| September 1, 2005 | Thursday | Rajab 26, 1426 |
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Haj operators
Coins and paper currency
Homes for the elderly
Drama serial
Askari Park
Car buyers’ problems
Life after death
Hindi, not Urdu
Teacher and surgeon
Relocation
ADDRESSING an Islamic delegation that met him in Germany, Pope Benedict XVI called on Muslim leaders to fight the rancour and intolerance which he said was at the root of the terrorist violence seeking to poison ties between Christians and Muslims (Aug 21).
One would like to point out that the Muslims have shown exemplary tolerance in the face of grave provocation by many Christians and Jews. During recent years, apart from the ordinary people, some Christian evangelists of America, who are supposed to be role models, have used incredibly vile language against Islam and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), which has been unbearably painful for the world’s Muslims.
In addition, some Jews in Israel had done likewise and even websites had sprung up over there to vent such devilish sentiments. However, there has never been even a single incident anywhere in the world where the Muslims have expressed the slightest irreverence for Prophets Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them).
Furthermore, there is no doubt that during the Balkan crisis of the 1990s, the Serbs had committed all sorts of barbaric acts against the Muslims of Bosnia and Kosovo just because of their religion. If the latter had been Christians or Jews, then genocide and persecution would not have occurred. What is more, many former Russian soldiers, including retired generals, had gone to Kosovo to participate in the war on the side of the Serbs.
Thus, the Serb and Russian Christians had effectively launched a crusade against the Muslims and their western supporters. In spite of that, the Muslim world did not vilify the Christian religion or its prophet.
The extremism of some Muslims such as those of Al Qaeda has come about due to the atrocities and injustices committed against the Muslims of Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir, etc., and the occupation of Iraq without UN legal sanction and without any traces of WMDs being found. Thus, it is the doings of the western powers or those countries whom they support such as Israel and India that has led to the militancy amongst a minority of the Muslims for which the perpetrators are primarily to be blamed.
S. QADRI
Karachi
I AM writing to highlight the plight of private Haj operators and would like to point out that the religious affairs ministry is exercising authority beyond its jurisdiction. It is extracting money from operators by charging Rs1,500 for a registration form and Rs2,000 for a Haj form. Last year private operators had to pay Rs 50,000 refundable caution money at the time of registration.
Regrettably, the refund has not yet been made, nor any registration letter issued. Also, a security deposit at the rate of Rs5,000 per person, compared to Rs2,000 last year, had to be submitted in the form of a bank guarantee before Haj forms could be issued — the deposit being refundable at a later stage.
Last year, the Haj policy was formulated for a period of five years, meaning that the ministry has itself gone back on its own policy. Most operators have opened two bank accounts to facilitate easy operation for different packages.
Besides, residential accommodation for pilgrims has to be acquired well before the Haj season and for that an advance has to be paid to the owner of the building.
Now, the ministry has raised an objection that the opening of two bank accounts is a violation of policy. One fails to understand why such restrictions are being imposed because the funds collected are meant to be spent on accommodation, tickets, etc. Since the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has registered Haj operators, all their activities will be monitored by the CBR, the ultimate authority to check and balance the activities of the operators. Therefore, restrictions by the ministry are unnecessary and should be withdrawn.
Moreover, it was initially decided by the ministry that a minimum quota of 50 and a maximum quota of 580 pilgrims would be allocated but the religious affairs secretary at his own discretion issued a quota of up to 1,500 pilgrims to some operators. This shows bias.
SARFARAZ ZIA ANSARI
Karachi
WE Pakistanis excel in the art of contradiction. One of the many contradictions can be found in our coinage system.
When the one- and two-rupee notes were introduced, we were given to understand that metals are costly in Pakistan — hence the use of paper currency, even in lower denominations. Now it appears that paper has become costlier than metal, hence we are reverting to the one-rupee coin instead of a paper note; even five- and 10-rupee notes are being introduced in coins instead of paper notes and for this reason a new note of Rs20 denomination has been introduced.
There may be two aspects of the change in our coinage-cum- currency system. The first is what we are made to believe now that paper has become costlier than metal, hence metal currency is preferred. The other, which is more plausible, is that the purchasing capacity has been so reduced that the worth of even Rs10, not to speak of Rs5, is not more than that of a rupee about 40 years back. This logic is more acceptable and justifies the introduction of the new 20-rupee note, whose purchasing power would be near about the same as that of Rs5 or Rs10 .
As a sequel, the claim of the government that the economic condition of the country has improved is a contradiction, which is also supported by the fact that the cost of living has gone up considerably.
Now coming to the legal aspect of the change to the Rs5 and Rs10 coins, it can be said that the value of these two denominations in the form of paper notes were guaranteed by the State Bank of Pakistan for ‘payment on demand’. No such guarantee exists for the coins. This is a big legal flaw, specially because the change has been brought about without the sanction of the National Assembly. The government would do well by holding back the use of the Rs5 and Rs10 coins until their use is are ratified by the National Assembly.
A.M. SAYIED
Karachi
I am a 10-year-old girl who collects coins and currency, and was, therefore, keen to see the new Rs20 note. When I saw it I was very disappointed. The new note does not look like normal notes. It does not have a border, it does not have a decent picture of the Quaid and the colour scheme is not appealing. The note’s numbers in Urdu are also too fancy.
SHELALE MAZARI
Karachi
I ENDORSE Ms S. Babar’s views (Aug 22). It is indeed a sad state of affairs to see our elders being left in the cold with no one caring for them.
I know of a lady of over 80 years who was treated with contempt by her daughters-in-law. Her sons could not do much about it because they were mostly out of the house trying to earn a living and, secondly, because they were obedient servants of the wives. Again, I know of a gentleman, an ex-army officer, who was once a very fit person but who is now a worn-out individual living at the mercy of his children who treat him with contempt.
I am sure such elderly people who had led very comfortable lives in the past (and deserve a better present than what they are getting now) can be looked after better in old people’s homes. Philanthropists can contribute for this worthy cause along such lines as in the US where old-age homes are common. Maybe we can obtain guidance and literature from them and work on this programme.
M. A. NAYEEM
Karachi
THIS refers to Ms Mehreen Ali’s review of the drama serial Naseeb under the headline ‘A tale of two plays’ (Images, Aug 21). The serial has unreasonably been compared with a 39-minute teledrama, whereas it should have been compared with all the current prime-time serials, being telecast by PTV-1.
The writer of Naseeb has dealt with various aspects pertaining to Islamic values. Ms Ali has given her views when only 10 episodes have gone, whereas many more episodes have yet to come. Hence to give a negative conclusion at this stage is not justified.
Ms Ali has thrown light on the element of glamour present in Naseeb — comparing the same with tele-drama. These days there is stiff competition on television and, therefore, glamour is the demand of producers, who invest money to entertain viewers and to earn money as well. Ms Ali must have noticed that almost all Pakistani serials produced in the last few years show glorious bungalows, with expensive furniture, costly cars, heavily made up ladies, costumes, colourful saris, etc. Hence Naseeb should not be an exception to the rule.
NADIA BANO
Karachi
WHILE inaugurating Askari Park, President Gen Pervez Musharraf has described it as a ‘gift’ to the people of Karachi from the army.
The gift is indeed a token of love and affection from the giver to the recipient. One hopes that the army has paid the cost of land and developed it from its own resources. People must thank the army for such a generous gift.
However, if that is not so, it cannot be a gift — a park developed on public land, funded (Rs200 million) by the public, whose taxes pay the salaries of the army personnel employed on the job. In a broader sense, anything done/obtained/developed by servants at the cost of owners cannot be a gift for the latter. Nevertheless people shall appreciate the job well done by the army.
It is not uncommon for the Army to be engaged in the nation-building project during peace time. In the 1950s a small dam near Quetta was constructed by the army. It was inaugurated by Gen Ayub Khan.
I was present at the inaugural ceremony. Gen Ayub did not say it was a gift from the army to the people of Balochistan.
A. SAMAD KHAN
Karachi
I BOOKED a car in my wife’s name about four months ago. At the time of booking, I made full payment, amounting to over Rs 500,000.
I am told that abroad, in cases where a car can not be delivered immediately, the buyer only has to make a token payment of $1,000 at the time of booking. When the car is ready for delivery, the showroom dealer calls the would-be buyer and asks him whether he is still interested. If the answer is ‘no’, the car would be sold to someone else, at no cost to the person making the initial booking, and his or her token amount of $1,000 would be refunded. If the answer is ‘yes’, the car will be delivered upon payment of the outstanding balance.
Given that one can now invest in the national savings scheme at a minimum of 8.5 per cent (even after accounting for the withholding tax), someone who pays Rs1.1 million for a car and is made to wait for six months will have forgone interest income (that he or she could have earned had the Rs 1.1 million been invested in a savings scheme financial instrument) of Rs 46,750. Despite this obvious short-changing of car buyers in the country, and despite dozens of letters and countless complaints, the government chooses to remain silent.
When we were eventually delivered our car it had the following problems: whenever the airconditioner was switched on, the load on the engine, as reflected in the ‘revving’ sound, increased extraordinarily. The floor in front of the front passenger seat was constantly wet because water was leaking from the airconditioner. And the car would stall when stationary, for example, at a traffic signal, whenever it was on CNG (the main reason why we bought it). Also, the vehicle had a constant knocking sound coming from somewhere near the back seat.
We took the car to a workshop operated by one of the company’s authorized dealers and were told that someone had tampered with our car’s tuning which is why was not running properly on CNG. The head mechanic insisted that someone had to have done this deliberately, though I kept telling him that the car had done 400 kms, and that this was the first time it was being taken by to any workshop for inspection. As for the leaking water from the AC, we discovered that a rubber pipe installed for draining away the water was bent and hence clogged. The pipe was replaced. As for the noise coming from the back seat, a denter was called in who worked on the seat’s latch for 10 minutes.
After much complaining the workshop manager at the dealership told us that whatever complaints that are received are passed on to the car manufacturer.
The government should introduce a rule preventing car producers from taking full payment until after delivering the vehicle to the buyer.
ALI USMANI
Karachi
THIS is with reference to Mr Ardeshir Cowasjee’s reference (Aug 8) to Singapore’s Lee Kwan’s opinion about Pakistanis remaining most of the time worried about life after death.
In his letter (Aug 18 ), Mr Rafiq Ahmed informed Mr Cowasjee that these ‘worried’ people were able to help Singapore quite a lot in its worldly achievements. Pakistani pilots trained Singapore airline pilots, and it was Pakistani engineers who installed traffic signs in Singapore.
Mr Cowasjee may also remind Mr Lee that this ‘worried’ nation had developed a nuclear deterrence and missile-carrying nuclear warheads a long time back and has successfully tested the cruise missile. It can defend itself from any external threat. Can Singapore defend itself if a small country like Thailand attacks it?
Let us now dwell upon the subject of life after death from a logical and scientific angle. We find that the whole universe and all its components operate in a fine, delicate well-designed and highly balanced way, so well balanced that one immediate thought which comes to mind is that all this has been definitely created by intention and has not popped up by itself.
Similar is the case with the anatomy of man and other species — a delicate and complicated system of fluids, enzymes, etc. But when we look at human life and its social interactions we see great disparities. People doing good deeds and spreading goodness and justice all around remain unrewarded. And there are people whose deeds would put Satan to shame go unpunished.
Does not a question come to mind as to why no balance is maintained here? It can logically be deduced that there is life after death when rewards and punishments will be dispensed by the Power that created all these elements.
Mr Cowasjee must know that it is not only Islam that tells us about ‘life after death’ and its preference over worldly life; other major religions, including Christianity and Judaism, also believe in life after death.
MOHAMMAD RAFI
Karachi
I am surprised to read the report filed by your Delhi correspondent Jawed Naqvi regarding Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s speech on the 59th Independence Day of India in your issue of Aug 16.
Highlighting the points of the Indian prime minister’s speech, Mr Jawed Naqvi writes that Dr Singh spoke in Urdu.
I watched the Indian prime minister’s speech broadcast live on Doordarshan on Aug 15 at 7.30am PST. The Indian leader spoke in Hindi and not in Urdu. As a Gujrati, I can quote numerous Hindi words which Mr Singh uttered during his speech like ‘aatankwad’ for terrorism (‘dehshatgardi’ in Urdu) ‘samaj’ for society (muaashra), ‘nagrik’ for citizen (shehri), ‘laabh’ for benefit (faida), ‘vikaas’ for progress (taraqqi), ‘sarkar’ for government (hukumat), ‘itihaas’ for history (tareekh), and ‘sikhsha’ for education (taleem).
M. RAFIQUE ZAKARIA
Karachi
PROFESSOR Feroz Shah, a pioneer of surgery in the Frontier, died last week. He was an institution in his own right — a great surgeon and a wonderful and sensitive human being and one of the most dedicated teachers of the Khyber Medical College.
It was always difficult to keep pace with him. His ward rounds used to be a great source of learning for all of us. As his house staff we learnt a lot more about life than just surgery. I did my house job with him in 1980. At that time Prof Haider Bukhari was associate professor who later on became principal of the Khyber Medical College. Prof Omar Ali Khan was his assistant professor who is currently principal of the KMC and Prof Changez Khan was his senior registrar who is chief executive of the Khyber Teaching Hospital. With these gentlemen around, working in Surgical ‘A’ ward used to be great fun. We had ample opportunities to learn.
Prof Feroze Shah had his own style in everything. His outpatient department was a big bazaar but only he knew what he was doing. He had one of the busiest clinics. He used to write notes which contained comprehensive information but only he could discern it. It took us a long time to understand his writing, his notes and his hidden messages.
I saw him for the first time in our dissection hall in 1974. He entered the dissection hall and started asking us questions — medical and non-medical. He went into details of the human anatomy most of us had never read about or heard.
He applied common sense to complex medical problems and was well known for his perseverance. He was also known for his innovative techniques which still are being practised in operation theatres. He was quite willing to take on neurosurgical and thoracic cases when expertise in these areas was non existent in the Frontier at that time.
Prof Feroze Shah’s smile will stay around in the corridors of medicine and there will be many who would derive great pride in having been his students.
PROF MOHAMMAD HAFIZULLAH
Head of the cardiology department,
Postgraduate Medical Institute,
Lady Reading Hospital,
Peshawar
THE government is reported to have agreed to sanction 28 acres on Mai Kolachi road to build the US consulate and related infrastructure. In the meanwhile, a US spokesman has mentioned his government’s intention to retain the present premises even after shifting to the new location.
If the consulate building remains intact the thoroughfare will be plagued with restrictions and closures in accordance with the threat levels dictated by the US. Consequently, the allotment of 135,000 square yards of prime estate will prove to be fruitless.
The citizens expect the authorities to take measures to ensure freedom of movement for all vehicles on this vital artery.
RAFI ADAMJEE
Karachi
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