| May 22, 2007 | Tuesday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 05, 1428 |
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Environmental tribunal
Banana republic
Serious threat to residents
Time to leave
State of affairs
Capital punishment
Judiciary’s heroic role
An innocent little soul
Stormwater drains
Maternal love
Tribute to Dr Haq
Looking for teacher
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
“WILDLIFE is a vital component of nature. We need to share this planet with it”, says Zohare Ali Sharif, a leading wildlife scientist who studies animal behaviour. We witness, almost every other day, enthusiasm and zeal of people belonging to different age groups on various days, e.g. Valentine’s Day, Friendship Day and New Year Day, throughout the year, but hardly a few, perhaps only those who are engaged in one way or the other, know about the Biodiversity Day, or more precisely they even do not have nodding acquaintance with the term ‘biodiversity’, its benefits and threats faced by it.
Biodiversity, in a simplest way, means: totality of all life forms, i.e., micro-organisms (e.g. viruses, bacteria, protists), fungi, algae, plants and animals, and the places inhabited by them: habitats (e.g. forests, deserts, ocean and rivers), and all the genes, entities of inheritance that determine how a life form is going to be, they contain.
Instead of rendering a number of valuable services to mankind, people ask why save biodiversity? The answer is quite simple: to save ourselves. We are not the whole and sole custodians of this planet, we merely are a part of it, and share its resources with other vast array of life forms; thus, we do not have any right to exploit it at the expense of others, for others are as vital as we are in the ecological balance of this planet.
The International Day for Biological Diversity (or World Biodiversity Day) is a UN-sanctioned international holiday for the promotion of biodiversity issues, currently held on May 22. This year’s theme as adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity is ‘Biodiversity and Climate Change’, which complements the designation of 2007 as the International Polar Year and coincides with Unep’s World Environment Day theme of Climate Change.
In fact, out of countless detrimental stressors to biodiversity, much heed is paid to climate change, for it has direct as well as indirect effects on ecosystems and biodiversity. Modification in the food chain, food web; alterations and destructions in habitats; hampering the developmental process and life cycle are amongst the indirect effects causing loss of biodiversity owing to drastic change in the climate pattern whereas increased temperature and exposure to UV radiation has proved to have brought several life forms to the verge of extinction.
Thus, holding biodiversity day is an endeavour to increase the awareness among the people about importance, significance and other issues related with biodiversity. Scientists and environmentalists and conservation biologists are striving hard to preserve and conserve the biotic spectrum of this planet , but this arduous journey towards the accomplishment of the above-stated goal could not be completed until and unless other people irrespective of their age and profession contribute equally, and join hands with the experts to make this planet a living paradise.
MUHAMMAD RAIS
Karachi
WHAT can be more surprising and saddening than this that environmental tribunals are without work (as reported in Dawn, April 21) when environmental degradation has reached its climax throughout the country?
The present status of the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency is that most of the key posts are lying vacant according to a report (April 20).
This state of affairs reminds me of the saying of a historian who visited Pakistan a few years ago and during his stay he observed that making of the constitution in Pakistan is no problem, but the only problem is working of the constitution. Similarly, it is fact rather than fantasy that making of organisations/agencies is no problem here, what matters is the working of these agencies.
Prior to the establishment of tribunals, whenever there was any complaint against the working of the Environmental Protection Agency, it was giving the reason of its being ineffective due to the absence of such tribunals as could bring the violators of environmental protection to book.
Now, when the punishing courts are in existence, no case is being submitted by the protection agency. Who would ask whom the reason of spending millions of rupees?
LALA FAZAL AHMED BELAEE
Hyderabad
DURING his visit to the US in September 2006, General Musharraf responded to rumours about a coup in the country by saying it was nonsense and that “Pakistan is not a banana republic. Everything is normal.”
But reality shows otherwise. Pakistan is not a standard country and it has more blazing curses than any other banana republic.
It was a banana republic in 2006, and it has been proved after strangling superior judiciary by military and killings in Karachi.
The term is used for politically unstable states, dependent on limited agriculture, and ruled by a small, self-elected, wealthy and corrupt clique with colonial policies.
In modern usage the term has come to be used to describe a generally unstable or ‘backward’ dictatorial regime, especially one where elections are often fraudulent and corruption is rife.
By extension, the word is occasionally applied to governments where a strong leader hands out appointments and advantages to friends and supporters, without much consideration for the law.
But Pakistan has more serious concerns than being a simple banana republic — suicide squads, the ‘Burqa brigade’, enforced disappearances and target killing of political dissidents, mushroom growth of corrupt clique, absence of rule of law, strangled judiciary and, above all, continued erosion of national unity due to continuous state offensives against innocent people of Waziristan and Balochistan.
NISAR SINDHO
Hyderabad
ALTHOUGH civic by-laws ban commercial activities in residential areas, even in the so-called posh area of Clifton, some unscrupulous tradesmen have managed to acquire big residential bungalows and are using them as godowns.
On the main road of Gulshan-i-Faisal, Bath Island, facing street No. 10, a company has converted a 600-square-yard bungalow into a godown to deposit the goods for further distribution in the city.
Now because of the constant movement of big trawlers carrying huge containers with enormous amount of manufactured goods and frequent employment of distribution vehicles, the already overcrowded road has become jampacked and people living in the vicinity have become extremely insecure.
Moreover, due to the height of containers the electric and telephone wires, which are pole-mounted, have become exposed and vulnerable.
At least on two occasions live electric wires entangled and collapsed on the main road; had the KESC not responded on time, there was bound to have occurred some fatal accidents.
This nuisance must be removed from the midst of a residential area.
RESIDENTS
Karachi
I AM a young patriotic Pakistani, with good educational qualifications. For the past three years various family members and friends advised me to apply for immigration and settle abroad so that I would be able to build a much better future in the West.
I, however, never gave it a serious thought since I believed that Gen Musharraf’s government was good for our country and things would become better. Law and order would improve; the economy would grow and in the years to come we, too, like India would become strong.
This dream, however, became distant each year, but I still did not lose hope in President Musharraf. Each time I heard him on TV, it seemed he had some commitment to make this country better and was different from the destructive politicians the country was infested with.
However, everything changed in the last three months since he decided to sack the chief justice. With each passing day in the last three months hope seemed to be fading. It seemed the general is no better than the rest.
Last week’s destruction in Karachi made the decision for me. There is no future here. The sooner one gets out, the better for there is no hope in waiting for things to get better. I have decided to apply for immigration and look for a future elsewhere.
TAIMUR KHAN
Karachi
I AM mildly annoyed by the letters written by people who sign off as ‘A Pakistani’ or ‘A Reader’ condemning overseas Pakistanis who make critical comments about the state of affairs in Pakistan. Unless these people are living in a cocoon, they cannot seriously believe that Pakistan is anything other than a crisis state today.
From Australia to Africa, wherever there is a ‘terrorist’ attack, Pakistanis are found to be involved. Even our friends like the UAE are deporting Pakistanis for the fear that they spread extremism. In Britain, Pakistanis seem to have sole proprietorship and patent over terrorist plots. Thus terrorism is rapidly replacing textiles as our number one export.
While our government can manhandle and thrash women protestors from opposition parties, it refuses to take on lathi wielding, burqa-clad women from a madressah not far from its seat of power. On top of all this, our rulers decided to enable terrorists in Karachi to thwart a non-functional chief justice.
Further still, the authorities have unleashed their own terrorism on TV and the print media, including Dawn, with murdered journalists and missing reporters. How can any sane overseas Pakistani defend a state that has only succeeded in spewing out terrorists internally and externally?
JAMEEL FARIDI
Dublin, Ohio, USA
THIS has reference to Hussain G. Mir’s letter (May 19) on the execution of three Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia. While I regret the events, I disagree with him when he says that they should not have been punished in this manner.
What kind of human rights are we referring to when we talk of trafficking drugs?
I'm from Bangalore, India, and have been living in Singapore for the last 12 years. Even Singapore awards the death penalty for drug trafficking.
Despite this, drug traffickers are caught on a regular basis from countries like Malaysia, Thailand and so forth for trying to smuggle drugs into Singapore.
We all know how fatal the drugs are. It has influenced the youth badly in developing countries like India and Pakistan. When offenders are given the death sentence, others will think twice before committing this crime.
I have no compassion for those who take this route to earn their livelihood.
This will be a good lesson for others to abstain from drug trafficking so that our society and people can live in a drug-free world.
PRASAD K.N.G.
Singapore
I HAVE often wondered if executing people for drug trafficking is a valid way of curbing such crimes? Judging by the news of executions the Arab authorities carry out, I can only feel that the authorities are a very incompetent lot.
When the authorities have in custody a person accused of drug trafficking, is tracing the sponsors of this crime and the recipients of drugs in Arabia not a very simple matter ? So why don’t the authorities go to the source? It is quite possible that the recipients in Arabia are the ‘untouchables’.
It is common knowledge that many times poor and unsuspecting people are sent as couriers of drug by the sponsors. The unsuspecting poor people are sent for Umrah by the drug traffickers wearing a veil of God-loving charitable people.
I can only urge everyone in Pakistan to make all people aware of the risks they may be taking by going out to perform Umrah sponsored by someone else.
S. H. WASTY
London
I FULLY endorse Khalid Jawed Khan’s vision in his article ‘Judiciary’s heroic role’ (May 16) in which he wrote that the judiciary should not be left alone in its struggle for freedom and must be supported by the people of Pakistan.
The forces who are against this judicial struggle and are trying to disrupt, through undemocratic and violent means, people’s peaceful support for it are only attempting to maintain the status quo and deprive the people of this country of their basic human and civil rights.
Gone are the days when such tactics of violence, disinformation and censorship were considered useful means to fool the masses. Today the media has further enhanced awareness among the masses as is evident from the reaction of the people throughout the country against the tragic incidents in Karachi. I am very hopeful that the alliance of the people, judiciary and media will pave the way for a civilised way of governance.
SHER HASSAN KHAN
Quetta
I WAS shocked to read a news item (April 28) that a nine-year-old boy has been picked up by Balochistan Frontier Constabulary because his brother was wanted by the federal agencies.
Federal Minister Zobaida Jalal was on record as having said that he would be released after his wanted brother surrendered. Is this the way you govern a country?
Why this innocent little soul has to pay for the ‘crimes’ his brother has committed? The agony and mental torture of living away from his parents might have caused irreparable damage to his intellect.
The minister should know that she has hurt the feelings of the nation, in general, and the constituency she represents, in particular.
Our honourable bench of the Supreme Court must punish whosoever is responsible for the most inhuman act inflicted on the nine-year-old and his parents. Just ordering his release is not enough and justice not done.
DR KHURRUM FIAZUDDIN
Karachi
RECENTLY the Karachi city nazim asked the officials to expedite the cleaning work of stormwater drain before the monsoon sets in.
Last year a similar directive was given and in response the KWSB authorities had claimed that the cleaning of 70 per cent drains were completed by the authority before monsoon rains, while five per cent cleaning of Picture Nullah in Lyari was carried out, causing financial losses to the exchequer and miseries to the residents.
The higher authorities are requested to verify the work done, if any, this year.
A. RAZAK MEMON
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the news item, ‘Maternal love knows no ingratitude’ (May 18), about a son who kept his 60-year-old mother in chains for a year and was arrested by the police. The honourable court allowed her to go back home with her heartless son, because ‘maternal love knows no ingratitude’.
This may be acceptable emotionally, but how can the court ignore his crime, irrespective of relationship between the accused and the victim.
Does this mean that anyone can victimise his dear ones and get away with it? The honourable courts must punish the criminals without getting carried away by the emotions.
AMJAD ALI
Rawalpindi
THE news of the passing away of the renowned cardiologist, Dr Abdul Haq Khan, has hit me like the loss of a family member. In him, Pakistan has not only lost a very capable heart specialist but, even more so, a most humane, conscientious and humble man, who undoubtedly won many hearts.
My first introduction to him had come at a very trying time. Many decades back, my father had suffered from a severe heart attack.
He was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital but the doctors attending on him thought he would need a pacemaker temporarily, the facility for which procedure did not exist there. They advised us to contact Dr Haq, who was based at the NICVD and was known to have a spare pacemaker which was a very rare thing in those days of his own.
It happened to be the first day of Eid-ul-Fitr and by the time we got hold of his residential telephone number, he had gone out to meet some relatives or friends.
We left a message for him to contact us as soon as possible, explaining the urgency of doing so. Some hours later he got the message and immediately rushed to the hospital, even though we were strangers for him.
Dad was shifted to the government-run cardiovascular hospital and the needful done without loss of time, thanks to his sense of responsibility and respect for life.
Mind you, he was not making any money out of it. Under his care my father improved very rapidly and was able to return home soon enough. The extreme gratitude that we felt for his kindness and care can easily be understood. Apart from that, we found out over time that he worked like a superman and would even see patients until the early morning.
But this was not for the sake of making more money. He would not charge fees from anyone who gave the slightest hint of having financial difficulties. One day, my brother heard his receptionist tell someone that doctor sahib had seen 10 patients until that time but had not charged anything from eight of them. What Pakistan badly needs is many more medical professionals like him. Perhaps a fit epitaph would be: “Here lies the cardiologist whose name is written on hearts.” May his soul rest in peace.
KHALID CHAUDHRY
Karachi
I AM looking for my old schoolteacher, who later qualified as allopathic Dr Azizuddin Natalwala. He taught us General Science at the Sindh Madressah-tul-Islam in the mid 1950s.
Gujarati-speaking Dr Natalwala happens to have graduated from the Dow Medical College between the years 1955 and 1957, with the renowned orthopaedic surgeon Dr Jokhio being his classmate.
I recall that Dr Natalwala lived in a single-storeyed house in Dastagir where I saw him last (around 1957) following serious injuries he suffered from an accident while riding a motorcycle. The incident occurred after he had cleared his final professional MBBS.
I regret to say that my email addressed to the Dow University of Health Sciences in the matter was not responded. I shall be grateful if anyone can help me get in touch with him.
A. RAUF SOZER
Karachi
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