| March 3, 2006 | Friday | Safar 2, 1427 |
To send a letter to the Editor
Click here
Chinese engineers
‘Mullah Umar is in Pakistan’
Impact of soft drinks
Sindh finances
Faisalabad pardon
Doctors’ fate
Unequal allies
Bush visit
‘Processed language’
IN criticizing my article “Assessing Pakistani science” (Sci-Tech, Dawn, Feb 11), Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhury (March 1) conveniently avoids the central points contained therein and ends up in a routine defence of HEC policies. My contention, which he does not even mention in his letter, is that the current HEC policy of heaping huge monetary rewards for publishing so-called scientific research papers has become a farcical and wasteful exercise.
More often than not these papers are vacuous and repetitive even though their authors succeed in publishing them in international journals by using a number of tricks and subterfuges. In support of this contention, I had quoted extensively from a detailed study by two distinguished Iranian professors that looked at hundreds of Iranian scientific publications.
They showed how plagiarism, dishonesty, and shoddiness in research have resulted from the excessive incentivization of chemistry research in Iran. A far worse situation is developing in Pakistan, thanks to the misguided policies of the HEC and the unlimited funds that it seems to be capable of generating.
As for Dr Choudhary’s defence of the HEJ institute (of which he is acting director), it was quite unnecessary. I had merely suggested that, as Pakistan’s most celebrated and most highly funded science institute, the HEJ should put its scientific and industrial achievements upon its website and validate its claims on having contributed to Pakistan’s industrial progress. It would be good to have specific examples of HEJ activities and of its graduates who, in Dr Choudhary’s words, have “played a critical role in making Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry export-based”.
Unfortunately the official HEC website www.jccs.edu that Dr Choudhary refers to is apparently under construction. It was not accessible at the time that I wrote my article, or even as I write this response. A Google search turned up some HEJ-related webpages, but all were amateurish and with little content. One hopes that this is a temporary situation and will soon be reversed.
Finally, Dr Choudhary misquotes me on the issue of the HEC funding provided to the HEJ institute. I made absolutely no independent statement in this regard and will merely repeat what I had written earlier: Dr. Abdullah Riaz, an opposition parliamentarian, has recently pointed out in parliament that the HEC had made grants amounting to a massive Rs1.36 billion over five years to the HEJ, and that both institutions are headed by the same individual. I hope that Dr Choudhary will agree to the principle that public scrutiny of a publicly funded institution is a good thing.
PERVEZ HOODBHOY
Professor of Physics Quaid-i-Azam University
Islamabad
THIS has reference to the killing of Chinese engineers and your news report (Feb 16) and editorial on the subject (Feb 17).
The killing is another horrendous act committed by individuals who claim to be citizens of this country.
Some individuals in Balochistan who keep on talking of the deprivation of Balochistan should know that there are far more Baloch in Punjab and Sindh than in Balochistan itself. Long before the ancestors of the Baloch travelled from Iraq and Syria, Balochistan possessed natural reserves. Drilling of gas-fields, construction of high pressure gas line systems, purification, transmission and marketing were only possible because of the Pakistan government. And gas companies contribute substantially towards the Balochistan budget. Some sardars are also given heavy sums of money.
In any case if there is more to be done for any poorly developed area, under which provision of law does it suit anyone to kill innocent individuals, especially those who have left their country and come here to help us? Islam forbids killing of innocent people.
I do not agree with your views: “It is a matter of satisfaction that the killing of the Chinese engineers has not cast a shadow on the (mutual) relationship”. On Feb 17 Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaozing rang up our foreign minister and expressed his concern. The prime minister of China also urged the president of Pakistan during his recent visit to provide greater security to Chinese personnel.
Please remember that when a wound is inflicted by a friend, its consequences can be far-reaching and its pain unbearable. Let there be no self-deception in this regard. The federal government must do whatever possible to assist the provincial government to ensure that instances of this nature do not recur.
However, if the federal government feels that it is beyond the competence of the government of Balochistan, then Gwadar and Hub should be declared as federally-administrated areas till such time as foreign engineers are working there and foolproof security provided.
BRIG (r) KHALID HASSAN MAHMOOD
Karachi
THIS has reference to the news report: “Mullah Umar is in Pakistan, Karzai” (Feb 26). Is Afghanistan a friendly neighbour or a den for anti-Pakistan activities? The Afghan government includes anti-Pakistan elements holding prominent positions and has allowed in more than 300 Indian commandos ostensibly to protect Indian workers against imaginary Taliban attacks.
Should not our government ask its Afghan counterpart to allow us to station a brigade in Afghanistan to protect our workers in the Kandahar and Jalalabad areas? The Karzai government, being an ineffective administration, constantly asks our government to take more effective steps to eliminate Al Qaeda and the Taliban, allegedly operating from our tribal belt.
It has recently provided a list of wanted Taliban, including Mullah Umar. They did not have to wait for Mr Karzai’s visit as the list could have been handed over earlier or may be they wanted it to look more authentic. The Afghan foreign minister denies the smuggling of weapons from his country but is silent over the activities of Pakistan-hostile Afghan guests and locals. We have, for reasons best known to the government, accepted fair and mostly unfair requests with a view to fostering friendly relations that has possibly been taken as a sign of weakness on our part. The Afghans have not to date reciprocated our gestures and actions.
It is now time for Mr Karzai to understand and realize that it has to be two-way traffic. We have no appetite left for a relationship that expects us to do everything and Afghanistan to turn its back on anti-Pakistan activities from its soil.
KHAN A. SHAMSHAD
Karachi
SOFT drinks are non-alcoholic water-based flavoured drinks that are optionally sweetened, acidulated, carbonated and which may contain fruit, fruit juice and/or salts. Globally, carbonated soft drinks are the third most consumed beverages. Soft drink consumption is growing by around five per cent a year, according to Global Soft Drinks 2003, compiled by a leading drinks consultancy. Total volume reached 412,000 million litres in 2001, giving a global per capita consumption of around 67,5 litres per year.
According to the report, the highest growth was achieved by Pakistan, with the volume up by 148 per cent since 1997. By 2007 Asia and Australasia are forecast to become the front runners with a 25 per cent share, outpacing North America on 24 per cent.
Soft drinks are consumed during the peak bone-building years of childhood and adolescence. Not only are soft drinks widely available everywhere from fast food restaurants to grocery stores, they’re now sold in 80 per cent of all public and private middle schools and high schools throughout Pakistan, and, consequently, make children a heavy consumers of soft drinks.
The question is how healthful these beverages are: they provide a lot of calories, sugars and caffeine but no significant nutritional value. And what happens if you drink a lot of them at a very young age? Harvard researchers have presented evidence linking soft drink consumption to childhood obesity.
They found that 12-year-old who drink soft drinks regularly were more likely to be overweight than those who didn’t. For each additional dally serving of sugar-sweetened soft drink consumed during a two-year study, the risk of obesity increased 1.6 times.
There is a need to take steps to limit soft drink sales to youngsters. One suggestion is to prohibit sales of soft drinks in schools until after 1pm. Also, by taking a few steps at the individual level, we can avert at least a few negative impacts.
RASHID ASHRAF
Karachi
THIS refers to the report “Viability of Sindh finances doubtful: World Bank report” by Mr Sabihuddin Ghousi (Business Section, Feb 25). It is a distortion and misinterpretation of the analysis presented about the provincial finances in the final draft of the Sindh Economic Report titled “Securing Sindh’s Future — The Prospects and Challenges Ahead”.
Nowhere has the World Bank expressed “doubts about the viability of Sindh’s finances because of mounting deficits in budgets caused by a rise in the salaries of the employees and a quantum jump in the size of annual development programmes”. Nor does the report state anywhere that “it is an indictment on the performance of Syed Sardar Ahmad as Sindh’s finance minister for failing to take up fiscal reforms’ implementation with zest and enthusiasm as was demanded and even deviating by allocating resources to new development schemes”.
Mr Ghousi should know that a minister and elected representative of a federating unit of a sovereign country is neither subservient to a foreign financial institution nor under any obligation to implement the fiscal reforms proposed by it. There is no reason for him to be more loyal than the king while pleading the cause of an international financial institution. What can I say except that “the fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings”.
Does Mr Ghousi not know that by stating that “even deviating by allocating resources to new development schemes” he has ignored the modalities of budget making, whereby new development schemes proposed by the elected and non-elected representatives of the public are scrutinised and consolidated by the planning and development department, approved by the cabinet as part of the annual budget and finally approved by the assembly during the budget session? He has equally erred in not going through the annual development plans wherein allocations to the new schemes along with the on-going schemes have also been made, not by the finance department, but by the provincial assembly. Does he want us to abandon the on-going schemes/projects undertaken during previous years and to allocate all the funds to the new schemes, to the chagrin of beneficiaries who had conceived such on-going schemes two to three years ago?
Mr Ghousi’s observation that the “viability” of Sindh finances is “doubtful” lacks objectivity. Neither the increase in salaries during FY 04 and FY 05 that were in conformity with federal government’s raise nor the quantum jump in the size of the annual development plans caused any mounting deficits. Had he taken the trouble to go through the documented facts and figures he would have given a different story. For the last three years we have surplus budgets with mounting outlay on development and a substantial cash surplus.
SYED SARDAR AHMAD
(Former finance minister)
Senior Minister, Sindh
Sabihuddin Ghausi writes:
I quote from the latest World Bank report, page 4 “Issues and status in main pillars of reforms,” sub-heading ‘Fiscal Reforms’:
“Provincial finances have come under increased pressures because of salary increases and a sharp enhancement in the size of the development budget. As a result, fiscal deficits have increased causing concerns about the future viability of provincial finances, notwithstanding the likely increase in federal transfers from the recently announced amendment in the NFC award.”
The same paragraph adds: “There is an urgent need to revitalise the fiscal reforms started in 2001-02 by broadening and deepening the base of these reforms in order to ensure the sustainability of provincial finances.”
Annexure two of the report says on page 22: “The effort adopted in early 2000 to give a medium term perspective to budget making seem to have been abandoned and the provincial budget continues to be prepared under antiquated procedures and processes that have a short term and input bias.”
I plead guilty in drawing a conclusion from this particular paragraph and a few other observations in the report that “it is an indictment on the performance of Syed Sardar Ahmad as finance minister of Sindh, without naming him directly.” I take full responsibility for this observation.
On page 24, the World Bank report is much more candid in pointing out the “breach of formula” by the Sindh government. Under the Sindh Structural Assistance Credit (SSAC-1) given by the World Bank, the Sindh government committed to provide 75 per cent of development funds to on-going schemes and only 25 per cent to new schemes. In the 20-04-05 development programme, the provincial government allocated 42 per cent of Rs 18 billion amounting to Rs 7.6 billion for new schemes.
“The transparency of the ADP has deteriorated as a large number of block allocations got included in the programme,” the World Bank report observes while pointing out other irregularities like including a large number of “unapproved” schemes.
IT was shocking to read the news about a convict who reportedly managed to secure his pardon at gunpoint in Faisalabad recently. The helplessness of the victim’s family can be imagined when confronted with the kidnapping of its family members turn by turn. The most tragic part of this episode is that the kidnappings at the behest of the convict and the negotiations for the victim’s release took place with the full knowledge of the police, judiciary and intelligence agencies. I want to ask one question. Where is the writ of the law and, above all, the government?
Are they all as helpless as the victim’s family? The convict and his family reportedly have made a complete mockery of justice. This incident has once again proved that it is not justice that reigns supreme in this country but gun-toting goons patronised by a corrupt mafia. Law and justice are indeed a rare commodity that you can find in this part of world.
HASEEB AHMED
Lahore
On Feb 17 there was news about two renowned cardiologists thousands of miles apart.
Dr Salavdi Murtazayev of Grozny Hospital, Chechnya, and his driver were going to hospital when their car was run over by a Russian army tank.
Reports said that accidents involving Russian armoured vehicles were common in Grozny. In Lahore, Professor Muhammad Azhar of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology had a clinical difference of opinion with an imported doctor connected to the high and mighty in the presence of the enlightened CM of Punjab.
He was deemed to have been rude and was summarily suspended. One must thank the CM for his little mercies otherwise the doctor’s fate could have been worse.
The two learned doctors had the audacity to argue, one with a Russian tank and the other with a made as USA version. Both were crushed.
DR SYEDA MANSOORA
Lahore
THIS REFERS to the article “Bush’s crucial visit” (March 2). Geopolitical realism demands that the world, including the United States, recognise that Pakistan and India are not equals in any sense of the term. Your columnist Mr Ghayoor Ahmed seems to prefer to delve in fantasies or indulge in hackneyed ideas.
We all know our leaders failed us variously and often. It’s also no secret that America’s strategic interests warrant that India spruce up to become a credible counterbalance to China at a later date. Pakistan, regrettably, is a crisis-ridden country mismanaged, misruled and misdirected. And always ready to sell cheaply.
SALEEM JADOON
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
MR Bush deserves to be welcomed with open arms because the Americans won our hearts and minds during the recent devastating earthquake in Kashmir. We salute their soldiers who have done a great job in their massive airborne and land rescue and relief operations. We hope that during Mr Bush’s tenure and under the leadership of General Musharraf we will see the resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the Kashmiris’ aspirations. I am sure both these gestures will be remembered by generations to come.
SYED ALI MUSA ZAIDI
Rawalpindi
THIS is with reference to the article “Processed language and the Mideast conflict” (Feb 25). It is a pity that the western media should refrain from using the word “occupied” for the West Bank and until recently Gaza. That such reputed magazines as Newsweek and Time should do this is indeed shocking. The magazines perhaps believe that a new generation has come into being and it should not be told the truth about Palestine.
Fanatic Jews now visit the grave of Jewish terrorist Baruch Goldstein, who murdered 56 Palestinians while they were praying, and lay flowers there. Yet the Jews of Israel live in tension, and the tension will continue to mount because demography and time are on the side of the Arabs. All sane minds should therefore support Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s suggestion that Israel should be shifted to Europe. The powerful Jewish lobbies in the western world should be able to provide the required resources for achieving this aim. Even wealthy Arab and Muslim nation should be more than willing to share in this task. If this happens, the Middle East will be a better place.
Arnold Toynbee showed a historian’s insight when he put forward the proposal that, as compensation for what Europe did to Jews, the latter should be given a state of their own in Europe. The existence of Israel has been a source of conflict in the holy land and shall continue to be so until the land returns to its people — Palestinian Jews, Palestinian Christian and Palestinian Muslims.
Palestine enjoyed peace only under Muslim rule. It was only when the outsiders came — like the Crusaders — that the holy land witnessed religious slaughters. Under Muslims, whether or Arab or Turks, there was no persecution of non-Muslims, and Christian Arabs and Jewish Arabs lived in peace. But when the first Crusade took Jerusalem all Muslims and Jews were slaughtered.
Saladin conquered Jerusalem and brought the Jews back. The Ottomans took Palestine in the early 16th century, and the holy land remained peaceful, until the British took it in 1917 and handed over Palestine to European Jews. Since then the holy land has known no peace. If there is to be peace in the holy land for the followers of all the three religions, Palestine must come under Muslim sovereignty. Muslims alone have given peace to Palestine and they alone will do that in the future.
K. MURAD BEY
Karachi
You can also send letters to the Editor
Just send your message to the following address: letters@dawn.com
Make sure you include your full name, postal address, e-mail address, and in the case of Pakistan your day-time telephone number.