| September 03, 2006 | Sunday | Sha'aban 9, 1427 |
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F-16 deal
Grieving for Naguib Mahfouz
Traffic control
SBP advisory
An answer to questions galore
Occupation of Hindu Gymkhana
Sindh Textbook Board
‘Provocative and senseless’
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
“I WILL muster all I can -– tanks, artillery and machine-guns -– to kill all the traitors and, if necessary, raze Dhaka to the ground. There will be no one to rule; there will be nothing to rule”, said GOC Maj-Gen Khadim Hussain Raja during the East Pakistan crisis.
No one was surprised at the statement of another military man, Gen Musharraf, while talking about the Balochistan crisis early this year.
In an interview to a private television, he said that “don’t push us ... it is not the 1970s when you could hit and run to hide in the mountains, and this time you won’t even know what has hit you.”
He is true to his words. We still don’t know what hit Baloch leader Akbar Khan Bugti and his associates in the Kohlu mountains.
But what we are seeing is that the killing of Baloch nationalist leader in a merciless action has led to the flare-up of the nationalist movement in the mountains of Balochistan.
The Baloch have unified against the action and brought the province to a standstill for days.
Bugti’s killing has given a new lease of life to the Baloch and Sindhis to struggle for nationalist rights.
The Musharraf government was supposed to capture Osama bin Ladin and end Jihadi ideology from the country.
But it is strange to see that the government has liquidated many nationalist leaders in Sindh and Balochistan, while many others have been missing.
On the other hand, it has unleashed propaganda to malign nationalist leaders and parties that they were not Pakistanis.
The government portrays the Baloch as ‘recalcitrant tribal’, ‘backward’ and ‘primitive’ opponents of modernisation.
Similarly, an impression is being given that Baloch sardars and ‘tumandars’ are seeing their downfall in mega development projects and for that reason they are involved in ‘blackmailing’. It would be better the government should end this prejudice and end the Balochistan operation.
The government should set free all nationalist leaders and workers. The Baloch should be allowed to rule their province.
There is a history lesson that suppression of own people can only invite the ineluctable wrath of the mighty like we saw in East Pakistan.
MANZOOR CHANDIO
Karachi
EVERYONE who can benefit from the extremely unfortunate incident of Nawab Bugti’s death is doing so without the slightest of concern for the Bugti family. The opposition is treating this as a God-sent opportunity and trying to make the absolute most out of it.
The Baloch are trying to ignite things, while the government is painting the late Nawab as a terrorist.
The manner in which Nawab Akbar Bugti, a former chief minister and governor and a person who actually voted for Pakistan in 1947, was killed last week was tragic and cruel to say the least.
But the cold and absolutely callous manner in which he was buried simply cannot be forgotten or forgiven. Is someone trying to tell us that a leader of the stature of Nawab Bugti could only attract 16 people at his funeral? Even the body of a person who has been hanged is handed over to the heirs. Why did the government not hand over the Nawab’s body to his heirs? What did they have to hide? I am sure that these questions will never be answered honestly.
SAJAN H. MALIK
Karachi
THE letters by Mr Khalid Naqshbandi (July 30) and Air Cdre. (r) Iqtidar A. Khan (Aug 20), as also the article, “Implications of the F-16 deal”, by former ambassador Javid Husain, rightly expressed serious reservations about the impending purchase of the fighter aeroplanes.
While Air Cdre. Khan has shared some of his valuable, if frustrating, experience of negotiation with the Americans for similar deals, Mr Husain has detailed some of the highly objectionable conditions attached to the transaction. These include, among others, a special security plan for Pakistan containing over a dozen new and unprecedented elements, which only show Washington’s lack of trust in its frontline ally. One of these requires a US (personnel’s) presence at Pakistani bases for very stringent monitoring of these jet fighters (for about 30 years) and God knows what else.
In addition, these F-16s will be unable to operate in a heavily defended air space of another country (read: India) or to carry atomic weapons. A further disturbing revelation is the remark by senior US official John Hillen that the United States wanted to have access and influence in Pakistan and other similar nations through this strategic and military-to-military relationship precisely to prevent China from having that kind of relationship.
It is most regrettable that during the last one month, people have been very upset about this whole affair but the PAF has not bothered to respond to their queries. One feels let down by the apparent willingness to buy the US planes under adverse conditions. Several other points must also be considered before agreeing to US terms.
a. If Pakistan does not have appropriate deterrent capability to meet the severe challenge posed by the Indian air force with its many times larger and more advanced inventory of warplanes, it may be faced with the Hobson’s choice of using nuclear weapons in a desperate situation. This is something neither Pakistan, the US, India nor anyone else would like to happen.
b. The present offer by Washington could be intended to make Islamabad spend all its resources in buying the F-16s while making them nearly useless against the former’s new strategic partner, New Delhi. Consequently, Pakistan would have no money left to acquire alternatives such as the Mirage 2000-5 or the Swedish Gripen, once it realises its stupidity and helplessness.
c. The nation had been delighted to learn about the joint production with China of the superb JF-17 Thunder jet fighters. However, the new US policy hinted at by Mr Hillen could only drive a wedge between us and our time-tested friend China, which is a very serious matter and needs to be contemplated extremely carefully.
d. Our past experience about the unreliability of the Americans has only been reinforced by the way they have been a party to the pre-planned destruction of one of their closest allies in the Middle East, i.e. Lebanon, by Israel, since it suited Washington’s interests.
As acknowledged recently by a well-known retired army general during a TV interview, the people of this country have made great sacrifices for the sake of their armed forces ever since 1947. So, it would only be fair if the government or the PAF, whoever is responsible for the decision, sets their minds at rest about this project and upholds the nation’s best interests. In view of the US intentions reflected in the very unusual offer and the recent geopolitical events, the best thing is to forget the F-16s, even if these conditions are removed and go for alternatives.
KHALID CHAUDHRY
Karachi
THE death of Naguib Mahfouz on Aug 30 was a great loss, not just for Arab literature, but for world literature as a whole. In his long career, he consistently chronicled Egyptian - and by extension Arab - life from the days of the hated monarchy to the glory years of the popular Nasserite revolution in his novels including the Cairo Trilogy as well as The Harafish and Midaq Alley. When he had finished with that, he took on obscurantist religion, so much so that he actually criticised much of organised Islam in his novel The Children of Gebelawi. For his daring Mahfouz’s was brutally attacked in 1994. His life was mercifully spared but he was left paralysed so that his literary output was curtailed.
It would be wrong to say that Mahfouz was a great writer because he won the Nobel. I think he was lucky enough to be on the right side of the Nobel that year. Lucky because the Nobel Prize committee is not known to reward those who rebel against conformity; certainly not in literature. And a unique tribute to his learning and intellect is the fact that both the Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak and his imperial backer, George W. Bush, have both praised Mahfouz. The author himself would have been very angry about that because his life, as well as his work, was devoted to confronting both dictatorship and imperialism, although not as well as some of us would have liked.
His other great contemporary, the late Abdelrahman Munif , was one to whom the Nobel should have really gone. Munif spent the major part of his life in exile. His amazing trilogy Cities of Salt is a one of a kind exploration and explanation of the rise and fall of oil-fuelled dictatorships.
It is hoped that this year the Nobel prize for literature will go to an Arab artist like Adonis, Elias Khoury or Assiya Djabbar. I favour Khoury purely on the basis that his native country has been destroyed by Israel, and the best way for the world to show solidarity with the victims of Lebanon would be to recognise one of their country’s great artists.
I hope Mahfouz’s work will be made known to a larger number of people outside the Arab world, especially in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Latin America. Here it won’t be difficult to find comparisons with giants like Garcia Marquez, Abdullah Hussein and Quratulain Haider.
RAZA NAEEM
Karachi
THE other day there was an accident in the middle of the road at Sharea Faisal and the car’s bonnet was blowing with fire. I was so surprised that there was no traffic constable and the most awful was to see the police emergency centre a little away from the spot of the incident.
Police officers were present there and enjoying their gathering.
The traffic system of Karachi is offensive from the beginning but it is becoming nastiest day by day because of no proper implementation of laws. Everyone follows the rules which are suitable for them without hesitation.
There are many signals in the city but every other signal is not working and traffic constables are appointed to stand at these places to control the unmanageable flow of traffic but these officials prefer to earn money for their ‘chai pani’ instead of performing their duty.
So, why we always censure our people for not following the rules when our administration is not sincere with their duties?
FOUZIA RASHEED
Karachi
THIS July the State Bank of Pakistan directed all banks to dispatch, free of charge, the statement of accounts on a six-monthly basis to all account holders (PLS/current accounts) within 15 days from the close of half-year, i.e., June 30 and Dec 31.
But to save the expenditure involved, almost all banks have disregarded the SBP instructions. My wife and I have PLS accounts in the National Bank of Pakistan, United Bank Ltd and Habib Bank Ltd. We have not received the year-end (30-6-2006) statements from any of these three banks.
SHAMEEM AHMAD
Karachi
THIS has reference to Najeeb Anjum’s article ‘Questions galore’ (Magazine, Aug 13) The writer depicts the Kargil issue as a fiction, and treating it as totally political in nature.
Although he takes much pain in going through lots of books by Indian authors — who have done a good job to protect the disgrace of Indian armed forces at the hands of Pakistani border guards and Razakars — I wish Mr Anjum could have read Dr Sheerin Mazari’s book, an eye-opener for those who are unaware of the facts.
We must thank our Military Intelligence, those who anticipated well in advance about brutal Indian design after their indulgence in former East Pakistan, and later the Indians seriously undermined the Shimla Agreement signed in 1972 when the Indian army crossed the LoC in Chorbat sector and established 34 posts almost three kilometres inside Pakistan. The most serious offence committed by India was occupation of Siachin in 1984.
In view of the above Indian activities, it was very urgent to keep a track of the Indians. Pakistan intelligence traced important development during this period which was the presence of Russian technical experts who where assisting the Indian army in their trials of high-altitude bunkers in the Kargil area.
By this time, Pakistan moved a contingent of Northern Light Infantry (NLI) — not a part of regular army contingent before the Kargil conflict. Later, local Razakars joined the NLI for surveillance. All these elements formed as Force Command Northern Area (FCNA). In view of the terrain’s nature, the possibility of some NLI men crossing the LoC cannot be ruled out. However, had it been so then, the US satellite could have traced and passed information on to the Indians to earn their confidence.
The Indians were not aware of the strict vigilance of Pakistan. On April 30, 1999 when the Indian tried to invade Turtok, they came across these Jawans of NLI and Razakars already posted in this area. The Indian faced heavy casualties.
At this stage the Indian made a huge preparation to re-attack this area and, simultaneously, started a media game of anti-Pakistan affairs around the world. By showing a Russian map to the media which indicated several Pakistan areas as Indian territory, they tried to project that Pakistan has crossed the LoC.
The Indian assertion about Pakistan invasion also carries no sense because had it been so, then the Pakistan troops would have captured Marpola and Bimbet posts to face the Indian.
In May 1999, the Indian army made a full counter-attack with its formation of 70 and 114 brigades of 3rd infantry division along with their commando battalion, also using heavy artillery, and two squadrons of Indian air force against only a handful of our NLI jawans and Razakars.
These Pakistanis, however, were very motivated and eager to face these Indians and further knew very well that it is a do-or-die affair. The Indian air force launched strikes on May 26, 1999 in which two IAF fighters were shot down on May 27, and the third was shot by their own fire in the Shyok Valley. The IAF used Jaguars and Mirage 2000 but failed in their mission.
Our tactical military action was greatly successful but, unlike Pakistan, the Indians were busy on the diplomatic front. During this period even back-channel diplomacy also started between Pakistan and India. India was even ready to negotiate with Pakistan but prime minister Nawaz Sharif committed the blunder of dashing to Washington on July 4, 1999, which forced the withdrawal from Kargil.
It is clear the US interest was not to play a neutral mediator in this conflict. Even Kissinger visited India apparently carrying US government message not to negotiate with Pakistan.
Moreover, the Indian armed forces massacred our jawans/Razakars during their withdrawal and even blamed Pakistan through their propaganda and biased western media. Just after this, the Indians got a green signal to commit all types of aggression against Pakistan which culminated then in shooting down a naval trainer aircraft flying much inside Pakistan territory on Aug 10, 1999, without a whimper of any international protest.
Considering the above, we are certain we can never take India for any good and must be overcautious even if it is negotiating for trade. This is important for survival of Pakistan.
Lt-Cmdr (r) J. MANNAN
Karachi
THE letter by Ramesh B. Mama of the Pak Hindu Welfare Association ( Sept 1) lamenting the fact that the Hindu Gymkhana has been occupied by the National Academy of Performing Arts (with the government’s approval), has strengthened my feeling that the Hindus in Pakistan and Muslims in India have been paying the price of partition.
How can we claim that we care for the minorities in this country, when we usurp their prime property? Imagine this happening when we are blaming the Indian government for not letting us use Jinnah House in Mumbai to set up our consulate. In fact , Jinnah House, like Mohatta Palace in Karachi, is an evacuee property, but Hindu Gymkhana will not become an evacuee property as long as we have even one Hindu living in Pakistan.
When Babri Masjid was demolished by Hindu fanatics in India, one of my Hindu friends wrote to me from Kolkata : “I can only hang my head in shame.” As a member of the majority community in Pakistan I feel like saying the same when I think of the government depriving the legitimate owners of the Hindu Gymkhana their legacy.
ASIF NOORANI
Karachi
THIS refers to the letter ‘Sindh Textbook Board’ (Aug 30). As regards the writer’s grievances about the supply of textbooks, the STB would like to clarify that heavy rains and prolonged power failures in Karachi affected the supply of textbooks in the market. However, in spite of such hindrances, the Sindh Textbook Board has distributed 16,981,519 free books to 33.8 million students of Classes I to V throughout the province.
The free supply of 7,288,121 textbooks to 8.32 million students belonging to Classes VI to X is nearing completion. These textbooks are being supplied to all government schools. Moreover, 50 per cent textbooks have been supplied in the market to private school students.
However, the staff of the Sindh Textbook Board is monitoring the progress of marketing books on a top priority basis to ensure their full availability at the earliest.
SR. PUBLICATIONS OFFICER
Sindh Textbook Board Jamshoro
THIS has reference to your editorial ‘Provocative and senseless’ (Sept 2). While agreeing with your remarks about Sher Afgan Niazi, minister for parliamentary affairs, I feel that you have not gone far enough in condemning a man with no decency or conscience. The fact that he remains the chief spokesman for the government in the National Assembly speaks volumes for the calibre of both.
However, your criticism of the BNP member’s statement in the House that he would move international institutions to seek justice for the Baloch people is untenable.
In a country where a demand for rights and justice is met only with broken promises and bullets, the only course open is to knock at the doors of international institutions which have been set up for this purpose. i.e. human rights organisations, genocide convention, etc.
I must also refer to your report of the corps commanders’ meeting at Islamabad yesterday at which President Musharraf is quoted as making remarks that no one is above the law and the writ of the government would have to be established. This gives rise to the question that, does this apply only to Wana and Balochistan and the killing of 80-year-old political leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti, or does it also apply to Sindh where criminals sit in high government posts and the police refuse to act against outlaws? If so, then at least the cellphone and car thieves in Karachi must be told.
MUMTAZ ALI BHUTTO
Karachi
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