| December 23, 2006 | Saturday | Zilhaj 01, 1427 |
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Awareness about Aids
A protest at the opera
Meat at utility stores
An appeal to the dishonest
Education minister’s revelations
Over-age students
What’s wrong with Phone 17?
Four-second signal
Posts of civil judges
Staunchest US ally
Kalabagh dam
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
ROBERT Fisk’s article (Dec 14) shows his concern for the Lebanese people. The struggle in Lebanon for its sovereignty and independence has been going on for a long time. In 1980 Hezbollah managed to drive Israeli troops out from Lebanon. As a result of this, the movement enjoys the respect of not only Lebanon’s Shias (the country’s single largest community), but also Sunnis, Christians and most other Lebanese.
Till late it had an important presence in the Lebanese parliament and has gained wider support by providing social services and health care. It also has an influential TV station called Al-Manar. Most of the help to the victimised Lebanese during the recent Israeli incursions came from Hezbollah, instead of the government, though the government received substantial donations from many countries.
After their defeat both the US and Israel tried to isolate Hezbollah politically. Moreover, the actions of some political figures and parties that are compliant to vested interest have established that some regional and extra-regional countries are resolute to establish a group meant to limit the influence of the Islamic resistance movement in Lebanese politics.
The Lebanese people’s legitimate demands should be accepted by the government as their rejection has brought the country to the current situation which could lead to clashes between Lebanon’s various religious, ethnic and political groups. This is in fact what the US and Zionist regime intended to happen.
Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora should take concrete steps for the creation of a strong government by holding constructive negotiations and bringing together all Lebanese groups and parties because Lebanon is in dire need of national unity.
The Siniora government cannot continue its political manoeuvers for a long time. If he does not form a national unity government soon, Lebanon will face serious challenges in the near future; avoidance of such a situation is the need of the hour and in best interest of Lebanon.
MIR SAJJAD MEHDI
Karachi
IF people’s cultural practices and moral codes are any guide to containing the spread of HIV/Aids, then there is a need for correcting policies often forced upon governments by the world bodies. One wonders if the Pakistan government has its own plans other than the pretty lines of action dictated by the World Bank and the World Health Organisation.
Your editorial on above topic (Dec 16) rightly mentions that the number of HIV/Aids patients in the country is low as compared to India. There is a reason for it. A latest study on the disease suggests that Aids is most common in societies which do not practise circumcision of men. Sub-Saharan Africa is one example.
According to the study done by researchers from universities in Illinois, “uncircumcised men are thought to be more susceptible because the underside of the foreskin is rich in Langerhans cells, which are sentinel cells of the immune system and attach easily to the human immunodeficiency virus which causes Aids. The foreskin also often suffers small tears during intercourse.”
Two trials in this connection found that “Kenyan men had a 53 per cent reduction in new HIV infection. Twenty-two of the 1,393 circumcised men in that study caught the disease, compared with 47 of the 1,391 uncircumcised men.” In Uganda, the reduction was 48 per cent. One study in South Africa even demonstrated a reduction of 60 per cent among circumcised men.
It was for that reason that the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria and President Bush’s $15 billion Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief are diverting the focus and plan funding for the sterile circumcision in poor countries to stop the spread of Aids. Another study of the medical records of 300 Ugandan couples last year had estimated that “circumcised men infected with HIV were about 30 per cent less likely to transmit it to their female partners”.
Pakistan being a society where men circumcision is practised has an advantage of halving the Aids spread. There is a need for promoting society’s good moral behaviour, screening of blood transfusion and sterile circumcision in the country, instead of just following the world bodies’ universal prescriptions.
M.C.
Karachi
ACCORDING to a BBC news report, a German director named Hans Neuenfels has re-written the script of a Mozart opera being organised in Berlin. The show is to include a scene meant specially to hurt sentiments of the Muslims. This shows the nefarious designs of the anti-Islam crusades of the western world because such events are regularly emerging with ever-increasing vengeance.
The opera production contains a scene in which severed heads of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Buddha, Jesus and the Greek sea god Poseidon are presented by the king of Crete as his protest against the organised religions of the world.
The stated opera show had earlier been scrapped in the wake of violent protests in the Muslim world when a Danish newspaper printed caricatures of the Holy Prophet. The shameless resurgence of the sacrilegious act shows the ulterior motives of the western media. Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble are said to be happy about the revival of scrapped opera and have assured the organisers of foolproof security arrangements.
Such repeated instigations against the faith of Muslims by the West, knowing well of the repercussions, is a simple proof that they are using it as a tool to fight their war against Muslim faith. They are clearly using the faith itself as a tool in the manner they used it ( through young Afghan freedom-fighters now being annihilated as ‘terrorist’ Taliban), while fighting their Cold War through them against the USSR.
As usual our government is expected to stay mum on the issue. Can there be a more glaring example of apathy on the part of our government in such matters? Is it not prudent for our government to send messages of protests to the governments from where culprits of such issues originate.
Cannot it ask of a simple favour from its presumed western allies in the fight against terror that they should not make its job increasingly difficult and put some reins on their so-called ‘freedom of expression’ at least to the extent that it should not help terrorists?
M. SAEED
Islamabad
THE managing director of the Utility Stores Corporation has announced that meat now will be available at utility stores where a common man will be able to purchase beef at Rs110 per kilo in the light of the direction of the president and the prime minister. In the first phase, 20 selected stores in Islamabad will provide the same services.
According to the MD, the network of stores is also being expanded from eight regions to 28 and 1,000 new stores and franchises will be established all over the country. He has also announced that fresh and frozen mutton, chicken and fish will be supplied though utility stores and supply of fresh milk will also be organised.
People of Karachi have to buy substandard meat at exorbitant rates because since Ramazan neither any official rate list has been published/affixed at shops nor any officials have bothered to visit the markets. The meat rates are exorbitant: beef with bones is being sold at Rs130 to Rs140 per kilo; boneless meat is being sold at Rs160 to Rs180 in different areas of the city.
The city district government has failed to control the price hike of basic commodities. Profiteers are fleecing the people with both hands.
For some relief to the people, the chief justice of the Sindh High Court is entreated to take suo motu action against profiteers who do not abide by government decision/directives.
The number of utility stores working at present in Karachi cannot fulfil the requirement of a big city population. Therefore, it would be more appropriate if franchise stores are established at the level of the union councils on an emergency basis to sell basic items such as meat, sugar , fresh milk, flour, ghee and cooking oil.
NISAR AHMED
Karachi
THIS has reference to Mr Ardeshir Cowasjee’s columns ‘An appeal to the dishonest’ (Oct 29 and Nov 5), particularly the definition of secularism in Urdu.
Secularism is generally considered opposite to religion. Under this notion, some lexicographers have translated ‘secularism’ as ‘la dinniyat’ and ‘secular’ as ‘la dinni’ and ‘ghair mazhabi’. However, the Urdu version of secularism is neither literal nor meaningful but vague.
Prominent words of distinguished languages reveal their own sources whether literal or sensuous. As the origin or derivation of the word ‘secularism’ is not known, it is necessary to ascertain the sense thereof for rendering it in other languages.
Like many of the phenomena, religion too has its changeovers, i.e., liberalism, moderatism and extremism, which are translated into Urdu as ‘hurriyat pasandi’, ‘eitedal pasandi’ and ‘inteha pasandi’, respectively.
As liberalism is sensibly akin to and synonymous with secularism, the Urdu phrases ‘hurriyat pasandi’ and ‘hurriyat pasand’ can be adapted for ‘secularism’ and secular.
The views of philologists and lexicographers on the subject will be appreciated.
S.A. HAIRAT
Karachi
ACCORDING to a report, the federal education minister, Jahangir Ashraf Qazi, made a ‘hard-hitting’ speech recently. He said it was wrong to think that the history of Pakistan began with the invasion of Muhammad bin Qasim. “It started with Moenjodaro...we should learn to face the facts. The defeat in 1971 is also a fact” (Dec 14).
While the part about Moenjodaro was obviously aimed at the Islamists because they tie Pakistan’s history to Muhammad bin Qasim’s conquest of Sindh, the bit about the 1971 war is unclear.
Mr Qazi spent a lifetime in becoming a lieutenant-general and also the chief of the ISI. However, he never before enlightened us about our history or that we had lost in 1971. As an army man he should have acknowledged the ‘defeat’ long ago, although I don’t think any Pakistani claimed otherwise, after the fall of Dhaka. It is only after being charged with secularising our educational system that he has adopted this course.
He should be more aware than a lay person like me that the terrain of former East Pakistan was very similar to that of Vietnam, where even the superpower America faced a shattering defeat by the Vietcong guerillas in spite of its phenomenal firepower, manpower, technology and money. So, what chances did our army have, deployed without supply lines 1,000 miles across forbidden territory, with the ongoing guerilla warfare joined by Indian commandos, a hostile populace and an Indian military invasion? Even then, Gen Maneckshaw, the Indian army chief had praised our troops for fighting very bravely.
If we had been forced to surrender in West Pakistan, that would rightly be a defeat, though by a seven-times larger enemy. Instead of explaining things on these lines, the education minister has tarnished the image of our armed forces and demoralised the nation.
When Columbus ‘discovered’ America, there already were the Eskimos and Red Indians living over there, who presumably had originated in Siberia and Mongolia. There also were the Hispanic peoples, including Muslims, who would have come from Spain. However, the Christian/Caucasian American majority does not identify itself with them even now and their history only begins in the 15th century.
The Celtics had conquered the pre-historic people of Britain around 500 BC. Then, in AD 43 the Romans conquered these Celtic people they called Britons. They left in AD 410, after which there were forays by the Angles from northeastern Europe, who called it Angleland, which later became England. The Welsh and Scottish remained thoroughbred Celtics and in many ways don’t like the English, But they all look at themselves as Christians and Britons, not as Romans or Celtics. We could probably trace our roots to ancestors living in caves, but that wasn’t Pakistan, nor was Moenjodaro.
If the Muslims hadn’t come here, there would be no Pakistan. So, if the Pakistani Muslims choose to identify themselves with their Islamic roots, why blow hot and cold about it?
We all read the history of pre-Islamic Pakistan in schools and it can continue to be taught, but we shouldn’t be forced to see it as our main identity or to stop taking pride in our Islamic one. The sudden shift in the policy of Gen Musharraf after 9/11 when, to please the West, he started distancing himself from Islam as most Pakistanis know it, has led to all sorts of distortions.
A CONCERNED MUSLIM
Karachi
ON the one hand the government is attaching great importance to higher education, yet on the other hand the admission policy of our public universities seems to run contrary to this.
Take for instance Quaid-i-Azam University, where aspiring students for a master’s degree are barred from taking admission even after having qualified the tough merit criteria simply because they are a few months over the age limit.
According to the rules, anyone beyond 26 years of age is not eligible for admission to any master’s degree programme unless age relaxation is granted by the vice-chancellor on the recommendation of the chairman of the department based on “special reasons’. No explanation of the “special reasons” is provided in the rules, which makes this a totally discretionary power in the hands of the chairman. How discretionary powers are exercised in Pakistan is an open secret.
It is disheartening to see aspiring candidates who sit every year in the varsity’s entry test competing on merit but once they qualify on merit, they are informed that they have to get recommendation for age relaxation for which then these merit-qualifying candidates have to run from pillar to post. Worse is the fact that from this year, this so-called leniency of age has been withdrawn from the MBA department.
How can a candidate with four years of bachelor degree and a couple of years of work experience to accumulate enough money to afford the fees fulfil the age limit of 26 years? Nowhere in the world are people restricted from getting a higher education just because of age, and by the way, is a 26-year-old really too old for higher studies?
The authorities concerned should consider doing away with this stringent age ruling in the admission policy which bars senior students from getting a higher education.
RAZA ALI ALVI
Rawalpindi
IT IS surprising how the telephone department is operating its No 17. When you ring this number, a taped voice tells you that all the operators are busy and no sooner any of them would be free, you would be connected to him.
Then the voice gives you the number of the operator you are being connected to.
The line you get is already engaged and there is nobody you could talk to, then eventually the call ends.
While I would not say that this is the regular pattern but I happened to face this situation four times between 1.30 and 2p.m. on Dec 20.
M. JAMIL
Karachi
TIPU Sultan Road is a major road, carrying a heavy load of traffic from Sharea Faisal to Karsaz Road. But can one believe there is only a four-second green signal at its crossing with Shaheed-i-Millat?
In those four seconds, hardly four to five cars get through. Others either break the red light or wait long for another four-second green.
Will the Traffic Engineering Bureau kindly turn it into a “normal” signal?
A MOTORIST
Karachi
CIVIL judges appointed in the past were required to have just a law degree but now a two-year practice as a lawyer has been made compulsory for appointment. Recently, 100 posts of civil judges were announced by the Lahore High Court for which the experience condition was necessary. In such a situation, civil servants who are not entitled to practise as a lawyer while working find themselves at great odds. Although they possess law education, the lack of experience stands in their way.
The authorities should waive the condition of experience and allow all law graduates in civil service to apply for the posts.
M. RAFIQUE SHAHEEN
Vehari
THE agreement between India and the US for cooperation in nuclear energy comes as a shock. It shows the success of India’s foreign policy and the failure of Pakistan’s foreign policy. The present government has been the staunchest ally of the US in recent years.
Gen Musharraf has not been shy about bombing his own countrymen to please the Bush administration but what we got in return is increased American aid that is never spent on what it is meant for, instead it goes into the pockets of the rulers.
It reminds us what we have lost because of military rulers. No matter what Pakistan does to please the West, it is still a military state and that is why it can never get the respect it deserves in the eyes of the international community.
ABDUL BAQI PITAFI
Houston, Texas
ON Dec 17 Gen Musharraf touched upon the issue of Kalabagh Dam once again and announced that the people of Pakistan would see the dam on the ground by 2015. He said this while addressing a large gathering in Khanewal, Punjab, who were brought together by the Punjab government after spending huge money from the national exchequer.
Gen Musharraf claims to be a genuine democrat. He always says that previous governments were not democratic. For resolving the dam controversy he formed the ‘Technical Committee on Water’, headed by A.N.G Abbasi. In his report Mr Abbasi said that there is shortage of water, hence dams like Kalabagh can’t be viable on the river Indus. This is one of the many reasons for not constructing the dam.
Three provincial assemblies out of four have passed unanimous resolutions against the construction of the dam more than once. Moreover, all the mainstream political parties have raised their voice against Kalabagh. Clearly the president is not ready to honour the resolutions passed in the democratically-elected provincial assemblies.
BASHIR A. SOOMRO
Karachi
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