| July 24, 2006 | Monday | Jumadi-ul-Sani 27, 1427 |
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City fathers
Musharraf’s development doctrine
Is Pakistan in a mess?
Import everything
Harking to the call of human duty
Dignity of man
Art of forgiveness
Policy of de-hyphenation
Fokker planes for cargo flights
TO this day Israel stresses the point that Arabs do not recognise Israel because they believe that it does not have a right to exist and, therefore, it is constantly under threat from them. These claims are probably the biggest scandal in modern world politics. Since 1974, the PLO has been committed to a two-state solution. Up to 22 Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, are ready to accept Israel, provided it ends the occupation of West Bank and Gaza.
What other proof does Israel need for its right to exist and security? The outright denial of this reality by Israel and the United States had torpedoed every peace effort in the Middle East.
The starting point of any peace negotiations should be whether Palestinians are entitled by right to the territories of West Bank and Gaza, not whether Israel has a right to exist. How ironic is it and how grave the injustice that it is in fact Israel that has never accepted the Palestinians’ right to West Bank and Gaza?
The recent invasions of Gaza and Lebanon under the guise of self-defence are nothing but one more attempt to take over the West Bank and reducing the Palestinians to unviable enclaves, just as when in 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon to crush the PLO for the same excuse. The real reason for the invasion was that PLO’s standing on the two-state solution was getting too credible to ignore. Now Hamas is inclined towards accepting the two-state solution, hence it had to be taught the same lesson.
It is also totally absurd to demand that the Lebanese government disarm Hizbollah. Three-and-a-half years after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the United States has not been able to disarm the local militias in Iraq. So how in the world can the Lebanese government be expected to disarm Hizbollah? Israel knows perfectly well that there is no way that Lebanon can meet this demand and that’s why such demands are being made. They are no more than an excuse for bombing and keeping the conflict alive.
As far as the Palestinians and Lebanese people are concerned, they are paying the price for voting the ‘wrong way’ in free and fair elections. It’s the murder of a nation, a rare historical event, that is going on before our eyes. Can we do something about it?
KHURRAM HANEEF
New Jersey, USA
THIS has reference to Mr Karamatullah K. Ghori’s article ‘Embracing Israel, ignoring Palestinians’ (July 15).
I entirely agree with the views of the writer. American doctors of Pakistani origin have done a great disservice to the overall foreign policy stand of this country which has, at least rhetorically, aligned itself to the cause of the oppressed and the brutalised.
What atrocities Israel is committing on innocent Palestinians and Lebanese people under unabated moral and material support of a neo-con US administration does not require a diplomat’s shrewdness to establish. The inherent schism amongst the Muslim states, their economic dependence on the US and military impotence has added unparalleled strength to the Zionist designs.
To top it all, Muslim states now largely ruled by despots and dictators operate and act only towards self-serving interests. It is not unlikely that the present incumbent ruler of Pakistan may have used the ‘enlightened’ doctors to embark upon this revolutionary diplomatic mission to give a new lease of life to his near moribund political career.
It is almost an open reality that every Pakistani soul is greatly saddened by the Israeli terrorist attacks on innocent civilians. It is also obvious that no sensible Pakistani would even think of initiating any contact with the Zionist regime in Tel Aviv due to the heinous atrocities committed by it.
It is demanded that our foreign office must issue a communique stating its complete aloofness from the visit of North American doctors of Pakistani origin.
Besides, our embassy in Washington must warn such self-styled nouveau riche to act sensibly by associating with logical pursuits, leaving diplomacy to people who are trained for the task. It is obvious that any links with Israel will benefit few Pakistani Americans more than anyone else.
RAFIUDDIN KHAN
Karachi
IT was generally expected that after having total control in the city government and a sizable say in the provincial and federal governments, the authorities concerned will be able to bring about some comfort and relief for the people of Karachi who, in fact, voted them in power. But instead of providing the much needed relief, they have created countless problems for them.
The entire socio-economic fibre and the infrastructure of the city have been destroyed in haste, without realising the resultant difficulties being faced by the people.
Initiation of so many development projects simultaneously was not wise at all. The promised target dates for completion of these projects are not being met, with the excuses like non- availability of the master plan for the underground cable and pipeline system of various utilities, emergence of technical problems, non-cooperation of certain contractors, rising cost of construction material and some tendering problems.
This clearly shows lack of foresight or a case of incompetence. In fact, these problems should have been visualised before digging up of roads. Still it is claimed to everyone’s surprise that the amount of work they have done within the past two to three months was not even done during the last 50 years.
True, so much damage to the city as a whole was not done during the past 50 years compared to what they have done in just two months. If you go back into the past history, even ‘Rome’ and Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not rebuilt in such a fashion as Karachi is being done now. People are so disappointed to see that not even a single problem has been solved as yet by the city fathers.
Problems are many, small and big, which include battered and damaged roads and service lanes, broken footpaths, overflowing gutters, polluted water, defective speed-breakers, heaps of debris lying all over the city, electric and telephone poles covered with publicity banners, deep cutting of roads, occupation of footpaths by roadside restaurants, fruit merchants and meat sellers, pan wallahs.
One has not seen any improvement in these problems but in addition we have now regular menace of loadshedding and power failures, creating water scarcity. Over and above these, we have now massive traffic jams which have now become a routine wherever the development work is going on, Hasan Square being the most affected area.
If we also include problems of rising cost of living, unemployment, poverty, car and mobile phone snatching, robberies and theft, kidnapping, rapes and murders, the list will have no end.
Will the authorities concerned care to tell the people of Karachi which of the problems discussed herein have been solved by them. Quoting figures will not help. People are interested in peace, happiness, prosperity and a sense of security in visible form.
S. AKHTAR ALI
Karachi
IN its current issue the prestigious US magazine Foreign Affairs has highlighted the Indian development model as unique. It considers India the fourth largest economy in the world. The Income Inequality Index for India on a scale of 0 to 100 is 33, as compared to 41 for the US, 45 for China and 59 for Brazil. Almost 30-40 per cent of India’s GDP is due to rise in productivity. Out of the 500 leading fortune companies, 125 have research and development bases in India, a testimony to its human resource capital. India proudly acclaims the role played by its Indian institutes of technology in a booming trade of outsourcing their human resource skills.
Our uniformed president, who we now discover is an economist par excellence, would have us believe that power shortages in the country are indeed an indicator of massive development that has taken place in Pakistan for the last seven years. How ungrateful this nation has been for not bearing these power shutdowns and patiently enduring mild heat wave with temperatures in the range of 40 to 49 degrees celsius. The people of Karachi should have welcomed these breakdowns, for they bode well, for the future of their sons and daughters.
The same spirit must prevail in the interior of Sindh, Punjab, Frontier and Balochistan. As per the Musharraf doctrine of development index, Pakistan is just behind Congo, Rwanda, Niger, Swaziland and Afghanistan, where power shortages may be more frequent than here. The US, Canada, Europe, China, Russia are lagging far behind Pakistan, since stagnant development, in these countries, has lead to a stable and reliable electric power distribution and generation system.
Pakistan’s massive GNP which is $700 per annum, translates to roughly Rs,3529 per month, has led to a buying spree by the millions of poor for airconditioners, mobiles and cars. The increase in cars has led to massive road blocks, another indicator of progress. Rise in carjacking, mobile snatching is yet another positive indication. The write-up in Economist is the work of baffled Europeans, who are afraid of Pakistan, the leading Asian tiger. Has this biased magazine not seen the size of our presidential palace, PM house, governor house, the palatial houses that adorn the DHAs and GORs?
Pakistan’s true democracy is the beacon of hope for the Muslim world to follow. This country needs the uniform for its survival, and not a parliamentary democracy that a misled Quaid envisioned for it. It is time we salute our great leader. This ungrateful nation must crown him as president for life, implore him to become a Field Marshall, and put to sword traitors who dare to oppose him.
T. MALLICK
Lahore
MR Shahid Javed Burki has made an amazing statement in his recent article ‘Is Pakistan in a mess?” He says: “Pakistan’s history is a vivid reminder of the fact that repeated elections do not produce democracy or accountability for the people who are placed in power”. Surely this statement can be valid only if the elections had been free and fair. When was the last time the people of Pakistan had fair elections? In 1946, or in 1971? If elections are rigged, what difference does it make if they are held repeatedly? If the administrative agencies can manufacture election results, most often with the winner getting 90 per cent votes, why should the winner care about the electors? Is this not what is happening in scores of countries?
An interesting example is Mexico where, until the recent stirrings of democracy, elections always resulted in the return to power of one party. With the recent political awakening, the elections produced a tie. It is only in such a situation that the elected officials will worry about the public response to the government’s policies.
NAIMAT ILAHI
Toronto
WITHOUT a constituency of his own; we installed a prime minister who was imported. True to the job assigned to him by the powers that be, he has opened the country to imports. We are thus importing pulses, rice, vegetables, meat, dry milk, dry fruits, cement, mobile phones, cars, etc., from foreign countries at zero duty. The whole country is now open to the import of goods.
MAHWISH FATIMA NAQVI
Karachi
IT was a nice gesture on the part of the government to recognise and appreciate the good work done by individuals and organisations in the aftermath of Oct 8, 2005 earthquake. The two well-deserved ladies, among the recipients of the awards, Mrs Nafeesa Khattak and Mrs Shabnam Ahmed, were from the Melody Rehab Centre. I would like to pay tribute to the remaining members of the team as it was a collective effort that made the Melody Centre worth the name.
The first name that comes to mind is that of Mr Hassan Ozgan, who managed and organised everything neglecting his business for five months and is still taking care of the personal needs of these patients after they have been shifted to the National Institute of Handicapped (NIHd). He is nowadays busy planning a well-equipped home for those paraplegic women who have been abandoned by their husbands or families who can’t take care of them. He was assisted by Col Iqbal throughout this period.
Dr Farah, the young and energetic doctor, single-handedly took care of the medical side of around 80 patients. She was on her feet from morning till late in the night, sometimes surviving on a cup of tea as she did not have time for lunch in the earlier two months since the patients were in bad shape and required constant attention. She is still working with the same zeal now in NIHd.
Dr Rubina Fareed, with Mr Hassan Ozgan and Nafeesa Khattak, had started the centre and came regularly afterwards with Dr Tasneem.
Since there were no physiotherapists available which these patients needed badly, a group of volunteers undertook this job. They regularly attended training sessions and workshops and worked not only as physiotherapists but gave them the much needed emotional and psychological support also. It was because of these dedicated ladies’ efforts that the patients recovered physically and emotionally in less than anticipated time. Mrs Shabnam Ahmed was one of them.
Fehmina, herself a paraplegic, was the one person who brought these patients back to life. She gave them the hope to live like normal people. She was the main inspiration for these patients as despite herself being a paraplegic, she is leading a successful life working with the World Bank. She used to come to the centre straight from her office and stayed there till late in the night, teaching them the much needed skill of wheelchair handling, besides the medical side of self-catheterisation and bowel management. The other members of ‘milestones’ also helped much in boosting the morale of these patients. Mr Shafeeq, Mr Aasim Zafar and Mr Aatif are some of them.
Mr Mohsin Hayat provided quality food for over 200 people for five months which required a lot of resources put in place (including financial resources) and maintenance of quality in the food supply.
Raheem and Ameen Badshah, the two young boys, were always there doing whatever they could do from taking care of accounts, to shifting the patients from ambulances to the first floor of the centre. Once the patients recovered a bit, they started teaching and helping them in their studies.
Mona Gohar, a clinical psychologist, came regularly and conducted workshops for the volunteers to enable them to cope with the patients’ psychological needs. She took care of the serious cases herself. She not only worked in the Melody Centre but frequently visited other camps in Islamabad and Balakot with her team.
Dr Asif Malik provided lab facilities free of cost for tests, X-rays, CT scan, etc., besides providing medicines worth thousands of rupees.
The other volunteers who helped a lot include Mrs Abida Anees, Mrs Saira Zafar, Naheed Mushtaq, Nasreen Cheema, Mrs Nasreen Hafeez and her group (they also adopted some of the patients and taking care of their personal needs), Nasreen Amjad of Floral Arts Society, Dr Rubina Qazalbash, Munira Javed, Jane Akhtar and other dedicated workers and nursing staff.
These lines are in acknowledgment of the dedication shown by all the above workers for a noble cause.
MRS A.T. KHAN
Islamabad
THIS is with reference to Qazi Nazim Naeem’s letter ‘Dignity of man’ (July 21) whereby he has suggested that the word ‘woman’ should be inserted in Article 14(1) of the Constitution so that it reads “the dignity of man and woman and, subject to law, the privacy of home shall be inviolable”. He is of the opinion that such a change will “put the fear of the law into the crazy minds of wayward citizens”.
It is not only the dignity of women which is violated in the country as even the men are robbed of their dignity. The recent case of the retired brigadier and his family being picked up by the ISI proves this point.
It seems that Mr Naeem’s views are not too dissimilar from those of Gen Zia as he also thought that merely inserting the word Majlis-i-Shoora in the Constitution in place of the word parliament would change the character of the legislatures. It must be realised that what is required is enforcement of the prevailing laws, and not cosmetic changes as they serve no other purpose besides fooling the nation.
ANIL KHAN LUNI
Lahore
I AM amazed at some people’s ability to forgive each other. Can anyone believe Benazir Bhutto has forgiven Nawaz Sharif and vice versa? It must have been as difficult when Don King forgave his electrician.
Like our self-exiled politicians, I too have decided to forgive a few people. I forgive Sheikh Rashid for all his rhetoric. I forgive Spider Man for stealing my son’s heart and mind. I forgive all those who think Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif are truly democrats. I also forgive Jawad Ahmed for stealing my daughter’s hairstyle. What’s more, I am more than willing to forgive them all at once.
But let’s take a pledge not to forgive anyone who champions the cause of democracy and then goes ‘demo-crazy’ to rob us of our integrity, honour and trust. Both Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif have forgiven each other, and soon they might be ready to hire a ‘Chief Apologising Officer’ for their respective parties. But surely they have to ask the people of Pakistan if they are ready to forgive them. I am sure they will not be forgiven this time.
DR FAREEHA KHANUM
Mardan
I WRITE with reference to a report (July 19) concerning the US policy of de-hyphenation towards India and Pakistan.
Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher rejected India’s objections to the $5 billion arms package offered to Pakistan and declined to be influenced by Pakistani criticism of nuclear deal offered to New Delhi.
While on the face of it this appears to be a fair approach, the fact remains that nuclear energy offered to India allows it a long-term advantage. The energy can be harnessed into any meaningful purpose whereas the F-16s, without the transfer of technology, would be primarily useful in the situation of war and for a limited period of time.
In the modern world general prosperity is the hallmark of overall strength of a nation. Therefore, we should not let such deals mask the underlying implications.
DR RAJA M. ATIF AZAD
Limerick, Ireland.
IN my opinion Fokker planes must be grounded for good. Why should the pilot’s life be put in danger? Cargo has more weight which makes these flights even more dangerous. So how are these planes fit for cargo?
It does not make any sense. Why does PIA love Fokker planes so much?
H. AKBAR
Lauderdale, USA
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