| October 9, 2005 | Sunday | Ramazan 4, 1426 |
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Classes IX and X exams
Post-Ghotki
Blaming the Palestinians
Chappell-Ganguly row
Science students & language teaching
Delay in PTCL takeover
Windmill power
Karachi’s underpass
‘Mandate by scriptures’
Chakwal nazim
Disappearing trees
Jinnah speeches
Neglected post office
Senior citizens
SIMON Bolivar would not have voted with Irfan Hussain to say that “the colonial experience generally benefited the colonized” (‘Our Colonial Heritage’, Dawn, Aug 20). Nor, most likely, would de Valera, Ahmad Moktar, Gandhi, Soekarno, Ho Chi Minh, Nyrere or Mandela. Even the most westernised of them all, Jinnah, would likely stand up and take apart Ferguson’s thesis, point by point, in the manner it deserves. Tagore, Iqbal, Neruda and Nazim Hikmat would, one suspects, be as astounded at the falsehood of the claim as the intellectual audacity of those who defended the motion presented for debate.
From Bolivar to Mandela, they might all argue that colonialism caused not just whole continents to be stolen and their cultures and arts and crafts decimated, but even the identities of entire communities were lost; that the devastation visited upon the colonized through deliberately planned slavery and mass extermination shaped the world as we see it today; that it is worse than misleading to insist that “19th century Europe undeniably pioneered free trade, free capital movements and, with the abolition of slavery, free labour; that slavery and mass exterminations were very much alive and being practised on the colonized in the 19th century; that indentured (not “free”) labour was still being forced in the 19th century from Asia and Africa to all parts of the globe, from Fiji to Mauritius to Trinidad; that what characterized the vast majority of the formerly colonized at the time of decolonization was excruciating poverty and almost total lack of literacy, not a “net of communications”.
As for the fantastic claim that “the Empire maintained a global peace unmatched before or since”, one can only say (because of the constraints of space imposed by you, Mr Editor) that Mr Irfan Hussain would do better to go back to his history books and not “peg” his reputation on Mr Ferguson.
TAHIR MAHMUD
Lahore
FROM the reports being published in newspapers one gets an impression that there is a sharp difference of views with regard to the conduct of examinations for Classes IX and X. One section believes that the examinations may be conducted separately for the two classes at the end of each year. But the other group is of the view that the examinations for both, based as they are on more or less 14 subjects, should be taken in one go at the end of Class X.
Another option can be considered. The student should have a choice of sitting for an examination at the end of Class IX or forego the Class IX exam and take the composite examination of Classes IX and X the next year. However, no supplementary examinations should be held either for Class IX or Class X.
The system of supplementary examinations should stand abolished, in view of the concession that the students have already availed themselves of by appearing in Class IX examinations separately. In case if they fail to clear Class IX examinations in the first attempt, they may conveniently take Classes IX and X combined examinations after one year.
It may be mentioned that the system proposed above is not a new one. Earlier when all educational examinations in Sindh right from matriculation to master’s were conducted by the Bombay University, this system was in vogue for the BA examination. After passing intermediate examinations, the students had the option to either appear for the BA part-I (junior BA) or appear for all the subjects of BA junior and BA senior taken together. There were no supplementary examinations after that. The students had to wait for one year to reappear in all the subjects.
M.A. TALPUR
Ex-deputy director, education,
Hyderabad
A VERY serious rail accident recently occurred at Ghotki in which over 100 passengers died when two trains collided. A few junior officers and one senior engineer were suspended. Unfortunately the death of scores of Pakistani citizens, obviously with no connections to the establishment, failed to stir the conscience of those who sit in Islamabad. Almost all suspended senior officers, who could manage “sifarish” or recommendations from the ministers, who hold power in Sindh, were let off.
Public memory is short and so is that of our legislators or senators. Such serious accidents deserve the attention of the highest office holders of Pakistan, namely, the president, the prime minister, the Senate chairman, the Supreme Court chief justice and others. That nothing has happened tells you that all is lost and there is no hope.
This is what happens when institutions become subservient to political exigencies, and principles or ethics have no role in decision-making. It is indeed a very sad state of affairs. There is no value attached to human life in Pakistan, since it is considered an expendable commodity. Perhaps people in power satisfy themselves with the thought that this was the destiny of those who died and hence why bother. What are the rights of an ordinary citizen of Pakistan, who is not well connected or is not a part of our civil or uniformed bureaucracy? Perhaps none, because that seems to be the general perception of our masses.
H. KHAMISANI
Hyderabad
A NUMBER of letters (especially from Danyal Iqbal and Ali Rehan on Sept. 28) have been published in these columns and many seem to castigate Palestinians and their leaders for not supporting Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir.
Palestinians are not and have not been in any position to help anyone. They are “prisoners in the world’s largest prison”, to quote western writers. Around 8,000 Israeli settlers left occupied Gaza recently but not after a four-year period during which over 1,700 Palestinians were killed, 9,000 injured, and over 2,700 homes of Palestinians were razed to the ground (in which 20,000 Palestinians lived).
Palestinians do have a stronger relationship with India although Israel is New Delhi’s second-biggest source of arms. The reason for that however may be that Indians — both at government and the general public level — strongly support the Palestinian cause. Support in Pakistan for Palestinians, perhaps due to US influence, has always been muted and half-hearted. In fact Pakistani soldiers were involved in operations against Palestinians in Jordan in the 1970s in which scores were killed.
With a new-found friend in the shape of Israel, one hopes that the Pakistani people and the government in particular will not in any way hurt the cause of the Palestinian people. No doubt Pakistan will from now on have an abstaining vote on any Palestinian issues in the UN. One hopes also that in pursuit of acquiring the latest technology from Tel Aviv, Islamabad will not become an obstacle in the realization of the aspirations of a people struggling for a homeland taken from them and from which they were forced to flee.
SYED MUNIM
London
THE controversy involving Indian cricket coach Greg Chappell and the captain, Sourav Ganguly, seems to have become a very hot topic in the cricket arena of the subcontinent. Former Australian captain and brother of coach Ian Chappell has already thrown his weight behind his brother by recalling his brother’s patience, ability for the truth and diplomacy and calling on the Indians to be prepared to hear the truth.
However, Brother Ian should realize that it was very imprudent on the part of Brother Greg to send a 2,334-word email to the BCCI president on a sensitive issue like this. What is involved is India, its cricket, its captain and the cricket crazy-nation of over 1,000 million people. He should have realized that communication by email is certainly not the most secure and effective means available. Indeed, a lot of people in very senior position do not even open their own email. They let their secretary do this exercise for them. It would have been much more appropriate for the coach to have discussed this matter with the president personally and handed over his written observation in the same meeting.
Brother Greg may be a good coach but he has a lesson or two to learn about the art of diplomacy and communication if he is to stay as coach in a cricket-sensitive country like India.
SHIRAZ SACHEDINA
Karachi
THE Sindh education department has just issued a directive that Sindhi will be a compulsory subject for intermediate science students, in addition to English and Urdu.
Non-science subjects are an unwanted burden on students who are going to learn modern sciences and later specialize either in medicine or in any of the branches of engineering, etc. They have already studied these languages in school up to the matriculation level. And that should be enough. Moreover, in other provinces, no vernacular language local to the region is taught even in schools, let alone at intermediate level colleges.
While English, which is the international lingua franca, must be taught as thoroughly as possible to improve the would-be scientists’ proficiency in this medium of international interaction, the other languages already taught in schools should be excluded from the syllabi of science colleges.
JAFAR WAFA
Karachi
THE PTCL, the huge profit-making giant supported by public contributions of Rs11 billion per year, is finally beginning to uncover its serious financial, organizational and legislative irregularities which have remained hidden from the public eye since its creation.
Issues raised by Etisalat are serving as a curtain-raiser, based on current international practices involving a firm commitment to management agreement, the ability to pledge acquired shares and the right to increase shareholding via a “call option”, etc. Responsibility lies not with the Privatization Commission but squarely with the ministry of information technology and the establishment division, both of which carry their respective share of bureaucratic influence in PTCL affairs, the latter with unbridled control over management appointments.
Although the PTCL was converted into a public limited company in 1996, the establishment division literally governs its affairs through a commercially irrelevant administration on the strength of the government Employees’ Service Rules and Regulations.
The PTCL board, itself a creation and prisoner of bureaucratic power, exercises no independence in internal management matters and has continued to suffer from incompetence to handle the affairs of the company in highly competitive and commercially-oriented telecommunications market of Pakistan. Leaving aside qualified engineers in various departments, a non-technical bureaucratic set-up dominates its decision-making process which has been involved in diverting attention from the more important issues through wilful intervention, obstructing the course of organizational reform and progress.
A thorough restructuring by Etisalat supported by highly-evolved employees service rules and regulations will increase profitability and exert a healthy commercial influence on PTCL’s working — by analyzing the way in which work, resources and methods can be changed to suit commercial market conditions, and the extent to which these adjustments have already taken place.
MAHMUD IQBAL BAIG
Islamabad
TO meets its major energy and water crises, Pakistan should not underestimate the potential of wind energy. The current effort to follow Indo-US pacts for supply of nuclear fuel for producing energy is no way implies an end to our energy problems. In fact, it will lead to many other problems. First will be the problem of disposal of nuclear waste. Second, it will need huge capital investment and expenditure maintenance. Third, inefficiency and chances of accidents in such nuclear plants are much higher.
In India power from windmill costs 28 paisa/kwh. In the US it costs under two cents to produce one kw of electricity, while new turbines are lowering the cost even further.
India is now the fourth largest wind energy producer in the world and is following most liberal policies for foreign investors. Pakistan needs to explore non-conventional sources like windmills.
M. HANIF GODIL
London
THE first KPT underpass was inaugurated a few days ago in Karachi after which the main Clifton road that remained closed for seven months during its construction was opened for public use.
During the construction of the underpass, people took advantage of the situation and started parking their vehicles on the main Clifton road, as regular traffic was diverted to bylanes. Now that the main Clifton road has been opened again, a traffic jam is seen opposite some of the shopping malls. This happens because the traffic police posted there do nothing about the cars that are parked on the main road, despite it being clearly marked a no-parking zone.
Many of these illegally parked cars have government number plates in which families come to shop at the malls — which regrettably have not set aside any space for parking. The traffic police seem helpless in preventing drivers of these cars from parking in this fashion and the result is that the very purpose of building the Clifton underpass — smoother traffic flow — is being defeated.
The DIG of the traffic police must look into this situation himself and order his force to remedy it by deploying an adequate number of traffic policemen at this problem point.
SYED A. MATEEN
Karachi
IN his Dateline New Delhi, “A mandate by scriptures” (Oct 3) Mr Jawed Naqvi has said that Dr Manmohan Singh “cited the Bhagvad Gita to justify his betrayal of Iran in the IAEA vote”.
I agree entirely with Mr Naqvi’s views on betraying Iran. However, I wish he had given the line from the Baghvad Gita that Dr Manmohan Singh used. (“One should do one’s duty and not be worried about the result” is one much quoted line.) Otherwise, this can be misconstrued as yet another devious act of “Hindu India” — more so as this appears in a paper in Pakistan. There are enough stereotypes about the cunning/manoeuvring/devious Hindu in Pakistan than for you to add to them by any ambiguous wording.
N.S. PARAMESWARAN
Via e-mail
I AM not bothered who is elected as the nazim of Chakwal because ultimately lotacracy would have prevailed.
What concerns me is the fact that the matriculation certificate of a retired lieutenant-general of the army was the centre point of controversy. I am sure all senior officers of our armed forces, to say the least, are matriculates.
BASIT ALAVI
Karachi
A FEW years ago I shifted into an apartment situated in Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Block 18, adjacent to the Quaid-i-Azam International Airport.
The area surrounding my apartment building used to be quite green and had an abundance of trees. Recently, these trees were brutally cut down by the Cantonment Board Faisal, apparently to make way for the widening of a service road. Now, with the trees gone, the shadows that used to shield my apartment have vanished, with a bare strip of road in front of the apartment building.
The service road has now been widened but the beauty of nature that I could experience sitting in my apartment is gone and there can be no replacement for that. I urge the Sindh government to take appropriate action for this brutal and unnecessary chopping of trees against the Cantonment Board. At the very least, the board should be asked to plant saplings in place of the trees that were cut.
SYED SADAQAT HUSSAIN
Karachi
THIS is with reference to Mr Ardeshir Cowasjee’s column “Press under siege” (July 31).
I was director-general of films and publications in the ministry of information in 1976 when the Quaid-i-Azam’s birth centenary was celebrated by Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government with wide-ranging programmes. I had the out-of-print book on the Quaid-i-Azam’s speeches as governor-general reprinted. Two-thousand copies were printed and distributed at home and abroad.
I obtained a photocopy of the Quaid’s Aug 11, 1947 speech from the National Assembly archives and compared the text of the printed speech in order to ensure its authenticity.
I wonder if the original script of the speech in the Quaid’s hand has been preserved for posterity.
S AFZAAL HUSAIN ZAIDI
Islamabad
THERE is a post office in a corner of the meat/vegetable market in Phase II of Karachi’s DHA. A peep into the single-room post office will reveal the miserable work environment there. The furniture is old, rickety and worn-out; the machines are old, outdated and moody in operation; there is a shortage of one thing or the other as one can see from the grumbling customers; and the four/five-member staff there looks as if imprisoned in a cell without proper ventilation.
Although the DHA has allotted sufficient space to the post office, it has not been used imaginatively. The get-up of the premises is shabby. The postmaster is given Rs200 per month to hire a sweeper which he finds next to impossible these days. Therefore, most of the days, the staff has to sweep in turn. There is no table kept for customers to use for writing.
Will the authorities concerned care to refurbish this miserable revenue-earning office?
MOHAMMAD ALEEM SHAIKH
Karachi
AN advertisement in Dawn (Sept 30) asked senior citizens of Karachi to send their names to two officials named so that invitations could be sent to their present address.
However, the response to several calls made was that the number dialled was not in use. I sent a fax message and there was no response to that. May I ask the Karachi city district government if this was a cruel joke on senior citizens?
S. FARID AHMAD
Karachi
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