| November 10, 2006 | Friday | Shawwal 17, 1427 |
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In favour of car imports
Ban on Indian channels
Nobel peace prize
US elections
Why Europe is blackmailing Turkey
Too many holidays
Hopeful, not helpful
Pakistan’s foreign policy
Overhead bridge
Justice for all
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
A SUICIDE bomber killed 42 soldiers of the Pakistan army in the Malakand district. Last week when Pakistan army launched an attack on an alleged training camp in Bajaur, lots of politicians and religious leaders claimed that the men killed were innocent people. Some lawyers went on a strike while some journalists went to Bajaur on a fact-finding mission.
Will these politicians and religious leaders now come out in public and condemn the suicide attack and stand behind the army? Will the lawyers go on strike and will respectable journalists go on a fact-finding mission to Dargai to ascertain who was behind this horrendous act of terror?
I guess not because we as a nation do not have a conscience.
SARDAR KHAN
Birmingham, UK
PAKISTAN is now facing the danger of extremism which Afghanistan is already in. The deadly suicide attack against the Pakistani army shows just how extremist the Taliban elements in Pakistan are.
Both Pakistan and Afghanistan have to get rid of these extremist elements. These people are fully armed and have every type of explosives. To then claim that they are innocent is wrong.
OMER KHAN
Kabul
A SWIFT, resolute and equally barbaric response from the militants transpired in Malakand. The incident is yet another opportunity for the rulers to rethink their policies. I hope that the offensive on the army doesn’t become a common everyday event, not that the present regime is doing anything to rectify the present situation.
It is strange that the three countries that were directly affected by 9/11 — namely Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan — are in worse condition today than before 9/11. For Pakistan the American honeymoon is almost over. With the Democrats soon to be in majority, the Bush administration will not be able to cut any further slack to General Musharraf and the pressure for him to leave the top slot will mount in all forms and manifestations.
As soon as the war bills start to get “Nays” in the US houses, the Afghan authority will start to bear the real crunch of the neo-Taliban menace with NATO already conceding their inability to operate on its present strength. Kabul will not be the only target for the Taliban; Islamabad will get significant heat as well.
AKBER MOIZ
Karachi
THE recent suicide bombing in Dargai clearly depicts that the army action against Bajaur was not wrong. Unarmed civilians cannot retaliate by carrying out a suicide attack. It also suggests that people in that region are fully armed and can kill anyone. They have challenged the government’s writ as they do not abide by any rules or regulations.
I think people in Pakistan should now understand that they are all facing terrorism. They should now back the government to eliminate terrorism from society.
HAYAT MALICK
Lahore
ANOTHER sad day in the turbulent history of Pakistan occurred with the brutal slaughter of 42 innocent troops. While the generals were sleeping in their plush and warm beds early in the morning, terrorists were out to settle scores in the wrong places killing innocent young recruits. These unfortunate boys were likely from under-privileged families and were merely trying to improve their lives and those of their loved ones. They must have joined the army thinking they would become heroes someday. They did become heroes but left a whole nation shaken to the root.
How could the military leadership have left such a soft target right next to Bajaur?
How many times are these incompetent generals going to waste the lives of Pakistani soldiers? Haven’t they learned anything from the useless wars they thrust upon the hapless soldiers in 1965, 1971, and 1999?
One hopes that God’s justice will catch up on the incompetence of the Pakistani establishment in general and the army in particular.
HASAN MAHMOOD
Sacramento, CA, USA
THIS is in response to Afsheen Atif’s letter “Against Car Imports” (Nov 8). The influx of imported cars, including reconditioned cars is an excellent move by the government and needs to be modified in order to further reduce import duties. This will make it easier for people to import cars from abroad, or purchase imported cars already in Pakistan.
The local car manufacturers have had a free ride for way too long. Locally manufactured cars are over-priced and poor in quality, workmanship, performance and are a safety hazard on our roads. The local car manufacturers have continued to put pressure to stop imported cars in the Pakistani market so as to safeguard their own interests and profits, while fleecing customers.
The local car manufacturers must be made to understand that they do not have a monopoly in the market. If they want to compete with imported cars, then they need to improve their own performance and prices instead of begging for bans to be placed on imported vehicles.
KIRAN FARUQI
Karachi
AS A consumer I am eternally grateful to the government for relaxing the car import policy. There should be checks and balances against the local automobile industry when they’re fleecing customers for extreme cost-cutting measures and subsequent high profit margins, substandard product quality and to top it off, additional surcharges for purchasing brand new models.
Now that the local automobile industry is facing some competition it’s panicking because its monopolistic practices are under threat. Those against the policy should look at some imported models and compare their quality, interior design and drive with some popular local models. They are sure to be surprised.
One should also ask why there’s such a high demand for imported cars. The common man has had enough of being taken for a ride by the local car manufacturers. It’s time for them to shape up or ship out.
A CONSUMER
Karachi
I WRITE this in response to a letter from a fellow Californian, Javed Altaf, who claimed that his “ancestors brought civilisation to India” (Nov 8).
I suggest that Mr Altaf drive a little north to the University of California at Berkeley or a little south to Stanford University where he will have access to libraries that will bring his knowledge up to scratch!
There is no question that Islam contributed vastly to Indian civilisation as it did to the Iraqi, Egyptian and Iranian ones. However, has Mr Altaf never heard of Sanskrit, the Vedas, the two major epics the Ramayana and Mahabharat, or for that matter the Upanishads? Much of modern mathematics is derived from early Indian sources, communicated to the world by Arab scholars.
Muslims certainly brought glorious architecture to India. However, do classical music and dance not get included in “culture”? Also, he appears to have a north Indian view of things, ignoring the immense contribution that Carnatic music, dance and literature have made to the Indian mix.
I understand that Pakistan has made a conscious attempt to eliminate references to earlier Indian civilisation from its education and wonder if this is an example of that. Certainly none of the many Pakistani friends I had in my student days in Cambridge, London or Stanford (whose names would be recognised by your readers) ever exhibited such ignorance. However, they probably predate the more recent Pakistani curricula.
The first language I learned (in Allahabad in the 1930s) was “Hindustani”, which is a mix of Hindi and Urdu. It should be obvious that the linguistic structure of Urdu is based on earlier versions of Hindi. While many of the nouns are from Farsi or Arabic, most of the verbs appear Sanskrit derived.
DILIP ADARKAR
Manhattan Beach, CA, USA
AWARDING the Nobel Peace Prize to Dr Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank is an acknowledgement of how world peace is only possible when the most severe forms of poverty and deprivation are adequately addressed.
We live in a world where the winners and losers are identified by their financial worth. In Dr Yunus’ view this is because the orthodoxy of economics has given shape to the existing world where all investment is locked in only one category — profit maximisation. However, there’s another aspect of doing business that is more concerned with the promotion of some social objectives than with merely earning bucks. Grameen Bank is the best example of such a business model. It has taught millions of poor people, a majority of them women, how to fish.
Here in Pakistan there is an extreme need to turn around the basic axioms of micro-credit policies practiced by the conventional banks which are based on the collateral offered by the borrowers; the higher the collateral the more chances of getting a loan. There is no room for the poor to get any kind of loan from any of the larger commercial banks in Pakistan. If accepted as a basic human right, the access to credit can play a pivotal role in bringing about an individual’s creativity.
The only widely spread microfinance bank in Pakistan is Khushhali Bank. It provides small loans without collateral. There is still space for this bank to improve upon its policies and practices in order to achieve its core objectives. Appraisal techniques should be used to evaluate potential clients and there should be plans to expand microfinance programs over a period of time so that more people can benefit from small loans.
Microfinance policies should be very well-designed and properly managed. By redesigning our existing institutions and carving out more suitable institutions and policies, a poverty-free world is possible.
AZHAR ALI SHAHANI
Larkana
PEOPLE in the US have criticised the policies of President Bush, particularly in the wake of the Iraq war. There is no denying the fact that the Bush administration involved itself more with issues like terrorism, security and, more importantly, its bias towards the Muslim world. Since 1994, it will be the first time that the Democrats will have their say in the legislation and other important issues of the country.
Democrats, at this time, lack the guidance of genuine leadership. They should keep in mind that the extra votes and governorship in 29 states they got were not due to their political statures or personas, but due to the Bush administrations irrational policies. The Democrats should thus prove a point by coercing the Bush administration into a major policy shift, especially towards Iraq and improving its tarnished image in the Muslim world.
If Pakistan has to prove its “soft image” to the world, so does America. It has been labeled an arrogant imperialistic nation, militarily unwise and morally indefensible
M.TAHIR SHAFI
Multan
THIS is in reference to Karamatullah K. Ghori’s article “Why Europe is blackmailing Turkey” (Oct 21). His views are very balanced, realistic and deserve to be propagated among those who are misled by western propaganda on this issue.
Earlier Dawn had also carried Robert Fisk’s article “Armenian genocide is no secret” (Oct 17). Although Mr Ghori’s article has forcefully countered most of the allegations levelled by Mr Fisk on Turkey, I would, as a native Turk, like to add a few points on this issue. When the Ottoman Empire was taking its last breath and almost all the male Turks had gone to the border areas to fight the war, back home Armenians revolted and reportedly massacred Turks, mostly women and children, in villages. Then Turk soldiers, led by Gen Kazim Karabekir, were sent to crush this rebellion.
As it always happens in war, a few thousand Armenians were killed. In this regard, the figure of Armenian casualties was exaggerated as even the total population of Armenians at that time was not 1.5 million. The French president should be asked if a rebellion takes place against his country, will he send bouquets to crush this revolt?
Moreover, if the great Kamal Ataturk condemned and apologised for the doings of the Ottoman Empire, as claimed by Mr Fisk, the matter should have ended then and there. Again, these were French and Russians who supplied arms and instigated the Armenians to revolt against Ottoman Turks.
Although Turks have buried the past and closed the chapter, unfortunately the Armenians have not forgotten and forgiven Turkey and were responsible for the serial killing of Turkish diplomats in Europe in 1972. It seems that the Armenians settled in various European countries, especially in France, have made their way to French Parliament as well.
Ironically, present-day Germany did not face its past and was not accused of murdering six million Jews during World War II and was whole-heartedly welcome into the European Union.
While campaigning against Turkey on this issue, it is forgotten that present-day Turkey is a secular state. Founded by Kamal Ataturk, it had nothing to do with Ottoman Turks. Minorities, including even Jews and Armenians, were living peacefully in Turkey and feel proud to be Turks. Mr Ghori has very rightly pointed out the timings of digging old graves just to malign and blackmail Turkey to stop its entry into the European Union.
I will, therefore, advise Europeans, especially the French people, that instead of creating friction and division on the basis of religions, they should work for global unity and peace. In this respect, Turkey, due to its peculiar location, can act as a bridge between Muslims and other societies, especially after becoming member of the European Union.
K. MURAD BEY
Karachi
THERE are too many public holidays in Pakistan which are proving to be a drain on our resources and productivity. Holidays like Iqbal Day and Liaquat Ali Khan Day should be abolished. We should realise that these great people contributed tremendously for the well being of Pakistan and celebrating a holiday in their memory is an insult to them. If anything, we should work an extra hour on those days in honour of their sacrifices.
The only holidays we should get are four days each for the two Eids, 14th August, 10th Muharram, 12th Rabiul Awwal, and 25th December. And if we have to take a day off because of a strike, we should make up for it by working on a weekend.
Working hard with zeal and honesty is the only way to make Pakistan a great nation.
KAZI ADIL
Karachi
IT is rather disappointing to see how the leading English newspaper is riddled with typographical errors and poor language. Unfortunately, over the past few years this tendency seems to have become a regular feature.
To quote just one example: on Nov. 2, there was a news item titled “Kerry cancels campaign appearances”. Mr Kerry is mentioned as a presidential “helpful” instead of hopeful. This kind of error is not expected in a paper like Dawn.
Then there is the paper’s repeated reference to the northern parts of the country as “Northern Areas”. Perhaps your staff is unaware that the term “Northern Areas” is the nomenclature for a particular designated zone in the north-east of the country, Gilgit and Baltistan.
These areas were initially governed by the Maharaja of Kashmir, but rebelled and declared their accession to Pakistan on Nov 1, 1947. They existed as autonomous states and agencies till Nov 15, 1973 but were declared regular districts within Pakistan the following day (Nov 16) and given the nomenclature Northern Areas.
In the Oct 8 issue of the Sunday magazine, the caption to the photographs accompanying Zofeen Ebrahim’s article reads: “the October 8 earthquake in the Northern Areas”. The killer earthquake struck the NWFP and Azad Kashmir, not the Northern Areas.
It’s sad to see this once flawless paper deteriorating so rapidly.
SAMINA ZAIDI
Karachi
THIS relates to Mr Mohammad Riaz’s letter “Pakistan’s foreign policy” (Nov 5). Our Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri is reported to have said, on the floor of the National Assembly that America is a superpower and we must bow to its whims or face the same fate as Iraq.
First, this remark conflicts President Musharraf’s repeated declarations that he fears no one.
Second, the valiant people of Iraq are laying down their lives in confrontation with imperialist occupation forces, which is a lesson for all of us.
If issues between countries are to be settled on the basis of who is the superpower and who is not, then how dare we confront India which, whether we admit it or not, is a superpower for us.
It is surprising that a foreign minister ignores the fact that his superpower had suffered defeat in war at the hands of a small and weak country like Vietnam and now dares not take on North Korea. It has had to swallow strong opposition on its doorstep by little Cuba and the mighty Fidel Castro.
If the foreign minister has implied that development and progress comes only through American benefaction, that also is disputable, as the great Mahatir Mohamad of Malaysia has proved otherwise. But why should Pakistan knuckle under to the superpower when Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria and Turkey, which also came under pressure on the war against Afghanistan and Iraq, did not?
No pretense and verbal froth of our rulers can conceal the fact that by becoming a party to the American war against the Muslims, they have only protected their chair while causing very serious harm to Pakistan.
SARDAR MUMTAZ ALI BHUTTO
Karachi
I want to ask the city nazim: how many more years will it take to complete the overhead pedestrian bridge at Lal Koti bus stop on main Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi?
FARHAD BALOCH
Karachi
THIS is in reference to the report about the alleged rape of a woman in Gujranwala by an influnetial family. It is hard to believe that such a family exists in Pakistan. I hope the victim Zohra Bibi and her family get the justice they deserve. I hope law makers find the solution to stop the rapes and send strong signals to other animals — the influentials — cross the country.
TAJ M. WAZIR
Tarzana, CA, USA
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