| February 14, 2006 | Tuesday | Muharram 15, 1427 |
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Protests about Balochistan
Loss to qawwali
Peace overtures
Poultry science
Working conditions at UET
Blasphemous cartoons
Cinema promotion
Civic problems
Hazardous feed
Utility bills
Clarification
MR Poul Anker in his rejoinder from Australia (Feb 8) has raised some issues. These pertain to Pakistan’s and Indonesia’s treatment of their Christian minorities, destruction of the Bamiyan statues by the Taliban, besides his claim that the West reacts peacefully to Muslims’ violent acts.
I agree that our behaviour with the minorities has not been perfect and needs to be improved. Nevertheless, it has been far better than the treatment meted out to the Aborigines in Australia, the Afro-Americans and Indians in the US and the Jews, Muslims and Romany people (gypsies) in parts of Europe.
Since 1947, the population of Pakistan has grown four to five times to the present 150 million whereas our Christian populace has multiplied by perhaps 20-30 times and numbers around five million now. What better proof could there be of the Christians’ prospering and multiplying because of the freedoms enjoyed?
Those extremists attacking churches see them (wrongly) as a symbol of the Christian West, which has occupied two Muslim countries, blindly supports Israel and is perceived to be on the offensive against the Ummah. This has occurred almost exclusively after 9/11 and applies equally in Indonesia and elsewhere.
The growth of extremism in the last few years should be viewed as part of the resurgent fundamentalism seen in Christianity, Hinduism (the increasingly bad treatment of Muslims and Christians in India illustrates that), Islam and other religions and, more importantly, as the Muslims’ reaction to the West’s irresponsible actions indicated above.
Contrary to the correspondent’s claim, many writers, correspondents and intellectuals had criticized the Taliban’s destruction of the Bamiyan statues and Pakistani and other Islamic leaders had counselled them to desist. The Buddhists had rightly concluded that only the extremist militia of Afghanistan was responsible and didn’t hold all Muslims responsible. Buddhist relics and archaeological sites in Pakistan have always been maintained carefully and thousands of tourists from the Far East visit them annually.
Coming to the West’s attitude, I was in the US when a federal government building in Oklahoma City was blown up by some terrorists around 1996. Then president Clinton’s immediate and careless response was to insinuate that Muslims were behind it, and he promised “swift and severe” punishment. But, some white Americans of the Michigan militia were finally found responsible.
Deplorably, there was a quick reaction against Muslims throughout America and hundreds of threatening messages, including death threats, were sent out to the Islamic community and its mosques. Some people were physically attacked and an American man threw a pregnant Muslim woman to the ground due to which she lost her baby.
In contrast, the Islamic community in the US had provided material and moral support to the 100-plus innocent victims of the Oklahoma City bombing that had included lots of women and children.
After 9/11, things have been much worse in the US and Europe and there have been many casualties and unjustified incarceration of Muslims.
KHALID CHAUDHRY
Karachi
ACCORDING to a news report (Dawn, Feb 8), a Republican Congressman of the US, Mr Thomas Tancredo, has urged President Bush to raise the issue of Balochistan with President Musharraf during his visit to Pakistan next month.
While citing a report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, he expressed serious alarm over the situation in the province and demanded that all armed conflict in the province be stopped and negotiations started to avoid further loss of lives.
Mr Tancredo also claimed that the “operations in Balochistan divert important military resources that could be used to hunt Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.” There is something that the American lawmaker probably does not know and which the HRCP report would not have mentioned in keeping with its own political agenda.
During the past one year Baloch insurgents have carried out nearly 200 bomb blasts, 300 rocket attacks, targeted about 10 gas pipelines, 40 electricity transmission towers and 20 railway tracks. Ordinary Pakistanis just can’t afford to buy the sophisticated weapons being used by the rebels, which must obviously be coming from countries hostile to Pakistan.
Would the gentleman have asked his president to ignore such acts of pure terrorism if they had been taking place somewhere in the US?
Also, is it not incumbent upon the Pakistan government to block attempts to separate a province from the rest of the country?
Has the Congressman paid similar attention to the many reports prepared by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch about the abuses being committed by American intelligence and law-enforcement agencies inside and outside the US?
M. MUSLIM
Karachi
THE death recently of Mr Bahauddin, a great exponent of qawwali in its classical tradition, has left a void on the music scene in Pakistan. Recipient of the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz in 2000, Bahauddin was one of the most respected qawwals of Pakistan. During his many visits to different countries thousands of people from different cultures listened to, enjoyed and admired his immaculate rendering of qawwali in its traditional subcontinental style.
He belonged to the Qawwal Bachon Ka Gharana of Delhi. Tradition has it that Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia asked Amir Khusrau to participate in an expected dialogue between local religious belief systems and Islam, the a reply to be given in music which was to be the language of this dialogue.
Amir Khusrau prepared a statement in music which was presented by a selected group of 12 children, with Samat bin Ibrahim as their leader. This music composition was most probably the first-ever qawwali of the subcontinent. This tradition continued and became famous as Qawwal Bachon Ka Gharana with notable luminaries like Tan Ras Khan (music teacher of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal king), Munshi Raziuddin and many others.
Mr Bahauddin will always be remembered by his fans for the wide repertoire of traditional qawwalis and his masterly command over classical music. He was famous for the excellence of “tans”, “laiy karai”, “chalat”, “raagmala” and, “girah bandi” in different languages. Being equally proficient in Urdu, Farsi, Hindi, Purbi, with “dohas” in “khari boli”, and to some extent in the Turkish language, he could relate to a varied audience. He also had expertise in choosing the right “kalam” and the right music level in consonance with the musical ear of the audience of a “mehfil”.
Now it is for Bahauddin’s sons Najmuddin, Saifuddin and others, who are also well-known qawwals, to carry on his tradition.
PROF HASAN AZIZ
Karachi
THE Indian attitude in the recently-concluded “challenging and crucial” round of composite dialogue indicates the direction in which the peace process is headed insofar as the Kashmir dispute is concerned. The Indians talked about Kashmir being an integral part of India and their government not having the mandate to cede territory.
Had the British negotiators adopted such a stand during their talks with Congress and Muslim League leaders, could any solution have been found to the problem of transfer of power by the British? The Indian ideas seemed to be pointing towards maintaining the status quo.
Has the Indian government the mandate to maintain the status quo by turning the LoC into a permanent border? If so, does it not amount to ceding a part of J&K state (Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas), which it claims as its so-called integral part? The Indian record of negotiations on Kashmir is replete with a plethora of absurd excuses to avoid a peaceful solution.
Let us keep in mind the incontrovertible reality that India’s founding fathers (Gandhi, Nehru and Patel) accepted the partition plan with reservations. They influenced Mountbatten, the last British viceroy, to bring forward the date of transfer of power from April 1948 to August 1947 to the detriment of the new state of Pakistan. They also planned in collusion with Mountbatten to occupy the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Patel got Mehar Chand Mahajan (Indian member of the Boundary Commission) appointed as prime minister of Kashmir. In reply to a message for negotiations from Pakistan, Mr Mahajan threatened to seek Indian military assistance to quell the insurgency in Poonch against the Maharaja which had started in August. Later, India made the arrival of tribal lashkars for providing support to Kashmiris as an excuse to invade and occupy Kashmir.
We have shown undue flexibility at the cost of the Kashmiris’ sacrifices. The Kashmiris are compelled by circumstances to catch at random straws. They have been divided and are weak and helpless. We are talking of “self-rule”. Does it not mean so-called autonomy under India? Have the Kashmiris not already tasted this bitter nectar under India? The so-called composite dialogue is going on over the heads of the Kashmiris. They are not being heard in this dialogue by the two parties who are deciding the future of these unfortunate people and their future generations.
KHAWAJA MUHAMMAD BASHIR BUTT
Muzaffarabad
A SECTION of the national English-language press has reported that Punjab Governor Lt-Gen (retd) Khaled Maqbool has approved the institution of a BSc poultry science degree at the Toba Tek Singh campus of the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.
This step is to be commended as it will serve the needs of the fast-growing poultry industry which is providing more than a million tons of white meat to the nation at a reasonable price.
This should serve as an example to the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, which has so far only got an updated DVM degree, termed a composite degree, without any addition of new disciplines.
Its second campus near Pattoki on 800 acres is defined only by a boundary wall without any significant development in research and teaching facilities. The hopes attached to the newly-established university have been dashed as it has frittered away its efforts in abolishing the BSc (AH) honours degree of the University of Agriculture rather than creating new disciplines embracing the production/husbandry aspects of livestock and poultry. It would be advisable for University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, to also institute a basic graduate degree in dairy science to fulfil the growing needs of the dairy industry in the country.
DR M.YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore
SCIENTISTS do research and write papers on their findings. These papers are published in peer-reviewed journals, meaning that every paper that is printed in these journals is first reviewed and then approved by other scientists. Almost 90 per cent of papers submitted fail to pass the peer review. That’s why usually scientists are measured by how many papers they print in peer-reviewed journals.
There is another measure too, and that is to see how many times a scientist’s work is cited by other scientists. That’s sometime called an ‘h’ index. There are many databases that calculate one’s ‘h’ index. One of them is found at the website ISIHighlyCited.com. On this site, one can see the results for Pakistan. The grand total is one: Dr Shahid Hassan Bokhari.
If you click on his name, you can see a long list of accomplishments. He is the only Pakistani who is an elected fellow of the IEEE, the world’s most prestigious engineering institute.
Dr Bokhari was a professor in the electrical engineering department of the UET, Lahore, for the past 25 years. A few weeks ago he resigned from his job and is about to move to the US. Why? The Higher Education Commission (HEC) asked Dr Bokhari, among many others, to change his job from permanent to contractual. In the HEC’s opinion that would have somehow improved the quality of teaching.
Dr Bokhari wrote to the HEC that it wasn’t fair. The HEC basically did not respond in a positive manner. It has initiated a programme at UET called the Oman chair to bring one professor from overseas to UET on a salary of $6,000 per month. Dr Bokhari was being paid $800. He protested. The HEC again did not give a very positive response. Dr Bokhari’s students were using computers that were bought in 1993. He wanted an upgrade but no one gave him any money. Recently, a new lab with the latest computers was made for the computer science department.
Dr Bokhari wrote to the UET senate saying that his students should also get some new computers or at least lab time in the new lab. The senate refused. Dr Bokhari complained to the HEC. The HEC did not give a positive response. After many such non-positive responses, Dr Bokhari decided to resign from the UET. He now plans to join MIT in the US.
The UET’s loss is MIT’s gain. No wonder Pakistan is regressing with every passing day.
KAMAL AFTAB
Lahore
THE blasphemous cartoons published first in Denmark and later in several European countries are in clear violation of the International Convention on Civil, Political Rights and Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and, above all, in violation of the holy Bible itself.
Exodus 20:4 prohibits “making of any images”, not to talk of ridiculing images of His holy prophets, while Exodus 20:17 strictly prohibits “hurting the neighbour in any way”, either physically, financially, psychologically or through religious hatred.
It is, therefore, the religious as well as legal obligation of the Danish and other governments and true Christians living in the countries where these outrageous images were published to try the persons responsible for violating the international law and the Bible.
The punishment awarded by British courts to a Muslim cleric on mere interpretation of his speech offers a clear precedent for a trial of these persons who have actually promoted hatred.
S.M.H. RIZVI
Karachi
I HAVE read with much interest the letters of Mr Naqi Mustafa (Feb 9) and Ms Rehana (Jan 27), regarding promotion of young entrepreneurs in the film industry. It is imperative that there should be some kind of institution where cinema (acting, production, editing, script-writing, etc.) is taught by local and expatriate professionals. I don’t have any doubt about our country’s talent.
Once quality films are produced, you would see that multinationals would also be willing to contribute.
Therefore, I would suggest synergizing our efforts and work towards creating quality films.
S. JAMEEL HUSSAIN
Karachi
THROUGH these columns I would like to draw the attention of the authorities concerned towards the basic civic problems of the residents of Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Karachi.
The condition of the roads is awful. There are countless potholes on both sides of the roads, from Jauhar Mor to Jauhar Chowrangi and from Jauhar Chworangi to University Road. Recently the road near Darul Sehat Hospital has also been excavated. Sewerage water is always there on the roads, especially near Jauhar Chowrangi.
To make matters worse, street vendors are always there who occupy almost half of the roads. Traffic jams are a regular feature.
Another problem is that most streetlights usually do not function.
I hope the authorities will take some suitable action as soon as possible to solve these problems.
SANA FATIMA
Karachi
SINCE the incidence of mad cow disease in many European countries, the import and export of all cattle meat and its by-products, including rendered meat meal, was banned internationally because of possible danger of human infection.
It is surprising to note that such meal has been imported in Pakistan from Europe as a fertilizer but is being diverted to the dairy and poultry feed industry to replace locally-produced fishmeal in spite of the government ban on such imports.
Feeding of such rendered meat meal to dairy cattle and poultry is liable to cause a serious public health problem because of the fact that such products might contain the infectious agent responsible for causing mad cow disease, Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease and Kuru disease in human beings. Epidemiological studies in Britain during 1980 revealed that the primary cause of mad cow disease/BSE was the consumption of contaminated animal feed and that the disease subsequently caused epidemics boosted by recycling of BSE-infected cattle material in the United Kingdom. Later on the disease was reported from the US, Canada, Japan and Israel.
The Pakistan customs authorities have rightfully detained 35 containers of the so-called fertilizer at Karachi port but one is surprised as to how such a serious violation of the import policy was possible and who is to be blamed for such a big risk taken by the importers.
The local fish industry has protested against this, and the ministry of health should take stern action against persons involved in such trade.
DR. ASHFAQ AHMAD
Virologist, Karachi
DIFFERENT utility bills have to be paid at different banks every month. Will the ministry of finance or the State Bank of Pakistan take note of this irrational and unreasonable practice and make it mandatory on each and every branch of each bank as well as the post offices to accept all utility bills?
ASHFAQUE AHMED VARAICH
Faisalabad
THIS has reference to the report “Post office stops receiving bills” (Dawn, Feb 1) It is incorrect to say that bills are not being received by the Sutlej Cotton Mills Okara post office for the last four months. A dacoity was committed in the post office on Jan 3, and its FIR was registered on the same day at the nearest police station. Rubber stamps were found missing after the dacoity and these were replaced in a short time. Bills are being received at the post office regularly.
SYED MUHAMMAD AFAQ
Sahiwal
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