| October 18, 2005 | Tuesday | Ramzan 13, 1426 |
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Trukish PM’s gesture
Kalabagh dam
Livestock imports
A great prime minister
Blaming the devil
Asking for it
‘Defenceless waiters’
Pakistan’s ‘soft image’
WHAT is required now is proper distribution of relief goods so that these reach the sufferers.
Since the aid has started reaching to the remote areas, I would, therefore, suggest that a proper distribution and logistics cell be established to see that the goods reach where they are needed. As for logistics, the same can be organized both in public and private sectors.
In the public sector, the NLC can handle while private trucks working under a cell properly organized can do the job, i.e., private truck owners association can coordinate with the NLC.
The goods should be handed over to the Utility Store Corporation (USC) which, in turn, should establish such stores in all the affected areas. Similarly, for housing, the government should extend loans to the people on easy terms and cut down duties on building materials such as cement and iron, to be delivered to them from a government agency.
Another important problem is the rehabilitation of children who have lost their parents or guardians. In such a situation, no one should be allowed to adopt any child.
Rather the government in cooperation with philanthropists should build children’s homes and old people’s homes to house such people. If no planning is done to help them settle down, there is every likelihood that after some time these children may be smuggled or misused.
S.M. KHAN
Karachi
THE recent earthquake caused landslides and blockages of roads due to which necessary aid and supplies could not reach people in Muzaffarabad for more than 48 hours. All the 24 Army helicopters did hundreds of sorties but this was not adequate to cater for the calamity.
We have the biggest river and canal network in the world but unfortunately we have not utilized it for transportation. It could have saved hundreds of lives if not thousands if water, food, medical supplies, doctors and machines could have reached the destination in time by river which is flowing next to Muzzaffarabad.
We must consider this option seriously and work on it on an emergency basis so that we are ready, God forbid, if there is a similar situation in future.
Most of the people would not be aware that Sukkur was once a port on which sea-faring ships from England could dock. If this could happen 100 years ago why can’t it be done now?
River and canal transportation would be cheap as we would not be building anything like roads across mountains and plains, bridges, terminals, etc. We would not be increasing traffic on the roads and causing subsequent accidents and deaths.
The pollution in the cities will remain where it is and the truckers mafia, which is out of control, would face healthy competition. It also makes sense if we consider the defence point of view, as it would provide alternative means in case of a war.
Rivers like Amazon, Brahmaputra, Columbia, Congo, Danube, Ganges, Huang Hu, Hudson, Mississippi, Missouri, Nile, Rhine, Seine, Thames and Yantzekiang are used for transportation. In Holland where they don’t have a river, they have made canals linking all major cities with their port and are using it extensively for transportation.
S. NAYYAR IQBAL RAZA
Karachi
TILL now I used to think of Fakhre Alam as only a singer and a compere at music concerts and sometimes on televion. But now, after he single-handedly organized the relief efforts at the PAF museum to help the earthquake victims, I have new-found respect for him.
The way he has motivated and mobilized people to come forward and worked endlessly is most commendable. I won’t be going overboard if I said that the government should seriously considering giving him a high award for all that he has done and is doing.
LALARUKH EJAZ
Karachi
I WOULD like to share some knowledge about safety tips if earthquake occurs.
Here are some earthquake safety tips that can help keep you and your family safe if things start shaking.
If you feel an earthquake starting and you are in your house, get over in the corner of the room away from windows, large mirrors and shelves and then duck, cover and hold until the shaking stops and you’re sure it’s safe to exit.
If you feel an earthquake starting and you are in your school, get under your desk and then duck, cover and hold until the tremors stop and follow the school emergency plan.
If you feel an earthquake starting and you are in the open air, move away from buildings, trees, power lines, and overpasses and then duck, cover and hold until the tremors stop.
Know how and when to call the police, or the fire department and which radio station to tune to for emergency information.
If your house uses natural gas, learn how to turn off the main valve. Electricity and water supply should also be turned off.
After the quake, check yourself for injuries and protect yourself from further harm by putting on long pants, a long- sleeved shirt, sturdy shoes, and work gloves if you have them.
Take a First Aid course so you can check others for injuries and administer first aid, if necessary.
Put together an earthquake kit. Supplies should include a flashlight, extra batteries, portable battery-operated radio, first aid kit and first aid manual, canned food, at least three gallons of water per person non-electric can opener essential medicines (including prescription medications), protective clothing and rainwear, sleeping bag and sturdy shoes.
Be cautious after an earthquake. Stay out of damaged buildings which can collapse due to aftershocks. Leave the area if you smell gas or fumes from the chemicals. Make an emergency escape plan for your home, to use after the quake.
Make sure that everyone knows where to meet and most importantly, practise your escape plan on a regular basis!
JAWED AZIZ MEMON
Karachi
THE government appears to lack totally the organizing ability to cope with the earthquake disaster. It was farcical to see the prime minister addressing his gigantic team on the “Day of Mourning” with his table loaded with flowers.
PROF AQEELA TANVIR
Karachi
JUST after the national disaster from the latest earthquake, the Karachi Building Control Authority declared some buildings dangerous. Their job is over now.
The authority must also keep in mind the NOC granted by it to build highrises in Gulistan-i-Jauhar and other areas without ensuring quality of material used during construction.
Why has it allowed heavy communication antenna towers over residential flats? The structure of building hardly bears its own load. How can it bare the load of such a huge and heavy antenna.
I request KBCA authority to immediately issue orders for removal of antennas from residential buildings.
M.Z. SIDDIQUI
Karachi
A SNAP entitled “All smiles” (Dawn, Oct 11) indeed touched hearts of many viewers. Just after receiving a one-year-old baby (evacuated from some quake-hit area) at the tarmac, an officer of the Army medical corps was seen holding the baby up in his arms in a bid to comfort the scared soul. As the baby smiles, the officer looks so exhilarated as if he got seven treasures in his hands.
It is something more than mere deliverance of duty and that is why efficiency and the Army are synonymous. The only relationship between the two is Pakistan.
Incidentally, word Pakistan is also visible between the two in the background. Their facial expressions are so live and natural that the snap looks speaking. It speaks of the humane, affectionate and considerate face of the Army. Let me call this snap as the photograph of the year.
We are proud to have the best forces whose all actions are for the nation’s sake. They make us feel safe by putting their lives at stake. We sleep in cosy homes, when in frozen nights they awake. And similar feats we witness in the present quake.
We salute them for the present unique relief operations for saving and rehabilitating millions of people in the quake-stricken area of over 25,000 square kms by involving more than 60,000 troops. That is how solace is brought about on war footings.
MUHAMMAD WAQAR ASLAM
Quetta
TURKEY, my native country, has been in the forefront of the relief efforts for the earthquake victims. As Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan said, helping Pakistan was Turkey’s historical obligation because of the help which the Muslims of South Asia gave to the Turks during their war of independence.
Turkish parliamentarians have already joined the relief effort. But not content with that, Mr Erdogan has invited Turkish business to an Iftar to appeal them to help Pakistan in a big way. As he put it: “Whatever we do for Pakistan will not be enough. I want to assure the people of Pakistan that they are not alone at this moment of national grief”.
Fateha prayers have been held in mosques all over Turkey and funds are being raised to help the quake victims. I will appeal to the Pakistani people to give a rousing reception to Mr Erdogan when he arrives in Pakistan on Thursday.
It is also time President Pervez Musharraf took steps to strengthen national unity, while opposition leaders like Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Ms Benazir Bhutto and Mr Nawaz Sharif should demonstrate a sense of responsibility.
K. MURAD BEY,
Karachi
THE feasibility report of the proposed Kalabagh dam as a large irrigation and hydroelectric power project was prepared in the 60s but construction could not be started due to opposition by the NWFP and Sindh.
The main reason for the opposition of the NWFP was that the project would result in waterlogging in the fertile frontier areas adjacent to the dam and if it was filled to capacity a part of Nowshera city would come under water.
Sindh opposed it on the ground that construction of Mangla and Tarbela dams on the Chenab and Indus, respectively, have already diminished water flow below Kotri and affected mangrove forests.
The construction of the Kalabagh dam would further reduce water flow and may even dry up areas below Kotri destroying large cultivable tracts and marine life in the Kacha area (Indus delta).
It would affect recharging of subsoil water in major parts of Sindh leaving no drinking water for the people of the province.
After the government’s announcement of its intention to start construction of one of two large dams — Bhasha in the NWFP or Kalabagh in Punjab — the chief minister of the NWFP has openly stated that the Frontier would never agree to the construction of Kalabagh before construction of the Bhasha dam.
He is reported to have stated: ‘‘Give us Bhasha dam first and then construct the Kalabagh Dam with the remaining water, if any is left’’.
It would be advisable to construct Bhasha dam first to which none of the provinces has any objection. Rather, many other dams (big and small) may be built on the tributaries of the Indus above the Attock-Munda dam on the Swat river, Gomalzam on the Gilgit river and more small dams wherever possible.
The water would remain in Pakistan and in the use of Pakistanis without damaging the interests of Punjab, Sindh or Balochistan. Kalabagh Dam can be built as a flood water reservoir after the construction of Bhasha, Munda and Gomalzam dams.
LATIF QURESHI
Lahore
POULTRY TIMES of India-Vol July 7 has reported that export of live poultry and livestock to Pakistan has been aborted due to certain regulations that prohibit such exports.
It has been further stated that unless Pakistan requests relaxation of Indian regulations, such exports cannot be allowed.
This statement boils down to the effect that India wants Pakistan to accept animal imports with whittled down quarantine regulations, which could be a recipe for disaster as such a step could lead to import of diseased animals into Pakistan.
Under no conditions should the health regulations for livestock and poultry imports into Pakistan be relaxed.
In addition the import of frozen or chilled meat from India should also be stopped as the same disease-free status is required for dressed meat as for live animals.
It is surprising to note that even though import of live animals has been done away with, the import of frozen red meat is continuing which also needs to be aborted in view of the self- incriminatory statement of India that their livestock does not qualify for disease-free status and would require relaxation of their regulations to allow for export of unhealthy animals or their products to Pakistan.
DR. M. YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore
IT WAS perhaps in the second week of June 1949 that I, as president of the Punjab Students Federation, led a delegation to Rawalpindi to call on the first prime minister of Pakistan. Khan Liaquat Ali Khan had come to Rawalpindi to inaugurate the ordnance factory at Wah and was staying at the state circuit house. Without then realizing that it was necessary to take an appointment to meet the prime minister, we just dashed into the state circuit house and informed his private secretary that we had come from Lahore and wanted to see the prime minister.
The secretary was left aghast at our audacity and told us that this was not possible. I retorted rather impolitely, “Appointment or no appointment, we will see the prime minister.” While we were engaged in a heated argument Chaudhri Mohammad Ali, secretary general, government of Pakistan, who was sitting in the drawing room, was watching us.
Chaudhri Mohammad Ali came over to us and enquired about our problem. He spoke kindly and informed us that Nawab Sahib was about to leave for Wah. He, however, asked us to wait. He entered this study and came back within seconds and told us that the prime minister had postponed the inauguration ceremony by an hour in order to meet our delegation.
Within minutes we were escorted to the study where the Quaid-i-Millat welcomed us affectionately. He did not mention his programme. He was very warm and friendly and talked to all members of our delegation asking personal questions about our studies, our future plans, the welfare of our parents, and if we had any financial problems.
Then we had a frank and free discussion on politics, particularly on matters relating to students. He appreciated our work in the freedom struggle and advised us to equip ourselves to run the country efficiently.
Liaquat Ali Khan was the president of the governing body of the Anglo Arabic College and Schools in Delhi before partition. Owing to our participation in the Pakistan movement I and the late Justice Naimuddin (later on the Chief Justice of Sindh, Judge of the Supreme Court and Chief Election Commissioner) incurred the wrath of our principal who recommended our rustication from the college to the governing body.
Khan Liaquat Ali Khan sent for both of us. As the principal waited outside his office Khan Liaquat Ali offered us tea and pastries and expressed his appreciation of our contribution in the struggle for Pakistan. Of course, the principal was obviously disappointed.
The Quaid-i-Millat was indeed a great statesman, a dynamic politician, a devoted and sincere leader. The nation should be proud of him. The least our government could do is to accord the same protocol as has been arranged for Allama Iqbal’s mazar, namely posting of the guard, etc.
NOOR AHMED
Karachi
I SAT watching a private channel on Saturday evening. A man was being interviewed who had allegedly raped and tortured his four-year-old sister-in-law. The accused went on to describe how he beat her with a hammer, scarred her face with scissors and raped her. More shocking was that he had the audacity to face the camera.
What perturbed me most was that he seemed quite calm and kept repeating that “the devil” had possessed him. How very convenient it is to blame the devil for your acts of violence. Is it not in man’s power to control himself?
Did the man not know that he was hurting a four-year-old child? The disturbing part is that there are many like him in our country who are caught and released. Such men should get what they deserve so that no other dares to do anything to a child and thinks he can get away with it.
MEHREEN EIRABIE
Lahore
Our American friend Steve Elisha of Colorado Springs (Oct. 11) should rest assured that we in Pakistan have enough sins of omission and commission of our own to merit divine punishment in the form of natural disasters.
We have people who kill innocents in mosques, churches, schools, and we have crimes committed against poor women. And like in New Orleans which had poorly constructed levees, we have poorly constructed buildings.
KHALID AHMAD
Montreal
THIS is with reference to Hussain Siddiqui’s letter? “Defenceless waiters” (Oct. 4). I agree that the name of the minister concerned shouldn’t be hidden. It has already been reported.
The person allegedly involved was Federal Law Minister Wasi Zafar.
In this feudal Pakistan, the elite have a right to silence the underdogs. This is a problem that will grow. In a political system based on compromise, ministers will exercise undeserved power and influence to harass people because there is no one to question them and hold them accountable for their acts of misdemeanour.
AYESHA SIDDIQA
Islamabad
IT WAS disturbing to read in Mr Aqil Shah’s article (Sept 29) that during President Musharraf’s recent official stay in Roosevelt Hotel in New York, ‘a woman crowned as “Miss Pakistan” was being paraded to project the country’s soft image’.
This is the first time a “Miss Pakistan” contest has been held and that, too, with official patronage. What else will they do under the pretext of projecting Pakistan’s “soft image”: show people drinking in pubs, or gambling away in casinos?
Or, will our rulers encourage the setting up of massage parlours, as abound in some popular Far Eastern tourist havens, along with red light areas, to prove we are as liberal as the West?
While it is certainly desirable to try and improve the country’s image, but morally destructive, un-Islamic ways appear to have been cleverly and deliberately projected before our leaders as the most desirable strategy to improve the image of our country. That will ultimately strip us of our Islamic and Pakistani values, which is what the West, led by the US, wants.
It also needs to clarify why it has started to work increasingly on the quiet without the knowledge of the people of Pakistan, as if they are non-entities. Be it in engaging Israel or holding beauty contests in their names, these are moves about which the people know nothing.
ZAKIR A. JALALI
Karachi
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