| May 5, 2006 | Friday | Rabi-us-Sani 6, 1427 |
To send a letter to the Editor
Click here
Inefficient power plants
Death of Galbraith
Dependence on machines
Transit system
Freed couple
OGDC privatisation
High courts at divisional level
Umrah tickets
Listening to children
PTCL complaints
US policy
Peace offer
MR Tanweer-us-Saqalain (‘Good governance and the CSP’, April 30) appears to be really angry. His anger to some extent is justified but this does not give him the licence to twist facts to suit his line of reasoning.
For instance, Mr Sherdil (April 9) had not asked for restoration of the office of deputy commissioner but advocated the need for good governance and having an executive magistracy in a cogent and polite manner. With his vast experience he is more than qualified to do so.
Your columnist, Ms Anjum Niaz (April 9), had simply stated that there was a time when the best and brightest boys joined the CSP but not any more.
Nowhere has she even touched upon the restoration of the office of the deputy commissioner. I personally think that she has been very even-handed and fair.
Incidentally none of the three officers mentioned by Mr Saqalain — Ghulam Mohammad, Chaudhry Mohammad Ali and Iskander Mirza — were CSP officers. But to be fair Chaudhry Mohammad Ali had the reputation of being a capable, hardworking and honest officer.
Lastly I have taken Mr Saqalain’s advice to heart and am now busy toiling away in my very small garden with a ‘khurpa’ in one hand and a watering can in the other, still enjoying the increasingly hot sun.
PARVEZ MASUD
Lahore
I ENDORSE the views expressed by Mr Rashid Akhtar in his letter on the above subject (April 26). I would like to quote an example of the uprightness of British officers of the Indian Civil Service in contrast to our CSP officers.
In 1942 my father was serving in the police and posted in District Muzaffarnagar (UP), India.
I was then 10 years old and studying in Class V. On Sunday mornings I used to go for a walk in the city’s Company Garden located near our house on G.T. Road.
In those days the lanes and footpaths of the garden used to be unmetalled and, hence, cyclists and horse-riders were not allowed.
One Sunday morning, the district collector (equivalent of the deputy commissioner in Pakistan), Mr J.V. Lunch, and his wife appeared in the garden on horse back.
A gardener who was watering the lawn came running and hesitantly informed Mr Lunch that horse riding on the gardens was not allowed.
On hearing this, both Mr Lunch and his wife immediately dismounted from their horses, apologised for their ignorance by saying in Urdu “Mafi (excuse me). Hum ko malum nahi tha (we did not know this)” and walked out of the lane on foot with their horses.
Later on Mr Lunch directed the management of the garden to display warning signs at the entrance of the lanes for horse-riders and cyclists.
In 1960 the deputy commissioner of Hyderabad (Sindh), a CSP officer, while going to his office in his official jeep was stopped by a traffic constable at a cross-roads for violating a traffic rule.
As soon as the constable approached his jeep and reminded the driver of his mistake, the DC became angry and got down from the vehicle and started shouting at him, saying “Don’t you know whose vehicle this is, and how dare you stop me like this?” and then slapped the constable and left the place.
Thereafter, nothing was heard of any action against the DC by the higher authorities for his rude behaviour in a public place, but some criticism did appear in the press regarding the incident.
Although CSP officers are public servants but unfortunately they consider themselves as masters of the public. The day they start looking at themselves as true public servants, improvement in the civil administration of the country will be visible for all to see.
SQN.LDR (r) S. AUSAF HUSAIN
Karachi
THE news item (April 27) covering Aptma’s position on power plants is unfortunate.
Textile mills imported furnace oil engine power plants worth Rs12 billion and found that these were not viable due to the high cost of furnace oil. Again, changing to use of gas, our textile mills imported gas engine power plants worth Rs10 billion and found that these were also not viable due to rising costs of natural gas.
Since 1994, the trend of higher fuel costs was evident and anyone and everyone concerned with high power costs recommended power plants of high efficiency and combined heat and power systems. But what did we see for all these years of ‘progress’ — more and more inefficient power plants wasting the country’s resources. We have wasted enormous hard-earned foreign exchange and also wasted our scarce precious gas. And to top it all, we now want subsidy to cover our inefficient processes and power plants.
Even after the government issued instructions to allow gas only to efficient power plants (cogeneration), very little has been done to ensure this very important decision. Industries are quickly adapting to new requirements and taking gas sanctions on the basis of efficient cogeneration power plants and then continue merrily with the inefficient self-generation mode.
Who will ‘bell the cat’? The government (ECC) cannot enforce its decision unless the executing agencies (gas companies) respond in a spirit guided by the national interest. It is very simple for gas companies (SSGC and SNGPL) to check whether the cogeneration system is being operated in an efficient mode as per the original sanction requirements.
All they have to do is to check their gas meter consumption for industrial boilers. If cogeneration power plant is indeed operated efficiently, most of steam and hot water requirements will be met by engine waste heat and the gas meter for boiler will show very small/negligible consumption.
Similarly, industrial concerns can provide data on the number of kWH units produced (which they have to report anyway for excise duty) and gas companies can check power plant efficiency, taking steam/hot water production into consideration. Is it asking for too much to ensure that the intent of the government’s directives on cogeneration are met?
Energy costs will continue to rise and days of low-cost natural gas are gone. If we do not conserve energy on a priority basis and do not ensure efficient industrial processes and power plants, we will only have ourselves to blame in the coming energy crunch.
AINUL ABEDIN
Karachi
The death of American economist John Kenneth Galbraith is a loss not only for the US but also for the world at large because he was a great economic thinker of the past century.
Born into a rural Scottish family in Canada in 1908, he was the man who took the post-World War US out of the economic crisis.
The writer of two influential books — The Affluent Society (1958) and The New Industrial State (1967) — Galbraith had migrated to the US in the early 1930s and became an American citizen in 1937.
It was Galbraith who first pointed out in The Affluent Society that modern economies were dominated by manufacturers of different things.
He said producers were so powerful that they decided what to make and how to persuade people to buy it through advertisements.
He found that people after going through advertisements and watching commercials preferred to spend money on things they often did not need.
He was of the view that this money otherwise would have been spent on schools, hospitals and roads.
Galbraith was opposed to the Iraq war. He said: “It is my definite belief that it is the biggest military misadventure in US history. And I think in future the possibility of further military conflict will be a source of deep anxiety.”
War, Galbraith believed, was “the decisive human failure and a dark cloud atop the white tower of human achievement”.
MANZOOR CHANDIO
Karachi
FOR many years we have seen movies on artificial intelligence like Matrix, I Robot and many others, in which the director thinks that a time will come in the near future when all machines start thinking and make all of us their slaves. But there is another side of the same picture.
The real problem is not whether machines think, but whether people do any work. We have become so addicted to these machines that we can’t survive without them. This can be proved by simple examples.
Let’s see: How many of us can calculate the square root of 289 without using a calculator? Or how many can easily multiply higher figures? Before this so-called computer generation we were taught and forced to learn these methods and techniques, but nowadays all this seems useless.
Now when we feel short on vocabulary and need to find the meaning of a word in the dictionary, the best choice we have is to go online or to a computerised dictionary. And being very efficient it shows us the correct meaning of the word we are looking for in seconds. Earlier when we manually looked for a word in a dictionary, we learnt several other words while searching for the particular word and thus increased our vocabulary.
So do you still think that the real threat is whether machines start thinking or whether all of us have stopped working?
MUHAMMAD HAMMAD AHMED
Via email
Mr Tariq Raja’s letter from Seoul, South Korea (April 14), has rightly quoted the example of the efficient electric powered subway system there, which has evidently contributed to the phenomenal success of the nation in so short a time.
He has urged the authorities in Pakistan to develop a similar system in Karachi in order to solve the traffic mess on a permanent basis.
The basic design of such a system for Karachi was prepared as advised by the 1974 master plan and was ordered by the CCI to be reviewed by foreign experts. Unfortunately, this has been lying in the bureaucratic archives of Islamabad for three decades, while a majority of commuters are risking their lives, travelling on footboards and roofs of rickety buses.
The overall economic losses to the nation on this account must be mind-boggling. The government should get the report reviewed and implemented, if found feasible.
S.M.H. RIZVI,
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the news item about a court acquitting a couple charged under the Hudood ordinances (April 30). The couple had spent five years in Hyderabad jail without being charged, except for the charge of formalising a consensual marriage of their own free will.
This incident speaks volumes for the inefficiency of our police department and law enforcement agencies.
There are many cases of this nature which have been brushed under the carpet and where the people involved have no access to justice. Which makes this a great effort by the lawyers of Hyderabad who pursued this case under the legal aid programme of Justice (r) Nasir AslamZahid.
I request the chief justice of Sindh and the chief justice of Pakistan to take immediate steps on such cases, in order to make justice accessible to all citizens of Pakistan before it is too late.
ADVOCATE QAZI NAZIM NAEEM
Karachi
A BOY and a girl fall in love. The girl’s parents are influential and are against the marriage. The girl is left with no option but to elope with the boy and to marry him. The couple think that they will now live happily ever after.
But the Hudood laws, enacted by Gen. Zia, come to haunt them. The father of the girl registers a case for abduction against the boy and makes allegations of adultery. The police arrest the couple and puts them behind bars where they rot for several years.
There are thousand of such cases all over Pakistan. The recent case of the couple who had languished in jail for five years in Hyderabad despite the fact that their ‘nikah’ had been registered reminds us of the gruesome reality which thousands of couples have to face.
Had it not been for the help of the lawyers working for the legal aid cell the couple would have remained in jail for God knows how many years.
It is a pity that even the leader who refers to himself as an enlightened and moderate Muslim has done little to help change the fate of thousands of women held behind bars because of an absurd piece of legislation.
The NGOs have also not played their due role. If retired Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid can open a legal aid cell in various prisons in Sindh, there is no reason why similar projects cannot be launched throughout the country. These legal aid cells will not only provide assistance to the needy but will also help in highlighting cases of oppression.
If Gen. Musharraf cannot repeal the Hudood laws because of the pressure from religious elements which are present even in the armed forces, he can at least allow the setting up of legal aid cells throughout the country. The loan provided by the Asian Development Programme under the heading of “Access to Justice” can be utilised in this project. I am also sure that many philanthropists will come forward and will fund this project and it will turn out to be a huge success.
ANIL KHAN LUNI
Lahore
MR Nazir Ahmad’s concerns (April 30) seem to be unjustifiled. In fact the privatisation of the Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) will bring about a complete change in the way things are managed. In order to make OGDC profitable and competitive with other international organisations, it will require competent professionals to manage and control its affairs.
Investment in professional people plays a pivotal role in bringing up production levels. New and competent professionals will provide guidelines and directives to all workers, managers and executives.
LATIF KHAN
Kuwait
IT is heartening to read (March 31) that our federal minister for law, justice and human rights is considering the establishment of high courts at divisional level.
It is a correct decision and much more is needed in this context – for example, session courts and other junior courts at the police station level.
The number of judges should be increased and a maximum period of three months should be fixed for decisions.
Competent lawyers should be appointed at each police station to record FIRs in accordance with the PPC.
This will save litigants’ time and expenditure. It will lighten the burden on courts in the cities, because of distribution of work.
MAJID KHAN JADOON
Karachi
PIA and Saudia transport more than 100,000 pilgrims from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia and back every year and in Ramazan for Umrah and Ziarat.
The fare in Ramazan is perhaps the highest possible for such a distance and the validity of the tickets is perhaps the shortest possible as compared to the fare.
Tickets should be valid in Ramazan for 40 days at least to enable ‘zaireen’ to reach Harmain Sharifain by the 29th of Shaban and stay there till about the 10th of Shawwal.
Although the visa issued for Umrah is for 30 days, ‘zaireen’ may be allowed to overstay if they have confirmed/valid return tickets for departure by the 10th of Shawwal.
A. MUSLIM,
Karachi
IT would be difficult to dispute Syed Ahmad Fraz’s contention (‘Parental permission’, May 3) that the concurrence of parents is important when two people want to marry.
After all, parents do lavish money and love on their children and want the best for their future and they have every right not to agree with their offspring’s choice of mate. But at some point in life, traumatic and distressing though it may be, parents have to let go.
If they are averse to their child’s marriage with a particular person, they can point out the disadvantages of such a match. They can try and dissuade the young man or woman on the grounds that he and she, in the long run, might not be happy because of differences in upbringing, cultural background, social standing, etc. But by forcibly stopping the couple or trying to blackmail them emotionally will only complicate the situation.
What most parents forget in our set-up is that their children are individuals with minds and opinions of their own. Their exposure to the world is far greater than their parents’ at their age.
Because of this, they are not likely to concur with their parents on every major issue. There are love marriages that did not have parental blessings and that have faltered but there are also many arranged matches that have not worked out.
If children are to listen to their parents, the latter, too, must hear them out. The younger generation also has a point of view.
S. KHAN
Karachi
MY telephone no. 2786839, Karachi, has been out of order for the last three months. Repeated complaints on 18, as well as to Islamabad and the telephone cable department, have not yielded any positive response.
Every time I get the same response which is that it’s a cable fault and they have been notified of this issue.
NAUZER TALATI
Karachi
ON the Iran issue US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that if the UN did not take ‘necessary steps’, its credibility would be in question.
Dr Rice, where was the US government when the UN did not take the ‘necessary steps’ in cases of Jenin, Kashmir and the list can go on?
It is high time the US government realised that its inconsistent policies are alienating a wonderful nation from the rest of the world.
S. JAMEEL HUSSAIN
Karachi
THIS has reference to Dr Sardul Singh Minhas’s letter (April 11) on Mr Ghayoor Ahmed’s views (April 8). It is a known fact that lasting peace cannot be achieved at gun-point. All wars fought in the world have ultimately led to more wars in the long run and not peace.
Mr Minhas would do well to convince Dr Manmohan Singh to remove the pistol, pointed at Muslim brothers in Kashmir and other parts of India, by accepting the sincere demilitarisation offered by Pakistan instead of beating about the bush.
M.H. RIZVI,
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.