| November 04, 2007 | Sunday | Shawwal 22, 1428 |
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President and Article 58(2)b
Foreign exchange reserves
Saidpur village
Democratic philosophy?
Thank you, PTCL!
Incidents that belie US claim
Reserved seats’ allocation
Pensioners’ woes
Afghan objection
Wealth and public good
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 refers to PPP senator Dr Javed Leghari’s letter, ‘Way ahead (Oct 26), in which he takes exception to the criticism of NRO by Dr Haider Nizamani in his article, ‘Facilitating return of Bhutto’, and terms it a step forward towards democracy.
I agree with Dr Leghari that the NRO should be seen positively as it would pave the way for some kind of reconciliation amongst all political forces for bringing about a democratic transition. National reconciliation is needed now, and all democratic forces should be allowed to carry out their political activities so that we can have a vibrant competitive political culture after years of political suffocation.
The absence of national consensus has given rise to political instability which, in turn, has produced socio economic problems and religious extremism, which is emerging as a potential threat to national integration.
At one stage, this political instability culminated in the dismemberment of the country in 1971 and now it is fast spreading to the mainland with horrible consequences (read the recent report of Newsweek).
I believe these problems cannot be solved without democracy which gives people a sense of empowerment and ensures an even distribution of resources, thereby they can raise their capabilities.
To raise the people’s capabilities, it is essential to have transition to democracy from authoritarianism. In this regard, the PPP has taken a pragmatic approach by having some kind of negotiated transition, rather than stick to confrontation in which there was every possibility of the extremist forces hijacking the whole democratic movement.
Even in the global context, if we look at the situation in some of the countries where there was confrontation between the democratic forces and dictatorship, the transition to democracy has been achieved through negotiation. For example, in Indonesia when there were suppression, protests and clashes between the masses and the security forces and the economy was about to collapse, where the common people were finding it difficult to have respectable living despite the tall claims of high growth which was profusely appreciated by the IMF and World Bank, Suharto left power, and democracy was restored in the end.
Therefore, once under harsh military rule, Indonesia is a success story in transition to democracy in Asia. Many from inside and outside the country agree it is still a long way to go but the foundation of democracy has been laid down since the downfall of the former leader, Gen. Suharto. And this process is being consolidated slowly and gradually. In the five years since the fall of president Suharto, Indonesia has had three presidents B. J. Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid, and Megawati Sukarnoputri all of whom took power by democratic means.
Another example is of the Chile where Gen Pinochet ruled the country from 1973 to 1990, during which period hundreds of thousands of democratic and civil society forces were subjected to abduction, torture and killing. But, finally, Pinochet agreed to abandon power as a result of the pressure coming from grassroots mobilisation by civil society forces.
But in the case of Pakistan, liberal forces, who support the cause of bottom-up democracy, feel suspicious in case any attempt is made by some political forces to restore democracy as a result of negotiation or deal between the elitist classes. And their scepticism is rooted in the fact that in the past such experiences have failed. And mainly the example of post-Zia democratic model, mainly consisting of troika — president, prime minister and COAS — is cited.
However, whatever the political merits or demerits of the negotiation between Benazir Bhutto and Gen Musharraf, I would still say Ms Bhutto presents the democratic face of Pakistan and it is incumbent on the liberal forces to extend their full support to her in her quest for democracy.
Undoubtedly, the PPP has paid a heavy price for that. ZAB laid down his life, his two sons were assassinated and Ms Bhutto has personally suffered enormous trials and tribulations at the hands of anti-democratic establishment.
Finally, if forces like Dr Haider Nizamani want liberal democracy to flourish, then we need to support Ms Bhutto, or else fascist forces, in league with some elements in the establishment, will grab power and marginalise the millions of Pakistanis who are already living a life of misery and mayhem.
MANZOOR ALI ISRAN
Shah Abdul Latif University
Khairpur
THE call of the lawyers’ fraternity and the politicians for abjuration of Article 58(2)b is ill-timed. I feel that this article should be made mandatory at least for a decade so as to allow our politicians to mature and shoulder the responsibility to answer to the nation for any usurpation of our national wealth.
This article empowers the president to suspend the government and the assemblies for a transient period which will be subject to review by the Supreme Court. In case the apex court concludes that the president’s action is mala fide, it can restore the government and the assemblies, otherwise it can hold the action to be in good intent and order for re -election within 90 days.
This article could only be invoked if the president is satisfied that the government is not functioning in accordance with the Constitution and there is widespread corruption, chaos, loot and plunder of national wealth. Then this step would be hailed by all and sundry. When this option is available to the president, it would close the doors of military intervention which has nailed us from time to time.
The president should not be rendered impotent in his office and should be vigilant to step in to salvage the country from a precarious condition when the government fails to respond to his warning.
One cannot deny that this article is not in consonance with parliamentary democracy, yet it has become imperative to retain it in view of our government’s past variegated performance.
A brute majority in the parliament cannot be permitted to fortify the hands of a despotic ruler. We need to fumigate our system of governance and wake up from languor.
Lastly, I feel that the president should be a non-partisan figure with impeccable integrity, such as a retired judge of the superior judiciary, with the consensus of almost all political parties.
SAIFUDDIN
E. CONTRACTOR
Karachi
THIS refers to the letter on the above subject (April 19, 2004) recommending to the State Bank of Pakistan to consider diversifying its holdings of foreign exchange reserves instead of keeping it predominantly in US dollars. I received acknowledgement from the State Bank vide their letter dated April 27, 2004 and I quote the relevant extract:
“However, I would like to point out that as the country did not have sufficient reserves in the past, the central bank had not been able to develop any in-house expertise with regard to the management of foreign exchange reserves. Now, as the country’s reserves are continuously rising, the State Bank has embarked upon training its employees in the area of Reserve Management and it will take some time before they are ready to manage the reserves and currency exposures.”
It has been well over three years since this publication. I wish to know from our central bank whether the training of their staff in this area has been completed to ensure diversification of its foreign exchange reserves. Since the time of this letter and to date the exchange value of US dollar against all major currencies has fallen dramatically. Based on our FE reserves position of $16 billion and appreciation of other currencies against USD in the region of 25 to 30 per cent since my letter of April 2004, the loss to our exchange reserves holdings in terms of its exchange value would indeed be very significant.
Dr lshrat Husain (then SBP governor) may have been a good central banker generally but I regret to point out that he was not farsighted in this vital aspect of reserve management.
I do hope his successor, Dr Shamshad, takes note of this and manage our reserves prudently.
SHIRAZ SACHEDINA
Karachi
THE Capital Development Authority is restoring and developing the historic Saidpur village into a model village, modelled after the French and other model villages elsewhere. Once completed, the model Saidpur village is supposed to be a tourist attraction where people can stroll along the streets, recollect past memories, be reminded of folk tales, and sit under ficus trees sipping a cup of tea.
However, in this process of development, many structures, which are treasures of archaeological significance in the village, are being destroyed. Bulldozers have already removed walls, houses and other structures dating from the Gakhar period. Most of the unique marble tiles of the historic Hindu temple have also been removed.
These tiles had donations written in Urdu, e.g., “Ram Lal, Rs5”, making this a unique Hindu temple with Urdu writings and inscriptions. All these remains of human occupation in the village during the Gakhar, Mughal and Stone Age periods, as well as the mediaeval fort up on the hill which is still known as Qila, should be investigated, studied and preserved in the appropriate manner.
DR M. SALIM,
Taxila Institute of Asian Civilisations,
Islamabad
“I WILL drown and no one shall save me,” cried the desperate man. This man who knew English as a second language (ESL) managed to drown successfully.
The most frustrating experience in the practice of a psychiatrist is the person determined to commit suicide. With the best of care and despite the best available treatment, some manage to do it.
You cannot generalise this experience and apply it to society at large. But I am tempted. The democratic philosophy being dispensed by our news channels will have us believe that the people abducting our soldiers in their hundreds and slaughtering them are ‘our own’, ‘our brothers’ (Qazi’s and Imran’s), therefore no action should be taken against them. The unfortunate soldiers belong to India, I presume!
Will our nation commit suicide? Or shall it!
DR MAQBOOL AKHTAR
Faisalabad
THANKS to the PTCL that after my letter appeared in these columns a very quick action was taken and my telephone was restored on the same day. However, I was surprised to see the bill for September containing 318 calls and the total amount being Rs700. Consider that the phone was out of order for the last six weeks, as can be confirmed from 18, 4610000, 134 and complaint centres of the Governor’s House and the Chief Minister’s House, why has such a bill been sent to me?
The authorities concerned are requested to issue a new corrected bill for phone # 021-4613700.
Dr ZIA-UL-HASAN
Karachi
AMERICAN politicians and officials never tire of portraying their country as the greatest upholder of truth, freedom, democracy, humanism, etc. However, there have been many incidents, which belie their tall claims.
A most recent one involved their main disaster response organisation, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which had been severely lambasted in 2005 for its bungled handling of the Hurricane Katrina. This time, its employees posed as reporters at a hastily-called news conference on California’s wildfires that no news organisations attended (Oct 27).
As one example, an employee asked FEMA’s deputy administrator if he was happy with FEMA’s response to the crisis so far. To that the gentleman replied that he was very happy with it and also that the agency had the benefit of good leadership and other factors. A spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Secretary, Michael Chertoff, who has authority over FEMA, called the episode ‘inexcusable and offensive to the secretary’.
Everyone knows how people from President Bush down had lied about Iraq’s WMDs and Al Qaeda connection. More falsehood was dished out regarding the abuses at Al Ghraib prison in Iraq and Bagram in Afghanistan, apart from the horrors at Guantanamo Bay.
Attacks by American forces inside Pakistan have similarly been denied, which our rulers happily ascribed to themselves and, more recently, an intelligence report about Al Qaeda and the Taliban’s so-called safe havens in Pakistan had also been doctored. Then, just a few days back came the news that a Malaysian-born American soldier has filed a lawsuit against being deployed to Iraq (Oct 21). He revealed that he was duped into joining the military by recruiters in 2004. The man claimed that he, a Buddhist, was told he would never have to leave the US during his three years’ military service or go to war but now his service was being extended and his unit was being sent to Iraq.
Someone had said: “He that loses his honesty has nothing else to lose.” Another one had said: “Show me a liar and I will show you a thief.” These probably show that, having parted with honesty, the US has nothing else to lose; furthermore, that it is going into oil-rich Muslim countries to steal their energy resources. Former US official Alan Greenspan hinted in his recent book that the Iraq war is about oil.
S. KARIM
Karachi
I WOULD like to draw the attention of the authorities concerned to the admission policy of the University of Peshawar. The other day while surfing the Internet, I had been through the official website of the University of Peshawar and was surprised to notice that there is only one reserved seat for Chitrali students, for which Chitraliites have to vie with candidates of Northern Areas, where the number of reserved seats is very few compared to the number of students wanting to getting higher education.
On the other hand, the number of reserved seats for tribal areas and other districts has gone up.
As Chitral is a remote district of the NWFP stretched over an area of 14,850 sqkm — which covers one-fifth of the total area of the province — having a population of 390,000, with 50.5 per cent literacy rate (male 59 per cent, female 42 per cent) according to EU reports, my question to the authorities concerned is, why this discrimination? Why do our policymakers give a cold shoulder to Chitrali students? Why the reserved seats in every department for the kith and kin of the University employees?
The need is to allocate seats to Chitrali students exclusively or all seats should be based on open merits to ensure fair selection.
RASHID KURESHI
Chitral
AN additional ad hoc relief of Rs300 per month was granted by the Sindh finance ministry, effective July 1, 1997, to all the civilian employees of the Sindh government in BPS 1 to 16, but this relief was not given to the pensioners.
Against such unjustified action, a civil petition (No. 3403/2001, dated 21. 3. 2003) was filed in the Supreme Court which after due consideration gave a decision that the said ad hoc relief of Rs300 a month should also be treated reckonable towards pension to all the retired employees of BPS 1 to 16.
In compliance with the decision of the Supreme Court the Sindh finance department allowed the said ad hoc relief reckonable towards pensions to the retired employees of BPS 1 to 16. But the district accounts officers/treasury officers of Sindh allowed the said relief only to those employees who had retired after 1.6.1997. Thus the employees who had retired before 1.6.1997 did not get the benefit. This is unjustified and against the decision of the apex court.
The government should arrange to pay the relief amount, with its arrears, even to the pensioners who retired before 1.6.1997.
MOHAMMAD YOUSUF
Hyderabad
AT a meeting of Pakistani and Afghan officials held in Quetta on Oct 29 the Afghan delegation objected to biometric system that the government of Pakistan intends to introduce at the border effective Nov 1.
The bottom line of their reservation is that this system would obstruct the free movement of Afghans living on both sides of the border.
According to the international law, any person living inside the territory of Afghanistan would be an Afghan – like the people living inside the territory of Pakistan are Pakistanis. Where does this ‘Afghans living on both sides of the border’ come from?
Afghans cannot live in Pakistan just as Pakistanis cannot live in Afghanistan. If some Pakistanis go there, they are either killed or kidnapped for ransom. But as a result of the Soviet invasion of 1979-87 and the US attack in 2001, some Afghans have taken refuge in Pakistan; they must go back now since the fighting has slowed down there. As for the free movement ‘of Afghans’, I would like to know where in the world the free movement of a nation is allowed by the host neighbour and the people of host country are not allowed by that nation?
The study of Afghan mind, their behaviour, social system and history would give you the notion that a younger brother, weak and estranged, was extended a helping hand by his big brother, strong but gentleman; the younger one mistook it and began to arm-twist into accepting his childish demands.
M.K. NAQVI
Karachi
IT is wonderful to read that Mukesh Ambani, an Indian industrialist, has become the richest man in the world, surpassing Bill Gates and Mexican Carlos Helu. Mr Ambani’s net worth has risen to $63.2 billion, after the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex closed at around 20,000, i.e. 19,977.67 points.
It is fantastic that a country which was always perceived as being poor and which lived on grants of wheat under PL-480 from the US just four decades ago has today enabled the man in the world.
Let us hope that Mr Ambani will also use his wealth for the public good.
In Kenya some years ago, I had seen the father of Bill Gates and former president Carter tour all the slums and poverty-stricken areas to evolve ideas to fight AIDS. Mr Gates was funding the entire project.
RAJU ANEJA
Dubai, UAE
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