| December 23, 2005 | Friday | Ziqa’ad 20, 1426 |
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Supreme Court activisim
Inzamam v Ponting
‘Friendship and reality’
Planning for water supply
‘It takes two to hold back’
Cricketer’s example
Customer service
Dangers of aerial firing
Teaching of languages
Corporal punishment
Unmarked streets
THIS is with reference to your editorial “Kalabagh consensus” (Dec. 13). The country is suffering from a severe shortage of water.
My friends who are farmers tell me that they often have to use tubewell water to supplement the water they get from irrigation to meet their farming needs. Building several water reservoirs is such an important issue that we cannot lose sight of it.
Our survival depends on it. We have to grow enough food to feed three times the population that we had in the 1950s. This will not happen unless we begin to stop bickering and put the priorities of the country on top.
There is plenty of technical information on the Kalabagh dam to satisfy even the most conservative or sceptical of engineers. It is hard to understand why politicians will oppose its construction.
Yes, historically, there is a lot of mistrust between Sindh and Punjab but we can not continue to destroy the future of our children because of what happened in the past. Most of the politicians, especially when they are in opposition, look for any issue that they can talk about and use it against the government in power.
Most of them have little knowledge of the issues and provoke the public — which is mostly ignorant of such issues as well — against what may well be a just cause. The country does not need such selfish and power-hungry politicians.
I think the president should be supported for his courage to speak up on this most important issue. He does not personally benefit from it. We all need to think logically and unemotionally for what is good for our country.
DR AMAN KHAN
Lahore
FURTHER delaying the construction of major dams is suicidal for Pakistan to be sure but yearning for the construction of the most tarnished KBD is equally dangerous. This is so because the know-how about the dam, its pros and cons, is not comprehensible for 99 per cent of the people of Pakistan. Thus, it is easy for our politicians to take political advantage of the situation for their own ends.
The only and rational course would be to step up construction of the Basha dam. Construction work must be carried out in three shifts to ensure early completion. And similar should be the case where the construction of other dams, particularly the Katzara dam in Skardu, is concerned.
AFTAB ALAM
Swat
I WOULD like to convey the appreciation of Pakistani expatriates in the US of the recent actions/rulings of the Supreme Court. It took suo motu notice of the alleged rape of an earthquake victim by a doctor in a Lahore hospital and ordered that protection be provided to victims of ‘vani’ in Mianwali and other human rights violations. This new attitude of the court is a most welcome departure from the norm.
Pakistani society for long has been under the yoke of tradition-laden mores imposed by feudals on the rest of the country. They conspired to keep the country undeveloped, uneducated and politically unaware.
They did not allow roads through their territory, threatened school teachers, had private jails and kept bonded labourers. In this day and age they parade the women of their peasants naked in public. They get panchayats to order gang-rapes of innocent women.
Those in the police and the bureaucracy are usually in their pockets. The police refuse to register cases against them.
Political parties do not shun feudal lords but in fact woo them. Maulanas affirm publicly that “honour” killing is approved by Islam. Parliaments have consistently failed to remove patently discriminatory laws from the books.
The mindset of much of Pakistani society has to be radically changed. It is taken for granted among the vast majority of the public that girls are a burden, that education is the preserve of boys, that women should be seen and not heard, that men may sow their oats with impunity but women should be killed if they marry out of the clan.
DR S.M.A.EHTISHAM,
Bath, NY, US
SKIMMING through what happened in the Test series in India between India and Pakistan, thereafter the Test series between Pakistan and England and then looking at what is going on in the Australia-South Africa Test series a comparison arises of the cool guy Inzamam with the successful Aussie captain Ponting.
Inzamam has become a national hero in the last few months in Pakistan. The risks he took in the last Test matches against India in order to level the series comprised an excellent example of trust and confidence in his bowlers. It’s not a matter of having world class bowlers in your team, as in the India series, the lead bowlers were all missing (Shoaib Akhtar and Shabbir), replaced by youngsters. But Inzamam showed full confidence in his bowlers by declaring the innings at crucial points of time and playing positive in order to level the series and get good results out of it.
The Test series against England is again an excellent example of Inzamam’s confidence in the boys — winning the series in great fashion (2-0) when at one point of time it was England’s game altogether. Again he showed lots of confidence and trust in his bowlers and they finally bowled out the Ashes winners.
Ponting delayed a declaration in the first Test against South Africa just to make sure that Hodge reached his double hundred. This resulted in lack of time to bowl out the South Africans. Australia being in a commanding position in the match could have easily won it with world-class bowlers Warne, Glenn and Lee in the team. This shows clear lack of confidence in the team and the negligible risk-taking ability of the Aussie captain.
Inzamam kept his cool and showed his captaincy skills. Ponting, with a huge success rate in both forms of the game and having the best team players on his side, still lacks in these qualities. All that matters is how positively the captain reacts to a situation.
A CRICKET WATCHER
Via Email
In view of grim and unfathomable socio-political predicaments our society is enduring through each passing day, Mr Anwar Syed’s enlightened discourse “Friendship and reality” (Dec 4) is a window providing fresh air for the intellect.
He is right that “equality is a pre-requisite to friendship” as “kings have no kin”. John Selden (1584-1654), an English jurist and scholar, quoted King James as having said: “Old friends are like old shoes; they are easiest for the feet.” However, barring rulers to whom power is the first and foremost concern, this principle does not squarely apply in all cases. In other situations, common interests despite inequality of status do make “friends”.
Robert Hall (1764-1831) the English reformer has aptly described a faithful and true friend as a living treasure, inestimable in possession, and deeply to be lamented when gone. He said: “Nothing is more common than to talk of a friend; nothing more difficult than to find one; nothing rarer than to improve by one, as we ought. A friend should be one in whose understanding and virtue we can equally confide, and whose opinion we can value at once for its justness and its sincerity. He who has made the acquisition of a judicious and sympathizing friend may be said to have doubled his mental recourses”.
Sir W. Raleigh (1554-1628), the soldier and man of letters, is more circumspect in choosing a friend so as to avoid social imbalance. He said that “there is nothing more becoming any wise man than to make choice of friends, for by them thou shall be judged what thou art, let them therefore be wise and virtuous, and none of those that follow thee for gain; but make election rather of thy betters than thy inferiors, shunning always such as are poor and needy; for if thou gives twenty gifts and refuse to do the like but once, all that thou host done will be lost, and such men will become thy mortal enemies”.
The utilitarian perception of Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), “friendship is not good in itself but it is a means to desired advantage”, is very materialistic and highly pessimistic (his theories weredenounced in his own time). It is the antithesis of “friendship” as understood through the centuries. “O God save me from my friends, I will take care of enemies myself”, said the French philosopher and author Voltaire (1694-1778).
MANZOOR H. KURESHI
Karachi
REFERENCE article “50 years planning for water supply” (Dec 11), it is heartening to know that the Karachi city government authority and nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal are working to provide people of Karachi with clean water.
One of the basic drawbacks in developing such projects in our country is the use of wrong material for piping. Mild steel, asbestos and concrete pipes are generally used in the country and are all outdated and provide an inefficient way of piping. Because of their short life span they do not last for more than 10-20 years and require repair and change over practically every five years which causes road damage, besides recurring costs.
In developed countries, government authorities use “high density polyethylene” (PE) pipes for such applications. There are numerous advantages of using PE pipes and the cost comparison done in Europe clearly shows that the overall performance cost for PE pipes is far less than for the rest of the conventional pipes mentioned above.
PE pipes are coilable and one can lay them in kms in one go as compared to conventional pipes that need joints every 10-20 feet.
PE pipe jointing takes minutes with the help of soldering machines used on the spot for jointing as compared to the conventional pipe jointing that needs hours and days for each joint. Thus it is less time-consuming and much inexpensive to lay PE pipes.
PE pipes last a minimum of 100 years because they are corrosion-free and do not leak and have fewer chances of breakage as compared to mild steel pipes that rust, concrete pipes that start leaking and asbestos pipes that crack under pressure. And these conventional pipes do not last more than 10-20 years at the most, thereby the laying cost for PE pipes is five times less than that of conventional pipes.
PE pipes are lighter and cost less for transportation. Hundreds of kms of PE pipes can be transported in one trip as compared to a few kms of other conventional pipes.
I hope the relevant authorities can take up the matter with the planning department to conduct a survey /cost comparison between the traditional method of laying pipes and the cost performance of PE pipes.
IRFAN UL HAQ
Karachi
REFERRING to Mr Salahuddin Leghari’s letter “It takes two to hold back” (Dec 14), it seems that he is confused about the meaning of the words “world power”, “glorious” and “great”.
India may not be a glorious and great nation, but, if Mr Leghari thinks that India is or will not be a “world power” in the next few years, then he is sadly mistaken. India is a military and economic superpower, and that is something very few can deny.
It has the world’s fourth largest army and software exports of more than US $10 billion, a rapidly growing economy (growth rate of around eight per cent) and is the second most preferred destination for foreign direct investment — after China.
India is neither glorious nor great nor shining, but it is a major world power both militarily and economically. Poverty is still rampant but the standard of living and per capita income is rising rapidly.
Also, discrimination of minorities in some form or the other is a worldwide phenomenon, whether it against African Americans in the US, Arabs in France, Christians in Pakistan or non-Arabs in the Middle East.
AMIT JAIN
Mumbai
THIS is in reference to Mr Salahuddin Leghari’s letter. I would like to respond to a few of the points he has raised.
The so-called “rigid caste-ridden Hindu society” that he speaks of does exist but is not sanctioned or recognized by the government or by Indian law. As for discrimination against minorities and Muslims, that again is not sanctioned by law.
As for its achievements they do not exist merely on paper. I think Shahid Javed Burki got it right about empowerment of the Dalits (for example, in the state of Tamil Nadu 68 per cent of seats in all government colleges are reserved for the scheduled and backward castes and tribes).
As for his example of China as a “great power”, Mr Leghari should know that that country too has hundred of millions living in poverty. And as for China’s political structure there is no concept of freedom of speech, or democracy in that country.
All this is not to say that India does not have problems. But to brush them away by saying that it does not have the “potential” to become a superpower is to deny reality.
SRIDHAR MYUR
Canberra, Australia
IT has been reported in the media that while highlighting the poor standard of education in Pakistan, the federal education minister cited Inzamamul Haq as an example of poor language skills. His disparaging remarks are most insensitive, uncalled for, insulting, and unbecoming.
The minister could have made his point without insulting the national hero who has displayed far better acumen in his professional field than has the minister in his. Why is it that our so-called elite, a product of Macaulay’s education system, cannot get rid of their inferiority complex?
No doubt English now is a language of communication worldwide and it is desirable that people acquire it to get on in their business dealings with others.
But how would speaking grammatically correct English improve a cricketer’s performance can only be comprehensible to our ministers. It would perhaps be instructive for the minister to hear the English speaking prowess of ministers, players and professionals from countries like Germany, Russia, Denmark, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Japan, et el.
They are all from developed countries and get by perfectly well with their lives. The minister could have found a less specious argument to promote English in Pakistan.
I.A. KHAN
Rawalpindi
ONE would have thought that with the telecom sector rapidly expanding some degree of quality of customer service would be maintained. A recent entrant into the mobile phone service market has shown that the quality of customer service is inversely proportional to the number of customers. In the last three months, each time the company forgot to re-activate my service after I paid my bill. Only after repeated calls and wasting my time speaking to customer service reps was my service activated.
Before it finds itself facing legal action at the hands of a frustrated customer, the company would be well-advised to ensure its system is working efficiently.
NIDA BUTT
Karachi
PLANES land from west to east in Karachi during the winter months. This means that as they approach the airport they end up flying at low altitude over residential areas and marriage lawns in localities like Shershah, Lyari, Lines Area, the KDA/KMC lawns on Kashmir Road, Bahadurabad, Dalmia, Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Gulistan-i-Jauhar.
With our propensity to fire in the air and weddings, and with many weddings taking place in the winter, there is a danger that the planes flying overhead could face disaster caused by a stray bullet. The Civil Aviation Authority and the airlines must take cognizance of this and should act to prevent a tragedy.
ANJUM FASIH
Karachis
THERE is a debate again about national and regional languages.
English has dominated the cyberspace and overtaken all other languages as the prime medium of the universe. Proficiency in English is mandatory for studying science, engineering, telecommunications, and for international financial and commercial transactions. Even Urdu is lagging behind in these fields.
Literature or books in regional languages are lacking. This is not to deny the importance of or the need for teaching these languages up to high school to preserve and promote local culture and customs. Urdu is the medium for communication among the various ethnic groups in Pakistan. Command and proficiency in English is essential for existence and progress in today’s world. It is in the national interest to promote and emphasize the two languages.
M.A. FAZAL
Karachi
APROPOS of a news item (Dec 20) regarding prohibition of corporal punishment in schools, this had officially ended in government-funded schools in Britain under the 1986 Education Act. Teachers were barred by law from beating their students.
Private schools were, however, given the option to uphold tradition, if they so chose. Corporal punishment is illegal in the rest of Europe. Most countries such as France, Switzerland, West Germany and Spain banned it decades ago, while some like Italy never allowed it.
Corporal punishment is banned in Japan and China. But the practice has been slow to die out in some former British colonies.
Beating with leather straps was reportedly widely used in Canada. In Australia, Queensland and South Australia continued to allow caning of male students.
Caning was reported to have been replaced by such sanctions as dismissal or temporary suspension from studies.
HAJI ESSA KATCHI
Karachi
KARACHI’s Zamzama Boulevard has long been the commercial hub of varied businesses in the Clifton and Defence area. But confusion reigns supreme when one wants to find any shop because the streets are not marked. People resort to the old-fashioned way of directing people to a particular shop by saying: “That shop is in the lane where the XYZ restaurant is” — so what happens when one doesn’t know where the XYZ restaurant is?
For a place that houses so many new and upcoming restaurants, shops and salons it is very disappointing not to have clearly marked streets. This matter needs to be addressed soon since many shops cater to people who visit Karachi as tourists.
MARYAM ASHFAQ HUSSAIN
Karachi
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