| March 16, 2007 | Friday | Safar 26, 1428 |
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Cricket fans desperate
Doing justice to women
Wealth gap
Removal of traffic signal
Young achievers
So little in return
Mobile users’ complaints
Defining extremism
School vans hazard
Stoned to death
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
ONE of the most shocking pictures (Dawn, March 10) to come out of the present crisis is the one showing a uniformed Gen Musharraf sitting with the summoned chief justice of Pakistan.
Remember that the president wears civilian garb while receiving even junior bureaucrats of the US state department.
The uniform is only to intimidate Pakistanis. Oh the ignominy of it all.
KAMRAN SHAFI
Rawalpindi
THE office of the chief justice of Pakistan is immensely respectful and his duty is of central importance to the fair functioning of society.
If he is stopped, pressured or intimidated from performing his duties, the whole structure of our civil society is exposed to confusion, injustice and insecurity resulting in the further degradation of our social, political and economic conditions.
Without the rule of law, we would be no different from the cavemen who lived thousands of years ago.
FIDA AHMED
Islamabad
PAKISTANIS have learnt some new words since the bloodless coup in 1999. First, there was the ‘chief executive of Pakistan’; now there is the ‘non-functional’ chief justice of the Supreme Court.
There is no constitutional basis for these terms, and no precedent for them can be found in Pakistan’s political and administrative history.
ANAS A. KHAN
Edmonton, Canada
ALL my sympathies are with Mohammad Ali Durrani, the minister for information, who is trying to handle the crisis created by the president. It is really a gigantic task to face the print and electronic media in such a situation.
Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, the former minister for information, must be enjoying the miserable and pitiable position of Mr Durrani. May God bless him with patience and courage.
IJAZ AHMAD
Charsadda
I AM really concerned about Justice Rana Bhagwandas. There is no news where he is at present.
The government’s version is that he is on leave in India. It’s hard to believe that in these days of modern communication he is not aware of the recent events in Pakistan.
I request him to return to the country by the next available flight.
He is one of the best judges this county has produced, and can be of tremendous help in resolving what I consider to be the worst judicial crisis this country has ever faced.
A CITIZEN
Karachi
RECENT events in Pakistan have proved to be extremely demoralising for its people. However, we must congratulate the lawyers and the media for their courage and activism. They are proving to be the guardians of Pakistan’s national interests and its viability as a nation state.
Notwithstanding the current circumstances, Pakistan can emerge as a proud nation of responsible citizens led by the lawyers and other segments of the intelligentsia.
This is the time to act and your newspaper has an important role to play.
One possible good thing about the constitutional crisis is that it can unite the people of Pakistan on a ‘democratic/constitutional’ front, as opposed to the divisive ‘liberal versus religious’ mantra being orchestrated by some vested interests.
CONCERNED
Islamabad
EXPECTING anything else from our cricket team at this point seems foolish at best.
In the four years preceding this World Cup, the PCB has achieved little to nothing. Imran Nazir, who has not played any international cricket worth mentioning for the past four years and yet managed to hitch a ride to the West Indies, was chosen ahead of Yasir Hameed, who averages 39 compared to Nazir’s paltry 23.
Nazir’s attempt at emulating Afridi (which is something no one in their right mind should do) exposes Younis Khan early.
Younis Khan, next in line for the captaincy, averages 31.42 in ODIs and, judging by his shot selection in the World Cup opener, is hardly Mr Dependable. Yousuf and Inzamam’s sluggish batting was quite bizarre.
In a situation where they should be rotating the strike if boundaries are hard to come by, they slowed the game down to a stage where no one could recover from.
Inzamam was never going to be the most innovative and intelligent captain, but his fear of coming up the order and to lead from the front is hampering the entire team.
The PCB never arranged a cover for Akmal who is in a dreadful slump both behind the wickets and with the bat; the timing of the slump being impeccable as usual by Pakistani standards.
There is no alternative to Rana Naved, who is leaking runs, except Sami who has been the biggest under-achiever over the last four years and hardly an improvement.
Kaneria, never considered an ODI option by the PCB for the past four years, was thrust into the World Cup squad ahead of Abdur Rehman who is more of the ODI mould, not to mention a handier batsman than Kaneria.
The PCB has made a mockery of Pakistani cricket and played the fans like fools.
Their selection of the World Cup squad is reason enough for the PCB hierarchy to be revamped completely. This time around there are no Imrans, Miandads or Akrams to rise to the challenge. Instead we have a bunch of men playing without heart or pride and on course to shatter the nation’s hearts. The optimism which is required to be a Pakistani cricket fan desperately makes me hope that I will be proven wrong.
ALNASEER KARIM
Essex, UK
THIS is with reference to the story of ordeal of Kainat Somroo, a minor child, and a 16-year-old girl, allegedly abducted and raped. The latter was forced to walk naked through a village in Sindh (Dawn, Feb 4). The story uncovers the true face of the government’s position on women’s rights, a topic the president feels much pride to discuss with loud volume.
The government does not hesitate to show the substantial representation in parliament given to the women. But the reality opposes what is being claimed. All the women sitting in the parliament are members of influential families already occupying the high social status in society.
The representation could do nothing to reduce the victimisation of women in the whole country as traditional and criminal abuses against women are the same as were. The government’s reaction to such incidents is very discouraging.
The president unequivocally criticised highlighting such incidents as what we saw in the case of Dr Shazia Khalid. Emancipation of women should not mean co-marathons or playing cricket and football wearing shorts and violation of Islamic traditions, teachings and values. The emancipation of women policy should protect all the women from victimisation. It should mean women across the country are safe and secure. But it needs justice and not only representation. It needs sincerity and not rhetoric.
If the government is sincere, no one can have the courage to commit such heinous crimes, as they know that they cannot escape the iron hands of law, whoever they might be.
I expect President Musharraf will prove that there is no difference in his ‘doing and saying’, and will provide justice to victims. And also by making the justice system effective deterrence, stop the recurrence of such things.
S. ABBAS WATTOO
Lahore
ZOFEEN T. Ebrahim's article 'Burgeoning wealth gap' (Dawn, Feb 25) is indeed an exact reflection of the ground realities. She has indeed researched well and relied on highly knowledgeable persons who are fully aware of the widening gap with no middle class support. Normally, the structure should fall down but owing to the tenacity of the people and their ability to 'somehow' exist that the state was and is still existing.
However, with dwindling morals and exposure to the world of crime that the culture of crime is taking root. The 'sifarish' culture is indeed widespread. I see this daily and despite my discouraging people to seek 'sifarish' and rely on merit that the phenomenon of 'sifarish' is growing.
We need to ask why? The answer is simple. Right from the top this is being encouraged, recommended and approved. The entire system depends on how well connected a person is to achieve what one wants.
Those who obtain their target invariably are mediocre and that is why any organisation which recognises 'merit' has been successful. We can see it everywhere and that is a major reason why appointments made on merit can sustain the rough weather.
All crimes have a reason. We are repeatedly told that law and order is fine. Either those making these statements are totally ignorant or on purpose adopt the 'ostrich' attitude or lying without realising that the people are aware of the truth.
What must we do? The answer is in the fact that we need a responsive and sensitive government. This can come through a true democratic setup and not through artificial, pre-arranged and selected representatives. If Pakistan can have three such elections, the glow of the nation shall be apparent.
We need to have a strong middle class turned out of real effort and not by 'loot khasoot'. The sooner we do this, the better and stronger Pakistan we shall have.
MAHER ALAVI
Karachi
I THANK Safir Siddiqui for highlighting the irritable and unthoughtful removal of traffic signal at M.T. Khan Road, Karachi (letter, March 6).
Over 3,000 motorists use this route daily from Clifton and Defence to I.I. Chundrigar Road, through Old Queens Road, who are now forced to take the longer and torturous route through the Jinnah Bridge and Tower.
It also means unduly wasting precious fuel due to the apathy and bad planning of civic agencies. Not only this, the closing of the turning point near the Bahriya Complex, motorbikes and vehicles of all sorts come on the wrong track of M.T. Khan Road all the way to the Old Queens Road turning, putting their lives at risk.
The Traffic Engineering Bureau and the city police should re-install the traffic signal as before, and make life easy for commuters who are already groaning due to undisciplined traffic and high fuel costs.
ABAAD ELIAS
Karachi
THE rising graph of crime rate in the country, associated with suicide bombers, ethnic and sectarian strife, heinous crimes against women, cases of carjacking and cellphone snatching at gun-point, murders and robberies, etc., some of which are committed on an almost daily basis, has cast a shadow of gloom all over.
In this environment of doom and despair, the news that last year 55 of our school students had secured ‘Top of the World’ positions in the Cambridge University ‘O’ level examinations held in over 100 countries, while nine students achieved this distinction in the ‘A’ level examinations, has come as breath of fresh air.
This is an outstanding achievement, and our students deserve the heartiest of congratulations from all of us. They have done us proud.
Well done, and keep it up. Dawn in its issue of Feb 23 reported the event under the caption: ‘Pakistani students stun world academia’. I guess, the caption says it all.
Ms Ann Puntis, chief executive of the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), at a ceremony held in Islamabad recently to honour the brilliant students, paid generous tribute to them and observed that the results were an eloquent testimony to “the high quality teaching and commitment on the part of both teachers and students.”
Another official observed that “staggering nine A level top students are a fantastic achievement. It is the fantastically good record of teaching that brings unbeatable results.”
An award-giving ceremony was also held to recognise the GCE, ACCA, and University of London ‘high achievers’.
While there is a justifiable cause for celebration, we should not forget that excellence in academic performance is not only a function of the innate abilities of the students, but is also dependent on other factors, like the quality of the teaching staff and their devotion and commitment to their vocation, modern and up-to-date laboratory and library facilities, adequate provision for extra-curricular activities, and a provision of a pleasant and a wholesome physical environment conducive to the pursuit of academic activities.
Above all, the head of the teaching institution – and, indeed, the faculty as a whole – should be able to instill in the students a sense of responsibility, a strong sense of discipline, a firm commitment to moral and ethical values, and the need to develop their critical faculties.
We wish our ‘high achievers’ the best of luck in their chosen fields of endeavour, and hope that they will use their expertise and skills not only to enhance their own future prospects, but will also do their utmost to help eradicate the evils which afflict our society, some of which have been identified in the beginning of this letter.
SALAHUDDIN K. LEGHARI
Lahore
REFERENCE Mr Tariq Fatemi’s article entitled ‘No let-up in US pressure’ (March 10), I should like to say no country has done so much to accommodate the US administration for so little in return.
Michael F. Scheuer, author of Imperial Hubris, went so far as to concede that Gen Musharraf has been doing ‘the USA’s dirty work against his country’s national interest (p 55).’ One may also add in the same context that no country has learnt so little from its own history.
Mr Fatemi’s conclusion that military action against suspected Taliban camps by Pakistan will, somehow, solve the problem is weak. This might be valid if Taliban happened to be the only problem in Afghanistan. By all accounts, the insurgency is widespread and getting worse by the day. The regime installed by the occupying forces in Kabul is unrepresentative and deeply unpopular, to the extent that Hamid Karzai still has to be guarded by a contingent of 200 US marines.
People anywhere, leave aside the Afghans, will not accept a puppet regime imposed by outside powers for long. The problem is political in essence. Using military force will only make it worse — as it has. The portents are clear. The US administration is now desperately looking for a ‘fall guy’ to blame for the looming fiasco. Who better for this role than Pakistan?
K. HUSSAIN ZIA
Mississauga, Canada
IT is shame that one of the largest mobile phone service providers in Pakistan, and a subsidiary of none other than our very own PTCL, is so slack when it comes to responding to customer complaints.
I am a faithful user of this same mobile phone service providers’ main competitor and I had a number of crank callers harassing me via obscene SMS and MMS.
I complained about these numbers to the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA), and the complaints were immediately forwarded to their respective service providers.
My own service provider responded to this complaint within 10 days and so far I have not received a single obscene SMS or MMS from my service provider company’s users.
However, the PTCL’s subsidiary mobile phone service provider seems not to even have bothered with my complaints.
Even after complaining thrice through the PTA, I am receiving meaningless, harassing SMS, MMS and phone calls unabashed from this company’s users. It just goes to show how some companies have grown too big for their own boots and cannot handle their duties responsibly.
MEHREEN
Karachi
ALMOST everyone in the West is blaming Muslims for the current situation in the world. I say ‘almost’ because there are some discerning people. Our self-appointed president also wants the people of Pakistan to adopt ‘moderate Islam’ and not the other kind. I would like to tell the president that there is no such thing as a moderate or extremist Islam. There is just simply Islam.
On Dec 3, 1964 there was a debate at Oxford University, and Malcolm X was one of the participants. Before Malcolm X spoke, Senator Barry Goldwater said :“Extremism in defence of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue”.
This is what Malcolm X said about extremism: “I think the only way one can really determine whether or not extremism in defence of liberty is justified, is not to approach it as an American or a European or an African or an Asian, but as a human being. If we look upon it as different types, immediately we begin to think in terms of extremism being good for one and bad for another, or bad for one and good for another.
“But if we look upon it, if we look upon ourselves as human beings, I doubt that anyone will deny that extremism in defence of liberty, the liberty of any human being, is no vice. Anytime anyone is enslaved or in any way deprived of his liberty, that person, as a human being, as far as I’m concerned, he is justified to resort to whatever methods necessary to bring about his liberty again”.
IMAD QURESHI
Indianapolis, USA
WHEN I go for my morning walk, I see a number of school vans violating traffic rules by driving on roads meant for incoming traffic. Also, since at that early hour there are fewer vehicles on roads, some school van drivers drive fast and against the oncoming cars - even on main Seaview Road, right up to the Khayaban-i-Seher crossing.
There is no traffic police in sight, only an occasional DHA police van passes by, however, they don’t take notice probably due to lack of jurisdiction. Will the authorities concerned wait till something dreadful happens before they take action?
S.M. SHAHID
Karachi
THE stoning to death of three people in Khyber Agency (Dawn, March 15) is just the tip of the iceberg of sadistic rituals committed in the name of Islam in this country. This incident epitomises the misuse and mutilation of Islam by self-appointed ‘ulema’ and ‘religious elders’.
We cannot let these practices continue; they give a bad name to the country and to Islam and in any case they are completely Un-Islamic.
We must stop being afraid of these latter-day puritans. They are not leading people to Islam; rather they are leading them to ignorance.
They are cheap demagogues whose real faces must be exposed.
KHWAJA SHAMAAS
Lahore
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