| October 14, 2007 | Sunday | Shawwal 1, 1428 |
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Wake-up call for CAA
White Cane Safety Day
Emergency psychiatry: need of the hour
Mediaeval way of power
Cowboy and despotism
Same old story
Thank you, PTCL
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
IN his column, ‘Bananaramus on the Constitution Avenue’ (Oct 6), Kamran Rehmat laments the rising violence in Islamabad, focusing on what he calls Black Saturday (Sept 29). He also seems to seek applause for a previous reference made by him when he suggested that Islamabad had become a ‘New Karachi’. Karachi here, of course, is meant to be synonymous with violence.
In his own words, Islamabad is the ‘seat of the Federation’. The city houses the Supreme Court and the Constitution Avenue; it harbours the brokers of power and pelf; the mafias that promote deals, ‘dheels’ and disappearances; the centres of intrigues and plots (the house building types as well); all this and more.
These, in fact, are the required ingredients for violence. Why then expect the violence to be elsewhere? Field Marshal Ayub Khan should have thought of this when he hijacked the Capital from Karachi to Islamabad. ‘Violence’, Mr Rehmat, comes with the package.
Karachi has 10 times the population of Islamabad and Rawalpindi put together. Proportionally, it still falls behind the Capital city in high profile violence. The twin cities get credit for:
• Shooting and killing the first prime minister. The venue of his murder has been named (Liaquat Bagh) after him.
• Two bloody attempts on the life of President Musharraf in the very heart of the city, with bodies blown up on each attempt.
• The biggest explosion in the history of Pakistan took place at the Ojhri Camp. Hundreds were killed.
• The ‘reddest’ and the most violence-infested mosque, with an adjoining madressah harbouring the largest collection of burqa-clad amazons, is located right there. Our memories are still fresh with the hundreds killed there.
• It would take a lot of space to list all the bomb blasts in churches, hotels and mosques in the Capital city in the recent past.
Karachi, unlike Islamabad, has monumental ethnic diversity and civic problems. Despite that, the city has become comparatively peaceful. It took years of persuading to convince the cricketing nations of the world that Karachi was not so unsafe after all. Only last week we played a thrilling test match with South Africa at the National Stadium.
Mr Rehmat rather brazenly quotes Newton’s third law of motion to rationalise the thrashing dispensed to Dr Farooq Sattar at the hands of lawyers. According to the inspector-general of police that violence on Sept 29 was triggered by the very volatile and fiery ex-VP of the Pakistan Bar Council, Ali Ahmed Kurd. His threats and antics with flagelling hands, flying hair and frothing gob could not be ignored by the authorities. Any duty-conscious police officer would take precautions against his very serious threats of tearing up President Musharraf’s nomination papers and exhorting every ‘mard ka baccha’ to storm the office of the chief election commissioner.
We all remember the manhandling of the lawyers representing the government in the chief justice’s case; the disfigurement of Naeem Bokhari’s handsome face and the threats to burn down the Supreme Court if the verdict went against the chief justice. Thank God that it didn’t.
On Sept 29 we saw ‘danda bardar black coats’ masquerading all over the place. The lawyers wanted to ransack the election commissioner’s office; the police were bent on stopping them.
But why beat up Dr Farooq Sattar? More than a dozen lawyers thrashed the frail and scholarly MNA black and blue. Newton’s third law of motion no doubt says: ‘To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction’. Mr Rehmat suggests that the hooliganism was a ‘reaction’. But what happens after the ‘reaction’? It does, in fact, generate a further reaction, perhaps a chain reaction with disastrous consequences. Farooq Sattar had to spend a few days in hospital to recover. His supporters are bound to be very furious.
While we wait for the pieces to fall in place in these days of political turmoil, kindly leave our city alone. Let Islamabad earn its own ‘alias’. Please don’t call it ‘the New Karachi’.
CAPT S. AFAQ RIZVI
Karachi
APROPOS of Abrar Ahmed’s letter, ‘Wake-up call for CAA (Sept 26), one gets the impression that the writer has access to half-cooked inside information and he has tried to put forward a popular anti-military opinion. No doubt there is a vast difference between the objectives of commercial and military aviation but one must realise that in both the fields as far as the safety factor is concerned there is no difference between a commercial and a military aircraft.
The pilots and engineers who are trained by the military have the same objective as their civilian counterparts, which is to make the aeroplane fly safely. No commanding officer would like to see his pilots killed and his aircraft destroyed in uncalled-for accidents.
Many reasons can be attributed to the SAFA ban on PIA and arguments for and against deployment of the so-called retired military officers can be made. But the fact remains that the military has an edge over the civilian aviation industry as far as training and experience is concerned.
How many of our talented youths can afford to get flying training in the commercially-run schools and there is none but a single Aeronautical Engineering College in Pakistan which is run by the PAF.
The CAA advertisement No. 15/2007 can in no way be termed tailored to favour candidates with background or training in Air Force establishments. It is a worldwide practice to employ military pilots and engineers in airlines and regulatory authorities.
The ICAO has specified the requirements of a flight inspector in Document 8335 and it clearly says that he should have at least 5,000 hours of flying experience on air transport type civil or military aircraft.
The Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence is a purely civilian licence and all military pilots have to undertake the common examination and checks required for this licence.
As far as the aeronautical engineering degree is concerned, the PAF College of Aeronautical Engineering offers training for civilian scholars and PIA engineers who become equally qualified for these advertised posts.
In fact, those engineers who do not have this degree will benefit from inclusion of the alternative qualification of Licence Without Type Rating. This licence is given to only those engineers who work on civil-registered aircraft and no military experience is given credit for it.
Let us not get into the blame game.
AHMED BILAL
Karachi
OCTOBER 15 is observed as White Cane Safety Day to draw the attention of the world towards the blind and the visually-impaired people.
The day brings to light the achievements and exploits of the blind and visually impaired people successfully proving them to be like the other common people are. The day describes the white cane as a symbol and a tool of independence for the ability of the blind’s mobility and as a courtesy to others.
The blind are not given much importance, attention and preference, though being part of society they must be treated at par with others. It is very appreciative that the Punjab government has opened a number of new schools and institutes for the development and rehabilitation of the blind in different cities in the recent years.
Although the role played by the government is notable, something more need to be done. There is still lack of equipment and other necessary facilities for the blind because of which they still have to face numerous problems. Some private institutions and centres are also being run under the supervision of different NGOs.
They provide the blind with handy tools and introduce to them the techniques helping them to earn their own and make their lives better. The blind and the visually impaired are taught Braille system and are also provided with audio-books so that they may listen to them to gain access to their literary works.
With the increasing literacy rate among the blind, they need much greater work to do. They are able to use the latest technology. They can use computers and Internet, work in a factory, such as repair mobiles, manufacture bat, ball, etc. or they can even operate electronic machinery.
But they don’t find suitable environment, by working in which they can compete with modern age. In the countries like Japan, China, America, England, etc, their counter-parts are utilising modern skills. So the blind here in Pakistan hardly find some suitable job, which may provide them bright a career and indicate their bright future.
Like other countries, the government of Pakistan should make amendments to the course being taught in country on different levels and must add enough material to make the people aware of the lives of the blind, their achievements and capabilities.
Perhaps in this way the people will have different thinking approach for them and will help them properly. The material like Braille, computer assistance, audio-visual help through electronic and digital equipment must be available in their institutes for their usage.
So it is for us now to set ourselves on promoting the idea of treating the blind with politeness and providing them with the opportunities so that they may work among us and give us a helping hand in every walk of life and ensure their better future after making suitable place in this society. If we do our duty in this respect, then we can think of celebrating White Cane Safety Day in a fruitful way.
ZUBAIR AHMAD QURESHI
Lahore
WE have just gone through the second anniversary of the Oct 8, 2005 earthquake which not only brought devastation to the northern parts of the country but also exposed the cracks in our ever-disintegrating health system. We observed how it converted from a ‘humanitarian crisis’ to a ‘crisis of neglect’.
There is some evidence that rescue workers are four times more at risk than the general population to develop psychological symptoms as well.
In Pakistan, where mental health services are not at all well, such events can lead to more strain, thus destabilising the whole system. There are about 200 qualified psychiatrist in the country showing a distressing ratio of one psychiatrist per one million people.
To be unprepared for such disasters now is foolish; we need strategies and plans to tackle such emergencies.
We need to put in efforts to have dedicated emergency relief teams who are equipped to deal with such abrupt calamities.
The team should comprise a wide variety of members, including psychiatrists who are trained with the skills of counselling and debriefing.
These teams should be ready to leave for ground zero on a minute’s notice, to use their skills and save survivors from the immediate and short-term hazards of a disaster.
Psychiatry in Pakistan is an upcoming specialty and progress is being made. We should begin by improving the standards of psychiatry taught at the undergraduate level to bring it at par with medicine and surgery and above all have separate certifying examinations and proper internship.
The use of protective interventions by able mental health professionals may prevent the people responsible with some of the most horrid aspects of disaster relief work, from themselves becoming casualties of its devastating effects.
DR YASIR ABBASI
Specialist Registrar in Psychiatry
Sheffield, UK
MUBARAK Ali, in his article ‘Mediaeval way to power’ (Oct 6), while dilating on impediments in the transfer of power to civilian rule in Pakistan, has discussed political successions, especially in mediaeval societies. Here I would like to say that in the mediaeval age, when the world was ruled by monarchs and kings, the succession was decided on the basis of inheritance. On the other hand, in modern political arrangement sovereignty is bestowed constitutionally based on a system devised by the political scientists.
He is right when he says that in the days bygone successions often ended in bloodshed and civil wars. It is, however, instructive not to divest oneself of the truth that in the mediaeval world succession was depending on the law of primogeniture: on the death of king it was the eldest of the child who was eligible for the throne. But where the natural law of succession was not followed, there was bound to be internecine wars.
Among the people of Turkic origin, the nomadic tradition of ‘survival of the fittest’ continues even after they moved to urban areas and created great dynasties. The Ottomans who once ruled one of the great empires and the great Mughals of India are the case in point. In the Muslim world the Arabs, however, followed the law of primogeniture and, therefore, their transition remained mostly peaceful.
The Ottoman Sultan Muhammad the Conqueror (1441-1481) ruled (with brief interlude when his father Murad-II retook control) and not 1441-1451. He, in order to settle the question of disquieting succession, which previously led to two civil wars, issued an imperial edict: “Whichever of my sons inherit the Sultan’s throne, it behooves him to kill his brother in the interest of world order”.
This was also in accordance with the Ottoman code of fratricide which was practised by his ancestors on several occasions. Thus, instead of curing this disease, the Sultan formalised the method of eliminating the whole body.
In Mughal India, however, no such plan was made and, therefore, succession was most of the time troubling as it was decided by the power of sword. The choice of Mughal King Zaheeruddin Muhammad Babar to transfer power peacefully to his elder son Humayoon remained a utopian dream as his remaining sons (except Hindal) made the life of heir-apparent extremely miserable. So much so that not only he lost nascent kingdom to Sher Shah Suri but had to take forced exile in Persia; then under Safavids.
Thus the death of a Mughal emperor more often than not followed elimination of the main contenders and those in second and third line consigned to dungeons where they passed the rest of their lives in wretched conditions.
Mubark Ali’s conclusion that people haven’t still moved too far away from al-Mawradi’s advice that Muslims recognise those who usurp power with the help of arms as legitimate rulers is not so simple an answer to the present-day predicament of the Muslim world. It is basically civil society’s lack of vibrancy and response, mainly on account of its intellectual and moral decay. Therefore in mediaeval times it was non-adherence to the law of primogeniture and in the modern era it is sheer lack of civil societies’ response which made the succession a thorny proposition.
The European nations which Mr Ali alludes have attained pre-eminence only because of the fact that their masses had access to modern education since 17th Century whereas even at the advent of 21st Century we have not only failed to attain this objective but have rather created classes in society: privileged minority concerned with only their perks and pelf, and the deprived majority in perpetual dilemma even to meet their both ends.
MANZOOR H. KURESHI
Karachi
THE cowboy from Texas probably thought of Iraqis, Pakistanis and other peoples of the Third World as being some kind of cows who could be treated in any way. He has made an ass of himself and his likeable country despicable by attacking Iraq on false pretexts against the better advice of many European and Muslim countries.
In Pakistan, he has managed to capitalise on the desire of a despot to stay in power for ever, to pursue his discredited agenda of bringing democracy to some nations by questionable means, including the replacement of local culture and religion by the American way of life.
As a result, we in Pakistan are seeing may nightmarish scenes. The soldiers are fighting and now even surrendering before fellow Pakistanis. The media is being gagged, lawyers beaten mercilessly and judiciary apparently restrained from speaking according to its conscience. Suicide bombings are becoming frightfully common.
There are certain things that need to be remembered at this most critical juncture of Pakistan’s existence. Tyrants are seldom free: the cares and the instruments of their tyranny enslave them.
Thus, all their energies are consumed in ensuring their own welfare rather than that of the nation. The media has a most important role to play, for “despotism can no more exist in a nation until the liberty of the press be destroyed than the night can happen before the sun is set.”
Ironically, another American president, Franklin Roosevelt, had observed that the ultimate failures of dictatorship cost humanity far more than temporary failures of democracy.
The love of the world is the root of all evil. It had been said of someone that “even the sight of the grave dug up for him could not subdue his two appetites.” In general, it can be said that so long as lust, whether of the world or the flesh, smell sweet in our nostrils, until then we cannot be trusted to do justice to the demands of running a country.
The cowboy from Texas should realise the folly of giving precedence to a dictator over an entire nation. This myopic policy will only worsen militancy and terrorism by trying to impose the will of one man over that of countless millions. Dictatorship won’t last forever: it may even fizzle out in a matter of weeks or months. After that the badly hurt and incensed people of the affected country are likely to tell the Yankees to go home.
Z.A. JALALI
Karachi
IT is unfortunate to watch the PCB doing what it has been doing for the last few weeks. How on earth can they just let go a test series like that just for one of its out-of-form semi-retired players come back to have a go at the expense of a nation’s pride just to score a mere 20 runs for individual records ?
How come nobody cares about Pakistan in this case. They should have played their best team rather than a team to accommodate Inzamamul Haq for his 20 runs.
Why did Shoaib Malik agree to captain such a team? The ICC must not count such tests as international games as they are merely charity-cum-friendly.
As a Pakistani I get so upset when highly-paid organisations like the PCB just start doing whatever they like at the expense of the real cricket fans of the country.
I think Inzamam has had enough chance to get his 20 runs in the past and it is time to move on but not when it comes to Pakistani cricket where we accommodate everybody at the expense of our national pride.
Probably because we have none, we are a disgraceful nation and amongst us whoever tries to point out the fact we try to chase him/her off as we care for our personal gains at the expense of our country.
DR TIPU NAQVI
England
AT 2pm on the day my letter on the above caption was published my phone was working in perfect condition.
Thanks to the PTCL for their prompt action. Excellent work.
AMANAT HASAN
Karachi
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