| October 1, 2005 | Saturday | Sha'aban 26, 1426 |
To send a letter to the Editor
Click here
Whose city?
Bus emergency exits
Hyderabad heritage
Pakistan’s image
Foreign extravaganza
Honour killings
President’s remarks
D.G. Khan attack
A private matter?
Kalabagh dam
Targeting NGO activists
Credit card and service charge
US visit
IN the UN Human Development Report 2005, among 177 countries covered, Pakistan is ranked 135th while India and Bangladesh are at 127th and 138th positions, respectively. The countries are ranked in terms of life expectancy, literacy rate, school enrolment and average income. The country most developed in terms of these indices is Norway which is placed at number 1 and least developed country is Niger, placed at number 177.
With over 140 million people, a considerable land mass gifted with natural resources and marked agricultural and industrial progress achieved since independence, do we really deserve to be at 135th position? The rational answer to this question should be no. Then why are we where we are at present? The answer to this is that it is primarily our own fault.
We have not been able to pursue the right policies. The country’s resources were not allocated in a manner that would have led to equitable development of all regions and, in particular, expenditure on social sectors has been neglected.
During the last half a decade, the government has managed to salvage the situation somewhat. Macro economic stability has been achieved; the economic growth rate has been upped and the country has been put on the right track. Yet the situation is not such that should allow the country’s economic managers to feel complacent. Already warning signals have sounded in the shape of increasing inflation and the galloping rise in POL prices. Both the World Bank and ADB have forecast lower growth for the next year. They have also drawn attention to the government’s poor performance in tackling poverty in the country.
The situation calls for serious analysis on the part of the country’s economic managers with a view to devising effective short- and long-term corrective measures, with special stress on poverty alleviation. The government has already taken a number of policy initiatives in this connection, such as the Khushal Pakistan Programme, provision of clean drinking water to all by 2007 and improvement in the vocational skills of less educated persons. However, a truly herculean effort will be required by all agencies concerned to ensure that the above programmes are effectively implemented. Only after these goals have been attained will we be able to make some dent in poverty which pervades the country and improve our position in next year’s UN Development Report.
KHALID IDREES
Islamabad
WHEN one hears the word ‘Karachi’, the first thing that comes to mind is that it is the city of lights, that it is Pakistan’s most populous city, its economic and financial hub and its commercial capital.
But the good things end there and then other not-so-positive images associated with it come up: dug-up roads, filthy water, a polluted environment, dirty beaches, an overabundance of billboards, endless traffic jams, ill-managed and haphazard infrastructure development, the presence of a powerful land and transport mafia, a decaying cultural heritage and so on.
There are all kinds of people living in the city and they come from every part of Pakistan. Most of those who come to Karachi have just one purpose: to earn money and send it back to their dependents in their home towns. In other words, they don’t really consider Karachi their own city, and therein lies the problem.
Until and unless you consider a city as your own, you are unlikely to do anything good or constructive for it. Karachi’s residents get so much from the city and the least that they can do is to give something in return, but most of them don’t. We throw garbage on the roads, we break traffic rules, make encroachments, deface public property, steal electricity and water, and the list goes on and on.
It is a city where its precious cultural heritage is being demolished to make way for gaudy commercial plazas, where villages are being razed without any prior notice, where loadshedding is carried out without any prior information and where people are dying because of drinking contaminated water. And the worst part is that only a few speak out against all this.
Take the case of the till-recently beautiful Do Talwar roundabout. It has now been sponsored by a private company. No one in the city has raised a voice against this. The Teen Talwar roundabout may be next.
Those who are supposed to serve the city and whose job it is to make it clean, indulge in wholesale pollution — most recently by placing thousands of party flags at every nook and corner. Or they use the walls of Karachi to publicize the names of their leaders or to shower accolades on them. Again, no one says anything.
Those who live in Karachi can bring about a change and make their city a better place to live in if they work together.
SUNIL KUMAR
Karachi
APROPOS of recent highway accidents in Sindh, specific attention is paid in civilized countries towards making sure that vehicles used for public transport adhere to some minimum safety guidelines. Whether it is a train or a bus, the authorities concerned regularly carry out checks to ensure that a vehicle is safe for travel.
Buses coming from the NWFP and Punjab are usually equipped with safety features. In most cases, they have an emergency back door and this can be a key factor in case of a fire or an accident.
It seems that the transport lobby in Sindh is quite powerful because it gets its own way. Installing a door at the rear would probably mean sacrificing two or three seats and that is what the proprietors of these buses don’t want to do.
Cases of buses catching fire after an accident are rising and the government needs to pass some laws — and then effectively implement them — to ensure that all public transport vehicles carry fire-fighting equipment.
An ordinance by the Sindh governor making emergency exits mandatory for buses would surely save many lives.
KUNWAR KHALID YUNUS
Karachi
THIS is with reference to your editorial “Setting a good example” (Sept. 25). It is good that the Punjab government has at last decided to preserve the historic Tollinton Market, which dates back to the 19th century.
In the past some landmark buildings have fallen prey to human greed — like Dean’s of Peshawar and Faletti’s of Lahore — as mentioned in the editorial.
In Hyderabad also, an equally important structure of exquisite beauty built by a Hindu businessman at the beginning of the 20th century called the “Mukhi Building” is in a terrible condition.
The building is of white stone and is located at Homestead Hall Incline. At the time of partition it was handed over to the settlement department to house its offices. The office was ravaged by fire many times and this had an adverse effect on the building. Despite this, the grandeur of the building is there for all to see.
Perhaps Sindh should take Punjab’s lead and move to preserve Mukhi Building.
ALTAMASH MANZOOR H. KURESHI
Karachi
THE website of The Washington Post’s at www.washingtonpost.com has added the audio of the interview that President Pervez Musharraf gave to the newspaper.
The image of Pakistan in the rest of the world will only be elevated if its government is seen to support victims of violence and to support social and judicial reforms that allow women to seek and obtain justice. Gen Musharraf rightly said that rape was an international concern, and not one that was unique to Pakistan. The issue here is not that
rape takes place, but that it is properly investigated and prosecuted by the state. The absence of these sets Pakistan apart from most other countries.
President Musharraf had the unique opportunity to effect social change in Pakistan, and a lot of us actually thought he would make an honest attempt of it. The sad truth of the matter is that for an extra-legal military regime to maintain power in our country, it needs to strengthen and not weaken state-corroding institutions such as the feudal and tribal cultures that have held progress in Pakistan hostage for so many years. To allow all women who have been raped or otherwise harmed to seek justice against the perpetrators of these actions would shake the foundations of a culture built on fear and submission.
HASAN SHAKOOR
Cleveland, OH, US
MAULANA Tahirul Qadri, chief of the Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran, and his entourage of 250 co-travellers made their way by train from the UK to France recently, but were refused entry by the French authorities.
Earlier, it was reported, the Maulana’s itinerary included visits to Turkey, Syria and Jordan. Travelling with 250 men must cost a fabulous amount in foreign currency. What was the need for this extravaganza and where did the money come from?
The Maulana had resigned his assembly membership some time back in protest against the prevailing injustices in the country. Is not Maulana Qadri doing an injustice to Pakistan’s poor masses by squandering a fabulous amount on the travel and board and lodging of 250 men in foreign countries?
SAYED G.B. SHAH BOKHARI
Peshawar
THIS is with reference to the news item of Sept. 25 according to which a woman by the name of Mussarat Bibi was killed by her brother in the name of so-called honour.
Her only mistake was that she had refused to marry the man of her brother’s choice. For how long will such killings go on? When will the women of this country get justice?
RUSHNA BASHARAT
Karachi
DR Riffat Hassan (Dawn, Friday September 23), in an effort to clarify General Musharraf’s position, misjudges the importance of genuine criticism coming from a minority of the audience attending the president’s address to Pakistani women in New York on September 17. I am sure Dr Hassan understands the value of criticism that comes invariably from a few thinking and committed minds, notwithstanding their political affiliations. A discussion in this short letter is not possible on the intricate relationship between women’s issues worldwide and the rise of sexual crimes under increasing globalization and unchecked growth of industry caused by western lifestyles in eastern cultures, which has given birth to its own repugnant forms in Pakistan.
A highly dependent slavish mentality, supported by a dual educational system, is at work afflicting every class of people, young and old alike, which has destroyed our institutions and self-reliance.
Artificial measures by policy-makers consisting of a class of feudalists, politicians and power-hungry men — who have overstepped legitimate frontiers, bypassing almost every legal, moral, ethical, and human rights code for the single pursuit of high incomes and authoritative positions — will never remove the underlying causes of violence against women which will continue to haunt Pakistan whatever the government.
Unfortunately, the president’s remarks have received wide coverage in foreign news media, which is not as naive as we might think. It is under these stressful situations that heads of state are expected to make well-considered statements.
The president has spoken well and openly about the measures taken by his government, but a lot could have been said about social and women’s issues in the light of the millennium goals, clearly establishing women’s equal participation in national development policies and programmes. Also, the curiosity of a highly informed and educated press could have been better satisfied through open admission about the state of women and society in Pakistan ravaged by an outdated social structure serving the ends of a privileged class and a system of governance which shows no signs of improvement despite heavy foreign funding.
I recommend the following subjects for a presidential decree:
* Millenium goals for the 2000s.
* Change in development priorities in the face of population growth, urban explosion, environmental crisis, and growing poverty, in which a substantial human resource in the shape of female population can be absorbed and utilized in the mainstream of development activities. The Human Development Commission already has a mandate in this regard.
A framework of legal and administrative safeguards to be developed and imposed to promote women’s participation in various national activities in collaboration with the Ministry of Women’s Development — beginning at the ground level.
MAHMUD IQBAL BAIG
Chairman, Pakistan Development Foundation,
Rawalpindi
AMNA Bibi of Dera Ghazi Khan is lying in a hospital with her nose and lip severed by her brother-in-law. He is now absconding in the nearby tribal area and the local police are saying that they can do nothing because the area is out of bounds to them.
The law-enforcement agencies are once again likely to fail in taking any action against the perpetrator of this gruesome act. If that happens the NGOs and rights activists will be provided with yet another whip to flog the government for ‘siding’ with the brother-in-law.
By the way, where are the self-righteous mullahs and the ulema in all of this? Why don’t they come to the rescue of the poor wretched woman who will carry the scars of this episode on her face for the rest of her life?
Where is the US-based NGO ANAA in this? Why isn’t it coming out in support of Amna Bibi? Or is it waiting for the right moment to publicize this case internationally and blame it all on the government?
COL. RIAZ JAFRI (Retd)
Rawalpindi
MR Abdul Khalid (Sept. 26) has said that one’s choice of religion is a personal matter, because one has to eventually answer for it alone. The conversion of Youhana to Islam has led to many letters being published in this newspaper and these have included a few where members of our Christian community have expressed a feeling of betrayal as a result of Mr Youhana’s action.
I wonder what public reaction would be if Mr Youhana were to convert back to Christianity? Will those who are now saying that it is a personal matter still advocate the same line of argument?
ANIL KHAN LUNI
Lahore
IN 1999, foreign loans against Pakistan were to the tune of $36 billion and now after six years, the government has reduced them by $1 billion.
Now the government is planning to take another $10 billion from the ADB for construction of the controversial Kalabagh dam in Punjab. This will push up loans against Pakistan to $45 billion.
The Kalabagh dam is not a financial project that will earn and enable the amount borrowed to be immediately returned. In fact, it is a project that would be launched to benefit only one province whereas the three other provinces are against it. Needless to mention here that three elected provincial assemblies have already passed more than seven resolutions against the dam.
I suggest the government should build the Bhasha dam which is feasible and less costly and also more beneficial. Further, all provinces agree to its construction.
IMRAN KHAN SIAL
Karachi
FOR quite some time go-vernment functionaries have been railing against NGOs and especially those which focus on human rights and support women who have been subjected to physical or sexual abuse.
Regrettably, even some private TV channels have begun indulging in this. In one such programme, the audience seemed to have been “selected” beforehand because whenever a hostile question was put to NGO activists, the audience would in unison resort to clapping.
It was a partisan audience, to say the least. While most people give only lip-service to rights issues, NGO activists at least are providing practical support to the oppressed women of the country.
Hence, they deserve our appreciation rather than the remarks that being hurled at them with increasing regularity.
NAJAMUL HASAN
Karachi
I AM a credit card holder and would like to know why the issuing bank levied service charges of Rs46.67 on an unpaid amount of just 50 paisa.
When I tried to fax my complaint to the bank’s customer services manager, I found the fax number (921-3209) out of order, and it remained so for 15 days.
The bank call centre gave me an email address for registering my complaint but it didn’t work either.
With fax and email not available, I was forced to send my complaint through courier service on Aug 31. When I inquired about the status of my complaint later, I was told that the response would take more than 10 days.
Although I have paid the service charges, I would still be interested in knowing the justification for levying a mark-up of Rs46.67 on 50 paisa.
M. KASHIF USMAN
Karachi
MUCH has been said about the president’s remarks in America which have generated considerable controversy. Having said that, one must not forget the successes of the visit.
The president addressed the UN General Assembly, where leaders of the entire world were present, and also gave an historic lecture at a specially-arranged meeting of the American Jewish Congress. He also spoke to a large gathering of young Pakistanis, met several important world leaders and also visited the headquarters of the US Central Command.
It seems a bit harsh to use a couple of remarks that he made in an interview — remarks that he says have been quoted out of context — to say that his whole visit was a failure.
WAJEEHA BUKHARI
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.