| September 26, 2005 | Monday | Sha'aban 21, 1426 |
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Projecting Pakistan
Youhana’s conversion
Dog-bite cases
Faulty ATM machine
Road to university
PNSC plans
Horse disease
Image abroad
Six months and waiting
Hepatitis B & C
New Orleans
Foreign exchange reserves
YOUR editorial “Engaging with Israel” (Sept 18) was devoid of conviction. It raised seven points implying that Pakistan should continue with the draggers-drawn relationship with Israel as was pursued for the last over half-a-century.
In a debate like this, twice as many points can be raised justifying the efforts for a better relationship with Israel, but let me confine myself to the unsaid feelings of many Pakistanis. Time has changed and is changing fast. If we do not realize this now, we do not deserve to be forgiven by our grandchildren. How and why Israel’s existence came about is known to everybody; it is not greatly dissimilar to the emergence of Pakistan on the world map. Let’s not argue on that. If one was wrong, the other cannot be right.
National security and the well- being of our citizens should be the first criterion of the state. Many of us now believe that Pakistan from day one of its existence should have quietly, without deep involvement in international politics, concentrated on strengthening its economy as many of the Asian states like Malaysia and Singapore and even China have done or the Japanese did after World War II.
How many times have the Arabs come to Pakistan’s help in times of need other than expressing solidarity with Pakistan in the OIC meetings. The pan-Islamism of the 1950s is now a lost philosophy. Even the late Yaser Arafat realized this and put his national interest first. He saw Rajiv Gandhi in India but did not care to visit Pakistan. Have we forgotten that? This is just one example of the Islamic bondage that poor Pakistanis are made to believe in.
Before propounding the theory of continued belligerence with Israel, what needs to be asked is what is the official stand of the Arab League or individual Arab states on Kashmir.
Who said this I don’t remember now, but if Pakistan wishes to prosper, we too have to believe in the doctrine that states do not have permanent enemies or permanent friends.
JILANI SADIQUE
Karachi
(II)
THE Jamaat-i-Islami leader Syed Munawar Hassan says one should not talk to Israel because it is a terrorist country (Dawn, Sept 7). If terrorism is the reason for not recognizing a country, Pakistan should immediately cease diplomatic ties with the United States for committing war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Jamaat should also seek an apology from the Ummah for its collaboration with the US in the CIA-led jihad in Afghanistan.
If exploitation, and killing of Muslims are criteria for not recognizing any country, then Bangladesh should cease having diplomatic relations with Pakistan for the events of 1971. Pakistan should discontinue relations with Turkey and Iraq for killing thousands of Kurds and the Maghreb states for not recognizing the Berbers.
Iraqis used weapons of mass destruction not against non-Muslims but against fellow Muslims during the Iran-Iraq war.
Syria killed 20,00 people in the Muslim Brotherhood stronghold of Hama in 1982. Nearly 100,000 Muslims have been killed at the hands of Muslims in Algeria. If the killing of Palestinian is the criteria for not recognizing states, Palestinians should sever relations with Pakistan for sending its troops against Palestinian fights in Jordan.
It is time we took stock of the situation and asked why exploitation of one Muslim at the hands of other is legitimate.
When we keep silent on injustice committed by one Muslim against another, we have no moral right to condemn the Gujarat progrom or the Kashmir occupation.
MANZOOR CHANDIO
Karachi
On Sept. 20, Mr Khurshid Kasuri, Pakistans foreign minister, addressed an assembly of 300 students and faculty at the prestigious Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. The topic under discussion was Pakistan’s role in a changing world. The minister began with a brief lecture followed by an interactive question-answer session.
A diverse range of topics was addressed including Pakistan’s policy on issues such as nuclear proliferation, terrorism, interfaith harmony, economic development and polarization within the Muslim world. Mr Kasuri said that foreign policy does not develop in a vacuum. He stated that Pakistan was aware of its responsibilities in the global infrastructure and does not cherish aggressive designs on any country.
However, in the aftermath of 9/11, he said that Pakistan could no longer be a soft state. Regarding the Kashmir issue, Mr Kasuri said that we must be creative in order to design a solution that will satisfy all the concerned parties and that we will be flexible only if India is as well. When asked for his view on nuclear proliferation in North Korea and Iran, he was vehemently opposed to the idea stating that we do not want a military resolution to nuclear armament in part because of the problems faced by Pakistan due to the influx of Afghan refugees in previous years.
In response to a question on relations between Israel and the Muslim world, Mr Kasuri said that Pakistan hopes to see Israelis and Palestinians co-exist peacefully and only then would Pakistan consider recognizing Israel. He also gave comprehensive responses to queries on women’s rights in Pakistan and stated that the underlying problem lies in changing the mindset of the citizens of Pakistan which is primarily a male-dominated society. He said that such changes would come about gradually since people cannot be forced into altering their way of thinking. He also championed President Pervez Musharraf and described him as the most courageous leader of Pakistan to date. He said that under his regime, Pakistan has progressed in leaps and bounds and that the empowerment of women has rapidly increased in recent years.
As an international student at Princeton University and one of the few Pakistanis on campus, I was impressed with Mr Kasuri’s diplomatic abilities and his dignified conduct as a representative of Pakistan.
He made clearcut statements and supported them with facts. He successfully communicated Pakistans position on controversial issues without coming across as an apologist.
In an intellectual setting, Pakistan is viewed by many as a backward, Third World country teeming with desperate citizens. This image is not helped by the fact that educated Pakistanis living abroad, from civilized backgrounds denounce their own country, washing their dirty linen in public, and refuse to acknowledge the ongoing efforts for progress and development, preferring instead to highlight the negative aspects.
MAHA SARTAJ QASIM
Princeton, NJ, US
THIS refers to the conversion of Yousuf Yohanna to Islam. We have no issue with his conversion but according to the media the cricketer has said that he converted some three years back.
I would like to ask Mr Yohanna that in that time why was he making the sign of the cross whenever he made a fifty or a hundred?
SHEHLA JAVED Karachi
(II)
This is with reference to
the letter by Mr Stephen (Sept. 23) regarding the conversion
of Yousuf Youhana to Islam. Mr Stephen says that the cricketer has played with the sentiments of the Christian community. How can he say that?
Does he think that celebrities are accountable to their fans in respect of the religion they follow? Should Mr Youhana be more concerned about facing his Christian fans or his Creator? And what makes him think that Mr Youhana was an ambassador for only the Christian community? He was and is a Pakistani cricketer, who represents Pakistan. Wherever he went, he was representing his country.
At no point was he advocating or promoting Christianity, nor is he under any obligation to anyone in this regard. Ones choice of religion is a personal matter, because one has to eventually answer for it alone.
ABDUL KHALIQ Islamabad
(III)
This refers to a letter by Mr Stephen. I can understand his sentiments and of the Christian community in general.
However, I would like to point out that nothing is lost since Mr Youhana is still a Pakistani and will still bring much pleasure to cricket fans by his sheer brilliance with the bat.
Queen Rania of Jordan the other day said on CNN, and
I quote: Why do we always
talk about the differences between Christianity and Islam? Lets talk about the similarities.
I hope and wish that we see people from the minorities reach high and respectable positions as they are as much a part of this country as anyone else.
MOHSIN IKRAM
Karachi
RECENTLY a mad dog attacked and injured more than a dozen people in Bhittai Nagar, Hyderabad. The victims included children and the elderly.
It is said that dog-bite cases occur everywhere in the world. According to the US Centre for Disease and Prevention, nearly two per cent of the American population is bitten by dogs each year. This represents more than 4.7 million people per year, most of whom are children. India has the highest number of deaths from rabies in spite of the fact that it produces 120 litres of anti-rabies serum within the country as compared to its national requirement of 1,500 litres. But Pakistan imports all such vaccines from the West.
The recent incident in Hyderabad shows the clear negligence of the civic authorities, despite the tall claim that more than 1,400 stray dogs have been killed. Government hospitals in Sindh have no stock of anti-rabies serum vaccine.
Most of those bitten were only provided with dressing for their wounds and told to arrange their own vaccination from private medical stores. This is how the health department works in a life-threatening situation.
Poisoning dogs to death randomly cannot control their increasing population. According to the World Health Organization, the most effective and long-term strategy is massive sterilization and vaccination of street dogs. This method for population planning of dogs has been undertaken in various countries like Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, etc.
It is suggested that instead of the traditional measures, new technique should be enforced to control the population of dogs.
People should be educated to remain on guard even with pets, because a slight scratch on the body or contact with the saliva of an infected animal is sufficient to transfer the rabies virus to the human body.
DR PERVEZ AHMED SHAR
Khairpur
THIS is with reference to the faulty ATM machine of a local private bank installed at the bank’s Gulshan-i-Iqbal branch in Karachi. The machine caused me much mental agony for six days, from Aug 29 to Sept 3. The details of my ordeal are as follows: On Aug 27 at 10.20 pm I went to the above-mentioned branch to check my account balance. As I entered the ATM I found the screen normal. I inserted my ATM card and entered my pin number. As soon as the cash withdrawal menu appeared on the screen, I pressed the ‘balance’ key. To my surprise the screen immediately turned black with a green border and my card got stuck in the machine. Since there was no instruction on the screen I could not do anything. I waited in vain for almost 15 minutes but the screen did not show the balance and nor did the card come out.
On Aug 29 at 9.30am I went to the bank’s Gulshan-i-Iqbal branch to collect my card. They showed me two “captured” cards and neither was mine. I was advised by the bank to have my card blocked. On my return to my residence I immediately contacted the bank’s customer service at their phone number 111-000-622 and advised the lady on duty to freeze my account for the time being. While she told me that she would do the needful, she informed me that transaction had already taken place at 22:38:1.
This came as a big surprise for me and I told her that since I had pressed only the balance key how could the cash come out. I was advised to lodge a claim with the Gulshan-i-Iqbal branch which I did on Aug 31. A bank official told me that it was a “valid transaction” and hence I was not entitled to a claim. I told him that I had not pressed any key for cash, so how could the cash come out. He however did not believe me.
On Sept 1 at 11pm I received a telephone call from a Mr Salman who informed me that my ATM card and cash were with him and I could collect them from him. I requested him to deliver the card, along with the cash at 1am in front of he bank official concerned who was not willing to accept my statement which put my credibility in question.
On the said date and time when I reached the bank I found there was confusion in front of the ATM cabin. Their machine was still not functioning properly. One man had inserted his card which got stuck as well.
To cut the whole story short, Mr Salman delivered the card and cash to me in the presence of the bank official. He confirmed the fact that when he entered the ATM cabin the screen of the machine was still black with a green border.
So my ordeal came to a happy end and I am indeed thankful to Mr Salman for his honesty. Had the cash fallen into the hands of some unscrupulous person, he would have simply disappear with the cash and my claim would have remained doubtful. Under the circumstances I wish to make some observations. When the ATM machine was not functioning properly, why was there no notice on the screen that the machine is out of order?
The transaction which the official termed valid was over at 22:38:1 hrs while I had actually waited inside the cabin for about 15 minutes. How long a person is supposed to wait after inserting the card into the machine, especially when the bank is closed? Under such a situation if the cash is taken away by a dishonest person, who would bear the loss? At one stage the bank official even suspected that someone from my family might have played a trick.
Also, during my discussion with the bank official I was told by him that since we could not agree, I should switch over from using an ATM to using a cheque to withdraw cash.
ABDUL HAKIM
Karachi
I WANT to draw your attention to the negligence of the CDA authorities for the miserable condition of the road to the International Islamic University, New Campus, H-10 Sector, Islamabad. The road is full of dust and obstructed by a rail line which has been in disuse.
It’ll not cost much to the CDA to repair this road, which is less than 500 metres’ long, for the benefit of students, teachers and the general public who use it daily. If it can’t be repaired, an alternative route to the university must be considered which might go straight from H-9 Sector.
W. AKHTER Islamabad
AN advertisement has appeared in daily newspapers informing readers that the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) is conquering “new frontiers”. I am not sure as to how many ocean-going ships the PNSC is left with, but looking at the ad one would assume that the organization is not going to be conquering any frontiers any time soon.
The organization has no website or email information and instead carried a ‘cable’ address and a telex number — both of which have been overtaken by the fax and the Internet. Such ads by government organizations don’t really fool too many people.
S. H. MITHA Islamabad
THIS refers to the news “Glanders in polo horses” (Sept 16). It says that some affected horses are being treated by a specialist from Faisalabad.
Horse owners are warned that there is no cure for glanders. Every animal showing symptoms of disease has to be destroyed. All other horses in the stable must be tested with malleine and all giving a positive test should also be destroyed. This procedure will safeguard all other horses and their attendants.
S. MUMTAZ AHMAD Karachi
SOMEBODY should remind President Musharraf that the image of Pakistan is not like a tree in Rawalpindi Cantonment which can be whitewashed and made to look pretty. The problems that the country has are real, and unless they are solved, the image will always remain bad. His remarks on rape and Pakistani women to the Washington Post will not be of too much help in building Pakistan’s image.
RAZI AHMED
Amherst, MA, US
I am writing to narrate my ordeal with the PTCL in Lahore. I built a house in Johar View Housing in Johar Town and my family moved into our new home in February 2005.
In March, I went to the PTCL divisional engineer’s office in Faisal Town and submitted an application for a new phone connection. I also submitted a copy of my British National Union of Journalists (NUJ) card and was eligible for priority.
It is now September and a telephone is yet to be installed. My application details are: Reference#: FTN — 11740, submitted on March 22, 2005.
DR S. QURESHI Lahore
HEPATITIS B and C are grave diseases and a large number of people either carry the viruses of these diseases or are infected. In Pakistan about six million people are carriers of hepatitis B and approximately 7.5 million are carriers of hepatitis C.
One of the main sources of infection is contaminated water. In such a worrying situation the government has started a campaign to eradicate these diseases by establishing water filtration plants in various districts of Pakistan. This is commendable.
MUDASSAR SHAHID Lahore
This is in reply to Anas A. Khan’s letter “New Orleans & Mumbai” of Sept 19. In his comparison of the two situations, he forgot to point out that Mumbai was hit with torrential rains while New Orleans was hit by a category four hurricane. Also, New Orleans is a city that is under sea level whereas that is not the case in Mumbai.
R. GANGWANI Indianpolis
I WAS disappointed to read in a section of the press (Sept 21) about the yield obtained by the State Bank of Pakistan over a period of last one year on its placement of $3.2 billion with nine major international banks. The report mentions the State Bank of Pakistan getting a yield of well below 3.5 per cent which is the London inter-bank offered rate.
I do not wish to dwell on this report any further in the absence of any official announcement from the bank. However one would expect the central bank of the country to throw some light on the performance of its substantial investment and the yield it has recorded since the amount was placed with these major banks.
SHIRAZ SACHEDINA
Karachi
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