| December 06, 2007 | Thursday | Ziqa'ad 25, 1428 |
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US report on Iran
Hearing no evil, doing no good
Learning from others’ experience
Anti-corruption Day
Kleptocracy
Sindh under Soomra rule
Climate change
Hyderabad Gymkhana
Learning English
Gul’s support to emergency
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
MAJID Sheikh’s recent article, ‘The Genius of Bhai Ram Singh, was news to me. It is sad to know our local greats have never been acclaimed. One ponders after 60 years of independence why such news has been kept away from us. I wonder why, till now I had not been told that Queen Mary College and Aitchison College were his work.
I studied at the Queen Mary College; but it was never mentioned that the College was the creation of a local talent. Why was the creative genius of our local architect kept in the dark?
It is essential and proper now to acquaint us with his work as a genius par excellence. His works and his contribution of the buildings – the traditions of Lahore – should be acknowledged not only by a few professionals but also by the local population at large. We should be made aware of our local talent; their subsequent endeavours should not be brushed under the carpet any longer.
A friend of mine knew about him and was kind enough as to elucidate me more on this subject. But that I believe is not enough: the general public should also know more about such men rather than a few art scholars or relevant tradespersons.
It is shame to claim imported talent as Edward Durrell Stone and Doxiadus as exponents of the post-Independence architectural feats of this region, while disregarding the contributions of local master craftsmen as Ram Singh. We should not disregard him just because he hails from a non-Muslim background.
We must acclaim the examples of his creative drawing board and the subsequent buildings which were built back in history, and are luckily still extant in Lahore. We must appreciate his contributions. It will give us a chance to feel proud of a man who not only hailed from our own soil but was also a genius.
Bhai Ram Singh built many beautiful and practical buildings still standing in Lahore. The Punjab University Old Campus, Lahore, and its architectural echo — the Islamia College of Peshawar — are like twin sisters of grace, beauty and function. The Mayo School of Arts, now renamed as the National College of Arts, the Central Lahore Museum, the Fountain outside the Museum façade, King Edward Medical College compound, the Victoria Statue known locally as the “Malika da But” Pavillion near the Punjab Assembly, the Albert Victor Memorial Block on the Mayo Hospital, known as the ‘Gora Ward, are a few buildings which still are manifestations of this man’s potential to work in a tight desi idiom, promoting our own local design vocabulary and our local building techniques.
Mind you, he was also working under a colonial rule. This extension of colonial prejudices is still prevalent, when the brown sahibs conveniently underestimate and subsequently disregard our local heroes. This must stop. We must make our coming generations aware of such history and such figures should be made known to whatever local talent we had. Ram Singh’s worksheet is part of that.
It is further depressing to acknowledge that Queen Victoria and her local goons could and did rope in our local talent and take them to the British Isles. Ram Singh was taken to England, decorated by the Empress and made to work at her Osburne Palace near the Isle of Wight near South Hampton. Subsequent work was also done at Bagshott Park, the residence of the Duke of Connaught, a younger son of the said Queen. This effort was imperial showmanship; the talent of Bhai Ram Singh was another plume in the Imperial Crown of the Empress Regina of India.
All this time Ram Singh remains an unsung hero in Lahore, and is unknown to the residents of Lahore where he worked most profusely. This must change.
I thank Majid Sheikh again for introducing us to this great man.
TAHIRA MAZHAR ALI
Lahore
THE US report based on its intelligence agencies’ estimate on Iran’s nuclear programme (Dec 3), which has suddenly tried to downgrade the threat posed by Iran in this context, comes at a crucial juncture and is not only extremely pertinent to Pakistan but is also deeply worrisome.
Recent statements issued by President Bush and many of his close companions, including the stance taken by the Democratic party candidates, each focusing sharply on Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, expressing serious concerns over its security, is strongly indicative of the fact that setting Iran aside, perhaps for the time being, all the energies within the US intelligence, military and political circles are being devoted to solving the problem of the ‘existing Islamic bomb’ as opposed to a future possibility in the case of Iran.
The current political climate in Pakistan since early this year, including the issue of the ousted judiciary with the ensuing civic unrest as well as the alleged controversial role of media, collectively somehow does not seem to be merely coincidental to the attention recently being paid to Pakistan: especially the talk about launching military operations to flush out militants or to extract Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal with or without the consent of the Pakistani military. It all seems part of a game plan, being masterminded by those with vested interests in redefining the strategic relevance of Pakistan in global politics.
It is vital for the politicians, military and the general Pakistani public to engage into serious introspection, to establish whether to persist with their trivial wrangling and, thereby, risk losing perhaps the only symbol of pride in Pakistan, and amongst all Muslim nations across the globe, i.e. nuclear capabilities.
Alternatively, they might wish to dare, for once, to set aside their petty and significant differences irrespective of their personal egos, political persuasions and religious beliefs, allowing the democratic process to continue, no matter how flawed and disputable it may seem, all for the sake of Pakistan’s integrity and stability.
DR SHAAZ MAHBOOB
London, UK
THE news to end our year on an even more somber note is that former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, who was recently felled from grace, is in the contention for post of CEO of the world’s largest bank, Citigroup. His competition is with the bank’s investment banking head and his former colleague, Indian national Vikram S. Pandit. If Mr Aziz does win the post and controls the organisation he once was part of, I suspect that force of past habit as Musharraf’s economic manager will make him do one of two things.
If he adheres to the enlightened moderation policy of seeing no evil, hearing no evil and doing no evil, as he obsequiously did so well here for his master and the master’s friends, he is not going to win any significant brownie points with their major shareholders. If, on the other hand, he sees no evil, hears no evil and does no good as he unflappably did for the poor people of Pakistan, the bank will definitely head into an uncontrolled tailspin downwards.
Since I have a tiny vested interest in Citigroup, even though they really wouldn’t care about my vote, sadly, is for the Indian whom I do not know. I may be very wrong but my general assessment of Indians, even at those dizzying heights, is that even the more devious among them tend to have considerably more self-respect and nationalistic pride than ours do.
I suspect that at best Mr Pandit is likely to help make more mega money for the group. At worst he will also do something to help his country along in the process. At least he is not likely to behave like all the three proverbial monkeys rolled into one.
DR MERVYN HOSEIN
Karachi
OUR leader could learn a lot from the recent electoral defeat of Hugo Chavez, the leader of Venezuela.
Under the proposal that Chavez forwarded for approval by the country’s voters, it would have allowed him to stand indefinitely for re-election and endorse a huge leap to a socialist state. Voters narrowly rejected the sweeping constitutional reform by 51 per cent to 49 per cent.
Chavez told reporters at the presidential palace that the outcome of Sunday’s balloting had taught him that ‘Venezuelan democracy is maturing’. His respect for the verdict, he asserted, proves he is a true democrat.
Chavez did not reprimand the voters, he did not make dire predictions that Venezuala will become a failed state, or that his proposal was meant to ‘save’ his country.
He did not suspend the constitution or impose emergency. Derided as he is by his opponents, he did not blindly start beating and locking up his opponents, such as lawyers, human rights groups and ordinary citizens.
Indeed, something from another Third World country that our leadership could learn from.
AMIN QURESHI
Karachi
ANTI-CORRUPTION Day is being organised around the world on Dec 9. Our government has also chalked out plans for an awareness of the common people.
Pakistan, a developing country, has to confront many issues but corruption is the mother of all problems. The unyielding struggle of the agencies made the culprits exposed and let the people know about their illicit activities. After God, these agencies seem to be protecting our innocent/naive country from the ‘devils’.
I have a request to make to the government and the relevant authorities: either to include a subject in syllabus or a few chapters in any subject on corruption and its effect on the country’s reputation so that our younger generation may beware of the negative aspects of corruption.
MUHAMMAD SAEED PIRACHA
Lahore
APROPOS of A. Khan’s letter (Dec 4) in which he names the present dispensation in Pakistan as ‘Musho cracy’ and blames President Musharraf for disgracing the honour and good name of Pakistan all over the globe, I am sure that the vast majority of Pakistanis would rather live with Musharraf than be exposed to a system of kleptocracy still around. People don’t want a system of government ‘of the thieves, by the thieves, for the thieves’. No, not again.
AFTAB S. ALAM
Phoenix
THE literary conference on ‘Soomra period in Sindh’, organised by the Sindhi department of Karachi University, proceedings of which were reported in Dawn (Nov 25), is a welcome step towards understanding history of Sindh. The period the Soomra dynasty ruled Sindh undoubtedly was an epoch as pointed out by the learned speakers.
However, Elahi Bukhsh Soomro, a scion of the above lineage, challenged the commonly-accepted origin of Soomras, saying it was generally believed that the Soomros were Hindu Rajputs. However it was yet to be established whether they were native Hindus of Rajput stock or their ancestors came from Arabian peninsula or elsewhere. “History has to prove all this”, he further said.
According to the Chronological Dictionary of Sindh from geological times to AD 1539, a magnum opus (written/edited by renowned scholar M. H. Panhwar), which is based on the authority of various histories, Soomras were local ethnic group of Rjaput Hindu origin. They were initially converted to Ismaili sect under the infulence of missionaries sent by Fatmid Caliphs of Egypt, Imam Zahir and Mustansir.
They subsequently acquired great influence and power by inter-marrying with local Arab landowners. They took control of Sindh from the last Hubari governor, Ali Bin, in AD 1011. However, they were found still practising a lot of Hindu customs in 1471 when Mahmud of Begra tried to convert them to Sunnism.
The few historians who traced their ancestry to Arbas, however, have, no significantly dependable evidence to prove their hypothesis. Mirza Qalech Beg, a great scholar, on authority of Tuhfat-ul-kiram (written in 18th century) regards those of Arab stock belonging to Samarra, a city of the present-day Iraq, who migrated to Sindh in the days of Caliph Mamun Abbasi in the 8th century.
This presupposition, simply based on similarity of the name of the tribe with the city, therefore, appears to be far-fetched. The city of Samarra, originally named Surra Man Raa (he who sees it is delighted), was built by Caliph al-Mustasim (833-47), apropos of Encyclopedia of Islam, volume VIII. Caliph al-Mustasim left Baghdad because his regiment of Central Asian Turks, whom he preferred over Arab soldiers, could not reconcile with the latter. He, therefore, built a new capital at a distance of 90 miles from Baghdad to enjoy more autonomy from the Byzantine politics of the old capital.
Thus the city of Samarra was not only constructed much afterward than the purported time of migration of the tribe but the original name of the city also did not match with the name of the tribe.
Accordingly, most historia are in agreement now that the Soomra clan was made up of the native Hindu Rajputs who accepted Islam in the early days of the Arab rule which even their indigenous names such as Bhungar, Doda, Punhun, Khinrah, Chanesar and Hamir substantially corroborate. Besides, when Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked Multan and Utch and, thereafter, Sindh, Ismailis who followed the Fatmid Caliph and not Abbasids were masters of Sindh.
The correspondence between Sumrah, progenitor of the tribe, and Fatmid Imams referred by a prominent historian of Sindh, Rahimdad Khan Moulai Shidae, in “Janat al-Sindh, moreover is sufficient evidence to clear the mist.
MANZOOR H. KURESHI
Karachi
I HAVE read many letters regarding global warming and as it is a hot topic nowadays, so everyone must be aware of it. This is to highlight some of the vulnerable effects of global warming on children’s health. Global warming hurts children in many ways. It increases susceptibility to injury or death, post-traumatic stress, loss of care, disrupted education and displacement as a result of weather events such as floods, hurricanes, and droughts.
It also damages lung function and growth due to increased air pollution; there is also an increase in water-borne and food-borne illnesses, including infectious diarrhoea from increased temperatures and disrupted food supplies; an increase in infectious diseases spread by mosquitoes and ticks, such as West Nile virus, malaria, and Lyme disease; increase in exposure and vulnerability to heat-related conditions such as heat stroke and heat exhaustion.
Steps should be taken to safeguard their health as temperatures rise, according to a new report. Children should be the role model for minimising greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming by making changes such as switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs, reducing thermostat settings in the winter and increasing them in summer, and using cars to the minimum.
AISHA KHALID
Karachi
THIS refers to Qazi Fahad Naeem’s letter, ‘Hyderabad Gymkhana’ (Dec 4).
It is one of the few places in Hyderabad where one can go with family. Its kitchen caters to some 400 members every day and the number increases on weekends.
Although I am not a part of the management, I can proudly say that our Gymkhana has been serving quality and affordable food to its members for years. Any level-headed human would have stopped consuming food at Gymkhana had the condition depicted by Mr Naeem been that bad.
I do realise that recently the prices of food items have been raised considerably, which has put some burden on members, but the rise was inevitable due to inflation on raw material, utility bills and enhancement in the salaries of staff.
I would urge our members to adopt the proper procedure for any complaints (if any) instead of defaming our organisation without much reason.
NADEEM QURESHI
Hyderabad
TWO of the many hurdles that students have to cross when studying the English language are structure and usage. The importance of structure cannot be denied but usage has its own place in learning a language. Many a student when asked, “Do you play cricket?”, will respond with: “Yes, I am playing cricket.” It is difficult for them to differentiate between the use of the present simple and the use of the present continuous — the difference between tense and time.
The present continuous means we are in the middle of some action (present time). “I am playing cricket” means that you are in the act of either bowling or fielding on the cricket ground or on the street in front of your house.
“I play cricket” (present simple) means that you know how to play cricket or that you always/usually/sometimes play cricket. It is a repeated action or a habitual one — I play cricket every day. You will notice that time signals also play a vital role in this regard. Now, these days, this month — all signal the present continuous.
“These days, I am learning French”. “Now, I am collecting money for my trip abroad, so I am not buying this month.”
However, we must not lose sight of the fact that the present continuous can also be used to express the future. “We are going on a picnic tomorrow”. But let us leave that well alone for now. Here is another hurdle we have to cross — the ‘s’ form of the verb: walk or walks:
I drive to work every day. You ride your bicycle to school. Javed/He walks home from work. All singular nouns and pronouns take the ‘s’ form except I and You (These are verb tenses and should not be confused with the ‘s’ in plural nouns: boy (singular), boys (plural).
The present simple is also used when we talk about thoughts (I think) and feelings (I like/dislike) and structures like I promise. I agree.
We also use ‘always’ in the present continuous when it means ‘too much’. “He is always talking about his hobbies”.
K. SEWJEE
Karachi
I WAS saddened to hear that Turkish President Abdullah Gul supported the emergency against which the whole nation is protesting. I wonder why he made a state visit to support President Musharraf keeping in mind that he himself had to struggle against generals in Turkey and become president of Turkey only as a result of the democratic process. I advise him not to go against the wishes of the people of Pakistan.
SAFEER ULLAH KHAN
Mansehra
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