| April 23, 2006 | Sunday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 24, 1427 |
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Gold reserves
On the margins of history
Lyari expressway
Army’s role
Shutdown
‘Capital offence or free choice?’
Thar express
Rickshaw menace
Ownership rights to villagers
Ban on public gatherings
Representing one’s country
I have had an opportunity of looking at the bill meant to consolidate a number of labour laws, which is likely to be tabled in the National Assembly in due course. The bill inter alia seeks to repeal the Shops and Establishments Ordinance, 1969, and chapters III and IV of the Factories Act 1934. It means the provision for work-hours and other allied matters will be applicable to factories and shops and commercial establishments alike.
But the bill does not make any provision for the exemption of certain works and processes peculiar to factories. Under Section 43 of the Factories Act, 1934, certain works and processes have been exempted from the restrictions of weekly work-hours, daily work-hours, rest intervals, spreadovers and weekly holidays. As a result, a worker can be detained beyond the spreadover limits in the case of urgent repairs, subject of course to the condition of double payment for work in excess of prescribed limits. In a continuous process, a worker can be made to work without a weekly off-day 14 which is to be allowed later as a compensatory holiday.
The above exemptions are not there in the draft bill without which it will be very difficult to carry out urgent repairs or run continuous processes. It will also not be possible to make up this deficiency in the rules to be made under the act, because unless it specifically empowers the government to make such provisions in the rules, as has been done in Section 43 of the Factories Act, 1934. It appears that those who were associated with the framing of the above bill were not at all aware of the working conditions in a factory. No one can run a factory on the basis of the work-hours of commercial establishments.
In addition to continuous processes and urgent repairs, there are other works such as preparatory or complimentary work, intermittent work, seasonal work and work in the engine room and boiler house in a factory that need similar exemptions. Besides, certain categories of employees also need exemption to ensure the smooth running of the manufacturing process. It is, therefore, important that the above delinquencies are rectified before the bill is tabled in the assembly.
HAIDER ZAMAN
Karachi
THIS refers to a news report (April 1) about “$I.25bn copper, gold reserves discovered in Reko Diq Area, Balochistan” and your editorial dated April 15 on the subject. It was briefly mentioned in the news report that the presence of a mineral deposit in the area was first discovered and identified by the Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) in early 1990 in collaboration with BHP Australia.
We take this opportunity to bring to the notice of your readers that the GSP has been carrying out exploration work in the chagai metallogenic belt since the 1960s. A reserve of 412 million tons were proven at Saindak in 1973 and porphyry type mineralization was discovered at Koh-i-Dalil, also known as Reko Diq, in 1978. This deposit was found to be very promising during geological mapping in 1981. The GSP had initiated the work and in collaboration with RDC completed the feasibility study at Saindak. Reko Diq copper gold prospect was later on explored in detail by the GSP in collaboration with UNDP and TCC proving reserves of 1.27 billion tons@0.54% and 0.24 g/t gold at Reko Diq whose in situ value is $18 billion at present market prices
As the nation’s premier earth science research organisation, the GSP is responsible for the study of geology of the country in detail to assess its resource potential by geological mapping and other geo-scientific surveys. As a result of GSP’s research, the Chagai metallogenic belt is now renowned for hosting several copper porphyry type systems. Besides Saindak and Reko Diq, the GSP had already identified as many as 31 occurrences in the Chagai copper belt which include Dasht-Kain, Talaruk, Ziarat Pir Sultan, Max G. White, Humai, Amuri, Parrah Koh, Gallori, Omi, Nok Chah, Amir Chap and Makki Chah.
Saindak has started production with 20, 000 tons of copper, 1.5 tonnes of gold and 2.8 tonnes of silver / annum while the Reko Diq deposit is expected to start production within two to four years. GSP is undertaking a project, “Ground Follow-up of Aeromagnctic Anomalies in Chagai district”under which five drill holes arc planned. Two drill holes have been completed at Padag, Chagai
ASIF NAZEER RANA
Geological Survey of Pakistan, Quetta
REFERENCE ‘On the margins of history’ by MAH (Dawn Magazine, April 16) it appears that the writer has the impression that the geographers of the country had no idea of the various publications of Professor Spate particularly those written on the subcontinent, with particular reference to the partition of India.
There was no reason for me to mention Spate’s Changing Face of Asia in my letter of March 30, 2003. I remember I read this book during early 50s when I was associated with the Islamia College, Karachi, as lecturer in the department of geography. Further, referring to L.D. Stamp, MAH informs us that he (Stamp) wrote very good textbooks on geography for schools and asks as to who writes textbooks for schools these days. I wish to inform him that during the past half a century, three senior geographers of Pakistan (Kazi S. Ahmad, K.U. Kureshy and F.K. Khan) are credited with books on the geography of Pakistan, which were prescribed for school and college students.
With reference to the Radcliffe Award, the important point is not the line that divided Punjab into two provinces, East (Indian) Punjab and West (Pakistani) Punjab, but the lapse on the part of the Muslim League in accepting that part of the Partition Plan which dealt with the princely states enjoying contiguity with both India and Pakistan. The Partition Plan gave the rulers of such states the choice to opt either for India or Pakistan (The Transfer of Power, Vol. XI, p. 555).
While drawing the line, Radcliffe took care, and rightly so, that in case the maharaja of Kashmir opted for India, there should be a passage linking Kashmir with India. Unfortunately, the League leadership failed to realise the implications of the provision that the ruler (in this case, the maharaja of Kashmir) of a princely state had the choice to opt either for India or Pakistan, saying Mr Jinnah made a statement on June 17, 1947, saying “It is open to the state (Kashmir) to join the Hindustan Constituent Assembly or the Pakistan Constituent Assembly or decide to remain independent .....”.
Once such an option was given to the ruler (in this case, the maharaja of Kashmir) he was entitled to ask for a passage to the state he planned to opt for. This facility was provided by Radcliffe in the shape of his award.
DR QAZI SHAKIL AHMAD
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the recent debate on Karachi’s Lyari expressway project.
I would like to bring to the notice of the city’s planners that the building of the Lyari expressway will not solve any of the traffic problems and road congestion of the city. On the contrary, it is now evident that much of the land reclaimed from the building of the expressway is being used for activities that the expressway is dislocating. A recent visit to Mirza Adam Khan Road along the Lyari expressway showed that most of the open spaces are being encroached upon by cargo transport operators for parking purposes. The land value in these areas is going up as the demand for storage facilities and godowns goes up.
The citizens have constantly demanded that cargo transport and godowns should be shifted from inner city areas so that the congestion and pollution can be reduced there. They have also demanded that the areas vacated by these activities should be taken over by the government and turned into badly needed amenities such as parks, playgrounds, etc.
But it seems the market forces are determining land use patterns and the entire old city is being converted into a mega cargo dumping area. This is increasing traffic congestion as well as air and noise pollution in areas like Chakiwara, Khadda, Lyari, Kharadar, Mithadar, Bohra Pir, Ranchore Lines, Wadomall Quarters and other old areas of the city.
More alarmingly, these godowns are now rapidly spreading in the surrounding areas of Clifton, Bath Island and parts of DHA. This will reduce property values and certainly will increase traffic congestion and air pollution in these areas. This is all because of an ill-conceived and ill-planned expressway.
SHAZIA AHMED
Karachi
It’s a sad reflection on our country that most of the government is run by men in uniform. Most civilian posts are ‘gifted’ to former or sometimes even serving members of the armed forces. Land is given to them at a throwaway price while official contacts ensure that plump jobs are handed over to ex-military personnel. I do not mean to ‘generalise’ but it’s a fact that this country is one big army barrack which is run by men who believe that they are the chosen ones.
After years of corruption and misrule I’d just like to thank the men in uniform. Thank you guys. Thank you for supporting the feudal and tribal lords. Thank you for propping up the AK-47 culture and filling the country with sectarian feelings. Thank you for all the land that you have taken over. Thank you for setting up democracy and then pulling it down again. Thank you for all the civilian jobs you took away. Thank you for running our country. We couldn’t have done it without you.
SHAHZEB ABBASI
Karachi
MR R. Hari Haran from Bangalore, India, says in these columns (April 20) that Indian cities too are “shut down by anti-social elements”. I admire his sense of humour tinged with truth.
I wish we could also use the words “anti-social elements” for our so-called religious leaders who every now and then, especially on the holy day of Friday, shut down Pakistani cities, most of the time Karachi.
JAMIL ZAHID
Karachi
THIS refers to Samreen Rizvi’s letter ‘Capital offence or free choice?’ (April 21). Ms. Rizvi wrote: “Knowing that our “deen” is the only true religion, how can we become totally indifferent to what other Muslims do?” Orthodox Christians consider Christianity to be the only true faith. Orthodox Jews feel the same way about Judaism. Buddhists believe Buddhism to be the one and only true religion. But when their co-religionists convert to Islam, do any of them flock in large numbers insisting they must be killed?
Christians in Pakistan expressed their resentment when cricketer Yousuf Youhana converted to Islam. At that time the muftis of Islam stood by him and supported his decision insisting that it was up to an individual to decide his/her religion, and not others. But now when a Muslim has converted to Christianity they demand that he to be put to death.
The Quran says: The Truth is from your Lord; so let him who please believe, and let him who please disbelieve” [18: 29]. Or maybe according to Ms Samreen Rizvi this verse, too, applies only to non-Muslims and not to those who leave Islam. But does Allah specify as much? The only logical conclusion one can draw from the verse is that anyone is free it disbelieve. It is not for us to decide his/her fate.
Ms Rizvi doesn’t fully support the death penalty for apostates but maintains that apostasy cannot be ignored. Then what? Should we force them to return to Islam? The Quran says: “And if thy Lord had pleased, all those who are in the earth would have believed, all of them. Wilt thou then force men till they are believers?” [10: 99] And even if they do return to Islam for the fear of being killed, would they be true Muslims at heart?
The Holy Prophet described a hypocrite as “one whose external appearance is Islam (praying, fasting, etc.) but whose inner reality conceals ‘kufr’ —- often unbeknownst to the person themselves”. In my opinion, forcing an apostate back to Islam would only result in him being a hypocrite. And Allah strongly dislikes hypocrites, “The Hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire: no helper wilt thou find for them” [4:145].
In his article “Apostates: Should they be killed or saved?”a leading Islamic scholar Osama Addullah writes: “Certainly if the apostate is hostile toward the Muslims and joins the enemy in a war against them, or tries to corrupt the Muslims in the Muslim lands by trying to convert them to his/her new deviant religion, then the matter becomes different. But if a westerner today for instance embraces Islam for a while and then changes his position due to the overwhelming false anti-Islamic media, then certainly killing that person would be a grave sin and a big mistake.”
These are the kind of Islamic scholars we need. Islam is a religion of love, mercy and tolerance. But the attitude of some Islamic scholars over the conversion of Abdul Rahman to Christianity has projected a negative image of our wonderful religion. Unfortunately, people may now hesitate to accept Islam even if they believe it to be the true religion of God.
KHUSHBAKHT VAKA
Karachi
THE Khokrapar-Munabao rail link was reopened on February 18. It is obvious that authorities in both countries were unwilling to re-open this rail link due to their vested interests and resisted its reopening till the last moment. They had to give in, not to the wishes of the people of the two countries nor after realising that it was in the national interest and for the good of the people, but because circumstances did not leave them with any other option.
The Indian deputy high commission has not started functioning in Karachi, thus making a farce of the re-opening of the rail link. People cannot be expected to go from Sindh to Islamabad to obtain visas. The authorities saw to it that the timing of the train (the Thar Express) will be such that people will rot at Jodhpur station with no connecting train to anywhere for as long as a week.
The Thar Express reaches Munabao at 1230 hours on Saturday. Add two hours of delay due to our utter inefficiency in running our railway system. So the train can be expected to reach Munabao at 1430 hours. Passengers will thereafter endure the torture of going through customs and immigration formalities for about two hours.
They will clear this hurdle by 1630. But the train from Munabao to Jodhpur leaves at 1500 hours. So the passengers shall waste nearly a full 24 hours in the wilderness of Munabao. On reaching Jodhpur in the afternoon of Sunday, they shall waste five days there if they want to go to Hyderabad as the only train from Jodhpur to Hyderabad leaves Jodhpur on Fridays at 2100 hours.
Thus it is no less than eight days’ journey from Karachi to Hyderabad Deccan. The same is the position for going to other places in India. Who will go by the Khokrapar-Munabao rail link under these conditons?
This route shall remain uneconomical until an Indian consular office opens in Karachi.
SALAHUDDIN MIRZA
Karachi
IT’S been decades since people started complaining of of the pollution caused by motor rickshaws. It’s about time that concrete steps were taken by the government in this matter.
Banning rickshaws from The Mall, Lahore, is not a long-term solution. This way we are doing no good to anyone, but just taking away some of the livelihood of the rickshaw drivers. The Mall is one of the major bread winners for them with a lot of shopping areas and offices.
Our government should import better and environment-friendly rickshaws. Then it should buy all the rickshaws currently on the roads and give the owners / drivers new ones free or on relaxed lease terms so that the poorest of the lot can afford it.
HARRIS MOIN
Lahore
THERE are 35.968 villages in Sindh. People have been living in these villages since centuries but are not yet legally bonafide owners of the areas they occupy.
The Sindh Goth-abad (Housing Scheme) Act 1987 Sindh act No.VII of 1987) was notified in the gazette dated August 16, 1987. But it has not been implemented even after 19 years. Encroachments and land occupied by the land grabbers were regularised after promulgation of the Sindh Katchi Abdi Act. It is pathetic that neither the villages are being regularised nor are ownership rights given to bonafide owners as a hereditary right.
The irony is that those who migrated to Sindh have become owners of plots and houses whereas those living on land belonging to them since before independence have been deprived of their basic rights of having ownership rights.
The Sindh High Court should take suo-motu notice of this and ask the Sindh government to complete the process of ownership rights as provided in the Sindh Goth Abad Act 1987.
AGHA SHAHABUDDIN
Hyderabad
THE sad and painful incident at Nishtar Park has once again shocked the nation, especially the people of Karachi. It is obvious the government has failed to put in place a viable system that can provide protection to the lives and property of the people. The media is full of news analysis and the politicians are either trying to put the blame on one another or finding ways to make political gain from the situation.
As a nation our patience is at an all-time low. Our inability to remain peaceful and manage ourselves in the aftermath of a tragedy has been exposed. The government is requested to place an indefinite ban on all kinds of religious and political ‘jalsas’ and ‘juloos’.
STRESSED OUT
Karachi
REPRESENTING one’s country is a privilege that most people can only dream about. Sunil Gavaskar’s recent statement that he would be willing “to sweat 365 days a year for India. Those who can’t stand the heat should stay out” while commenting on international players complaining about gruelling schedules is reflective of an attitude that is sadly missing from some of our pampered stars.
A cricket player is at his prime for not more six to seven years at most and he is well compensated for his troubles. One suspects that Shahid Afridi’s withdrawal from Test cricket has more to do with his sulking at being dropped for the last Test against Sri Lanka, and the prospect of not being selected for the forthcoming Test series on bouncier English wickets.
ALI LEGHARI
Karachi
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