| January 07, 2008 | Monday | Zilhaj 27, 1428 |
Gobbling up amenity plot
Death, darkness and doubts
NON-interference is a policy acclaimed worldwide. Our beloved authorities always pursue and preach non-interference and coexistence, which are prerequisites for peace and harmony internationally and also for good governance at home.
Our police department, after the implementation of a reform programme a few years ago and thanks to the commendable efforts made by certain senior police officers with the active support of the city government, subscribed to the policy of non-interference and evidently demonstrated adherence to it during the recent violence in the city.
Not only did the police refrain from interfering into the affairs of the rioters, they also adopted an extremely decent and polite attitude towards the looters and saboteurs in bringing them to book after the worst was over. I was among the hundreds of men, women and children who were ordered by the rioters to get out of public transport vehicles, which they wanted to set on fire. It happened minutes after the city received the news of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. There was chaos all around and everyone was running for safety in panic while several vehicles had already been set alight and many more were about to meet the same fate.
People in groups were heading for an unknown destination in the hope of finding some peaceful place where they could stop for a while and decide how to reach home. However, the rioters had virtually taken over the entire city and there was no sanctuary for such a huge number of people. Most of them, like me, had to travel on foot for hours and the same situation persisted the next two days.
While countless public and private organisations, institutions, departments and installations, besides thousands of individuals, suffered heavy losses at the hands of the rioters, at least one department sustained a negligible loss, and that appeared to be the police department, which did not revert to its traditional style of suppression by using brute force even when attacked by mobsters, in some cases.
Although I was horrified by the intensity of the violence and arson, I politely asked a policeman standing several feet inside his police station if they (the police) could intervene, and his reply was simple: “As soon as we receive the order, we will move.”
I was satisfied because he gave me the hope that the situation would be brought under control in a matter of hours. However, the “order” did not come until the Rangers were given the “shoot at sight” orders, though only after the rioters and looters had accomplished their task.
Karachians then saw police convoys patrolling roads and streets of the city behind the protective shield of the Rangers. The police will continue to discharge their responsibilities in the same spirit until the Rangers are there. The authorities have the option of calling out the army if the situation slips out the Rangers’ control. In that case, the Rangers will patrol the city’s streets behind an army convoy. And if the situation gets out of the army’s control, the authorities have perhaps yet another option: calling out foreign forces, which are very much around and quite willing to help out.—Awam
Giving the devil his due
It is no longer a joke to suggest that you keep in your pocket an acceptable amount of money or valuables for robbers. Their preferable item is a cell-phone set, which fetches them immediate return as they can dispose of it anywhere conveniently. But they won’t mind if you have something extra to offer.
While the number of cell-phones is growing phenomenally, so is the number of robbers. And so are the stories the victims or witnesses share with you. This does not deter young people from acquiring the trendiest and most expensive sets available in the market. But the robbers have no patience for young persons, or anyone for that matter, with no cell-phone.
Recently, when a young boy was found with no cell-phone on him in a Korangi locality, he was hit on the head by two cell-phone snatchers. They had earlier stripped a friend of the victim of his phone. But when the boy announced that he did not have a mobile on him, the dissatisfied robbers frisked him and found his pockets really were empty. Enraged, one of the culprits hit the boy with the butt of his handgun and rode off. The boy fell unconscious but was lucky enough to survive the blow!
Cell-phone robberies have become so common that sometimes one wonders how those of us who haven’t experienced this shock have remained immune to the menace. However, a senior colleague has had more than his unfair share of the agony. As per last count, he has been robbed thrice. In the latest incident, he lost two sets to the robbers near the Powerhouse intersection on M.R. Kiyani Road.—Naseer Ahmed
The ‘meating’ place
After moving to a new house recently, the first thing to be done was to request the chowkidar of the previous residents there to kindly also leave. But the man, who hoped to be hired by the new people, took his sweet time packing up. He finally left, although reluctantly, after realising that it wasn’t going to happen.
But the new family saw him again on Eid day pacing up and down outside their gate. Thinking he was there to collect eidi, they gave him some but the man stayed outside the gate till evening, leaving the family wondering what on earth he was up to. When asked a few times what else he wanted, he replied that he was only waiting for a friend. This was their meeting place, and after his friend would arrive he would take him to wherever he was living now.
What was really going on was only discovered a few days later when neighbours started sending their servants over, requesting their plates back. The chowkidar had been collecting all the meat being sent to the place.
Since the neighbours didn’t know that he had left, they were handing it to him to take inside the house, which he never did.
—Shazia Hasan
Self-praise
A certain cable operator runs on his television network laudatory documentaries highlighting the good work done by Karachi Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal. Their tone is so self-congratulatory that one can safely assume that they have been prepared at the initiative of the city government.
While they put the spotlight on the many development projects undertaken and successfully completed by Mr Kamal since he took office in Aug 2005, they make no mention of the hardships the citizens of the city face on account of the tattered civic infrastructure. Ploughed roads are not shown in these documentaries. Similarly, they do not show the heaps of garbage lying in many city streets. Uncovered manholes are not shown either.
There is no denying the fact that the city government — first under Niamatullah Khan and now under Syed Mustafa Kamal — has changed the face of the city for the better. So many underpasses and flyovers have been built recently that people returning to the homeland after a couple of years have a hard time navigating their way through the city. And yet there is no need for the current city government to crow about its achievements — and that too in documentaries run on cable television networks. Self-praise, it is said, is no recommendation.—Alauddin
Compiled by Syed Hassan Ali
Email: karachian@dawn.com
Sir,
An attempt is being made to turn a park in Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s Metroville Society’s UC 11 into a marriage hall. The nazim of UC 11, Mohibuddin Fatemi, gave this impression to residents at an open kutchery held recently.
He said the ST-27 Park was being converted into a marriage hall to supplement the union council’s income.
This is a residential area and should not be commercialised. Whenever social events take place in the park, there is a huge traffic mess, while revellers often resort to setting off firecrackers and aerial firing.
According to the relevant laws, the status of an amenity plot cannot be changed. The city nazim has also condemned this.
That is why we are protesting this illegal act that will benefit a few to the detriment of the majority of the area’s residents.
RESIDENTS
UC 11, Abul Hasan Ispahani Road
Angels and devils
Sir,
This is with reference to the article ‘And out came the wolves,’ (Dec 30, 2007).
The writer rightfully pointed out the ugly incidents at the Edhi Village as well as the looting and plundering in the rest of the country.
It is indeed a sorry state to see the situation getting out of control and angry mobs taking the law into their own hands. The perpetrators who disrupted the lives of people – be it as a reaction or for any other reason – are wolves, albeit ‘devil wolves.’
But what about those robber barons of the country – the ‘angel wolves’ – who have looted, are looting and are prepared to loot the nation again to amass even more wealth?
Our so-called thinkers, political leaders, analysts, and even sections of the private media do not stop portraying them as martyrs, champions of democracy and saviours of the country. What a pity!
May God Almighty save the country and give the people enough wisdom to distinguish between right and wrong.
AHMAD SIDDIQUE
Moosa Colony
Low pressure of Sui gas
Sir,
About 760 SSGC consumers (approx 9,000 residents) living in Rufi Lake Drive Flats Complex, GulistanBlock, for the last three months are persistently experiencing low pressure with one to two hours breakdown during the afternoon and late evening hours in the supply of Sui gas, which is causing great inconveniences. Sometimes, the gas pressure suddenly drops below the minimum level.
On making repeated complaints, SSGC technicians did visit the complex, checked the main supply source and found the pressure of Sui gas at a much lower degree than the sanctioned level. They also confirmed the supply of low gas pressure to all of Blockin general and the complex in particular. However, the problem of low pressure persists.
I would like to request the SSGC authorities to please look into the matter, remove the fault and restore the pressure of Sui gas to its required level.
M. SHAFIQUE AHMED
Gulistan
Law and order
Sir,
The law and order situation in Karachi is worsening with each passing day. Armed robberies are taking place in broad daylight, people are being held up outside banks while passengers arriving from abroad are being robbed after leaving the airport at gunpoint.
The aforementioned crimes are besides the snatching of mobile sets by armed youngsters riding motorbikes.
The general feeling amongst the victims of such crimes is that not much can be expected from the police (as their track record is not particularly good) and as a result not all robberies are reported, particularly where the amount is not large.On enquiry it was revealed that there are quite a few professional gangs or groups of armed robbers operating in the DHA and Clifton these days, who are armed with sophisticated, deadly weapons and above all are determined to go to any extent, even if it means losing their own life, not to talk of the damage they can cause to others.
There is much talk from the people at the helm of affairs that the country should be rid of militants so there is no setback to the economy or foreign investment. But what would be the reaction of foreigners when they hear of such incidents taking place in Karachi during broad daylight?The government has the necessary means to overcome such a menace. But then there should be the will to do so.
A SUFFERER
DHA
Phone problem
Sir,
My phone has been out of order for the last 34 months. Despite my continuous complaints no positive response has been received as yet. My phone number is 461-6806 and I am located in Block 11 of Gulshan-i-Iqbal.
S.R. HASAN
Via e-mail
VIPs – please spare us!
Sir,
Karachi is presenting a pathetic picture. Half the roads have been dug up, most of the gutter covers are missing while electric poles are lying on the roads. To top it all, VIP culture has made our life miserable.
The arrival of the president, prime minister or any big-shot simply paralyses traffic. The roads are blocked hours before the arrival of VIPs. As a result, even ambulances are not able to perform their duties and consequent deaths have been reported in the press.
All this chaos is created to provide greater protection to an individual. Is the cost in terms of public misery not too high? These VIPs ought to emulate the example of leaders in the West, who do not believe in such pomp and show. VIPs, please have some regard for the common man. This is the only way you can earn the love and regard of the public.
KANWAL NAEEM
Gulistan-i-Jauhar
city@dawn.com
For the people of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad the year 2007 ended like a nightmare in the aftermath of PPP leader Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Liaquat Bagh. The two cities like the rest of the country remained in mourning. The traditional New Year celebrations were understandably missing this time. Even the usual frenzy of emailing and SMS-ing for exchange of new year greetings remained subdued. The word ‘happy’ was avoided like some disagreeable epithet. The stick wielding ‘lath bardar’ battalions of the ‘righteous’ groups also remained idle. They had no cultural invasion from the West to stop. This gave a respite to the police. There were no special duties outside big hotels to do. They celebrated the passing of 2007 outside national installations and bridges on the chilling night of December 31. Businesses slumped as new year fervour ebbed to its lowest. Perhaps only bootleggers did well since sorrows need to be sunk.
The advent of 2008 was no different. It dawned in darkness and was welcomed by one of the worst power shedding in the history of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) announced an extended loadshedding schedule due to shortage of electricity that touched 500MW at peak hours. Households in Rawalpindi bided time in darkness for continuous four-hour intervals three to four times a day. Roads linking the two cities remained dark; even the Islamabad Highway and Murree Roads — the routes for VVIP movements — were off the grid. As a result stockists of candles, lamps, lanterns, and power reserve equipments like generators and UPS did roaring business.
In all this gloom of death and darkness the most talked about subject was the 12/27 tragedy itself, its fall-out, the limping investigations and the open question: who could have done that. The impending postponement of elections worried the politicos. While conspiracy theories and controversies — particularly after the government’s changing explanations of the happening — abounded, some very plausible questions troubled the national mind. As truth is always the first casualty in such situations, confusion continued to compound as time passed.
Why the scene of the assassination was so hurriedly washed clean with pressure hoses even President Musharraf could not explain to foreign and local correspondents. And it was the second time it had been done and both times when Benazir was the target of the attack. Instead of preserving the evidence for forensic experts by cordoning off the affected area as was done when the President’s convoy was attacked in Rawalpindi, the scene both in Karachi’s Karsaz area on the late prime minister’s arrival on October 18 last and now outside Liaquat Bagh were quickly cleaned up as if to cover up the tracks that led to the attackers. This helped rumours and conspiracy theories to flourish and surround intelligence agencies, other government institutions and even President Musharraf himself.
People had not forgotten how after the failed attempt on the life of the President about two years ago the scene had been subjected to different treatment. The first thing the investigators — all local and working under the President — did was to cordon-off immediately the entire area, almost 300 sq.meters. In the supervision of the armed forces, the entire area was screened inch-by-inch manually and with latest forensic equipment for gathering vital evidence. This careful scrutiny led to the finding of a mobile SIM-card, which ultimately helped trace the entire gang behind the plot. That was the proper way of conducting a serious probe. However it was abandoned in the case of a leader of international importance like Benazir.
The government would have been much relaxed today had it followed that procedure in the Liaquat Bagh incident also. The people now cannot be blamed for raising fingers at the government agencies, at the Gujrat Chaudhrys, and possibly powerful foreign hands who want to unsettle the ship of the state. The Scotland Yard investigators, even before travelling to Islamabad, had sounded their doubts about their success in finding out the truth as it was already too late to establish the exact circumstances since “nearly all forensic evidence has been lost from the crime scene”. The role of the five-member team that arrived in Islamabad on Friday would remain limited to “technically assisting” Pakistani investigators.
This reminds us of Faiz Ahmad Faiz who was also accused in the Rawalpindi conspiracy case:
Nisaar main teri galiyon ke aye watan, ke jahaan
Chalii hai rasm ke koi na sar uthaa ke chaley
Jo koi chaahnewala tawaaf ko nikley
Nazar churaa ke chaley, jism-o-jaan bachaa ke chaley
Hai ahl-e-dil ke liyey ab ye nazm-e-bast-o-kushaad
Ki sang-o-khisht muqayyad hain aur sag azaad
Bahot hain zulm ke daste-bahana juu ke liyey
Jo chand ahle junuun terey naam levaa hain
Baney hain ahle hawas muddi bhi munsif bhi
Kisey wakil karen, kis sey munsifi chaahen.