| November 24, 2005 | Thursday | Shawwal 21, 1426 |
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Death of a young doctor
Bush’s visit to China
Nationwide traffic mess
Importance of teaching in English
Unfair criticism
Gwadar syndrome
Pedestrian bridge
Accountability
Clarification
I REFER to Mr K. Hussain Zia’s letter of Nov 12 in which I have not been correctly quoted. Mr Zia has me saying: “Al Qaeda, the sinister super-organization, paints the spectre of ‘Islamic terrorists going global’ [and] nuclear fire bombing major US cities with bomb grade plutonium from Abkhazia”.
What I had written on Sept 27 was:”The worst case scenario would be the nuclear fire bombing of a major US city (God forbid) in the next decade or so. Such an act of criminal terror is no theoretical notion. Consider for example: bomb grade plutonium has gone missing from a nuclear facility in the breakaway Abkhazia region of Georgia; it remains untraced.”
Mr Zia rightly asserts that the real discussion should focus on the root causes of terror. This requires an objective discussion. For centuries, the Jews were openly discriminated against in Europe (excluding the UK) and Slavic lands. It was only after the Second World War that the world realized the enormity of Hitler’s crime. No single deed in modern history is more wicked than the Holocaust. I have of late read several articles on Israel, in our press, including one appearing in this newspaper on Nov 12, and no mention is made of this event, which gave an urgency and shape to the creation of the Zionist state.
There were two political strands of thought before and after Israel was created. The liberal strand wanted a composite state with equality of citizenship for all citizens; this view was in the minority after the Arab-Israel War of 1948. The oppressed of Europe gradually become the oppressors of the Palestinians. The military superiority of the Israelis manifests itself in their technological prowess which defeated the Arabs in three major wars; in desperation the unarmed Palestinians turned to the intifada and suicide bombings; the Israeli army responded with greater violence.
A pattern of symmetrical violence began and it cascaded into much brutality on both sides. The recently constructed wall seeks to isolate the Palestinians in Bantustan-type settlements in the West Bank. The anguish of the Palestinians is fully understandable for Israeli arrogance under Sharon has reached new heights. The “green” line demarcating the West Bank by the UN resolution of 1967 has been grossly violated by Israel after the Oslo accords.
What is the way out? A sensible settlement was almost reached in January 2001 at Taba between the chief negotiators of prime minister Barak and Yasser Arafat. Its non-acceptance by Arafat was a tragedy. Perhaps he was constrained by the rising influence of Hamas and Islamic Jihad which repudiate all UN resolutions and demand an “all or nothing” solution, also recently echoed by the Iranian president, the main backer of Hamas.
The misfortune of the Palestinians is that they have no towering leader like Mohammad Ali Jinnah. A towering leader knows when and how to moderate conflict and compromise. The Palestinians could have obtained a “moth-eaten” Palestine state following the principles elaborated at Camp David in 2000 and almost agreed between the two sides at Taba in 2001. But, the last intifada of 2002 has so embittered the situation that the Taba compromise is no longer on the negotiating table.
The emergence of Pakistan in 1947 and Israel a year later has some points of commonality. Both are based on religious nationalism. Like in Kashmir and so in Palestine, terrorism targeting innocent civilians and its riposte in state terrorism merely creates death and misery for the general population. The latest intifada has alienated the powerful pro-Palestinian lobby within Israel. It was the support of this lobby which persuaded prime minister Barak to make the offer of January 2001. To resolve any conflict, there should be the will to resolve it. Compromises are inevitable. Today neither side appears to have the will or the imposing leadership to bring peace with honour. We have to wait for a better day.
M.P. BHANDARA
Rawalpindi
DR Yusra Khalil was our colleague: she was someone most of us had come to know, befriend and respect for the five years we spent together at Dow Medical College. She graduated with the rest of the Class of 2005 and respectfully earned her right to be a doctor. She got married after her bachelor’s. Her house job at the the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) started this August and she was an enthusiastic doctor working her way through general and ENT surgery. It seemed everything was going well for her in life.
This was until a few days back. That is when she fell sick. Eventually, so sick that her family had to take her to the Aga Khan University Hospital. The family spent the night in the AKU emergency room helpless. The doctors there told her family that Yusra was suspected of having a “viral haemorrhagic fever”, a rare but life-threatening infection that can kill as many as three-fourths of those who catch it. Because of how infectious her condition was, nobody was eager to manage her intensively.
Our colleague slipped into a coma, in desperate need of a ventilator. What is most unfortunate is the fact that the AKU,the CHK and every other hospital in the city that Yusra’s family contacted refused to provide a ventilator — because of her infectious condition. After many hours had passed, the AKU decided to provide her this service. By then it was six hours too late: she had been deprived of oxygen for too long. On Sunday night, Yusra passed away. Her family was devastated. We were in shock.
How did she catch the infection that took her life? Nobody knows for sure. The Civil Hospital has been admitting many undiagnosed cases with vague flu-like symptoms (like our colleague’s) for the past few days.
There is every possibility that she could have been exposed while at work. What is pitiful is the fact that the doctors at the CHK work in an environment that puts them at highest risk for acquiring all kinds of serious infections; infections that are lying open in our wards waiting for the next victim to come. Worse is the harsh reality that the administration of the CHK has not done anything to improve this situation.
It should be mentioned here that another resident died of similar circumstances a month ago, and then CHK authorities covered it up. A meeting was held on November 21 between the house officers and the medical superintendent of the CHK at the latter’s office. The house officers put forward the following demands in the meeting: (1) That an immediate isolation facility be established in the hospital; (2)that every house officer and doctor be provided with (a) anti-viral treatment [prophylaxis] for the condition suspected to be viral haemorrhagic fever, (b) surgical and examination gloves for routine use with ready access to post-exposure preventive measures, (c) a guarantee that they will not be required to do work that is the responsibility of nurses and paramedics [e.g, drawing blood, setting up drips and cannulas], (d) financial compensation for those affected by the condition.
Also, screening for hepatitis B and viruses be made mandatory for every patient admitted. That responsibility should be claimed for this tragedy and those responsible should be accountable. The house officers of the Civil Hospital will not work till the day these demands are brought into effect.
What we may achieve might prevent another work-related incident, and, maybe, another death. It is, however, too late for our Yusra: a beloved daughter, a beloved sister, a beloved wife and a beloved colleague.
House Officers
Civil Hospital, Karachi
US President George Bush’s meeting with his Chinese counter-part raises many questions (Nov 21). One may ask what moral authority the American president has to ask China to improve its civil rights. Under Bush’s leadership the US has the worst human rights record ever, both within its frontiers and abroad.
Mr Bush’s baseless war in Iraq and Afghanistan has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced an equal number of innocent people. The US army has been accused of ghastly treatment of prisoners in their custody at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.
American Muslims have been arbitrarily persecuted in the aftermath of 9/11: innocent young men were rounded up and put behind bars without any access to legal aid while hundreds of Muslims were deported from America on fictitious grounds.
And the buck doesn’t stop here. Using his clout, Mr Bush has been able to manipulate UN members to reproach Syria and Iran — two countries seen by his administration as a viable threat to the state of Israel — on fictitious charges.
Many a lesson can be learned by other nations from these parleys. Economics and trade will be the real determinants of power in the coming years. Instead of hoarding arms and ammunition, governments should invest in developing their indigenous industries and brace their citizens with vital knowledge.
Moreover perseverance is one of the skills that the Chinese have demonstrated throughout. No wonder the British had to return Hong Kong, even after governing it for 99 years.
Mr Bush is gravely mistaken if he thinks he can get some concessions from the Chinese government vis-a-vis Taiwan autonomy, western model of democracy or its military presence in Asia Pacific. The most that the Chinese would do will be to adopt some cosmetic measures so that the current status quo is not affected to their detriment.
MISBAH NOMANI
Karachi
MANY letters have been printed on the traffic chaos in all metropolitan cities. This daily suffering adds to the stresses of people’s already taxing lives. If city governments are really serious about putting some order on the roads for the benefit of all, here are some suggestions that might help.
Open several driving test centres in accessible and convenient locations all over the cities. I know of only one centre in Clifton, which serves all of Karachi.
Educate new drivers through testing processes, i.e., proper written and road tests. Educate existing licence-holders by mandatory testing when they come to renew their driving licences. There should also be a point system on driving licences; for example after four moving violations, a driver should have his licence suspended for six months.
The administration should impose hefty fines and penalties for traffic violations such as speeding and dangerous driving. A minimum fine of Rs1,000 for violators and increasing it thereof with the severity of the violation. Increased traffic law enforcement on the roads and not just at traffic intersections.
It will cost the cities’ administration quite a bit of money to implement these suggestions but the money can easily be recovered, as it be a revenue-generating proposition, which will create more direct and indirect jobs. Higher revenue generation would mean that city governments would be able to pay the law-enforcement officers well, so that they do not need to indulge in bribery or corruption. It’s a simple system, which works and is being followed successfully and effectively around the world. Roads are the first impression a person gets when he /she arrives in our cities.
FAISAL SIDDIQUI
Alberta, Canada
IN the editorial “Experimenting with languages” (Nov 19) your objection to the teaching of English at the primary level and its use as a medium of instruction for science and mathematics at higher levels seems to ignore the 25-year-old past experience when English was replaced by Urdu as the medium of instruction for all subjects.
Before gaining independence, English was a compulsory subject in schools and colleges and it was also the medium of instruction for science and mathematics. The system worked rather well because it provided ample opportunity for teachers, as well as students, to attain sufficient proficiency in English, and to be able to make good use of the vast reservoir of literature that was readily available on all subjects.
The teaching of science and mathematics in English is so much easier because even the simplest of terms would certainly be blurred if not lost altogether in translation. The fact that the system produced geniuses of the calibre of Prof Abdus Salam, Dr Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, Dr Ziauddin of Aligarh University, to name a few, is proof that the system was successful.
It would also be incorrect to say that in that atmosphere the growth of Urdu or any other regional language was inhibited. This is shown by the rise to pre-eminence of such luminaries as Tagore, Iqbal, and Faiz. The intellect and sensibility of South Asian minds was well complemented by western thought and literature.
The Indians continued to use English as the medium of instruction in science and mathematics, and took bold steps to steer science education on the pattern of the best universities of America. Obviously, this would be unthinkable if local languages were used as mediums of instruction. As a result, the expertise of Indians in science and technology is now rated among the best in the world.
We in Pakistan adopted the opposite policy and have seen how badly this policy has affected our students.
This was inevitable because switching of languages without having first prepared the requisite groundwork could not have produced any other result. The experience of Russia, Japan, and China shows that an essential prerequisite is to establish an elaborate organization to translate thousands of scientific and technical books into the national language. This would have to be a continuous process rather than a one-time event, requiring tremendous human and financial resources. Regrettably, such an organization is conspicuously absent in Pakistan, and we do not even have a plan or conceptual framework for one.
The outsourcing of jobs, a phenomenon that is becoming more and more important in the new global economy, requires familiarity with English in most cases. Proper utilization of the Internet which actually represents a gigantic explosion of knowledge also depends on the user’s knowledge of English. We have to decide whether we want our economy to remain in the backwaters or if we want to go ahead and play our role to the fullest extent of the country’s potential.
ZIAUDDIN AHMED
Maryland, US
I READ with interest a letter (Nov 21) from a reader in New Jersey in which the writer criticized the role of the military in the handling of the earthquake crisis. While everyone has the right to criticize, I found his comments about the armed services personnel very undignified. Describing these very fine and capable men and women as “khakis” and telling them to return to the barracks is an ignorant way of making a political point.
In every civilized society, including the US, the National Guard or armed forces are the ones called upon in the time of crisis. In Pakistan, these fine professionals in uniform have recently helped save the lives of thousands of people, for which I salute them. As regards the country being run by the military from time to time in our short history, it is a very long debate. There have been failures of successive elected pseudo-democratic politicians from all sides. Every time it was the men in uniform who brought the country from the brink of disaster. How we do things in the future will depend on finding the best middle ground and working together.
Armed forces have not landed from Mars, they are our brothers and sisters who happened to be better trained and disciplined to deal with life and crisis than most of us. Having served in the armed forces does not make one ineligible for dealing with life’s other challenges. Perhaps one glowing example can be found in the critic’s own backyard in the form of Colin Powell, the former secretary of state.
DR ASAM ISHTIAQ
Burewala
BILLIONS have been dumped in the sands of Gwadar. Will this Gwadar mania continue or has it already started to wane?
The centrepiece is the commencement of commercial operations at Gwadar port. The port has yet not been commissioned nor made operational, and the project is already much behind schedule.
Meanwhile, every other day, there are statements in the local press by a few nationalists. They demand that non-locals must leave Gwadar. This attitude is fuelled by the local/regional newspapers.
The other day there was the murder of a non-local working at a site near Talhar. In a second incident, on the demand of a few locals, a senior non-Baloch officer of the port was transferred.
The government has to move and move fast enough to maintain law and order and ensure that the port becomes operational soonest by competent individuals in the field.
FAISAL KHAN
Karachi
WORKERS and employees of organizations located near or inside the FTC are justified in protesting over the lack of a pedestrian bridge. They have to risk their lives to cross Sharea Faisal and this is a big hazard because of speeding vehicles.
Elimination of traffic signals at Gora Qabristan, Sindhi Muslim and Nursery has provided a non-stop flow to traffic on Shahrea Faisal. There are zebra- crossings but no vehicle ever slows down at these points. As for the traffic constables, they are busy stopping buses to fill their pockets and do not care for the plight of the crossing pedestrians. At evening time the situation gets very bad. No one in any position of authority seems bothered about this because they obviously never have to cross the road like this.
The city government should immediately begin construction of an overhead pedestrian bridge at the FTC. In the meantime, the traffic constables posted in this area should be directed to assist people crossing the road.
ASIF RAHI
Karachi
WE have recently seen that some high profile cases have been reluctantly taken notice of by the authorities concerned only intervention by the apex court.
The orders of registering a case and arresting the builders of Margalla Towers, Islamabad, by the Supreme Court of Pakistan is a case in point.
The CDA chairman had exonerated the builders standing on the rubble of the towers when scores of survivors were still underneath.
Can’t the civil authorities themselves take notice of such eventualities? Is a draughtsman turned tycoon too big a person to be made accountable?
Or are the officers of the CDA who allowed substandard construction and who enhanced a 33-year lease to 99 years too influential to be subjected to inquiries? So for no head has rolled within the CDA, nor any minister has resigned, or pointed out the corrupt practices adopted by any previous regime which culminated in this big tragedy.
I think the time has come to break up our powerful corrupt mafia.
HAFEEZ AKHTAR
Lahore
APROPOS of the letter “Dead phone” (Nov 16), it is clarified that the telephone service was interrupted because of breakage in the main link of underground cable. The telephone was made operative on Nov 16 after necessary repair.
SALEEM KHAN
PRO, STR-III,
Karachi
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