| July 23, 2006 | Sunday | Jumadi-ul-Sani 26, 1427 |
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Old age no obstacle to Fokkers
Facts about Kargil
Rehabilitating women prisoners
‘Sub theek hai’
Deceptive growth in textiles
Another police encounter
Lawyers against historian
Business as usual
Power shortage
ACCORDING to a news item (July 3), a group of Pakistani-American that played a key role in arranging a historic meeting between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and Israel last year sent an eight-member delegation to Israel the previous week as part of its effort to improve ties between Israel and the Muslim world.
There is another report on the same page of Dawn that the Palestinian officials captured by Israel in connection with the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier are to be prosecuted. They are accused of participating in acts of terrorism against the civilian government.
Israel, recently, detained several Hamas members in the West Bank, including eight ministers and more than 20 lawmakers, in a new wave of air raids and warning that it would use all its power to free a soldier captured by militants over a fortnight ago.
Duly backed by the US and European countries, Israel is committing atrocities against Palestine and other neighbouring Muslim countries. Further, Israel has been a dominant factor behind the scene in invasion of Iraq by the US. It is playing the same game in the US-Iran relations. Israel has been planted on Arab lands by western powers. Since inception, Israel is in constant conflict with the Muslim world, in fact acting as a bully supported by the US.
Arab countries are being ruled by kings and dictators who play safe to remain in power. The so-called ‘group of Pakistani-American’ is too petty a forum to influence Israel to abandon the atrocities and to live in peace with the Arab world.
The Ummah is leaderless. The OIC is non-effective. Pakistan, the second largest Muslim country in the world and the only Muslim nuclear power, should stand up.
ABDUL SAMAD KHAN
Karachi
I condemn the Israeli attack on Lebanon and appeal to the OIC to hold an emergency meeting of its foreign ministers to express the strongest condemnation of Israel. It is a tragedy that the US is so firmly in the grip of the Israeli lobby that it dares not say a word of condemnation for the Israeli action.
The memory of humankind is still scarred by the brutality of the Israeli armed forces against the people of Lebanon when it occupied by military force some parts of Lebanon. The Muslim world should unite in support of the Lebanese people.
The OIC should provide funds to the Hamas administration in Palestine and to Arab self-defence organisations such as Hizbullah. The only language Israel understands is the language of the gun. The OIC should call upon the UN General Assembly to hold a special meeting to castigate Israel and support Lebanon which is a founding member of the UN. The accursed US veto is powerless in the UN General Assembly.
QUTUBUDDIN AZIZ
Karachi
I DO not know why people try to drag morality and rationality in the Mid-East conflict. A single statement explains the entire conflict. When secretary of British dominions Malcolm Macdonald pointed to the growing conflict and more organised Zionist attacks on the Arab population to Winston Churchill, the latter became angry and accused him of being pro-Arab. He said: “For me these Arabs are nothing more than savages and camel dung.”
American neo-conservatives are of the same frame of mind about the Muslim population in general. We all know how the West treated ‘savages’ in the past. The West supports Israel because culturally, socially and racially (many Jews are of European origin) they are closer to them, and if there is ever any severe trouble in Israel, many of them will go back to Europe.
Muslims have numerous social problems which they are not even willing to admit. To expect reforms from western powers is self-delusional.
ZAHEER KHAN
Boras, Sweden
THE Fokker crash at Multan is a national tragedy and should not have happened. Our hearts go out to the loved ones of all those who lost their lives in it.
The aircraft could have crashed because of defective loading, crew fatigue, sabotage, maintenance, pilot error, any thing but old age. An airliner, in fact, never really gets old.
All the parts of an aircraft susceptible to wear and tear are replaced periodically and religiously. Each engine is replaced after a specified number of hours. Every year the aircraft gets a complete overhaul and a certificate of airworthiness is issued after thorough and gruelling flight tests.
There is a 100 per cent fail-safe alternative, for all failures. If a brand new Fokker were built today, it would be as safe, or as unsafe as the oldest one in the PIA fleet. The first PIA Fokker crash in the Northern Areas near Malika Parbat in the 1960s was a brand new one. There are many a DC-3 aircraft (the World War II work horse) still flying. With the latest instrumentations and radar these aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s vintage are safer to fly today than when they were brand new. The only factor that really counts is good maintenance.
I started flying in 1952 and retired for the third time in 1997 at the age of 62, with 45 years of flying and well above 23,000 flying hours. I have flown with several international carriers, flying very old and very new aeroplanes and I have had more than my share of close calls but never have I faced a problem because of the old age of an aircraft.
Some people are prone to make political mileage from such tragedies, fishing in troubled waters, as the saying goes. A lady parliamentarian recently giving her expert opinion in the press blamed the Musharraf government for the crash. The chorus in the assembly demands ‘sack the chairman’, ‘Fokkers are too old’, ’replace the fleet’ etc, etc. Soon we’ll hear that the Kalabagh dam or the Thal Canal is responsible for the crash in some way.
There is no magic wand that with one wave, pronto, a fleet of seven aircraft is replaced. It takes extensive training for pilots and engineers, adaptation to local runways and weather conditions, and so much more. This is a long-drawn process and takes years. It cannot be done overnight.
Grounding the Fokkers or using them for flying cargo only can be justified as an exercise in public relations. But calling them unsafe, are we saying that we were letting our passengers fly on unsafe aircraft until just before the unfortunate accident? After all, even cargo aircraft are flown by pilots. Are the pilots dispensable? If an aircraft is safe to fly cargo, it is safe to fly ..., period.
CAPT. S. AFAQ RIZVI
Karachi
THIS refers to PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal’s remarks regarding the Kargil operation (Dawn, July 14). The assumption that Gen Musharraf did not brief former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on the Kargil operation is ridiculous.
A military operation is not a child’s play that it can be launched in such a secrecy that even the prime minister of the country could be kept out of it.
For a moment, let us assume that Gen Musharraf deliberately kept Nawaz Sharif in total darkness but a million-dollar question is: what was the ISI and the IB, which were under the direct control of Nawaz Sharif, doing?. Did Gen Ziauddin Butt (ISI chief) fail in his duty? If so, why was he not sacked? Nay, he was nominated as the COAS by Nawaz Sharif. Similarly, the IB chief was also not sacked. If the facts about Kargil was kept from Nawaz Sharif, the first thing he should have done was to sack Gen Musharraf but not later than June 1999.
During the thicket of Kargil when the battle was still raging, Gen Musharraf gave an interview to the BBC in which he was categorical. He had said: “Everybody was on board, including the prime minister”. The statement was not contradicted by the PM.
Furthermore, in an interview with Tim Sebistian of ‘Hard Talk’ show of the BBC, Mr Sartaj Aziz, the then foreign minister, had said “that if India does not resolve the core issue, i.e. Kashmir, Kargil will be here, Kargil will be there, Kargil will be everywhere.”
If Nawaz Sharif was not briefed about Kargil, how his foreign minister was supporting the operation.
It is pertinent to mention here that in one of the briefings on Kargil, Nawaz Sharif became emotional and said: “Gen Sahib, Hum Srinagar Kab Pahunch Rahe Hain.”
SAFIR A. SIDDIQUI
Karachi
I APPRECIATE the well-intended gesture of President Gen Pervez Musharraf to release women prisoners who were arrested for petty crimes, and in some cases for no crime at all. It is ironic to note that some of them were behind bars for no fault of their own but were thrown there by their near and dear ones on false charges, particularly under the Hadood Ordinance. Others were there because of high-handedness, colonial attitude, corruption, and male chauvinism of our law-enforcement authorities.
I would ask the authorities through these columns to take certain extra cautionary measures. Now when these women are free, there is a need for their rehabilitation and full integration into society. The way our society is organised, people tend to look down on someone who has gone through the criminal justice system. This should not happen to these women.
They and their children have already gone through a lot of mental and physical sufferings and it is time all four provinces and NGOs took some steps to rehabilitate these women, restore their pride, make them effective and productive members of society.
There is also a need for physical protection for these women. It must be provided at all costs, both to them and to their children, otherwise we will hear draconian tales once again.
There is also a need to post responsible people at schools their children will be attending. Other children and some irresponsible teachers may try to make fun of them, or look down upon them.
This will seriously hurt the self-esteem of the children and they may grow up having a negative view of society.
The government and NGOs have quite a homework now, and I am sure that they can restore the social pride among these families.
MAQSOOD CHOUDARY
Via email
WE are repeatedly told that ‘sub theek hai’, as Pakistan’s economy is growing, law and order is fine, governance could not be better and Pakistan is soon going to enter the gate of prosperity and progress.
In fact, we are told that the last seven years have seen such all-round improvement that we need to put our collars up. Well done, bravo and ‘shabash’.
Yet we know that corruption goes on merrily and nothing moves without proper weightage. Scams are galore — cabs, cement, sugar, Stock Exchange and the list goes on. Killings are done without any clue so much so that even the so-called culprits who attempted on the life of the president were let off by the court.
Kidnappings for ransom are done by choice and free will. Our economy is growing but lop-sided, the rich are amassing untold wealth and the poor are committing suicide but it does no harm today to dream that our economy is performing well.
We are told that ‘sub theek hai’ and that we have excellent governance. So be it and let the people of Pakistan pray that our dear country can march ahead. Yes, we would have if only …?
MAHER ALAVI
Karachi
AFTER months of preparation, an audience was given to the textile representatives under the blessing of commerce and textile ministers by the prime minister. He relied upon the statistical graph of exports which was showing a clear 16 per cent growth in this sector. But he never cared to know that the growth was real or fictitious.
He forgot that only a few years back, when he was finance minister, in a televised meeting he had admitted that two billion dollars’ worth of exports to the Middle East was fake and made only on papers. Even the textile representatives did not challenge the statistics on this ground.
He adopted the easy way and advised that a task force might be set up to further study the case of textile.
As many demands were related to the State Bank of Pakistan, he suggested to textile representatives to call upon Dr Shamshad Akhter, the newly-appointed boss of the SBP. She outright rejected all the demands of the delegation of the textile community and said that the government could not repose confidence in them because in the past they had misused incentives given by the bank. They should find out their own way to improve their conditions.
The prime minister must be knowing the situation prevailing in government agencies which are looking after exports. Perhaps, he is aware of various scandals which were happening daily. Billions, rather tens of billions of rupees’ worth of sales tax duty drawback was siphoned by the notorious exporters in connivance with the junior staff of sales tax and customs (top officers deny involvement of senior officers). Now, the result of this fake refund was that paper exports of a good percentage were added to the exports showing a healthy statistical graph.
For example, there is the case of a recently jailed exporter where Rs20 billion’s worth of sales tax had been fraudulently refunded. Naturally, the refund of Rs20 billion of such fake export means that a fake export of approximately Rs125 billion had been added to the graph of exports. There would be countless such cases as are undetected and not only defrauding the government but also adding to the paper export figures of textiles.
The CBR chairman and member, sales tax, who are extremely efficient and honest officers are really helpless. They personally cannot check every export consignment and now when there are a dozen dry ports from where it is easier to make fake export.
This paper export distorts the actual statistics and in fact if it is deducted from the genuine export, the graph will show that the export is declining.
So, the prime minister and the SBP chief should not be deceived by their fake statistics. The export of textiles is really in trouble. This is not the time of making task forces. The two must do something and use their own brains and that of their colleagues to assess the correct state of affairs.
We, the textile exporters, particularly those of towel and made-ups, have invested billions of dollars on government assurance that the investment climate in Pakistan was very conducive. We believed it and we had put up the latest and costliest towel machinery at heavy costs and now we are stuck with its repayment.
The government should ensure that new investment would be protected and profitable.
S.M.A. RIZVI
Karachi
YOUR editorial ‘Another police encounter’ (July 15) reminds me of a DVD film I saw recently in which an assistant commissioner of police in Mumbai had swept the city clean of a crime syndicate by applying the simple principle of “No FIR, no report, but punishment on the spot”.
After a final showdown in which the overlord of the underworld was shot dead in an encounter, the police were given a hero’s reception by both the public and the press. Albeit, this can happen only in a film, but never in real life of Karachi where the press usually treats the police with the receiving end of a stick.
However, your editorial very rightly condemns any extra-judicial killing by the police. But while such killings should never be countenanced, it needs to be recognised that the entire legal system of prevention and interdiction of crime, particularly in the courts of law, needs to be speeded up and not left in the doldrums of the present system which spawns the unsavoury results we so often see today.
Our judicial process is outdated and so ponderously slow that even hardened criminals often end up going scott-free to commit crime, even murder, and loot all over again. This alone can push some policemen into the temptation of awarding “punishment on the spot” — condemnable as it certainly is.
S.ASIF MAJEED
Former IGP
Karachi
IT is with great dismay that one has read about the unethical treatment meted out by some vested interests in the legal fraternity against our distinguished historian Dr Mubarak Ali.
The Bar Council needs to take stern action against the incriminating lawyers who not only tampered with the recently-published book by the noted historian by implanting surreptitious material but also misbehaved with the magistrate, the publisher of the book, as well as the police, within the court-room. The attempts to disrepute and demean a noted scholar of international standing needs to be condemned by all The accused has also allegedly demanded money in exchange for withdrawal of ‘false cases’ he has filed against Dr Mubarak Ali. It is hoped that Dr Ali’s appeal to the Supreme Court against his continued harassment and humiliation by the members of the legal fraternity will bring justice to bear upon the case following a proper investigation.
ZARINA SALAMAT
Rawalpindi
IT IS business as usual at the southern zone office of SLIC (State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan) located at Building Number 2, Wallace Road whose telephone numbers 111555888 and 9217001 have been out of service for the last three months or so.
Isn’t this amazing that a leading national organisation is able to manage its affairs even when its communication with the outside world has been cut for such a long period of time.
It is the helpless policy holders who are made to run from far flung areas of the city to their office —- strictly during the working hours —- only to get answers to queries, which otherwise could have been dealt with on the phone.
A. RAUF SOZER
Karachi
IT is clear that power shortages will remain with us for a long time to come. Therefore, I suggest that shopping hours should be from 9am to 6pm. Friday should be closed (at present Friday is half closed). On Sunday shops should open from 9am to 6pm. Many countries have early shopping hours, for example, Malaysia.
This timing can have many benefits such as: (1) Sunday being open, shopkeepers’ complaint will be addressed that customers come late in the evening for shopping. Now they can shop on Sunday.
Moreover, manufacturing establishments will be working as usual with Sunday closed. The benefit will be that there will be less congestion on the streets.
The 9am to 6pm timing will have the effect of not wasting a single watt on retail shopping.
A.R. ADVANI
Karachi
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