| April 20, 2008 | Sunday | Rabi-us-Sani 13, 1429 |
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FCR controversy
Peace TV
Oil and gas for China
Bush’s words vs deeds
Car price in India
Hijacked cars
Time is now
Two events
Student unions
Struggle for power
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 Tahir Zaman’s letter, ‘NWFP: baseless allegation’ (April 17). The writer has raised a few issues with reference to Adil Zarif’s article, ‘The new generation of the red shirt’ (April 13). I will first mention the points raised by Tahir Zaman and then proceed to analyse the issues turn by turn.
The letter says that the reference by Adil Zarif is from a Hindu. Could the writer check with the well-known prestigious universities (QAU, KU, Punjab University, etc.) of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan that most of the course books in natural sciences, social sciences and humanities are by Hindu writers? If it is a legal offence to quote references from a Hindu writer, it’s more than an offence to keep Hindu writers in courses and curricula.
The writer says that Dr Khan should have resigned because of the overwhelming vote of the Pakhtuns for the referendum. This claim can be contested in so many ways. First, the Khudai Khidmatgars had proposed that instead of proposing to join either Pakistan or India, the vote should be asked for whether the Pakhtuns wanted to remain independent or wanted a confederation with Pakistan or Afghanistan.
The plea of the Khudai Khidmatgars on this count was squarely rejected. They consequently boycotted the referendum. The official results of the referendum showed 90 per cent Pakhtuns voted to join Pakistan but Rittenburg (he is a British not a Hindu) collected the eyewitness accounts which proved that almost every single person cast at least 50 votes each.
This is logical keeping in view the history of referendums in this country. Both the referendums by Gen Ziaul Haq and Gen Musharraf prove this point. Habib Jalib thus says about the referendum of Zaiul Haq: Shehr mein ik hoo ka aalum tha/Jin tha ya referendum tha.
Does the writer think that the PPP, the JUI, the ANP and other progressive parties put together lost the referendum twice in the 1980s and then in 2001?
The writer says that the Hindu members of the assembly migrated to India and the independents joined the Muslim League, and so Dr Khan’s government came down to be a minority government. Does it seem logical that instead of holding by-elections on the vacant seats, the whole assembly is dissolved?
Can the writer show any example from world history that because of the vacant seats an assembly that was elected a year ago is dissolved? As for the independents joining the Muslim League, doesn’t it prove that the PML started lotacracy right from the beginning?
The writer argues that at that time a communal frenzy started and the governor wrote to the Governor-General that Dr Khan’s government was unable to control the frenzy and so the government had to be dissolved. One, if just turns the pages of history, will find out as to who was responsible for the ‘frenzy’.
Moreover, one cannot resist asking the question: was it the reason that the government turned to be a ‘minority government’ or the ‘frenzy’ that was responsible for the dissolution of the NWFP government in 1947?
The writer says that after the partition Dr Khan refused to take the oath of allegiance to the new state, thus implying that he remained no more the citizen of the new state. Why on earth then the same Dr Khan was made the minister of communications in 1954 and then the chief minister of West Pakistan in 1955? Moreover, the leader of the party, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, took the oath of allegiance in the first constituent assembly. Wasn’t that of any worth?
KHADIM HUSSAIN
Islamabad
THIS is regarding Khadim Hussain’s article, ‘The FCR controversy’ (April 14 ). The writer argues in favour of the repeal of the draconian Frontier Crimes Regulation for the Fata region.
After Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s announcement in his March 29 address in the parliament to repeal the FCR, there has been much debate in the media over the practicality of this move. One tends to agree with Mr Hussain’s argument that giving special status to the Fata region has worked as a sure shot way for the tribal elite and the bureaucracy to manipulate the area and its people to suit their own vested interest. Things would have been very different today if the region had been brought into the ambit of Pakistani law right from the beginning.
One also fails to understand the argument that the abolition of these laws would lead to a legal vacuum ready to be filled by militants. One cannot recall the PM saying that the region would be left lawless after the repeal of the Regulation. If anything, this is the first step to bring the region within the ambit of the local laws and should be welcomed.
Today, the fire spread in Fata that is ready to take the whole country in its grip owes its presence to the previous regimes’ lack of willingness to take the long route to solving problems through political means.
Earlier the regime’s strategy vis-à-vis the tribal areas has been to either sit on the problem or resort to the use of force to quell the tribal unrest. The PPP government’s willingness to take the challenge head on is the proof that the party has rejected the establishment’s policy of “we will cross the bridge when we get there.”
Being a representative political party, the PPP is very much in a position to extend the country’s regular laws to this region, and it is indeed heartening to see that it is demonstrating seriousness to resolve the longstanding issues of the troubled region.
ABID MUKHTAR KHATTAK
Bannu
PEACE TV channel originates in India and is run all over the world without any restrictions. This is the only channel full time propagating Islam (meaning peace). It is also trying to remove all the misconceptions about Islam in the best possible way.
How sad and unfortunate that the telecast of such a unique Islamic channel has been barred by Pemra in the country so proudly called the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
I appeal to Muslims all over the world to pressure Pemra to remove all restrictions on this channel.
I also appeal to all our religious parties to strongly agitate against this most unfortunate act of Pemra.
I would also like to draw the attention of the new government in this regard. Hoping a new bill will free this most unobjectionable channel also.
MAZHAR SHAH
Karachi
AS democracy’s shades and colours start to show up on the faces and in the lives of a hopeful nation, we hope that this will also mean a liberated media in the true sense.
Tolerance and liberty, freedom of thought and speech....this is not too much to expect.
A channel by the name of ‘Peace TV’ — an eye-opening, educative channel which is the need of today’s times for Muslims and the world alike -- is still banned on our cables. When cable operators are asked, they simply say that Pemra laws have forbidden it.
The information minister should look into the matter, and not let a disappointment change into permanent disillusionment.
FARAHNAZ ZAHIDI-MOAZZAM
Karachi
THIS is with reference to President Musharraf’s plea made to China during his visit over there to seriously consider importing oil and gas through pipelines traversing Pakistan from the Persian Gulf (April 15).
The report pertaining to this news, however, notes the reservations of industry sources in China about the security of the proposed conduits since a considerable portion of these would be passing through Balochistan, which is in the grip of a low-level insurgency.
It is a bitter truth that nobody would like to invest billions of dollars on a project, however beneficial it may be, if there is a high risk of sabotage of such a crucial thing as fuel.
The killings of some Chinese personnel in that province could only deter such plans. Islamabad will have to make a foolproof arrangement to ensure the uninterrupted operation of such an energy corridor.
One would suggest the creation of a sufficiently large security force equipped with state-of-the-art surveillance devices, helicopters with night-vision capabilities and a joint Pakistan-China reconnaissance satellite.
It may also include Chinese law-enforcement personnel or advisers in sufficient numbers who could be placed here till such time that the smooth operation of the project gets proved. They can be withdrawn later on if so desired.
Such an arrangement will allay the security concerns of the Indians as well, who have for long wished to import the hydrocarbons via Pakistan, besides protecting our own supplies pumped through these pipes.
KHALID CHAUDHRY
Karachi
DURING Pope Benedict’s visit to the US, President Bush told him: “We need your message that all human life is sacred and that each of us is willed, each of us is loved, and each of us is necessary.” Also: “We need your message that God is love….” (April 17).
One only wishes that Mr Bush’s lofty rhetoric was matched by his deeds. He invaded Iraq after lying to the world about its WMDs and Al Qaeda links. The famous Iranian sage Saadi had written: “The telling of a falsehood is like the cut of a sabre, for though the wound may heal, the scar of it will remain.”
The 1.5 billion Muslims hurt by this falsehood have been scarred for life.
George Bush didn’t do this because of his afore-mentioned beliefs or for the love of God but for oil, Israel and his own self.
ARIF MIAN
Karachi
THIS is apropos of the news item (April 7) that Tata Motors of India has launched the cheapest car in the world valuing at Rs100,000 with a great fuel efficiency.
India’s market has been spurred by an economy growing at an annual nine per cent that has created a new prosperous breed of car buyers.
As you are well aware, in Pakistan the minimum price of the smallest car is not less than Rs520,000 and no initiative has been taken by the ministry of commerce or industries to instruct manufacturers to reduce prices of cars in Pakistan.
The government should reduce car prices to deter manufacturers from earning unjust profits.
S.M. IMRAN
Karachi
INCIDENTS of carjacking at gunpoint have become an everyday event in the country, especially in big cities. Criminals take away an average of 30 to 40 cars and motorcycles every day in Karachi alone. They now prefer hijacking cars at gunpoint, using force rather than stealing it, because of the sophistication and prevalence of new anti-theft devices and alarm systems. Car alarms and steering wheel locking systems have made it tougher for auto thieves.
Chip-integrated ignition switches, engine cutoff devices and vehicle tracking systems, though quite expensive, are getting popular among car owners day by day. On the other hand, carjackers and car thieves are also becoming wise in countering such devices and systems.
Once the ‘vehicle tracking system’ detects a snatched car and the vehicle tracking control cuts off its engine, the panicked carjackers are forced to abandon the car wherever it is, and flee. But some time in frustration they can also set a booby trap or a remote-controlled bomb/explosive device in the car to destroy it and also to kill the people who will reach there to recover the car.
Generally a person after getting his car tracked rushes to the spot, along with the recovery team of the vehicle-tracking company, and starts checking his car whether something is missing or any damage is done while members of the company’s recovery team survey the area around the car to see if there are any hostile-looking persons nearby and also to check certain technical aspects relating to the tracking systems installed in the car.
But none of them bothers to ensure the car’s safety against a possible booby trap or bomb if planted in the car by the fleeing carjackers. However, the tracker company’s personnel are neither trained nor qualified in searching and defusing the bomb/booby trap. Moreover, they are also legally not authorised to handle a bomb. Hence any wrong initiative taken by them or order given to them to search and defuse the bomb in a car/vehicle will not only endanger their lives but also be disastrous for the people in the area if the bomb explodes.
It is suggested that after a hijacked/stolen car is tracked and spotted abandoned, the vehicle tracker company should first call the bomb disposal squad to clear the car against a possible bomb or booby trap in the interest of public safety in the area. The police should also be called in to keep the people away while the bomb disposal squad examines the car. The recovery team of the tracker company, as well as the owner of the car, should only be allowed to touch the car after it has been declared safe by the bomb disposal squad.
SQN LDR ( r ) S. AUSAF HUSAIN
Karachi
THIS is apropos of the letter by Afaq Zafar on biofuel as the future fuel for Pakistan (April 12). Pakistan had 30 million hectares of arable land which has been reduced to 20 million hectares due to increasing urbanisation and industrialisation.
The district of Malir served as a hinterland of fresh vegetables for the city of Karachi. Now a visit to Malir would show that the land has mostly been divided and separated by boundary walls for homes and housing schemes. The production of food on 20 million hectares is not enough for producing food for the bourgeoning population of Pakistan under the prevailing farming condition.
Pakistan has the potential of doubling sugarcane production but should not opt for converting food into fuel. It takes 10 months for sugar plants to mature and require regular supply of water whereas the seasonal crop plants like wheat and rice mature and are harvested after five months.
Pakistan is facing a fierce competition in exporting agricultural commodities, garments and fishes, etc., because of the strict rules for maintaining international standard.
The molasses obtained from sugarcane is earning $150 million foreign exchange. We should tap other sources of biomass to produce biofuel about which I have written in these columns (March 27).
We are facing an agricultural crisis as we understand from the print and electronic media that the total yield of wheat in 2008 will be one million ton less than the requirement in Pakistan.
We should think of boosting agricultural production by modern means and methods.
DR M. JALALUDDIN
University of Karachi
THERE are two incidents reported on page 15 of your April 12 issue. One photograph shows a car that crashed into the Supreme Court building in New York by jumping the sidewalk and going up a few steps, pinning a man in the process. This seems a real life depiction of the attack on freedom and civil rights in the US following Mr Bush’s ill-advised war on terror, where even the judicial system has been under assault.
The second story reveals that fire has destroyed a campaign office of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. A fire department official said so far there’s no indication of arson.
Could it be a providential sign that Ms Clinton’s campaign is nearing its end because many Democrat party leaders have been asking her to withdraw in favour of Barack Obama so that full attention can be focused right away on defeating the Republican candidate John McCain?
M.P. CHISHTI
Karachi
TWO obvious goals define student unions. One, their right to collective action for better education. Two, for education to advance democracy. My academic experience in Karachi and Islamabad suggests that students in public institutions focus on some immediate objectives. First, to demand substantially higher quality teaching through more effective use of resources already available. Absentee teachers, boring lectures, mildewed notes, the list goes on. Of course, unions must support teachers who resist violent threats for unmerited admissions, inflated grades and the like. Second, to be seriously inclusive in not just membership but also leadership. This requires attention to representation. At Karachi University this requires majority for females, Muslims and non-Muslims, all ethnic identities.
Participatory democracy requires free elections – so violence should be halted. But democracy also requires continuous participation in elected councils and unions, which is impossible in an atmosphere of violence even just as threats.
Third, to use the process and outcome of elections for debates on promoting cultural, social, economic and political rights through state and society.
A. ERCELAN
Karachi
IMPRISONMENT, execution and exile have always been part and parcel of struggle of the kings to retain or acquire throne. Kings have now been replaced by politicians and throne by chair as the source of power and wealth.
Politicians now struggle for chair ostensibly for the welfare of the people. Judges and lawyers have also found the environment conducive to struggle for absolute power in the name of rule of law, but without promising cheap and speedy justice to the common man denied since 1947.
Obviously, those who struggled in the past for the welfare of the people had never accumulated personal wealth or transferred national wealth abroad to own property to enjoy princely lifestyle which only billionaires could afford, like some of our leading politicians.
Our emotion-driven common people blindly follow these politicians in the vain hope of welfare. Only two simple requests, sir. One, our leading politicians should explain the source of their fabulous foreign wealth, and what sacrifices they will make for the welfare of the people.
Two, judges and lawyers should spell out specific measures for cheap and speedy justice to the common people after restoration of the judiciary, and also quantify it for clarity.
RAJA M. AFZAL KHAN
Gujar Khan
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