| November 15, 2007 | Thursday | Ziqa’ad 04, 1428 |
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Children’s security in schools
Stay in jail
Curbing the media
Pick up your garbage
Declining Pakistan Railways
Right to vote
Achievement
Head start
Digital drop box
Banned TV channels
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 article (Nov 13) Haris Gazdar makes the compelling argument that negotiation and confrontation are not contradictory processes, rather the two sides of the same coin that are simultaneously practised by political actors.
However, he uses his argument to conclude that Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and Benazir Bhutto “are on the same page of the political science textbook” because they both challenged the establishment while simultaneously negotiating with it. This is a flawed and dangerous comparison.
Along with some other Supreme Court judges, several lawyers and civil society organisations, Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry tried his best to defend the fundamental rights of citizens and uphold the ideals of social justice. He has given hope to the tormented families of missing people, confronted the building mafia, and questioned shady privatisations — issues that our shallow political representatives have never had the courage to address.
This is in stark contrast to Benazir Bhutto, who thrashed democratic principles in her two stints as prime minister, and negotiated an NRO ‘deal’ that set an awful precedent for justice and gave the much-needed legitimacy to a dying military establishment.
Her present confrontational stance is necessary and welcome, but it is too late and smacks of political expediency. My point is: it is not the method of politics that matters, but the ends to which it is directed. Moreover, not all cases of negotiation are even comparable, let alone equivalent and legitimate.
I am even more surprised by the conclusion of Haris Gazdar’s article: Benazir’s negotiation with the US establishment resulted in a ‘major shift in US and world attitudes towards Pakistani politics’ and makes ‘prospects a little brighter for those who believe democracy is necessary and attainable in our country.’
Is there really a shift, and is it for democracy? As many analysts have argued, this is yet another way of legitimising US support for military dictatorships in Pakistan.
In the guise of supporting democracy, the US has consistently sustained its own hegemony by ensuring that elite-based, undemocratic and pro-US regimes are installed in the Third World instead of those that actually believe in democratisation. This has been done in Haiti, Venezuela, the Philippines, and too many other countries through ‘negotiation’ and ‘confrontation.’
Democracy is not about procedural elections only; it is about the substantive principles of liberation, egalitarianism, and justice. Let’s not simplistically equate Ms Bhutto’s reinstatement with a ‘transition to democracy’. The transition was already happening, thanks to the renewed strength of our Supreme Court. Ultimately, it is the continuing struggle to resist the emergency and restore the Constitution that is the actual stuff of democracy, and we need to support it in every way that we can.
N. ALI
Karachi
THIS refers to a report, “Six children rescued from ‘deranged’ van driver” (Nov 9). Children belonging to a school in Karachi were taken hostage by the van driver on their way back home from the school. However, the police rescued them and the driver was arrested.
According to the police, the van driver is suspected to be mentally ill. The incident should be an eye-opener for the parents as well as for the management of all schools.
Schools are considered safe places for children to learn, make friends and gently assimilate themselves into society. But this peaceful environment is disappearing day by day due to increasing violence and criminal activities all over the world.
Schools have been targeted around the globe in the past by robbers, rapists, terrorists and deranged persons for personal and material gain. In 1993, in Neuilly-Sur-Sein (France), a bankrupt businessman took a class of 21 pre-schoolers hostage and demanded a heavy ransom and threatened to blow everyone in case his demand is not fulfilled.
In March 1996, in Karachi, two bandits barged into a private school, snatched the rifle from the guard, collected Rs30,000 from the cashier, snatched wrist-watches, purse, etc, from the teachers at gun-point and fled. Recently, in Helsinky (Finland) an 18-year-old student at a school went on rampage shooting seven classmates and the headmistress dead and wounding a dozen others (Nov 8).
Children when witness such violence in their school not only fear going to school but also experience trauma. At this tender age, they are likely to go into a condition called post-traumatic stress disorder, in which they keep revealing the nightmare.
There are also other security problems almost in every school such as sexual harassment and drug abuse. According to a report published in a section of the press on Oct 4, a considerable number of students from prestigious schools in Karachi use ecstasy and other drugs. In another report in a section of press on Oct 5, two women teachers of a well-reputed private school in Karachi reported incidents of frequent sexual harassment of girl students by two of their male teachers.
I would suggest that a school vigilance committee should be formed in every school to monitor any undesirable activity and to formulate security policies for a crime-free environment in the school.
SQN LDR (r) S. AUSAF HUSAIN
Karachi
ON Nov 5 when I went to the district courts, I saw the police baton-charging lawyers near the bar room at the court premises. Then there was bursting of tear-gas bombs. About 200 policemen were cordoning the courts.
Due to frequent explosions of tear-gas bombs, lawyers withdrew into the bar room and closed it from inside to escape humiliation and arrest. The remaining lawyers ran towards their chambers. Police personnel chased them and after breaking the doors of the chambers got hold of about 20 advocates. They also arrested clients and lawyers’ clerks after belabouring them.
We were conveyed on a police van to the police station, Saddar Mandi Bahauddin, where we were put in the lock-up. The lock-up was a small room that was dirty and poorly maintained. It could hardly accommodate four to five detainees. At one corner, there was a latrine facility having about one-and-a-half-foot-high wall around.
The latrine was stinking and the lock-up was full of stench. We were up all night. Next morning the police produced us in the court of the judicial magistrate and obtained a physical remand for a day.
We were told that a criminal case had been registered against us under sections 324, 188, 147, 148 of the PPC and MPO.
The police then took us to the police station, Kuthala Sheikhan, for investigation where we spent the second night. The condition of the lock-up room of this PS was almost the same as that of the PS, Sadar Mandi Bahauddin. Next day the police produced us again in the court that sent us to the District Jail, Mandi Bahauddin, on judicial remand where we stayed for five days as under-trial prisoners.
Despite all types of humiliation and torture, lawyers’ morale remained high. There was no sign of sadness or repentance on their faces. When they came out of the jail on bail, I found them more determined than before. Their brave conduct showed that the lawyers’ movement for the restoration of independence of the judiciary would continue undeterred with more vigour and valour till Gen Musharraf’s rule was over.
GANGLY KHAN
Mandi Bahauddin
PUTTING curbs on the media is one of the tools available for the dictators to silence the dissenting voices. The current regime has no precedent in this regard. Blackening off the TV screens, causing billions of rupees’ loss to the industry, threatening jobs of the people working with the TV channels and what more, denying people of their right to access information, are no doubt a worst form of dictatorship and suppression of dissenting voices.
The media, especially electronic, was working as a mirror. If you were making bad faces in front of the mirror, it was not the fault of the mirror. The media was doing a great job of educating the people.
Ordinary souls were not as much informative as they are today, thanks to the independent electronic media.
Gen Musharraf claims he has given freedom to the press, but I feel that the press has snatched their freedom and, of course, there is a long list of journalists who have paid a heavy price for this.
Today again the media is at war and those who are at the helm of the affairs have put freedom of the press at jeopardy, which is indeed bad news for the nation.
If Gen Musharraf and his aides think that they have served their purpose by silencing the electronic media, they are badly mistaken. In fact, they have created much more hurdles in their way by locking horns with the media. It is a war between a pen and a long stick of the military. Rulers of this country have taken the extreme step by closing down the transmission of entertainment and sports channels.
Advertisers have also suffered a big blow because their commercials cannot be aired. This also has deprived the government of GST on the TV commercials, which may also be estimated in billions. Better clear the message instead of killing the messenger.
KAMRAN KIANI
Rawalpindi
IT is appalling that we have nuclear weapons but don’t have the will to pick up our own trash. According to a report in your newspaper the other day, the city government annually spends Rs3.5 billion on picking up solid waste. Now a contract is being awarded to a Chinese firm which will supposedly do this for Rs3 billion a year. Shame on us that a Chinese firm will come here and do the same job for less. Further, where is the current Rs3 billion being spent when there is virtually no result on the ground in sight?
Apparently the Chinese firm is bringing in $250 million of investment, and technology as well. What is so high tech about it if they are only going to pick up solid waste and transport it to a landfill site?
Furthermore, this contract will be worth over $1bn over its 20-year life, why is the CDGK so excited if part of that comes back as a $250mn ‘investment’?
There seems to be no lack of funds, only ways to award contracts to foreign firms. In India, similar contracts have been awarded to foreign firms at zero cost, and they make money on recycling the waste, and producing energy. It’s obvious that the CDGK has sufficient funds but prefers to outsource public works to offshore companies.
QAMAR RASHEED
Karachi
I HAD the unpleasant experience of travelling by 123-Up Sargodha Express on Nov 8. I found the Lahore railway station exterior still under perpetual repairs. The main notice board of trains’ arrivals and departure had been taken off, so I had difficulty in confirming the departure schedule.
I looked for the information office and found it, but nowhere outside this office was written that this is the office for information or inquiries.
I was told by the clerk that the train would ‘perhaps’ leave from platform No. 8 at 4.15pm.
As I had 45 minutes before departure, I went to the upper class waiting-room. The attendant’s coat was there on his chair, but not he himself. I found the facility well-furnished, but unfortunately the traditional long sofa on which a traveller could stretch his legs and relax was no longer there.
The wisdom of the 19th century Englishmen had been replaced with the mediocrity of the 21st. Also, missing was the trains’ schedule board from the room.
When I went to platform No. 8, the Sargodha Express was not in sight. The train did not show up till more than one hour. No railway official came to inform the passengers of the expected delay or its cause. Most passengers had nowhere to sit during the wait. They were asking coolies and vendors about what was happening; they received no answer. I saw one coolie lose his temper over the repeated questions; he told the poor family squatting on the platform to ‘get lost’.
The station’s loudspeaker at this platform was not functioning, so even if the delay was announced or explained, nobody heard it. The passengers would line up every time they saw the light of an approaching engine, only to be disappointed when it would go past rumbling and shunting. Many lost patience, temper and some even hope. Eventually the train did arrive from the yard, already half full. Whether they were railway employees, I do not know. However, they had ‘reserved’ the nearby seats by putting their scarves and handkerchiefs.
The waiting public had to simply stand in the compartment. The train departed eventually one-and-a-half hours after the schedule. Imagine the plight of an old man who after getting off at Lalian at 9.30pm would still have to walk three miles to his town.
The Lahore railway station is the home port of the railway headquarters. If the management here is poor, it reflects poorly on the entire department. One presumes that the situation elsewhere would be worse. If the station superintendent is unable, for some reason, to improve the working here, he should be replaced, and if frequent delays are due to non-availability of reliable locomotives, the railway minister should consider replacing the chief engineer (loco) or the manager of the loco shop.
SHAMEEM A. KHALID
Kalas, Gujrat
THE opinions expressed by Tasneem Noorani on Pakistan’s martial law periods (Nov 13) are very relevant, except for one that I believe is inconsistent with reality.
He states that all someone has to manage the country, and especially a country where the majority of the voters is illiterate and does not know what is good for them when they vote
I am of the opinion that illiteracy does not by itself disqualify a person from making an informed judgment. There is enough common sense in individuals to distinguish between the rights and wrongs and vote for what they believe is best for them. I recall the late 70s when the unshakable Indira Gandhi was ousted from power by the Indian electorate in a humiliating fashion. There was no design to her ouster but simply the power of the ballot where illiterate voters exercised their right to change a leadership they believed was harming their interests. After a few years, the same illiterate electorate brought her back to power with a resounding victory, a much chastised leader.
The Pakistani electorate may be just as illiterate as India’s is but give them the right to choose fairly and you will see the beginnings of change in a country that deserves better.
BABA HANDA
UK
THIS is apropos of Khushbakht Vaka’s letter (Nov 13) in reference to Ijtaba Zaidi’s (Nov 12). I think Ms Vaka misinterpreted the letter as Mr Zaidi did not downplay what America has achieved and there was no need for Ms Vaka to write a long list of America’s achievements.
What Mr Zaidi wrote was based on what the history tells us, perhaps Ms Vaka needs to take a look at the US history and the way they have waged wars against smaller nations and the way the Israel lobby has influenced US foreign policy for no good and destabilised the world.
As far as scientific achievements are concerned, no one denies it and the world is indeed thankful to Bill Gates for giving us Windows as Ms Vaka mentioned.
MUJTABA SIMAER
Sukkur
THE Oct 18 carnage is being blamed on suicide bombers whose heads have been recovered from the site. It is intriguing that the police are so sure that the heads belong to the suspects in spite of about 16 bags of body parts gathered from the same place.
This ‘suicide bombing’ theory has been rampant in Iraq where almost all the cases are closed in a similar fashion.
Many more bombings in Pakistan which have the fingerprints on planted bombs, including the Nishtar Park incident, have been set aside when a head of the suicide bomber is produced which remains unidentified. This procedure bails out the agencies for their security lapses and intelligence failures.
RAFI ADAMJEE
Karachi
I HAVE been associated with consumer banking for the last five years and have observed that no doubt it has helped the people a lot and raised their living standards. Banks are improving their services day by day, but at the same time we can’t deny the complaints and difficulties faced by the customers. Customers and banks are more concerned and facing problems regarding the repayments of loans. Sometimes issues occur due to the customer’s negligence and some times due to the bank’s.
Usually banks encourage receiving the repayments through cheque via drop boxes. But while dropping the cheque in a drop box, customers as well as banks don’t have any proof of deposit of cheque.
After that if someone receives late payment charges due to any reason, customers argue that they have deposited the cheque before the due date and the bank has delayed while presenting the cheque in clearing.
At the same time, banks claim that they check the drop boxes on a daily basis and there could be no delay at the bank end but it is the customer who dropped the cheque after the due date and is now trying to shun the late payment charges. So I think there should be some proof of receiving from the bank side. I want to suggest here that banks should install digital drop boxes at designated branches.
These machines can be easily invented by making minor changes to photocopy machines. Customers can deposit their cheque through that machine and will get a photo copy of both sides of the cheque with time and date of deposit. In this way nobody would be able to avoid his/her responsibility. It will improve the efficiency of the bank staff because customers will prefer the digital drop boxes and it will decrease the rush at counters and also it would be beneficial for customers because they would have electronic receipt of deposit of cheque with date and time.
MUHAMMAD RASHID ABBAS
Islamabad
THE government has banned all private TV news channels, including the BBC and CNN. It wants us to see only the official version of the news, commonly known as ‘spin’, on the PTV. The citizens began circumventing the ban by installing satellite dishes but the government did not like that and ordered the police to forcibly close the shops selling the dishes.
Now a ban has been imposed on import of decoders and recording and reception equipment. On the other hand, according press reports, not only judges of the Supreme Court but also the chief law officer of the government and the attorney general have installed satellite dishes on their residences. If such high functionaries of the state are allowed to circumvent the ban, why deny this facility to us common citizens?
M. NAWAZ KHAN
Lahore Cantt.
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