| September 20, 2007 | Thursday | Ramazan 07, 1428 |
To send a letter to the Editor
Click here
Free and fair election
Bush vs world
Wheat smuggling & price of flour
Govt land a safe investment?
Benazir’s return
Killing the goose that lays the golden egg
HEC-funded scholars
Worldwide cheats
Dawn turns 60
Education
Telephone is dead
Police Eid campaign
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
I THANK Dr P. Nasir (letter, Sept 11) for joining his voice with others on the subject of plundering of national wealth through convenient write-offs of bank debts running into Rs60+ billion after adding what additional information Dr Nasir gave in his letter about previous write-offs to the tune of some Rs30 billion.
Dr Nasir is much more well-equipped with information about write-offs of bank debts which has added to public knowledge. I had written about the write-off worth Rs8 billion that was made in 2005 and about which all banks involved published the lists of the defaulters, which included many retired military officials.
As far as I can recollect now, some of the names showed several hundred million rupees in default that were written off. One has to consider that these write-offs drastically cut down dividend of the shareholders.
If the write-offs were made after exhausting all other options of recovery, such as forfeiting their personal properties, whether in their names or in the names of their spouses, liquidate their palatial lifestyle in order to repay and if still not repaid in full, then let them stay behind bars for years to break their resistance to repay, even then some write-offs of small amounts could be acceptable as a lesser evil.
But what we discover is that a regular practice of clean lending (obviously without collateral; why and by whom ?) and then arranging swift write-offs with the help of connections at high level is being nurtured in this country. We have also heard of a case of a Rs400m loan executed to a political family VIP in less than five minutes from a nationalised bank.
Which country can sustain a drainage of Rs60 to 70 billion from national economy in the last five to seven years. Pakistan has been made that country where devil is beating the drum and its disciples are dancing to his tunes in the name of democracy. For the masses there is the candy of adult franchise to send members to the national and provincial assemblies where every one helps the other to carry on with the loot.
I shall suggest to Dr Nasir and other like-minded readers to consider taking one step forward and build up a close rapport among us in order to make watchdog societies from among the masses; such as consumer societies to watch price spirals, quality of products on sale, to watch for financial fiascos at banking and government levels and watch and identify misuse of funds that come in donation from the ADB and the WB for poverty alleviation in Pakistan and about which recently one WB official made a public statement, also reported in Dawn, about misuse of poverty alleviation funds and donations in Pakistan. What a shame it is to hear such complaints from donors.
If a s strong public opinion in Britain could cause Tony Blair to step down, in our country too the educated class of the masses can strive to cultivate a strong public opinion in order to check the hegemony at every level of administration.
M. M. KHAN
Karachi
THE simple question is: why does Gen Mushraff intend to retain the ‘uniform’ despite the whole issue being controversial always, and currently sub judice? The simple answer is: to manipulate election .
The mala fide intention is obvious by Sharifuddin Peerzada’s qualifying statement of date in court that Musharraf (if) elected president by the present parliament, he would then take off his uniform.
How unconstitutional statement: threatening in its content (if) when the case is being heard by the most respected SCP. The king’s party, a combination of sorts, is scared of the fair, unrigged election and an independent election commission as proved by the one-man specific amendment of Article 63 by the Election Commission, making its impartiality all the more dubious.
The situation only warrants that the present setup leave the government to impartial caretakers to hold a fair, free, unrigged election.
ABDULLAH.M.BILLALY
Peshawar
AFTER the Election Commission of Pakistan has amended the rules of presidential elections 1988, solely to benefit Gen Pervez Musharraf in his re - election, nobody should remain under any disillusion about free and fair election in Pakistan.
With the present EC and the government, free election is just not possible. The need of the hour is that all political parties, including the PPP, and civil society should campaign for formation of a national caretaker government and establishment of an independent election commission.
If this is not achieved, then all political parties should boycott the election. This is the only way to discredit the current artificial democracy.
JAMIL HYDER
Oman
HITLER is believed to be both arrogant and brutal by nature. He built up one of the largest war machinery around the globe with the help of Japan and Italy. The face of humanity still bears horrific scars after the two World Wars. Imagine a world with Hitler on its reins, if he had succeeded in his designs to rule it according to his dreams.
“The biggest calamity that can befall a person is to have eyes and yet not be able to see”. Not taking any lesson from the fate of Hitler or from the US-Vietnam and USSR-Afghan wars, Bush is behaving like the ‘Pharoah’ of the modern world. His main fear like several other former US presidents (Nixon, Bush Sr. etc) is the spread of Islam. His hidden agenda behind the Afghan and Iraq invasions (for which sarcastically God Himself had directed him) is to combat Islamists (not terrorism as he claims) and to usurp the Muslim wealth and natural resources.
He is also responsible for the environmental pollution bringing about drastic and damaging weather and climatic changes the world over, by not agreeing to the initial Kyoto Protocol at the beginning of his presidency.
In terms of damage caused to the world, the human society environments and making the world more insecure and dangerous than it was before him , he far surpasses Hitler in his horrific deeds.
The era of the pharaohs Sr. and Jr. is now coming to an end and the whole world is looking forward to getting rid of him soon. Thanks to the two-terms maximum limit for the US presidency. Maybe some day he finds his place in the stands before the International Court of Justice like the Serbian leaders, where all his collaborators will point their fingers towards him in order to shrug off their own sinful deeds.
IJTABA ZAIDI
Karachi
WE had a bumper crop of wheat of 23.5 million tons this year. This was sufficient to go for the local consumption.
Just after the budget for 2007-8, Adviser to the Ministry of Finance Dr Ashfaque Hassan Khan told on many TV channels that wheat was being hoarded by some people and even the containers were parked at petrol pumps and also available in godowns. The government did not find a single kilogram.
Then we saw the five million tons exported to India. Suddenly, it was halted on the plea that there is going to be a shortage of the commodity in the near future.
The TV channels are telling people that a minster is involved in smuggling of wheat to India and about 200 trucks per day are being smuggled via the border of Sindh. The minister was named in the federal cabinet meeting held recently. Can the public at large know the name of the minister?
The price of wheat flour at the time of the budget was Rs15 to 16 per kg. Today it is not available in many parts of the country and if available it costs Rs20 to Rs21 per kg. The crop of Australia is half of the normal harvest. India has shortage of wheat and is importing from Iran and Russia.
If we import this wheat from abroad, the European price is around $300 per ton f.o.b.The C and F price, if imported, will not be less than Rs23 per kg.
The Fedral Bureau of Statistics should tell us how they are measuring food inflation @ 10.01 per cent.
INAYAT ULLAH SHEIKH
Karachi
I AM dumbfounded by the quarter-page advertisement placed by the Land Utilization Department, government of Sindh, that ends saying: “legally safe land is your secured investment plan”.
Foolishly believing that the safest land to purchase and invest in is that offered by the government, I purchased land in the cottage industrial scheme, Orangi township, launched by the now defunct KMC. That was in 1995 but after having paid 50 per cent towards the cost of the land, I stopped further payments as it was officially admitted that no work could be done as the scheme had become a victim of land mafia.
Now 12 years after the project was launched, the allottees are being informed that it will be developed provided they pay an additional Rs800 per square yard as development charges. The Rs60,000 I have already paid has not been utilised towards this scheme and even if not wisely invested should have quadrupled by this time and be more than sufficient to cater for any increase in cost, so why are we being asked for further payments?
In my case at least the safest land to purchase and invest in is definitely not government land. I am sure this is also true for those who invested in Mehran Town, Cottage industrial zone, Landhi, etc.
The sad part is that there is no one to listen to the voices of victims like me.
MATIN
Karachi
IT is good to hear that Benazir Bhutto finally decided to come back to Pakistan.
However, things do not look as kosher as it is being portrayed. So far, unfortunately, it looks more of a stage set for the ‘noora kushti’ between the PPP-P and President Gen Musharraf.
Only time will tell if there was no deal between Gen Musharraf and Ms Bhutto or it is a one-sided deal where Gen Musharraf is the main beneficiary and Ms Bhutto will get the relaxation in the cases.
DR MISBAH AZAM
USA
IT is not necessary that whatever the government assumed is right. During the tenure of PML-Q government, many profit-making organisations were sold on much less price to please some specific bidders.
Probably this may have been done with a view that the PML-Q may not get another chance to sit again on the treasury benches in the parliament, once the general elections are over.
Many profit-making organisations and public units such as the PTCL, the HBL, the PSO were sold to the bidders in haste for a cheaper price than what it should have actually fetched in the open market. The outgoing government of the PML-Q is also determined to sell the Roosevelt Hotel, New York.
Roosevelt Hotel has 1,015 rooms, including 52 luxury suites. It is ironic that Privatisation Commission of Pakistan is determined to sell the hotel on half of its price than what it can fetch in the open market bidding. Who is going to benefit from the sale: the owners of the hotel or some ‘people’ in Pakistan whose interest lies in the hasty sale so as to get the kickback?
I agree with Dawn’s editorial (Aug 27) that the government-appointed financial advisers have assessed the hotel’s value at roughly $400 million comparing to the price of $1 billion that New York-based property developers have offered. Probably, the lower value has been assessed keeping in view the financial status of the prospective bidder.
After purchasing the hotel, the New York-based property developers intend to demolish it and construct a skyscraper that could fetch $1.2 billion to them. The senate standing committee on defence is right in blocking the sale of the hotel on half of its actual price, when it can fetch a price of $1 billion in the open market.
It is the duty of the government to make the process of sale transparent, and arrange to send opposition parliamentarians to New York where they can meet the New York-based estate agents and get the revised valuations from them to determine the fact that as to what could be the open market price if the hotel is sold?
If the government and the members of the opposition parties cannot come to a consensus on the sale price of the hotel, then it would be better for the PIAC, which has 99.1 per cent shares in the property, to mortgage the hotel to a New York-based bank so that the PIAC can get a loan of an appropriate amount to buy an aircraft, pay off its other liabilities.
Since Roosevelt Hotel is running in profit, the owners after meeting all the monthly expenses can easily repay the amount of mortgage to the bank in instalments. There will be a time when Roosevelt Hotel will stand free from any mortgage or lien.
Before I end my letter I would like to mention to the PIAC that with the passage of time the condition of the aircraft that the PIAC intends to buy will deteriorate, whereas the price of the Roosevelt Hotel property will increase. Sale of the hotel through the PC will be tantamount to killing the goose that lays the golden egg.
SYED A. MATEEN
Karachi
I WANT to draw the attention of the authorities concerned to the grievances of the medical students in Cuba.
The scheme launched by the Higher Education Commission ensured a glaring future of the prospective doctors once they return home from studies.
On reaching there the students, having merit greater than 80 per cent, were altogether neglected with no monthly scholarships, no playground, very little food and no education in WHO-recognised medical universities.
When the visiting HEC officials were contacted in this regard, they turned a deaf ear and instead threatened them to terminate the whole project. This high-handed attitude with young students must be checked and genuine complaints must be addressed.
ARSLAN SAHI
Rawalpindi
THIS is a thinking question for the businessmen/women in Pakistan. I recently entrusted a hi-fi moving and shipping company on Zamzama Street, Karachi, with some personal effects to be shipped to the US, after an exorbitant cash payment in USD, along with a promise of no extra charges at delivery. I was recently notified that I can only take delivery of the shipment if a banker’s cheque exceeding USD 300 is given to their agent in the US.
Please explain to people like me on the other side of your business tactics: How do these companies expect to bring in more business when they are cutting off the golden branch on which they sit? Nobody wants to talk or think about honesty and integrity in the modern world nowadays, of course. But I am sure common sense should not totally die out of the business community in Pakistan.
A PAKISTANI
Karachi
APROPOS of Muhammad Ali Siddiqi’s piece, ‘Dawn turns 60’ (Aug 15), I should like to say that the details in the text are very interesting and remind the old timers like me of the brilliant past.
I shall be grateful for reprinting this old publication to enable us to reminisce. I have been a reader of Dawn since its publication, when I was in Aligarh University.
FAKHARUDDIN YOUSAFALI
Lahore
I WOULD like to have the Balochistan government pay full attention to our schools, colleges, etc, that were washed away by flood on June 26.
It is over two months that our educational institutions are left without any repairs, leaving the students in the lurch.
FAHAD IQBAL
Turbat
MY telephone 6340308 has been dead for the last six weeks. Despite several complaints filed with Azizabad Exchange, no action has been taken to restore the line.
The officials of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company say that because of diggings by the city government in Block 12 of the F.B. Area, the underground cable has been damaged and their efforts to repair it have failed.
About 40 telephone lines are stated to have been affected. But it is interesting to note that telephone lines of those subscribers who are close to the MQM are being restored without delay.
Ashfak Bokhari
Karachi
THE traffic police are no way behind than profiteers and black marketers in encashing the holy month, as their ‘Eid campaign’ is in full swing with the beginning of the holy month of Ramazan.
The masses, already overburdened with the skyrocketing prices of kitchen commodities and daily use items, now have another account in their budgets, ‘mithai for the police’.
Motorcyclists, who generally belong to lower middle class segment, are the prime targets of the protectors of the law.
Once a biker is intercepted by the police, he may have no escape unless he bribes them. These law enforcers, quite well versed with the law, refer to so many sections that may be imposed upon the poor soul, which may count for a life sentence at least.
However, one 100-rupee note is worthy enough to wash all his crimes and sins.
Keeping up the tradition, these policemen become active soon after Iftar in collecting Eidi from motorcyclists, the other vehicle owners are no exception.
Such deals in the name of snap-checking can be observed on almost every street, road and artery where some biker or car owner bargains with the policemen to close the deal in an amount as smaller it can be.
Despite the fact that this game is played every year, the police authorities take no action in taking care of this system so that the citizens could get a little relief at least.
In an eyewitnessed incident a police mobile at Nipa Chowrangi, late night, took a motorcyclist to a nearby petrol pump so that he could get change for a large denomination currency note, his only possession at that moment, and pay Eidi to the law enforcers.
The social circles have expressed concern over the situation and have asked the authorities to take note of the excess.
JAVED IQBAL
Karachi
You can also send letters to the Editor
Just send your message to the following address: letters@dawn.com
Make sure you include your full name, postal address, e-mail address, and in the case of Pakistan your day-time telephone number.