| April 28, 2008 | Monday | Rabi-us-Sani 21, 1429 |
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Renaming NWFP
Contaminated wheat
NMH’s mute attitude
Pakistan Nursing Council
Wahi Pandhi hospital
SPSC exams
KESC Ltd – a monopoly
History of Jamiat
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
IT is 10 years when your editorial was published about pollution in the Ravi due to toxic wastes brought from India through Hudiara drain (April 30, 1998). This year, I just wished to check up as to what progress has since been made during all these years.
Here I reproduce an extract from the information which has been provided to me by the principal, Lahore Medical and Dental College, Tulspura canal bank North, Lahore 53400.
“Hudiara drain, a trans-boundary, natural stormwater channel, originates from Batala in Gurdaspur district, India, and enters into Pakistan at village Laloo, in Punjab. After flowing for nearly 55km inside Pakistan, it joins the River Ravi. All along its route in India and Pakistan, waste water, sewage and industrial pollutants are discharged into the drain without any proper prior treatment. “As a result, organic wastes and toxic chemicals have badly affected aquatic life both in this drain and in the River Ravi.
“There are around 100 industries located adjacent to the Hudiara drain on the Indian side and 112 small industries are located next to the drain along its route in Pakistan. Farmers living near the drain frequently use its water for irrigation. Vegetables grown with toxic water may cause diseases when used by the people uncooked. Preliminary investigations have revealed that this water has high concentrations of metals. Long-term irrigation from Hudiara drain may result in the accumulation of higher concentrations of metals in the surface soil. This would be toxic to soil fauna and flora and may be introduced into the food chain”.
During the year 2007 I repeatedly tried but could not get in touch with the chief medical officer of the Lahore city government to find out as to what has been done during the last many years to ensure that various drains and nullas do not bring untreated sewage and other pollutants into the Ravi.
I did succeed to meet a senior medical officer in a different organisation who told me that nothing has so far been done to install treatment plants at many places. In fact, many new colonies which have come up from Moghalpura to Batapur either pump their sewage into the Lahore canal or in some other drains which ultimately join the Ravi.
It may be of interest to mention that after your editorial was published in April 1998, the Punjab chief minister was photographed visiting one of the sites on the banks of the Ravi, the place was simply a pumping station and not a treatment plant.
Entrance of pollutants into canal/river waters has been observed almost everywhere in the country. It was for this reason that a suggestion was floated that a national commission be constituted to recommend measures and methods to prevent continuous entry of toxic wastes into surface waters (Dawn, May 20, 1998).
It will be worthwhile to also inform the government of Indian Punjab that after a certain time no waste water will be permitted from India through the Hudiara drain. Till such time that a mutual arrangement is made, agreed and implemented, India should allow reasonable amount of water to flow into the Ravi so that temporarily dilution could minimise the adverse effects of the pollutants.
It may be stated here that under normal climatic conditions no water is permitted to flow into the Ravi from the Indian side and the water that you see in the river north of Shahdara either comes from the Marala Ravi link canal or the BRB.
DR KHALID HASSAN MAHMOOD
Karachi
THIS is apropos of Muhammad Aslam Khan’s letter, ‘Renaming the NWFP’ (April 22), in which he justified Murad Khan Kasi’s criticism of 10 suggested names for the NWFP by Khalid Chaudhry.
He also presented some data showing the majority of Pathans in the NWFP and after Punjabis in Pakistan. Then he astonishingly concluded his letter by suggesting that the NWFP should be given a name according to the wishes of Pathans, because majority is authority everywhere.
He has also tired to persuade the highups by saying that it will ensure unity in the country, end ethnic problems and benefit the world at large.
Being a direct target of Aslam Khan’s suggested names, here I would like to brief my friend on some logical grounds. First, the name to any region should not be given on an ethnic basis irrespective of how many people it will benefit because it will always hurt one ethnic group or the other.
Second, if he is justified in his proposal of Pakhtoonkhwa or Afghania, is it not right that the name of Pakistan could also be changed on the sole wishes of Punjabis, because they make 46 per cent of our state’s population.
If a name like Punjabia or Punjabistan replaces Pakistan, would it be acceptable to any ethnic group except the Punjabis? Surely it would not.
Third, the writer has misused the common proverb ‘majority is authority’. Although this is the right notion, it should not mean at the cost of minorities’ rights.
One should not ignore the fact that many ethnic groups like Hindku-, Seriki-, Khowar-and Urdu-speaking people also live with Pathans in the NWFP. Pathans may be in majority (68 per cent), but they cannot ignore the sentiments of other groups on such issues of important nature like renaming the province.
If they do so, they will surely create an ethnic crisis. As a result, they will not only lose their status in other provinces but will also be seen as biased and ignorant people in their own province.
My suggestion is that if renaming the province is the need of the hour, then it must be done in consultation with all the ethnic groups residing there, so that it will ensure their unity in the long run.
SUHRAB AHMAD
Lahore
THIS is apropos of the report, ‘Contaminated wheat kills 10 Afghans’ (April 18), wherein it is said that after eating wheat contaminated with a poisonous plant, which grows with it, 10 Afghans have died and more than 100 fallen ill with a liver disease. This is reportedly the second outbreak after 1974 when dozens of people were killed on this score.
Belonging to growers’ community I know that numerous plants grow side by side in wheat crop and to eliminate the same weedicides are used. However, being a bulk importer of wheat, Pakistan is faced with another predicament, which needs to be tackled seriously.
The problem is that wheat-surplus countries never export excess of their fresh stock which they normally keep for emergencies. What they offer for sale is the stores which are on average three year-old: contaminated with chemical preservatives.
It is, therefore, imperative that imported wheat should be thoroughly washed before subject to grinding. This process of cleaning is done in our flour mills but not in small atta chakis which are spread over vast hinterland. There is possibility of Afghanistan-like cases of ‘wheat poising’ in far-flung rural areas of Pakistan but are not reported due to inaccessibility of the area.
It is also interesting that in developed countries wheat grown for human consumption is quite different from the one produced for an animal which is much higher in yield but less in nutrition value. This aspect has to be kept in view as only a few years’ back unscrupulous businessmen imported substandard pulses from the Far East which was grown as fodder for animals. Unfortunately pulses were sold in the market but since no survey was conducted, its impact on human beings could not be known.
The case of Afghanistan is, therefore, a forewarning for a country like us which in times to come is likely to depend more and more on imported wheat. It is mainly for the reason that the government is not prepared to pay the local farmer his due.
The farmer who spends Rs3,879 per bag on DAP and Rs765 per bag for urea plus pay inflated electricity bills, transportation cost, etc, is given Rs625 per 40kg whereas substandard wheat is imported at more than double the price i.e., Rs1,435 per 40kg. Thus, in a way, the government is paying to the foreign farmer more than its own.
The views expressed by Mansoor ul Haque Solangi, ‘Worsening food crisis’ (April 18), is the exact description of our agrarian society. If the government still does not pay immediate attention to the problem, agriculture will sustain irreparable damage.
DR ZAHID HUSSAIN JATOI
Mehar, Dadu
THE incinerator plant of the Nishtar Medical Hospital, Multan, has been lying idle for a long time and the management is dumping hospital waste in a corner of the hospital without adopting proper methods.
This situation was brought to the knowledge of the medical superintendent, suggesting him the ways and means to remove the snag.
It is worth mentioning that the hospital waste has been identified as a most lethal germ-carrier and insidious to public health. This waste consists mainly of the used injection syringes which are thrown openly to be picked up by the addicts. It has been observed that these syringes are pulled out and sold to the same hospital which can become a major cause of spreading killer diseases like Aids and hepatitis.
Despite the availability of the incinerator, the waste remaining after picking of syringes or some other reusable material is burnt up openly inside the hospital premises. Sometimes poisonous smoke is so severe that it becomes impossible to cross this place.
The entire responsibility of this lies on the shoulder of the medical superintendent who is playing the role of a silent onlooker and thus accentuating the health problems of stakeholders.
The hospital administration considers it sufficient to hush up the matter and roll back the public outcry each time it is raised.
At this juncture when the country is faced with an increasing number of Aids and hepatitis patients, the sad situation in one of the oldest health organisations of Pakistan requires immediate action.
TAHIRA SALEEM
Multan
THE Pakistan Nursing Council is basically a registration authority for nurses and paramedics in the country. During the military regime, like many other organisations, it has always behaved as a blue-eyed baby and has involved itself in all types of irregularities like registration of bogus diplomas issued by non-existent agencies in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Central Asian states as well as some European countries involved in supplying fake degrees.
A departmental inquiry was held by the ministry of health but as usual in our country the blue-eyed babies of the department managed to hush up the matter with powerful hands.
The Council has its own enactment, but it is never followed by the stakeholders in letter and in spirit. It has a list of members from the medical profession, education, law and parliament but they are never invited to attend their annual meetings except for a few members from the nursing profession, and the deliberations are made according to their own wishes.
This is to avoid unnecessary criticism and interference into their malpractices and corruption. It is worth mentioning that ever since its establishment, the PNC has failed to develop and enforce the curriculum for various courses of the nurses.
The officials of the PNC are only fond of meetings, staying in five-star hotels and enjoying TA/DA, a burden on the pockets of the poor nurses.
The previous nursing adviser and one of the officials of the PNC was dismissed from service when corruption was proved against them, but the Council was never completely cleaned and the real culprits with the strong backing of the PML(Q) and the previous regime are still thriving.
The PNC needs an urgent reshuffling and a radical change from the Awami Daur, otherwise the poor nurses will continue to suffer.
MRS SURIYA AZIZ
Muzaffarabad
IT has been rightly pointed out in your editorial, ‘Fighting to be fit’ (April 24). I appreciate this commendable task of the editorial that highlighted the deplorable conditions of health in Pakistan, especially rural areas.
Wahi Pandhi, a city of over 30,000 people, is situated in Johi taluka, Dadu district, Sindh. Sadly, there is only one basic health unit and there is just one MBBS doctor to meet the health needs of this largely populated city. The doctor is not a local, he comes from Johi. He arrives at the hospital at 10am daily and goes back to Johi at 2pm. Now one can imagine how a doctor on a four-hour duty can meet the needs of this large population.
The sad aspect is that this hospital was inaugurated over 15 years ago, but no successive government has paid any heed to its requirement. As a result, there has been acute shortage of male and female doctors and paramedical equipment. There is no lady doctor to diagnose women patients, and no gynaecologist to deal with emergency delivery cases in order to save precious lives.
Given the above facts, the hospital is shut at 2pm and then there is no other way for the emergency patients, but to rush them to taluka hospital at Johi, which is situated over 25km away between Johi and Wahi. Most of the emergency cases result in the death of the patients.
Wahi Pandhi being a rural area, dog-bite and snake-bite cases are common here, but the medicines needed in such cases are not available at the hospital. This leads to the death of many people.
Shockingly, even the BP apparatus of this hospital always remains out of order.
On behalf of the villagers of Wahi Pandhi, I request Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and the Sindh chief minister to look into the various health problems of the area people.
INAYATULLAH RUSTAMANI
Wahi Pandhi, Dadu
IT is gratifying to note that the chief minister has been re-assigned the powers to administer the affairs of the Sindh Public Service Commission. I would like to request Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah to confirm or deny the rumour about the postponement of the examinations for the posts of mukhtiarkars.
This examination was postponed in 2006 on the plea of floods. In 2008, once again, we have been hearing that this examination is going to be put off.
Justice demands that this examination should be held as scheduled so that thousands of our young people should not be deprived of the opportunity to acquire decent jobs.
The new government should hold the competitive examinations annually as is the case in other provinces. The practice of appointing officers directly should be done away with. All appointments should be transparent and through the Sindh Public Service Commission.
M. ASHRAF SANGRI
Pir Jo Goth, Khairpur Mirs
KESC Limited (KESCO) was privatised in December 2005 and transferred to a consortium of Hasan Associates with 73 per cent shares divested in favour of KES Power as per the following holdings:
Government 25.65pc
KES Power 73.00pc
Public and others 1.35pc
The government of Pakistan, by privatising the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation Limited has allowed the creation of a private monopoly, which is playing havoc with customers.
I would like to appeal to the chairman, Competition Commission of Pakistan, to take suo motu notice of KESCO’s monopoly and through necessary action introduce a spirit of competition both in the area of power generation and in distribution, in its area of jurisdiction.
NAZIM F. HAJI
Karachi
THIS is apropos of Kunwar Khalid Yunus’s letter, ‘History of Jamiat’ (April 16). Certain facts about Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba (IJT) have been mentioned inaccurately, especially its foundation. Though views have been expressed, they seem segments of Mr Yunus ’s misunderstanding and his ignorance of the Jamiat’s history.
His ideas create several questions to be answered. He has quoted Devils’ Game, a book on American empire project by Robert Dreyfuss, that has been discussed even in the West and is controversial.
Giving the reference of this book, Mr Yunus says Said Ramadan, son-in-law of Hasan al Banna, founder of Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, in 1949 at Cairo, laid down the foundation of the IJT.
It is wrong because Ramadan had sought asylum in Pakistan in 1952 after the assassination of his father-in-law. The IJT was formed on Dec 23, 1947. Famous journalist Zafarullah Khan (1925-2006) laid down the IJT’s foundation. His father, Maulana Nasrullah Khan Aziz, was an editor of Madina newspaper.
In 1945, he went to Islamia College, Railway Road, Lahore, and during his stay in this college he decided to form a student organisation. For this, he would meet his classmates and other students. Initially, there was a group of 12 to 15 students. After a year the number increased to 40 to 50. The students knew they would work for Islam. He was elected the first Nazim-i-Aala of the IJT.
The Jamiat had three objectives: (1) To organise students for formulation of Islamic way of life in Pakistan, (2) to create keenness for Islamic literature among students and (3) preparation for a particular field of life.
Zafarullah Khan did his MA in Islamic Studies in 1952 and worked as a lecturer in Government College, Lahore. He issued the monthly Urdu Digest, now being published in Lahore.
Mr Yunus says the Jamiat was formed to counter leftist elements, which is wrong. It was established to preach Islam and convey its Dawah to young Pakistani students.
Coming to Said Ramadan, he is not the architect of Jamiat but Zafarullah Khan, with 24 other students from different places of the country. Khurram Murad (former IJT president) has also mentioned about Said Ramadan in his book Lamhaat. According to him, “Said Ramadan did introduce study circle and shab-i-bedari in our organisation but he did not come to Pakistan to form a new party or organisation (Pp 86 to 87)”.
Mr Yunus says Said Ramadan is still alive and living in Geneva, though he died in 1995. The Internet www.wikipedia.org also supports my argument.
As far as the Jamiat agenda is concerned, the IJT carries out all its activities openly.
Also, leftists always try to connect religious organisations with American empire project and say the US supports these organisations. This is wrong. If the US aids religious organisations for its own interest, why doesn’t it help them to come into power, the best way for fulfilling its agenda of global hegemony? The US never does so, rather faces strong resistance from Islamic movements.
Now let’s ponder over the Devils’ Game. I have studied this book and reached a conclusion that it is a work of ‘political imagination’, writer Robert Dreyfuss relates the foundation of contemporary Islamic movements struggling for the revival of Islam to America’s so-called project of global empire.
The ideas present in Devils’ Game demonstrate the paranoia of the writer’s mind. He says, for example, “Israel encouraged the spread of Islamism among Palestinians in the occupied territories, helping to found Hamas.” (Devils’ Game).
In addition, the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979, the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt got support from the US. Is it not beyond understanding? Indeed, Robert Dreyfuss is not the final authority on the subject. He is a controversial writer.
HAFIZ MUHAMMAD USMAN
IJT Central Information
Secretary
Lahore
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