| June 23, 2006 | Friday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 26, 1427 |
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Parliamentary democracy
Demolishing fishermen’s graves
Imran-Qazi alliance
Shocking pictures
Mistake in question paper
Ambassador in Washington
‘Labourer kills 3 daughters’
Azaan
Poverty estimates clarified
IT has become a common practice with rulers to blame their predecessors and in this way try to prove themselves ‘pious’. They also pose as champion of the poor and claim they want to do more to help them if the former’s wrongdoings permit them. They also accumulate around them paid writers to hoodwink the people. We have no dearth of such type of intellectuals.
The present rulers are of the same ilk but with some alteration in their modus operandi. They came up with the innovative idea of NAB. Each government crony is trying to present NAB as a tool for retrieving the looted money, and at the same time claiming that government revenues are increasing because of their efforts. One can only be befooled for a short time.
The introduction of NAB has only increased the rate of collecting bribes and nothing else. How many cases have they finalised and how much money have they recovered? If Rs100 million was looted, only 20 million, with 10 to 15 million spent on investigation, has been recovered. This is not recovery. Also, how much has been spent on foreign tours by NAB officials in the name of investigation?
Another case of corruption, though not new, has surfaced through the courtesy of the parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in which more than Rs100 million from the public exchequer has been spent on the purchase of locomotives from China. Later PAC concluded that this was ‘corruption in good faith’.
The committee pinpointed the three retired army generals involved in this bungling. Since the case was against the custodians of the nation, no one could dare take up this case to NAB. If NAB had some moral courage, it would send the persons involved in this case behind bars and recover the public’s funds.
The AGP has pointed out a case of corruption in establishing a grid station in Taxila which involves a retired brigadier. But again, the case could not be taken forward nor the money recovered.
And, again, what about the sugar scandal? Where does NAB stand on that?
The country is facing financial crunches and threat of an increasing trade deficit due to an increase in oil price in international market. Yet the government was able to buy luxury cars for the cabinet to the tune of Rs2 billion. Can anyone explain how our country can afford such lavish spending?
ABU AMMAR
Karachi
THIS refers to your editorial ‘Parliamentary democracy: image and reality’. As a former member of parliament (MNA-1989-90), I have no hesitation in saying that the British-oriented parliamentary democracy has failed in Pakistan. Mr Mohammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, too was against the British system as was Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto after the dismemberment of Pakistan. The former did not live long enough to give a constitution to the nation he fought for single-handedly against the two powerful parties — the British Raj and Indian National Congress (fully controlled and dominated by the majority community).
The British royalists had the same parliamentary system in 13 of their colonies (New England) as today we have in Pakistan. After the defeat of royalist forces, George Washington called a convention of representatives of the former colonies, which decided to form an independent constitutional commission. It drafted the present-day US constitution, which was approved by the people’s general convention (referendum), and was enforced.
George Washington, who had become very weak and sick after the war of independence, was compelled to be the first president of independent America. To start with, there were 13 states in the Union but later, because of people-friendly policies under the congressional system, other protectorates willingly joined the Union. Today, they have 52 fully autonomous states in America.
It is better to learn from the success story of others if we fail to learn (as in our case) from our own mistakes of the past. The correct prescription lies in only a two-points agenda.
First, adopt a congressional constitution and, second, in order to bring governments closer to the people, upgrade the former divisions into autonomous states — 26 or so and give full autonomy to them. The union government to hold only four subjects: defence, external affairs, currency and communication.
The said agenda can only be carried out by a courageous person like the one who can tell the secretary-general of the British Commonwealth, “Look Mr Secretary-General, the Westminster model of democracy is not the only democracy in the world.”
S.M. ZAKERYA KAZMI
Karachi
IT is shocking that six historical graves at the Gulbahai roundabout were razed on June 12. These were the graves of five brothers and a sister, buried here centuries ago. Based on my discussions with fisherfolk a couple of decades ago, the story of these graves is as follows:
Centuries ago, Obayo, the sole surviving son of Bachoo, moved to Miani,which is now known as Someani. The local people made Obayo the Jamote of Someani. He had six sons and a daughter. One of the sons, Moano, was lame. Dalhora was the ruler of Sindh at the time, and his fort, which was six to seven miles from Korangi, was known as Ratta Kot, i.e., Red Fort. Obayo had a fishing fleet of 500 ships, and the Raja took ‘lan’ (commission) of 1/4 seer of gold from each boat landed. It is from here the name Sohnimeane became known — the place that produced gold.
Obayo forbade his children from ever going to ‘Kalachi jo Kun’ (Karachi) but on his death the children decided to go and fish there. While fishing, their net got stuck in the sea. One after another they dived into the water, and disappeared. Finally, the lame Moano dived in, and killed a ‘giant turtle’ which had swallowed his siblings. Their bodies were taken out to be buried at this site which in present-day Karachi is known as the Gulbahai roundabout.
Moano died much later, and he is buried on top of a hill located in what is now the PAF Mauripur base. Descendants of Moano and his brothers moved to Kalachi to be near the graves of their fathers. Some moved to Shamspir (which was named after Shams Shah) and is now known as Sandspit, some went to Baba Bhit and some went to Phitti Creek.
Despite these historical links, fisherfolk are marginalised. This is evidenced from the following facts. The first fishing village as you enter Karachi harbour is Salehabad, which to this day has no electricity, or running water.
Sonera Bunder and the surrounding land has been claimed by the Navy and the fisherfolk feel it is only a matter of time before they are prevented from fishing from here “for security reasons”, as was the case in the making of Defence and Clifton Cantonment, when fishing villages known as Huva Bunder (at Clifton), Gizri Bunder (in Defence) and “Baoo Vaali Naar (Creek Club) are gone forever.
At Yunusabad in Sandspit, the Navy has taken land alongside the village to use as an ammunition jetty, the legality of which has been challenged in the courts. Whilst other communities are allotted lands to spread out, the fishing communities’ access to land is shrinking.
In the light of the foregoing, the demolition of these historical graves is another example of what appears to be a very subtle and systematic government policy to eliminate the indigenous fishing community. Different arms of government are bent on destroying the fisherfolks’ history, their culture and their source of livelihood.
SOHAIL OSMAN ALI
Karachi
THIS is with reference to Imran Khan’s decision to join hands with Qazi Hussain Ahmad against Pervez Musharraf’s government (June 18). I am sorry to say this but Imran Khan’s role in politics is very disappointing and heart-breaking. I think that’s the main reason he cannot muster support for his party. He is very critical about issues, and tends to be very pessimistic. A leader should give hope to the masses but instead he spreads negativity.
Also, Mr Khan has the habit of stinging those who help him. In cricket he stung Javed Miandad and was always critical of him, though everybody knows that without Miandad he could not achieve the fame that he has today as a cricketer. He certainly could not win the world cup without Miandad.
Similarly, Gen. Musharraf supported Imran Khan politically when Nawaz Sharif was against him. There was a time in Mr Sharif’s era when even pictures of Imran Khan holding the cricket world cup were banned on PTV. Musharraf also supported Shaukat Khanum Hospital with his own money and helped to set up more medical units in Lahore at the government level. The government even gave Mr Khan land for a hospital in Karachi.
Having seen some positive things in him, Gen Musharraf also offered to make him the prime minister of Pakistan. Refusing the offer was his own decision but he should show some respect for the president rather than going against him.
Though everybody knows that Gen. Musharraf is much better than Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, by going against him Imran Khan is showing his priorities and ‘biting his helper’s hand’. I request Imran Khan to please leave politics and instead help the country by making as many cancer hospitals as he can.
HAYAT MALICK
Lahore
I WAS shocked beyond belief when I saw Dawn’s issue of June 14. The front page showed three pictures which very graphically depicted a grievously injured young boy being carried by a man who fell to the ground. I cannot shake off the feeling even now and did not have the heart to bring the newspaper to home, reason being that I did not want my wife and young children to see the pictures.
Please do not publish such pictures as they serve no useful purpose. Believe me, I was shocked for hours after seeing the pictures.
RAJA SHAHID NAZIR
Khushab
OUR education department needs a wake-up call regarding the mistakes made in the board examination question paper. On May 23 the question paper of chemistry (pre-medical, matric) contained a mistake in question No. 5. Students were informed by the invigilator regarding the mistake after one hour had passed. Students had already lost precious time attempting an incorrect question.
On average, it can be said that students would have wasted between 15 and 30 minutes on that question. This loss of time created tension and made many students submit their answer sheets without attempting the complete paper. Hence, the majority of students lost about 15 marks due to the blunder in the question paper.
We often complain about our education system, course outline, schools and incompetent teachers but this mistake was solely due to the carelessness of those who set the paper. People in the education department complain that they do not have funds to cope with the public’s needs and demands, but what funds are needed to set a correct question paper?
The Karachi matric board examination is conducted once a year. Thousands of candidates from various backgrounds attempt the exam papers. Much hard work and money goes into the effort. Parents have expectations from their children. They pay school fees, tuition fees and buy several other things to produce a candidate who can successfully attempt the paper. They don’t pay so that their children get a question paper full of mistakes.
It would be unjust to draw comparison between our board and a foreign board of education since they have far more resources. But they also have sincerity, which does not cost a thing.
The people involved setting exam papers should be made to realise that they are not handling an ordinary test but something exclusive and important. They are preparing a paper on which the future of so many students depends.
A single mistake committed by them will cause a loss of precious time for students. As a practical step, I suggest, they should remember the days when they were students and how would they react to such conditions. A question paper should be revised thoroughly before it goes into the hand of the candidates.
But this letter is a bit to late for candidates who attempted the chemistry paper on May 23, because for them the damage has already been done. Punishing the responsible people will not help the cause of students. The education board should acknowledge its mistake.
As a solution, all students attempting that paper should be given between three and five marks as consolation. It will be a step towards winning back the confidence of the people. The rule is that one has to pay for one’s mistakes, and paying a minimum of three marks will not lower the esteem of Karachi’s board of education.
ZEESHAN S. SIDDIKI
Karachi
THIS has reference to Brig (retd) K.H. Mahmood’s letter ( June 19) written in respect of Maj-Gen. Mahmood A.Durrani, Pakistan’s new ambassador in Washington. I fully endorse Brig Mahmood’s views.
To my understanding and knowledge of Maj-Gen. Durrani, he had nothing to do with the accident that occurred in August 1988 in which Gen. Ziaul Haq and the US ambassador lost their lives. Gen. Mahmood Durrani is a really thoroughbred gentleman and a professional military officer.
I first time met him in 1977 at an embassy of Pakistan where he arrived as military attaché. As the air force attaché I interacted with him at many embassy gatherings and in defence-related matters. He was later promoted to the position of defence attaché and stayed on for almost five years. To his credit, he has vast experience and knowledge having attended international forums and would now be a suitable ambassador. His primary mission would be to have a correct appraisal of foreign policy imperatives and maintain an effective liaison with the US government, keeping in view current US geo-strategic philosophy.
AIR CDRE (r) IQTEDAR A. KHAN
Karachi
TO start the day with news like ‘Labourer kills three daughters’ (June 21) and then go through the next 24 hours without feeling guilty is a difficult task for any sensitive human being. But many of us will do just that.
There have been many such incidents where fathers have killed their children for lack of resources to feed them, clothe them and give them a decent life. But this story is perhaps the worst that I have come across.
I would like the finance minister, the prime minister and the president to read it and then justify the millions of rupees that they have allocated for their jaunts all over the world. I dare them to read the story and be moved by it.
The poor labourer has more right to the taxpayer’s money than all the feudal lords, army generals and bureaucrats sitting in the corridors of power and having a whale of a time.
FAZILA GULREZ
Islamabad
AN undesirable practice has crept in the recitation of the call to prayer in mosques across Karachi such as insertion of a short commentary on religious affairs in Urdu both before and after the call for prayers. This is most common in Auqaf-run mosques.
The government should see to it that muezzins do not misuse the permission for using loudspeaker for religious purpose and should maintain the sanctity of the call to prayer.
AMIN
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the news item ‘WB, UNDP question poverty estimates’ (June 20) and your editorial ‘More poverty or less?’ (June 21).
The news item, as well as the editorial, may create doubts in the mind of the readers about the estimates of poverty computed by our Centre for Research on Poverty and Income Distribution (CRPRID) — a research institution funded by the UNDP.
As far as the news item is concerned, its title is unfair as the contents of the story presents a different picture. While the title suggests that the World Bank and the UNDP have questioned the poverty estimates, the text shows that both the institutions have endorsed the CRPRID estimates.
For example, Professor Nanak Kakwani, an expert of the UNDP, is quoted in the news item that “by adopting the poverty estimates and methodology used by the government’s CRPRID, he arrived at the poverty estimates of 34.46 per cent in 2001-02 and 24.0 per cent in 2004-05”. It is to be noted that this is the number released by the government which is fully corroborated by Prof. Kakwani. So, where is the difference? Has he questioned the methodology? Has he arrived at different numbers using the CRPRID’s methodology? The answer is ‘no’.
Likewise, the country director of the World Bank, Mr John Wall, is quoted in the news item that “his institution had no hesitation to endorse the numbers arrived at the by the CRPRID to avoid confusion and it had adopted the government’s definition of poverty line”. Where has the World Bank questioned the poverty estimates? On the contrary, he has not only endorsed the CRPRID number but his institution has now adopted the government’s definition of poverty line.
One thing, therefore, is now absolutely clear that no one has questioned the methodology and no one has questioned the numbers as the Dawn story itself suggests.
The title of the news item in all fairness should have been ‘WB, UNDP support poverty estimates’.
Needless to state that poverty lines and their estimates are highly sensitive to the methodologies used and specially to the manner in which how and what type of price indices are used to inflate the poverty lines. Different methodologies used by different development partners and other experts can come up with different numbers. As the news item of Dawn quotes Prof. Kakwani: “In my report, I also expressed the views that the CRPRID methodology could be improved considerably”. Yes. There is always room for improvement and this comment is advisory in nature.
Furthermore, the World Bank would like to use different prices instead of the overall CPI-based inflation. Therefore, one can get different numbers.
The question is: should the CRPRID keep on changing the goalpost every time a new survey is released? Should the CRPRID keep on changing the methodology each time to estimate poverty?
In that case, how can one measure the increase or decrease in poverty with different methodologies? Therefore, experts argue that in order to maintain consistency and transparency across years, it is absolutely essential that we apply the same agreed upon methodology over the years, irrespective of its weaknesses and strengths. This is exactly what the CRPRID is doing.
DR ASHFAQUE H. KHAN
Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, Islamabad
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