| April 1, 2006 | Saturday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 2, 1427 |
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Bird flu
Food for thought
Poverty & unemployment
What a farce
State legislation and religion
Planned parenthood
Jinnah Hospital
Afghan convert
Visa
Thanks
IT was gracious of Dr Mubashir Hasan to load me with compliments before administering a rebuke (March 12). I have the greatest respect for Dr Mubashir Hasan for his integrity, austerity and strict adherence to principle. One remembers, among other things, that as finance minister he disdained the use of the staff car and drove down to office in a battered old Volkswagen, parking his car in the public area and not in the lot reserved for the minister. He believed in socialism, bordering on Marxism, and stuck to his views despite discouragement and opposition.
Dr Mubashir Hasan has taken me to task for what he thought was my attempt to defend the World Bank role in the 1986 episode of the Kalabagh dam. I had stated in my article that I was writing from recollections of what happened in 1986 (or 1985) and the full truth can be established only if and when records are opened to public inspection. In view of letters of Dr Hasan and Mr Azam Khan, I have made inquiries about what transpired in 1984. I have been informed that while the World Bank did not provide any financing, they were appointed by UNDP, as the executing agency for Kalabagh project preparation.
It would, therefore, appear that, at some stage, a design was put forward for a high dam (perhaps 950 feet) to maximize electricity output, which involved risk of flooding of the Kabul river valley and necessitated construction of dykes. It must be emphasised that the project design processed by the planning division in 1986 was for a dam 915 feet high which obviated risk of flooding Mardan and Peshawar.
The 1984 proposal of an over-ambitious and impractical dam design was obviously motivated by the desire of consultants to enlarge their earnings, a widespread phenomenon in this age where profit maximisation is the main if not the only aim of life. I do not think there is any reason or evidence that the over-design was maliciously intended to damage the country or create political strife. The excessive use of foreign consultants is a common and well-justified criticism of developing countries against the World Bank but one hesitates to go so far as to think that there is a criminal mafia of consultants and contractors who control bank lending, to loot and plunder the Third World.
I am sorry that I mentioned Mr S.S. Kirmani in my article. I knew him largely by reputation as a brilliant engineer, whose work on losses and gains on rivers had strengthened Pakistan’s case during the Indus River Replacement negotiations for which he had been rewarded with one or two ‘murabbas’ of land, a high honour in our feudal society. Alas, he is now called a ‘World Bank man’ and perpetrator of several engineering disasters. Dr Mubashir Hasan has said piously that he does not wish to say more since Mr Kirmani in now dead. But is there anything more to be said?
VASEEM JAFAREY
Karachi
WITH the confirmation that bird flu has been detected in Pakistan, concern has spread amongst people regarding consumption of poultry. At this time the Infectious Diseases Society of Pakistan (IDSP) would like to clarify and educate the public regarding some basic facts and preventive measures.
Avian influenza (H5N1 strain) has now infected domestic poultry from the Far East to Africa to Europe. To date almost 186 cases of human infections with avian influenza have been identified, out of which 105 have died.
Most cases of human infection have been caused by direct contact with the secretions and excreta of infected birds. There have been only a few cases where the infection has been potentially transmitted by eating raw poultry products.
There is no evidence that the virus is transmitted by consuming properly cooked poultry or eggs. The following are a few basic guidelines in hygiene that should be followed at all times:
— Avoid home slaughtering of poultry.
— At home separate raw meat from cooked food and from food or vegetables that are to be eaten uncooked.
— Use a separate knife and cutting board and it is important that all chopping boards, utensils and knives used on raw meat should be properly washed and decontaminated with hot water and soap after each use to avoid cross contamination in the kitchen.
— Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching any other item. — Cook meat thoroughly (to temperatures 70 degrees Centigrade, or till meat is not pink in any part). This will kill the virus. Remember that freezing does not inactivate the virus.
— Eggs should be well cooked, no runny yolks. Eggs used in baking recipes can also be consumed.
These are the interim recommendations as advised by the WHO and by the Centres for Disease Control, US. For any further information, visit our website at www.idspak.org.
DR NASEEM SALAHUDDIN
Infectious Diseases Society of Pakistan,
Karachi
RECENTLY my family went out to eat at a fast-food joint which boasts several outlets around the city. Unfortunately, what should have been a pleasant evening turned into an ugly memory. As my husband and I settled our toddlers down for the meal, we were dismayed to see that the in-house entertainment system was showing music videos with almost half-naked women sashaying to indecorous lyrics.
I approached the girl at the counter and requested that the channel be changed for something more appropriate for a public place. Another customer at the counter took great exception to what he probably saw as my prudish behaviour.
In a loud voice dripping with contempt, he attacked my ‘backwardness’ by asking me why I wanted the channel changed when perhaps 99 per cent of the people present wanted to watch what was being played.
As he ranted loudly, I replied that the management should cater to all the customers by putting on something that would not jar anyone’s sensibilities.
The ‘gentleman’s’ ire increased and he wagged his finger furiously under my nose and reprimanded me for my attitude which, according to him, was responsible for the bad name Pakistan is gaining abroad! He ended his tirade with an emphatically dismissive order, “Now go and order, lady” — complete with a finger pointing me out of his field of vision.
Totally dazed at this behaviour, all I could utter was that he didn’t know how to conduct himself before a lady. As I made my way to the payment counter in a state of disbelief, the same man hurried to my side.
As if he hadn’t been scathing and unreasonable enough, he started afresh very loudly and discourteously, in his effort to scare me into submission and his vision of modernity and “enlightenment”.
Regaining my composure, I cut him short by asking him to be quiet as I had no business with him. At this point my husband joined in and asked the man to restrain himself as there was no reason for him to take my request to change the channel so personally. The man turned quite abusive at this point, and again expressed his disgust at what he saw as our backward “fundie” mindset.
We could see that this exchange was getting nowhere, and as we had no appetite left, we left for home. But the episode left some questions in my mind.
Why do some people equate nudity with progress? Has obscenity and indecency ever gained any country in the world popularity and a good reputation?
And shouldn’t it be the responsibility of the management of a public place to ensure that 100 per cent, and not just 99 per cent, of their customers go home satisfied? And finally, have social graces and our code of conduct and chivalry been totally compromised by champions of modernism? This incident certainly provided ample food for thought.
SIDRA TAUSEEF ALI
Karachi
DR MAHNAZ Fatima has as an economist presented her thesis on the all-important question of poverty and unemployment rate falling and very aptly given her viewpoint (Dawn, Economic and Business Review, March 20-26).
Figures can be elastic and made to appear as one would like them to be. Ground realities and actual hard facts are and may be totally different. In Pakistan, the gap between the rich and the poor has widened. The rich have become very rich and the poor commit suicide. I cannot imagine that poverty and unemployment has fallen if one goes by the Copenhagen declaration.
Poverty and unemployment has increased as per visual observation. The fact that there was also one death a day in 2005 due to starvation speaks the truth. Today, robberies, etc., have risen due to lack of subsistence availability. I tell my friends that it is criminal on one’s part to keep drivers waiting when owners are having fun and frolic and enjoying wedding festivities, etc., inside.
The number of footpath dwellers in big cities of Pakistan has gone up. After 58 years of independence the majority of people is poor.
The various statistics presented are to befool those in authority for they are away from realities. Various projects for poverty elevation are invariably an eyewash or else after 58 years we would not be so poor as we are.
Let us hope that things would improve and our country shall make all-round prosperity in health, wealth and, above all, in education.
MAHER ALAVI
Karachi
WHAT a farce the US is trying to create by saying that ‘we may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran.’ The idea that the greatest power on earth is scared of a small country like Iran is an effort to befool the world. It is a ploy to attack Iran under the garb of ‘preventive action’.
The American intentions have been revealed in the White House blueprint called the ‘National Security Strategy’. The document further states that ‘the tyrannies that seek weapons of mass destruction threaten our immediate security interests’.
The US which tested its mettle in wars against Korea and Vietnam half a century ago, and Afghanistan and Iraq more recently, is intoxicated with its super-strength.
Despite suffering about 2,500 casualties in Iraq and mounting agitations in the country, it has no intentions of resting in peace without imposing its hegemony over the nations that it can possibly subdue by force.
In no way will Iran ever be a threat to the US even if it goes nuclear. It may, however, get at par with America’s love child Israel which is already equipped with nukes by its master.
Since the issue is under discussion at the UNO, America has no right to take it in its own hands. Mr. Bush must realise that it will lose favours of half the world if he attacks Iran.
RAFI NASIM
Lahore
THE Supreme Court verdict on the NWFP’s Hasba Bill, recently splashed in the media, is commendable. The judgment, inter alia, says: (1) state cannot enforce any religious obligation stipulated by Islam, (2) private life, personal thoughts and individual beliefs of citizens could not be allowed to be interfered with and (3) interfering in personal life, freedom of assembly, liberty, dignity and privacy is strictly prohibited in Islam.
Compliments to the judiciary. The judgment is precise, exhaustive and authoritative. It leaves no ambiguity. All state laws, enforcing religious precepts, doctrines, or rituals, smuggled in the Constitution, would now be fit for removal, when challenged, if not immediately deleted from statutes, by the government.
Perhaps now, in the light of above guidance from the Supreme Court, the petition filed by Peshawar-based solicitor, Abdullah Sani, pertaining to Qisas and Diyat Ordinance, pending before the Federal Shariat Court since 1997, merits immediate attention. Permit me to mention, the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance was promulgated in 1990 and, through it, about 40 provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code dealing with ‘murder and body injuries — Sections 299 to 388 — were amended.
We now demand that our ‘human rights’ as granted at the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 (Pakistan is A signatory to the Convention) and unambiguously reaffirmed by the highest judiciary should be restored, respected and protected against infringement or violation. The values and principles of democracy, are defined and enshrined in American Constitution also, both in British and American Bills of Rights — the most fundamental principle of democracy being ‘separation of religion and state’.
Amendment 1 of the American Constitution rules: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”.
The government must fulfil its obvious obligation and:
— Remove all ‘religious laws’ legislated by the federation or provinces, from statutes.
— Insert in the Pakistan Constitution, First Amendment, American Constitution, as above.
— Ban all ‘religious parties’ participating, as such, in democratic elections — the root they take, for political ascendancy and state power only.
MUHAMMAD A.B.
Karachi
THE rate of population growth in Pakistan is the highest in the world. The demographers predict that by the year 2020 our population will swell to double the present figure. Will our problems not increase by the same measure? Certainly, they will.
Already, our national as well as individual life is gripped with diverse economic, social and political problems. The monster of growing numbers threatens to engulf the benefits of all progress that we may make in agriculture and technology.
Starvation and disease is going to be our fate in the future. Let us pray that we may be spared the adversity which we are heading for. But, mere prayers won’t do. Something practical must be done.
To my mind, planned parenthood is the only practical programme which, by seeking to arrest population growth, promises affluence, health and happiness for our people.
It may be noted that all the advanced countries of the world are observing this programme. In Japan, the population growth rate is being maintained at zero per cent level.
This speaks of the high degree of consciousness which the people of Japan have evolved towards the need for strict observance of planned parenthood measures.
It is a matter of great regret that here in our country the planned parenthood programme has not received due acceptance. The prevailing notions about this programme could be extirpated from our society only by imparting necessary enlightenment to our masses.
Scientists should make the people aware of the fact that food production always lags behind the level of population growth. Religious scholars should make known the sanctions that our religion affords to undertake planning in all matters of life.
The government should take stock of social deterrents to the adoption of planned-parenthood measures and take steps to remove them at the earliest.
PROF J. IQBAL QURESHI
Sialkot
I WOULD like to add to Mahvish Mansuri’s letter ‘Jinnah Hospital’ (March 20). It is not only relatives of sick patients coming from upcountry or interior Sindh who camp outside major hospitals in Karachi.
We also find drug addicts, psychiatric patients and homeless people among them on the footpath. Many anti-social elements such as drug pushers can be seen there roaming freely to do their dirty work.
Drug addicts gather to find used syringes and narcotic injectable drugs. They also try to steal valuables of patients. Some time they introduce themselves as spiritual healers to benefit financially from patients and their relatives. They even sell their unsafe blood to needy patients.
The district administration must remove these people from the area because it is obvious that their presence is a serious menace.
DR ALFRED CHARLES
Karachi
THIS refers to the letters by Mr Muhammed Idris and Ms Samina Shah Durrani regarding the Afghan convert to Christianity (March 27).
Mr Idris should note that the Muslim preachers of the “Tablighi Jamaat” do benefit from the freedom to proselytise in most parts of the world but they never capitalize on the poverty of the prospective converts and rely entirely on the appeal of Islam’s message.
A proof of this is that most western converts to our religion are well-educated and financially sound.
On the contrary, as also pointed out by Ms Durrani, Christian aid organizations undertake rehabilitation in Afghanistan and other calamity-struck zones for converting the local people to their faith.
A glaring example of this is Pakistan itself where the poor and illiterate villagers undergoing conversion since 1947 has climbed to nearly five million.
The drought-hit Somalia, war-torn Sudan and tsunami-struck Indonesia are some other ones.
In India, the RSS and some other extremist Hindu organisations have forced thousands of Muslims and Christians to revert to the religion of their forefathers because they have openly stated that “these Muslims and Christians cannot be thrown into the sea so they must be Indianized (read Hinduized).”
However, nearly all western leaders are pressuring the Afghan government but ignoring the Indian RSS, etc., perhaps because they find it easy to twist the arms of the Muslims.
S. QADRI
Karachi
THIS is apropos of Mr Abdur Rehman’s letter regarding the hostile visa regime between India and Pakistan. The policy of giving visa only to those who have relatives in the other country is self-defeating.
I have just completed my maiden visit to Pakistan to remember martyrs of our joint independence movement against the British. I could only get a visa because the journalist Kuldip Nayar made a request on my behalf to the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi.
It is clear that the experience of the common man at the high commissions of both countries is horrific. Most of the people seeking visas belong to Muslim families divided between India and Pakistan.
I urge both governments to have a liberal visa regime, open more modes of travel and end harassment and corruption at customs and immigration counters.
PRANAV SACHDEVA
New Delhi
I must thank the Governor of Sindh, Dr Ishratul Ibad, for removing the ribbons along the footpath of his residence so as to end the inconvenience caused to the children.
My thanks also go out to Dawn, for the governor acted immediately after the publication of my letter in your issue of March 29.
JAMIL ZAHID
Karachi
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