| August 28, 2006 | Monday | Sha'aban 3, 1427 |
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What makes us invincible?
What if it rains tomorrow?
Weeding out fake trade bodies
Whither postal services?
Lifeguards at Karachi beach
Double standards everywhere
Violence at Quaid’s Mazar
Sheikh Hasan Nasrullah
Diplomatic enclave in Karachi
PTCL blues
Readers are requested to restrict their comments to a maximum of 400 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for reasons of clarity and space. Letters, including those by e-mail, should carry the complete postal address of the sender. The views expressed in these columns do not necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper.—Editor
AFTER 9/11 various doctrines and theories have emerged in the US, such as the Bush doctrine of pre-emption. Now, Vice-President Dick Cheney has come out with a new doctrine, probably meant to ‘shock and awe’ the Pakistanis and other Muslims (Dawn, Aug 1).
This has been revealed in Ron Suskind’s recent book, One Per Cent Doctrine: Deep Inside America’s Pursuit of its Enemies since 9/11. According to him, Mr Cheney laid it down during a conversation with senior policymakers in Washington, relating to some Pakistani scientists’ alleged help given privately to Al Qaeda in acquiring WMDs.
He reportedly said: “If there is one per cent chance that Pakistani scientists are helping Al Qaeda build a nuclear weapon, we have to treat it as a certainty in terms of our response.” The implications of this need no elaboration. Some hawkish American analysts like Sebastian Mallaby have seized upon this to argue that military action by India against Pakistan would be justified due to the suspicion of the involvement of Pakistan-based groups in the Mumbai blasts.
While nobody can stop such people from over-exerting their imaginations, one can point the dangers inherent in letting doubts and suspicions - the precursors of paranoia - from getting the upper hand. It is a common experience that most of our doubts turn out to be false. Hosea Balou had put it very eloquently: “Suspicion is far more apt to be wrong than right; oftener unjust than just. It is no friend to virtue, and always an enemy to happiness.” What better proof could be given than the case of the non-existent Iraqi WMDs and Al Qaeda connection that is causing so much trouble to the Iraqis, the Americans themselves and the world at large?
American psychiatrist and a leading exponent of self-development, Dr Wayne Dyer, has explained the difference between believing something and knowing it. In his book, Your Sacred Self, he says: “Since your beliefs are (often) imposed upon you, they are literally the inner workings of other beings within you.” An example of this is the campaign by some American leaders and officials before the invasion of Iraq to make everyone believe that the country possessed WMDs, which most Americans and many other people had started believing.
As events have shown, beliefs can change with time. The disintegration of the USSR, the re-unification of the two Germanys or the newly evolved strategic partnership between the US and India are other examples that hardly anybody had believed in 1980 to be possible.
It should now be easier to appreciate what Dr Dyer means when he notes that belief is a mental exercise whereas knowing is a physical one, though it does originate in the mental realm. He further explains that doubts are produced by the ‘ego’ and are not a part of the higher spiritual self. Also, that love is the truest antidote to fear and doubt.
This is probably what the American neo-cons need to learn most because they do appear to lack this supreme emotion, at least when it comes to the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims, 1.3 billion Chinese, the hundreds of millions of Latin Americans and other peoples as well their own political opponents in the US.
Another suspicion that seems to be turning into a certainty for quite a few Americans (and some Europeans) is that the Muslims are waging a war against the Christian West, in a clash of civilizations. The truth only is that some disparate and tormented Muslim groups struggling in various parts of the world to overthrow foreign occupation and secure their human rights are simply doing what the Nobel-prize winning writer John Steinbeck had predicted people would do in such circumstances. He wrote: “Repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed.” The fight in the Middle East against Israel and its supporters can readily be understood in this light.
A PHILANTHROPE
Karachi
THIS is with reference to Mr Rafiq Siddiqi’s letter ‘What makes us invincible?’(Aug 23). The writer seems to be very depressing while sharing his pseudo-intellectual views on the topic. He claimed that poverty in India is 10 times worse than that in Pakistan. I would ask him what about the democratic norms and the institutional democratic system itself in India? Is it also 10 times worse than that in Pakistan? The answer is certainly a ‘big no’.
Weakness invites aggression. But who makes the nation of 160 million weak? It is the so-called defence budget, which is often spent on military might. Poverty has nothing to do with making the military mighty more invincible, leaving the nation at the hands of those who do not know how to swim?
Pakistan’s history is clear like a mirror. In its 59 years, more than three decades the generals have ruled and put forward their rule books by violating the Constitution. Pakistan’s biggest enemy is within its own territory, that is the army, which has made its country within a country.
I would like to ask Mr Siddiqi a few questions: how many times has an Indian army taken over/thrown the democratic governments in India in 59 years? How many Indian generals do you know as chief martial administrators?
How many times have you heard that the Indian judiciary has compiled the doctrine of necessity to invite an unconstitutional president to rule? How many times a legal framework order has been made to run a puppet military regime in India? How many times the constitution has been violated and put into abeyance in India? How many times an elected prime minister has been hanged at midnight in India?
How many days the US president remained in India and how many hours did he stay in Pakistan?
I am sure answers to the above questions are pretty well understood by this nation of 160 million. It is better we first look to ourselves before pointing fingers at others. India is proud to have the longest democratic institution in the world. They have a Muslim president, a Sikh prime minister. And what we have: a military general and foreign-assembled prime minister.
ADVOCATE QAZI NAZIM NAEEM
Hyderabad
THIS refers to the article ‘What if its rains tomorrow?’ (Metro Voice column, Aug 11) by Maheen A. Rashdi. While it is true that the battered civic system of the metropolis could not respond to the onslaught of recent torrential rains, it is equally important that things should be placed in their correct perspective.
The allegation that Nehr-i-Khayyam, the main outfall drain of Clifton, Bath Island and Defence, was not cleaned ahead of the rains which became the root-cause of choking of the drainage system with catastrophic effects is half truth and in all fairness it needs to be seen in a realistic scenario.
The statement that the so-called Nehr-i-Khayyam is under the territorial and administrative control of the DHA and Clifton Cantonment Board is not correct since only a portion of the drainage canal falls in DHA jurisdiction. The same was cleaned as a precautionary step prior to the monsoon rains. No earth-filling whatsoever has been carried out in the canal to restrict the passage of its width.
The situation of standing rainwater and sewers in some of the streets and lanes of the DHA points to a complex impasse where due to stolen or missing manhole covers the plastic bags thrown unscrupulously by some people have literally choked the gutters. The available resources are strategically employed to redress the situation whereas in some areas DHA/CCB emergency teams are apparently not seen in action as the suction and drainage pumps/hydrants have been diverted to areas in a worse condition.
In the wake of resource constraints vis-a-vis enormity of the situation, every area in the DHA and the CCB is, however, being looked after on its turn under a strategic plan.
LT-COL ® RAFAT NAQVI
PRO, DHA
Karachi
THIS refers to Mr Ihtasham ul Haq’s article (Dawn Economic and Business Review, Aug 7) and Mr M. Bakali’s letter (Aug 17) on the issue of weeding out fake trade bodies.
To address this issue, Justice (r) Saleem Akhtar needs to go and dig deep to see how do trade bodies run their affairs, who are their members, are people affiliated to a particular trade body doing the same business in which they are elected, or do they represent some other business segments?
Some businessmen frequently participate in trade bodies’ elections. One needs to know their motive behind participating in a trade body’s election, how much time can they spend in doing research work for boosting exports of Pakistan?
In order to provide a chance to every member of the business community to participate in the election process of a trade body, the tenure of all elected trade bodies in the country should be restricted to one year only, so that new people with fresh ideas should get a chance to get elected in the next election. This will also help to end the hegemony of any particular person or group.
Moreover, a member elected on a trade body should not hold the office of any executive post or should not be a member of another trade body simultaneously, so that he should be able to fully devote his time to running the affairs of one trade body.
The criterion of becoming a member of any trade body should not be restricted to the few in the country. For this, the fees of becoming ordinary members and life members of trade bodies need to be revised downwards so that people who cannot pay exorbitant amount of membership fee but have vision and thrust should also be eligible for becoming members of any trade body. It is only this way that any fake trade bodies can be weeded out.
SYED A. MATEEN
Karachi
MY son, who is studying in Melbourne, Australia, sent a mobile set for his sister in Pakistan. The parcel weighed 430 grams when it flew from Australia. When it landed in Karachi and was opened for check, its weight was reduced to 420 grams. The box was wrapped and registered at No. 685, dated 9.8.06, from International Mail Office, Karachi, weighing 420 grams. During its journey from Karachi to Kotri and Petaro, it lost its weight by 190 grams and mobile set and its accessories evaporated in the air because of very high temperatures.
Well done, postal services, you are keeping the flag very high.
I received the box being ashamed at ourselves. Can the post master-general or the authorities concerned do anything and punish the culprit in a befitting manner so that others may learn a lesson. The cost of the mobile set in Pakistan is about Rs 10,000. With my fingers crossed, I shall be waiting for the high-ups concerned to come into action.
PROF. J.N. RAHI
Petaro
PAKISTAN Day was celebrated by many members of the public by going to the beach for the day. For at least two families, Pakistan Day will also be an anniversary for the death of a loved one.
Two people drowned while swimming at Karachi’s popular beaches. Not only that, but an ignorant mob seriously assaulted a PALS lifeguard who arrived on the scene to help.
Lifeguarding is a thankless task. I’m well aware of this. In the past 16 years I’ve been a beach lifeguard in New Zealand, Australia and Japan. I’ve rescued thousands of people, and very few have the heart (and sometimes the breath) to say thank you. It’s no different here in Karachi.
I was part of an international delegation that trained Karachi’s PALS lifeguards in 2004. These are the only trained lifeguards in Pakistan. They perform an important social role in keeping the beach safe for members of the public, most of whom seem incapable of staying afloat.
Why then do they get no support from the corporate sector (by way of sponsorship for lifeguard wages), the local government (by way of infrastructure and access to facilities), the police (who fail to prevent harm to the lifeguards and public alike), or members of the public (who are all to keen to assault a lifeguard when a drowning occurs, but never so much as a ‘thank you’ when a drowning is prevented)?
The thing is that both drownings on Pakiatan Day were preventable. Blame cannot be levelled at the lifeguards (who managed to perform 16 rescues the previous day, apart from over 100 preventive actions and first aid treatments).
One drowning occurred out of sight of the closest lifeguard tower on an obviously unpatrolled stretch of beach. Why would you not choose to swim in an area where you can be saved?
The second drowning involved the victim (or a member of the victim’s family) bribing a police officer (who ought to have known better) to gain access to a beach which has been publicly declared as too dangerous for swimming and, hence, closed (Cape Monze). Again, this stretch of beach is unpatrolled during the monsoon season.
One of the PALS lifeguards from a nearby patrolled beach was alerted to the fact that a drowning had occurred or was occurring, he arrives there prepared to help and is assaulted by an angry mob (including members of the victim’s family, and the man that asked him to come and help). The lifeguard was slapped, kicked, punched to the ground and had his clothes torn off. For what? Trying to help?
The beach-going people of Karachi need to realise that life-guarding is a difficult and serious job. Try looking after the lifeguards, give them some cold water every now and then, ask them where the best place to swim is, assist them in their corporate sponsorship which supports their meagre wage but, above all, be thankful for the 2,000 plus rescues they’ve performed and the countless lives they’ve saved in the last two years when you leave your rubbish on the beach and get back into your cars and drive home.
It’s highly likely that they’ve saved the life of someone you know.
HUGH ROBERTS
Auckland,
New Zealand
IT was saddening for all Muslims to hear of the attack on the Shiite rally in Baghdad where about 20 were killed and over 200 injured. Such bitterness amongst Muslims will only make things so much easier for those who wish to destroy us. On one side the Americans are bombing and killing Iraqis, while on the other hand Sunni and Shia brothers are thirsty for each other’s blood.
How convenient it must be for the enemy to save its ammunitions since we are wasting ours. Recently I was watching talk show on the news regarding western policies and their double standards. Two out of the five participants were Muslims.
They were arguing about how two-faced western governments are. Another participant raised a very interesting question. He asked, “Why do Muslims talk about western double standards when they are busy killing each other and is this not double standards?” To this the Muslims had no answer.
It is high time Muslims were united all around the world. The time is not far when Iran, Pakistan and a few more Arab countries will soon be bombed also. We have divided ourselves for all the wrong reasons. I do not know when we will realise this. We are digging a trap for each other, only to find ourselves trapped in the same one together. May God have mercy upon us.
Dr. M. SHOAIB H. SIDDIQUI
Leeds, UK
PEOPLE need strong and wise leadership that can steer them in the right direction - one that will teach them to respect and tolerate each other under all circumstances and adhere to norms of responsible public conduct(editorial, Aug 18).
Sir, let your hopes come true. But so far our leadership have only reared up brain-washed breed of mobs trained in as violators of calm and peace and as street fighters which some times seems to be a little short of civil disobedience.
GHEEWALA
Karachi
THE Lebanon war has proved that Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hasan Nasrullah is not only a strategic master of war but also a thinker par excellence.
I doubt if he can be restricted to Lebanon vis-a-vis Israel.
Z.A. KAZMI
Karachi
AS security of a diplomatic mission in a country is the prime duty of its government, the suggestion thrown by Mr Qutubuddin Aziz, a former diplomat, sounds very timely, especially when providing security to each and every diplomatic mission in Karachi is becoming problematic each coming day (letter, Aug 23).
Had such a suggestion occurred to our wiseacres in the government and a diplomatic mission was set up earlier in Karachi, research organizations like the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee, PICRT, the newly-established Pakistan Cottons Standard Institute (PCSI) with foreign aid, Wool Test House and godowns located on 27 acres of land on M.T. Khan Road, Karachi, would not have to give oblation of their buildings for relocation of the US or any other consulate in their place?
It is, however, still not late to heed. Mr Aziz’s suggestion deserves consideration by the federal government to save destruction of government heritage or private buildings to give their sites to a foreign mission, if it is enamoured of it. One feels that as Karachi is getting choked by new constructions, areas on the Superhighway can still be explored for the proposed diplomatic missions’ enclave in Karachi. It would not only be in the great public interest but also satisfying to the foreign missions to be located at one place. In this age of fast communications, distance is no problem.
It is hoped that Karachi would follow in the footsteps of Islamabad, which already has one such diplomatic enclave. Better late than never. The Sindh government would also not have to spend heavily on the security of foreign missions that are scattered here and there in Karachi.
M. SHAFIQUE AHMED
Karachi
IT is more than a week now that, like a shipwreck swept ashore an island, I am not in contact with friends and relatives in town — courtesy, the privatised PTCL.
The two telephones, one each in the ground and upper floor (4937240 and 4932668) are dead without any prospect of their being revived as the area lineman informs me. Perhaps, the underground cable has been irreparably damaged, partly because of the rains and partly because of the city nazim’s overactive ‘miners and sappers’ in town.
Hoping that the new management will be different from the old one, I assure myself that remedial action will not be delayed anymore and my telephones will be set right soon to rehabilitate me in my own house.
JAFAR WAFA
Karachi
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