| February 12, 2007 | Monday | Muharram 23, 1428 |
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US foreign policy
Hand behind the blasts
For sake of criticism
Hair
Fatima Jinnah’s golden words
Renaming the NWFP
‘To serve’
Agony of cricket fans
Tobacco investments
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 refers to Prof Ghani Siddiqui’s letter ‘Square pegs in round holes’ (Jan 9). Prof Siddiqui rightly points out that some teachers employed in medical colleges may not be most suitable candidates for the job. However, the problem is more deep-seated.
Pakistan has 57 recognised medical and dental colleges. Of these, 28 are in the public sector and 29 in the private sector (see www.pmdc.org.pk).
However, there is severe dearth of senior medical teachers. Qualifications of most accredited universities (recognised by the Higher Education Commission) are not acceptable to the PMDC. For example, in Sindh, a student of biochemistry who gets MPhil from BSMI is recognised, whereas one who gets MPhil from Karachi University, University of Sindh, SAL University of Khairpur, Aga Khan University, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Dow University of Health Sciences, Baqai Medical University, Hamdard Medical University, Ziauddin Medical University and others is not recognised (with a very few exceptions).
There may be valid reasons for this. However, this severe dearth of senior teachers who are eligible for teaching in a medical college has several implications.
First, medical colleges have to employ anyone who is recognised and available to fill the vacancies and fulfil the requirement of the PMDC. This means that even teachers who cannot teach properly for one reason or another have to be kept.
Second, although most teachers are conscientious and hard-working, there are some who lack this necessary requirement. Yet they cannot be disciplined as they have other medical colleges waiting for them should they lose the current job. In other words, there is no mechanism to ensure honesty and hard work.
Third, the teachers like to stay in larger cities. Just look at the locations of private medical and dental colleges. All but one (28 out of 29) are located in large cities and within 50km of at least one public sector medical college. This is mainly due to the following reasons:
a. The faculty retired from public sector colleges is easily available there.
b. Due to the availability of schools, colleges and other facilities, teachers prefer to live in larger cities.
c. For the above reasons, the faculty accepts to serve at a lower salary than they would demand if they have to go to far-off places.
d. The students and patients have better paying capacities.
e. For the above reasons, a college opened in a peripheral/rural region will mostly get faculty after all the available posts in medical colleges in larger cities have been filled. Since there is a paucity of recognised medical teachers, the other option left is to pay higher salaries and give more benefits.
Now this brings the impossible combination — higher expenses and lower income. The private sector works on feasibility (mostly financial). There is no financial feasibility to open a medical/dental college in rural/poor urban regions where 70 per cent of population live.
Like everything else, 28 out of 29 private medical/dental colleges in Pakistan are for 30 per cent urban and one is for rural/poor urban population. The biggest advantage of medical college for the poor is an associated teaching hospital. A new medical college opened in a rural/poor region brings health facilities and senior clinicians who dramatically improve the healthcare so that the patients do not have to go to far away places for treatment.
By clustering these institutes in a few large richer cities of Pakistan, we are further enlarging the gulf between the haves and the have-nots. I would like to ask Prof Siddiqui, is it not a question of medical ethics? The truth is that despite tall claims, the government is simply not prepared to give incentives to the private sector to go into rural/poor urban areas.
Hence medical ethics demand that the supply of medical teachers should be improved and then it should be checked as to why medical colleges are not hiring the most suitable teachers. I consider the disparity of medical facilities between rural and urban regions as the most fundamental question of medical ethics and will not accept any package ‘adequately ethical’ that fails to address this question.
PROF SYED RAZI MUHAMMAD
Mirpurkhas
THE policies of the US and its allies over the last few years in Iraq have ruined it economically, politically, socially and culturally.
US policymakers and others, however, state that the ruining of Iraq was not the purpose, it was rather the bad implementation of the said policies that caused harm.
Similarly in Afghanistan, all other factors being equal, the country was at least peaceful under the Taliban and the life and property of its citizens were to a degree safer than they are now. The prevailing anarchy in Afghanistan is again explained as the effect and not the purpose of the US and its allies’ policies and involvement there.
Meanwhile, Somalia is moving in the same direction as Iraq and Afghanistan but, lo and behold, the intentions of the aggressors and their backers are pure and good we are made to believe. We step back to Lebanon, once a hub of economic and cultural activities with a progressive outlook, which has been reduced to dust by the US surrogate, Israel.
And Iran, once the third mightiest army in the world and a relatively progressive and with enlightened outlook, has been made cultural irrelevant by a regime half of whose members have been alleged to be on the payroll of Israel by none other than US Senator Charlie Wilson.
Finally, we come to Pakistan. No need to dwell on the implications of the policies of the US in the past. Currently, with their pure and good intentions, the US regime and its allies have made the regime of President Musharraf to act against its own people militarily. It is easy to see that such a policy can lead to anarchy in Pakistan.
The signs of the coming trouble for Pakistan are emerging. The ties between the Baloch, the Pakhtuns, the Punjabis and Sindhis are tense. The mistrust is high. The national leaders are being kept in exile. No leader of national stature is there to bring reconciliation. People’s fundamental rights are being violated while the armed forces are losing their esteem within the public. What more does one need to predict a catastrophe?
The US and its allies must relent. They must change their high handed approach if they want to avoid anarchy in Pakistan. President Musharraf and his government were intelligent enough to realise this danger and they took some corrective measures insofar as they engaged the embattled tribes in Waziristan politically with partial success. That process was abruptly halted by the incident at Bajaur. It must be re-ignited.
ADIL SALEEM KHAN
Lahore
APROPOS of your editorial ‘Hand behind the blasts’ (Feb 2), it would be appropriate to clarify that Baitullah Mahsud is the self-proclaimed local Taliban leader in the South Waziristan Agency, and the Sept 5, 2006 peace agreement was signed with tribal elders (according to the government’s version) in the North Waziristan Agency.
Moreover, the Mahsud tribe belongs to the South Waziristan Agency only. Such errors give an impression about the writer of not having proper demographic knowledge regarding the tribal areas, and at times unwittingly damage the whole community where the majority is hardworking and patriotic.
Earlier, there were reports that the government was trying to sign with the Taliban in the South Waziristan Agency a deal similar to the one it had signed with North Waziristan and there were news reports about a possible deal with militants and tribal elders in the Bajaur Agency when all was blown up in smoke in the Oct 30 air strike on a seminary in the Bajaur Agency.
People of the area and those even living hundreds of miles away from their native South Waziristan are waiting for such a deal and for the establishment of the writ of the government.
It would certainly be wrong to expect any good from ‘militants’ who are out to damage the country’s credibility and strike at will, killing the innocent and economically crippled people living under fear of the ever-deteriorating law and order situation.
SAFIULLAH GUL
Karachi
IN his column entitled ‘Fixing world problems’ (Feb 3), Ayaz Amir is suggesting that Pakistan’s soldier-president should concentrate on problems at home instead of taking on the conflict resolution of Palestine and Israel.
The US president has asked a number of times why the moderate leaders of Arab and Islamic nations have not taken action to solve many of the problems facing the Islamic nations. Where is the leadership one wonders? The leaders of these countries need to get together and come up with practical solutions and cooperate with the West instead of criticising it. They must organise a peaceful strategy to resolve conflicts facing many Islamic nations. Unresolved conflicts in these countries threaten regional and world stability.
President Musharraf is the one leader who understands and has taken upon the challenges to address very difficult issues, such as Kashmir and Palestine, Iran’s nuclear weapons development programme, not to mention the eradication of the root causes of terrorism and extremism at home, and, finally, keeping the Taliban and their sympathisers from crossing into and from Afghanistan through a long and porous border.
Pakistan has contributed to international peace troops so what’s wrong with giving a helping hand to bring peace to other troubled Islamic nations; it’s a worthy cause after all. These are all interconnected regional issues that require input from anyone who has an idea that is worth pursuing. Let’s not forget that we are all sailing on the same ship.
BASHIR M AHMED
Windham, USA
APROPOS of the news item ‘Sacked Hair serves legal notice to PCB’, what racial discrimination is Hair talking about? We were the victims of discrimination. Hair has clearly shown racial discrimination against us and earlier against other South Asians. Pakistan were the sufferers; the underdogs. Pakistan received maximum penalty as the match was awarded to England.
How can Hair have the nerve to do this now, after he demanded monetary compensation underhand from the ICC?
Why has he not been penalised for this act? The PCB should take up this issue with the ICC and ask it to penalise Hair for demanding so much money from the ICC. If Hair can act belatedly, we can also do the same.
DR RASHID IQBAL KHAN
Karachi
THIS refers to the letters, ‘Is a Kashmir solution imminent?’ by Yassir Rasheed (Feb 1) and, ‘Kashmir: a different view’, by Capt S. Afaq Rizvi (Feb 4).
Mr Rasheed says: “Over the past half a century, Pakistani politicians have exploited the cause of Kashmiris for their own benefit and to the disadvantage of Kashmirls.” Further, that those opposing talks between India and Pakistan are afraid that if the dispute is resolved, it will curtail their financial resources and political careers.
Capt Rizvi argues that insisting on Kashmir solution will hurt the security of Indian Muslims who are hostage to the Hindu majority, so, conceding held Kashmir will appease the Indians resulting in proper treatment for the Kashmiri and Indian Muslims.
If these gentlemen have been reading the ‘50 Years Ago Today’, column In Dawn, then Mr Rasheed is guilty of obfuscating the truth — which can only benefit India and hurt Pakistan’s image — while Capt Afaq has a defeatist attitude. On Dec 27, the column had quoted Miss Fatima Jinnah’s words from a radio broadcast at Quaid-i-Azam’s birth anniversary in 1956. These are important and should clear all doubts about the Kashmir issue and ideology of Pakistan the secular-minded people seem to have.
Miss Jinnah stressed the need of “moral and ideological rearmament,” stressing it was the only weapon with which the nation could defeat subtle designs of its enemies. She reminded the Pakistanis that Pakistan was an ideological state and said: “To fulfil this ideological purpose you have to follow a hard way of life. Pakistan, if it wishes to develop into the type of state that its Founder visualised a citadel of peace, progress and prosperity - cannot afford to be a nation of milksops given to ways of ease and luxury.”
Pakistan’s foremost problem, she said, was Kashmir and that “Bharat’s (India’s) forcible occupation of Kashmir is nothing but unabashed colonialism.” While lamenting the UN’s failure to do its duty, she warned: “For us in Pakistan, Kashmir is the acid test of the sincerity and effectiveness of the United Nations as an instrument of peace and justice. All talk of human rights, of international cooperation, and peace become meaningless if the primary right of self-determination cannot be secured to all the people of the world”.
No cynic could accuse the sister of Mr Jinnah of misrepresenting facts about him, Pakistan or Kashmir. Incidentally, the column from Feb 5, 1956 reports that the then Iranian foreign minister asked India to respect the UN decision on Kashmir (about plebiscite) and implicitly accused it of double standards. He was neither a Pakistani politician nor a religious leader.
The problem is that some of us want the easy way out, rather than to be patient and make additional sacrifices. The natives of South Africa, led by Nelson Mandela, remained resolute and ultimately uprooted the Apartheid regime. China hasn’t capitulated for many decades in the face of the mighty America’s backing for Taiwan and steadfastly strives to reunify the territory.
Instead of trying to scare us into surrendering, Capt Rizvi could have reasoned that with many insurgencies in its northeastern states, Kashmir and Naxalites among them, India simply couldn’t afford to push its 140 million Muslims in that direction through persecution, therefore we can negotiate with confidence.
Senior politician, lawyer and PML-Q senator S. M. Zafar noted recently that from day one we had a hostile neighbour and were always worried about our existence (Dawn Magazine, Feb 4). On March 11, 1948 the Quaid had observed: “(To resolve our differences) India would have to shed its superiority complex and deal with Pakistan as an equal.”
ADIL ABDULLAH
Karachi
GHAYOOR Ahmed begins his article ‘Renaming the NWFP’ (Feb 6) with the statement that Punjab derives its name from the land of five rivers and Sindh from the name of the river that flows across its territory, but Balochistan carries this name historically despite the fact that it is inhabited by different tribes. Thereafter he delves into a discussion about the Durand Line without providing a logical conclusion to his main topic.
The NWFP is inhabited by different ethnic groups and it should, therefore, have a name acceptable to all its inhabitants. The North-West Frontier is a geographical reference as it was the North-Western province of British India.
But the Frontier has a historical and romantic appeal as it demarcates the frontier between the Hindukush mountains and the Indus plains. It is popularly known as Frontier Province or Sarhad.
It would, therefore, be quite appropriate to retain its name as Sarhad. The committee appointed by the government to recommend a new name for the NWFP may please keep it as an option.
FAQIR AHMAD PARACHA
Peshawar
MY response to Mr Shehbaz Sharif’s letter ‘To serve’ (Feb 2) is that Shehbaz Sharif quotes the address of Quaid-i-Azam about the principles of governance but we have not forgotten the way he and his brother misgoverned and looted my country, not once but twice. Undeniably, he is in exile because of his doings.
Then he sermonises on the necessity of a fearless, fair and independent judiciary. Please stop this hypocrisy.
We have not forgotten:
(a) How he attacked the Supreme Court, apparently to prevent it from giving its verdict on Sharif brothers,
(b) They sent Mr Tarar to judges and wrongfully removed the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah,
(c) They sent directives to judges of the superior courts. The tape recordings are still available in the market and
(d) The talk about how Nawaz Sharif’s government was reinstated is another indelible scar on the treatment meted out to the judges.
Please do not insult our intellect.
IFTIKHAR SOOMRO
Karachi
THIS is an agonised letter from a hardcore cricket fan to whom it seems that everyone in the PCB has lost their brains at the same time. Here are the reasons why:
Kamran Akmal has proven that he should be the last candidate for wicket-keeping, and yet, we don’t get to see poor Zulqarnain?
We need a captain who understands the dynamics of using the power plays at the right time, not a nutcase who uses the power play for the utter and complete destruction of his own team (we shall definitely lose every match in the upcoming World Cup if this continues).
Danish Kaneria was taken out of the team at just the moment we needed him. Can somebody ask the powers that be what they eat in their daily meals to make such absolutely insane decisions?
The Pakistan Cricket Board is wasting money on first sending unfit bowlers over to South Africa and then bringing them back for ‘fitness reasons’.
Afridi deserves a place in the team for his wicket-taking ability as a bowler, not as a batsman.
Finally, why are talented blokes like Abdul Rehman and Imran Farhat sitting on the sidelines while useless people like Hafeez and Naveed are allowed to take Pakistan to further doom?
NADIA ZAFAR
Faisalabad
I VIGOUROUSLY second Dr Javaid Khan’s notion (letter, Feb 9) that the prime minister should decline all offers of investments by tobacco companies. Given the fact that over 100,000 people are dying in Pakistan every year because of smoking, this money is just not worth it.
The naïve and impressionable minds of our younger population fall prey to the media antics of tobacco companies and as a result 1,200 children between the ages of six and 16 years take up smoking every day in Pakistan (as per the Pakistan Pediatric Association).
If this ‘tobacconisation’ is not stopped, pretty soon we will have a very grave situation on our hands.
I would request Mr Shaukat Aziz to play his role as a responsible head of the government in this regard.
DR SUBIA RAUF
Karachi
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