| November 25, 2007 | Sunday | Ziqa’ad 14, 1428 |
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Registering domestic hands
Emergency and democracy
American game
Family pension
President’s claim refuted
Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde
Pakistan ceases to exist?
Tackling Afridi
Impending disaster
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 an article, ‘A vote for change’ (Nov 11), by Amna Nasir Malik in which she has highlighted the importance of vote, voters’ education and has narrated, in particular, the sufferings and difficulties of the teachers, while performing election duties.
There are similar problems of permanent staff of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) itself.
The ECP is composed of the chief election commissioner (CEC), who is a retired judge of the Supreme Court, and four members, who are serving judges of the high courts, one each from the four provinces. In the hierarchy of the ECP, there is a secretary in the ECP secretariat, Islamabad, and provincial election commissioners in all provincial secretariats.
Under them, in the field offices, work the deputy election commissioners (DECs) at the former dysfunctional divisions level, and assistant election commissioners (AECs) in the districts, who are also the registration officers.
The post of AEC-cum-RO, in the field office of the district is most vital in hierarchy of the ECP. Virtually, all the work of the registration of votes, preparing electoral rolls and their preservation and custody and providing the same to the contesting and prospective candidates as per the rules, making maps and sketches and demarcation of constituencies, making polling schemes, appointing polling stations and polling personnel, and preservation of other election material, i.e. ballot papers and ballot boxes, and to provide the logistic support to the district returning officer (DRO) and returning officers (ROs), is all done by the AECs concerned.
However, it is very disappointing to mention that AECs are devoid of all the basic and important facilities to perform their duties in the field offices, due to which a great difficulty is being faced by them, particularly during election time.
The strength of the district field office is one officer (AEC) plus two clerks and a peon to perform the hectic and bulk election work round the clock, in addition to their usual office work. Moreover, the ECP has not provided the AECs their own offices in the field as these are accommodated temporarily in the district government offices and court rooms, which lack proper buildings, sanitations, furniture and other facilities, although large numbers of people visit the field offices of the ECP to get vote certificate, to confirm their names in the voting list and to know about the election schedule and activities.
Besides, the officials of the ECP have to work under constant pressure and sense of insecurity in the field caused to them by powerful MNAs, MPAs of the constituencies concerned and local politicians and party men, who intimidate them and demand fake registration of votes, and appointment of their favourite places and persons as polling stations and polling staff.
The post of the AEC, who is in charge at district level, is still of grade 17, while the DRO and ROs are officers of grade 20 and 19, respectively, and other posts of district officers in the district administration, with whom AECs have to work and liaison with in the conduct of elections, have been upgraded to grade 18 under the local government system, for which the sense of inferiority always prevail amongst them.
It is apathy that no proper training is imparted to the field officials of the ECP to acquaint them with the election laws and rules for conduct of elections and debriefing the polling personnel.
Therefore, it is imperative, that the CEC and the government take notice of the situation to address these basic problems of the ECP staff to provide them proper training, offices, residence and other adequate facilities and proper security and protection, so that they can perform their duties diligently without any fear or favour, which are basic ingredients to hold free, fair and transparent elections, as charity begins at home.
A CONCERNED CITIZEN
Dadu
WHAT would you call somebody who brings a criminal into your household knowingly and exposes your family to unknown risks? Foolish or pathetic! Yet this is what many educated people are doing today.
Fellow Karachi citizens, during the last few months cases of robbery and blackmail, involving domestic servants employed without a reference, have increased alarmingly. People don’t realise that hiring domestic servants without knowing their antecedents is like injecting a virus into your home.
Complaints brought to us include maidservants kept without verification who have robbed their employers within a week of their hiring. In one case the maid helped by another women take a woman hostage inside the house at gunpoint, tied her up and escaped with her jewellery and cash. Another maid kept without checking, on her own guarantee as she needed a job desperately, robbed her employer the very next day and fled.
In other complaints men working as drivers who were laid off due to their negligence and impertinent attitude made threatening calls to their old employers’ wives. One had the audacity to follow the wife and daughters to their school to intimidate them. The wife told us that they had hired him without any reference due to their need.
The second driver called his ex-employer from a mobile without disclosing his identity and demanded money. He terrorised them by disclosing their daily activities and told them that he knew the places frequented by their children and would cause them harm if they did not submit to his demands. Later we were able to ascertain that it was their old employee and we were able to put a stop to his threats.
To increase security for citizens, CPLC mobile vans and motorbikes are now patrolling along with policemen provided by the inspector-general of police, Sindh. We are providing fuel, giving the policemen an allowance to augment their salaries and trying to motivate them to assist the public instead of bothering them.
To highlight this issue we have started a campaign with WorldCall managements assistance to motivate residents to register their servants at the CPLC, DHA neighbourhood office. We would like to request all residents to take advantage and register their servants.
Alternatively, we can send our mobile van with the CPLC staff and policemen to homes for verification of identity cards and filling of servants forms. Some people feel that potential servants may run away if they are registered.
We would like to point out that only those would do so who are not clean. Please remember that it is better to be without a servant rather than being robbed or harmed later.
There are other additional precautions about which we would inform you on coming to register.
Please call our office on PTCL 5340304-8 (five lines) or WorldCall Tel 7004534-5 for assistance and information.
AZIZ SUHARWARDY
General Secretary,
Defence Associations Coordination Committee,
Karachi
TWO headlines in Dawn’s Nov 19 issue shrieked: ‘US envoy’s insistence’ — which the paper later called a warning, ‘Emergency must end for free polls’, and President Musharraf’s curt reply: ‘Country more important than democracy’.
While not disagreeing with Negroponte’s insistence on lifting the emergency — meaning reverting to democratic rule — and not agreeing with US interfering in Pakistan’s internal affairs, I cannot disagree also with the president’s assertion who declares that in order of priority Pakistan comes first and the Constitution, democracy, media or even judiciary come later. If the country’s solidarity is assured, then the Constitution is upheld, the judiciary respected, democracy is welcome and he is at home with the media’s freedom.
The country is at the crossroads. You can choose the chaos by not accepting the president’s assurances — or accept his undertakings that (a) he would relinquish the army post when the Supreme Court’s verdict on announcing the official result of his election comes through, (b) he would take the oath of office as a civilian president, and (c) he would lift the emergency thereafter. If you have any other choice, let me know.
Now a remark about the credibility of elections under emergency. Three important elections held by Yahya Khan in 1970, Ziaul Haq in 1985 and Pervez Musharraf in 2002 were held in emergency. Our nation accepted them as free, fair and legal.
What’s wrong with January 2008 election under emergency? And mind you, why does Musharraf accuse the nation, or some part of it, that it has compelled him to clamp emergency?
M. K. NAQVI
Karachi
MANY Pakistanis have been expressing their resentment over the studied silence being maintained by Washington over their foremost demand that Justice Iftikhar M. Chaudhry and other judges of the superior courts should be reinstated.
It is part of the US game plan to ensure the perpetuation of the Musharraf regime and the status quo has now been confirmed by American sources. According to a report by your correspondent from Washington (Nov 20), a former State Department official, William Fisher, has quoted a State Department source as telling him that the US administration will choose ‘realpolitik’ over ‘democracy promotion.’
He says: “We will vehemently vow to re-examine our aid programmes, urge free and fair elections, free jailed dissidents... and after some ‘respectable’ period, regress to the status quo ante.”
This is in a way confirmed further by a statement of the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, that the emergency had not affected the military-to-military relations between Pakistan and the US (Nov 21).
Another very important fact is that Admiral Mullen has also confirmed that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are safe and “we are sure that they are secure.” This only serves to disprove the recent statement by President Musharraf that if he quits, then these weapons will no longer be safe. Obviously, he is not physically protecting the arsenal and it is the half a million strong army that will continue to safeguard it, when he is gone.
ABU HAFEEZ
Karachi
WITH growing age, family grows larger: hence social obligations multiply. Pension is less than salary.
To fill the gap between the salary and the pension, to fulfil multiplied social obligations and to meet unabated rising cost of living, a pensioner generally finds additional income-yielding job.
No sooner a pensioner dies than his pension is cut down by almost two-thirds for his family, inclusive of widow, unmarried daughters, unemployed sons and minors.
Supplementary income also ceases with the death of the pensioner. Cost of living increases further. Isn’t it tragic for a bereaved family? Yes, it is. It is a big tragedy.
Does the death of an earning member provide any financial relief to the remaining family members? Time and again, the problem of family pension has been presented before competent authorities.
It is regretted that ears which should hear grievances of widows, unmarried daughters, unemployed sons and minors seem to be deaf.
I appeal to the president of Pakistan to personally give most sympathetic consideration to this human suffering and order full pension for families of dead pensioners.
Needless to say cases of family pension are not very many which cannot be absorbed in a big national budget.
ABDUL RAZZAK SIDDIQUI
Karachi
IN your editorial of Nov 20, you have expressed displeasure at the president’s recent statement regarding Pakistan’s nuclear assets. Actually, Gen Musharraf has further exposed his policy of putting himself before the country – while constantly claiming the opposite – by saying that if he goes, the extremists will grab power as well as the nukes. He appears to be trying to scare the West into supporting him.
A BBC radio host talked to Wendy Chamberlin, who had been the US ambassador to Islamabad a few years back, on this issue during a discussion of the emergency rule (Nov 19).
Very interestingly, the former envoy made it abundantly clear that she had spoken to various people in the US government who deal with the subject and they said Pakistan’s nukes are fully secure and there is no concern on this account. She pointed out that the country is not faced with a nuclear crisis but an electoral/political one, so the two should not be confused.
This was certainly reassuring and demolishes the general’s frightful assertion. The same should also be implicitly clear from a report in the New York Times of Nov 18 that Washington has spent almost $100 million on a highly classified programme to help Pakistan secure its atomic weapons, which was launched soon after 9/11. This included training Pakistani personnel in the US in nuclear security as well as providing a raft of equipment. Some of that is used to protect nuclear material and warheads while other is for protecting nuclear laboratories.
The foreign office, as may be expected, has tried to downplay the story (Nov 20) but American columnist Eric Margolis, who appears to be well connected to the US intelligence community, had reported something similar to the NYT piece, about two years back in a column in Dawn.
Another thing I was very pleased about is that for the first time ever I heard an American or western diplomat acknowledge that the Pakistanis have been fervently democratic since the nation’s creation in 1947. She also noted that Mr Jinnah was a democratic, secular-minded and constitutionalist leader who had made it plain that the army should stick to its own specific job.
Ms Chamberlin came through as quite candid and sincere in the portion of her discussion I was able to hear. She did say that extremism was a major problem but emergency had nothing to do with it. The lady also emphasised the need for restoring the judiciary, which is again the first time I have heard any American official make such a demand. People like her can truly serve the purpose of bringing the US and Pakistan closer.
As a parting thought, one hopes that none of Musharraf’s minions will advise him to arrange a fake raid on one of our nuclear sites to lend credence to his claim. Pakistan simply cannot afford any more brinkmanship.
T. AHMED
Karachi
“I HAVE never violated the Constitution,” President and Chief of Army Staff Gen Musharraf has said on many occasions.
However, he admits to violating the Constitution by proclaiming emergency, citing that Pakistan comes first.
How can there be a country without a constitution? Mohammad Mian Soomro is chairman of the Senate, member of the PML-Q and prime minister of Pakistan, supposedly of a neutral, caretaker set-up to ensure fair elections.
Dismissing judges of the superior courts, suspending fundamental rights, imposition of the Army Act on civilians, gagging the media, the general still maintains that he is not Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
This is the same person who promoted enlightened moderation, but today his executive instruments are brutally beating the citizens of Pakistan.
GHAZANFAR HIDAYATULLAH
Mirpurkhas
Gen Yahya Khan finished the Quaid’s Pakistan in December 1971. Now, suspension of the Constitution for an indefinite period by the Chief of Army Staff means the remaining Pakistan legally ceases to exist as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. As such, all laws, institutions, government office-holders, and citizens governed by various clauses of the Constitution cease to exist as legal entities. So, which is the legal authority in this part of the subcontinent and under which Islamic or internationally-accepted democratic concept?
Will some legal expert be kind enough to make readers like me wiser on the subject?
RAJA M. AFZAL KHAN
Gujar Khan
AFRIDI is a mercurial cricketer. He is whatever he is and cannot change himself at this stage of career. He says that so himself. Therefore, the onus falls upon the captain to use him appropriately in the game as the situation demands.
As an opener, the stakes on him are very high. If he succeeds in making some runs, he relieves the entire team from pressure. And, on the contrary, if he is out soon, he puts the entire team under greater pressure. This must be borne in mind before sending him to open.
At the very tail-end, if his form clicks, he does not have partners to last till the end of the inning. And if he doesn’t, then the game is already lost. So that option must be discounted.
The best option, therefore, looks like sending him to bat at four or five down. Not at six or seven, because he can then contribute his maximum to win the match. And if he fails, then he is what he is. In any case sending him at six or seven down does not provide him the best opportunity to contribute his most when he is at his best.
A word about his batting. If somebody could tell him and convince him that just hitting hard doesn’t take the ball out of the ground. The angle at which the ball is dispatched is an important factor. At an angle of 45 degrees the ball goes farthest. At angles more or less than 45 degrees the ball falls back on the ground and he gets caught. If he spends a part of his strength in controlling the angle of the ball at which it is dispatched, his hitting will produce fantastic results.
N.A. KHAN
Karachi
AFTER the carnage caused by the bridge that caved in at Karachi, there is another disaster waiting to cause mayhem: a railway track below and road overhead on the bridge at the river Chenab near Muzaffargarh. Built by the British, this bridge served the dual purpose of railway track and road transport, but when the road transport pressure increased with time, authorities decided to build an overhead road on the bridge.
As a result, when heavily-loaded 40ft carriers, buses, and trucks cross the bridge, it vibrates. Had this bridge been on the main GT Road, authorities would have paid attention to it but being in most overlooked and backward district of Muzzafargarh, nobody seems to care about it.
Recently when I travelled on this road, I found a 40ft trailer overturned on the ramp of the bridge, causing traffic mess for more than four hours. Will the authorities concerned think of looking into it to prevent the loss of precious human lives?
MEHRAN LEGHARI
Lahore
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