| August 19, 2007 | Sunday | Sha’aban 5, 1428 |
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An American pilgrimage
Pardoning a murderer
National cohesion
Arming guards with shotguns dangerous
Public service for women
Long arm of law
Urdu Bazaar
Marrying a foreigner
Traffic jams
Outages
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
NOT enough ‘trust’ is the biggest obstacle in the way of achieving a comprehensive rapprochement between India and Pakistan. An assertion to this effect was made by Mr Yashwant Sinha, a former foreign minister in the Vajpaee cabinet, to a pointed question put to him by the lady compere in a star-studded Indo-Pakistan programme on Aug 15 telecast by a local TV channel.
For a viewer like me, who is a reasonably well-versed student of subcontinental history from Curzon’s partition of Bengal in 1905; the Minto-Morley reforms of 1909; the Lucknow Pact of 1916; the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms of 1919; the Motilal Nehru Report; the three Round Table Conferences of 1930-32; the deliberations of the Joint Select Committee set up to review the outcome of the Round Table Conferences; the Cripps Mission of 1942; the circumstances leading up to and surrounding Lord Pathick-Lawrence’s cabinet mission of 1946 and onto the June 3, 1947 declaration creating two independent sovereign states of India and Pakistan, Mr Sinha’s assertion was, if anything, bemusing.
What connotation was being given to the word ‘trust’ by Mr Sinha’s cybernetics I don’t know. In common parlance, without entangling in a maze of lexicology, the word is understood to mean consistent reliability in thought, word and deed without being too clever by half in employing chicanery, however suave.
There are reams and reams of published material characterising the times the aforesaid milestones demarcate. If one were able to delve in all of it, the constant factor that would emerge would only be the unresolved anxiety of the Muslims to safeguard their political and economic rights through effective representation, without drowning their ownselves in the not too placid and safe sea of an overwhelming Hindu majority. How come that this legitimate urge amongst the Muslims could not find vistas in the visions of Mr Gandhi and Mr Jawaharlal Nehru will remain an enigma to many evermore.
Even the acknowledged great ambassador of Hindu-Muslim amity, the Quaid-i-Azam, himself got so frustrated by the intransigence of the overbearing Hindu majority, that, temporarily, he took up residence in London to practise before the Privy Council, after noting the majority’s mood at the Round Table Conferences.
Although one can be sure that he saw the idea of a united India becoming remote by the day he kept an open mind; this was so well-demonstrated by his unreserved acceptance of the Cabinet Mission Plan even after the passage of the Pakistan Resolution in March 1940. Alas, even this was not to be, for Mr Jawaharlal Nehru, for reasons best known to him, but not entirely innocent, scuttled the proposals after the Congress Working Committee had accepted them, by making ill-advised remarks, in an already fragile atmosphere of trust, with regard to the right of the Congress to interpret the proposals as they thought fit.
I can only say to Mr Sinha that if ‘trust’ is the only problem, then most of the homework needs to be done by him; particularly in the light of Mr Gopalaswami Ayyangar’s opening statement before the UN Security Council on Jan 5, 1948, assuring the Council categorically that ultimately it would be the people of Kashmir who will pronounce on their future through the free and unfettered expression of their wishes. Whether Mr Sinha likes it or not, the core issue remains that of Kashmir, the remaining problems are insignificant and peripheral.
M. J. AS’AD
Karachi
CHARLES A. Krohn, who has described himself as "an old soldier with combat experience" and is deputy director of public affairs for the American Baffle Monuments Commission, has written an article in the Washington Post, titled ‘An American pilgrimage’ (Dawn, Aug 13).
He begins by observing that the Muslims are obliged to make at least one pilgrimage to Makkah during their lifetime, known as Haj. A basic dress code ensures that there’s no visible difference between rich and poor, weak and powerful. He further notes that this simple requirement serves to unite the faithful.
This provided him with an inspiration that if all Americans, who are able to make an effort to visit at least one American military cemetery overseas (mainly in Europe) during his/her lifetime, it may serve to unite them.
He has explained by saying that when he visited the graves of American soldiers from the two world wars and heard about their valour and sacrifice often at a young age, he was very overwhelmed.
Mr Krohn suggests that this would enrich such American visitors in ways he can only partially explain:
(It would put into perspective) "how our nation benefits from the sacrifice of those willing to put their lives on the line. Without so much devotion to dangerous duty, the United States has little to hold itself together. Prosperity is not enough. Our history is based on service, costly service."
The gentleman has called this an ‘American Haj’, saying such an activity or sacrifice that draws the Americans together would have merit and, in his opinion, they need this coming together now more than ever.
One can understand the spirit of patriotism and appreciation of the sacrifices of tens of thousands of American soldiers that move Mr Krohn. Unfortunately, the altruism of the first half of 20th century is no longer the hallmark of the US armed forces and their leadership, both civilian and military. Things have changed a whole lot. After those inspiring examples, there came the era when the US turned away from the lofty principles of its founding fathers. If the Americans want to get a real taste of what their military has been doing in the past several decades, they must also visit the graves of the millions of Vietnamese who were killed needlessly and, often in very brutal ways.
More than that, they ought to visit the places where some 500,000 Iraqi children now rest in peace, whose lives were lost only because of the US led sanctions imposed after the first Gulf War. Then, there also are the hundreds of thousands of Muslims who got killed only as a consequence of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the ‘war on terror’.
For good measure, they ought to visit the graveyards in Afghanistan, Palestine, Kashmir, Chechnya, Somalia and other places where the American realpolitik has caused American action or inaction to result in loss of countless Muslim lives. If our friends across the Atlantic can understand the suffering their governments have caused to millions of Muslims in recent decades, that should touch their hearts and minds.
It would enable them to call for a course correction by Washington, bringing greater security to the Americans and peace in the world. That, in my humble opinion, will be the real pilgrimage. For, Dr Samuel Johnson had said: "The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality and, instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are."
S. KARIM
Karachi
ACCORDING to a news report (Dawn, Aug 13), a victim’s family in Gujranwala, has to pay a very high and horrible price for keeping justice in a murder case, as on Aug 12 it lost its sixth member, allegedly for not reaching a compromise with the accused party.
According to the report, it all started when the accused killed two men of a family and was convicted of murder. The brothers of the accused started pressuring the victim’s family for compromise but they could not convince the family. They started killing men of the victim’s family and the latest victim – the sixth person -- was killed on Aug 12.
This is the height of lawlessness. No law and order exists. The state apparatus has failed to protect and provide justice to the aggrieved family. Society too has failed to act. In a failed state the ruling elites are protected but the poor masses are left to fend for themselves.
There was another similar case reported in Dawn (June 16, 2006), describing an incident in which a mother pardoned a murderer who was sentenced to death for killing three young brothers during a house robbery.
The fourth brother of the victims was critically injured. Is it humanly possible for a mother to pardon a murderer of her three sons?
In a country where law and order sparely exists, it is not uncommon to get the convict pardoned by the victim’s family under threats of ‘dire consequences’.
Therefore, the judiciary must ensure that the victim’s family pardoning the murder convict is doing so of their free will and not due to threats from the convict’s family.
In case the victim’s family declines to pardon, the family should be provided proper protection by the state and society. The judiciary should ensure that the needful is done.
ABDUL SAMAD KHAN
Karachi
THIS is with reference to Dr Haider Nizamani’s article, ‘National cohesion: the other view’ (Aug 17).
This short but extremely insightful essay is an excellent exposition on the factors that shaped the original concept of Pakistan. That vision projected a new state where Muslims would be in a majority and, therefore, at least theoretically, more secure than if they were in a minority and that vision did not aim at becoming a theocratic state or even subject to the varying interpretations of religion.
Dr Nizamani has rightly pointed out that Muslims in South Asia were never homogenous nor singularist. Muslims in South Asia were-and are-vibrantly pluralist and heterogeneous.
He also correctly points out that the notion of a historically continuous and contiguous ‘India’ is an artificial construct. Which was legitimised as an independent state concept only after 1947.
Perhaps the only element where one would demur is his contention that Urdu should not be seen as being synonymous with Muslim identity. This evokes a mixed response. There are several languages and dialects in Pakistan older than and other than Urdu. These languages and dialects should be promoted and respected for the richness that they contribute to our identity.
Many non-Muslims in South Asia and non-Muslim sources have contributed to the beauty of Urdu. Yet post-1971 Urdu has become a non-coercive, binding element in the growth of Pakistaniat, an expression of national cohesion which is distinctly emerging even as it eludes and evolves.
JAVED JABBAR
Karachi
IT has become a common practice by private security companies to arm their guards with shotgun .12 bore pump-action, better known as ‘repeater’, while deployed by them at public places without realising its hazard for the people if it is fired by the guard in emergency. This is because when a shotgun is fired, the pellets after coming out of the gun’s muzzle start spreading in a radius of three to four feet, which can hit and kill/injure other people beside hitting the main target.
Those of us who have used shotgun for bird shooting must be knowing that its cartridge shell contains pellets in different size and number for shooting small or big game birds and to bag more than one bird in a single shot from a cluster of birds. For example, cartridge No. 4 of .12 bore shotgun contains about 260 to 300 pellets of millet grain size while an LG and SG cartridge generally used for deer hunting contains seven to 12 pellets of the size of pea-green seeds, respectively.
A shotgun is a sports guns which is manufactured in different shapes, sizes and types. For example, shotguns: single-barrelled breech loading, double-barrelled breech loading, shotgun single-barrelled bolt-action, shotgun single-barrelled lever-action and shotgun single-barreled pump-action.
Out of these, shotgun pump-action has an extra advantage of having a cylindrical barrel-magazine underneath its main barrel for housing four to five cartridges for loading in the gun’s chamber one by one each time when the firer pumps the gun after firing a shot for reloading the gun. Due to this function it has somehow attained the name ‘repeater’, which is not correct. Because a firearm which fires several shots on pressing the trigger without reloading is in fact a ‘repeater’, like a pistol, semi-automatic rifle and full-automatic rifle.
In the early 1920s during the British Raj in India, shotguns .12 bore bolt-action were provided to the police throughout India. But after some time they realised its dangerous effects on the people when fired on dacoits/criminals in a public place, busy streets and bazaars. Therefore, it was replaced by .410 Musket – a smooth-bored, long-barrelled gun which was made by removing the spiral grooves from rifle .303. Cartridge shell of .410 Musket contained only one ball-pellet to hit the target aimed at by the firer.
Shotguns currently in use by private security guards in Pakistan are of two types: Long-barrelled shotgun with butt which can be fired from the shoulder, enabling the firer in taking proper aim at the target. The second type is without butt with a pistol-grip, which is fired by resting it on the hip by using the sense of direction towards the target. In this method firer cannot take aim on the actual target and the firer fires the gun at random in the direction of his target without taking aim from the gun’s sights.
It is pertinent to note that shotguns without butt are mostly issued to private security guards who are seen performing duties in banks, shopping centers, roadside shops and schools. Therefore, it can be well imagined if such a weapon is fired by a guard from the hip without taking aim or even from the shoulder level by taking aim in a crowded public place, how many innocent people will be killed or injured along with the dacoit/criminal targeted.
It is, therefore, strongly suggested that guards deployed in banks, shopping centres and at crowded public places should not be issued any type of shotgun in the interest of public safety. They can instead be issued pistols/revolvers or short-barrelled small bore rifles with butt like rifle .222, rifle .223 or rifle 7mm, which are already allowed to private security companies by the government.
The ministry of interior and provincial home departments should lay down some restrictions on the use of shotguns by guards deployed at public places, especially in banks and shopping centers.
SQN LDR (r) S. AUSAF HUSAIN
Karachi
TRAVELLING in pubic buses nowadays has become frustrating for people, especially for women. Public transport facilities have been neglected for years. The number of public transport users have increased many times. But does it mean that people should suffer travelling in buses.
The bus driver picks up passengers more than required and offers them the rooftop, putting their lives at risk every single minute.
It is also a practice that bus drivers pick and drop passengers in the middle of busy roads where vehicles pass at full speed putting at risk the lives of people getting off the moving bus.
Women, on the other end, who have no choice but to travel in buses, are given so little space just the size of a store room. To be honest, this is the way I see it. Women have to accommodate in such a small space, at times it becomes so stuffy one can hardly breathe. And the presence of the bus conductor creates an uneasy environment for them.
The government should provide women with separate bus services. It would be a great relief for women to have a bus service on the route only for women, with a female conductor.
MRS AMEENA
Karachi
THE long-armed man has featured several times in the media. This person uses indecent street language and brandishes the sword of the long arm of law.
After the judgment of the reference against the CJ, this individual is firmly glued to his seat. This predicament reminds me of a story where a man selling sweetmeats is troubled by swarms of flies which hover on his product. When the vendor waves his swatter, most of the flies leave, however, some cannot as their legs are stuck to the syrup. Therefore, the vendor manually picks up the insects and tosses them away.
RAFI ADAMJEE
Karachi
AS the new academic session starts, rush in Urdu Bazaar and its surroundings has increased. It is difficult to pass that road. There is no policeman to control the traffic.
The authorities concerned should take appropriate action in this regard to lessen the miseries faced by students, parents and others while visiting the bazaar.
AHMED IMRAN KHALID
Karachi
THIS has reference to the news item, ‘Foreign secretary’s wife no conduit to US’.
No government official should be allowed to marry any foreign national.
There is no way to stop any leakage of sensitive information while sleeping in the same bed.
I wonder why our government has turned a blind eye on such cases?
Those who wish to marry a foreign national must quit their job first and they must be brought back to Pakistan and only then allowed to marry, after a minimum period of five years, a foreign national. It is not a question of doubting their integrity, rather it is question of national secrets leaking to foreign national wives.
SULTAN DURRANI
Kuwait.
EFFORTS being made by various agencies to reduce traffic jams are not yielding the desired results. I wonder why the tried and proved methods are not being applied. Some of these are:
a. Car pooling. People working in or adjoining offices should share their cars by rotation. b. Encouraging motorists to pick up passengers for various areas from points marked by the traffic police on the main roads. In a few days, groups will automatically be formed, at least on a semi-permanent basis.
c. Stretching office timings, say from 7am to 7pm. Each person will put in eight hours of work but there will a two to three hours’ period when everyone will be in the office at the same time.
d. To improve this system further, office timings for various localities like Saddar, Chundrigar Road, M.A. Jinnah Road, PIDC area, etc, can be fixed and announced.
e. Nowadays shops open at about 12 noon. This too should be regulated and the shops may open at the same time as the offices in the area.
Applied diligently, this may result in 25 to 30 reduction in traffic jams. The Sindh High Court has taken cognizance of this problem and may kindly consider issuing suitable directives to agencies concerned for appropriate action.
S. A. BILGRAMI
Karachi
WHY not try the Rs100,000 fine imposed by the police for tinted windows on ‘kunda’ users? Surely a bounty-hunter contractor can be found to implement this, relieving us of these unjustified power shutdowns.
ARDESHIR JEHANGIR VICCAJI
Karachi
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