| July 17, 2007 | Tuesday | Rajab 01, 1428 |
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Plots for CDA employees
Iskander Mirza
Disaster management
Palestine: equitable approach
Operation Silence — communication failure
KESC kundas
Inzamam’s exclusion
Independent media
Face value
Probing Kargil
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
THE biggest bane of Muslim societies over the years has been sectarianism; sectarianism born of unmitigated bigotry, spawned by self-righteous extremism. The cause celebres honing the ever-ready internecine knives is the many an interpretation of the Divine Law (Shariah) held to with ruinous rigidity. This may not have been so, had the influencing eldership (intellectuals, academics, jurists and clerics) realised the imperative need to arrive at some incontrovertible common ground, free of interpretational bias, for inter-sectarian peace and harmony ensuring comprehensive progress of the community.
Failure to do so lent fillip to opportunistic, emotively labelled and beguiling but essentially political groupings, jockeying for political ascendancy, as true exponents and establishers of the Divine Law. How come that this should have happened when as early as the 11th century a recorded approach had been made by one of the most brilliant Muslim jurists, Ibn Hazm [994-1064] of Cordova, in his introduction to his great work, Al Muhalla, beats commonsense.
In contemporary times, in the vein of Ibn Hazm, this issue has been articulately addressed by well-known Muslim scholar Muhammad Asad (1900-1992) in his treatise on principles of state and government for the benefit of many emerging Muslim polities after decolonisation at the end of WWII. He writes:
“…. the true Shariah is far more concise and very much smaller in volume than the legal structure evolved through the fiqh of various schools of Islamic thought. Being a Divine Law, the Shariah cannot possibly have been made dependent on scholarly deductions or inferences of a subjective nature, but must be considered to have been laid down in its entirety in the definite ordinances of the Quran and Sunnah – ordinances expressed in positive terms of law: “do this”, “do not do that”, “such and such a thing is right and, therefore, desirable,” “such and such a thing is wrong and, therefore, to be shunned.”
These ordinances are described technically as nusus (singular, nass). By their very nature, they are not subject to conflicting interpretations; in fact, they are in no need of any ‘interpretation’ whatsoever, being absolutely self-contained and unambiguous in their wording.
All Arab philologists agree that “the nass of Quran and Sunnah denotes the ordinances [ahkam] forthcoming from the self-evident (zahir) wording in which they are expressed.” (Lisan al-’Arab, Beirut, 1957, Vol. VII, p.98)
All such nass ordinances are so formulated that they can be applied to every stage of man’s social and intellectual development; on the other hand, many of the subjective conclusions of the fuqaha are reflections of a particular time and mentality and cannot, therefore, lay claim to eternal validity.
Thus, it is the nasus of the Quran and Sunnah – and only these – that collectively constitute the real, eternal Shariah of Islam. This Shariah concerns itself exclusively with what the Lawgiver has ordained in unmistakable terms as an obligation or put out of bounds as unlawful; whereas the far larger area of things and activities which the Lawgiver has left unspecified – neither enjoining nor forbidding them in nass terms – must be regarded as allowable (mubah) from the shari point of view.
M. J. AS’AD
Karachi
IT is very painful to learn recently through your newspaper that the CDA has allotted thousands of residential plots to its employees illegally.
It is even more painful to know that years ago many sectors of Islamabad like G-12, G-13 an G-14 were 'legally' allotted to employees of different government departments on throwaway prices. As these sectors are now developing, these employees would be able to sell these plots on phenomenal prices, thus making huge profits.
I find allotment of one plot to each government employee quite legitimate, after completing successful lifetime service so that the family may live an honourable life in their own house. But there should be stringent restriction to such allotments so that it does not become a money-making business and employees also do not resort to illegal allotments.
Some of the restrictions that I can think of include prohibition of resale or transfer during employee's life time, condition to build a house within a certain time after handover, ban on more than one allotment per employee, etc. These restrictions might also help in curbing exuberant inflation in property prices faced by general public.
All government employees, including men in uniform, should understand that they are 'public servants'. If they will occupy all precious resources of our beloved country, they will not be doing a service to the public. Please understand that greater public interest cannot be different from national interest.
If government employees will continue to practise measures against public interest, they will continue to deviate from their prime duty of public service and will thus in reality continue to deny the rationale of their existence.
ABDUL REHMAN
Islamabad
THIS has reference to Abdul Waris Khan’s letter, ‘Iskander Mirza’ (July 3), regarding status of his rank of major-general as honorary or retired. I would like to quote a passage from the article, ‘Public bureaucracy and judiciary in Pakistan’, by Ralph Braibanti;
“The role of both British and Muslim officers of the Indian Political Service during the first three years in the formation of the nation also merits discussion.
“Two-thirds of the members of the Indian Political Service were drawn from the Indian army and one-third from the Indian Civil Service.
"The IPS, regarded by many as a super-elite made up of the ‘picked of picked men’, served in the princely states and in frontier areas. The work of the IPS was less bureaucratic in an orthodox sense than that of the ICS. It combined diplomacy, intelligence work, a good deal of adventure and, in the frontier, a rather vigorous outdoor life. Its members were, therefore, of a different temperament and outlook from the ICS.
“Two of the best-known members of the IPS who came to Pakistan were Lt-Col Iskander Mirza, the first Sandhrust-trained non-British officer to pass into the Political Service and who later became the President of Pakistan, and Lt-Col A. S. B. Shah, ex-chairman of the Federal Public Service Commission. Of the 26, 15 held military rank. The administrative experience of the 26 officers ranged from 22 years to three years; 12 had more than 10 years in service…..”Mr Waris asserts that the history of Pakistan would have been different had Iskander Mirza been a retired officer. How? I fail to understand. Could Mr Waris elaborate for less intelligent people like me? He can now judge himself whether the army rank bestowed upon Iskander Mirza was honorary or otherwise.
MUN’IM K. YOUSUFZAI
Karachi
IN his letter ‘Disaster management’ (July 5) Yassir Rasheed has rightly said that Pakistan is becoming a disaster-prone zone. Natural catastrophes, including floods, hurricanes and earthquakes, are no more fairy tales for us. Despite changing trends, neither the government nor any other institution has taken concrete and pragmatic precautionary measures to cope with the situation during disasters.
During the October 2005 earthquake the government’s estimates stated that at least 17,000 schoolchildren died and 6,700 schools were destroyed in the NWFP and 1,300 in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. A huge number of children have died in recent rains and floods.
There is a famous proverb, ‘Prevention is better than cure’, but we have never pondered these words. If we look at the national curriculum of Sindh, a number of lessons are incorporated which skim through personal safety. For example, in Class IV, lesson 36 is on Halal-i-Ahmar; in Class V, there is a lesson on “shahree razakar” (volunteers) and lesson 17 is on “scouts and girls guides”; in Class VI, lesson 10 is on ‘malaria’ and in Class VIII there is a lesson on “shahree bachao ji sikhya” (learning civil defence).
All these lessons are incorporated in Sindhi subject but none of these lessons could help the teachers or the students before, during and even after the disasters. These lessons are imparted in schools where one cannot find a first aid kit on the premises.
It is time to craft our curriculum according to the changing environment and trends. Lessons pertaining to personal safety and first aid should be incorporated in the curriculum. This is especially important for a country like Pakistan where rescue and relief work reaches hours late. Being able to support themselves and others during accidents will also ingrain the concept of humanity among children.
ASIM J. ABRO
Matiari
‘PALESTINE: equitable approach’ (July 3) by M. J. AS’AD overall is a well-written, sincere, and peaceful letter. Mr As'ad does not advocate violence as a solution to the Middle East crisis, which is indeed refreshing to this western reader in the US.
Our Holy Bible identifies both sons of Abraham — Isaac and Ishmael — as blessed by and of God.
Way back then there were Palestinians who were militarily dispossessed by Abraham and his military. These earliest known Palestinians were idol worshipers, not believers in God of Abraham.
Today we have in the West Bank and Gaza both Muslims and Christians of many denominations. Inside today's Israel we have majority Jews, but minority Muslims and minority Christians, too.
The 1947 UN resolution created two nation-states, Palestine and Israel. However, the then Arab nations of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria immediately rejected the UN resolution which, in fact, founded both nations, and attacked Israel with their armies. Off and on, Israel has ever since been under attack.
Palestine has, meanwhile, with only recent exceptions due to the violent nature of Hamas, received, per the 1947 UN resolution, what by now would add up to billions of dollars of revenues collected by Israel under the 1947 UN resolution formula in behalf of Palestine.
Had the nation of Palestine peacefully stood up, today that formula might have naturally withered as a peaceful, coexisting nation of Palestine could have been collecting its own revenues, more fully independent of its neighbouring state of Israel.
Former prime minister Tony Blair is a sincere and dedicated public servant and can be trusted. His help in continuing to try to implement the original 1947 UN resolutions full terms and conditions, for that is the actual effect of renewed UN interest, in fact, can help when and if Hamas renounces violence and comes to the peacemaking table jointly with the PLO and Israel.
COL (r) GEORGE L. SINGLETON,
USAF, USA
DEPENDING on the perspective one adopts, one can either laud ‘Operation Silence’ against the Lal Masjid terrorists or pick any number of issues/conspiracy theories to point the blame at the government. Much will be said, debated, defended, and written on these perspectives in the coming days.
Regardless of the above, one thing is clear. The government’s public and media communication strategy for ‘Operation Silence’ was non-existent. Logic dictates that upon launching the operation, the government should have designated a single-point spokesperson for the media to avoid conflicting reports.
Far from this, we saw our ever eager beaver politicians clamouring to give opinions and updates on the government’s strategy and debating all sorts of “what - if” scenarios. Throughout the past week, official statements and TV interviews have come from Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Ijazul Haq, Ahmed Durrani, Gen Ashraf, Brig Cheema and, of course, the ever-present Sheikh Rashid in his capacity as the minister of railways in charge of the ministry of interior and the ministry of communications. Why does common sense escape our politicians with such ease?
A. A. AHMAD
Lahore
I WOULD like to know the answers to a few mind-boggling questions arising after the tragic end of the Lal Masjid incidence:
1. Where have the ‘foreign’ fighters or their bodies vanished?
2. Any news about "Abu Mansoor", the wanted terrorist leading the deadly battle against security forces?
3. Where have all the secret tunnels which were being used for movement of terrorists and weapons disappeared?
4. How the "petrol bombs" and other explosive materials remained safe despite heavy exchange of fire and fire outbreak in Lal Masjid?
5. Why did the media fail to show any "well protected" basements in Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa?
6. If the death toll and the number of injured are the same as the government claims, then why was the media coverage strictly forbidden?
ABDUL AHAD
Karachi
IN HIS column “A drama to beat all dramas” (July 6) Ayaz Amir writes that the Lal Masjid issue is a drama staged by the government to mask the judicial crisis. If the government had not taken any action, then again he would blame the government for inaction, thus promoting lawlessness.
Mr Amir intends to see dark clouds on a sunny day. In his columns he exhibits mastery of convoluted logic. He is quick to point the finger but I have never read anything where he presents a solution. Criticism against the government in the case of Lal Masjid is a cheap shot unbecoming of a journalist like him.
MIR ALI
Chicago, Illinois USA
APROPOS of the letter, ‘KESC kundas’ (June 29), I agree that there are thousands of illegal connections, or ‘kundas’, prevailing in the city, especially in the middle/lower middle strata of society.
KESC officers are visiting such suspected homes to check for possible violations in the meters, but, against what the letter says, the consumers cannot be disregarded to be part of such illegal activity – since ignorance by no means is an excuse.
It is the responsibility of the resident of that house to be aware of any such discrepancy with his meter, which has been entrusted by the KESC under certain terms and conditions.
However, even if assumed that the consumer is completely unaware of the flaws in the proper working condition of the meter, believing that he just moved into the house where the meter has been ‘manipulated’ prior to his moving in, there are ways to prove the innocence.
Why can’t we be realistic and take into account that perhaps those exploiting the system through ‘kunda’ are responsible for the deteriorating condition that the KESC is in – before we can lay all the responsibility on the utility itself.
GHANI KHAN
Karachi
WAQAR Younis was let go quietly as a bowler. Then again he had to quit as a bowling coach because of the way he was treated. And now look at what the PCB is doing to Inzamamul Haq. They called 22 players for the cricket camp and he was not among them. It is a terrible way of letting go of someone who has done a tremendous service for us as part of our national cricket team.
Unlike some of the other great batsmen of today, most of his major knocks have been match-winning. Seventeen of his 25 Test centuries have been match-winning. Undoubtedly, he is still one of the finest batsmen around.
He has scored five centuries and eight 50s in his last 20 Test matches with an average of 56.25 runs per match. As far as his performance in ODIs, he has averaged 39.07 runs per match in his last 40 matches. Try matching this record with those who were selected for the camp.
Seemingly, we have made it a tradition to humiliate our heroes. Folks, we need to break away from this unhealthy tradition.
AQEEL SARWAR
Lahore
HATS off to the independent media in Pakistan, especially the field journalists who performed their duties very well recently.
The Lal Masjid operation by the government during the past few days was brilliantly covered by the private channels.
FILZA G. SIDIQI
Waterford, Ireland
SOMEONE close to me asked: “Do you like the prime minister?” The occasion was when it was raining heavily in Karachi. Thoughtlessly, I replied in the affirmative.
When pressed to buttress my opinion with facts, I had to think hard but could hardly think of any convincing reason for certain decisions taken by him — privatisation of the Steel Mill (thwarted by the CJ), privatisation of the KESC which was, surprisingly, not objected to by the coalition provincial government, or even by the city’s supposed guardians and, finally, the handing over of the PTCL to the sheikhs who have immense wealth but little experience of running a large and complex organisation like the country’s telecom network. Telephones which have gone out of order are likely to remain out of order.
Frankly, I like the prime minister for his calm and satiated face. There may be tussle and turmoil raging inwardly but there is absolutely no hint of this on his looks.
This is strikingly different from the case of his boss who, allegedly, does all the explosive acts that have caused a tempest on the streets of Pakistan’s large and small cities and towns, on the PM’s advice.
The nation, when it goes to the hustings to elect its new rulers, will hopefully choose such persons as not only look competent but are capable of doing the right things even at wrong times.
JAFAR WAFA
Karachi
EVERY July 4 is a reminder of the time we disgracefully retreated from Kargil heights, which resulted in isolation at international level and the derailment of peace ride launched by the two democratic governments at Lahore.
What is worse is that the architects of that misadventure went on bulldozing the democratic process with the October 1999 coup.
India, despite being a victor, still initiated an inquiry to find out how come they did not intercept Pakistan’s moves initially whereas we put everything under the carpet to shield a few individuals’ blunders.
It was crystal clear that the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif was not taken on board.
If he had some clue about what was in store, he would have ideally avoided inviting Indian PM to the Lahore summit.
An independent commission should be constituted on the Kargil debacle so that it is made clear to the military establishment that war is a serious issue that cannot be left only for the military to decide – especially when your enemy has a clear ad-vantage in conventional weapons.
ZULFIQAR GUL
Swat
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