| January 9, 2006 | Monday | Zilhaj 8, 1426 |
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Digital vs physical library
Police and their touts
New Afghan parliament
Social practices
Issues before the courts
Encroachments
Alternative to Kalabagh
VVIP movement
‘Ideological hang-ups’
Eid donation
Appalling educational system
KMC sport complex
CNG price hike
THE state cannot be seen to use coercion as a means to establish its writ or force their own citizens to submit to rule of law, while the establishment itself resorts to abuse of Constitution. Whatever the provocation, the resort to force in Balochistan is regrettable. It is tragic that we as a nation have not learnt any lessons from the series of events that led to dismemberment of our country in 1971.
The people of Balochistan have not had a fair share of what should rightly be theirs. Years of neglect by the state and lack of education have only further strengthened the treacherous role of local sardars. It is the duty of the state to provide education, health and bare minimum essentials like clean drinking water to its citizens.
For decades the citizens have been denied their role in running the affairs of state through their chosen representatives. This right has been denied to all the provinces, including Punjab. It is time that Pakistan, which was established through a constitutional political struggle, be allowed to function as a democratic welfare country, the way its founding fathers had visualized it. The form of government has to be that which the Quaid had desired, otherwise we as nation have a dark and bleak future.
The people of Balochistan have had their share of employment in federal government and state-run enterprises denied by a corrupt bureaucracy, through issuance of bogus domicile certificates. An independent analysis of all semi-autonomous corporations would reveal that those who have resorted to this massive abuse are not the residents of Punjab, but residents of a major urban centre of another province.
Blaming the people of Punjab for all the ills of Balochistan is, therefore, not correct. After all, it was not a Punjabi at the helm when military action was resorted to against the people of East Pakistan or the people of Balochistan. The people of Pakistan have been wronged by those who have misgoverned it. It is ironic that that those who should have been the servants of the people have assumed for themselves a role which is unconstitutional and hence illegal.
Power must rest with the people of Pakistan who alone through their elected representatives must decide what is in the national interest. The people of Punjab must raise their voice in support of the legitimate demands of their brethren living in Balochistan.
M. T. ALI
Lahore
THIS is with reference to Dr Dushka Saiyid’s article, “A prescription for decline” (Jan 2) regarding the state of higher education in Pakistan. She wrote that physical libraries were necessary for research and that the digital library initiative by the Higher Education Commission was not beneficial for researchers.
I think her argument is misleading. The issue is not online publications versus physical access to library but access to information. If there is more information in physical libraries, then we have to use them. If there is more information online, we will use online resources. If the same information is available both online and in a library, then given a choice most people today — assuming that they have access to an Internet connection — will use the online option.
The number of scholarly journals published in each discipline is increasing exponentially and limited library budgets are not increasing at the same rate. A traditional library cannot take care of the demands of today’s researchers. The library — traditionally a cornerstone of scholarly endeavour — is reinventing itself as a facilitator rather than provider of knowledge.
Instead of a “four walled” building that holds books, it is evolving into an electronic portal to a growing global repository of digital resources. The doors to this virtual library are now open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The whole process of approval, order and delivery of a publication takes months, assuming that there are sufficient funds and that demand exists for that book. But the digital library has eliminated all this and clearly this should help in wider dissemination of knowledge.
ZOYA USMANI
Indianapolis, IN, US
IN Muzaffargarh, if you want anything illegal done all you have to do is to approach the ubiquitous police tout and settle an amount with him. If you want to extort money from someone, you can frame him in a false case by filing a report with the local police using the tout. A policeman carrying a summons from the SHO will be sent to the targeted person which will be enough to scare him witless and then you can easily collect from him the intended amount. This is what happened to an aged doctor here.
Almost every police station here reportedly maintains a torture cell and, therefore, as the Punjab chief minister says, no gentleman ever wants to enter a police station because the police have such vast powers that he is afraid of being detained for questioning. Of course, there are thugs, thieves and dacoits in our country but the police are not interested in catching them but only in making their daily “allowance”. Our armed forces have done nothing to free the people from this albatross round their neck.
GHULAM ALI Muzaffargarh
THE new Afghan parliament, dominated by warlords and drug barons, was inaugurated at a ceremony attended by US Vice-President Dick Cheney. It is the only parliament in the world whose members were elected as individuals, not as party members. So the new house from the very first day seems to be in troubled waters. Mohammad Yunus Qanooni who was runner-up to Hamid Karzai in last year’s presidential elections was elected chairman of the Lower House, defeating Sayaf, a supporter of Karzai, by 122 votes to 117.
It is noteworthy that Mr Qanooni disputed the presidential election results as “illegitimate” and even called for new votes. It was after intense negotiation by American and UN diplomats that the former accepted the election results. Mr Qanooni, who was then a member of the powerful Northern Alliance, formed his own party, the Afghanistan National Coordination Front, as the first opposition to the government.
Mr Qanooni’s election is a defeat for the Karzai camp in parliament. It is feared that the new parliament will eventually shake down into two main groups. Karzai is the only leader. If defeated at any stage, the West will pack up and go home.
FAIZ AHMAD SHEHABI
Lahore
THIS is with reference to a letter by Khalid Rashid Qureshi (Dec 12) and the clarification made by Imran Khan about vani (Jan 1). As reported in the press, Imran Khan has already made his views on vani cases in the Mianwali district public. One may mention here that Imran Khan has not only condemned the practice in unequivocal terms but has also called upon the authorities concerned to legislate against the age-old curse. Imran Khan is entitled to have his opinion about any matter pertaining to politics or social practices.
But the point is, how and when would we have such unlawful social practices banished from our society? In the last 58 years we have had numerous civilian as well as military governments, but no government formulated and enforced a law which did away with abhorrent social practices like karo-kari and vani. As a result, the developed countries look upon us as a nation that still lives in the Stone Age. They also view Pakistan as a country that denies basic human rights to children and women.
The practice of vani and other such social evils can only be done away with provided if concerted efforts are launched at both the individual and collective levels.
RAFAT MAHMOOD ANSARI
Islamabad
LEST we forget, let me enumerate some of the issues that the country’s superior courts have had to grapple with lately. These are: - The question of banning flying kites. Serving of meals at marriage functions.
- Payment of compensation to the owners of flats in Margalla Towers, Islamabad.
- Establishment of a mini-golf course in a public park in F-7 Sector, Islamabad.
The courts have granted definitive judgments about two of the aforementioned issues and due processes for the remaining ones have been set in motion.
The courts may now turn their attention to some other issues. These, to name a few, are:
a. Declaration of jirgas as illegal;
b. Abolition of the barbarous customs of karo-kari and vani through a definitive judgment;
c. Definitive declaration holding free primary education as a fundamental human right, to be guaranteed by the Constitution.
KHALID IDREES
Islamabad
IN Karachi, it seems no road and footpath is safe from roadside vendors and hawkers. It has become a regular exercise for the authorities to remove encroachments from the Saddar and Boulton Market areas, but the vendors keep reappearing with astonishing regularity. This is so because there often is no follow-up action.
This only shows the helplessness of the city district government. What is needed is a special law for removing encroachments and to hand down exemplary punishment if a violation is made.
The city government should have special anti-encroachment teams in all important shopping centres like Saddar, Tariq Road, Boulton Market and Hyderi to keep the area clean, enabling the tax-paying public to use the footpaths without any problems.
P.K. ABDUL KADIR
Karachi
THIS refers to Mr Tahir Jaffer Khan’s letter “Alternative to Kalabagh” (Dec 29).
I am glad to know that the grievances of the people of Sindh are being felt by the people of Punjab at large. This feeling of fraternity shows that our beloved country’s unity will not be harmed. The Quaid-i-Azam said: “In unity lies strength. So long as we are united, we emerge victorious and strong. If we are not united we shall become weak and disgraced. We are all Pakistanis. None of us is a Punjabi, Sindhi, Baloch and Pathan..... Everyone of us should think, feel and act as a Pakistani and we should feel proud of being Pakistani alone.”
It has been six years since Gen Pervez Musharraf took over the country but hardly any one of the points from his agenda has worked out. The federating units of the country are sceptical of one another, especially over contentious issues like the NFC and water distribution and the military operations in different parts of the country.
The controversial issue of building big water reservoirs in the country has been raised by the government at a time when the country is passing through its worst-ever natural calamity which left hundreds of thousands of countrymen homeless and thousands dead.
I appeal to the president not to impair the unity and let the people decide what they want for the welfare of their beloved country, for they are as patriotic as the president believes himself to be. Any arbitrary go-ahead for the construction of big reservoirs without a national consensus will be inimical for the unity of the country.
NAEEM AHMED MEMON
Sukkur
The report of the Technical Committee on Water Resources was submitted to the prime minister by its chairman as far back as August 25. The report was published in your esteemed paper from Dec 27 to Dec 30. The ministry of water and power has displayed it on their website for the last few days.
The committee’s report contains “Conclusions and Recommendations”. But the ministry of water and power thought it proper to project on the Internet the “Salient Features” and “Executive Summary” which are not part of the report. Presumably these documents have been prepared by the ministry themselves. The projection of these documents on the Internet along with the report gives the wrong impression that these are also part of the report which is not correct. In fact, information given in these documents of the ministry is totally inconsistent with the contents of the report and is therefore, misleading.
Since the report of the technical committee also contains its “Conclusions and Recommendations”, it was not necessary for the ministry to prepare salient features and an executive summary separately. It should withdraw this extraneous material from their website.
Aftab Ahmed Khan
Karachi
THIS is with reference to your report “Two die failing to reach hospital due to traffic jams (Jan 7). This is yet another example of the people of Karachi being made to face immense hardship due to the arrival of the “kings” in their city. The VVIPs were actually here to attend the wedding of another VIP’s daughter. I have always had great respect for President Musharraf but with these things happening in front of my eyes I cannot help having second thoughts. I don’t know who those poor souls were but I can certainly feel the agony their families must be going through. Who should they hold responsible for their deaths?
ALTAMASH JAVED LONE
Karachi
THIS is further to Khalid A.’s comment on Murtaza Razvi’s article “Not without ideological hang-ups”.
Not only Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal but also the three other great mujtahid imams, Abu Hanifa, Shafi and Malik, were imprisoned and tortured because they stood their ground for the truth and did not compromise with the political powers of the day.
Interestingly these personalities also remained aloof from politicians and bureaucrats and tended to avoid their company — in stark contrast to the so-called ‘political maulana/mullah/maulvi’ types of today.
DR FARAZ HAQUE
London, UK
IT would be good if on this Eidul Azha we all decided to donate skins of sacrificial animals and their meat to the earthquake survivors. The meat can be transported directly to their camps.
SAJID HUSSAIN
Parachinar
THE efficiency of Sindh’s education department is terrible. As a consequence, educational standards in the province are declining. Take the matriculation system, for instance. At this level even science students are burdened with too many languages, regardless of their need in their careers. There seems to be no escape from the 50-year-old intermediate system. Languages such as Sindhi should not be made compulsory at the matriculation or intermediate level because the students should have the option of learning languages that could be of use to them in their careers.
An example of the current chaos is provided by the extended winter holidays.
On top of all this, we have unscheduled holidays like the recent one that was announced after Pakistan won a cricket match against England. Was that necessary?
ZAHRA ZAMAN
Karachi
WE, the residents of the area and users of the KMC sport complex on Kashmir Road, Karachi, have been seeking protection of the authorities concerned for a long time against the misuse of the complex. Spacious lawns full of greenery have been converted into commercial marriage parks. Its open-air theatre has become a storage space for caterers, and dinners are arranged at the open- air theatre.
Morning walkers are disturbed with leftover food, empty beverage bottles and paper glasses. Morning walkers are greeted by cawing crows hovering over and barking dogs loitering around the leftovers. Lawns and the open space behind the “canteen” of the club have been permanently converted into a venue for dinners and late-night pleasure events. All gates, except for a distant one, are kept closed to cover the unlawful activities carried out in flagrant violation of restrictions on wedding meals. The so-called canteen carries out undesirable activities with the knowledge of an official who has a camp office in the complex.
It is hoped the government will intervene to set matters right.
RESIDENTS
Karachi
THIS is with reference to Syed A. Mateen’s latter “CNG prices” (Jan 6). Our prime minister and his ministers do not care about the misery of the ordinary people of this country. There are several reasons for that. One is that they are too busy with their foreign tours (at the expense of the taxpayer) and, second, that they never have to fill petrol or CNG in their vehicles out of their own pockets.
ZULFIQAR A. BHATTI
Islamabad
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