| February 24, 2006 | Friday | Muharram 25, 1427 |
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Freedom of speech
HEC and higher education
Admission session change
University status
Litter everywhere
Cartoon controversy
PTCL wireless
Treatment abroad
Plot allotments
Brain drain
Chinese engineers
Youth and crime
Junk buyers
IN his analysis of conditions in Pakistan (Dawn Magazine, Jan 29), Mr Tasneem Siddiqui has focused on a problem that most educated Pakistanis are happy to ignore. In other words, our failure over more than half a century to evolve a working democratic system.
He concludes his assessment by asking whether our corrupt and inept power structure could meet the challenges that lie ahead. Well, the brief answer is that they cannot.
I submit that events in Pakistan have not moved in circles but have been on a downward spiral. The similarities between the early 1950s and now are more apparent than real. In the early 1950s and up to 1958 the main organs of the state such as the parliament, the bureaucracy and the judiciary were functioning and the military was in its place. But we suffered from revolving-door governments. It was a period of political infancy and many believed that a strong government would be able to put thing right. This was the reason why the abrogation of the 1956 Constitution did not arouse the strong opposition that it should have.
With the benefit of hindsight we can see that a certain political instability in a democratic order is far better than a soul-destroying military dictatorship.
From the end of the World War II to this day the average life of an Italian government has been less than a year. But the country continues to prosper and no government has tampered with democratic institutions.
In 1958, arrangements for holding our first elections were in an advanced stage when the civil-military clique struck. I do not assert that elections in 1958 would have ushered in a period of political stability. There is no such thing as a perfect democracy, less so in the Third World. But it is a system based on the consent of the governed and the inevitable alternation of power.
At present the political space is occupied by political journeymen and not leaders with vision. Their chosen role is to provide a democratic facade to any authoritarian government that seizes power. It is our great misfortune that the Bhutto and Sharif governments were as corrupt and dictatorial as the military governments that preceded them. Their respective parties have become family enterprises complete with retainers and sycophants. Internally there is not even a pretence of democracy.
In the unrelieved bleakness of our situation there is one small ray of hope. And that is our young generation, both men and women. Via the print and electronic media, Internet and foreign travel they have had greater exposure to the democratic and advanced countries of the world than any previous generation. It is for them to throw up a leadership that may rescue Pakistan from the repressive laws and deadening grip of the military- mullah nexus.
BIRJIS HASAN KHAN
Karachi
I AM appalled to read about the sentence of three years in prison given to British historian David Irving by an Austrian court for denying the Holocaust. Is this the much-vaunted freedom of speech that the West throws in our face all the time?
Freedom of speech implies the right to express opinions which may not be the view of the majority or even those which are overwhelmingly unpopular. I concede that we in Pakistan do not enjoy such freedoms. But we do expect the advanced, democratic, liberal West to be able to cheerfully tolerate dissenting opinions. Hence my feeling of utter despondency on reading about the conviction of David Irving.
If this jail sentence is in accordance with Austrian law, it is a most obnoxious law which must be removed forthwith from their statute books. Austrian claims to be a democracy sound hollow in the presence of such an obscene law.
ZAFARULLAH POSHNI
Karachi
THE European press and most of their governments have been unrelenting in their support for freedom of speech during the cartoon controversy. However, the conviction of British historian David Irving by an Austrian court for denial of the Holocaust exposes Europe’s double standards.
It is obvious that freedom of speech exists as long as what is said is acceptable to the people who matter. It reminds me of a saying: “All people are equal but some are more equal than others”.
HASNAIN KHANDWALA
Saskatoon, Canada
I HAVE been reading various letters and articles in Dawn on the subject of the Higher Education Commission’s efforts to upgrade our university education and research standards. A lot of writers unfairly compare Pakistan’s higher education with India’s without taking into consideration the difference in population.
In India, out of a billion people, about 250 million are well- educated. That leaves the remaining 750 million pretty much in the same category as most Pakistanis. But that 250 million highly educated Indians are close to the entire population of the US (260 million) and that is where the difference lies.
There will always be more doctors, engineers, and scientists and PhDs from India than we will ever have. But that does not mean that we should not try to have our fair share of educated people.
I fully endorse the remedies suggested by Dr Manzoor Ali Isran and Dr Rashid Mateen pay attention to the “feed stock” of our universities, that is, high school and FSc graduates and their quality. When these students are graduating by cheating, rate learning, bribing, etc., they are not going to benefit from higher education.
Please don’t underestimate our children. They are as good as Indian students. Our quality is at par but our numbers are very, very low (as expected). However, we need to keep working hard, not to compete with the Indians but to improve our own quality of life.
G. A. SHIRAZI
Via email
MY daughter whose date of birth is Jan 20, 2000, started her Montessori at a private school in Parsi Colony, Karachi in April 2003. She was supposed to get admission to Class I in April 2006. But in the beginning of 2005 the academic session was changed from April to August which automatically pushed the process of admission forward by four months. So, applications for registration at St. Joseph’s Convent School were invited on Jan 17 and 18, 2006.
I applied for a registration form but on Feb 3, 2006 I received a letter from the convent saying that my daughter’s admission was not possible for reason of age. On the next working day I was told that the school management was not giving admission to children who were born in January and February of 2000.
This is not happening only in St. Joseph’s Convent School but a number of other schools doing the same thing. According to these schools, the required age for Class I is five to six years and because of the session changing our children have become overage.
I want to ask the authorities as to whose fault is this? And where will these children go to get admission?
SAMINA AHMED
Karachi
THE chairman of the Higher Education Commission, Dr Atta-ur-Rehman, stated recently that there were 5,000 outstanding universities in the world, but Pakistan did not have even a single one to fit this description. With our population being 2.5 per cent of the world we ought to have over 100 outstanding universities.
The HEC chairman has said further that if by 2007 the existing universities created by upgrading colleges do not come up to the mark, these will again be downgraded to college status. This is a warning to new universities created to prove their mettle.
There is at least one new university in Lahore which was created by splitting the departments of an existing college into three faculties on paper to qualify for notification as a university.
However, during the past four years no new degrees in fresh disciplines have been instituted and only a bare skeleton staff has been recruited in the so-called new faculties.
DR M YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore
I AM a resident of Karachi’s North Nazimabad Block-L. The garbage disposal system is literally non-existent where I live. In its absence, the dividers on the main roads have become a dumping place for garbage.
A park, which once had a hockey ground, has been converted into a waste dump as well. The area is also filled with plastic bags flying around and caught in drains, blocking them. I asked some people the reason for this and they blamed the government saying that there weren’t any waste bins. But that is not true — there are some in the area but people do not use them.
The government needs to enforce laws that seek to punish those who litter.
AMMARA SALEEM
Karachi
APROPOS of the controversy relating to the publication of the blasphemous caricatures, not everyone in Europe or the US is bad or considers all Muslims to be so. This is borne out by the protests by millions of people in the West against the invasion of Iraq and the abuse of detainees, as also by the generous help provided to the earthquake victims in Pakistan.
We surely ought to make our sentiments known to the offenders very clearly and adopt all peaceful measures to prevent a recurrence of such uncivilized behaviour. However, we must not come down to their level by making cartoons of figures revered in Christianity as one newspaper has reportedly done in Azerbaijan, which is equally unacceptable in Islam. Nor should we needlessly escalate hostilities by other tit-for-tat actions.
Instead, with the whole world’s attention focused on our religion, we can turn this calamity into an opportunity to counter the vile propaganda by disseminating knowledge about Islam in a wise and friendly manner, without trying to force it upon anyone. A few sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad and events from his life can be enlightening:
1. Someone said to the Prophet: “O Messenger of God! Curse the infidels”. Muhammad said: “I am not sent for this; nor was I sent but as a mercy to mankind”.
2. “That person is nearest to God, who pardons, when he has in his power him who would have injured him”.
3. “Do not say, that if people do good to us, we will do good to them; and if people oppress us, we will oppress them; but determine, that if people do you good, you will do good to them; and if they oppress you, you will not oppress them”.
4. “What actions are most excellent? To gladden the heart of a human being, to feed the hungry, to help the afflicted, to lighten the sorrow of the sorrowful, and to remove the wrongs of the injured”.
5. “All God’s creatures are His family; and he is the most beloved of God who does most good to God’s creatures”. (The Sayings of Muhammad by Allama Abdullah Al-Mamun Suhrawardy).
An even better thing for us to do would be to lead our lives more faithfully according to the Prophet’s teachings, thereby setting examples for others and attracting them into Islam’s fold because the world is thirsting for spiritual uplift.
KHALID CHAUDHRY
Karachi
DOUBLE standards have touched new heights in some European countries. On the one hand, a writer, David Irving, is sentenced to a three-year jail term by a European court for expressing his views on the Holocaust while, on the other, the Danish government refuses to apologize to the Muslims for the publication of blasphemous cartoons on the plea of freedom of expression. In fact, European laws also forbid hurting the sentiments and feelings of people on the basis of race or religion. But, in this case, it has been widely flouted.
It has been acknowledged that most Europeans lack knowledge of Islam and the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). If they study the life of the Prophet , they will find that he was a man of peace and called for peaceful co-existence of all faiths.
The Mesaq-i-Madina (Charter of Medina) is the most obvious example of the Prophet’s teachings based on tolerance and respect for each other’s religions. Our Prophet bore every hardship with patience and asked his followers to do the same. The proof of his greatness is that he asked God’s forgiveness for those who mocked him and his message and persecuted him.
This controversy has proved that the extremists in the West hate Muslims because Muslims live according to the teachings of their religion that is based on a code of conduct.
As Robert Fisk writes: “This is not an issue of secularism versus Islam. For Muslims, the Prophet is the man who received divine words directly from God. We see our saints and prophets as faintly historical figures, at odds with our high-tech human rights and freedoms, almost caricatures of themselves. The fact is that Muslims live their religion. We do not. They have kept their faith through innumerable historical vicissitudes. We have lost our faith.”
KHURRAM MUSTIKHAN
Karachi
WE bought a PTCL wireless connection recently. We were allotted the number 021-2022162 on Jan. 2 and till today and I have been unable to connect to the Internet using the wireless phone.
I went back to the authorized dealer from where I purchased the connection and told him of my problem. But the dealer did not help at all and instead misbehaved with me. I then called the PTCL helpline but could not speak to even a representative despite calling many times.
Eventually I did manage to speak to someone. I told him of the problem and the customer service representative said that I would be sent an email describing the exact procedure for establishing a connection to the Internet. So far I have not received the promised email.
HANIF FATANI
Karachi
ACCORDING to a press report, Federal Minister Dr Sher Afghan Niazi is being flown to London for treatment at public expense. I wish and pray for his early recovery.
I humbly request the worthy prime minister to clarify the following two points in the national interest: one, why all our cardiology institutes, including the AFIC, have failed to treat Dr Sher Afghan Niazi? Two, why is the ban on foreign treatment at public expense imposed during the Nawaz Sharif government being violated at the cost of poor taxpayers, mostly deprived of even basic health facilities?
RAJA M. AFZAL KHAN
Gujar Khan
I ENDORSE the views expressed by People’s Party Parliamentarians’ Senator Farhatullah Babar the other day in which he questioned the policy of plot give-aways at dirt cheap prices to military officers in costly neighbourhoods across the country.
This is institutional corruption that has been going on for decades, a chilling testimony to the fact that Pakistan was and is under the domination of the military.
On the other hand, bureaucrats and politicians who allot plots to the needy and deserving public are being harassed by the “genie in the bottle” in the form of NAB.
This practice of plot give-aways should be brought to an immediate end.
DR AMJID NAZIR
Via email
DOCTORS are considered to be the cream of the nation. They have burnt the midnight oil to get their MBBS degrees. They are working round-the-clock to meet the their requirements of FCPS. But a large number of them are working on an honorary basis. It has become very difficult for them to make ends meet when the prices of all commodities are sky-rocketing.
This heart-rending situation has created an atmosphere of alienation and many are leaving this land of the pure for the land of opportunities. It is the obligation of the government to devise a policy to halt this loss of talent. Our policy-makers should pay due attention to increasing the salaries of doctors. Their services must be regularized to enhance their sense of security.
DR TANVIR HUSSAIN BHATTI
Lahore
DESPITE the murder of three Chinese engineers in Hub in Balochistan, it is praiseworthy that the Chinese government has announced continued cooperation in our economic development. This reminds me of the courageous action of the Chinese government in going ahead with the construction of the Karakoram Highway in spite of the death of some Chinese engineers in natural disasters such as landslides in the mountains when the highway was being built.
Pakistan should keep the Chinese government fully informed about the progress of investigations of the tragic death of three Chinese engineers. Foolproof steps should be taken by the Pakistan government to protect Chinese personnel working on other Pakistani projects. Full compensation should be paid by the Pakistan authorities to the bereaved families of the murdered Chinese engineers.
QUTUBUDDIN AZIZ
Karachi
MOBILE thefts, car snatching and robberies are nightmares that trouble the lives of many Karachiites. One mostly finds youth involved in such crimes. They indulge in crime because of lack of education, employment and easy availability of weapons. With law-enforcement agencies unable to cope with street crime, the youth find it easy to get away.
By initiating developmental projects and engaging in creating opportunities the government can disengage youth from crime. More schools need to be opened and proper functioning ensured of all existing government schools. The government should also ensure that prison units become reformatories rather than punitive establishments.
OMAR HAFEEZ
Karachi
AN unchecked menace is the presence of junk buyers on the streets of Karachi’s DHA residential areas. They manage to befriend domestic helpers in the area, and I have heard that they often lure them to steal valuables from the houses where they work and sell stolen items to them.
The DHA authorities are requested to check this menace of junk dealers roaming around in residential areas.
M.M. KHAN
Karachi
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