| September 02, 2007 | Sunday | Sha’aban 19, 1428 |
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Beggary of a different kind
Annie as I knew her
Consumers’ rights
DHA’s flooded streets
Fighting Taliban
Japanese minister’s visit
Bush v world
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
MERELY talking reconciliation is not going to be enough. It will have to be pursued single-mindedly, with purpose, energy and urgency. Without being labelled a ‘prophet of doom’, I say so because if it is not done, our society is all but certain to be consigned to the backwaters of contemporary history.
With 60 years of bickering, calumny, intrigue and mayhem of indiscipline, constructing a sustainable reconciliation, hopefully still possible, is not going to be easy. It will not be easy, not because it is formidable but because it is demanding in terms of reining in pathological egos. A sustainable ethos of cohesion requires the conscious inculcation of a mindset which values the dictum of ‘service before self’.
Too idealistic or not, it will have to be done. Moreover, it will call for a period of long and testing gestation, meticulous planning, monitoring and critiquing. The purpose of this piece of writing is to attempt to put in broad outline my thinking on the dynamics of such a process. To me the process would proceed somewhat on the following lines:
(1) Calling of a time-framed multi-partisan caucus of the heads of such political parties as command not fewer than 10 per cent of the electorate and, as pledged public policy, will denounce and renounce all politics of violence, promise active help to the administration to rid society of illegal weapons and, demonstrably, disband any armed cadres they may have within their organisations.
(2) This caucus will determine what the real vision of the Quaid-i-Azam, the sole leader chosen by the Almighty to facilitate the creation of this state, was, as gleaned from his pronouncements after June 3, 1947, for this modern, democratic, Muslim state of Pakistan. This vision, for the future, will be institutionalised as the raison d’etre of our society.
(3) The heads of parties will, somewhat in the result-oriented spirit of the conclave of Cardinals meeting to elect a new Pope, will sit in continuous session until such time that they have worked out a well-understood, agreed to, and committed to document delineating the aforesaid ‘vision’.
(4) The spawned document will then be handed over, after being presented and explained to the nation, for its endorsement, in a televised ceremony, for safe custody and necessary planning to the head of a revitalised, so structured as to be federally representative, independent national planning commission.
(5) The new planning commission will be charged to draw up appropriate short, medium and long-term, duly harmonised, detailed plans for all segments impacting on society for action by the executive to move the nation on the path agreed upon to reach, say in 30 years, the visualised ‘desired state’.
(6) The head of the new planning commission will be made responsible to present a report to parliament annually for review and any change in direction it might suggest, bearing in mind the existing or foreseen exigencies.
(7) Save for the critiquing annual review by parliament, the agreed institutionalised plans drawn up by the independent, representative national planning commission shall enjoy constitutional sanctity and any substantive change will need to be endorsed by a two-thirds majority of parliament.
(8) Whether or not a suggested change is substantive will be determined by the national security council.
This is an exercise involving fundamental change in our societal approach to things. As such it may be for consideration to have a separate ministry for ‘managing the management of change’. I strongly suggest this, for rapid change would very much be part of collective life in years to come.
M.J.AS’AD
Karachi
MANY readers have witten letters protesting against write-offs of bank debts to the tune of Rs18bn some three years back while the basic option and duty of the banks concerned was to recover those huge loans through legal process, pulling the defaulters in banking courts and going up to forfeiting the personal assets of the defaulting borrowers. The nation is surprised to see how swiftly and conveniently those defaulters were rescued and their account files were closed under prerogative of either the State Bank authorities and or the government authorities. I was under impression that the case some three years before was the only case of write-offs, depriving the shareholders of the dividend that would have otherwise gone to them.
Your editorial (Aug 25) on the same subject is an eye-opener that the practice of bad borrowings followed by write-offs declaring them non-operating loans is working nonstop as the information contained in your editorial speaks of some Rs33 billion bank debts written off in the last three years in industrial and agriculture sectors.
And then subsidies are also given to the same defaulting borrowers to help them, not in the recovery of the bad loans, but in the upkeep of their status in society. Those who should live forever behind bars for such irresponsible activities are roaming around freely and dominating society.
The common man of this country is sustaining shocks after shocks to read about this facilitation by arrangement to the members of the club of convenience among the elite of the country according to significance of these defaulters to the highups in the government.
Which government would approve of these dare-devil activities going on unchecked in the presence of government-appointed ombudsmen. Is this the standard of our parliamentary democracy in Pakistan and is this not at all the concern of the masses even to raise a finger at this swindling of national funds, even if the funds belong to banks? Yes, we should remember that the banks in the country were nationalised perhaps to make easy ride on them. Obviously there are two to three tiers of democracy in this country and the lowest tier is appeased and pleased by making them realise that they have the right of vote to elect parliamentarians.
The cream from the country’s economy is scammed by the upper tier of democracy. The lifestyle of the elite is maintained and thrives on provisions of such loots and swindle of national funds. These violators and their sponsors are no short of beggars of a different kind. They are bandits, taking the national wealth by force.
The poor of this country will never be able to come up to an honourable status and take their fair share from the national resources and economy as long as these human vultures and crocodiles who loot the national wealth are protected by their sponsors, putting dust in the eyes of the whole nation. How long shall this be allowed to go on?
M. M. Khan
Karachi
YOUR obituary/write up on Annie was excellent, but since I also knew her I would like to add something.
First, some people think and even have asked me if I was the hero of her first novel, ‘Mere bhi sanam khane’. Well I was not -as I met her in London in a crisis situation.
Raz Bhai (Raz Moradabadi), the famous pupil of Jigar Moradabadi, who had joined the BBC, invited me and Annie to his apartment so that I, being the senior resident of London, could show her London. But just as we sat down, there was a commotion on the staircase. Raz Bhai rushed to the staircase -- the landlord was beating a tenant suspecting an affair between him and the landlady. The matter was soon over.
Raz Bhai, me and Annie, who was attending some course in Oxford, commenced our conversation. That was my first meeting with Annie.
So, on Raz Bhai’s request, I showed Annie London by bus. I was taking her to British Museum and, deliberately, we sat away from each other to try our luck — beside me sat a better-looking woman — she (Annie) said in Urdu: “Aap bohut khush qismat hain.” Then a slightly elderly man sat beside her. She said to me: “Meri Qismat aaj Kharab hai”. The gentleman sitting beside her said in Urdu: ‘Ab itni bhi kharab nahin hai”.
The gentleman was Prof Ralph Russell, a professor of Urdu at the Institute of Oriental Studies, which we both did not know.
I would also like to mention that Annie did not go to India directly -- she came with my wife, Shoukat, by Polish liner ‘Batori’ to Karachi and became very friendly with her. On her return to Pakistan, she joined her service and also started writing her magnum opus, Aag ka Darya.
She also used to attend the coffee house - then a centre of the Karachi intellectuals which was attended by me, a nonM. H. Askari and I.H. Burney.
In 1983 when I was in Delhi to meet Indira Gandhi - but due to Sherpur family pressure I did not meet her - I asked M. H. Askari, then a minister in the Pakistan embassy, to meet Annie - but Askari said: “We both cannot go there as she lives in ‘Noida’ as it is outside Delhi”.
Annie also wrote against me once without mentioning my name but this was because of the ‘love hate’ relations of Oudh and Rohilkhand - she was from Oudh and I was from Rohilkhand - although half of the Sherpur family is married in Oudh and owned a taluka in Sitapur (Oudh).
I think it was wrong for Annie to go to India as Urdu has no future in India. I also think that the best persons to write on Annie were M.H. Askari and Qudratullah Shahab, both now deceased.
Finally, Annie was a much better writer and person than Ismat Chughtai.
SAMEEN KHAN OF SHERPUR
Karachi
IN the US and many other countries the consumers have certain rights regarding the products introduced by different companies. Law recognises such rights of them. They are provided with relief in case of some kind of loss suffered due to malfunctioning of such products and the courts give exemplary decisions to deter the other manufacturers of the similar products from manufacturing substandard appliances of daily use.
Not only the citizens individually are active in securing their rights, but also the numerous consumers’ rights protection associations are playing effective role in this regard. In such a right-conscious society, it is very difficult for the companies to grab money from the people while selling things that may turn even dangerous because of some manufacturing fault.
On the other hand, unfortunately, awareness in our people in that regard is to the extent, which is not satisfactory. However, a little effort has been made by the government through establishing courts in Lahore for providing relief to the consumers. But because of the limitation of jurisdiction of these courts, not only the people of the rest of Punjab are unable to come to these courts, but also they are out of reach of the millions of people of other provinces.
Also the consumers’ rights protection associations are limited only to the few cities like Karachi and Lahore. This is a greatly favourable situation for the exploiters of the rights of general public, having faith only in generating income by selling the products buying which is sheer loss of money. Such products after being purchased by people stop sound functioning after passage of time. Normally people abstain from going to courts considering it wastage of time and money and, thereby, letting the door for exploitation in future. Because of this, the companies are encouraged and the vicious cycle continues.
M. ABID ALI BUKHARI
Lahore
Problems faced by marooned people in DHA streets, who confronted a flood situation after recent rains, have shocked them. These problems will reoccur in the future if practical measures are not taken to deal with the effects of global warming as it has already rained four times in Karachi this year.
One can criticise the poor performance of civic agencies, which has already been done by residents and the press, or one can look for the silver lining and use this disaster to help find a solution.
The new DHA administrator has admitted that sewerage lines designed to cope with two inches of rain were the only disposal available in the absence of stormwater drains. Residents’ associations must take advantage of this admission and work with the civic agencies to ensure solutions on a long-term basis.
Last year also streets were flooded, and the Clifton Cantonment Board was apprised of the situation resulting from a lack of proper drainage system but practical measures were not taken to prevent flooding. We kept on reminding the CCB and the DHA about the need to build stormwater drains along roads, which were being built, like Khyaban i Shahbaz and Khyaban- i Sehar, which are flooded today.
Sadly the previous administrator had agreed in August 2006 to nominate representatives from all phases on the Cantonment Board and its committees until elections are held but this agreement was not honoured. The following steps should be taken by the DHA and the CCB to restore confidence of residents:
a. A professional consultant must be appointed to plan and oversee implementation of stormwater drains.
b. Six to eight months’ timeframe should be given for completion.
c. Prefabricated stormwater drains should be put in the six temporary drains and parallel roads up to Phase VIll with strong pumps deployed to throw water into the sea to overcome the high tide and gradient. These drains should be extended up to Khyaban-i-Hafiz in Phases V and VI. Similarly, the drain on Commercial Avenue in Phase IV must not be reduced in size and drainage in the Khadda market area should also be provided.
d. Residents’ worst fears regarding water entering their houses due to raising of road levels above their house plinths have come true with ground floors flooded and water tanks contaminated. In addition, construction of medians in the centre of roads by using vertical pavers for beautification has created mini dams which obstruct natural flow of water. This must be reviewed as streets whose levels have been raised and vertical pavers inserted have been flooded for the first time in living memory.
d. Since both the CCB and DHA look after the area, they need review as it should be under one organisation to fix responsibility. Alternatively, it should be divided into two parts: one being controlled by the DHA and the other by the CCB, so the buck stops somewhere.
f. Until local bodies are revived, the DHA administrator as president of the CCB should get approval for a residents council with representation from all phases. Thus residents will get a sense of participation and their viewpoint will be heard.
g. During rainwater removal many pumps were breaking down even though some were new. It should be ascertained who bought such substandard pumps so that in future standard equipment is procured.
h. Compensation should be announced for residents in the form of remission of taxes. This should be done voluntarily, otherwise litigation is bound to start to claim damages to property and equipment.
Many meetings were held with affected residents at the CPLC-NC being run by Defence Associations Coordination Committee in collaboration with the CPLC, two of which were attended by DHA administrator who patiently listened to angry residents and promised that his first priority would be fixing the water drainage problem.
Area citizens also need to wake up and be proactive. They can contact our office on telephone # 5350305 8 and cellphone # 0322 2304688 for help, guidance and filing complaints.
AZIZ SUHARWARDY
General Secretary, DACC
Karachi
APROPOS of Pete Mckenna’s letter: ‘Fighting Taliban: an American view’ (Aug 27) in response to Ayaz Amir’s column: ‘Fighting some one else’s war’ (Aug 17), I would stress that both gentlemen are not emphatically specific to the core issue.
The Soviets withdrew/retreated from Afghanistan in connivance with ‘mysterious’ powers at the perils of both Afghanistan and Pakistan as a result of international agreements and guarantees.
I request that the apex judiciaries of the three contries involved examine threadbare the Geneva Accord signed in April 1988, for the ‘epic’ event of the USSR’s vanquished forces leaving Afghan territories, and issue orders to finish off rivalries, wars, genocides and Armageddonic adventures once for all.
A great American judge is often quoted: “We are final not because we are infallible but we are infallible because we are final.”
Let American lordships bring about finality to the mushrooming conflict resolution and restrain the unbridled powers from the management of their unruly desires and pre-emptions.
MOHAMMAD AHMAD
Karachi
VICTOR Hugo had said: “I like the laughter that opens the lips and the heart that shows at the same time pearls and the soul.” Can you imagine a Muslim cleric and a female Japanese defence minister laughing like that in each other’s company?
But, that is precisely what appears to have happened when the Japanese defence minister, Ms Yuriko Koike, recently visited the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad during her official trip to Pakistan. A photograph in Dawn on Aug 23 showed her wearing a headscarf and laughing heartily in the presence of what was apparently a cleric belonging to the famous mosque.
These days, the Islamic places of worship and learning are being stereotyped by hostile foreign media as being hotbeds of radicalism and terrorism, and for them it would be unthinkable to witness such a pleasant scene in a Pakistani mosque. Seeing the picture was a delightful experience and a prayer spontaneously went out of my heart that may all the Muslims and their Japanese and other non-Muslim friends always remain on such excellent terms with each other.
KHALID NAQSHBANDI
Karachi
UNDOUBTEDLY George Bush has made the world more insecure in the name of his fight against terrorism than it was before 9/11. The hidden reason is ‘Muslim phobia’ . It is time the Americans realised this and saw the true face of their leader.
As the greatest champion of ‘democracy and the human rights’ the world over, isn’t he ashamed when he points his finger at China to improve upon their record in human rights and democracy while going ‘full ahead’ with his father’s agenda and leftover/unfinished business in the Middle East?
I wonder if he will ever be held accountable and put before the International Court of Justice for war crimes (where he actually belongs) rather than complete his term in the White House, which he is painting black by his deeds every day.
The mighty Americans have invented and have always dominated the Guiness world records. Amnesty International should be persuaded to award George Bush Guiness world record for his crimes against humanity and atrocities committed in Afghanistan and Iraq, where he stands above all others in the following fields:
a. Unashamed, unchecked and continuous abuse of HR.
b. Unprecedented ballooning up of WMD issues.
c. Innumerable loss of innocent civilian lives as collateral damage.
d. Highest numbers of hidden friendly-fire cases.
e. Bringing unprecedented shame to the American nation.
He sure needs a bush to hide after his term as president.
IJTABA ZAIDI
Karachi
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