| April 16, 2008 | Wednesday | Rabi-us-Sani 9, 1429 |
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Iraq imbroglio
Education: out of the box
Clarification about accelerator
7th Avenue
History of Jamiat
Deprived of education
Bowl-out rule
A ‘suspect’ nation
KU teacher’s manhandling
A hanging threat
Books, not bombs
The handsome and loveable children with tears in their sparkling eyes gave a heart- breaking pain and a sigh of our inability to contain Israel from denying one of the fundamental human rights.
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
A large-scale change in the country’s bureaucracy is in the air, if not in motion already (April 13). This unfortunate feature repeats itself every time there is a change in the government. Experience shows that but for demoralising the civil services it hardly brings an improvement in administration in statistically significant terms. Indeed this not too necessary exercise can, and does, label civil servants as extensions of this political party or the other.
I assume that all of us, particularly the primary organs and institutions of the state, have by now not failed to comprehend our manifold and precarious predicaments, on- and off-shore. If, prayerfully, that be so, then one can with some assurance hope that all quarters at the pain of further, but unbearable, pain and suffering would be readying themselves to lend a sincere, honest and selfless shoulder to the wheel of pursuing reconciliation to reconstruct cohesion.
If all of us were all ears to the following premonitory but sagacious admonition of the Quaid-i-Azam delivered in March 1948, I am sure something good must emerge for us to bring harmony in our state structure.
The Quaid said: “You have to do your duty as servants; you are not concerned with this political or that political party; that is not your business. It is a business of politicians to fight out their case under the present constitution or the future constitution that may be ultimately framed.
“You, therefore, have nothing to do with this party or that party. You are civil servants. Whichever gets the majority will form the government and your duty is to serve that government for the time being servants not as politicians. “How will you do that?
“The government in power for the time being must also realise and understand their responsibilities that you are not to be used for this party or that. I know we are saddled with legacy, old mentality, old psychology and it haunts our footsteps, but it is up to you now to act as true servants of the people even at the risk of any minister or ministry trying to interfere with you in the discharge of your duties as civil servants.
“I hope it will not be so but even if some of you have to suffer as a victim – I hope it will not happen – I expect you to do so readily. We shall, of course, see that there is security for you and safeguards to you.
“If we find that is in any way prejudicial to your interest, we shall find ways and means of giving you that security. Of course, you must be loyal to the government that is in power.”
Can the anxious, if not frightened, citizens of Pakistan look up to all who hold their destiny in their hands in one way or the other today, for once, give them all that the Quaid promised them? The citizens promise that they will have their unstinted support to anything they ask of them in palpably transparent manner to build this country into a nation at all times cleaving to the Quaid’s immortal maxim, Unity, Faith and Discipline.
M.J. AS’AD
Karachi
IT’s a pity that two noteworthy events, OIC summit and AL summit, concluded in the Islamic World, with not a single worthwhile statement or stand on the Iraq standoff.
Iraq is an Islamic state and the condition of the people living there has gone from a reasonably good state before invasion to the Stone Age stage. On a scale of one to 10 if Saddam era was 10, the present state is minus 20.
There is no proper provision for water, power, sanitation, medication, communication, education and infrastructure that a primitive society would like to have. Iraqi currency has given way to barter trade; dollar is the currency that has any say.
There are two lucrative employment opportunities, either join the army or the police.
Young men join the US-backed forces to keep starvation away from their family. Otherwise, if they do not join either of the employment, they are eyed with suspicion for being either the Saddam loyalists or Al Qaeda operatives.
Summary killing of the youth on a shred of doubt for being involved in an insurgent activity meets with instant deaths of the male member in question. The killing is pronounced as an encounter in which militants are killed, but the fact is that those killed are unarmed and fearful individuals who do not have any voice. Most certainly there is no one among the Arabs to voice concern for their plight.
Other Muslims do cry but are voiceless, the only country which has really stood by them with a billion dollars in aid and a visit to Iraq by its president is Iran. Our salute to the leadership and the people of Iran for standing with a long-time foe in its time of need, and showing Muslim brotherhood.
Most Muslim countries are close to the USA, more than two-thirds of the Arab world can be described in that category. Can’t they effect a resolution to end the suffering of the Iraqi people, because the US, after all, had claimed to occupy the land of the Iraqis in order to get them ‘liberated from a tyrant’.
The supposed tyrant is dead, the influentials of the tyrant’s period are dead, the country as a force is dead, so why can’t the superpower let the people live in peace, with whatever is left of the once rich and famous Iraq.
Although there are drawing-room discussions held in the US-friendly Arab world to request the US to let the Iraqis off the hook, however time is ripe, since there is an election in the US, to get together and force the US administration for a resolution.
If such a dialogue is started now with an agenda that any further stay of US forces in the region could destabilise the US-friendly countries, may be the next US administration, if not the present one, will stretch the negotiation to a conclusive chapter of ending the Iraq imbroglio.
DAWOODI MORKAS
Karachi
THIS is apropos of Tariq Mahmood Hashmi’s letter, ‘A need for uniform education system’ (April 14). I agree with most of the points made but there are some points I would like to add.
Mr Tariq is right when he says that the education system should be uniform in this county, whereas some schools award matriculation certificates while others A level ones.
There needs to be some uniform instruction and degrees awarded in order to give equal weightage to all the degrees issued in this country. The same principle applies all over the developed world for good reason.
However, I feel the point that is missing here is a very important one. Not only must there be a uniform educational system in the country, there also needs to be a complete revamp of the system. I myself have graduated from one of Karachi’s top two schools but I found the prevailing system in that school left much to be desired.
The teachers in that school put too much weightage on rote learning rather than encouraging individual and creative thought. The students who had the ability to rote-learn numerous textbooks and almost reproduce them word for word on paper were the ones who were awarded the highest marks. Students who expressed the same points in their own words were often penalised and not being given equally high marks. This phenomenon is not present in just this school but in most schools and indeed colleges in Pakistan.
Students are most likely to be discouraged from independent thinking and analysis, a crucial element in the developed world to achieve good education. Our students are more likely to parrot-learn.
A mark of any first world society or country is the ability of its citizens to think creatively and out of the box. That is the intellectual force that drives a country forward by creating positive change and can go some way in finding solutions to problems present in the country.
It is sad to see that in Pakistan its citizens seem to have lost that ability to think in a creative way, mostly because from when they were children they were rote-taught instead of being encouraged to think on their own.
NABIL HOODBHOY
Karachi
SINCE my name has been mentioned in Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy’s article ( April 8) and in the HEC’s response (April 10) to that, I wish to clarify the position I had taken as director-general of the National Centre for Physics. First, my letter, as quoted by the HEC has an important omission: “In the meeting it was felt that one needs to identify more users for this facility within Pakistan besides the ones who presented their proposals for the usage of Pelletron in the symposium”.
This, in fact, is the crux of the matter. Nobody, including Dr Hoodbhoy, was against buying the accelerator per se. But what we were concerned about was whether one can make a sensible programme for its use.
It is important to know that the Pelletron, whose earlier version was the Van de Graaf, is now mainly used as a service facility for research in materials science, isotope analysis, etc. It is not used for research in nuclear physics any more.
Therefore, one should know about its potential users and their needs. This is why NCP organised a one-day symposium on Sept 8, 2005. Although I am quoted as saying that we should try and do our best to find users, I was not involved in the subsequent implementation and running of the project.
Now that the Pelletron is being installed, the question arises as to whether the concerns shown by us in the meeting, held over 30 months ago, have been addressed. In fact, this was the main point of Dr Hoodbhoy’s article. Perhaps the HEC should ask the persons involved in the project to clarify this.
Finally, the amount quoted by Dr Hoodbhoy is correct since one should include the cost of the associated laboratory (165+ 75 + 164 ), which then adds up to about 400 million.
RIAZUDDIN
Islamabad
I FULLY agree with Kamran Shafi’s article, ‘Why, pray, Agha Shahi Avenue’ (April 1).
While driving on 7th Avenue, you come across an overhead bridge named as ‘Kulsoom Saifullah Khan Bridge’.
It took a bit of brainstorming and inquiries to realise that this lady, along with her siblings, has been associated politically and economically with all governments —political or military. That seems to be the only service rendered to the country.
I suggest that if someone wants to highlight the names of their elders, they should pay for the cost of the bridge, street, etc. I am sure that the family in discussion has accumulated enough through written-off loans and can afford to pay the cost of the bridge in order to have this plaque.
In future, the CDA should form a citizens committee drawn from all segments of society not only to decide the future names of streets and avenues but also reconsider previous titles.
SHAHRAYAR KHAN
Rawalpindi
THIS is apropos of Amjad Bhatti’s write-up, ‘Reforming student politics’ (April 11). Certain facts about Islamic Jamiat Tulaba (IJT) are not mentioned accurately, especially its foundation.
It is correctly mentioned that the IJT was formed to counter leftist elements in the country, but is incorrect to suggest that it was formed in the 70s/ 80s. The IJT was formed much earlier.
After the assassination of Hassan al Banna, the founder of Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, in 1949 at Cairo, his son-in-law, Said Ramadan, (Jamiat’s architect and a frequent visitor of Karachi, then capital) took asylum in Pakistan.
He helped to arrange the first meetings of the World Muslim Congress in Karachi. This conference was promptly denounced by Pakistan’s left, as “…. having been organised by Anglo-American imperialism…”
In Pakistan, Ramadan closely worked with Maulana Maududi and his Jamaat-i-Islami. At that time politics in Pakistan was divided amongst radical Islamist, modern Islamist, secular nationalists, the rightists and leftists. The country was being drawn into pro-western military alliances.
This was also the time when Ramadan helped Maulana Maududi to organise IJT, as mentioned by Robert Dreyfuss in his book, Devil’s Game (pages 74-75, published in 2005 in the US). He further mentioned:
“….a muscular phalanx of fanatical Islamic students that battled Pakistan’s left, especially university campuses. The so-called Islamic Student Society known by its Urdu initials as IJT, modeled on Mussolini’s fascist Squadristi, was a Ramadan project….
“Although organised under the supervision of the (Islamic Group), the IJT was greatly influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt. Between 1952 and 1955 Ramadan helped IJT leaders formalise an administrative structure and devise an organisational strategy.
“The most visible marks of the Brotherhood influence are IJT’s ‘study circle’ and all-night study session, both of which were means to indoctrinating new members and fostering organisational bond,” according to one expert, Vali Raza Nasr.
“The often armed IJT thugs clashed repeatedly with the leftwing students on campuses. Eggs tossed gradually gave way to more serious clashes, especially in Karachi and Multan,” wrote Nasr.
“Anti leftist students activism had become the IJT calling and increasingly determined in its course. [The IJT] became a soldiers brigade which would fight for Islam against its enemies — secularists and leftists — within the government and without.”
In the summer of 1953, Ramadan was ushered to meet US president Eisenhower at his Oval office in the White House, who thanked him for his prized services in creating an Arc of Islam against the Communists. Ramadan at present lives in Geneva. At 82, he is quiet healthy. I wonder if someone from JI or IJT ever visited Geneva to see the guru.
KUNWAR KHALID YUNUS
Karachi
Israel’s strength is derived from the world champion of democracy, the United States of America. The Americans must have definitely seen this picture released by AFP.
The American society or some social setup should rise up to ask their government to prevent Israel from such an oppressive act against the Palestinian children in the name of humanity.
Israel knows that the OIC is feeble and imbecile to counteract, that is why the OIC is being taken for granted by Israel.
GHEEWALA
Karachi
THE ICC rule of ‘bowling out’ if a match is tied up is faulty and lacks sound logic behind it. Cricket is not all about bowling contest alone or throwing the ball straight on the wickets. The fiercely contested game encompasses the batting skills, fast and spin bowling prowess, alacrity in the field and wits of the wicketkeeper. It is a team work.
So next time around when a match is tied up, they should be given extra time and four or five more overs should be allowed to be played by each side. In this way all the faculties of game will be exposed and tested once again and the emerging victor will convince everyone that they were the better side.
I hope that the ICC authorities will look into it and review its ‘bowling out rule’. At the moment it is simply frustrating.
SAFIR A. SIDDIQUI
Karachi
“BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown is optimistic that he can move things forward on the proposed Palestinian state” (April 2).
Proposed Palestinian state! Is the existence of the state not available in all the world’s calendars since centuries?
The authentic calendars cannot be allowed to lie for the sake of one nation — Israel.
So, Mr Brown, think to retreat rather moving forward.
Z.A. KAZMI
Karachi
I WAS an alumnus of the University of Karachi in the 1970s. For me, the news about a professor being beaten up inside the university has come as a big shock. This is not the first time it has happened and what is really appalling is the slow and non-committal response of the vice chancellor and the university administration.
It is good to see the Teachers Society taking a strong stance. But the VC, being the head of the institution, should have come out more strongly. I wonder what kind of comfort the teachers, students and non-teaching staff of the university would take knowing that their VC cannot even openly criticise the action.
The University of Karachi has been suffering from lack of highly educated teaching staff, what kind of ‘job advertisement’ this kind of incident and lack of action from the VC is giving out to budding talent who would want to enter this noble profession?
I will request the university administration to take strong action in protecting their staff and send out an unequivocal message to the academia that they care about them.
TARIQ RASHID
Sydney
THIS is with reference to a story regarding a deadly, hanging concrete shed of an old building on M. A. Jinnah Road, which appeared in the Karachi Metropolitan section a while ago. The falling pieces of heavy concrete have claimed another life since then, besides injuring many passersby.
The owner of the dilapidated multi-storeyed building located opposite Dow Medical College and on the corner of Aram Bagh/ M. A. Jinnah Road cannot afford to carry out repairs. Pedestrians are particularly at the risk of being hit by heavy concrete slabs which literally come crashing down from the sky from time to time. The building is a life-threatening hazard and it is requested that the authorities concerned take immediate action to remedy the situation.
AREA RESIDENTS
Karachi
THE Indian defence budget is 2.29 per cent of its GDP compared to Pakistan’s, which approximately spends 3.13 per cent of its GDP on defence (spending 0.84 per cent more than India). Literacy rate in India is 61 per cent as compared to 49.9 per cent in Pakistan with budget allocation for education being three and 2.76 per cent, respectively.
The rise and fall of nations depend on education and not defence: the lesson India seems to have learned well. Our future generation needs books not bombs: the lesson we fail to understand.
DR IRFAN ZAFAR
Islamabad
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