| September 30, 2007 | Sunday | Ramazan 17, 1428 |
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Right to change govt
Punjab Drug Rules 2007
Twenty20 World Cup
Cops beating civilian
Warning to India
Karachi’s water problem
Wheat crisis
Time to wake up
Sheriff’s office
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 is with reference to Sultan Ahmed Geelani’s letter, ‘Supreme Court’s pending verdict’ (Sept 27) where he states “that the army alone, for what it is worth, alas, is the only answer till the rise of a real leader, with capability to stare the army down and create a state structure closer to our historical urgings. Otherwise, why should the army govern through upstartish stool pigeons who only create a greater mess when ‘freed’ from army control?”
Mr Geelani has made two presumptions in his letter. First, that a ‘real leader’ shall emerge during an army rule and, second, that ‘upstartish stool pigeon’ — an apparent reference to the politicians — make a greater mess when ‘freed’ from army rule.
I fail to understand as to how Mr Geelani reached the conclusion that a ‘real leader’ shall emerge during an army rule when the emergence of such a leader would be detrimental to the commercial interests of the military establishment.
It has never been in the interest of the military that the country should be ruled by educated and intelligent leaders. No wonder Gen Zia banned student unions in all the universities to ensure the platform in which future political leaders can be groomed can be eliminated.
It is pertinent to note that prior to banning of student unions in educational institutions the students belonging to various political parties were involved in ideological debates and even the hostilities which incurred between them was based on it. However, now what we find in universities are political parties based on ethnicities with zero intellectualism and with the sole object of bringing a bad repute to student unions so that public opinion against the lifting of ban on student unions can be formulated and maintained.
I should also point out to Mr Geelani that we are in no need of a ‘real leader’. The panacea to our problems is not the rise of a great leader but the strengthening of institutions. The problem with our country is that even the well-educated people are myopic and start to rally round individuals as if they will change the fate of the country.
India is an example before us which, in spite of having the same corruption level as in Pakistan, has politicians who have the guts to stare down at the army. The reason for this is that the army never intervened in the politics of the country, even when requested by the politicians. The result of this was that the democratic culture in the country flourished and which resulted in the strengthening of institutions. The politicians of India know that in order to come to power they do not need the support of the military but the votes of the people. On the other hand, the army in Pakistan wasted no time in coming to power and getting itself involved in real estate and other commercial ventures.
The second presumption of Mr Geelani is not correct. The military leaders have created more ‘mess’ in the country than the politicians. The creation of Bangladesh, the introduction of Kalashnikov culture and setting up of madressahs, which now have become breeding grounds for terrorists, can all be attributed to military leaders.
It should be noted that corruption during the military regime far exceeds that under the civilian rule. The reason as to why it appears as if the elected representatives are far more corrupt than the military leaders is that the media and even the politicians cannot even dare point out the corruption and loot by committed by the military leaders.
At least in civilian rule we did not have bridges falling down one month after their construction. What the nation requires is patience to wait for the political leaders to evolve in the absence of military rule. It is only then that the politicians will realise that they are not accountable to the military leaders but to the people of Pakistan.
ANIL KHAN LUNI
Lahore
I WISH to convey my best wishes to Pakistani citizens as they go through another round of exercise to redefine the political landscape of their country. While your current president and military leader has his own version of what democracy means to your country, the two former prime ministers have their quite different versions as to what is the right approach to bringing about democracy to Pakistan.
Interestingly, there seems to be at least one institution, the judiciary, which seems to be able to show a level of maturity and institutional independence that a healthy democracy requires.
Reading Dawn gives me the impression that the press, the other essential pillar of democracy, isn’t too bad in protecting its own freedom and speaking for the masses and to the masses.
Therefore, the people of Pakistan essentially have most things already in place. All they need is to keep pushing for the third and critically important pillar of democracy, the political landscape to become responsive to them and make sure the citizen’s consent isn’t ignored.
Even though in the so-called great democracies of the western world, the much touted election process, where people’s consent or disapproval is supposed to be registered, is flawed and remains a constant work in process.
However, humanity hasn’t yet invented anything better than this and, therefore, no matter whoever claims to be right (and everyone will always do, partly for their own self-interest), individual citizens should have the right to provide consent or register their disapproval again and again.
There won’t be a perfect answer ever, but that’s the whole idea of democracy. There never is a perfect ruler that can represent majority view all the time, it is, therefore, the right of citizens to remain vigilant and retain the right to change the government through ballot next time round.
More importantly, it takes time, a very long time, to get this right. You will have a lot of company all around the globe among citizens who have been struggling to get their democracy work for them. Good luck for this round and many, many more rounds that should follow.
UMESH TIWARI
Chicago, USA
THE Punjab government has recently formulated and issued Drug Rules 2007. A long-awaited encouraging move by the government as it highlights its resolve to have a grip on the situation regarding availability of drugs in the market.
I think criticism of these rules is not the prerogative of pharmacists and pharma companies as they would like the public to believe. Rather, it is a matter requiring them to hire pharmacists on payment.
Previously they would hire the categories (Category A) and pay between Rs1,000 and 10,000 a month on an yearly basis, depending upon their requirement of the licensee and the agreement reached between the two parties (chemist and pharmacist) for the hiring of the licensee.
Here in Rawalpindi I have observed that fewer pharmacists are hired for sale purposes. More of categories B and C are being employed. Some homoeopathic doctors are running businesses on their doctor licences. The main reason for this is the practice of hiring licensees for small sums of money, up to Rs800-1000, on a monthly basis.
Since chemists are minting money without pharmacists, they are opposed to hiring pharmacists at higher cost. Also, we should keep in mind that earlier they could sell any drug (also those in category G of Drug Rules) without a pharmacist. Now they have to hire a pharmacist at higher pays and be watched over by them. An employer (chemist) hardly would like his employee (pharmacist) to watch him and hand him over to the authorities in case of any violation of the law.
We should keep in mind that a small businessman like the one in any residential area cannot afford to pay high to a pharmacist. They would preferably hire compounders at low pays.
If the government is serious about implementing these rules, it must remain firm in its attitude. As far as doctors are concerned, they are least concerned about who dispenses the drugs. As the government’s vested interest lies with the businessman, the pharmacists, preferably PPA, should rally and convince the government and the public of the benefits of implementing the new rules or else the chemists will succeed in getting a diluted version of the rules to serve the interests of the chemists and not the public at large.
AYESHA FATIMA
Rawalpindi
I WAS one of the millions who watched the final of the recent Twenty20 World Cup Cricket in South Africa. The match was a cliffhanger where both the teams were equally matched. India was just lucky to have won the match which could have gone either way and no loser was disgraced.
I heard the TV interview with the rival skippers. The Pakistan captain, Shoaib Malik, “thanked the people of Pakistan and ‘Muslims all over the world’ for their support.”
I was shocked to hear this from a sportsman mixing religion with sports. The Indian team had two Muslim players and in India we are proud to have about 150 million Muslims. I wonder as to what Shoaib Malik was implying by the above statement.
In March last year my wife and I were invited to Pakistan as part of a group to exhibit our photographs in Lahore and Islamabad. The love, affection and hospitality that was showered on us during our stay is for ever etched in our memories. Near the Lahore station, we were approached by some people who inquired if we were Indians as my wife was wearing a saree. On confirmation, they spontaneously exclaimed that ‘we are the same people separated by ‘sayasis’ and ‘superpowers.’ They insisted on taking us for tea in a nearby café.
If I remember right, the previous cricket captain was criticised in Pakistan for mixing religion with sport on the field. Malik is very young and is admired by us also. He has a bright future and will take Pakistani cricket to great heights. But I suggest he may be advised not to mix sports with religion.
VIVEK R. SINHA
Bangalore, India
APROPOS of Khalil Yusuf’s letter (Sept 23), I sympathise with him and admire the stand he took against the police guards. Unfortunately, this event typifies one of the great shortcomings of Pakistani society: the willingness to bend all rules.
The minister in question surely knew that his ‘thugs’ had roughed up a man on the street. Regardless of whose mistake it was to begin with, there is no justification for armed men to bully an unarmed individual.
I am certain no punishment was meted out to the ‘brute’ in question. And I am also sure the culprits are still driving around Defence Housing Authority in the minister’s black Civic with blatant disregard for traffic signals and surrounding drivers.
Hang in there, Mr Yusuf. Perhaps the day will come, when there will be no black Civics careering around our neighbourhoods, and the ministers will truly act like the population’s elected ‘servants’.
IJLAL BABAR
USA
AFTER Iran, it is over its relations with the neighbouring Myanmar that India is being chastised by the minions of the US administration. The way a major US financial newspaper had entered into a ‘strategic partnership’ with one of India’s premier English newspaper, Hindustan Times, to float an Indian newspaper, very aptly named Mint, the danger of the American media directly interfering in India’s internal affairs has now come to its logical conclusions.
In its editorial (Sept 25), the Mint uses a few words but with devastating confidence of a direct proclamation issued to the Indian government to “stop trying to deal with the generals in charge of Myanmar”.
The world is witness to a sudden focus by the whole US media machinery on a defenceless Third World country; instigating a public uprising through its Buddhist clergy (“any stick to beat that dog”) that is rocking Myanmar’s capital Rangoon, day after day.
The spin is about “liberating Myanmar people from a brutal and undemocratic regime”, though the main objective is to plant its own proxy, be that with all apparent legitimacy of a democratic anointment, and corner Myanmar’s oil assets.
We have seen that same tried and trusted game plan in the neighbourhood of Russia when, one by one, its neighbouring countries were subverted through instigated public uprising with a view to place US proxies at the helm of their affairs.
India has substantial stakes in the gas reserves in Myanmar that were easily available to its north and northwestern region, through pipelines being planned in conjunction with Bangladesh, that has its own vast gas reserves. The US wants overlordship over these vital resources.
After imposing its virtual control of the vital oil and gas reserve, the US will turn out and supply the same to India, albeit at bloated prices, and at the time and rate of its own choosing. The fundamental objective is to control all gas and oil resources and not let the so-called ‘strategic partner’, India, to finalise its own bilateral arrangements either with Iran or Myanmar.
If for India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, this is not curtailing India’s freedom to have free and independent bilateral relationships, and not compromising its sovereignty as a free nation, then what worse conditions we should let India be dragged into before we realise it is too late.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, a more seasoned political strategist, should read the writing on the edit pages of Mint and realise which direction this ‘strategic partnership’ will eventually drag India into.
There is still time both the Brahminical political parties woke up to the dangers of cosying up with the neo-colonists of the US and Israel with open arms and blank cheques. Saner elements in the Indian media too should fall back on their objective analysis tools and expertise to visualise where this strategic partnership with the US will end up. Are we to become next Pakistan in this subcontinent?
GHULAM MUHAMMED
Mumbai
KARACHI and its adjacent areas have been facing water shortage very commonly for the last decade and the situation is getting worse, both quantitatively and qualitatively. It is estimated that by 2010-2012, there could be a severe water shortage in the whole of the country that could result in a drought with serious implications.
Karachi, though being developed constantly, gets the water supply directly linked to the power supply dependent on another province. A shortage of drinking water has crippled half of the city while poor infrastructure is the root cause of water shortage anywhere in Pakistan.
In the urban situation the fact is that the pollution of rivers and other water systems puts pressure on public water utilities to increase treatment costs. The city has no option but to source water from further and further away, which increases the cost of treatment and delivery of water. It also leads to inefficiencies in supply, along with lack of major and minor infrastructure, with distribution losses.
In short, there is less water to supply and there is less water for which full costs can be recovered. In a sense, the cost of supply and delivery is high; the city cannot afford to supply water equally to all.
The answer lies in finding cost-effective solutions to supply and disposal. This can only be done if the water utility is improved and, most importantly, the distribution losses can best be blocked by reducing the length of the pipelines and instead working through underground channels where soil conditions and natural slopes permit.
The city will be much more efficient if it can plan to localise its water utilities. That is, collect and supply water locally, and take back the waste locally also and then recycle it naturally. More importantly, it can find solutions to contain and save its annual rainfall endowment. This means implementing rainwater harvesting in each house and colony during monsoon.
SUMERA BILGRAMI
Karachi
I DO recollect that some time early this year the government had allowed export of wheat estimated to be surplus consequent to the bumper crop.
A couple of months down the line, the government is importing wheat in an attempt to bring down the prices of flour being attributed to shortage.
What is happening?. Will someone explain?
MOBEEN AFZAL
Lahore
I FULLY concur with the observation of Dr Haider K. Nizamani (‘Waiting for change’, Sept 25) that reinstatement of the chief justice cannot be equated with the independence of the judiciary. In this regard, the writer rightly postulates that the higher judiciary and its newly-found activism should be distinguished from the lower judiciary and its inefficiency.
He further goes on to add that the recent movement for ‘independence of the judiciary’ has only triggered a sense of independence in the higher courts, especially the Supreme Court, while the lower judiciary and the justice system as a whole still maintains the status quo.
Far from being independent from the desire of wealth and dictates of the state machinery, the lower judiciary is still full of corrupt, inefficient and pliable officials. Moreover, this menace of corruption and bribery extends to the lower staff of these officials, who do not let go of any opportunity to make money on small pretexts and thus put hurdles in the way of just decisions.
The result is a backlog of cases and the resultant denial of justice to a large number of litigants. In the backdrop of these observations, is the judiciary really independent in the eyes of a common litigant?
When the poor litigants are made to suffer due to gross inability, negligence and corruption of the judges; when they are being deprived of justice and equity for no fault of their own; and when they become the victims of this justice system instead of getting justice from it, the only answer that we would hear to this question is a big ‘No’.
Thus, while there is nothing wrong in being euphoric about our success in the recent judicial movement, a lot more is to be done to make our lower judiciary and the justice system as a whole independent. Fair selection procedures, adequate remuneration, and pleasant working conditions for the lower judiciary would go a long way in achieving this objective. In short, we need a repetition of March 9 movement, but this time in the lower judiciary to wake it up from its slumber.
NAUMAN QAISER
Lahore
THE office of the sheriff of Mumbai, in reply to an RTI application, has stated its role as under:”..the basic function of this office is to implement the orders issued by the Hon’ble High Court, Bombay, City Civil Court, Supreme Court of India and other courts.” -- Signed Dy. Sheriff of Mumbai.
We would appreciate suggestions and examples on how the role of the sheriff as defined above can be utilised to benefit the citizens of Mumbai.
VINAY
Mumbai
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