| February 02, 2007 | Friday | Muharram 13, 1428 |
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Tourism year
Canadian visa
Dictionary contract to OUP
Karzai and Taliban
Lessons from Saddam
Without proper representation
Street crimes
Old buses
Mass transit for Port Qasim
Half empty or half full
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
DURING the dark ages of Europe the poor could be exploited without retribution, the law was arbitrary and subservient to the rich and powerful, religious intolerance was propagated with the spread of hatred and slaughter, the innocent were witch-hunted, and political rivals and minorities tortured and murdered. This unfortunately is also the condition of 21st century Pakistan.
In his first address to Pakistan’s Constituent Assembly, the Quaid stated : “The first duty of a government is to maintain law and order, so that the life, property, and religious beliefs of its subjects are fully protected by the state.”
We have even failed to value this important criterion set by the greatest leader Pakistan has produced. An independent judiciary is what the Quaid envisioned for the nation he created, and I have no doubt that in the freedom of the judiciary lies the solution to even our most complex problems. Therefore, we must return to the Quaid’s ‘verdict’.
A fearless, free and independent judiciary grounds societies in the rule of law and justice, prevents the tyranny of the majority, protects people from the ‘convictions’ of a militant minority, and most importantly provides checks and balances on government. Exile provides time to reflect and strategise. This imposed separation from our beloved homeland has given us an opportunity to examine the problems that plague Pakistan and propose optimal solutions to the most pressing issues confronting our people. Therefore, I candidly proclaim here that the first act that the PML-N government, under the leadership of Mian Nawaz Sharif, when it returns to power, will be to promulgate the absolute independence of the judiciary.
Today the majority of people spend an inordinate amount of time at police stations – dens of coercion and corruption – and lower courts where, along with their representatives, they have no recourse but to buy justice through the vicious and endless circle of sifarish, blackmail and bribery. This culture must ruthlessly be uprooted and we hereby solemnly pledge to do so. Judicial reforms are not only imperative; they have been deferred and impeded for far too long.
First, through a fiercely transparent and foolproof system of judicial appointments, comprising men of the highest standing and character, we will double the number of judges at both the lower and high court levels.
Second, we will increase the salary of the entire judiciary by at least five times their current level, to safeguard them against monetary temptations. (The PML-N government did substantially increase the salary of a High Court judge from approximately Rs17, 000 a month to over Rs70,000 a month – which we admit was not enough)
Third, we will ensure complete independence and meritocracy in the appointment of judges even at the cost of judicial activism.
There is no reform more significant than judicial reforms. An incorruptible and undaunted judiciary will make Pakistan leap out of the Middle Ages and stand with respect in the comity of nations. We have bound ourselves to the Quaid’s ‘ruling’, and pledged our lives to liberating Pakistan by liberating its judicial system. Perhaps then, we too can raise our heads and stand among the only generation (to date) that has factually practised the meaning of the words ‘to serve’.
MIAN SHEHBAZ SHARIF
London, UK
THE year 2007 has been declared “Tourism Year” by the government without taking into care the ground realities prevailing in our touring resorts. I am a frequent visitor to these areas and have been writing about certain problems in these columns now and then.
Things are not that complex to summon experts to sit and give solutions. They are so evident that a primary student if asked can give their solutions straightaway.
The first and the foremost thing is the accessibility of the areas. If there are no roads, how you can ask some one to go and face the miseries of travelling. The roads have been badly damaged by the last earthquake in the Naran valley.
What to talk about the earthquake areas, the road leading to the Swat valley is even worse than these calamity-hit areas. Is the government in a position to rebuild these roads before the start of the forthcoming tourist season?
There are no proper road signs to guide you to your destination. You have to ask every now and then whether you are proceeding in the right direction or not. This situation needs to be addressed.
The hotels have become too expensive in these areas, the PTDC is responsible for this price hike. Every year they increase their charges and private hotels follow them. In the past 10 years the price increase has been to five times in some cases.
Again in the earthquake areas a lot of construction activity is required to rebuild the damaged structures and receive the tourists. Even the electricity has not been restored to these areas (reference Dawn news, Jan 11).
There is no programme on the electronic media to provide guidance to intending visitors about various matters relating to travelling. At least twice a week a programme should be aired to reply to the questions then and there. The tourism ministry should host a website which should be updated on a daily basis to provide all required information to tourists.
There is a jeep mafia which is not letting the authorities make the arterial road to adjoining areas for use by ordinary cars (for example, road from Kalam to Mahodund or from Naran to Lalazar). They charge quite heavily for their jeeps for these onward destinations. Can’t the ministry do something about it?
We can do nothing by simply sitting on TV channels and making huge claims. Some concrete measures are required if we are really serious about the whole thing. Holding a few seminars and shows will not serve the purpose.
DILAWAR HUSAIN
Karachi
ON Jan 19 I applied for multiple entry Canadian visa (file No V070100419) for temporary visit as part of my research work. The research was officially assigned to me, as to other students, by my institute and was an essential part of our course without which students cannot pass.
All students have been given the choice to select their research topics and also the place of research. The purpose of doing the research was to benefit our country and show how it can improve from the experience of the county where I want to do the research work. All students have to submit the research at the end of the semester, i.e., third week of March.
Owing to excellent facilities such as free tickets being entitlement of my father working in an airlines and free stay with my relatives in Canada and my interest in social issues, I chose the topic of my research as ‘HIV/AIDS in Canada’.
My research will not have only benefited our country but it would have also helped me to know the views of Canadian people and the government about HIV/AIDS.
Usually the visa process takes two to three weeks but in my case I was informed in just two days about the rejection of my visa application with a reply that I did not satisfy them that I would return. This was despite the fact that I was ready to give them all assurances as regards money, sponsor, etc.
Moreover, my father, mother and one brother have also the Canadian multiple visa.
I request the Canadian high commission to reconsider my case and allow me to do my research in Canada for 15 days.
IMRAN KHAN
Karachi
THE news item ‘SPLA slams dictionary contract to OUP’ (Dawn, Jan 30) is as much amusing as it is amazing. The Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) has criticised the provincial minister for education for handing over the contract of English-Urdu and English-Sindhi dictionaries, meant for free distribution to Class IX students, to the Oxford University Press instead of the Sindh Textbook Board for the latter would have done the job cheaper.
The SPLA, which is a body of highly-educated people, should have realised that compiling dictionaries is no child’s play. Without casting aspersions on the Sindh Textbook Board, one may like to say that apart from expertise and resources, including a corpus of thousands of words, the compilation of dictionaries is a highly time-consuming process, more so for publishing houses which don’t specialise in lexicography.
Proof, if proof be needed, is the time taken by the Urdu Dictionary Board, which commenced work under Baba-i-Urdu Maulvi Abdul Haq in 1961 and so far 20 out of 22 volumes have been printed. Once this work is completed, the Board will bring out smaller dictionaries for students. OUP too has a multi-volume dictionary which also serves as the database for all small and not-so-small dictionaries.
What was more disappointing in the news item was the allegation that the foreign publishing house was given the contract because it financed the minister for education’s trip to India. What a small bribe! As one who has read an earlier news item which said that the minister was a guest of the Indian government last year, one expects educated and responsible people to do their homework before raising allegations against anyone.
I. A. KIDWAI
Karachi
EVENTUALLY, when the grisly terrorist activities and suicide bombings have become unendurable and increasing Taliban influence — which I would call ‘Taliban phobia’ — has rendered Afghan government paralysed, the invitation from Karzai for instigating a peace process with the Taliban is a late but fair decision.
This invitation contains a clue that Karzai has at last accepted his defeat against the Taliban in a war that further ruined and devastated Afghanistan for five years and cost the lives of thousands of people of all age groups.
Today, for the sake of progress of Afghanistan it is necessary that all parties, organisations and groups should work together, including the Taliban.
The Taliban have, for good or bad, a history in this land and this should not be forgotten. They should have sufficient and proportionate representation in the government. The process of rebuilding and rehabilitation in Afghanistan requires a collective effort as well as a sincere one.
SYED MOEZ SHAH
Quetta
THIS refers to Anwar Syed’s article ‘Lesson from Saddam’ (Jan 21), in which he finds less likely that execution of Saddam is presented and projected by the Bush administration as a signal to Muslim rulers that if they do not submit to US hegemony, they will meet the same fate. He calls it poetic exaggeration as Bush does not have capacity to implement it. That is true but what can be expected of a person who seeks evangelical guidance to handle mundane affairs.
The US policy shows it has never hesitated even to kill people in large numbers to protect its global corporatocracy. Noam Chomsky says America is the leading terrorist state which killed and maimed thousands in Vietnam, Nicaragua and Iraq. Then there are millions of others who have been killed by US-backed dictators since World War II. This is how the foundation of US corporate empire has been laid.
This US policy has been revealed in John Perkins’ book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. Perkins says how, as a paid professional, he helped the US cheat poor countries out of trillions of dollars by lending them more money than they could possibly repay and then take over their economies. He says: “We’ve built the largest empire in the history of the world. . . .. primarily through economic manipulation, through cheating, through fraud, through seducing people into our way of life . . . ..”
When the economic hit men fail, the next step is what he calls the jackals. Jackals are CIA-sanctioned people that come in and try to foment a coup or revolution. If that doesn’t work, they perform assassinations. In the case of Iraq, they weren’t able to get through to Saddam. His bodyguards were too good. He had doubles. They couldn’t get through to him. So the third line of defence, if the economic hit men and the jackals fail, is our young men and women who are sent in to die and kill, which is what we’ve obviously done in Iraq.
To protect and expand US empire, corporations, banks and American government work together and support every tin-pot dictator around the world. Saddam happened to be one who was raised to power and pampered by the CIA. He was discarded when his evil instincts became a source of embarrassment for them.
Besides Saddam, there are numerous cases where the CIA is believed to be involved in toppling or removing popular leaders like Mossadegh, Salvador Allende of Chile and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Shah Faisal and dictators like Ziaul Haq and others who felt betrayed by the US.
In the case of Zia, the CIA and leading American think tanks believed that he was promoting extremism through his support to Muslim fundamentalists who were opposed to US hegemony.
As for Musharaf, his fate hangs on the outcome in Afghanistan. The situation is very fluid across the Pakistan-Afghan border. Its intensity can be judged from the statement of US National Intelligence Director John Negroponte in a congressional appearance in which he said: “Pakistan is our partner in the war on terror . . .. However, it is also a major source of Islamic extremism . . . ..” The same apprehension has been voiced by new US defence secretary, Robert Gates, during his recent visit to Afghanistan.
Pakistan, however, finds itself in very uncertain situation where every patriotic citizen feels apprehensive about its future. God forbid anything untoward should happen and harm the very core interest of Pakistan.
MANZOOR ALI ISRAN
Shah Abdul Latif University
Khairpur
PRIME minister Shaukat Aziz has announced the building of two state-of-the-art medical towers for the treatment of the rich and the mighty, costing four billion rupees, yet he says he represents the poor of this country. I wish instead of wasting billions on his misplaced priorities, he had given a small hospital in every union council with a doctor, where the poor people could at least get some first aid.
Many citizens living in rural areas die before they could even be evacuated to some hospital in the nearest town. The condition of those hospitals is also well-known. The rich and the mighty in any case have recourse to treatment in foreign lands. Yet the prime minister wants a big medical tower for the wealthiest. The poor are in any case an expendable commodity.
There is shortage of electricity in the country, yet he will find electricity to run the escalators of this luxurious tower for the rich. The government hospitals for the masses are understaffed and short of doctors and medicines, yet he must build the state-of-the-art towers. What priorities are his? Who does Mr Aziz represent anyway?
SYED IFTIKHAR HUSSAIN
Rawalpindi
THE mushroom growth of street crimes has disturbed the common man. Criminals are free in society like a bird. At the start of this year, in January alone, more than 2,000 cases of snatching cellphones were reported till now. The other cases of carjacking and looting jewellery, etc., are also alarmingly on the high side. Those who put up any resistance had to lose their lives.
It is interesting to note that the government is bent upon claiming that it has almost controlled the street crime but the figure speaks for itself. The government is advised to take sincere and concrete action against criminals.
Celebrating an event like ‘Hamara Karachi’, organised by the city district government, is a fruitful effort to brighten the city with glory, but it is also the responsibility of the government to provide security to people. If life is safe, every person can enjoy an event.
FAISAL HUSSAIN SIDDIQUI
Karachi
BUSES plying Karachi roads are 30 to 40 years old. They are all junk and appear to have been coming from the NWFP and Punjab where these are not allowed.
Owing to such old buses, much smoke/pollution is created, as well as traffic jams. The authorities concerned should look into the matter.
MUHAMMAD IQBAL
Karachi
THERE are many industries located in Port Qasim and Steel Mill Industrial areas. Thousands of people work here in addition to the people at the port.
Moreover, new industries are also coming up. In all, there would be about 30,000 people working in these areas, and most commute from Karachi.
An estimated 80,000 new jobs would be created when the Textile City comes on line at a Port Qasim industrial zone in a couple of years.
The Pakistan Railways has a permanent rail track connecting the marginal wharf with the main line, and goods trains often use this line.
How about the Pakistan Railways operating local trains from the Karachi City Station to the Port Qasim marginal wharf, with new platforms near the Indus Motors and Bin Qasim Thermal Power plant.
This will be a kind of mass transit for thousands who spend hours on the congested roads inhaling smoke and dust. People using their own transport can park their vehicles at the respective railway stations near their homes in the morning, board the train and use them for return journey when they alight back, just like in any other modern country.
It will also reduce the number of vehicles on the roads that contribute to traffic jams, dust, smoke and accidents.
S. NAYYAR IQBAL RAZA
Karachi
THIS refers to Nigar Afaq Hussain’s letter ‘Half empty or half full’ (Jan 21).
In this gloomy and pathetic condition of today’s Karachi, with gaping manholes, open drains, dug-up broken roads, filth and garbage strewn all around, the fireworks display arranged by the city district government was a cruel joke to the harassed and tortured people of this city. Karachi is in a mess.
It stinks. The roads dug up all over the city have not been covered for the last eight to 10 months and if some small parts are covered, they are uneven and bumpy and not motorable, even it is difficult to walk over them.
It gives the feeling as though you are walking on a small hill. It is amazing to know that in this atmosphere there are people who could enjoy this wasteful ‘atish bazi’. This attempt to portray a soft image of Karachi cannot conceal the ugly face of Karachi.
As regards the half empty or half full, if the fast deteriorating situation continues, there will not be any water left in the glass. It will be full empty.
BASHIR AHMED BATLA
Karachi
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