| July 31, 2006 | Monday | Rajab 4, 1427 |
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Cancellation of PhD degree
Double-facedness in politics
Human trafficking
Bookpost charges
Crafting the right policies
Pitch-dark & bleak
PIA clarifies
Trench drains at Schon Circle
A very late realisation
But the purpose of this letter is to briefly examine some of the parts played by the UK and France for a century now, later followed by the US, for the Middle East scenario as being seen for over six decades.
— In 1910, the UK government planted T.E. Lawrence — better known as Lawrence of Arabia — in the Arab world where he remained up to 1914 as a spy-activist and actively engaged himself, with the help of local people, against the Ottoman Empire, the then caretaker of the region. Ultimately the Britishers defeated the Ottomans and promulgated the Balfour Declaration for the establishment of the state of Israel in the Arab world to the surprise of the Jews the world over. After the collapse of the Ottomans and retreat of the Turkish from the region and under the Treaty of Versailles, the Arab world was divided between the UK and France, another success to plant Israel. Were the Jews really aware of it also?
— The 1916 notorious Sykes-Picot Treaty for the ME, again between the UK and France, weakened and divided the Arab world’s then about eight countries into the present day’s 22 so that none of them could challenge or stand up to Israel, when established.
— The 1917 Balfour Declaration for Israel was meant to be established on Palestinian lands where the then population of Jews was only 6 per cent.
— In 1922, the UK government manoeuvred to obtain the Palestine Mandate from the then League of Nations — another hard work for the establishment of the state of Israel was over. “The League of Nations added its own criminality by adding the element of Balfour Declaration to the covenant on Palestine and authorising the mandatory to take steps towards implementing the Balfour Declaration” (Dawn, July 22, 02).
— In 1947, November 28, the UN gave birth of the state of Israel on Palestinian lands through an American caesarean operation. The story goes that on 26-11-1947 the UN, without assigning any reason, information or notice, postponed the voting in the UN for the Palestine partition plan for two days, enabling the US to manoeuvre to steal some vital votes of smaller countries, otherwise the establishment of the state of Israel was not possible. The delegate of Haiti was seen in tears in his eyes and expressed sorrow that he was not allowed to exercise his free vote. (Dawn 50 years ago today, Dec 8, 1997).
So, Bush’s green signal also means that the real problem in the Middle East is the Arabs themselves.
Z.A. KAZMI
Karachi
THE recent barbaric attacks by Israel on innocent Lebanese people have shown the world the true face of Hezbollah. I had the perception that Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation. Now I have come to know that Hezbollah has a large charity setup with hospitals of world-class standards, schools and religious institutions.
Hezbollah in essence is doing what our Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions used to do, that is take good care of the welfare of the people and not just preach religion. Hezbollah is the only brave force to stand firmly against Israel and the US. Keep up the good work, Hezbollah. Success surely is round the corner. MUHAMMAD ALI
Karachi
THE press has been reporting the evacuation of various foreigners from Lebanon to safe locations by their respective governments. According to some press reports, India has already sent four ships and the evacuation of Indians has begun. India is also helping Sri Lanka evacuate its citizens from Lebanon. Does Pakistan have any citizens in Lebanon, and if so, has our government started any kind of evacuation?
If we have not, or cannot, would it not make sense then to ask India to help our citizens too? If this kind of humanitarian cooperation is too hard for our rulers to swallow, then I ask them to please inform the Pakistani people of what is being done to help our citizens, if any, who are trapped in that war zone.
A. AHMED
London, UK
THIS refers to Sindh University’s decision to cancel the PhD degree of Mr Asad Sheikh because of his alleged “non-serious attitude towards research”. (Dawn, June 7).
It is surprising that Mr Sheikh’s casual attitude towards his research was discovered by members of the Advanced Studies and Research Board only after the award of PhD to him. According to informed sources, at the time of the final seminar Mr Sheikh’s alleged lack of originality of the research was detected by experts. However, on the strong recommendation of the then deans of three faculties and the “teachers’ leader”, the seminar was approved and the thesis was send to the experts.
After the imposition of the HEC’s condition for referring a thesis to foreign experts, an international racket of examiners reportedly operates and awards degrees, principally on receiving benefits or gaining some advantage. Probably the same situation might have developed in this case and the degree was awarded to Mr Sheikh.
But according to well-placed sources, after receiving his degree, Mr Sheikh withdrew his allegiance to the leader and his camp-followers, and as a punitive measure, his degree was cancelled.
To anyone familiar with the politics of the campus, this appears to be a plausible explanation for the cancellation of the degree. For more than 30 years, especially after 2001 onwards, dozens of fake degrees have been bestowed upon the loyalists of the leader. So much so that while considering it as a piece of plagiarism, when one examiner declined to conduct the viva voce of a thesis, instead of referring it to another examiner, the thesis was passed only on the recommendation of one so-called foreign examiner, having scant knowledge of the ground realities of the research . By a majority vote, the Advanced Studies and Research Board conferred the PhD on the leader’s loyalist.
It is hoped that to restore its credibility and that of the university, the Sindh University administration, following its own precedent, will cancel the dubious degrees awarded during the last five years, or will refer them to the examiners from the “top 100 universities” of the world for re-evaluation.
DR MEHTAB ALI SHAH
Jamshoro
THE greatest bane of military rule, apart from its incompatibility with the concept of democracy, is that it prefers to follow a given formula in politics, as is taught in military academies. So, in the domestic and foreign policy formulations, Pakistan’s quasi-military establishment has been following the American agenda without questioning its raison d’etre.
Our foreign policy was (till Israel’s recent naked aggression in Lebanon) geared towards recognising Israel only to carry out America’s absurd bidding. Domestically, it started the search and hunt operation in Fata because the Americans occupying Afghanistan, just across our northern borders, suspected the elusive Al Qaeda’s presence in that area. Even if they were there, they had done nothing to subvert Pakistan.
They did attempt to assassinate the general and his PM after they both tried to capture them in their hideout. Now, since they are, allegedly, behind several assassination attempts on the president, it is neither American dictation nor Pakistan’s own interest but the president’s personal ire that is behind the government’s present policy of ridding Fata of foreign elements.
In today’s Pakistan, which is under a peculiar kind of presidential-federal dispensation, it is, no doubt, the president who calls the shot, but with the full-throated blessings of the chaudhrys of Gujrat.
Qazi Hussain Ahmad knows it, but he finds it convenient to target only Gen Musharraf, uttering not a word against the general’s power base — the chaudhrys — who are living pretty in the neighbourhood of JI’s Ichhra.
JAFAR WAFA
Karachi
ACCORDING to a news item (Dawn, July 17), a batch of 78 Pakistani deportees arrived at Islamabad airport from Spain. They were arrested by the Spanish police when the ferry they were travelling in ran out of fuel close to the port. They were deported on emergency passports. On reaching Islamabad airport, they were handed over to a law-enforcement agency (LEA) for registration of cases against them.
According to another news item (Dawn, July 24), the LEA haas obtained physical remand of the deportees. Meanwhile, parents of some of the deportees alleged that their sons were subjected to severe torture by the FIA during their physical remand. They further alleged that investigators had been demanding money from the deportees.
Gangs of human smugglers have been active in Pakistan for the last several years. They defraud the poor men on the pretext of providing employment abroad. Several such men have lost their lives in transit and hundreds have been caught and deported so far.
The human smugglers are well organised and powerful. They are identified by the victims but they are rarely caught because they operate in collusion with the relevant LEAs. From this end the men are smuggled and at the receiving end they are caught and deported. The game goes on in which the smugglers + LEA become richer and the victims are ruined.
It is time the government woke up and saved the poor people from hardships.
ABDUL SAMAD
Karachi
PAKISTAN Post Office has recently increased the rates for international mailing charges. The charges are divided in four categories: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and the rest of the world. The current increase is between 20 and 25 per cent, except for India in which case it is more than 751 per cent or 7.51 times. An example of this is the Surface Mail Bookpost, which cost Rs.250 (including registration charges) for a five kilo packet until a few days ago.
This was still more than double the cost incurred in India to send a five kilo packet of books to Pakistan, i.e., Indian Rs80. Now, after the current increase in rates, the same packet of books will cost Rs1,880 (including registration charges). There seems to be a mistake somewhere. And if it is not a mistake, this mind-boggling increase in one of the four categories needs to be explained. I request the director-general of Pakistan Post to look into the matter.
FAISAL AHMED
Karachi
IN SPITE of the criticism being levelled by many politicians, I agree with President Musharraf when he says that three rebel Baloch sardars have been pampered unnecessarily for 40 years, though they have been hurting their own people and the nation as well (Dawn, July 21). They do need “to be fixed” so development can proceed rapidly in Balochistan but the government must be extremely careful that no innocent persons get harmed.
However, I disagree with the approach so far adopted in Waziristan where many of our compatriots have been cornered or attacked needlessly. According to a number of reports, convoys of the army when hit by improvised explosive devices and despite remaining unhurt opened indiscriminate fire killing and injuring many people in the vicinity who would have had nothing to do with the explosion.
Such acts are bound to create hatred against the army and the government and could lead to a civil war. The policy of reconciliation being followed by the new governor of the NWFP seems appropriate.
There is a need to be doubly careful when launching operations because some leaders with vested interests try to exploit such situations for their own ends. Thus, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan has tried to make the government actions in the restive Fata look like a deliberate targeting of the Pakhtuns (Dawn, July 8).
This is a calumny calculated to exploit the sentiments of our Pathan brethren to make them sympathetic towards his party’s demand — an opportunity that Afghanistan and India would very eagerly seize. The ANP had gone out of business during the time the mujahideen and Taliban were in power and there was no demand to annual the Durand Line.
He must be knowing that the military operations would have been carried out regardless of which ethnic group happened to be residing there. In another statement, he has said that over two million Pakhtuns have been killed in Afghanistan in the name of jihad, as if somebody over here was responsible for that (Dawn, July 21).
Everybody knows that it was the traditional friends of the ANP in Moscow who invaded that country and, when the proud Afghans opposed to this occupation set up a resistance movement with outside help, the Soviets bombarded the country indiscriminately, which caused all that loss of lives and made five million refugees.
Instead of being honest and laying the blame on them, Mr Khan has forgotten all that and how the party leaders used to visit Moscow frequently. The Baloch leaders also have been misleadingly trying to show the crackdown in the province as an attempt to usurp its resources rather than a counter-insurgency move and are calling for EU and UN intervention.
The third issue pertains to our policy about the Middle East. The government has announced plans for dispatch of relief goods to Beirut in response to an appeal by the Lebanese prime minister for international assistance, which is a very laudable step and all possible material and diplomatic help must be provided to counter Israel’s utterly barbaric attacks on the country.
However, Islamabad made no similar move in case of Palestine where millions of people are suffering from atrocities, the employees have not even been getting their salaries since January and medical facilities have almost finished. The offer of $3 million as aid to the Palestinian foreign minister during his visit to Pakistan last month is of no practical use because of the western ban on transfer of funds to the Hamas government (Dawn, June 8). Instead of doing what Washington and Tel Aviv want it to do, the government must do what the Pakistanis and the victims of Israeli aggression undertaken with US backing wish to be done.
A CONCERNED CITIZEN
Karachi
‘PITCH-DARK and bleak’, an article by Mr Sabihuddin Ghausi from which we learnt that on the purchase value of Rs16 billion of the KESC, the investor has been handed over Rs22 billion in debt collection. A gift voucher of Rs6 billion on an investment of Rs16 billion. What a sale.
This explains the management’s attitude towards the people of Karachi. They apparently are no longer interested in generation and distribution of power but in debt collection. Where on earth would the KESC’s new management get a return on their investment with such promptitude?
The people of Karachi would also demand that the Privatization Commission should make public the guarantees they obtained from the new management to revamp the entire system to the people’s advantage. We hope that all new equipment to be purchased by the KESC would be through public tenders completely visible, clean and clear and not through private negotiations and with a particular foreign company.
The KESC is yet another scam in the feather of the government. At this rate Pakistan shall lose all national assets at throwaway prices.
MAHER ALAVI
Karachi
APROPOS of Mr Roshan Lal Basantani’s letter ‘At home and abroad’ (July 7), PIA clarifies that it provides all possible assistance and service to its valued passengers, both on the ground and on flights. The passenger has complained about the behaviour of the PIA staff at Mumbai airport.
A complaint was indeed registered by the passenger and on investigating the facts it was revealed that Mr Basantani’s was carrying excess baggage and was accompanied by an Indian parliamentarian who requested the flight supervisor to waive payment on excess baggage, as well as to upgrade him to business class.
The flight supervisor excused himself on both the demands And, subsequently, the passenger paid for 30 kgs excess baggage and also paid the difference of fare for the upgrade. Apparently, this was the reason for Mr Basantani’s complaint.
CAPT HASSAN JAFFERY,
Public Affairs & Communication, PIA, Karachi
AS a nation we are not particularly good at dealing with criticism and yet criticism is an essential tool which allows us to learn from our actions and move forward. Take for example the KPT underpass at Schon Circle, Karachi. This project was rammed through arbitrarily without adequate study of either the requirements or the consequences. Even though it has been operational for a few months, there has been no attempt in the media to assess its efficacy or to identify its shortcomings.
A detailed assessment is overdue and should follow but a significant flaw in the design needs to be pointed out now. The underpass was designed with trench drains at the bottom of each of the two ramps. These drains collect the rain that falls on the ramp and conducts it to a large underground tank. From there a pump removes the water and dumps it into the sewerage system.
However, there needs to be a set of trench drains at the top of ramp as well. These would serve to collect rainwater from the surrounding roads and prevent it from flowing down the ramps into the underpass. Since neither the underground tank nor the pump was sized to handle the rainwater runoff of the whole neighbourhood, it is quite likely that in the event of a heavy downpour the underpass will be flooded.
Lastly, since the electricity is the first service to be interrupted in the event of rain, the pump would probably never get a chance to function. This needs to be addressed urgently and remedial steps taken to rectify the flaw.
ARIF BELGAUMI
Karachi
IT was a pleasure to read your editorial ‘A reminder to the president’(July 25). You have got the whole history of 59 years in two columns. Well done. May I add a triangle, which remains round the neck of our country. This triangle is feudalism, army and mullahs. They help each other. So far democracy shall remain a goal difficult to achieve.
These retired generals were the part and parcel of the mess that we are in. They did nothing when they had uniform and were governor, ministers, etc. They organised the so-called referendum. They should be sorry for what they have done to this country. I am sure that the future generation will never forgive them.
KHUDA BUX M
Karachi
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