| June 21, 2007 | Thursday | Jamadi-us-Sani 05, 1428 |
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Salman Rushdie and the British award
NSS policies
FPSC reforms and rural candidates
US visa ordeal
Real estate brokerage business
Indifferent Wapda
Road
Removing slums
Upgradation of grade 12
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
ASGHAR Ali Engineer (Communal fallout of the 1857 uprising, June 9) raises two issues: (1) was the Rising of 1857 national and (2) did the Rising fail because of a lack of ideals.
For the Rising to be national, we need not prove wide geographic coverage – from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari. We need only show that all national elements were represented, but in a smaller area. The latter burden of the ‘national test’ is easily met by the Rising.
First, the Indian side: Kanpur had always been intertwined with the Mahrattas. As the Mughal rule lay in tatters, by the 19th century, the Mahrattas were the most formidable adversaries of the East India Company (EIC). The deposed Baji Rao, the very last Peshwa Bahadur of the Mahratta Confederacy, chose Bithur, a mere 12 miles northwest of Kanpur, for his exile in 1819. Why Bithur?
It was said, among the Brahmins anyway, that Bithur was the last resort of those who had a grievance. At the demise of Baji Rao, Nana Sahib, his adopted heir, did not receive Baji Rao’s full pension. For a full discussion, see Andrew Ward, Our Bones are scattered: The Cawnpore Massacres and the Indian Mutiny of 1857. The embittered Nana was advised by the able Azimullah Khan to overthrow the EIC.
Lucknow, capital of Oudh, became an EIC protectorate after the Battle of Buxar in 1764, but the EIC allowed native kings to rule, the last of whom was Wajid Ali Shah. When James Outram deposed him in 1856, Wajid Ali and his disbanded soldiers made it to Kanpur. Meanwhile, as the EIC raised assessments, increased taxes and required immediate payment of arrears, thousands of dispossessed subjects later followed Wajid Ali to Kanpur.
The (Hindus) and kings of Oudh (Shiites) always ruled in the name of the Mughals (Sunnis). A working, albeit frayed, ‘national” alliance was there. All the representative elements of the native side were there right around Kanpur in the modern-day Uttar Pradesh.
Now, the British side: The EIC built up Kanpur as the bulwark against the Mahrattas. In the mid-19th century, Kanpur was the second largest European settlement in India and it experienced a huge construction boom in the 1830s. As Andrew Ward notes, the lyrics to a ditty set to popular tune in the 1850s went like this: “For dancing and dressing, for sky larking and caressing, no Indian station can vie with Kanpur.”
Delhi, Meerut, Lucknow, Kanpur, Bithur, Allahabad and Jhansi are all in relatively close vicinity. The EIC, and the disposed, embittered natives were there in that vicinity. That was the place with all the dry powder keg.
Why did the Rising fail?: It was most definitely not because of a lack of ideals. William Dalrymple (The Last Mughal) has suggested that it failed mostly because the sepoys did not have the benefit of spies. Spies cost money. Not being properly funded was the key to failure.
The Rising of 1857, much like national defence of today, was a ‘public good’. Even those who didn’t pay could enjoy the benefits of the Rising. In 1857, there were any number of free riders waiting for the EIC to fall and then declare their “I was all along“ allegiance to the winner.
As with any public good, the Rising also generated ‘externalities’. Those who did not directly fight against the EIC enjoyed the benefit of the fight waged by the sepoys and sowars. There were plenty of people perched by the siege of Lucknow, for example, watching the show live, but nobody came forward to pay. There was really no incentive to pay. That’s why the Rising failed.
GANESH S. KRISHNAN
Minnesota, USA
Great Britain has once again shown its true face. It has chosen to lead the caravan of Christianity against Islam, using a Muslim to harm the Muslim Ummah.
The blasphemer Salman Rushdie has been picked up out of a billion Muslims to be honoured with the greatest of the British awards, i.e., the award of ‘Sir’. Could Great Britain not find any surrogate move or artefact to show hatred to the 57 citadels of the world of Islam.
Great Britain is the home of the Westminster type of democracy which our nation is craving to die for; our people are breaking the country to achieve this. Sitting in the comfortable breeze of London, our disgruntled leaders, the future custodians of the fate of Pakistan, are at ease in the British capital which has announced the award.
A.Q. ANJUM
Rawalpindi
THE Muslim world stands united in its condemnation of Britain’s decision to confer the title of ‘Sir’ on Salman Rushdie. Rushdie has been awarded knighthood by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution in the field of literature.
Few have known Rushdie for his literary work but more for his attempt to disgrace Islam through his controversial book Satanic Verses.
The book prompted the Islamic fraternity across the globe to label him as an apostate with the strongest condemnation coming from late Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeni who issued a death fatwa against him.
In Pakistan too the upper and lower houses of Parliaments have unanimously passed a resolution against this decision. The action to bring Rushdie back into limelight will lead to a greater divide between the West and the Muslim world. One would have expected a more responsible attitude from the British government.
They could have easily weighed the pros and cons of such a decision but it seems that they already anticipated the fallout from their action and have termed the issue as a routine decision. I believe the main fault lies in the British system which for centuries has operated on the policy of divide and rule. It is time Britain changed its ways and closed all kinds of actions which give rise to hostile reaction among the Muslim community.
Pakistani Muslims residing in Pakistan and living abroad have openly expressed their resentment against the decision to honour Rushdie. One sincerely hopes that some of our politicians who are British citizens living in the UK will find the courage to stand up and be honest in defending this fresh attempt to hurt the sentiments of the Ummah.
NAVEED AHMED
Karachi
THIS is in reference to ‘No relief for NSS investors’ and Zubeida Mustafa’s op-ed on the difficult times the poor, particularly old retired pensioners and widows, are facing due to ever rising cost of living (June 13).
It was expected that that the new budget would do something to end the callous joke the government played last year with the general mass of NSS investors by giving a fractional increase in the profit rates, ostensibly to offset the impact of roaring inflation but actually to attract new investors from the corporate sector. The nominal increase did not apply to old investors as it was thought their living standard will not suffer as prices soar unchecked.
The billionaire prime minister takes a ritual round of the weekly bazaars and the president, whose colleagues are also all billionaires, says it’s all okay because everyone has a mobile telephone. The religious lobby is only concerned with fornication and how many strips of the whip should be lashed on the culprits.
Our elected representatives have helped themselves with generous increases in their emoluments because of which the president knows their resignation threats have no meaning. The economic adviser in the ministry of finance who is devising these anti-poor policies and is not ready to grant a penny to the poor pensioners himself earns nearly Rs1 million per month.
Thanks to this policy muddle there are now two classes of NSS investors, the pre-July 2006 pensioners who continue to live on old slashed rates of profits and the rich business class and institutions for whom the rate of profits has been raised since last year’s budget. Will someone undo this stark injustice against which Dawn has raised its voice.
IBNE SHAFIQUE
Rawalpindi
PAKISTAN is basically an agricultural country and more than half of the population lives in rural areas but unfortunately dwellers of the countryside have always been ignored and rejected at every stage in every sector.
It is a bitter fact that getting knowledge is a hard task, especially for those who belong to lower middle class. Despite poor conditions, illiterate parents, scanty sources and many other problems faced by the candidates of rural community, they attempt and win the ground but many of them become sad when they read the requirements of the FPSC: age limits, difficult subjects, in the absence of any facility from the government. The most common problems of these candidates are poverty, expensive educational system, learning and earning at the same time, etc.
It is the responsibility of the authorities to be more lenient to the countryside dwellers but no due response is given. I became very happy to read the news that the FPSC is bringing about reforms in its policy but two years have passed and no result has come out.
It is the right of rural candidates that they must be given relaxation in age. Candidates who qualify in written examinations should be posted in either government departments if they do not qualify interview or be given remuneration as a non- commissioned officer.
No admission fees should be charged from the candidates wherever preparatory classes of CSS are taken. The candidates who do not have relevant books concerning the examinations must get these through some sort of centre established in this regard. There should be radio and TV programmes for rural CSS candidates.
As long as we are not able to help the rural youth in their education etc, the burden of rural poverty and ignorance will continue to haunt them, as well as keep the progress in cities haphazard.
I hope the FPSC would consider their requirements and facilitate the candidates of rural areas.
MOULA BUX
Hyderabad
MY daughter Fatema Jawed and I (passport number AL8673601) applied for an American visit visa on March 31. We were called for an interview on May 24 in Islamabad which was a successful one.
We were told to get our passports from the Karachi courier office within eight to 10 days. My daughter received her passport within the stipulated period but after more than three weeks and repeated calls to the courier office and the US embassy, I have no information on the whereabouts of my passport.
During this time, I have missed the opportunity to attend my nephew’s graduation ceremony and, as I am a teacher, my holiday time is running short.
I hope to avail myself of my vacation time in the US and hope that I receive my passport with the visa in time to travel.
FARIDA JAWED
Karachi
THIS has reference to Col (r) George L. Singleton’s letter (June 17) about how the real estate brokerage business is being conducted in the US.
Thank you very much George Singleton as you are the only one who has backed my suggestions (May 29) for improving and setting up a national real estate licensor standard in Pakistan.
Then I waited for the budget speech of the Sindh finance minister on June 15, thinking the federal government maight have directed the provincial minister to take proper measures to regulate the real estate brokerage business in Sindh, but this too did not happen.
If the problems that are written and debated on the op-ed pages of leading English newspaper of the country cannot draw the attention of the legislators and the government, then how can one expect that proper legislation work will be done in the federal or provincial assemblies, particularly when it comes to earning more revenues for the government and making the real estate prices affordable for a common man?
In fact, nobody in Pakistan is interested in making the real estate business transparent due to one simple reason: that people buying and selling properties do not want to declare the actual value of their properties, otherwise the income tax department will knock at their doors and ask them about their source of income.
The governments in all the four provinces announce, after every budget, ‘collectrate rates’ according to the area and size of the properties on which people pay capital value tax, put revenue stamps on the conveyance deeds, pay registration charges to area registrars and taxes to the local governments.
But if some one calculates the actual value of a property that is being purchased and sold in the open market, the official value declared by the buyers and the sellers is only 25 per cent as people are bound to pay income tax through sale of properties income according to the ‘collectrate rates’ announced by the provincial governments from time to time and the rest of the 75 per cent is paid by the buyers to sellers ‘under the table’.
The fact is that real estate business is backed by ‘black money’ which is also called ‘parallel economy’. It is the duty of federal and the provincial governments to make the real estate business transparent.
People buying properties are aware of the fact that they are not registering their conveyance deeds of properties on the actual value of purchase of properties that is paid to the sellers, but nobody can break the system, as every property buyer and seller willingly or unwillingly evade taxes due to bad property laws, rather than pay actual taxes to the government on which rates the properties are sold and purchased in the open market.
Foreigners and multinational companies do not purchase properties in Pakistan as the process of buying properties in Pakistan is not a transparent one. How can a company established in the West should buy and open its export and import branch office permanently in Pakistan by taking a million dollars from its respective headquarters’ account and send a receipt back to its headquarters of quarter of a million dollars?
Here’s a question for the those who are sitting at the helm of affairs: if insurance agents and stockbrokers can obtain a licence from the government to be a part of insurance and stock business, why can’t the real estate agency owners or real estate brokers be considered to have a licence to operate real estate business in a proper and legitimate manner?
If the SECP can monitor the stock brokerage business, why can’t it monitor the real estate business, which is also a very strong economic indicator?
The government should have the will to do necessary reforms in the real estate brokerage business.
SYED A. MATEEN
Karachi
PEOPLE are fed up with the ruthless seasonal adventures of the inept Wapda with impunity. It has reduced millions of children to tars by depriving them of even a wink of sleep. When Wapda turns off electricity of any area, the public anger whips up and there is tirade of abuses against it by the civilians who are made waifs and strays by soaring temperature of scorching summer heat.
Vehement protests by the people could not turn a hair of this thick-skinned institution. The public is at the clemency of the weather to tolerate blazing summer heat and shivering winter cold. Like the the Pakistan Railways and the PIA, this department is another white elephant on national resources. Unfortunately, it is one of the most corrupt institutions of the country.
This department is trying to widen the spiritual gap between God and the few people who offer prayers by driving them away from mosques by switching off electricity at the times of prayers. Wapda shuts down power exactly at 9pm in various areas of the country, which is the time of Isha prayers.
The people in many mosques kindle candles because of the absence of emergency lights. This suffocates the prayer halls with smoke and mounts the already toasting temperature. The heaven would not fall if Wapda keeps switching on electricity for 4.15 to 4.45am for Fajr, 1 to 2pm for Zuhr, 5 to 5.30pm for Asr, 7 to 7.30pm for Maghreb and 8.45 to 9.15pm for Isha, which are the current times of five prayers in various mosques.
The whole nation would be extremely gratified to Wapda to provide tenable duration of only three hours out of 24 hours for prayers.
Are not the Wapda officials hand in glove with the big industrialists? Don’t their officials charge nominal bills from some bigwigs who use heavy airconditioners? Now Wapda has become so callous that it does not even bother to inform the public before its reckless action, so that the people may not live peacefully by making alternative arrangements.
In hospitals of small cities there are not even generators.
There is crying need to tap energy resources to fuel power-hungry industry and to facilitate the public.
DR TANVIR HUSSAIN BHATTI
Lahore
"MUSHARRAF orders timely completion of roads" (June 20).
Sir, how about Charsadda-Peshawar Road. You better come and drive from Peshawar to Charsadda and see it yourself.
ZOZA
Peshawar
According to a piece of news (May 31), authorities in Mumbai have decided to replace Asia’s biggest slum with new apartments for poor residents.
This is what is required on part of a welfare state. A developing and growing economy should reflect in government policies designed to change the fate of the poor class.
Mumbai authorities are going to set a wonderful example for other countries like Pakistan. At least, in Islamabad, such a step is an imperative.
The CDA should earmark at least 40 to 50 pr cent of its revenue to remove slum areas from Islamabad.
Residential projects should be launched for these slum dwellers.
M. AZAM
Islamabad
IN his budget speech on June 9, the state minister of finance announced the upgradation of government employees.
The upgrades for those in 1 to 4 would be up one grade each, grade 5 into 7, grade 7 into 9, grade 9 into 11 and grade 11 into 14.
However, the remaining basic grade of 12 has been neglected, which means basically for steno typists and junior stenographers, who play a key role in organisations.
The people in this grade are also citizens of this country and face the same problems as everyone else.
I, therefore, request the president, the prime minister and other managing staff who are reviewing grades to kindly upgrade this grade.
MUHAMMAD YOUNIS
Hyderabad
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