| May 03, 2007 | Thursday | Rabi-us-Sani 15, 1428 |
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Enforcement of Sharia and writ of the state
Mere poll an exercise in futility
Medical negligence
Next population census
Peshawar-Charsadda Road
Basics of democracy
A better option
A song for my grandchildren
Provident fund
New currency notes
Environmental pollution
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
MR Jehangir Mirza’s valedictory expose of the unsavoury goings-on in the Sindh police (Dawn, April 24) was timely, but came as no real surprise, since it had already become a commonplace that the top hierarchy of the police department had become mere rubber-stamps to cover decisions already made elsewhere.
In fact, when a senior grade-22 police officer was sent from Islamabad as a replacement, he had flatly refused to become an ‘empty uniform’ in Sindh. Mr Mirza’s statement must also be read in conjunction with the allegations made in a recent issue of Dawn concerning the huge amounts allegedly being paid by police officers (both TPOs and SHOs) who wanted sinecures of choice in Karachi and elsewhere in the province. Such payments were not made to any police high-ups but to much higher-placed ‘locations’ in the city.
Presumably ‘orders’ were then passed by someone ‘higher’ than the IGP who merely rubber-stamped then to make it legal under the law.
It hardly needs to be said that once an officer has paid a huge amount of money to obtain a particular post, he has obviously to recoup that amount and much more to even make it worthwhile.
And so dear reader, have a heart; can we really expect to have a squeaky-clean police force? Surely the big bosses of Sindh need to wake up and do something to allay the fears that are running rife in the city today.
Things were never so bad as they appear to be now. I remember with sad nostalgia the days in the mid-1960s when I was in charge of the then Karachi police force. It was One-Unit days and the redoubtable Nawab of Kalabagh was the governor of West Pakistan. Although there were several luminaries from Sindh who were ministers in the provincial government (late Mohammad Khan Junejo was one of them), seldom if ever did any minister or MNA/MPA interfere in the postings of SHOs or DSPs under my command. ‘Sifarishes’ there were many (including from Mr Bhutto) but pressure there was none.
Undoubtedly a lot of water has flowed down the Indus since then. The city of Karachi has grown three- or perhaps even four-fold and even the complexion and composition of its population has changed. But does this mean that along with a huge increase in trade, industry and commerce, there has been a concomitant increase in avarice and moral degradation too?
I am afraid that this has indeed been the case and the police alone cannot atone for it. It may sound trite and even cliché, but true nonetheless, that the police force of a country can only be as good or as bad as the people themselves.
S. ASIF MAJEED
Karachi
THERE have been repeated references in the media regarding the writ of the state and enforcement of Sharia. In Islam no individual or a group of individuals can take it upon himself or themselves the authority to be the final arbiters of Islamic laws. Islamic laws in countries all over the Islamic world are debated by an elected group of accepted scholars of Islam, and their findings are then enforced.
Maulana Rashid Ghazi and his brother think that they are the final arbiters of Islamic laws, whereas I feel they are spreading fitna in the land. Building a mosque on land which has not been legally purchased is a clear violation of the state and the religious law.
In no way can a country permit a group of individuals to take the law into their hands and burn down a CD shop or blow it up with a bomb. If a man does not wish to keep a beard and goes to a barber’s shop, Islam does not permit a self-righteous cleric or his touts to go and blow up the barber’s shop. What the Al Hafsa clerics are saying is nothing even close to Islam and nor are the views they propagate correct.
It is the state machinery that enforces Sharia and not individuals or groups of individuals. If they feel that the state is not doing enough, then: a) In their Friday sermon they should advise sinners to desist in what they are doing, b) they go to their elected representatives and voice their concerns and c) if neither of them respond, then God says keep away from such sinners; but nowhere does God permit man to beat them, kill them or blow them up.
Finally, the Concise Oxford Dictionary defines writ as "a form of written command in the name of a court, state, sovereign, etc., to act or to abstain from acting in some way". In short, the laws of the land as enshrined in the Constitution and the Pakistan Penal Code are the writ of the state. All citizens of Pakistan are bound by these laws and their violation means a legal offence punishable by the law of the land. Taking the law into one’s own hands is a cognisable offence. Religious mavericks must be made to understand this and it must be made crystal clear to them that they cannot run a state within a state.
Over 75 per cent of our population is illiterate and for them the words of the preacher are inviolable truths for which they would willingly lay down their lives. These half-baked alims must not be allowed to preach without having qualified from a recognised Islamic university. This malaise must be stopped before it engulfs the state in a civil war.
I recommend a close reading of Dawn’s editorial page of April 29, with special reference to the following: ‘Reining in the agencies’, ‘A cleric on the loose’, ‘Islam and the Constitution’ and, finally, ‘Rule of Sharia or lawlessness?’ They make for excellent readings and if reproduced in the Urdu press they would go a long way in making a wider circle of readers aware that no one has the right to go about enforcing Sharia and punishing violators at will.
SARDAR AHMED SHAH JAN
Peshawar
LT-GEN Talat Masood has a reputation of being a brilliant analyst on military-cum-political affairs. In his article captioned ‘Only solution is free, fair polls’ (April 24), 2004, the general concludes: “ . . . . but there is only one honourable solution and that is to have a free and fair election.”
Many of us, along with Gen Talat Masood, feel that only fair election under an independent election commission can get us out of the quagmire and lead us to democracy.
I am afraid we have not understood the very grammar of politics. All that election can take us to is an upright, honest and good-natured lonely figure, all alone in the house of parliament of say 300 of dissimilar backgrounds without any consorted idea or preparation for ruling or opposing.
He is prey to horse-trading. A single lonely MP is pulled by a thousand varying influences. He is thus, if we have only an election in view, without a political party or leader, languishing in the realm of theory rather than of fact.
All that democracy demands is a political party, a manifesto and involvement of voter with a political party and its some-what charismatic leader.
I wish the inventive ability of Gen Talat had suggested us some such method of having a political party and an able leader along with free and fair elections. Vote for the sake of vote, elections for the sake of elections will be an exercise in futility.
ROCHI RAM
Karachi
A RELATIVE of mine was taken to a cardiovascular hospital in Karachi recently.
He was sent home with chest pain and a ‘normal ECG’. When he returned subsequently with a massive infarction and cardiac arrest, a senior physician asked:
"Who discharged this patient last night while he was having a heart attack?"
The EKG was misread by the junior physician who discharged my relative while he was having a heart attack.
My relative lost his life, but for the physician it was simply an oversight. The patient was not given cardiac enzymes or offered an aspirin or nitroglycerin, let alone an admission in hospital.
This is a case of criminal negligence and would likely have cost the physician his licence, and the hospital would be liable for a massive law suit for harmful neglect were the physician in the US.
It angers and pains me that such callousness, neglect and arrogance can exist among physicians who feel no remorse or sense of responsibility for their actions.
If a physician is in training, it should not be beneath his dignity to get his opinions endorsed by senior physicians.
Even senior cardiologists in the US get opinions from their colleagues when they are unsure.
Sadly, seeking help from colleagues is thought to be a sign of incompetence in Pakistani medical culture. Training abroad instils a sense of responsibility which we don't learn as part of our medical training in Pakistan.
IRATE PHYSICIAN
USA
IT is heartening to note that the next population census of Pakistan will be held in October 2008 (Dawn, April 26). It has been claimed that it will be decennial census coming as it does exactly 10 years after the previous census which was held in 1998.
To refresh the memory of your readers, I may inform that the first census of India was organised by the British in 1871. Since then, the decennial censuses were held regularly in 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911, 1921, 1931 and 1941 despite the two World Wars, i.e., World War I of 1914–1918 and World War II of 1939–1945, and the depression of the 1920s.
The British left in 1947 and the first census of Pakistan was held in 1951 followed by the next decennial census in 1961. However, due to abnormal conditions in 1971, the third census of Pakistan was held in 1972. The fourth national census was held in 1981 during Gen Zia’s time.
For reasons unknown to us, no census was held in 1991; instead, the government of Nawaz Sharif organised the fifth census of Pakistan in 1998, almost 17 years after the census of 1981.
It is unfortunate that the present regime could not organise a census in 2001.
India, on the other hand, has creditably organised all the six decennial censuses between 1951 and 2001 at regular intervals.
DR QAZI SHAKIL AHMAD
Karachi
THE wait to see the Peshawar-Charsadda Road repaired was almost too long to endure, but the poor quality of work and subsequent damage to the newly-constructed portions due to negligence and irregularities is unpardonable.
The opportunity of graft and personal benefit cannot be discounted as a factor for the poor state of maintenance. Ironically, the masses are becoming increasingly irrelevant in the present-day political environment.
Nevertheless, for the sake of compassion for fellow beings, could the chief minister or NAB please take notice and save the people of Charsadda by directing the concerned authorities to do something about this vital link?
MIR WAIS
Charsadda
DEMOCRACY is a feature-studded system of governance and its main constitutional features are as follows:
a. Fundamental commitment to the welfare of the people (the ‘demos’), that is, towards `civil society’ in the proper sense of the term.
b. The ‘rule of law’, commonly stated as the supremacy of the constitution and law.
c. Dispersal of powers between the three organs of government, i.e., legislature, executive and the judiciary -- called as `separation of powers’ -- to avert disguised dictatorship.
d. A politicised legislature, i.e., constituted through elections with political parties free to play their roles.
e. A non-politicised bureaucracy, being the main segment of the executive for implementation of laws.
f. A non-politicised judiciary, being the body to finally judge.
These are the main or basic features but there are so many other connected features which deserve mention, e.g., a transparently independent election commission, a transparently independent media, independent cadres of services for both bureaucracy and the judiciary; freedom for genuine institutions, i.e., organisations possessing autonomy within their specified spheres duly compatible with the objectives of civil society; and so on and so forth. Awareness about the basics of democracy appears inadequate and needs to be promoted through the media as well as through academic and educational institutions. It should also be thoroughly and compulsorily taught in civil and military academies throughout the world.
It is unfortunate that gross misperception persists even today amongst a large segment of society about democracy as being simply a thing called elections, instead of being a comprehensive system of governance which includes the ideological aspect of full commitment to the welfare of the people for whom this system has evolved globally through centuries through severe sufferings and supreme sacrifices.
It is indeed this ideological feature of democracy which makes it compatible with all religions of the world today because all religions stand for the welfare of humanity, that is, the people.
Political democracy and economic democracy go hand in hand and political democracy cannot succeed without this reality being catered for. Economic democracy is by no means to be equated with socialism but it is to be understood to signify that there must be an adequate dispersal of wealth amongst the people at large so that they are not made slaves of life-wrecking drudgery for survival who cannot act as politically conscious citizens. The free-for-all enterprise system must change its maxim of “each man for himself and the devil take the hindmost” to the maxim of “each man for himself and the state shall take care of the hindmost.” To sum up, there must be a welfare state. That is the insurance of political democracy, which must be appreciated as a sacred ideology of man, a supreme social ideal – worth living for all, even worth to the extent of dying for it. After all, it treats mankind as sacred and is, in the long run, the sole road to progress.
RAFIQ HUSSAIN AGA
Karachi
THE construction of new roads in Karachi by the city government in order to facilitate the movement of the ever-increasing traffic is undoubtedly commendable. However, it must be understood that these new roads not only cost a lot but also benefit only a small proportion of the population who own private vehicles.
A better solution would be to improve the public transport system as the majority of the people in the city travel by public transport, especially buses. These people face a lot of problems because of the deteriorated condition of the buses and also because there are not enough buses to accommodate the large numbers of passengers. It is common to see people stuffed in buses to the extent that some passengers have to hang out from the door, and even ride on the roof. This is extremely dangerous and has led to several accidents.
If the number of buses is increased and their condition improved, there will be no need for the very expensive mega projects that are a drain on the country’s finances.
RAABIA HIRANI
Karachi
EIGHT years ago, by debarring two former tin-pot prime ministers from running for office, Gen Musharraf accomplished what few would argue was anything less than cleaning the Augean stables.
If he had ridden off in the sunset after even accomplishing just that, the country could have hailed him as one of the greatest heroes of our troubled democracy. I myself would have sung songs about his bravery to my grandchildren.
And yet, eight years later, there is now news of deals being struck between him and the same former leader. What could have possibly gone so wrong within him?
DR RAHEEL AHMED
Minneapolis, USA
APROPOS of the letter (April 4) pertaining to non-payment of the provident fund to pensioners/senior citizens, I should like to say that though the fund is payable on a monthly basis, it has not been paid since October 2005.
Authorities responsible for providing fund for payment have taken no notice of the plight of the payees. The officers, in reply to queries, give a stereotype reply: “Funds have not been received, find out next month’.
The worst part of the story is that if someone waiting for the fund dies, it is not payable to the next of kin. I personally know a lady who died waiting for the fund, the accumulated amount being about Rs150,000, which was automatically refunded to the government treasury. Her kin ran from pillar to post to get the payment but were not successful.
Will someone concerned please look into the problem?
AFFECTED
Kuwait
THE new currency notes are not only smaller than the old ones but the paper used is quite inferior, so much so that the printed words fade away in a few days.
As compared to the previous notes, people look down upon the new currency notes, because after two or three transactions Rs10 and Rs 20 notes become very dirty just like a rag of waste paper.
Keeping in view the smaller size of Rs10 and Rs20 notes, it is apprehended that the new notes of Rs5, proposed to be issued by the bank, would be not better than the size of a bus ticket. How strange!
As regards the currency note of Rs5000, it has no marketability as far as the general public is concerned. Such high denomination notes are meant for and used by smugglers, hoarders and a source of spreading corruption through bribery. Due to such factors, after World War II the British government in India demonetised high denomination notes. Now it is ripe time that Pakistan should follow suit.
M. SHAKIL AHMED
Karachi
WE would like to draw the attention of the quarters concerned that the HBL administration, Frere Road branch, Sukkur, has installed their electricity generator on the back of the bank, which is a residential area.
While the generator is on, it creates a tremendous noise and air pollution that is very disturbing and painful for the residents of the area, specially the elderly and sick persons.
On various occasions, the area residents met the branch manager and regional/zonal manager of the bank and apprised them of their problem.
Meanwhile, the office-bearers of the Environmental Protection Agency’s regional office, Sukkur, also visited the place and found the residents’ complaint to be genuine. They suggested certain measures to the bank authorities but nothing has happened so far.
RESIDENTS
Sukkur
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