| December 06, 2006 | Wednesday | Ziqa'ad 14, 1427 |
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Study of C. Asian countries
Supreme Court backlog
Pakistan has a chance
Change in the air!
We need the army?
Taxis without fare meters
Negligence not uncommon
Multiplying the zero
For ‘security reasons’
Afghans’ affairs
PTCL clarifies
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
THIS is with reference to an article on the recently passed Women’s Protection Bill titled ‘No more under the thumb’ (Dawn, Dec 3) by Andleeb Abbas.
Although your newspaper has always taken a balanced and progressive position on social issues of such national importance as women’s rights, this particular article seems to see no virtue in the PPP’s principled stand on women’s empowerment, particularly with reference to the Hudood Ordinances, which it has consistently struggled to repeal since their undemocratic imposition on Pakistan.
It is a matter of public record that many PPP activists have faced baton-charges and tear-gassing at the hands of security forces, and survived regular internment for agitating all over the streets of Pakistan since 1979 for the repeal of these infamous ordinances.
Although the two PPP governments were unable to repeal these laws due to lack of support from coalition partners in both its truncated terms, executive orders to release all prisoners on Hudood charges actually were carried out, with bail bonds guaranteed by the state, and the first National Women’s Commission under Nasir Aslam Zahid appointed to build public support to repeal these laws was also set up, as was the Yahya Bakhtiyar Committee to repeal the Hudood Ordinances.
The punishment of whipping was also abolished by the PPP government in 1996, and the first Women Empowerment Bill to be actually moved in 2002 in parliament, which included a total repeal of these ordinances, was moved by the PPP, which initiated the parliamentary discourse and forced government reaction in the current legislatures by repeatedly introducing five bills for empowering women.
Anyone challenging the PPP’s initiatives for women at a time when no party, including this regime, wanted any part of such reform, can easily check the National Assembly record for when other parties and individuals started slowly following suit.
For your writer to suggest that the PPP’s support for the current bill was part of some deal that the party chairperson had worked out with the government is not just untrue but hurtful to a party which has campaigned consistently for women’s rights as part of a clear manifesto commitment. It is common knowledge that the PPP’s votes and amendments were vital to the passage of the current bill because the party’s chairperson had a public commitment to support women’s reform initiatives, and would not have wanted her party to be remembered for standing on the wrong side of any venture that provided even a half measure of relief to women without access to justice.
Under Ms Benazir Bhutto’s leadership, the PPP not only faced opposition in the Senate for introducing an Honour Killings bill in her second government, but stood alone amongst all political partners and groups in challenging such entrenched tribal customs. Despite this growing climate of hostility to human rights reform by many political players in Pakistan, the PPP has always championed a policy agenda that is progressive, and will continue to do so.
SHERRY REHMAN
Information secretary Pakistan People’s Party
THE need for establishing societies or departments in our universities for promoting studies of history, culture, economy, political set-up and governmental structures in Muslim majority countries of Central Asia is now becoming urgent because of the global changes and the looming possibility of Pakistan becoming a transit point for the Central Asian region’s economic ties with the southern and East Asian countries.
Almost all the Central Asian countries, notably Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgystan and Kazakstan, have enormous cultural and historical ties with Pakistan. Uzbekistan was the matrix and home to some of the most illustrious scholars of Islam such as Imam Bukhari and their works are treasured in many old libraries in Uzbekistan.
The Central Asian region in the heyday of its glory exported the fruits of its learning to many other Muslim countries, including Muslim-ruled India.
The venerated Muslim shrines of Data Ganj Bakhsh in Lahore and Lal Shahbaz Qalander in Sindh have many architectural similarities with the huge mosques and mausoleums in Bukhara and Samarkand.
The giant tall towers one sees in these lovely cities of bygone centuries look in a way similar to the Muslim-built Qutub Minar in the outworks of Delhi.
Kudos go to the many European researchers who photographed these sites and wrote books about them which are prized possessions of eminent libraries and universities in the US and the UK. It is time Pakistan learnt more about Muslim Central Asia.
QUTUBUDDIN AZIZ
Karachi
THIS letter is with reference to the news item ‘Backlog slashed by two-thirds, says SC’ (Dec 4) The report of the Supreme Court presented to the president by the chief justice of Pakistan gives the number of cases pending before the Supreme Court at the beginning of the year, the number of cases disposed of during the year; and the number of cases pending at the end of the judicial year. But no mention is made of the number of complaints brought to the notice of the SJC by the president, by the media or by citizens of Pakistan through complaints, against judges of the superior judiciary.
Article 209 is the only article in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan meant for accountability of the members of superior judiciary. Should it not have been in order if the number of cases entered in the register as required by sub-section(5) of para (5) of Supreme Judicial Council Procedure 2005 during the year, the number disposed of and the number of such complaints pending before the council were also disclosed?
Transparency in performing justice and carrying out accountability is very essential; especially when there were official claims of ‘Justice for all’, and ‘Rule of law’ made during the international jurists conference held in Islamabad to observe the golden jubilee of the Supreme Court. Or should the people of Pakistan believe that no such complaint was received by the SJC from anybody at all since Nov 22, 2005?
S.A.K. RAHMANI
Lahore
I BELONG to the generation that saw Hanif Mohammad score 41 and 14 in the first Test match in Dhaka against India in 1954-55. I was a student of Class III then. My feelings for the Pakistan cricket team have not weakened over the years, although understandably it is now my second favourite team after my own Bangladesh team.
Being practical, I realise that Bangladesh has no chance of lifting the World Cup, although with luck it might give India or Sri Lanka a scare. Pakistan, on the other hand, definitely has a chance.
Or rather I should say had a chance. Your handling of the Shoaib and Asif problem, and that too so close to the World Cup, was abysmal. All of us — and there is a sizable number — who want Pakistan to win the WCC 2007, feel that you should do something about Shoaib and Asif. The other thing that I want to mention is about the inclusion of Salman Butt.
He has tremendous potential and reminds one of Saeed Anwar who was dropped before his time. Even Imran Nazir may have his technical flaws, but shouldn’t the authorities concerned try to help him correct those rather than discard him?
DILIP KUMAR MUKHERJI
Dhaka, Bangladesh
AS the national elections approach and a possible political career beckons, the fire and angst seems to be dying fast from Mr Ayaz Amir’s soul. In his latest column (Dec 1) he goes as far as to suggest that a political arrangement between Benazir Bhutto’s PPP and the military establishment would be a good thing for Pakistani politics.
Such an arrangement accompanied Ms Bhutto’s return to Pakistan in 1988 and it bode ill for both the people and the politics of Pakistan.
There is no reason to believe a repeat of such an arrangement would have any different results, least of all the passage of the Women’s Protection Bill. Mr Amir does not come across as a person naive enough to believe that this bill will do any woman in Pakistan any good. If anything, it makes proving cases of rape and sexual harassment even more difficult than it was before. None of the provisions of the bill indicate that innocent women will get any respite from sex crimes or persecution on false pretences of immorality.
The argument that the passage of the bill signals curtains for the MMA also rings hollow. The MMA is not Gen Musharraf’s B-team; it is the military establishment’s indispensable ace of spades, always ready to bail the army out when political legitimacy is needed. Mr Amir has earned a lot of respect and admiration for the passion and candour in his articles; it would be tragic if he too joined the ranks of the milquetoast writers vitiating modern journalism.
KHWAJA KHUSRO TARIQ
Bellmore, USA
THIS refers to Saifuddin Kamran’s letter (Nov 18). The question is, do we need the army or is it the other way around? Mr Kamran is right that Pakistan is paying to keep our army.
The army in turn has conquered Pakistan four times. Gone are the days when the melodies of Noorjehan could be heard from every teashop or most trucks on their tail boards displayed ‘Pak Fauj ko salaam’.
Before the present conquest of Pakistan by the army we had almost run out of enemies. We enjoyed the best of relations with the Taliban in Kabul while Russia was thousands of miles away.
We had little cause to fear an attack from Iran or China, and with the recently-acquired nuclear weapons India was fairly neutralised. But with the army back in command, we seem to be surrounded by enemies on our east and west.
Do we need the army in such circumstances? Can the army provide security to the nation? These are open questions. Yes, defence of the country we do need.
An alternative could be a general draft system. Under this, all able-bodied male Pakistanis between the ages of 18 and 25 years may be required to put in one year of compulsory military service.
This will not only economise the defence bill but will also bring about closeness between the civil and military sections of society and perhaps end the seemingly never-ending cycle of military rule after every few years.
TARIQ MAHMOOD
Peshawar
IT is not understood why the authorities concerned have given such a freedom that more than 90 per cent of the city taxis and auto-rickshaws are plying on the roads with defective or no fare meters?
It is often very irritating to the commuters, who are hiring taxis or auto-rickshaws and have to go by the amount of fare demanded by a cab or an auto-rickshaw driver. The problem is so deep-rooted that it requires a long traffic campaign to tame them.
Sometimes a commuter coming from abroad is constrained to feel that the taxi drivers in this city are given an official immunity to ply their motor vehicles at their sweet will and their word is the last word. Karachi had been the seat of the federal government, is an international city and, above all, is the birthplace of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who gave us this country after lots of struggle and sacrifices. It reflects on the authorities concerned if the public is constantly irked by bad roads and the wayward attitude of the city transport.
All governmental or nongovernmental agencies which love Karachi and its welfare, in one way or the other, are requested to take notice of the pathetic condition of the city transport and the commuters who are at their mercy.
The city needs a traffic system where the rules and regulations of driving are not violated by anyone, poor or influential. If need be, the existing rules and punishment to the violators be made more stringent. In the neighbouring countries driving rules are so strict that no driver can dare violate them. When it can be done by our small neighbours, why cannot we afford to do it in our country?
SHAFIQUE AHMED
Karachi
I AM a regular reader of Mr Ardeshir Cowasjee’s column but this time, I am sorry to say, his column (Nov 26) seemed to me very partial. Mr Cowasjee is absolutely right as far as the matter of our negligence towards praising the great Pakistani scientist, Dr Abdus Salam, is concerned. Dr Salam is truly a national hero as he did a lot to improve the image of his country.
However, all his work and our negligence have nothing to do with his religion. Sadly, our nation has a habit of ignoring the very people who have done the most for us. Therefore I feel that the religion issue discussed in the column was irrelevant.
SUMAIYYA
Karachi
MY commendation to Mr Cowasjee for his column ‘Lest we forget’: he has said it like it is.
It’s a pity that a person of the stature and abilities of Dr Abdus Salam was not recognised and discriminated against in his own country just because he belonged to a certain sect.
Dr Salam was a person of impeccable integrity who was exceptionally innovative in his field of knowledge and expertise.
Unlike Dr A.Q. Khan, Dr Salam never trumpeted his achievements or indulged in self-glorification. Nobody can ever point a finger at him for personally benefiting financially or otherwise. The sum of money awarded to him along with the Nobel Prize was given to his old high school in Jhang for the development of the science department.
ZAHID SAEED
Mississauga, Canada
“PAKISTANI officials insist they were shown satellite images of people training in Bajaur madressah” (Nov 27).
So, there need not to be a second thought that what was shown (and then taken away) come from the US. This makes Tanvir Ahmed Khan more right when he wrote the same day that “Islamabad has reached the dead-end where the US is to be believed blindly”: otherwise a layman, that I am, has not yet forgotten that the US, in 1990, handed over to the Saudi rulers the doctored satellite images of a non-existence Iraqi build-up on Saudi Arabia border for the sake of acquiring the kingdom’s military bases and other facilities for the Gulf War I.
But the kingdom then had a bigger stake in Iraq whereas we have no say in Kabul: regarding Bajaur and the tribal belts nearby, the background is that our Quaid’s Muslim League had asked these tribal people, as they were and remain as such till now, to join Pakistan, become Pakistanis and their land that of Pakistan.
Z.A. KAZMI
Karachi
I WENT to see the fifth day of play between Pakistan and West Indies at Karachi’s National Stadium. I took a small pair of binoculars with me but at the entry gate a policeman took away my binoculars for “security reasons”.
I failed to understand how a binocular can pose security threat, however, I conceded. On my way out later that day the binoculars were not returned to me as the security staff had changed and they could not find them.
Moreover, they totally refused to accept responsibility for the misplaced binoculars. I appeal to the authorities concerned to take appropriate action to prevent such incidents in the future.
OMER TAYYAB
Karachi
THIS refers to S. Karim’s letter (Dec 3) in which the writer claims that Afghan hostility towards Pakistan, since the latter’s inception in 1947, has been India-backed. The writer has totally ignored the real bone of contention between the two countries: the controversial Durand Line. The claim that Pakistan helped Afghans expel the Soviets from Afghanistan is a gross misrepresentation of facts.
The Soviets had entered Afghanistan on the invitation of the then Afghan government led by Noor Mohammad Tarakai. The Soviet Union had not come to Afghanistan to occupy the country (just like the coalition forces are not there to occupy Afghanistan) but to help the progressive government in Kabul to defend the nascent Sur Revolution from the obscurantists who were fully backed by foreign forces. Besides, the Soviets left Afghanistan as per the accord signed in Geneva by Kabul and Moscow.
While it is true that Pakistan hosted over four million Afghan refugees with an open heart, we must not forget that it was in fact Pakistan which, by supporting the insurgents in Afghanistan, forced millions of Afghans to flee their homes and take refuge in neighbouring countries, including Pakistan.
GHANI DOTANI
Århus, Denmark
THIS is with reference to a news item (Dawn, Nov 23) saying that the PTCL had closed e-payment facility for the subscribers of Kohat. The fact is that during April the PTCL offered its customers the prepaid services like calling card, prepaid telephony, and Apna Des card and also bill payment facility in a single card.
However, some groups of people started illegal business through PTCL calling cards. These people would buy cards from distributors, collect telephone bills from customers along with the total bill amount and make payments through cards. Since they would purchase cards at wholesale rate but receive the entire bill amount from customers, they would make money equivalent to retail margin against each bill payment.
People engaged in such activities would deceive PTCL customers and claim that they are PTCL- appointed dealers, duly authorised to collect bills.
The PTCL has neither appointed nor contracted any person or company for collection and payment of telephone bills. These groups would buy PTCL calling cards from distributors/wholesalers in bulk and keep in their stock for making bill payments. This would cause shortage of cards in the market, creating a big problem for PTCL customers. On the other hand, they would cause loss to the company against each bill payment because the company offers bill payment facility free of cost.
Steps are being taken to put an end to the misuse of PTCL calling cards. Customers are informed that bill payment facility still exists.
ATHER JAVED SUFI
Media Coordinator (Operations) South, PTCL
Karachi
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