| July 21, 2007 | Saturday | Rajab 05, 1428 |
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The national mindset
Power theft
The 11th thing the budget ignored
Surprising
The Lal Masjid operation
Rickety elevator
Human Rights Commission
Road and service lane
Webb Ground
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
THIS refers to your editorial, ‘Disaster relief priorities’ (July 8). A disaster can strike anytime, anywhere. Earthquakes, floods, rains, drought epidemics are all acts of God. Nature’s mood, sometimes, is unpredictable and inconsistent and far beyond the control of human beings.
In such a situation the meaning of disaster prevention is difficult to understand. But a disaster always casts its shadow before it occurs and there could be sufficient time to mobilise resources that would minimise the damage a disaster may cause.
The clouds that recently burst at the lower Balochistan could not have been pushed back but steps should have been taken to save the infrastructure from collapsing and the people from misery.
In Turbat and other areas of Balochistan the entire towns and villages were swept away but the government was not aware of the places where the risk was high. There was absolutely no preparedness to respond to the danger. There are no permanent relief organisations in rural areas and the city agencies made no agreements to alleviate the sufferings of the dwellers.
Confusion and chaos still reign. Restoration and repairs may take months, even years. Rebuilding should be done preventively to avoid future damage caused by the same calamity.
CHAGHTAI MIRZA EIJAZUDDIN
Karachi
IT was the end of June when cyclone hit Balochistan coastal areas all of a sudden and caused massive losses to the lives of the people, their homes, infrastructure, etc., in Turbat, Gwadar, Pasni, Kharan, Khuzdar and Jhal Magsi districts, besides countless little towns.
Hundreds of bodies were reportedly found while still a number of people are missing.
Even now hundreds of thousands of people are looking for food having no source to have it as roads were swept away. Even the people who can afford to have food are unable to access adjacent cities. Neither the government takes any interest nor any organisation or national political party is active.
In the last few days no federal ministry has bothered to issue any statement about who is under obligation to look after the people of the country. Even I did not find on any channel or in the print media that the Edhi Foundation, working on humanitarian ground, has given any attention to the flood-affected areas.
A few words about our national political parties and NGOs. They played a big role in relief and rehabilitation when the devastating earthquake of 2005 had struck Kashmir and the northern areas. But now when the flood has struck Balochistan and Sindh, hitting hundreds of villages, I have not seen camps of any political party collecting even food and water for the victims except for a single camp of the PPP at Nomaish Chowrangi in Karachi for initially two to three days on whose stall only a few water bottles and four/five flour bags were lying, which also came to an end.
I appreciate the media people who have been playing their role with responsibility and without any discrimination.
ABDUL WAHAD GABOL
Karachi
APROPOS of Ardeshir Cowasjee’s column, ‘The national mindset’ (July 1), I, as an affected Muslim Pakistani, could deduce that the writer, in general, is not very hopeful whether the myopic national mindset would ever change for good and, in particular, the Pakistani Muslim mindset is a closed mind, i.e., an extremely hopeless case.
Long time ago I happened to be a naval trainee in a Royal Navy establishment at Dartmouth, UK. Every Sunday the ship’s padre used to conduct the official church ceremonies; but he ordered all unbelievers to ‘fall out.’ All Christians of different denominations, Jews, Hindus and Muslims used to be out of the parade ground in a jiffy.
It conveyed to me the cute definition of an English belief system akin to an English gentleman’s mindset at that point in time: ‘A believer of a particular belief system is an unbeliever to others’. Peace of mind prevailed and there was no worry of the clash of civilisations at all.
Second, a Muslim’s mindset tends to dither, palpitate and murmur like an ailing heart when an effort is not made to tune it to his belief system. Students of physics would understand the logic better through the tuning forks experiment. It is good that Mr Cowasjee is finding some clues while referring to Prof (Dr) Manzoor Ahmed’s article, ‘Reflections on our mindset’, to decipher (a Pakistani) Muslim mind.
The late Annemarie Schmell delivered a series of scholarly lectures at Edinburgh in the early 90s explaining as to why Islam is the most misunderstood religion in the world. The work entitled ‘Deciphering signs of God – A phenomenological approach to Islam’ had been compiled by Ms Schmell herself in her lifetime. It would, therefore, be more plausible to compare both the thought processes to achieve the scholarly good.
MOHAMMAD AHMAD
Karachi
THIS IS with reference to my earlier letter (Feb 7) in which I had brought to the notice of the authorities concerned power theft by a shop in Civil Lines along Dr Daudpotta Road, Karachi.
The power was disconnected to the said shop in April 2006. Electricity bills received from May 2006 to December 2006 had shown the meter's present reading as (3666), previous reading also (3666) and the units billed as ‘nil’, as the electricity meter was being bypassed.
The present position is that, after publication of my letter, the electricity meter has become functional as evident from the meter reading of the bill of Feb 2007 which shows the present reading as 60, previous reading as 2 and units billed as 58. But the supplementary bill for the period of power theft mentioned above has not been issued to the occupant of the shop by the KESC as yet.
Now I would like to remind the chief executive officer of the KESC that I had moved an application on Feb 13, 2006 informing him that the occupant of the shop had been consuming electricity, without paying bills, from August 2005 to January 2006. The August 2005 bill shows an outstanding amount of Rs55,900. This amount and the bills that followed till January 2006 were not paid and, as a result, the amount stood at Rs72,100, which the KESC was reluctant to recover.
Now the current bill of June 2007 shows an outstanding amount of Rs 57,700, indicating the last payment made was for March 2007 on 10It means that once again the occupant of the shop is defaulting in payments for electricity being consumed. But with reasons best known to the KESC itself, the corporation seems reluctant to recover the outstanding dues or disconnect the power.
Once again I would like to state that litigation regarding ownership etc of the shop is pending in the court of law to which I am a party and as such I should not be held responsible for any outstanding payments for electricity dues in future.
Finally, I request the CEO of the KESC to immediately instruct his office to pursue this matter and recover all outstanding dues from the occupant of the shop.
ROCKIE DIAS
Karachi
I HAVE read Sherry Rehman’s well-researched article, ‘Ten things this budget ignored’ (June 23). I whish to add one more, there is to say, the 11th thing, namely, the well-being of retired government servants and senior citizens at large.
I am no political person and have no links with any political party in the country. As a senior citizen, I have seen that the PPP, during its days of authority and power, had done nothing for the betterment of the lot of senior citizens.
Even an attempt was make to deprive retiring government servants of commutation of pension facility which eased much of their financial worries at the time of superannuation.
Only the Nawaz Sharif government had, for the first time, cared to the calls of senior citizens, held their convention at Islamabad on Oct 1, 1999 and announced a package for them (Oct 2, 1999).
The package included “50 per cent fare concession on travels by rail and air; 50 per cent concession in all government/PTDC hotels; 10 per cent concession on items of personal use up to Rs2,000 to be purchased through utility stores, corporation; 70 years old pensioners to be paid at the present rate of their grade of retirement; free entry to recreational centres and museums by showing the special identity card; free of charge enrolment in public libraries; first priority for electricity, gas and telephone connections.”
A medical package was also announced to be made public shortly. Unfortunately, both these packages were hijacked by the Musharraf government. The senior citizens are at a loss where to find the necessary relief.
M. ALEEM SHAIKH
Karachi
IT was surprising to read ‘Media team under cloud of gloom after operation’ (July 16).
While the media did express the views of people directly or indirectly involved in violence or affected by it, mediapersons never expressed their 'gloom' over the Balochistan operation, or the one in Wana Waziristan or the ghastly incidents occurring on May 12 or the suicide bombing which killed several prominent religious leaders on Eid Miladun Nabi in 2006 or the killing of Mufti Shamzai or the assassination of Maulana Yusuf Ludhianvi or Hassan Turabi, why now?
Journalists and photographers who, on an average, saw 20 to 40 dead people a day during violence in Karachi during 1992or those killed during the operation against the MQM, never expressed their ‘gloom’, why the people who had been kept at least three kilometres away at all times during the Lal Masjid operation felt ‘gloom’ when they visited the mosque-madressah complex after the end of the operation?
If they are so softthey should better seek jobs with volunteer organisations like the Edhi Foundation.
GHOUSE MOHIUDDIN
Karachi
I WAS not one of the lucky ones to have a peep inside the Lal Masjid complex arranged by the ministry of information and the ISPR after the big bang end of ‘Operation Silence’. I have been watching it on all Pakistani TV channels as well as on the BBC. The CNN was not allowed to come to the guided tour as the ministry of information categorises it as a biased TV channel.
It took the military guys over 36 hours to ‘sanitise’ the complex before allowing the media to have a strictly guided tour of the place. The members of the media were cordoned off from the areas that they were not suppose to see.
According to informed sources, over 800 people were permanently silenced in the operation during the weeklong ‘Operation Silence’. This puts our army at number one in terms of killing people in hostage-rescue operations. The second and third position goes to the Russian security forces during the Moscow Theatre and the Beslan School killings.
There are many questions that remain unanswered. Why no media was allowed access to the Lal Masjid complex till long after the last shots were fired? The main hall of the mosque was riddled with bullet marks and fire had blackened the walls, all glass windowpanes were broken, fans were burned but the floor was clean, the Quranic calligraphic wall hangings in tact, copies of the Quran and other books neatly in their place. Another hall that was blackened by fire and smoke had a burnt-out steel almirah while next to it two wooden closets 'miraculously' remained in their pristine condition.
I hold no brief for the Ghazi brothers who were acting in a manner that was simply not acceptable. But at the same time, I do not expect that a government should have used such brutal force to 'silence' their opponents.
It is the government responsibility to look for peaceful solutions and in this particular case, the government has mishandled the situation. For the past six months, the government was building up this monster for reasons best known to them.
The cynic in me feels this was a government-managed drama in which the various intelligence agencies that played the role of scriptwriters changed the script of the last and closing act without informing all the actors.
Statements issued by the Ulema who were working on a last-minute solution do not tally with the version being given by the government spokesman. The people are confused.
It is unfortunate that the voice of civil society, including that of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, is not being heard and has become a victim of ‘Operation Silence’. May Allah have mercy on us. Ameen.
SYED IMRAN AHMAD
Karachi
IT has been said: “To spare the ravening leopard is an act of injustice to the sheep.” After Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had taken a bold stand against the military dictator, people had, for once, expected that justice was perhaps destined to reach them, after all. Their eyes had got pinned on the Supreme Court, with much expectations.
Now, after the army action against the Lal Masjid and the girls’ seminary, there have been many killings, deemed unnecessary, by civil society. What is worse, the number of those killed and the manner of their burial has raised alarming questions. It was being expected that the SC would step in to determine the truth and bring consolation to the affected families. However, according to a report, it has declined to entertain a request to order a judicial inquiry (Dawn, July 14).
This is most disappointing. Has the might of the military ruler led to this unfortunate decision? Who will wipe the tears of the affected and heal their sorrow? Perhaps they can only console themselves with the words of Plato: “He who commits injustice is ever made more wretched than he who suffers it.”
QAMAR
Karachi
A RICKETY elevator in ‘Ahmed residency apartments’ in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, block 14, Karachi, has caused the tragic death of an occupant of flat # 605, 35-year-old Shiraz Ahmed.
The incident was reported in a section of the press (July 2). According to it, when the deceased stepped in, the lift moved so sudden and fast that his body was cut into two pieces, causing his instant death.
The intensity of agony and trauma for the family and friends of the deceased is beyond words of human sympathy.
We cannot attribute this frightening incident to the fate of the deceased and ignore it. Such episodes will continue to happen as long as we do not we put the responsibility of checking multi-storeyed residential buildings on somebody or some organisation.
Rather all buildings require public safety measures in this mega city of our country, which has turned into a concrete jungle, particularly the locality of Gulistan-i-Jauhar.
S.BUKHARI
Karachi
HERE in Chennai, answering a question raised by one of the bright fresh graduates, recruited by a company, which specialises in archiving newspapers, I say that the word Islam means peace and that the religion and its prophet have both stressed that the Muslims ought to pursue peace and brotherhood relentlessly.
The group comprises believers in three different religions, one of which being mine, but no one is inconsiderate enough to question me that why then did the so-called custodians of Islam use a place of worship for militancy and terrorism.
I heard the BBC announcing that the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has criticised the Pakistan government (rightly or wrongly) for mishandling the Lal Masjid case.
Strangely, the HRCP has not uttered a word against the militants who kidnapped anyone they wished and held women and children as hostages. Even the parents who went inside the mosque to look for their children were not allowed to return.
The HRCP’s silence may mean that they are scared of a suicide bomber blowing up their office. I only hope that it’s not true or else it will shake, if not shatter, my faith in what has been an exceptionally useful organisation.
ASIF NOORANI
Chennai, India
THE shoulders of service lanes in several blocks of Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Karachi, have recently been dug up by the civic agencies concerned to carry out their development work, and no one appears to have been deputed to supervise the work to its last minute of completion.
Heaps of unlevelled dug-up earth, pits caused in digging have not been filled back properly, after the digging operation was over. One wonders whether it has been deliberately done, as a part of the beautification work that is in store for Gulistan-i-Jauhar by the relevant agencies.
Recent rains have further aggravated the condition of roads and service lanes, making them slippery and mud-sticky. It is also alleged that when the digging work was near completion, the area shopkeepers requested the labourers to refill the earth in a better way but, as it goes, they demanded extra money from them for the job.
Returning of dug-up earth to its original place is done most half heatedly. Service lanes as a matter of fact urgently need to be re-carpeted to make them even for pedestrian walk and driving.
During the spree of digging the underground pipeline, electric, telephone and Sui gas cables were also damaged and left for the residents to get them repaired themselves.
The relevant authorities are requested to see the mounds of earth and huge boulders piled on the sides of the service lanes that speak of the quality of work done by their digging squad.
The city nazim and the CBF executive officer should visit the area to see for themselves the deplorable condition of the main road and service lanes.
M. SHAFIQUE AHMED
Karachi
ARDESHIR Cowasjee’s column, ‘Webb Ground’ (July 15) brought back youthful memories of Grammar School days. We had our cricket matches in the Webb Ground and also our annual sports functions.
When I heard that the army had taken over the Webb Ground, I took an appointment with the corps commander. He was an old Grammarian too. He was Lt-Gen Tariq W. Ghazi. The principal of KGS, Colin Wrigley, and I went and saw him in his headquarters.
We requested and pleaded with him to maintain it as a sports complex with a proper stadium and boundary walls. Citizens and schools, including KGS, could use it for its sporting events. He expressed his inability. We returned with a heavy heart. I hope the courts can provide justice by preventing the amenity plot from being converted into a commercial jungle.
IFTIKHAR SOOMRO
Karachi
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