| July 07, 2006 | Friday | Jumadi-ul-Sani 10, 1427 |
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Visa restrictions for Sudanese
Apex court judgment on PS
Women passengers’ plight
Alleged abduction
Environment vs encroachments
Friends in high place
Annoyance at petrol pump
A balanced deficit
PTCL directory assistance
Travelling on rooftops
PTCL wireless service
At home and abroad
I’VE been reading your online newspaper for a while now because my husband is doing business in Karachi, and I want to keep up on the latest news there.
The article entitled “Freedom to abuse” by Andleeb Abbas in the Magazine section (July 2) was interesting to read.
I both agreed (being an American who opposes Bush) and disagreed with parts of it. But one particular paragraph was irrelevant to the article and simply wrong.
The author writes: “The American exceptionism has been taken too far. This is the excuse for them to play baseball and not cricket, ice hockey and not ground hockey, and basket ball and not football. This is not because they are exception to the rule but because they may never be able to lead in games which face open and global competition. It is this obsession to avoid being at the receiving end which has made them go to all lengths to create rules which they bend and break whenever suitable.”
First of all, this argument is a stretch. What do sports really have to do with any of the political points the author was making earlier in the article?
The sports we choose to play here are simply those that our parents played, and the ones their parents played before them. If boys in our culture grew up playing cricket or ground hockey, then maybe we could have international teams. Some (and more and more) boys do actually grow up playing soccer, and we’re starting to field a better USA men’s soccer team.
But it’s quite simply cultural that Americans don’t play cricket or field hockey and also don’t particularly care to learn how to play these sports. Football and baseball are part of our culture like cricket or field hockey are of yours. We grow up watching the ‘Superbowl’ of American football and loving to go with the family to watch a game of baseball. Basketball, furthermore, is an incredibly important to the cultural life of black inner-city youth.
Lastly, the writer’s comment was quite sexist. Girls in our culture grow up learning how to play soccer (football), and our international team is quite competitive. I started playing soccer when I was seven, and still play on a women’s’ team on weekends. I am also teaching my two-year-old daughter how to play soccer.
Americans continue to compete on an international level in sports we grew up playing. I think the writer makes too many broad assumptions in this article, and this particular one was both irrelevant and wrong.
JENNIFER FARRELL
San Francisco, USA
IT is surprising that Sudan has been categorised under the ‘negative’ list of countries whose nationals will need the approval of our foreign and interior ministries before being given a Pakistani visa. This decision needs rethinking by our foreign policymakers. I understand that Pakistanis wanting to visit Sudan (for whatever purpose) have to face the same problem —-they need approval of the Sudanese foreign ministry. Other than reciprocity, I don’t think there is any other reason that we should have Sudan in that list.
Keeping in view Sudan’s emerging economy (after the discovery of oil reserves and other natural resources) and the country’s peaceful and secure environment, I think this decision needs revisiting on the following grounds:
— A number of Sudanese students and visitors have been in Pakistan and none of them have been involved in any terrorist activity of any sort. In fact, Sudan is really a peace-loving nation. There are more international flights routing in Sudan than in Pakistan which shows that its security situation is much better than that of Pakistan.
— If our policy is to establish close and strong ties with Muslim states, why not have good relations with Sudan?
— There are a lot of investment and business opportunities in Sudan today. Other countries, especially India and China, are capitalising on these opportunities. This is manifested in a growing number of Indian companies operating in Sudan. There are also joint ventures between Indian-Sudanese oil corporations and a host of Indian business enterprises throughout Sudan.
Keeping these facts in mind, I think our government must re-think its visa policy for citizens of Sudan and take the initiative to allow the Pakistani embassy in Sudan to make decisions on its own.
Sudan will definitely respond in a similar fashion. This will help lessen the painstaking efforts that large numbers of Pakistanis living in Sudan have to make in order to get Sudanese visas for their families or workers.
YASIR DILDAR UN
Mission in Khartoum, Sudan
THIS is with reference to Mr Arshad Hassan’s letter ‘Apex court judgment on PS’(June 30) whereby the writer referred to my letter on the same topic and denied any influence by Arif Habib Securities on the valuation of land.
Mr Arshad Hassan, who is the SVP-Investments, Arif Habib Securities Ltd, Karachi, writes that AHSL is a financial services company with diverse interests. Had the investment gone through, our share in PS would have been 15 per cent of its outstanding equity, the rest being owned by GoP, MMK and Al Tuwairqi. If, by any stretch of the imagination, it was to be conceived that AHSL’s interest was in real estate, how could we have influenced valuation given our minority position?
The argument by Mr Arshad Hassan makes no sense. What has AHSL minority shareholding in the Pakistan Steel Mill got to do with their ability to influence the valuation of the land? I am sure that the writer wanted to write that if by any stretch of the imagination it was conceived that AHSL’s interest was in real estate, why would we have influenced valuation given our minority position? The answer to this is that the land in question is worth billions of rupees and 15 per cent of it is not by any stretch of imagination a small amount.
Mr Arshad Hassan has said that all that we expect is a balanced view of the privatisation of PS as we participated in the spirit of fairness and equity and abided by the rules of the game. He further writes that if there are any kinks in the privatisation process, it should be streamlined but in no way should it be used as an opportunity to question the integrity of any of the participants. Well, if the whole deal of Pakistan Steel Mill was done in a spirit of fairness and equity, one wonders as to what would have happened if there was a lack of such spirit. Perhaps the whole land would have been given for free.
If indeed the whole deal had been fair, the Supreme Court would not have struck the deal as null and void. One would have to wait for the detailed judgment to find out the discrepancies in the deal. I am sure that Mr Arshad Hassan will agree with me that an investigation needs to be launched into the whole affair so that the participants if innocent come clean and no one can question the integrity of the participants.
ANIL KHAN LUNI
Lahore
KARACHI’S women commuters daily undergo unbearable discomfiture while travelling in public transport. Drivers generally do not stop vehicles at designated stops. Thus those passengers who want to get down at a specific stop or those who want to get on fail to do so, to their great misery.
Also, although every public transport has specified space for women passengers, it has been observed that more often men occupy seats in women’s compartment during peak hours.
Also, conductors and drivers frequently use abusive language without any regard to the presence of women passengers. Again, there are a number of mirrors of various sizes in the women’s compartment of mini-buses and buses whose only use is that men in the women’s compartment, as well as in the men’s compartment, keep goggling at women passengers.
Again, many drivers play such film songs as are embarrassing for women passengers. Cheap and vulgar graffiti is also found in these buses and minibuses.
All these can be easily controlled through the traffic police to spare women passengers of humiliation they undergo every day.
MEHMOOD KHAN
Karachi
THIS has reference to the report which appeared in your newspaper (July 2) regarding the alleged abduction of Brig (retd) Taj Abbasi and his family.
I salute Dawn for reporting the matter immediately and without any exaggeration. I was extremely shocked and disgusted the way the whole matter unfolded where a serving officer of a sensitive agency ordered the abduction of Brig Taj and his family on the pretext of a fight involving the officer’s son and grandson of Brig Taj.
Reportedly, a government number-plate vehicle with armed men entered the house of Brig Taj and abducted him along with his daughter-in-law and grandchildren. For me this is a true example of the terrorism that Gen Musharraf so proudly claims to be fighting against. If Gen Musharraf wants to curb terrorism and eventually eliminate it, he should first put his own house in order.
If an ex-army serviceman is treated in such a disgraceful manner, what can the common man expect from the so-called elite forces? The alleged army officer should be taken to task and an FIR should be filed against him. An immediate inquiry should be carried out to learn the actual reason behind this act. The alleged army officer has not only disgraced himself but has also given a bad name to the institution. If the alleged kidnapper is not taken to task now, we will see many more people taking the law into their own hands and harassing people at will without any peculiar reason.
EL MAGNIFICO
Rawalpindi
THE Capital Development Authority (CDA) is at its fullest swing these days in order to beautify the capital. So far so good (at least rhetorically). The scope of this campaign has spread to the city’s suburbs as well, especially zone IV. Here, it is more being referred to as an ‘anti-encroachment drive’.
Obviously, to discourage any (non)sense of possession. Ironically, what prevails is merely a shift of that very sense of forced possession of the land from the hands of the mafia to those of the functionaries. One expects that the CDA will now show an attitude towards owning the zone rather than just snatching possessions through establishing its writ (which has become the most ‘in’ thing across the fabric of state governance these days).
Contrary to what is being provided to the urban divide, a sheer lack of general amenities, such as an equally effective supply of clean water, electricity, infrastructure and janitorial services, in this side of the king’s tow, belies the too often aired melody of unbiased social cause.
Environmental issues are the most neglected of those mentioned above. Besides cutting of essential greens, other rather cruel practices are being let to prevail unchecked. Top of such lines is the illegal, immoral and ill-driven practice of fishing in the Korang river by mostly amateur anglers. What makes this sport seem obnoxious is the use of electric current, poison and even dynamite blasting for securing a handsome catch.
Only recently the ugly sight of the aftermath to one of such errands by a number of youths was heart-breaking. For weeks, a thick coat of carcass of all kinds of non-fish species choked not only the already thinning flow of water but the foul smell rising from it had a similar effect to the windpipes of the dwelling neighbours.
This is fast becoming a menace of national level. Adversely affecting/disturbing the energy flow patterns and structure of marine life, this practice, being exercised domestically, contributes to the global extinction of marine organisms. Especially poisoning not only results in direct pollution of marine environment, but the consumption of poisoned fish subsequently and undeniably diminishes the quality of general public’s health too.
It becomes all the more important an issue as that of embellishment. The government in general and the CDA in particular should equally enforce measures to stop this inhumane activity and make people aware of its negative effects. Surely, some sponsors may well be diverted to adopt hoardings bearing warnings and inspirations alongside the banks of the Korang river. Activating local policing towards this menace will further the cause definitely and doubly.
ANNY BUTT HAQANI
Islamabad
EVERY one knows that the UN, the World Bank, the IMF and other such multilateral agencies serve and promote the global interests of the US. So, if a US-friendly, frontline state such as Pakistan claims that it has reduced poverty by a record 10 per cent in a short span of five years, these agencies have no choice but to endorse the claim. After all, if they check the claim using the same data and methodology as employed by the GoP, there is no way they could reach a different conclusion.
And then there is our pal Paul Wolfowitz, a confirmed neocon from the days of Afghanistan-Iraq war planning, sitting as the head of the World Bank. He is also a very close friend of our prime minister from his days at Citibank. Helping to make10-15 million poor disappear from below the poverty line is no big deal among friends. In any case, the deliberate underestimation of population growth over the last five years has itself made many poor vanish in thin air.
MASROOR ZIA
Islamabad
A petrol pump which is situated on Stadium Road in Gulberg 3, Lahore, has been issuing wrong statements to its customers regarding the availability of ‘super’ or ‘premium’ petrol at the station.
On July 2 I went there to get ‘super’ for my car and indicated this at the counter. Instead I was rushed to another counter while the salesman told me the price of super when I asked him to fill in the car tank with super worth Rs1,000. However, when I got the bill, he had charged me for hi-octane and given me two litres less petrol saying that he had filled the tank with hi-octane instead of super.
This wasn’t the first time this has happened. Also, the attendants at the petrol pump have fiddled with the credit cards of customers and cheated them of considerable amounts of money. This behaviour, which is tantamount to stealing money, has been going on for a few years now. The authority concerned should take some action to avoid the harassment of yet more customers.
FARIDA BADAR
Lahore
THE federal budget announced by state minister for finance shows a deficit of Rs273 billion, but the adviser to the prime minister on finance says
that the budget is a balanced one.
I cannot understand that if the budget is in deficit, then how can it be balanced? It seems that I have lost my senses and if my association with Mr Salman Shah continues for another year, I will be pelting stones at innocent passersby.
MUHAMMAD RIAZ
Thana Malakand Agency
IN the absence of an updated telephone directory, finding a telephone number from the PTCL’s 17 is troublesome. Invariably the operators do not attending the phone as the automatic system assigns them. Instead they can be heard chatting and joking amongst themselves.
This happened to me recently when operators no. 18, 21 and 23 were assigned to attend my call. When I finally managed to reach them and get a proper reply, the number provided was found to be wrong. Perhaps the data provided to 17 operators is outdated too. I hope that this service can be improved. An updated telephone directory should also be made available.
SYED ALI
Karachi
Travelling on the roofs of buses is a common sight in many of the country’s remote areas, where the buses ply with very few daily trips and as such passengers are compelled to travel on the roof along with their luggage.
Roof-travelling on the minibuses started in Karachi some months ago, and initially only on the suburb area routes, such as Malir, Orangi, Korangi and North Karachi. Now one can see people travelling on the roofs of the minibuses on almost all the routes within the city. This is because the minibuses have a fixed steel ladder to the carriage on top, which is meant only for storing luggage.
There should be a rule whereby all the carriage frames from the roofs of minibuses must be immediately removed. Roof-travelling should be banned as it gives a very bad impression of our living standards, and is also very dangerous for the passengers.
I am sure that the Regional Transport Authority responsible for issuing route permits and traffic police officials have also witnessed such ugly scenes.
SYED ABRAR HUSSAINI
Karachi
IT seems that the PTCL is again using the same tactics with its wireless service that it had adopted to boost its revenues for its fixed line service, which included registering one call-unit every time one picked up the receiver from the cradle irrespective of whether one made the call or not (disclosed to me by a reliable insider).
In the case of wireless service, I have personally noted that instead of deducting Rs7.50 as line rent per 24 hours, Rs15 is deducted from the unsuspecting users’ card-account and if one makes a call, a certain amount is deducted immediately as its cost but if one re-checks after some time, the same deduction is repeated again so that the card amount gets depleted at a fast speed.
The same is the case with its Internet service. The company claims that the price is Rs10 per hour, counted by the seconds. But in actual practice it is Rs15 per hour which can only mean that they count every 40 seconds as one minute. The wireless Internet speed continues to be very low fluctuating between 9.5kbs and 28kbs only.
All this trickery is possible because the users’ meters are in secret custody of the PTCL and they can be tampered with at will without external scrutiny possible. I wonder if there is any authority existing in the country to save the people from such blatant high-handedness.
ABDUL RAZZAQ
Muzaffargarh
I AGREE with the news (Dawn, June 9) concerning visa and police reporting. During my recent visit to India the conclusion I came to is that you’ll get lots of love and hospitality from people of India, but don’t expect anything good from any Indian government or police officials.
But the worst thing about my visit was the behaviour of PIA staff at the check-in counter of Mumbai airport.
The same has been reported to PIA officials but I am expecting no results from my complaints.
ROSHAN LAL BASANTANI
Islamabad
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