| December 31, 2007 | Monday | Zilhaj 20, 1428 |
The heartless among us
Special children
Benazir’s assassination is undoubtedly a great national tragedy. The violent reaction to her unnatural death is also natural. Not only her supporters and party workers, her staunch opponents are equally saddened, because national leaders are not born everyday. It is being felt if leaders are not safe in a security state who else is when in a turmoil like this criminal elements can get a free hand to pillage and sack cities unchallenged by the arm of the law. But just as in popular thinking the Liaquat Bagh and Rawalpindi city are acquiring the reputation of an accursed place as if that had a hand in the perpetration of these tragedies and not the criminal conspiracies, in official strategies Al-Qaeda and Taliban have found an easy alibi to cover up any security lapse on its part.
The PPP leadership that had been showing restraint thus far has had to reject these convenient explanations. When an un- sourced television report claimed in the morning on Friday that an Al-Qaeda leader in Afghanistan had accepted responsibility for the killing, the interior ministry spokesman Brig (retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema had said that the government was “investigating the veracity of the claim”. In the evening, however, he came out with a detailed story of intelligence intercepts to prove that Al- Qaeda and Baitullah Mehsud were responsible for the assassination of the former prime minister.
The PPP leaders, however, rejected the claim saying it was an attempt to divert public attention and the direction of the investigations. They said the government had made a similar claim about the October 18 Karachi attacks which the militant leader had debunked the very next day. Once again Mehsud has denied the government story and stated it was against the tribal custom to attack women.
The PPP leaders also disputed government’s progressive claims that BB’s death was caused by shrapnel wound or as later stated, by a lever of the sun roof. The PPP said Benazir had been hit by two bullets as had been earlier stated by the executive director of Rawalpindi General Hospital. This same medical authority however went back on his Thursday position denying bullets as the cause of death.
In this controversy the actual issue of the murder of a two- time prime minister in the presence of thousands of people and hundreds of security officials is being lost. Whether she was killed by bullets or explosion or a heart attack, there is no denying the fact that three or four bullets were fired at her. If she escaped the firing is another matter as also if she was not harmed by the explosion that killed 25 other people. Both the firing and the explosion did take place which proves her security arrangements were not adequate, especially in view of the threats. In any civilised society government would have accepted its responsibility and resigned.
Now, as to the question of inquiry. It would be naive to expect that an independent probe would be conducted to the satisfaction of the Party, the people and the family who have all been shaken by the tragedy. Our record of inquiries into all high profile killings is not something to inspire confidence. We are yet to be told who was behind the killing of Liaquat Ali Khan, who started the Ojhry Camp explosions, who blew up the plane of Gen Ziaul Haq. And now the emergence of Al-Qaeda has provided an easy excuse to the authorities to escape responsibility and put inquiries into cold storage.
The world today is full of scientific methods and experts whose help can be sought. If our national pride is not undermined by US military attacks inside Pakistan’s tribal region or provision of our defence facilities to allied forces in Sindh and Balochistan, our ghairat should not stop us from seeking help of forensic experts from abroad. After all, the Karachi Stock Exchange fraud was recently, though unsuccessfully, probed by foreign experts under the current regime.
The enormity of the crime demands that an impartial inquiry is ordered to the satisfaction of all, in particular the people of Pakistan whose faith in the government has been badly shaken.
Every time there is a calamity, national or local, criminals have a field day. When it rained heavily last year and cars were stalled, stranded motorists were deprived of their cell-phones and wallets at gunpoint. Strangely enough, that happened on the main artery of Karachi – Sharea Faisal. But on the evening when the whole country plunged into deep sorrow on hearing about the assassination of the Daughter of the East, Benazir Bhutto, ruffians and hooligans had a great time almost all over Karachi.
The criminals have no sympathy with the departed leader and no love for the country. They include those whose parents moved to Karachi after Partition, those who came for greener pastures and those whose families have their roots in the city or its environs. Sick mentality is not the monopoly of people from any particular caste or region.
Burning banks, vehicles – public or private – shops and offices is something Ms Bhutto would never have approved of. She would have totally condemned the crimes that took place. One can be sure that her friends, family members and true admirers would be saddened to hear of such gruesome acts. No person in his right frame of mind would have relished the sight of burning buses and trucks or stoning of cars, taxis and rickshaws, not to speak of innocent people being robbed and shops being looted.
On the evening of the 27th one such victim, taxi driver Afsar Khan, took a personal risk by agreeing to go out of his way to drop a man, his wife and three kids, who were finding no transport to get home. His act of kindness backfired when he was confronted by a mob. The cab driver appealed to the leaders of the mob not to put his taxi on fire. All his pleas fell on deaf ears for the mob doesn’t think and is devoid of mercy.
When Afsar Khan tried to stop the man who lit the match, he was pushed back and was told “We are being kind to you, if you say one more word we will push you back into the taxi and burn you with your vehicle.”
The poor man doesn’t know when and how the family he was carrying reached home. But he knows that the taxi he had got on instalments is not worth more than a large piece of twisted metal, which is vying for space on a road littered with similar ugly sights.
For eight years, until early 2006, Afsar Khan drove other people’s vehicles on daily wages. Eventually he got a loan from a moneylender on compound interest and added some money saved by his wife ever since they got married five years ago. He will now have to pay back the moneylender. How, he doesn’t know. “Why did it have to happen to me, of all people? I have always tried to be nice and helpful to others,” he told one of my neighbours, with tears rolling down his cheeks.
The worst part of the story is that there are many Afsar Khans in the city today, but that would be no consolation to the man whose story I just narrated.—Asif Noorani
The new national sport
Though hockey may be the official national sport (even though it’s been in decline since at least 1984) and cricket may have a rabid following from the warm waters of the Arabian Sea all the way to the Himalayan foothills in the north, there is one sport that beats out both of these activities in terms of popularity, at least in Karachi. And that sport is queue jumping.
Yes friends … if jumping queues was an Olympic discipline, Pakistani athletes would secure gold each and every time (cricket has been recently granted provisional status, so there’s still hope for all our expert queue jumpers).
Everywhere you look in the city it seems that the habit of waiting for our turn in the queue is just something that we Karachians consider below our dignity. Whether at banks, in the supermarket or in dreaded government offices, those who wait patiently for their turn often have the limits of their tolerance tested by queue jumpers.
Consider the following: you’ve been waiting for at least 20 minutes at the bank to cash a cheque or pay a utility bill (the remarkable speed at which the bank teller is working at this ‘one-window’ operation is another story altogether). Finally, you thank the Almighty as your turn almost comes.
Then, out of nowhere will strike an expert queue jumper. If you protest, either he/she will offer a flimsy excuse (my mother’s dying, my kid’s not well, the aliens have landed etc), or worse still, a heated argument will ensue, which may come to fisticuffs. Either way the queue jumper will win while the rest of us law-abiding simpletons stand there fuming.
The scene is worse at government departments such as the passport office or public sector universities where, admittedly, the queues are horrendous. Here, with a little help from friends in high places, the queue jumper achieves his or her objective while the rest of the waiting, furious mob calls for the head(s) of the guilty, and rightfully so.
But jumping never-ending queues is not the answer; streamlining the process is. Though this cannot be expected of the government’s Byzantine bureaucracy (or can it?), some in the private sector have taken the lead to neutralize the criminal queue jumper: the heaven-sent ‘token’ system.
This makes things infinitely easier. You take a token number (plastic or paper) and quietly wait your turn till your number is called. Though it sounds foolproof, it isn’t, especially considering the tenacious drive of our local queue jumpers to break the rules. But it’s still an improvement on the otherwise shambolic system where everything goes.
However, knowing the nature of many of our fellow citizens, we realise nothing much can work for long in our society, as all rules are meant to be broken.—QAM
Compiled by Syed Hassan Ali
Email: karachian@dawn.com
Sir,
I have a charming little nephew, who just turned three. He is the most special amongst all others. The only thing lacking in him is the ability to walk, which has labelled him ‘disabled’ by our insensitive society. To top it all, none of the reputed schools of Karachi are prepared to admit him due to this sole reason.
Each of the schools has rejected him, advising my sister to put him in a school for the disabled. When the schools for the disabled were visited, we found that there were no separate sections for mentally handicapped and physically handicapped kids. All were put in the same category. Can anyone in their right minds say that physically handicapped and mentally handicapped children are the same?
Why are we termed ‘modern’? Our thinking and approach is still like the Neanderthals. The reasons given to my sister for rejection were absurd – some said that other parents would complain, some thought the other kids would make fun of him and there were others who offered excuses because their schools were not designed to accommodate the disabled.
With the ever increasing fee structure and the way schools are making monetary gains, spending huge amounts on large modern premises, can’t anyone of them consider facilities for the disabled in their buildings? We tend to follow the West in lots of aspects but ignore something as important as this.
They consider the disabled as a very special part of society. People don’t stare or ridicule the disabled as they do here or treat them as if they are freaks.
Why are we Muslims not more sensitive and responsible towards them? Will we keep discriminating between our normal and special children? No one chooses to be special in this respect but we can surely choose to be sensitive or insensitive towards these children. The choice is ours.
ADEEBA LASHARIE
PECHS
PTCL’s ‘gift’
Sir,
Recently the PTCL automatically activated international dialling on all phones irrespective of the subscribers’ intention. Most of the customers, especially illiterate ones, were not aware until they got huge bills in the form of international calls to countries they didn’t even know existed.
Now, the new ‘hit’ is auto-activated NWD calls on all PTCL phones. Furthermore, even if I had locked the facility of NWD by secret code, it is now unlocked.
Can you imagine how much collection the PTCL will make until the subscribers get it blocked or deactivated? The ‘1236’ contact number for deactivation is constantly engaged and one has to visit the exchange personally to return this ‘gift.’
I hope the PTCL takes back this ‘gift’ from its subscribers soon.
RASHID M. CHANDNA
Via e-mail
Dangerous patch
Sir,
While going home from work recently, I was robbed of my mobile phone at gunpoint around 7pm. I was stuck in a traffic jam on Site Avenue between the traffic signals of Shershah and Ghani Chowrangi. The robber approached my car without any fear and with his gun pointed at me he signalled me to open the car door or windows.
I hesitated in complying and upon this he started hitting my car window with his pistol butt. I had no other choice but to hand over my mobile to him. The people around me were just stunned, unable to move and probably praying that the robber spared them.
The robber continued his looting spree and I am sure that on that particular day he robbed a number of poor, hapless drivers stuck in the jam without any fear of getting caught.
The irony of the matter is that later on a number of my friends and colleagues confirmed that they had been robbed on the same patch of road. A number of them also reported witnessing similar crimes happening at a number of places while they watched horrified, unable to do anything.
I am not asking the authorities concerned to take any action because I know that these street crimes cannot take place without their consent or connivance.
By writing this letter I just want to ask: is this the way a so-called civil society operates? Is this a city or a jungle? Can’t the governor, CCPO, TPO or anyone else do anything to save us? We all know that they can because where there is will there is a way. But is there a will?
SYED SOHAIL JAVAAD
Nazimabad
Encroachments
Sir,
There are countless encroachments in Saddar, especially from the Korangi bus stop to the Empress Market. It was already hard for pedestrians to move about, but with the onset of winter, many encroachers selling sweaters and jackets have moved in, making it even more difficult to get from one place to another.
Please help us. How can we reach hospitals? How can the fire brigade reach us in case of an emergency?
My family wants to shift, but this is not possible for me. The huge buses also operate on the road without any regard for pedestrians.
Through these columns, I would request the authorities concerned to do the needful and remove encroachments permanently from the area.
M. BILAL
Shahrah-i-Iraq
Senseless repairs
Sir,
I live in the Civil Lines area and the roads here have been in a state of disrepair for the last many years.
Recently, a road repair crew appeared and carpeted some of the roads, something that should last us until the next rains, given the job that they have done.
However, something amazing happened the day after the work was completed: a new crew appeared and dug up most of the roads. Upon enquiry they told me that they were laying a gas line.
These people deserve our applause. Their sense of timing and co-ordination is something to be marvelled at.
MOHAMMED YUNUS
Civil Lines
city@dawn.com