| November 02, 2007 | Friday | Shawwal 20, 1428 |
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Sharing the fruits fairly and equitably
Caretakers’ set-up
Cricketers’ performance
Revising rules for real estate market
No agencies’ role in polls
Islamophobia
Casting a slur on women
Packaged milk price
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
YOUR lead editorial on the above subject (‘Do or die’, Oct 29) aptly notes that “it is fiscally prudent, not detrimental, to tackle climate change by adopting and adhering to emission caps” (of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases).
The sooner this is recognised at the highest level, we will start seeing good results due to reduced damage to society as a whole in a comparatively short span of time. What will it take for those in authority to realise that environmental pollution creates serious economic, social and health problems?
As discussed many times, our biggest polluters are the industrial sector and large building complexes where there is generally very little awareness of social responsibility to the nation. Most industries are extremely inefficient when it comes to energy and water use and yet there is no effort by those who are definitely responsible for creating the mess we are all in to do something positive.
We have to move the correct environment policy ‘from the periphery to the core of decision-making’ process but how do we put the fear of God in the heart of those who have taken upon themselves to take responsibility for the destiny of 150 million people.
How is it possible that we do nothing to help our majority (90 per cent) of population get their rights of clean water, clean air and clean garbage-free surroundings and still claim that we will not have to account for the lack of action?
You have correctly noted that our ‘footprint is already 1.4 times the earth’s biological capacity’ but it should be noted that in all our large cities we have a far worse situation. Very large parts of most of our cities (up to 40 per cent) are environmental nightmare and completely unhealthy but we see very little action in reducing environmental damage due to total failure of our ‘public service’ system.
The recent ‘sewage flood’ in the heart of Karachi, affecting literally millions of people (including five-strar areas) should open the eyes of the authorities to understand what we need to do at the first opportunity to reduce such an environmental catastrophe.
Full marks to Dawn for continuously highlighting environmental issues which normally is not covered by the media. We only like to cover catastrophic events and do not consider ‘slower poisoning’ due to environmental pollution serious enough issues to be given prominent coverage.
It should not be difficult to focus on big polluters in the industries, as well as in large building complexes (offices, hotels, hospitals, etc.), and highlight the damage they are causing to the country’s economy and the environment, affecting the well-being of the nation’s hapless and helpless populace.
AAZA
Karachi
IN most of the developed democratic countries there are usually two political parties. One comprising their capitalists and aristocrats and the other comprising technocrats, professionals, working class and all others from the masses.
Whatever names given to the two parties in various countries, in Britain, from which we have learnt and inherited our knowledge of democracy, has named these parties in the simplest form to define also their character, ie the Conservative Party, and the Labour Party, also known as rightists and leftists, respectively.
Now labour does not mean only blue collars, there are professionals, technocrats and lawyers in the British Labour Party, such as Tony Blair. Another good thing about both these parties is that they always plan ahead and keep a shadow cabinet ready to replace the other party’s government should it fall and step down for any reason.
In our short history of 60 years the proper organisation of political parties has been neglected and since the educated masses form a small number and are not united as a fortified nation, they have very little say in the affairs of the ruling party.
From the beginning politics in Pakistan has remained under the thumb of the feudal lords in rural areas and industrialists and rich traders in urban areas who have either created their own political parties or clustered to the one which accepted them and gave them their tickets to contest elections against big financial contribution to the party fund.
Thus monopoly-based degeneration introduced money to buy votes. All this extravaganza was not affordable by the common people, however, they deserved to reach the assemblies. And thus the common people to date have never had a say in national politics. In Pakistan names of many political parties are deceptive in the sense that their names suggest a strong participation of the masses but it is only the rich class that controls these parties, and the masses are only their voters without having any other privilege or authority in the party.
Every party claims support of the masses but the past elections show turnout to be hardly ever above 40 per cent, and that too was shared by all parties that contested. It shows the majority did not take interest or was disgusted by the performance of politicians/parties. In a post-election scenario, hardly any party learns from the low turnout, little bothering to approach the public to know the cause of their disenchantment.
This political weakness has created a big vacuum which needs to be filled from among the masses by technocrats, professionals, lawyers, labour force and also non-working class, on the lines of the British Labour Party.
The above segments of society can form a united platform to bring pressure on the other players in the political field to share the fruits of common struggle fairly and equitably .
M. M. Khan
Karachi
THE National Assembly, as well as the provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh and NWFP, is going to be dissolved by mid-November to make room for induction of the caretakers’ set-up at the national and provincial levels.
The NWFP Provincial Assembly already stands dissolved. The caretakers will be responsible for holding the general election early next year in a free, fair and transparent manner.
As very little time is left, efforts for selection of right type of persons for onerous responsibilities at the national and provincial levels have been accelerated.
Reports in the print media say that President Gen Pervez Musharraf has already taken, in principle, some important decisions in this regard.
Gen Musharraf, the reports say, has decided that no serving or retired army general or other senior officials as
such will either be made the caretaker prime minister or inducted as the federal or provincial ministers into the interim set-up at the national and provincial levels which hopefully will be in place by Nov 15.
Furthermore, specialised intelligence agencies and their personnel will also be ensured to stay neutral in the election process and only perform their security-related assigned duties.
This indeed augurs well and nobody would be able to raise any accusing finger vis-a-vis the general election not being held in a free, fair and transparent manner as promised more than once by Gen Musharraf.
While Gen Musharraf reportedly has already taken steps to keep the serving or retired army personnel out of the caretakers’ set-up, it would be quite appropriate to ask that police officers and personnel like the army officers should be directed not to interfere with the holding of the election in any manner apart from performing their law and order maintenance duties.
If this is ensured, in all fairness the election is going to be held in a free, fair, orderly and transparent manner.
SH. ABDUL HAQ
Lahore
YET another victory converted into a shocking defeat by our cricketers. Perhaps they do not want Pakistan to dominate the cricket world, and it was evident while watching the last ODI at Lahore on Oct 29, requiring 16 runs from 26 balls with four wickets in hand and Shahid Afridi on the crease. A deaf and blind could also predict Pakistan’s victory but what to do when our own cricketers sunk the wishes of 160 million people and played with their sentiments as nothing has happened.
It is clear that their minds are engaged in working how to make maximum money to sign which deal go for which advertisement etc, etc. Isn’t it a criminal offence when you time and again shatter the dreams and change the writing on the wall deliberately carelessly and maybe wishfully?
Actually, trouble started from 41st over when you required only 35 runs and had six wickets in hand and leading not by front but upside down: the captain’s careless and casual shot and all six wickets collapsed within 20 runs.
This collapse is unbelievable and could only be programmed purposefully with unknown motives, which need serious inquiry by the board and award of an exemplary punishment to avoid such a shameful defeat and save the nation from unexplainable pain and anguish in future
Subsequent to this defeat, the captain said he had learnt a lot and would regroup to analyse the shortcomings. I think perhaps he will introduce new shortcomings to cover up the upcoming defeats with arch rivals India and will further push Pakistan’s cricket to the wall.
This whole episode needs a serious inquiry, serious interrogation and deserves punishment to all responsible. In the end, I pray that they really learn from this defeat and save Pakistan with such tragic heart-breaking defeats.
MUHAMMAD TAYYAB KHAN
Karachi
ACCORDING to a report (Business pages, Oct 26), the government has decided to revise rules for the real estate market. Planners have proposed to take drastic measures to ensure transparency in the real estate and construction markets to improve a regulatory mechanism.
A number of issues pertaining to this business need to be addressed. The foremost for the local governments should be to issue business licences to estate agency owners and estate brokers in all the four provinces.
By issuing such licences, the government will acknowledge the services of a large number of real estate agencies and estate brokers who are operating in the country with an annual turnover worth billions of rupees. Thousands of people are earning their bread and butter through the real estate brokerage business.
Regulating the business will be of great help not only to the local governments, but also to the real estate agency owners and estate brokers, who are generating enormous amount of revenues for the local governments by conducting real estate deals between property buyers and sellers, tenants and landlords.
Initially, there should be two types of real estate business licences: (1) for estate agencies owners and (2) for estate brokers. The estate agencies’ licence should be issued for owners and operators of estate agencies, whereas an estate broker’s licence should be issued to individual estate broker, who works for an estate agency, or works as a freelance estate agent.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has also stepped in to regulate the real estate business. An SECP advertisement on Oct 28 warned the general public against investing in the fraudulent housing schemes and sale of land, buildings, houses and apartments in the UK, the UAE, Canada, Malaysia and other countries.
The SECP can also play a role in the real estate market by drafting laws to protect the interest of the general public, estate agencies and estate brokers in receiving commissions from buyers and sellers, tenants and landlords, investors and property owners irrespective of their influence in society.
Buying and selling properties is one of the most non-transparent businesses and the actual worth of properties are never declared by builders in the sub-leases issued to individual buyers of apartments or shops, or in the conveyance deeds signed between the purchasers and the sellers of properties.
If the government issues business licences to real estate agency owners and estate brokers, they will help the federal and local governments to draft laws pertaining to buying and selling of properties in the country.
The government should also revise downwards the fee of stamp duty, collectorate rates and registration charges and draft such laws as make buying and selling of properties transparent and nobody should be able hide its actual value.
One important factor is about how to solve the problems of millions of tenants who do not have enough money to buy a property to provide shelter to the family. The exorbitant interest rates discourage the tenants from taking loans for collateral of properties from the banks and pay huge mark-up.
People are also not satisfied with the collateral loans offered by the ‘riba’-free banks, as the Islamic banks do not charge interest to the borrower but charge the borrower under various heads and, as a result, the borrower has to repay much higher amount to a ‘riba’-free bank than what it was originally advanced to the borrower.
The proper functioning of ‘riba’-free or Islamic banks should be that whatever the exact amount of loan is advanced to the borrowers, the borrowers should return the same amount to the bank and not a penny more. If borrowers pay more than what they have taken from the bank, how come then one can say that it is a ‘riba’-free banking?
If the monthly instalments of mortgaged finance are brought down equivalent to the monthly rents of properties paid by the tenants to the landlords, this may solve the problems of millions of poor tenants who become victim of greedy landlords and seek justice from courts. This will also reduce the burden of the courts where uncounted cases are pending due to the dispute between landlords and tenants on the issue of increasing the exorbitant rent every year.
SYED A. MATEEN
Karachi
THE general election is fast approaching. As such, everyone, including political and religious parties, as well as the print and electronic media, is seized of the election talk these days.
Newspapers have quoted President Gen Pervez Musharraf as having directed all specialised security-related agencies’ personnel to perform strictly their professional duties and ensure maintenance of law and order during the election, without favouring or siding with any particular party or candidate in any manner as such.
Reports say Gen Musharraf has issued strict instructions to the quarters concerned in this regard so that whole election process is initiated and progresses completed according to the schedule, which is yet to be announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan, in a maximum possible transparent, free and fair manner.
This goes without saying that if officials, in uniform or civvies, are restrained from interference in the whole election process over and above their normal assigned duties, then there are bright chances of the general election being held in accordance with the wishes of Gen Musharraf in a free, fair and transparent manner.
Interference in the conduct of the polls by officials or other quarters creates doubts about the whole process. And if this is checked appropriately, then one is sure the complaints about any foul play in the election process would be very rare, to say the least. And there is no harm in wishing, like Gen Musharraf, that the forthcoming general election is held in such a manner that everyone appreciates its conduct, describing the same as the most fair, free and transparent polls ever held.
There is every possibility of such a welcome and pleasant happening taking place when the polls time comes.
M. HUMAYUN KHAN
Lahore
I READ with amusement Zulfi Khan’s letter, ‘British Islamophobia’ (Oct 30). Perhaps the writer has conveniently omitted the real events and facts that might have led the police to investigate him.
If the police approached his workplace and tried to defame him without any legal basis or evidence, he should file a complaint with the Independent Police Commission. Likewise, if the bank has asked his mother to wrongly implicate him in a credit card fraud, then the bank is in serious breach of law and he should report this to the Financial Services Authority.
He should rest assured that his complaints will be heard and dealt with according to the law in this ‘Islamophobic’ society.
Or perhaps he has got some skeletons in his closet and he is simply trying to seek public sympathy by declaring the police ‘Islamophobic’? Investigating a Muslim person for a possible crime is not Islamophobia, any half-decently educated person should know that.
USMAN ASLAM
London
ONCE again the Sindh chief minister has used an unbecoming language against women, particularly against the PPP chairperson. The utterances of Arbab Ghulam Rahim are tantamount to insulting the womenfolk of Pakistan, who form the 52 per cent of the population of the country. Does the CM know that his disparaging remarks have also wounded the feelings of the 18 women parliamentarians of the ruling party who voted him for the chief minister’s slot?
History is witness that during the Freedom Movement it was the women like Amma Bi, Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, Begum Liaquat Ali Khan and many others who played a great role. Later on it was Nusrat Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and others who stood their ground against dictatorship.
Looking around the world, we find outstanding women leaders like Indira Ghandi, Margaret Thatcher, Bandaranayke and others who served their countries well.
It’s astonishing that on the one hand President Gen Musharraf professes women’s empowerment and enlighten moderation and on the other hand his Sindh chief minister and provincial chief of the ruling party has been cursing women. I would expect all human rights organisations, NGOs and superior judiciary to take notice of the statement of the chief minister.
HUMERA ALWANI
MPA, Thatta
THE packaged milk in one litre tetra pack was introduced in Pakistan in 1984 and was then priced at Rs7. Today in 2007 the price has gone up to Rs44. This shows an increase of Rs37 per pack, ie an increase of 530 per cent = 23 per cent per year.
Comparing this with the food inflation of 10 per cent per year which comes to 230 per cent, the package milk producers have beaten food inflation by 300 per cent.
The regrettable thing is that the packaged milk producers have made a cartel because all the five producers increase their prices on the same day.
The government has controlled the price of raw milk sold at the milk shop at Rs33 for a litre, so why can’t the recently-apppointed Competition Commission look into the cost and selling price of the packaged milk producers and stop them from making unhealthy profits as they are simply fleecing the poor public.
The difference in price of Rs11 per litre between raw milk (Rs33) and the packaged milk (Rs44) is really too much and demands an explanation from the producers.
RAZA ALI DOSSA
Karachi
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