| December 13, 2007 | Thursday | Zilhaj 2, 1428 |
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Tyranny of the regime
Best countries for business
Frustration at utility stores
Cricket matches
Pakistan First
Sacrifice for Pakistan
Environmental act
The use of ‘s’
Nawaz’s decision
Appeal to Sindh governor
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 1997 the then president Farooq Leghari said during a TV interview with foreign correspondents that the election had been rigged in the past, but gave an assurance that this would not be allowed to happen anymore. Rhetoric notwithstanding, polling agents in various constituencies were kidnapped, ballot boxes and stamps confiscated and votes were polled in bulk by government candidates. In the post-poll rigging, the ballot boxes were not opened on the premises in the presence of polling agents but taken to the election commission’s central office for the votes to be counted.
M. Asghar Khan gave full details that at many polling stations gangs of criminals were released for two days on bail before the election date who forcibly stuffed ballot boxes with bogus votes. More or less, similar practices took place in 2002 election. Thus, in Pakistan there has been a tradition of rigging.
Once again, preparatory to the forthcoming election in our country, there are allegations of not only pre-poll rigging but also in the post-poll activity. A new phenomenon has crept in, that is “jobs being sold in exchange for votes” (Dawn, Dec. 1).
Two classical cases of rigging in other countries come to mind. Ever since universal franchise was introduced in Sri Lanka in 1942, the island had a remarkable attachment to democracy. However, in the polling process seven years ago the supporters of the main opposition United National Party were beaten up, ballot papers were snatched at gunpoint and welfare recipients were warned that they would lose their benefits unless they voted for the People’s Alliance. Columnist George Arney said: “Sri Lanka vote rigging mocks democracy.”
In Indonesia, Mr Suharto built a bureaucratic structure over 32 years’ rule that was still intact eight years ago, and it was very easy for the total votes to be altered as they were entered in computers.
Election rigging is not just a Third World phenomenon; it has been revealed that even in the United States it is possible and practised, and led to the surprise defeat of a leading Republican candidate in California in November 1995. It took an interesting turn when two employees of the US Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) revealed that their managers knew that non-citizens who have no votes were voting and took no action to stop it (Dawn, 1997).
During about three decades’ stay in Venezuela, one has witnessed six national elections held every four years. Not once was there any complaint of rigging. The ballot boxes are opened right in front of the polling agents of the parties and counted. Recently, President Hugo Chavez, having all of the state machinery and means at his disposal, magnanimously conceded his defeat in the referendum.
In so far as free, fair and transparent election is concerned, a Third World country, Venezuela, blazes the trail. One is sure of the fact that our president is definitely in the know of this Latin phenomenon and would do his best to follow suit.
DR P. NASIR
Gujrat
THE media is one of the basic pillars of democracy and plays a pivotal role in the progress of the country. Thus, democratic governments are expected to ensure independence of the media in order to spread the truth rather than hiding it as is the order of the day in Pakistan today.
The basic responsibility of the media is to convey true information to the masses, whether that information is in favour of the government or otherwise, and the real democratic government is the one which has tolerance to hear criticism of the media and rectify their mistakes.
Constructive criticism by the media is always appreciated in democratic states. It also provides a platform to the government to explain its points of view to the masses.
Recent curbs on the media have negated all tall claims of a free media in Pakistan. Even after imposition of an emergency; the present regime feels no remorse in still claiming that the media is free. Honestly speaking, I am unable to understand what free media actually means.
It is also unfortunate that whenever any institution starts performing professionally, honestly, dedicatedly and sincerely, it is barred in the form of emergency as has happened in the case of the judiciary. Rule of law and respect for human rights have become a dream in Pakistan after Nov 3. While lawyers have been incarcerated, judges have been confined to their homes and law-breakers have got a freehand.
More pathetic is the hard fact that political parties have not rose to the demands of the situation and are busy in gaining the musical chair of power. In such an alarming situation, my salute goes to the lawyers, judges and enlightened members of civil society for waging a struggle for the supremacy of the Constitution.
I would appeal to all political parties, specially the PPP and the PML-N to come out with clear stands on the constitutional position before Nov 3 vis-a-vis reinstatement of judges, supremacy of the Constitution, release of the arrested lawyers, instead of engaging in the hide-and-seek game of power.
ARSLAN MEHDI JAFFERI
Nindo Shaher, Badin
ACCORDING to the World Economic Forum’s recent competitive ranking on the Best Countries for Business, Pakistan stands nowhere in those 50 countries listed, getting beaten by countries like Chile, Estonia, Thailand, Tunisia, Puerto Rico, Slovenia, India and Slovak Republic. And then our political leaders have the nerve to determine that Pakistan’s economy is pacing forward and the country has been attracting business from global players. The Global Competitiveness Report tallies 113 factors that contribute to an economy’s competitiveness. It boils down to how well a country is positioned to squeeze efficiency out of its business and attract companies and investment from abroad. Components of the resulting Global Competitiveness Index range from the quality of a nation’s roads to the independence of its judiciary to the incidence of tuberculosis to how easy it is to hire an engineer.
Looking at the current political situation in the country, and even the time before the current state of emergency, it does not take a rocket scientist to conclude why Pakistan may never make it to those 50 countries best for business. Perhaps, this is about time that instead of bragging about its laurels, the government should seriously focus on having some people after the upcoming election who would really lead the country to the road to success. This also falls as an obligation on the shoulders of the citizens of this country to determine the positive leadership for them and avoid the thieves, the thugs and the robbers who already have stuffed their coffers with public money and are again building up momentum to do the same.
After all, a nation deserves the rulers it has.
ZILL-E-REHMAN KHAN NIAZI
Islamabad
FRUSTRATION at utility stores is now a common sight. There are a number of reasons for this, but the most pertinent cause is the insufficient stock of flour, sugar or any other edible at these stores. It has come to light that most of these shops, instead of selling the flour or sugar to the public, sell them at higher rates in the local market.
One such incidence which I personally came across was at a shop situated in Karachi’s Model Colony and which also caters to the need of people from adjoining areas like Saudabad and Khokhrapar.
At this shop, at about 10am, I saw a long line of buyers to purchase their edible requirements. The shop, however, opened at 10.30am and sold some quantity of flour to four or five persons, but abruptly closed after a few minutes with an explanation that there was no more flour left for sale.
The crowd of about 900 people which was in line at the shop become infuriated and in their rage broke the windowpanes of the shop. Even the police van which was present there disappeared from the scene, gauging the mood of the crowd.
Here are two things that can easily be concluded. One, there should be enough supply of flour/sugar and other edible commodities to these stores, keeping in mind the population of the area; and, two, the most important thing is to devise some means that the foodstuff is not sold in black market by the utility stores.
SUROOR ZAFAR
Via email
WE have lost the one-day series as well as the first test. At the end of second day’s play in the second test, Pakistan was in difficulties. It will be of no use to blame the injuries alone. We should look after our performance (or rather the lack of it) more objectively.
One general impression is that the team as a whole lacks determination to perform well. Some days it is excellent, on others it is simply lousy. One important factor that has never been even mentioned is the lethargy of the fielders.
They wait for the ball to reach them which gives the batsmen time to make a run. This also results in missing catches when the ball is falling only a few feet from them.
In my opinion the most crucial factor is defective placement of fielders. Whole areas are left without fielders.
On the first day of the second test the whole of the off-side was without fielders which enabled the bastman to score boundaries freely.
There were 10 fours in his first 60 runs. No cover fielders are provided to the wicketkeeper or the bowlers.
It is in the latter position that catches are offered.
There are no fielders on the boundaries with the result that when a fielder near the wicket or so misses a ball, which he frequently does, it is a sure boundary.
I suggest that our team and the coach see videos of our fielding and those of Indian, S. African and Australian teams when they played against us. This may benefit them.
S.A. BILGRAMI!
Karachi
THE Transparency Interna-tional has ranked Pakistan seventh in order of corruption.
This must be very disappointing to our leaders as they have worked hard to get Pakistan the first place but we still lag behind.
We expect that with the current state of affairs, we will soon get our goal of ‘Pakistan first’.
MOHAMMAD IMRAN KHAN
Baltimore, USA
THIS is apropos of Azhar Ziaur Rehman’s letter, “Supreme sacrifices” (Dec 6). Mr Rehman has highlighted the sacrifices of one family of the judge stating that “people don’t realise the magnanimity of sacrifices that some of the judges have made in refusing to take the oath under PCO”.
The family of Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman is not the only one. The most unfortunate aspect of our character as a nation is that we not only forget those who sacrificed their lives, rather everything, for the country but at times label them as traitors, agents of enemies, and distort history by burying them in unmarked graves and create new heroes of our own choice.
We have had the honour of having leaders like Nawab Sirajuddaullah and Tipu Sultan but in today’s textbooks of Pakistan we don’t find their names in the list of freedom-fighters.
The role played by Ali brothers in the Independence movement has simply been omitted. Hardly anybody remembers Be Amman, the mother of Ali Brothers, and the famous verse:
Boli amman Muhammad Ali ki/Jan beita khilafat per de do/ Sath hain tumhari Shaukat Ali/ Jan beita khilafat per de do (The mother of Mohmmad Ali said: Sacrifise your life on Khilafat, Shaukat Ali is with you, die for Khilafat).
Nawab Sahib of Mehmoodabad also sacrificed everything – his property, his state – and was buried in the UK, with no presentation of the government of Pakistan. Nawab Liaquat Ali Khan, whose sacrifices were even in very clear words acknowledged by the Quaid, was assassinated in broad daylight. Despite being a Nawab, he had left less than hundered rupees in his account.
His wife, Begum Ra’ana Liaquat Ali, lived throughout her life in a rented house, and very few fellow Pakistanis are aware of the fact that the queen of the Netherlands had gifted her a posh palace when she was serving in the Netherlands as the ambassador of Pakistan, because Begum Ra’ana had defeated the Queen in a chess game. Begum Sahiba had very generously donated it to the government of Pakistan, and today the embassy of Pakistan in the Netherlands still works in the same palace.
The nation has completely forgotten Squardon Leader M. M. Alam whose name will always be mentioned in the history of air wars. Princess Abida Sultana is another such name who, on the call of the Quaid, sacrificed her vast state and landed at Karachi airport with only one suitcase and an infant son.
Last but not the least, there are hundreds of students of Aligarh Muslim University who wrote the history of independence of Pakistan with their blood, but they have been forgotten. Reasons best known to history writers of this country.
It’s time we revived our history without prejudice and let our present generation know the sacrifices rendered by the founding fathers. The media must come forward, take the responsibility and publish and telecast special features highlighting the deeds and sacrifices of our forgotten leaders and freedom fighters.
AAMIR AQIL
Lahore
THE Pakistan Environmental Protection Act (PEPA), which was approved 10 years back on Dec 6, 1997 still waits to be enforced effectively.
The act was approved with the statement: “An act to provide for the protection, conservation, rehabilitation and improvement of the environment for the prevention and control of pollution and promotion of sustainable developments”, and is quite comprehensive and covered almost all aspects of environment. Those who remained involved in the development of this act had put their best efforts.
Development of an act requires a limited number of field-related experts but to enforce that act is the duty of the authorities concerned and the general public. But what we Pakistanis need to do is to take part passionately for the enforcement of this act and cooperate with the authorities in doing so.
Contributing to environmental improvement is not a tough task. One can easily contribute significantly towards the enforcement of PEPA on its own just by changing his or her lifestyle. Some of the examples of changing lifestyle are given as under:
Adopt the concept of the three Rs, i.e. reduce, reuse and recycle; reduce the use of polythene bags; do not throw the refuse from a car window or outside your home; do not burn waste; plant more trees; separate recyclables from refuse; tune up your vehicle to avoid exhaust emission; shift over to CNG vehicles instead of diesel and patrol.
Moreover, industrialist should consider developing waste treatment facilities, and avoid throwing waste into sea while on the picnic.
I n this way we can contribute significantly towards the enforcement of PEPA.
NASAR U. USMANI
Karachi
I WAS amused to read K. Sewjee’s letter, ‘Learning English’ (Dec 6).
The writer would be surprised to find total agreement on how difficult it is to master the ‘s’ in English (Sewjee cites examples of ‘Walk’ vs ‘Walks’) from an unexpected quarter.
There is one person, who never mastered the usage of ‘s’ in English, who was born in an English-speaking country, educated in the best institutions, and one who went on to become president of the most powerful country in the world.
I quote from a Reuters report: “During his first presidential campaign, Bush — who promised to be the ‘education president’ — once asked: “Is our children learning?”
Later, Bush seemed to answer his own question with the same kind of grammatical twist: “As yesterday’s positive report card shows, childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured,” he said.
The White House opted to clean up Bush’s diction in the official transcript.”
B. K. VASAN
Chicago, IL, USA
WE welcome the recent decision by the PML-N and their leader, Mian Nawaz Sharif, of participating in the upcoming general election.
Mr Sharif has agreed that Benazir Bhutto was prescient in her desire to contest elections and has accepted that leaving space open for pro-Musharraf parties is not an option in the present political scenario.
The elements developing in the political scenario give signs of a united step for fight against dictatorship in the country. This would ultimately be beneficial for the democratic development of the country.
SADIA IKRAM
Rawalpindi
THIS is with reference to the recent announcement by Nawaz Sharif of participating in the election.
He kept on saying that he will boycott the election and involved leaders like Imran Khan, Qazi Hussain and Mehmud Khan Achkzai, but he betrayed them again.
It’s now clear that he came to Pakistan as a result of a deal and to participate in the election. In fact, the Saudi king talked to Pervez Musharraf for his release from Saudi Arabia and return to Pakistan.
Although Nawaz Sharif reiterated from time to time that he will not talk to Mr Musharraf directly or indirectly and will not request anything, he did actually request Mr Musharraf for his release through the Saudi King. He again betrayed his supporters as it clearly showed that Mr Sharif never lives up to his words.
It seems that Mr Sharif is in the habit of always backing out of his words whether it was a Supreme Court attack case, Saudi deal, aircraft hijacking case, Kargil case, etc.
DR FAREEHA KHANUM
Mardan
A SECTARIAN attack was carried out on the bus of Suparco on Oct 3, 2003 in which six persons were killed and seven wounded. Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad sanctioned a compensation of Rs100,000 each to the families of those killed and Rs50, 000 each to the injured persons.
Four years have passed and only 50 per cent of the amount has been paid to the victims in spite of relentless persuasion by Suparco with the government of Sindh.
We, the families of the victims, are facing great financial hardships and are in a dire need of the compensation amount. We request the governor to instruct the government for early payment of the balance 50 per cent compensation money.
WIDOW OF SYED WASI HUSSAIN
Karachi
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