| November 16, 2007 | Friday | Ziqa’ad 05, 1428 |
To send a letter to the Editor
Click here
Muslim-Christian dialogue
A proposal to PIA
Marching to a different tune
Wedding halls
Conserving electricity
Terror tourism
Disgusting methods
Hapless farmers’ plea
Children at risk
Oil policy
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
PLEASE refer to Dawn’s lead story (Nov 13) about the Commonwealth’s threat to Pakistan. Once again, the Commonwealth is making the same threat which they made in 1999. Then after five years, they restored Pakistan’s membership.
President Musharraf is still on the same seat, with the same threat by the Commonwealth to oust Pakistan from membership. Who will face the brunt of this threat? The civil society organisations that are only hope of poor Pakistanis.
Last year Lord McKinnon, secretary-general, Commonwealth Association, visited Pakistan and delivered a lecture at the Aga Khan University, Karachi. There, I raised the issue of Commonwealth grants under the commonwealth charter. I pointed out to the secretary-general that countries like Pakistan will never achieve sustainable democracy. Martial laws will come and go.
Unfortunately our country, since its establishment, has been ruled by dictators and non-serious politicians. Since almost 56 years, not a single institution has been properly developed. The Commonwealth’s decision about membership of Pakistan will hurt only the cause of social development.
Our kind of countries (Pakistan is not alone) need a separate charter for civil society organisations. Why should the various projects on social issues, governance and development in Pakistan that are supported by donors face closure of funding? When Pakistan will be ousted from membership of the Commonwealth, donors of the member countries will close funding to all ongoing projects. The governance-related projects will suffer mostly because, in recent times, due to the local government system, many new projects have been initiated through funding by the donors.
When Lord McKinnon had visited Karachi, he praised President Musharraf for his work and specially mentioned the local government system and LGO-2001. I would like to request the Commonwealth nations secretary-general, to please consider developing a ‘separate charter for civil society organisations’. There is a lot of differences between a western and our type of democracy. We Pakistanis do not feel safe in either of the two forms of governance — dictatorship or democracy. We are nor here and nor there.
Our nation is very poor as 75 per cent Pakistanis live without basic facilities of life. So our struggle for genuine democracy (which McKinnon will like it to be) will take years. Strengthening of civil society organisations is the only hope for this nation.
Through a separate charter, at least civil society will continue its work in social development and the poor will get some relief.
In 1999, when the Commonwealth ousted Pakistan from membership, hundreds of civil society projects had been closed and thousands of people unemployed. I hope Lord McKinnon and Commonwealth members will consider my request in the larger interest of poor Pakistanis and civil society organisations.
AIJAZ ALI KHUWAJA
Karachi
THIS is with reference to your editorial, ‘Muslim-Christian dialogue’ (Oct 18), its subsequent rejoinder by Sam Baidya (Oct 26), followed by Prof Eice Muhammad’s letter (Nov 5).
At the outset your instantaneous response to the communication of 138 leading Muslim scholars, representing the various sects of the Muslim world, addressed to Pope Benedict and the leaders of various Protestant and Orthodox churches to come to common cause of establishing global peace is well-timed and worth appreciating.
I also agree with the suggestion that the Muslim world needs democracy, education, science and technology, higher living standards and egalitarianism as without these qualities no society can overcome militancy or extremism, be that of religion or otherwise.
Sam Baidy’s objection, i.e. the “Muslim world is secluded, does not allow free population movement of various religious groups from every corner of the earth and thus they do not learn integration and assimilation by living side by side with all religious groups as people do in western secular and democratic societies”, is unfounded and unsubstantiated as the editorial reiterated that democracy, spread of education, science and technology, higher living standard and egalitarianism in the Muslim world are a solution to deal with the predicament of extreme mistrust.
Prof Eice’s response to Sam Baidya, on the other hand, is a seven-point rejoinder based on the days bygone when Muslims faced severe persecution at the hands of conquering Christian communities but when the situation reversed in their favour, the latter were not only given protection but were allowed to coexist peacefully.
He has rightly quoted examples of the rise and fall of Muslims in Spain and the Crusades. He has, however, failed to appreciate that in the rise and in the fall there were qualitative distinctions in Muslim societies. In the earlier state, the Muslims were in leading positions in every walk of life as they excelled in learning and discoveries, whereas at later times they retreated from their inheritance of ‘acquisition of knowledge’ and indulged in intellectual stupor and opulence, which cannot be discussed here for want of space.
The dialogue between Muslims and Christians is indispensable for not only defusing tensions and reducing the divide but also for establishing an environment in the world where followers of every religion can coexist peacefully irrespective of cast, colour and creed.
Saudi monarch King Abdullah’s historic meeting with Pope Benedict at the Vatican City (photo showing the king shaking hands with the chief priest was splashed on the front page), reported in Dawn (Nov 6), to discuss the need for greater collaboration between Christians, Muslims and Jews for Middle East peace is a giant step in the right direction.
Prof Eice’s claim that the famous Abu Imran Musa b. Ubayedulllah Al Kurtubi (1149-1209), known as Al Maimun, was physician of Sultan Saladin Ayubi (1137-1193), could not be confirmed from any authentic historical literature. However, what I found was that this famous Jew scholar after migrating to Egypt, first earned livelihood by trading in precious stones and working as a physician. Afterward he become a protégé of Kazi al Fazal and later worked as court physician to al Malik al Afzal, son of Saladin Ayub.
MANZOOR H. KURESHI
Karachi
MALAYSIA has recently celebrated its golden jubilee of independence, and its flag carrier ‘MAS’ at this important juncture has decided to offer unique in-flight gastronomic delight to its customers, ‘Tunku’s (Tunku Abdul Rehman) favourites’ .
According to the Malaysian daily, six dishes have been carefully selected from Tunku’s kitchen. A person who used to cook for the great leader on several occasions was approached by the airline to guide the selected team of chefs for preparing and tasting the dishes.
Should one happen to visit Malaysia and ask people how they estimate Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra (1903-1990), people belonging to all religions and ethnic groups would admire him for his statesmanship. He was first prime minister of the federation of Malaya from 1957 to 1963 and of Malaysia from 1963 to 1970.
His efforts in overcoming the country’s political problems by way of securing cooperation and reconciliatory approach among the various ethnic groups saw the birth of the Alliance Party in 1955.
Under his leadership, the Alliance won the country’s first general election in July 1955. Tunku was then appointed the country’s chief minister and minister of home affairs.
In 1956, he led a mission to London for a discussion with the British government which led to the signing of the Independent Treaty at the Lancaster House in London on Feb 8, 1956 and, consequently, the independence of Malaya on Aug 31, 1957.
Tunku was then elected as the first prime minister of Malaya, and led the Alliance to victory in the 1959, 1964 and 1969 general elections. Malaysia and Pakistan had been ruled by the same imperial power and we are senior to Malaysia by 10 years with regard to independence of the two countries.
Our leadership always tries to simulate the Malaysian model of progress, but when we compare our civil liberties, law and order, public services, i.e. health care, transport, education, civic and recreation facilities, behaviour of social elites, quality of life and performance of police, we cut a sorry figure before the comity of nations.
We may not be able to compete in other areas, but at least our national carrier PIA can take the lead and take to air gastronomic favourites of our Father of the Nation, corresponding to his Indian and European preferences.
Should the proposition be deemed viable, the scheme may be launched after proper research and not in haste, keeping in view the stature of the leader.
SIKANDAR ALI SHAH
Karachi
FLIPPING through the channels on Nov 12, I came across one that was blocked on Nov 3 but subsequently unblocked after an agreement to abide by Pemra’s code of conduct.
Clearly, the anchor was marching to a different tune (pun intended). During the interview of a senior member of an opposition party, the anchor’s usual bellicose persona was more pronounced and his arguments more shallow and rhetorical than ever.
He crossed all lines of professional conduct and fair interviewing and appeared convinced that he needed to insult his guest to convince the powers-that-be that he is being a good little boy and playing by the rules.
Clearly the real professionals and the real leaders of the press are on channels still blocked by the government and still fighting for the rights of the press.
All channels need to keep in mind that their primary audience is educated and informed and will simply tune out if they spew what appears to be government-prescribed propaganda under the guise of independent journalism.
Anchors and channels with a short-term vision will win the ratings war and the advertising proceeds over the next few weeks. After that, they will be reduced to their rightful place in the second and third tier categories.
A VIEWER
Lahore
THE city of Karachi has an uprising of a lot of elements which have a negative impact on the lives of the people.
I would like to draw the attention to the increasing number of wedding halls, such as in Gulshan-i-Iqbal.
I have nothing against their existence but I strongly resent their presence amidst residential areas.
These open wedding halls are used for weddings, religious gatherings, milad or concerts, which are extremely loud and disrupts the night’s calm.
Residents are deprived of sleep as a lot of stress and anxiety is caused, especially affecting cardiac patients and senior citizens. If there is any firework, it adds further to noise pollution.
Despite repeated calls, requests fall on deaf ears of the owners of the wedding halls. I request the city nazim to look into the matter and find an amicable solution to this problem.
I would suggest a ban on wedding halls in residential areas and closed wedding halls with sound-proof doors and windows, thus keeping the music within the hall.
DR M. VAIZ ASAD
Karachi
IT was 29 years ago when President Jimmy Carter declared energy conservation “the moral equivalent of war”. It had been heartening to see the government of Pakistan taking steps 29 years later in order to save electricity consumption by planning to close down all businesses and shops after 8pm, including the neon signs and display lights, which may not be the best possible way to conserve electricity.
Conserving energy is something the government should have thought over a long time ago. There are a myriad ways energy can be saved while still allowing the businesses to run after 8pm. All it requires is a bit of education and motivation. Here I’d like to share 10 simple ways through which electricity can be conserved in an effective way:
1) Immediate replacement of conventional incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL’s), commonly called energy savers. An incandescent light bulb costs about Rs14 and burns 100 watts every hour while emitting only 10 per cent light and 90 per cent heat, and has a life span of hardly 70 to100 hours. Whereas, an energy saver costs eight times more initially but runs effectively for over 18,000 hours and burns only 18 watts/hour producing 92 per cent light and only eight per cent heat.
2) Replacement of halogen streetlights/highway lights with LED lights. With LED lights, 63 per cent of electricity can be saved every night. Same way, all traffic signals should be replaced with LED lamps. LED’s are good for accent lighting, night lights, and decorative lighting, just not primary lighting.
3) All companies, big or small, can save 20 per cent more energy by completely turning off their computers and their monitors instead of putting them on stand by.
4) CRT monitors should be replaced with LCD ones.
5) All refrigerators made before 2001 should be replaced with the ones made after 2001.
6) Electric dryer should not be used at home or at laundries, we have ample sunlight in Pakistan to do the job.
7) Skylights should be installed and windows be placed in such a discreet way in the newly made buildings that direct sunlight should not stream in, and they should not be covered with blinds/curtains.
8) Turn off lights/fans when you’re not using them, even for just a few minutes
9) For any light that you want to be on all night (e.g. stairways, door light, lamp post), replace the bulbs with the lowest wattage bulbs you’re comfortable with.
10) Try cutting airconditioning for one hour straight for each day. It will significantly lower the bill.
The CDA has been doing a lot to beautify Islamabad by illuminating it at night. But instead of installing the incandescent bulbs, they should be installing energy savers. Also, it has been observed by many that along the highways and in the streets, the lights are switched on all day long, can we really afford that?
ZILL-E-REHMAN KHAN NIAZI
Islamabad
THE US government signed an agreement with Pakistan for extending financial support amounting to $750 million for the development of the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
The programme is titled Five-Year Fata Sustainable Development Plan, according to official documents, and will focus on sectors like agriculture, health, education and infrastructure development.
Coincidentally, this was followed by an advertisement in a section of the press by a development authority concerned with the area.
The advertisement called for expressions of interest (EoIs) about a study looking at tourism potential of Fata.
These advertisers were perhaps getting ahead of themselves. A lot of work needs to be done in the area before we can even think of tourists visiting the area.
For the foreseeable future, the only thing of interest to the rest of the world in the tribal areas are the Taliban and their pseudo-state.
HUSSAIN SIDDIQUI
Islamabad
IF you don’t move, we will strip you naked and throw you in jail. Do you know what happens to pretty boys in jail?”
This was the threat given to a journalist covering student protest at LUMS by a police officer of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, as reported in Dawn on Nov 8.
How shameful and disgusting it is. Is there no higher-up in the police department with the slightest moral sensitivity to immediately initiate an investigation against the erring official and dismiss him if found guilty of hurling this threat on the journalist?
QADIR
Islamabad
Seven years ago the Pakistan revenue department, Lahore division, began consolidation of land process in our village.
With the manipulation of patwaris and the consolidation officer of Sheikhupura, the influential people got the fertile land was given of village and infertile land to the poor people of my village.
These authorities also made wrong entries in the consolidation process. People have been suffering for seven years and more than 60 per cent people have wanted the reconsolidation process of the land in Bhoywall village.
Twice the consolidation officer visited our village for vetting for consolidation but then went away without completing the process as he is not in favour of the poor. Please help us to break out of the consolidation process. It is the right of these poor people.
It is seven years now that we submitted our applications to the Revenue Board in Lahore, CO(R) office, DDO(R) office, EDO (R) office but in vain.
MUHAMMAD SHAFIQ
Bhoywall village,
Sheikhupura
IT is believed that children in Pakistan are at risk due to several problems faced by them such as poverty, slavery and starvation.
I think, however, that children living in the UK and other western or wealthy countries are at a greater risk because they are deprived of relationships with parents as they are busy in their professions. Children get exposed to drugs, alcohol and sex at a very small age.
These children are insecure and feel unsafe which leads to their getting addicted to drugs. They may belong to well-educated families, one finds them involved in such activities.
I think we should learn a lesson from others and try our best to avoid such situations in our country.
SANA SHAMSHER ALI
Karachi
OIL men’s rule in the USA for the last over seven years has pushed oil prices to exorbitant level. The last year of Mr Bush in office is likely to increase oil prices further.
The oil conglomerates have indulged in unprecedented loot, sucking up resources of poor consumers all over the world.
The Pakistan government’s response to this crisis is most inadequate, if not of complicity with the world oil mafia. Our focus should be on increasing local production. We must retain control of our national oil and gas assets. Doling out large tracts of land with potential reserves to foreigners in the name of investment should stop.
We must forget about privatising Oil and Gas Development Corporation, demanding from it and other lease holders to produce better results, making us self-sufficient in our oil and gas requirements.
NAZIR AHMED
Islamabad
You can also send letters to the Editor
Just send your message to the following address: letters@dawn.com
Make sure you include your full name, postal address, e-mail address, and in the case of Pakistan your day-time telephone number.