| April 05, 2008 | Saturday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 27, 1429 |
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Wasteful expenditure on training
Creating harmony and peace
Why we are still not polio-free
Hapless defaulters
Security while staying in hotel
KESC on global warming
Teacher manhandled
No smoking
Expectations of the Baloch
The future of Iraq
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
THE prime minister’s address to the National Assembly highlighted many important proposals, over which the general public is quite excited: one of them was the proposed end to the VVIP culture in Pakistan.
THIS culture is entrenched in our society, even though it goes against every single principle of equality, morality and ethics — in terms of what is taught by our religion and our Constitution. There is nothing worse than being forced to believe that someone else holds more importance than you.
Unfortunately, this is the reality many of us Pakistanis are forced to live with. Therefore, to overcome these problems, I put forward the following proposals to our parliamentarians, and the prime minister:
First, and most importantly, the government should get rid of and ban all special counters for the so-called VIPs at airports, hotels, cinemas, and all other public places. It is disgusting to see special counters for the so-called VIPs when you are made to stand in long queues — whether they are for the chairlifts in Patriata or for a movie theatre, or an immigration counter at an airport.
These are elements that belong to the inhuman Americas of the pre - 1960s (when African Americans were treated like third grade citizens), not to Pakistan envisioned by the great Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Second, we need some road reforms as discussed below.
It is imperative for the new government to look into changing the way the prime minister, the president, army generals and other government officials, such as the chief ministers, move on the road. We need to say goodbye to road blocks for hours, which leave the wide public stranded and infuriated.
To start off, the government should start thinking in economic terms — for example: a road block can cost our economy millions of rupees in losses just for the fact that many businessmen, traders, workers and general public with business cannot get to their respective destinations on time to complete their work and transactions.
We need to make sure that we understand that this money belongs to us. Perhaps cutting the number of vehicles and individuals in security escorts for these VIPs would also save funds in our treasury.
Another important recommendation is to stop categorising car number plates. We need to get rid of the green government plates on cars, the monograms on army vehicles being used by the army, the yellow number plates given to WB or other organisations. Perhaps if we just stick to the universal number plate for all vehicles (with the exception of diplomats and UN officials who have red and blue plates, respectively), we can hope to end the ‘classification of citizens’.
There are other ways of keeping track of government vehicles (i.e. through records of chassis numbers), and we do not need green number plates, or army monograms, to tell us whom the car belongs to. Perhaps government vehicles (that is civilian and army) can be provided with ID tags to be put on the front windscreen, or a tag that can be shown at a toll plaza. This change would surely please the wider public, who often feel helpless on the road.
These few changes would surely help in decreasing — if not ending — the mediaeval ‘nawab’ culture that exists. Though there are other countless things that need to be done, this is a reminder that it is always the first step that counts. It is hoped that the new government would do something in this regard. Finally, may I offer a quote which many Pakistanis are familiar with: “The foundation of this world is on hope.”
ZABBY
New Zealand
THE decision of the newly- elected prime minister to reduce the PM’s house expenditure by 40 per cent, as well as the directive to ministers to use vehicles not above 1600cc, is commendable. However, more austerity measures are required.
The previous regime in its eight years’ rule had started a number of uneconomical schemes. For instance, on the training of officers various plans were introduced. At the instance of the World Bank a capacity building programme, local as well as foreign, was launched.
Under this programme the WB provided a foreign currency loan on interest. This huge credit was spent on the capacity building courses of senior bureaucrats. Whether these courses were of any advantage to the career-building expertise of the officers is debatable.
Another huge expenditure was incurred on the training of officers for acquiring eligibility of further promotion. Previously those who attained the age of 56 were exempted from such training. The logic behind this exception was that since these officers were left with a little time to serve, therefore, incurring a expenditure on their training was neither in the interest of the organisation and national exchequer nor of the candidate himself.
This exemption was withdrawn by the previous regime without appreciating its rationale. As a result of this thoughtless decision, every officer irrespective of his age has to undergo such training. So much so that even the officers at the verge of retirement were not spared of this fruitless exercise. It has happened that some of them, immediately after completion of the course, either proceeded on LPR or retired outright attaining the age of superannuation.
The government decision of making no exemption caused a huge loss to the treasury each year, besides affecting the morale and working of the departments which were denied experienced hands when in need, as after receiving six months’ training they were not available to the departments they ought to have served.
By restoring the scheme of ‘exemption’ the government can immediately reduce the burden on the national exchequer, which is being wasted in millions of rupees every year on useless exercise of training those sitting on the threshold of retirement.
DR. KAZI KHADIM HUSSAIN
Hyderabad
THIS is apropos of the news report, ‘Asif wins acquittal in Nizam murder case’ (March 25). Asif Ali Zardari was charged with killing Justice Nizam Ahmed, a former judge of the Sindh High Court, and his son, Nadeem Ahmed, on June 10, 1996. Mr Zardari was politically victimised and falsely implicated in the case at the behest of the then government and agencies. The ulterior motive was to turn the bench and the bar against Mr Zardari because one of the deceased was an ex-judge and another was a lawyer.
It is worth noting that five charge-sheets were filed in the case by the investigating agencies in four years but no charge could be framed against Mr Zardari. All the challans, with the addition of dishonest improvement in each report, were contradictory in content.
It is noteworthy that the name of Asif Ali Zardari was not mentioned in the first FIR registered at the police station concerned and the case had been pending for the last 12 years, and the trial court was not able to frame any charge against him and that there was not an iota of evidence that the alleged crime could be linked to Mr Zardari.
During this Mr Zardari had been remanded to jail, as well as in the police custody, in a mala fide and illegal manner, and maltreated and tortured to extract a confessional statement to conform to the liking of the police. As this did not come about, justice was delayed and Mr Zardari had to rot behind bars for eight years.
On one occasion Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, at present chairman of the PPP, spoke about the ‘cooked-up cases’ against his father, saying Mr Zardari was the only politician in Pakistan who had been kept behind bars for eight years but not a single case against him was proved.
The important thing here is that instead of taking recourse to victimising each other or indulging in revengeful politics, we should create an atmosphere of tolerance and follow the democratic norms and seek accountability through a free, fair and peaceful election.
HUMERA ALWANI
MPA, Thatta
THIS is apropos of Mukhtar Alam’s report, ‘Health officials up in arms over latest polio case’(March 24), and your editorial, ‘Why we are still not polio - free’(March 26). Frankly speaking , a lot of questions have been raised about polio eradication in Pakistan, especially in the doctors’ community.
It is amazing to see that federal health authorities and the EPI, after appearance of the report and the editorial, have not been able to file a proper response to prove their alertness in clearing the doubts the two write-ups have created in the readers.
I would like to ask these ‘officers’ of the federal health authorities, who claim to have one of the world’s most modern laboratories to track down the whereabouts of such viruses, something known as the ‘virus epidemiology’, to tell us whether the concerns raised in the report and subsequently in the editorial are correct.
As stated in the publications, the virus that affected the children in Shikarpur, Nawabshah and Hyderabad with the crippling polio disease may have been transferred from families that keep on travelling from Afghanistan to the NWFP and then from the NWFP to Sindh.
If such is the case, then what steps are being taken to counter this transfer of virus? Does people living in Punjab and other parts of the country need to worry about it? And if the surveillance system of Sindh has increased to an excellent level, then what steps are being taken to add quality to the surveillance systems of Punjab and the NWFP because if the virus can travel all the way from Afghanistan to northern Sindh, tomorrow it can also travel to parts of Punjab.
DR MOHAMMAD IDREES
Chakwal
There is an advertisement placed in your esteemed newspaper (April 3) by the House Building Finance Corporation Limited (HBFC) titled ‘Sale of Property through Auction’. It is regarding auction of properties for the recovery of outstanding HBFC dues, which is really disturbing.
In a country where billions of rupees are written off by different banks and financial institutions to influential people and companies, a shelter is being snatched from a poor person for defaulting as low as Rs21,458.
Is there anyone still alive with conscience in this country to care about this big contrast ailing our society?
I humbly request philanthropists to come forward and help the poor families to retain their shelter.
SYED NAYYER MUHAMMAD
Karachi
THERE has always been an implied understanding that the traveller stops at the ‘inn’ not only for the comfort of a bed, a roof overhead, and a meal on the table but also for the safe haven provided by the lodging. Guests automatically assume that security is high on a hotel’s list of priorities, but unfortunately the opposite is often true.
There are many examples where people while staying in a hotel or motel became victim to criminals. Women when staying in a hotel alone also some time fall prey to rapists. Back in 1974, in America the famous singer, Connie Francis, sued the motel chain that she was sexually assaulted in her motel room by an intruder, alleging that the assault upon her was the result of inadequate security at the motel.
In March 2007 laptops of the top management of PIA were stolen from the hotel in Brussels when they had gone there for a meeting with the European Union. The laptop of the PIA chairman was stolen from his hotel room, while his colleagues’ laptops were stolen at the time of check-in in the hotel. The thieves also stole one of the files that the PIA chief had taken with him to Brussels and even tore up his briefcase in search of certain documents (March 9, 2007).
Similarly, in March 2007, the mysterious death of Pakistan’s cricket team coach, Bob Woolmer, took place in a hotel room during his stay with the Pakistani cricket team in Jamaica.
When travelling on business or pleasure trips, it may become necessary to stay overnight in a hotel. It is important to consider security aspect while staying in a hotel. There are two types of threats to guests in a hotel, that is a hotel room burglary and a hotel room invasion robbery. Hotel burglars work mostly during the day and when a room is more likely to be unoccupied.
Most burglars work alone and tend to probe a hotel looking for the right room and the right opportunity. Good access control systems and alert hotel staff can often deter burglars. Burglars don’t want to be confronted and will usually flee when noticed, but if cornered they can use force to escape.
Hotel room invasion robbers, in contrast, work more often at night when rooms are more likely to be occupied and fewer members of staff are on duty. Hotel room invaders enter the room with an overwhelming physical force to take control and instil fear in the occupants of the room.
Guest room robbers sometimes use a ruse or impersonation to pretend to be a room service, housekeeping or security staff. They also some time select a victim in the hotel lobby and ride up in the elevator with him or her and get off on the same floor and pretend walking behind as if going to their room. But when their victim opens the door, the robber then forces his way in behind him/her and takes control of his victim. Here are a few security tips:
— Always ask the hotel reception to give you the room possibly on second through seventh floor because the first floor is too easily accessible by potential intruders and the higher floors cannot be reached by fire ladders.
— Do not accept a room with a door connected to another room.
— After check - in, ask the reception to provide an employee to escort you to your room.
— Upon entering the room with your escort, check possible hiding places, including door and window locks. Keep the door locked when you are in the room.
— Deposit your cash and valuables in the hotel safe.
— Encrypt all confidential information on your laptop and lock it in your room’s safe.
— Never allow hotel employees in your room without first checking their identity from the front desk
— Alert front desk staff if you sense some danger.
Once you know how hotel robbers work, you can effectively prevent most occurrences.
SQN LDR(r) S. AUSAF HUSAIN
Karachi
LAST week I received an email from WWF Worldwide Fund for Nature, urging me to do my bit to combat climate change by switching off my lights for an hour from 8pm to 9pm on Saturday evening.
People all over the world would do the same according to their local time, creating a wave of ‘lights out’ that would ripple around the globe like a Mexican wave at a soccer stadium.
Always one to support acts of global solidarity, I marked my calendar and awaited my turn to flick off my lights for the environment at the appointed hour. When 8pm on Saturday rolled around, I discovered that I had jumped the gun and thanks to the KESC that had been saving the environment since 7.15 pm.
Furthermore, I also helped save the environment between 11am and 1.30pm and briefly from 4.30pm to 5.15pm. I feel a lot better about the power outages now. I wonder if the KESC can apply for carbon credits for the loadshedding.
ARIF BELGAUMI
Karachi
IT is sad that at the start of a new era of political freedom, the paramilitary forces assigned at the University of Karachi had the courage to beat up a professor (April 1) within the university premises in broad daylight just because he wanted to leave the university premises.
Being an alumni of the University of Karachi and a person who has lived in the city for good part of 50 years, nothing saddens the heart more than to see this highly perched educational institution ending up in ruins like this.
Having followed the highs and lows of this educational institution over the last 30 years, it is imperative to have a strong and independent administrator.
A IRFAN
Indonesia
SMOKING is increasing among frustrated, depressed and emotional people despite governmental efforts to contain and discourage this habit. People, especially the young ones, are unaware of its harmful effects on human health.
The government, badly in need of financial resources, should increase the cigarette prices two or three times immediately like other commodities of daily use to discourage this habit and strengthen the revenue earnings and to rid the people of this unhealthy habit.
SYED IQBAL AHMAD
Karachi
THIS is apropos of Sanaullah Baloch’s article, ‘Undoing the damage’ (March 31). The writer mentioned that “Balochistan is unfortunate victim of President Musharraf’s ill-advised adventure”.
I agree with the writer that President Musharraf, with his anarchist policies, has turned the land of Balochistan into a battleground. Precisely, the Baloch have lost many a prominent figure in the military operation launched in their province.
The most annoying action for the Baloch is that several of their families were forced to migrate to Afghanistan as refugees. Moreover, the question arises as to why Balochistan’s provincial autonomy was not addressed. And why is the centre taking 48 per cent and giving two per cent to Balochistan from the Sandak project? Of course, it goes without saying that the centre has been responsible for Balochistan’s deprivation.
There is no doubt that neither the Baloch have received a modicum of justice from the centre nor have any respectable people like the prominent Baloch leaders, including Akhtar Jan Mengal, who has been in the prison since 2006.
In conclusion, the Baloch have a lot of expectations from the new prime minister and his cabinet to end the military operation in Balochistan. The highest number of paramilitary checkposts — 900 in all — must return to their barracks and release all Baloch leaders who have been imprisoned since 1999.
Also, provincial autonomy must be ensured according to the Constitution.
BAQIR ALI NOOR
Kech, Turbat
PRIME Minister Nouri al Maliki and his Iraqi army have failed miserably in their latest attempt to force Moqtada al Sadr, the chief opponent to the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, to retreat from Basra.
Basra is a key battleground because oil is produced nearby and exported through Basra. The Mahdi army, umbrella of Sadr’s militia, stood its ground in fierce fighting with Iraqi soldiers which were backed by American and British airpower.
The failure of Iraq’s military under Nouri al Maliki does not bode well for the long - term struggle against Shiite sectarianism. Soon after a historic visit to Iraq, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signalled interest in a stable and united Iraq. In the final analysis, the US with help from Iran, its neighbours and various factions of Iraq’s political parties must define the future for Iraq.
PROF WARIS SHERE
Canada
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