is quite regrettable when a taxpayer complains and asks for the same, he is sent away with a remark that sorry this is the system, we are doing the best we can.
A couple of examples of neglect — myself, a resident of Phase 7, Khyaban-i- Saadi, has no water supply for the last two months or so and the DHA water wing knows it, yet it tells me that it needs a report — write us an application, etc. It gives us a regular runaround for weeks and even after the third reminder, nobody seems to be moved there. In such a scenario a taxpayer is bound to get a little angry. The answer we get is rather ridiculous: “Don’t you have to run around in all government departments, so why do you expect that your problem should be resolved in a day?” I told the man: “You, my dear, will resolve the problem in an hour if I have somebody important call you.” But I guess it is the fate of genuine taxpayers to suffer at the hands of such a lopsided system and VIP culture.
Just outside my office door (122-C, Jami, Commercial Street 13) is a gutter/manhole that overflows from time to time and creates a big pool of stinking sewerage — a common scene in katchi abadis. The problem has been there for many months and many letters and reminders have been sent. A personal visit to the CCB has had no effect on the sanitary department.
Does all this sound like the Defence Housing Authority with its five-star life and glitter? Can someone realize in the top slot that we need to get our priorities right? A heavy investment is need in the basic amenities and an immediate re-design of systems that address public complaints.
DANISH A. ZUBY
Karachi
THIS refers to the letter by Prof Abdullah Phulpoto, Registrar, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur (August 8), in response to my letter (July 29), about the HEC-funded projects being run by the Khairpur University. The letter is vague and full of inconsistencies
If Dr Mumtaz Hussain Mahar is a PhD in computer science, why is his name is not on the HEC list of approved supervisors in the field of computer science? Moreover, Dr Mahar, on return from the UK in 1995, had joined the statistics department and was promoted as an associate professor in the same department on the basis of his five works published in the journal of statistics, while none of his publications is in the journal of computer science.
As regards the “setting up of fast internet and intranet” costing around Rs38.00 million, I will again reiterate that no work on the university information management system (UIMS) is being done at this point. The claim of the registrar that 75 per cent work has been done is incorrect. The project has been completed and report submitted to the HEC.
As for my appointment as an IT expert and demanding Rs25,000 per month, this is wholly incorrect. The university has so far neither advertised such a post, nor have I applied for it. But the fact is that some time back I was contacted by the vice-chancellor to help the department of computer science to make a database-drive website as per HEC instructions. I submitted a proposal about the website containing online features such as library service, examination results, admissions, etc. The vice-chancellor has put this matter on the agenda of the 53rd meeting of the syndicate, which is still awaiting approval. It is up to the syndicate to approve it or not as I have nothing to do with that.
PROF MANZOOR ALI ISRAN
Department of International Relations,
Shah Abdul Latif University,
Khairpur
WITH the financial and human costs of the Iraq war reaching enormous proportions for the United States, one wonders why in spite of all this President Bush is so adamant on persisting with his policy. According to Bush, pulling troops out at this time would be a “big mistake”, and he goes on to say that “the conditions on the ground depend upon our capacity to bring the troops home”, the conditions being the development of the political process, the training of Iraqi security forces and their ability to stamp out the “insurgency”.
It seems Bush is playing the fiddle, the way Sharon does on the Palestine issue. The US president’s statements are vague and take us around in circles. There is no concrete time frame in the picture; the occupation could go on indefinitely if the US believes “conditions on the ground” are not suitable. Now it is obvious that the occupation is worth the cost for the US administration.
Chas Freeman, who served as a US ambassador to Saudi Arabia under the first president Bush, sums it all up very nicely saying that you have to control resources in order to have access to them, and that is why Iraq, second only to Saudi Arabia in terms of oil-reserves, is of strategic importance to the United States. The US has scarce oil reserves, in fact if left to its own devices, and US oil reserves would last only 10 years (at current production levels). For that reason, US oil imports will keep on mounting and are estimated to be a whopping 70 per cent of total US domestic demand by 2025.
Now with this in mind, won’t it be a whole lot cheaper in the long run to invade Iraq (on the false pretext of ridding it of an evil regime) in order to acquire unconditional control of prospective Iraqi oil fields which are capable of producing oil worth more than $3 trillion? This way the US gets the best of both worlds — unlimited access at guaranteed cheap prices and the power to manipulate global market prices by deciding on production levels. Not a bad bargain, considering Iraqi oil reserves as opposed to US oil reserves would last about 526 years (at current production levels).
Keeping all this in mind, it’s no wonder Bush doesn’t want to budge. It seems he is not as dim-witted as he may seem. As Robert Kagan, a leading neoconservative strategist, recently told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “We will probably need a major concentration of forces in the Middle East over a long period of time. When we have economic problems, it’s been caused by disruptions in our oil supply. If we have a force in Iraq, there will be no disruption in oil supplies.”
SHAMA IMRAN
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
I AM writing this letter at 9am on Aug 14. I have just returned after dropping my 16-year-old son to school to celebrate Independence Day. What happened on our way to his school has raised certain questions in my mind. The incident I would like to share with the readers.
At 7.30am while going to his school I was stopped by two policemen standing in the middle of the road, with a police patrol parked on the side. This was not the traffic police but the other one you generally find on the roads when a car or motorcycle is stolen or any other crime takes place.
On stopping the car I asked the policemen as to what had happened and “why are you stopping my car?” One of them says: “Gari side pey karo, batatein hain” (move to the side and we will tell you). He then asked me for papers which I showed him, and then he asked for the driving licence which was also shown.
He probably was still not satisfied and started looking for some sort of violation, but could not find any. I told him that we are getting late, so if he had checked the vehicle, we might go, but he kept on dilly-dallying. Ultimately I asked him: “What is your problem, if you have checked the car and there is nothing wrong, why are you stopping us? The child is getting late for school. It is Independence Day and he is participating in the celebrations”.
To this, the constable replied: “Janab hamm ney bhee to yom-i-azadi mananee hai, koi chai pani to de dein”. I glared at him and drove off.
The questions I asked myself while driving were: Are we as individuals and as a nation really independent? Are we not hostage to every individual who has a little bit of authority because we have trained them to misuse rather than use it responsibly? What do we stand for as a nation: corruption, coercion, misuse of recourses, selfishness or ..? How long will we continue to be what we are? How will we change, if we do? What are we teaching our children? What do they see practically — ‘chai pani’, or what is taught to them in schools, ‘Faith, Unity, Discipline’?
I am sure every Pakistani has come across such situations which not only need an answer but a solution.
ZIA AHMAD JAN
Islamabad
IN a statement at the Pakistan Lubricant Association meeting on Aug 12, Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad said: “Karachi will be transformed into a modern city in the next two years as a number of major development projects are under way.”
May I request the Sindh government that whatever project it undertakes in Karachi, it is important that a proper alternative route for traffic is determined well in advance.
What is happening today in the Clifton area, right up to Mai Kolachi, is nothing but a horrendous and torturous way of diverting traffic which does not speak well of our planners.
SHIRAZ SACHEDINA
Karachi
HOW can we call Pakistan an agricultural country when we have been regularly importing food products for several years? Here is a list of the items we import for the information and perusal of the federal agricultural ministry so as to enable it to take necessary steps to reduce their imports from abroad:
Wheat, sugar, pulses of all sorts, tea, edible oils of all types, milk powder, raw cotton of long staple, butter/cheese and its allied products garlic, onion, potatoes, tomatoes, pan, tamarind, ginger, katha, and other vegetable products, etc, live animals, mutton beef and other related items.
On these food items we spend our hard-earned currency to the tune of $5 billion a year. In this way our hard-earned foreign currency is being wasted due to the negligence being shown by the higher-ups of our agricultural ministry, which is not taking any steps to improve productivity.
Will the agriculture minister spare some of his valuable time and clarify the sad state of affairs so that some corrective measures may be taken to become self-sufficient in all the aforesaid items and save our hard-earned foreign exchange for industrialization?
M. SIDDIQUE SULEMAN
Karachi
WHILE referring to President Gen Musharraf’s recent observation to a group of intellectuals that poverty and illiteracy have driven many people into extremism, you have rightly pointed out in your editorial ‘Causes of extremism’ (Aug 13) that injustice and inequitable distribution of wealth also give rise to discontent and extremism. Of course, there are many other factors which contribute towards militancy and extremism.
If President Musharraf really means business, he must address this issue on all fronts simultaneously.
If Pakistan is a wealthy country, then let us share its wealth equitably. And, if the president thinks that we are a poor country, let us share its poverty equitably.
NAZIM F. HAJI
Karachi
IT is a routine matter for the Airport Security Force (ASF) personnel deputed at the departure lounge to physically check all passengers before they board an aircraft to make sure that no one is carrying any objectionable items with them on board as per the rules and regulations laid down by the ministry of defence.
When the federal law minister’s son was exempted from a body search and a fellow traveller objected, the minister should have told his son to follow the standard procedure.
The minister did not stop his son when he started beating the objecting passenger. This means that the minister gave his silent endorsement to the whole episode.
SYED A. MATEEN
Karachi
IN “Engaging personalities” (August 12), Mr Ayaz Amir has lashed out against Mr Roedad Khan for an article he had written lamenting what has become of Pakistan. He blames Mr Khan for doing his job as a civil servant under Zia and then welcoming the recent military coup. If memory serves me well, he was not alone; going by his earlier writings in Dawn, Mr Amir, too, felt quite euphoric when Gen Musharraf took over.
Shooting the messenger is not a substitute and is usually indicative of a lost argument.
K. HUSSAN ZIA
Mississauga, Canada
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