| April 27, 2008 | Sunday | Rabi-us-Sani 20, 1429 |
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Tit for tat
Never again
Save the earth
Disturbance in Chitral
Renaming of Nawabshah
Graveyard on sale
US designs
Tourism industry
Fudging the figures
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 debate on whether the deposed judges will be reinstated is turning to mere speculative arguments after the ‘inside pointers’ from ‘anonymous sources, privy to the negotiations’. Even a section of some experienced media people are locked in the altercations and rebuttals about such ‘inside information’, which in some cases has proven to be untrue.
The debate on the electronic media somewhat demonstrates the emotional attachment of some of the media anchors and political pundits with the issue of the restoration of judges.
Recently, a senior and experienced investigative journalist boasted in a private TV channel talk show that since these judges gave so much sacrifice for the independence of the judiciary, they do not only deserve to get their positions back but also deserve to be the judges for the rest of their lives.
Such statements from media people will not be helpful to the judges’ struggle. These arguments lack the appreciation of the ground reality that this is a golden opportunity for our parliament to legislate to strengthen the judiciary.
Recently the country witnessed a vulnerable judiciary when it failed to bring Nawaz Sharif back to the country after he was ignominiously thrown out from Pakistan on Sept 10 last year.
Then once again the judiciary could not assert itself by staying the controversial Presidential election of October 2007, which drove the country to the Nov 3 misadventure.
It is understandable that the restoration of the judges is important for our future, and the lawyers’ movement, civil society and the media have to keep a sustained pressure on the government, just to ensure that the government will not change paths and not let the Nov 3 action repeat in future.
However, at the same time, we all have to appreciate the fact that we have elected our leaders, Asif Zardari, Nawaz Sharif and Asfandyar Wali, and must trust them and give them time so that they can make the right decision in this regard.
Imposing deadlines and threats of agitation will not be helpful and will make their jobs even more difficult.
Now, Pakistan is not run by a ‘united command’ where decisions are taken in an hour and changed in the next. Pakistan is now governed by a democracy and democracy is a process of debates, dissents, and compromises which may be painful and time-consuming but these are the very strengths of the democratic system, because the decisions made after tough but very serious negotiations last for a long time.
They have the flexibility to be modified to adjust to the varying times and requirements. We should appreciate the fragility and vulnerability of the new system for the sake of permanent strength to the institutions.
MISBAH U. AZAM
United States
TOURISM after terrorism (tat) is in tatters in the NWFP (April 17). According to the report, the Sarhad Tourism Corporation has requested the NWFP government to ask the federal government for $40 million for the years 2003 to 2008, as compensation for financial losses suffered by the province’s tourism industry due to terrorism emanating from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
In the NWFP, tourism is a livelihood for many poor people; however, they have little knowledge about other business opportunities. Moreover, they have not been educated by knowledgeable others, either.
I guess we have to change with changing times, if we don’t we will lag behind. Who would have thought that Shiekhupura would be producing Chinese lychees, and MirpurKhas will be producing English strawberries?
Most farmers in the NWFP concentrate on rice, sugarcane, tobacco, fruits and corn. The return on monetary and physical investment is little. They can earn much more by planting and cultivating exotic flowers. Dutch do this with their tulips, Japanese with their carnations, English with their roses and Thais with their orchids.
The climate in the NWFP is ideal for this purpose too. I have seen spring flowers like dahlias, petunias, pansies, antrinum and sweet peas blossoming in Nathiagali and Kalam, Saidu Sharif and Behrain, in peak summers.
An imported carnation flower sells for Rs75 in Karachi, same is true for lilies. Recently the Indian government imported and planted thousands of tulip bulbs in Srinagar, they are now blossoming.
In the early 1970s, one famous song of the Indian film, Silsilay, was shot in a beautiful tulip garden in Holland. Now they are shooting songs in the Srinagar’s tulip garden. If Indians could do this in Srinagar, why can’t Pakistanis have tulips in Thandiani, Tank, Tordher and Tangi (tit)?
I was moved by Asfandyar Wali’s emotional speech in the National Assembly in which he passionately pleaded that the children of the NWFP should be provided books in place of guns. If the farmer prospers he will have no problems sending his sons and daughters to schools. Prosperity will bring education, and education will eradicate all minor and major ailments in society, Insha Allah. Wali Bagh, the residence of Asfandyar Wali, is famous for its flowers. He can lead the change himself rather than relying on anyone else by making his and my NWFP synonymous with flowers instead of guns. This will be a civilised and an apt tit for tat, for terrorism.
It will be in line with the policies he and his forefathers have stood for.
S. NAYYAR IQBAL RAZA
Karachi
THIS is apropos of Prof Khalid Hassan Mahmood’s letter, Never again’ (April 21), in response to Javed Hussain’s article (April 15).
As a frontline soldier in both the wars, I beg to state that there is nothing uncalled-for or morally wrong in the script of Brig ( r ) Javed Hussain. The conduct of a general, on whose orders the soldiers lay their life and on whose decisions the fate of nations depends, will always be scrutinised by the cruel hand of history.
Now the wars, Operation Gibraltar and Grand Slam, were conceived, planned and executed on the assumption that the conflict would remain confined to the Azad Kashmir territory. No matter who pushed Gen Ayub Khan in that belief but the responsibility to initiate the war planned on the basis of such a flawed assumption rests squarely on the general.
When our forward elements reached BRB canal to take up defensive position on the morning of Sept 6, they found Indian troops on the other bank of the canal..
Our military high command, headed by Gen Ayub Khan, was completely surprised as it was something they never expected. Therefore, the panic among the high command was natural as there was no extraordinary personality to control the panic.
The panic went supreme when the main Indian effort started unfolding in the Ravi-Chenab corridor, resulting in numerous tactical blunders and heavy losses of men and tanks in battles around Chawinda.
Such losses are known to very few people. Those who desire to find out the fact may contact the writer on cellphone # 0300 8291097.
The misconception that the manpower provided by madressahs in Pakistan has driven the Russians out of Afghanistan is also erroneous. It was mainly the internal fragmentation of the USSR, for whatever reasons, that resulted in the departure of the Russians from Afghanistan.
Why haven’t we collected the data of Pakistani mujahideen who have given their lives for the freedom of Afghans and show to Mr Karzai whenever he talks against us?.
It has been amply proved now that the two wars that we fought, with no benefit to the masses, could have been avoided but for the inaptitude of the army high command.
It is also a fact that the army is the only institution which could have transformed the multilingual/cultural mass of the people of Pakistan into one nation over a period of 34 years that it directly ruled the country. But it miserably failed.
MAJ (R) SHAMSHAD ALI KHAN
Karachi
THIS is apropos of the article, ‘Save the earth’(April 22).The writer has mentioned global warming which is a very pertinent issue nowadays. Global warming is the main cause of climate change. The average temperature of the earth is rising, due to which the glaciers will melt, thus causing floods in the coastal areas and raising the sea level.
Global warming is due to the increase in greenhouse gases, out of which carbon dioxide, the gas all living organisms exhale, is the most important. The greenhouse gases regulate the temperature of the atmosphere around us.
Due to the increase in industries and deforestation, the amount of carbon dioxide has risen by 30 per cent since 1750. Trees are the lungs of nature, which replete the air with oxygen and take in carbon dioxide. Due to deforestation, the capability of trees to absorb carbon dioxide has decreased.
If we all unite and work round the clock diligently and honestly, then I am sure we will be able to control global warming. We can control almost 50 per cent of this problem through forestation because it is estimated that a large number of trees can absorb up to 58 million tons of carbon dioxide within 40 years.
I humbly request the forest department, as well as the people, to start planting trees to save the planet we live in.
DANIYAL ALTAF BALOCH
Turbat, Kech
I WOULD like to draw the attention of the government to the disturbances created at the behest of the district government in Chitral. The disturbances are created through acquisition of unnecessary lands for link roads, approved by the MMA government before November 2007.
Such lands are being acquired in Goldoor, Rehankot, Moghlandeh and Bakarabad in Chitral town. There are two issues of public interest.
Land is being acquired more than double of the needed quantity and price is fixed at less than one- third of the market rate.
People are being tortured through the police, etc. The government should intervene for acquiring only the needed land on market rate.
BASHIR HUSSAIN AZAD
Chitral
INTENSE opposition from the great grandson of Syed Nawabshah on renaming the city of Nawabshah after the slain PPP leader Benazir Bhutto has sparked controversy.
The claim that the city is known by the name of his ancestors, who surrendered 600 acres to the British government for building of this city, is not without substance.
An emotional attachment is quite natural as people have unforgettable memories and stories linked to the place they hail from. In developed states, changing name is seldom approved and instead a monument or library is built for city attraction and public interest.
Had it been considered viable, the city of London would have been named after Lady Diana, for whom the British nation mourned for many days? We find examples of an airport, an important building or a road dedicated to celebrities and leaders like John F. Kennedy and Indira Gandhi, to whom civil airports were attributed immediately after their assassination.
A feeling of deep respect, tinged with awe, lasts for ever for political leaders who were sent to the gallows or eliminated due to ethnic and racial considerations, like our former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and American president Abraham Lincoln. The latter’s archive has recently been auctioned for millions of dollars.
Benazir Bhutto had returned to the country after being assured of her personal safety. But she was killed by a method usually related to the Kufis, who had entrusted confidence into the family of the Prophet (SAW), invited them and then martyred them in Karbala.
It is just a symbolic resemblance as the latter offered sacrifice not for worldly benefits but purely to uphold principles of justice and fair play enshrined in holy scriptures.
Ms Bhutto was educated in best institutions and groomed by legendry politician Z. A. Bhutto. She was well-known to intellectual circles, most of the time attending debates and seminars organised around the world and rightfully regarded as an epitome of national identity by fellow countrymen living abroad.
Her perception of world affairs was amazing to the extent that she could see birds of ill-omen in geostrategic power game ahead of time. On the tragic murder of Rajiv Gandhi, her remarks may be read in archival records: “The Indian leader fell victim to the new world order”.
Her idiosyncrasy of prodding the intricate covert operations must have invited peace of mind from powers that enjoy the resources and capacity to inflict a colossal loss at the time of their choice, giving damn to services rendered by an individual.
How a consensus would be achieved on the selection of the city to be named after the popular leader in a society that largely observes prejudices and maintains inflexible views for friends and foes.
The citizens of Rawalpindi should have been the first to offer the city to be named after the popular leader as she was murdered in cold blood while addressing a public rally.
We have the precedence of the city of Lyalpur, which was named after Saudi King Faisal, though a foreign potentate. Maybe the change of name this time should put on hold further death of leaders. The city has already witnessed assassination of three prime ministers.
Civil society must join hands to put up resistance to the changing of the name of Nawabshah. However, to offer meaningful salutation to great leaders, a public debate may be launched to get suitable suggestions on how to remember them without resentment from any quarter.
We would have a variety of proposals at hand to offer the right honour to Benazir Bhutto and her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a greatly admired leader of our times.
S. BUKHARI
Karachi
AS reported in the press, the authorities of a cooperative housing society have sold a graveyard in Islamabad for Rs2 billion in order to convert it into a multi-storeyed commercial plaza while the bodies of the deceased were being shifted from one place to another by the grieved relatives to find a piece of land for burial.
It is not all that surprising for a society where monetary considerations run supreme. However, looking at it from another angle, the housing authority has surely set an example for the land mafia to convert all the remaining graveyards of the country into housing societies and commercial centres.
With our public health facilities for the poor showing tremendous improvements in the wake of our world-class hospital infrastructures, the mortality rates have surely come down. An alternative to the burial of the dead can be to send all the bodies from across the country for burial in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan where the daily death rate per square foot is the highest.
DR IRFAN ZAFAR
Islamabad
DESPITE the British foreign secretary, David Miliband, clearly declaring the UK’s support to the reconciliation process being initiated by the Pakistan government with the Fata militants, who are willing to negotiate, there is no letup in the pouring-in reports of the US plan to launch unilateral attacks from across the border, taking the plea that the Al Qaeda and Taliban leadership is hiding in Pakistan and is planning 9/11-like attacks on the US.
This warning has come from none other than US President Bush, CIA chief Michael Hayden, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen and US military commanders operating in Afghanistan.
According to the New York Times, the Bush administration’s permission has been sought to attack Pakistani militants hiding in the tribal areas but so far they have been denied it because of diplomatic considerations.
It seems that the US government is in haste to launch the attack “before Mr Bush ends his tenure”. It is, however, advisable not to misread the reality on ground as, in Miliband’s words, “there is no quick solution, either through military means or negotiation. There is no quick fix. This is a long, slow process that needs to engage the hearts and minds of hundreds of thousands of people.”
The new government has already declared that the country would tackle the threat its own way, so it is advisable for the US to eschew the path of direct unilateral attacks on Pakistan.
ESCHMALL SARDAR
Peshawar
HUMANS were made to be mobile. We were nomads until we settled in villages, which grew into towns and cities. We learnt to explore the vast horizons of our planet and built a trading system that today powers a global economy. Tourism is now the world’s biggest industry, vital to the economies of poor nations like Pakistan.
Tourism fuels economic growth, is essential for poverty reduction and allows us to broaden our experience of the world.
Year 2007 was regarded as the year of tourism in Pakistan with the slogan Destination Pakistan 2007; however, 2007 was the year that brought the least number of tourists to Pakistan as compared to any former year in the history of the country.
Pakistan is a country with a lot of heritage sites scattered all over. Only if the government and the ministry of culture could do something prominent in this lieu, it would be very easy to invite international travellers to Pakistan and earn a lot of money.
There are myriad private organisations that are directly associated with tourism, but lately due to the unrest in the country, the tourism industry has been lying slump.
In an era when electricity dearth has brought down the mechanical industry productivity in the country, this could be high time if the revenue could be generated through the tourism industry.
ZILL-E-REHMAN KHAN NIAZI
Islamabad
MANSOOR ul Haque Solangi in his letter, ‘Worsening food crisis’ (18 April), has rightly pointed out the previous regime’s pattern of playing with the statistics. The most serious damage Shaukat Aziz and company did to the economy was essentially on this count.
However, I would like to point out that it was in order to present better performance of poverty alleviation, in one go they reduced the rate of population growth from 2.98 to two per cent. With that big cut not only the rate of poverty came down from 32 to 25 per cent but the rate of GNP also reflected an improved picture.
The economic crisis which the incumbent government is now braving are mainly on account of the non-availability of proper statistical data as for the last 40 years no census has been conducted, which only provided those at the helm of affairs an opportunity to fudge the figures in their favour.
The population census, though a most onerous task, for the progress and prosperity of a nation has to be accomplished with regularity or else adventurers are always there to exploit the situation.
DR. ALI AKBAR M. DHAKAN
Karachi
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