| October 21, 2007 | Sunday | Shawwal 8, 1428 |
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Threat of terrorism
Indifference to public accountability
Seedy Chak Shahzad
Endangering children
Putin for a corruption-free Russia
Drug price & Sindh govt
PTCL service standards
Consumer banking
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
DEAR Benazir Bhutto, the citizens of Karachi welcomed you after eight years of exile. Different government and non-government agencies supported your grand arrival with open arms. People came from different parts of the country to greet you. However, a few hours after your visit, a terrible assassination attack took place.
The people of Pakistan wholeheartedly support your battle to find those responsible for the attack and punish them severely. However, in the battle there have been hundreds of innocent families who have been ruined. The majority of those who are martyred or seriously injured belonged to the working class. There were peasants singing and dancing in your honour. The PPP has always stood for the rights of the masses.
Hence, I strongly urge Benazir Bhutto to personally ensure that each bomb victim who made the ‘ultimate sacrifice’ for democracy should be adequately compensated. The government has announced, as it had previously announced after the 2005 earthquake, that the victims would be compensated.
Let the sacrifice of those who fought for democracy be given its true reverence and appreciation.
SUMBUL NAQVI
Karachi
THE attack on PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s caravan may be an attempt to set the agenda for the new government that she is expected to form. It will be unfortunate for the masses if her pro-people agenda is hijacked by the so-called war on terror.
There is a trend in the world wherein the newly-elected governments or the parties and persons expected to form new governments are targeted through bombs or other violent means.
The following are some of the examples:
a. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was attacked in Attock by a suicide bomber when he was all set to become the prime minister of Pakistan.
b. Madrid train bombings in Spain coincided with the expected victory of the socialist protagonists.
c. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was welcomed by the attempted bombings in London’s heart and Glasgow Airport.
d. President Musharraf was attacked twice in December 2003 just a few days before he was to reach an agreement with the opposition parties over the 17th Constitutional Amendment and was to become a more secure president.
One can add to this list the 9/11 attacks in the incumbency of a new American president who was yet to set his agenda.
It seems that the powers that be intentionally or unintentionally goad the new and the expected new governments towards a tough policy against the Islamic militants by influencing their thought processes through violent spectacles.
The attack on Ms Bhutto should be seen in this light. Reportedly, Ms Bhutto has unemployment, inflation, education and other social issues as her priorities. She is to become the ‘nurturer in chief’. The attack on her may change all that. She may now rethink her priorities and may be goaded to the tough stand against the insurgency in the tribal belt. I am sure Ms Bhutto will see through the smoke and keep her priorities intact. However, the danger will then remain of more attacks to force her to change her policies and priorities.
If Ms Bhutto does form the new government and her policies are affected by the bombing incidents on Oct 19, then she will be playing into the hands of those who carried out or prompted these incidents.
It is a tight rope that we as a nation have to walk. One hopes, with her courage, forbearance and foresight, Ms Bhutto can steer us through these troubled times.
It is said that socialist movements were hijacked by nationalism in the early 20th century. Are we seeing hijacking of pro-people policies by the so-called ‘war on terror’?
CH. ADIL SALEEM KHAN
Lahore
TERRORISM is a big threat to peace in the world. It breeds when extremism gets sponsorship. A similar kind of situation prevails in Pakistan, particularly when PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s homecoming rally, the caravan of democracy, in Karachi, was target of bomb attacks that resulted in a high number of casualties -- approximately150 dead and more than 500 injured. It was a heinous crime and should be universally denounced.
It was astonishing for me when I go through the press conference of the Sindh home secretary who innocently ruled out any possibility of a security lapse on the part of the government.
A few days before the arrival of the PPP chairperson the government had made a tall claim that 20,000 Rangers personnel would be deployed around the rally, cellular jammers surrounding the caravans would be enforced and secret cameras installed at Sharea Faisal and Shahrah-i-Quaideen to monitor and restrict any untoward incidents, police personnel will be deployed on rooftops of highrise buildings, high-tech equipment imported exclusively for protecting the president and the prime minister would be used in the rally, etc., etc., how come such a tragedy did occur?
I was an eyewitness. Only one or two police mobile vans were around Ms Bhutto’s truck and no Rangers’ personnel were found moving along with the rally, except at the airport.
Basically, the tragedy happened because of security lapse on the part of the provincial government. It appears that the government intends to sabotage the election campaign and wants to keep public leaders and democratic forces like Ms Bhutto from the masses and create panic and fear among people. It was a warning to political forces and civil societies not to join democratic caravans. It was a threat not only to democratic forces but also to civil societies.
The main purpose of these tactics is to create possibilities to shorten the election campaign and restrict public leaders from getting in touch with people.
Why all these terrorist attacks on PPP rallies/demonstrations alone ? It was an attack on democracy and on unity and integrity of Pakistan. The government must unmask the faces behind such a heinous crime.
It’s time all political parties – though they may have their own socio-economic agenda for the future — realised the need for a united political front to crush the monster of terrorism.
HUMERA ALWANI
Member, Sindh Assembly
Thatta
MIAN Nawaz Sharif did never answer a question about the ultimate disposal of funds collected by his government under his slogan of ‘Qarz Utaro Mulk Sanwaro’, a very sentimental call to the public which was emotionally responded even by young girls who offered their gold bangles and small boys who gave their chocolate money, what to talk of adult response.
A rough estimate is tons of golden jwellery and several billion of contributions paid in various banks in local currency and as much contribution by the overseas Pakistanis in foreign currencies.
As long as it is not explained satisfactorily to the masses, who had vehemently responded to his slogan, the charge of big scam will remain there on Nawaz Sharif. Let him honourably come forward and face the nation honestly on this issue. It is a case against him of the masses and he should clear himself of it before asking for votes from the masses.
There are two other grave charges against him too: of benefiting himself and his friends on the night before promulgation of nationalisation of public forex accoiunts and, second, of storming the Supreme Court. He ought to explain these too to his voters to obtain a clean bill of performance.
Nawaz Sharif’s impatience to replace Gen Pervez Musharraf caused the nation a seizure of democracy in the country.
Why can’t these rich people just sit at home and do away with their lust for power? Why can’t they leave the field open for educated and sensible common people to serve the country from its august houses, ie National and Provincial Assemblies.
M. M. Khan
Karachi
THE media is shrieking about the astronomical tomato prices. Clearly there is a shortage, either due to hoarding or a wholesale export of these goodies to the Gulf. And if by chance there has been a genuine shortfall in production, can’t we live without tomatoes?
One also expects a shortage of winter vegetable seeds in the Islamabad market now. This is because the 499 famous house owners in Chak Shahzad will quickly be turning their backyards into vegetable garden patches.
When the CDA’s inspectors arrive they will no longer be given their annual baksheeh; instead it will be proved to them that the plots are indeed for growing veggies for the capital.
The only losers in this game, I suspect, will be the inspectors and CDA highups who have conveniently kept their eyes closed since the 1970s.
The real test will be to see if there are any battery chicken farms — invariably smelly —amongst these luxury compounds.
If this test is applied honestly, the state may well recover most of the 2,500 acres that has clearly been taken over for a totally different purpose. Can Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry ensure this?
ISA DAUDPOTA
Islamabad
I READ recently about a man who was protesting against the Sindh government and doused himself and his children with gasoline.
It was horrifying to read that this person was allowed to leave the press club area without any consequences.
If he wants to harm himself, he can go jump in the lake but he has no right to harm these children.
Children are the future of our country. It is heart-wrenching to even imagine that a father could endanger his children.
He does not deserve those children and the province should intervene to take him away for mental evaluation and treatment, if necessary.
It is unfortunate that on the press club did not call the police to intervene.
NAEEM KHAN
Manhattan, Kansas, USA
RUSSIA has been in news for the moves that President Putin has been making on domestic front on the eve of the next presidential poll due in March 2008 when Putin is to quit the Kremlin under Constitution. Putin abruptly dismissed prime minister Mikhail Fradkov on Sept 12 and in his place nominated Victor Zubkov, head of a financial watchdog, to replace him, dissolved the government due to the approaching elections and he nominated a new prime minister to sound out his political future.
Putin’s choice for the new PM, Viktor Zubkov, was approved on Sept 14 by the lower house, with 381 votes in favour and 47 against, with eight abstentions. Speaking to parliament before the vote, Zubkov said he favoured continuing Putin’s current political course, but said reshuffling the government might improve its efficiency.
Under the Constitution, Putin now has to firmly decide about his future course of action and make room for a new president. The parliamentary elections are scheduled for Dec. 2, followed some three months later by presidential elections. Earlier, newspaper Vedomosti reported that Sergei Ivanov, a first deputy prime minister and a leader contender to succeed Putin, could be appointed prime minister in the near future. Another first deputy prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, who is a top executive at natural gas monopoly JSC Gazprom, is considered the other leading contender. But a rapid shift has occurred in Putin’s decision to replace the prime minister.
Viktor Zubkov has a trump card to become a popular politician and a successor to Putin’s office in 2008 and has all chances to become the next president of Russia.
Putin has always focused on economic-cum-security as the top priority of his job in office.
Aggressive diplomacy being displayed by Putin, off and on, indicates the Kremlin’s intent on permanent world stage. Russian Prime Minister-designate Viktor Zubkov pledged to press ahead with President Vladimir Putin’s policies. Under Putin, Russia’s defence budget has been growing by about 30 per cent a year and the armed forces have started to test new weapons, including improved long-range missiles and a powerful vacuum bomb.
But the appointment of Zubkov, 65, deepened uncertainty around a bigger issue preoccupying Russians and foreign investors: who Putin will endorse to succeed him when he steps down as president next year?
Zubkov, speaking less than three months before nationwide parliamentary elections, also suggested that Russia’s key natural resources sector ought to bring in more cash. Zubkov, whose nomination was widely seen here as a way for Putin to guarantee the continuity of his policies after he steps down from the presidency next year, did not announce new policies in his initial speech.
Like all western powers, the US views the jaw-dropping decision made by Putin to nominate the head of the Russian financial monitoring, Viktor Zubkov, for the major governmental responsibilities with astonishment as it sends out signals of aggressive nature of Moscow’s future course under the guise of combating corruption. With this decision, some argue, Putin managed to confuse observers and deviate from the answer to the question of his successor. Putin has preserved the freedom of political manoeuvring, mass media say in their reports regarding the unexpected dismissal of the long-time PM Fradkov.
As it is, Putin is to step down from office next year because the constitution limits him to two consecutive terms. Even though the issue of fighting rampant corruption and make Russia fairly a corruption-free state seems to be the uppermost in his decision to appoint Zubkov, President Putin seems to be doing what his predecessor Boris Yeltsin did when he replaced as many as five prime ministers and the governments within a very short period, before finally deciding on Putin as his successor on the eve of the 2000. Whether Zubkov would replace him or any other new person would take that pride is not certain, as it is Putin’s habit to keep the West guessing about Russia.
DR ABDUL RUFF COLACHAL
New Delhi
I APPRECIATE the senior minister’s concern about unjustified, artificially and maliciously far-above-the-ground price resulting in deterioration of the philosophy of accessibility and affordability of even essential drugs to the public and uncontrolled growth in non-ethical business tactics of pharmaceutical products.
The study (Dawn) is based on facts. Society is being persecuted by extra-economical burden in the account of drugs/medicines and their irrational/ridiculous usage.
I am impressed by the dedication, skills and effectiveness of the special secretary, health division, government of Sindh, Dr (Capt) Abdul Majid, and the deputy secretary, quality control board, government of Sindh, Sualeh. Their devotion to the community and pharmacy in spite of their other tremendous workload will be remembered longer, and coming people will know that they were for an important public health mission with full sincerity.
I will request them to look into the issue of drugs evaluation of drugs in public and private hospital pharmacy as well, which is being controlled by physicians only, whereas pharmacists are the major key professionals in this area around the world.
The presence and inclusion of qualified pharmacy graduates will definitely not only improve the total quality of drugs usage, patient care but also reduce the cost of treatment as well, proven across the world.
MUHAMMAD OBAID ALI
(Pharmacist) Karachi
Telephone # 2781251 installed at our residence has not been working for the last two months.
Several complaints were lodged with 18 and the divisional engineer concerned, personally and through applications, but all in vain.
Later the matter was brought to the notice of the PTCL chairman in Islamabad through my application dated 19/9/07, sent through courier service. The position remains the same.
Probably, some internal mafia of the PTCL is stronger than their so-called competent authority, thereby defaming the PTCL after its privatisation and indirectly pushing its old customers to other service providers.
NADEEM SHAH
Hyderabad
THE State Bank governor has recently said on television that our banks have stood out as the most profitable ones in Asia. She emphasised that this was also so in terms of return on investment by banks.
Foreign banks are picking up Pakistani banks like hot cakes. The high profitability of banks in Pakistan, because the finance ministry and the State Bank are both overseen by bankers, has created conditions for this.
All these conditions are detrimental for the clients of these banks. Would the governor also give data on the levels of bank returns to foreign investors? Are investment inflows with very short payback periods of value to Pakistan?
Would the State Bank governor also provide the percentage of our phenomenal bank results, in a community of astute Asian bankers, which are not attributable to unchecked and stoutly promoted consumer banking in Pakistan?
Would she also provide data on the spread between borrowing and savings rates in Asia (including Pakistan)? Would the governor then comment on where Pakistani banks stand vis-a-vis the markups to savers with the rest of Asia to give a review of what ordinary folk who put their savings in banks get?
Most banks give miniscule markups (say 0.1 per cent) up to Rs 100,000, which is anti-small saver.
When will the government leash the dogs of consumer banking? This is American import, where hire-purchase and extortionate credit card interests have made ulcer drugs big sellers.
Consumer banking is a disease being avidly promoted in Pakistan. It has also resulted in severe traffic congestion and rampant loadshedding via unearned leased cars and airconditioners, etc. (Already 15 to 20 per cent of cars etc are being repossessed by banks and a market for such goods is operational).
The whole matter is a great mess caused by this unimaginative and daft policy to get apparent short-term gains via boosting consumption on burrowed money.
The situation for savers and citizens can improve if the consumer banking mandate is taken away from banks, reasonable mark-ups are given to bank clients via a more reasonable State Bank-supervised spread between lending and savings, and the anti-savings withholding tax on savings is abolished forthwith.
MUZAFFAR A. GHAFFAR
Lahore
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