| February 21, 2008 | Thursday | Safar 13, 1429 |
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Probing the ‘rigging plan’
Unpleasant experience
Polling in NA-210
Fulfilling the promises
A happy note
Shah Abdul Latif day
Sharing experience
Make no mistake
New resolve
Nawaz’s sense of humour
Blunders?
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 is apropos of the editorial, ‘Legislation is not enough’ (Feb19), that draws attention to continuing instances of kidneys bought from the least advantaged for the benefit of the most affluent in Pakistan, despite the passage of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissue Ordinance 2007.
The passage of Ordinance 2007 can be seen as a small victory for members of the general public, the medical community, and the media, following a collective struggle of almost two decades. But it is too soon to rest on our laurels. The battle to end kidney trafficking, domestic and international, in our country is far from over.
The crucial task before us now is to ensure that Ordinance 2007 is implemented honestly and transparently, and weak areas in the current document are strengthened through appropriate amendments.
One of the inherent weaknesses in the current Ordinance 2007 is exemplified by the case of Musarrat Bibi (Feb 18) reportedly forced by her husband to sell her kidney to get money for himself.
The Ordinance provides no specific protection to wives from being pressured by harsh, and eccentric families into undergoing a donor nephrectomy either for her husband, or from being coerced into vending a kidney for financial gains for the family.
Even more despicable is the appearance of cases of temporary ‘wives’ through ‘paper marriages’ where the intent is to obtain their kidneys for transplantation into purported ‘husbands’. This was reported in India following the passage of their transplant law in 1994, and there is evidence that it may have already begun in Pakistan.
It has come to our knowledge recently that there are cases pending in Punjab in which a number of ‘wives’ have approached the courts after their kidneys were allegedly removed and transplanted, in a private hospital in Lahore, into ‘husbands’ all of whom have distinctly East European names.
The final battle against organ trafficking in Pakistan can only be won if those appointed to implement Ordinance 2007 are people with integrity who understand that this may be the ‘law’ but it is one that must rest on ethical principles central to good medicine – respect for the dignity of all persons, the immorality of commodifying human organs, and an obligation to protect its most vulnerable citizens against exploitation, especially when the exploiters belong to the medical profession.
DR FARHAT MOAZAM
Professor and Chairperson
Centre of Biomedical Ethics and Culture, SIUT
Karachi
A US-based human rights group has recently released an audiotape of the attorney-general of Pakistan, Malik Mohammad Qayyum, acknowledging a plan to rig the Feb 18 general election. The Human Rights Watch made recording during a telephone interview with Malik Qayyum when the latter took a second call without disconnecting the first, allowing his end of the second conversation to be overheard and recorded.
It may be noted here that Attorney-General Malik Qayyum has a miserable background: he was a former judge who resigned from the bench in 2001 in the midst of charges of misconduct.
In 1999 a two-judge panel of the Lahore High Court, headed by Mr Qayyum, had convicted the late Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari in a corruption case. They were sentenced to five years in prison, fined $8.6 million each, disqualified as members of parliament for five years, and forced to forfeit their property.
In 2001 Britain’s Sunday Times published a report based on transcripts of 32 audiotapes, revealing that Mr Qayyum had convicted Ms Bhutto and Mr Zardari for political reasons. The transcript reproduced by the newspaper showed that Mr Qayyum had asked the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif and anti-corruption chief Saifur Rehman for advice on the sentence: “Now you tell me how much punishment do you want me to give her”? In April 2001 on the basis of this evidence a seven-member bench of the Supreme Court upheld an appeal by the couple, overturning the conviction. They contended that Malik Qayyum had been politically motivated in handing down the sentence. Then he faced a trial before the Supreme Judicial Council for professional misconduct, and opted to resign his post in June 2001.
According to the latest report of the Human Rights Watch, Malik Qayyum was fully aware of a plan to rig the polls, and his conversation is a proof of rigging plan. We demand that the government should interrogate Mr Qayyum to get further details.
Besides, all international human rights organisations, the Commonwealth, the UN and the European Union should take serious notice of this rigging plan.
HUMERA ALWANI
Former MPA, Thatta
I WAS looking quite forward to election. I loved the thought of casting my first-ever vote. But a very unpleasant experience opened my eyes to the cruel and harsh reality of sectarian bias.
I, with my mother, sister, aunt and a female cousin, went to cast my vote at a polling station in Delhi Colony of the constituency NA-250.
Despite the fact that we had our passes, a bunch of people surrounded us and told us we could not vote.
The policemen at the scene would not do anything and just kept whining: “Let the women vote.”
The men at our back and front were whispering and signalling to each other not to let us through the gate of the polling station.
After trying our best to be able to cast our vote, we at last admitted defeat.
As we turned to leave, we could hear their sarcastic comments about how, on earth, they could allow supporters of a rival party to cast their votes.
Disgusted by this experience, I was told by two more people I know that they too were not allowed to cast their votes.
I, as a citizen of Pakistan, went to exercise my birthright and ended up being insulted with my family by a bunch of people. It is disgusting to know that our policemen who are supposed to protect the rights of the country’s citizens can so easily be intimidated.
My vote and those of my family and friends have been wasted for no genuine reason.
That party’s authorities, whose people prevented honourable citizens from casting their votes, certainly owe an explanation and an apology to all those people.
KHUSHBAKHT VAKA
Karachi
TO my utter dismay I have discovered that the election in NA-210, from where my son Shehryar Mazari was contesting on a PPP ticket, has been rigged in favour of the PML(Q) candidate. This irregular activity took place under the auspices and with the encouragement of District Nazim Saleem Jan Mazari.
During the election polling agents from 18 polling stations in Kashmore were unlawfully kidnapped and the presiding officers and staff were unduly influenced by the nazim.
Polling stations in Domki and Sunderani areas were totally taken over by PML(Q) and as many as 25,000 votes were rigged from here in favour of the PML(Q) candidate.
The winning candidate ostensibly got 56,000 votes, out of which at least 40,000 are illegal and the product of rigging.
My son was leading from this constituency by a fair margin and it was only after midnight that the whole situation changed as a result of these unlawful activities.
I strongly feel that such practices should not go unchecked and that immediate re-polling in this constituency with proper checks in place is imperative, especially since this constituency has already earned notoriety in the past for such illegal practices.
SIRDAR SHERBAZ KHAN MAZARI
Karachi
THE nation has given its verdict. Many an unexpected surprise has been sprung upon some of the political stalwarts considered invincible. In spite of the apprehensions and fears in most parts of the country, by and large the turnout of the voters was better than expected. People have rejected the previous rulers, and the PPPP and ML(N), along with some other political parties, have been given the opportunity of serving the country selflessly and with dedication, which I hope they would.
The people must also appreciate and give the credit where due that President Musharraf has kept his word of making the election free, fair, transparent and peaceful. The big hue and cry about rigging proved to be a much ado about nothing. The election was peaceful also as no large-scale disturbances or suicide bombing took place on the election day. However, the peace was marred at a few places by the political rivals by killing around 35 persons and injuring more than a hundred.
Looking ahead, though it is an obvious case of a hung parliament yet, one hopes that all would rise above the self and serve the nation with a new resolve and dedication, forgetting their differences and not indulging in politics of revenge. Now is the time to fulfil the promises made to the nation, take the country on to the road to progress and show it to the world that we too are a civilised democratic country.
COL(r ) RIAZ JAFRI
Rawalpindi
Abraham Lincoln must be smiling. Win or lose, Obama’s candidacy is good news.
Is it not amazingly heartening that American voters have become colour-blind? A majority of white male voters are supporting black candidate Obama. Also a majority of brown voters (Hispanics) are supporting white candidate Hilary Clinton.
What a refreshing thought it is to observe that Obama does not have to prove that he comes from a certain clan from a certain province.
This reminds me of Dadabhai Naoroji who was elected member of the British Parliament in 1892 with the full support of white voters. Dadabhai was the mentor to young Gandhi and Jinnah.
KHALIDA
London UK
LIKE every year, from Feb 22 we are celebrating 257th anniversary of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (1689-1752), a great reformer-sage Sindh has ever produced. This extraordinary individual was born in Hala Haveli (Old Hala) in a renowned Syed family, which has already produced a great saint-poet, Shah Abdul Karim of Bulri.
Shah Latif was a gifted child. From his very adolescence the wretched conditions of the people deeply hurt him. He lived during the period when the subcontinent, Sindh in particular, was passing through the most chaotic times. Although the people of Sindh were in perpetual hardship, especially during the despotic Arguns and Turkhans, in the Mughal overlordship their position was relegated to a subservient class. It was after Aurangzeb that local warlords gradually attained sovereignty. The transition, however, was more hazardous because of subsequent Iran-Afghan incursions.
Shah’s empathy for the downtrodden aroused jealousy amongst some powerful landlords, pirs, mirs, and rulers who became his enemies, and attempt was made on his life thrice. Thus, like every reformer, Shah left his abode dejected and went to hills, valleys, the banks of the river, and the fields, where he met the ordinary folk, the Sufis (mystics).
He went to the Ganjo Hills in Hyderabad for contemplation, and then to the mountains in Las Bela in Balochistan. For three years, he travelled with ‘jogis’ and ‘sanyasis’, in search of the truth, peace, and harmony, to Hinglaj, Lakhpat, Nani at the foot of the Himalayas and to Sappar Sakhi. He also travelled to such far-off places as Junagarh, Jesalmere and traversed the Thar Desert.
Finally, in true ascetic spirit, Shah Latif found solace near Lake Karar, a mere sand hill (Bhit), but an exotic place of pristine scenic beauty, four miles away from Hala where in solitude he used to contemplate. This wilderness was covered by thorny bushes surrounded by many pools of water.
The miseries of people witnessed during sojourn left an indelible imprint on the conscientious and courageous Shah which he sang in rhythm and parable so as to rouse the slumbering indolent to change their destiny.
Shah was not a poet in ordinary sense of the word but basically a steadfast reformer and truth seeker par excellence whose verses do not contain any hyperbole which more often than not poetry contains. The compendium is called Risalo which, according to H. T. Sorley, “is the only classic which the language of Sindh has yet produced in the realm of deeply imaginative literature”.
Although his verses inspired many academicians and scholars who, besides writing on his life and works, discussed its esoteric meaning but unfortunately the laity has kept his message aside: too sanctified to be spoilt by following it in letter and in spirit as they held him as a divine saint, interceding for their failings.
The multitudes visiting his shrine, especially at the time of urs, soliciting some mundane happiness, is a testimony that the message for which the great reformer had endured immeasurable tribulations, at times endangering his life, has been misconstrued.
Anniversaries are celebrated, apart from holding cultural shows, to reaffirm the exalted cause for which great social reformers fought and stood for, notwithstanding extreme physical and mental hazards. On this auspicious occasion, admirers of Shah have to step ahead and appreciate the message of Risalo, i.e. attainment of peace and prosperity for the people, which is possible only through the spread of education.
ISHA M. KURESHI
Karachi
THIS is apropos of the letter, ‘Lessons from the neighbour’ (Feb 14), wherein the writer has rightly said that Pakistan can take a cue from India and venture into something similar.
However, the thrust of the letter seems to be that India is getting ahead only by merely advertising on CNN and BBC channels. I wish it was so simple. In that case every country can just splash money on CNN and the BBC and lo! behold, you have success at your doorstep.
It will do no harm to accept the fact that India is changing and there is tremendous progress in the economy on all the fronts.
You have to experience to believe it. To think that merely glorifying average achievement will do the trick would only bring disappointment. Let it not be forgotten that howsoever good the packaging may be, ultimately the product has to meet the expectations.
Remember the old adage: ’You can fool some people for all the time or all the people for sometime, but you cannot fool all the people for all the time”. India is not incredible because of the slogan, but because of the opportunities it is offering to one and all in diverse fields.
Yes, India has its share of problems, but they can be solved only by higher growth and that is what the country is trying to do.
We can always learn from each other’s experience to mutual advantage.
S.D.ISRANI
Mumbai
Your editorial, ‘Make no mistake’ (Jan 24), was an eye- opener for all those who are contemplating supplying wheat, sugar, rice, pulses and edible oil under the ration card system.
The system is no more than a political bribery as it is fundamentally a corrupt system.
Back in the 50s and 60s, as a schoolgoing child I had personally seen and experienced the ills of the system and I will not desire the children of 21st century to go back to that era when I used to stand in lines for hours for one kilo of sugar but without any success.
If a great nation, with its own nuclear programme for peaceful purposes and as a deterrent and with over seven per cent GDP growth during the last seven years, is unable to weed out the hoarders of basic food items, then all that we have achieved in the last 60 years is meaningless.
‘Make no mistake’ is the piece of advice for the caretaker setup.
If anything better can be done for the poor of this country, it is to have detailed external audit of Utility Store Corporation to find out the gap between debits and credits.
M, ASIF DAR
Karachi
AFTER 60 years of experiments, Pakistanis deserve better. They need a good, efficient, effective, representative and accountable government. They need a bureaucracy and army staffed by people who do not push their weight and ranks around.
They need a judiciary that knows how to ensure equity and fairness for all. They need a judiciary that can hold dishonest and corrupt elements accountable irrespective of their institutional affiliation, rank or social standing.
They need a media that does not follow sensationalism but is investigative, factual, bold and critical.
Collectively, we all need to talk less and do more. We all need to understand that nobody irrespective of caste, creed, age, rank or experience has exclusivity on wisdom. Let’s tolerate dissent as this is a virtue of all democratic and progressive societies.
Enough of talk, let’s work for a new Pakistan
SHAHZAD S. IQBAL
Lahore
NAWAZ Sharif’s narration of a racist joke about a Sardarji (which was a damp squib, anyway) was at best indiscreet and at worst a disgrace for someone who has been the country’s prime minister twice and is, sadly, aspiring to don the mantle for the third time. Imagine this happening in front of so many TV cameras. I can only say that some people don’t grow up.
On the other hand, Asif Ali Zardari and Makhdoom Amin Fahim were both dignified. I am no supporter of the PPP but under the circumstances the latter is our best bet for the post of the prime minister.
ASIF NOORANI
Karachi
With reference to Capt. Afaq Rizvi’s letter, ‘Retired and resentful’ (Feb 17), the writer wonders at the extraordinary ‘ridicule’ being lumped at Mr Musharraf, when ‘blunders’ similar to Mr Musharraf’s have been committed by civilian and military rulers in the past as well. While not justifying personal ridicule of any individual, I would like to take exception to the use of the term ‘blunder’ for what has been perpetrated by Mr Musharraf as well as other dictators in this country.
If we think that violation and mutilation of the Constitution (read treason) and sacking of judiciary are mere blunders, then we need to redo our conceptions of right and wrong. The day may not be far when in justifying the unjustifiable, people like the good writer of the letter may term cold-blooded murder a ‘blunder’ too.
AMMAR NAQVI
Lahore
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