| May 09, 2008 | Friday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 3, 1429 |
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Govt should get to business
Wheat crisis
Lead by example
Death penalty
Welcome to the world of books
Reforms in consultation
Cellphone snatching
Correction
Love it or leave it
Simpler procedure
Not enough vision
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 final act in the drama has started and the likelihood is that both Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari will have their point of view accepted, implying that there will be a resolution and a package to have the superior court judges reinstated.
What boggles the mind is the insistence of Mr Zardari on linking the reinstatement of the judges with the package he has in mind. If President Musharraf himself admits that his action of Nov 3 was illegal, it is not a part of the Constitution and perhaps an executive order would have it sufficed.
Nevertheless, there is little doubt that the intention is to overcome the crisis but let us hope the judiciary is not weakened instead of being strengthened.
If the powers of the chief justice in taking suo motu action and, particularly, his authority to constitute benches are curbed, then there will be little difference between him and other judges.
What will happen to other judges? What will happen to senior judges who had a greater right to be elevated to the Supreme Court than some of those already there is another problem? Perhaps Mr Zardari has a solution which we will soon hear of.
The coalition partners need to take steps expeditiously to ensure that the powers of the president are what they should in a parliamentary democracy. It is the prime minister who should be carrying out the duties of the chief executive. The president (de facto) is already overstepping his powers and this must end if the present government is to survive.
As Imran Khan and others say, the people have given their verdict and the better course would be for the president to be sent packing the day the pre-Nov 3 judges are back.
While bringing about constitutional reforms the coalition must seriously consider bringing in constitutional package (after this one) to ensure:
a. Greater provincial autonomy.
b. Proper share of federating units in what they produce.
c. Laying down specific strength for ministers and advisers of provincial and federal governments (one of your learned columnists has very wisely proposed a maximum of 15 cabinet members at the centre and 10 in each of the provinces. A maximum of two advisers can also be mentioned )
d. Better functioning of the local government system or its replacement by a better system or reversion to the old system.
JEHANZEB KHAN
Peshawar
THE citizens in this land of the pure had, in fact, many hopes and aspirations that, with the installation of a new government, they would get down to brass tasks of attending towards improving the health of the economy.
Instead they are bogged down in not only addressing the same but are involved in a ‘blame game’ and have perhaps lost track of galloping inflation, food shortages and its smuggling, burgeoning trade and fiscal deficits leading to the weakening of our currency, unemployment, etc.
Moreover, they are focusing on another one-point agenda, viz restoration of the deposed judges. All because of the adamant attitude of one coalition political party, the matter is being compounded with each passing day. Lawyers with their own vested interests have lost track of their foremost ethical and legal and obligatory duty to their clients and are busy on the roads and in their press conferences and threatening the writ of the state through agitations and short and long marches.
I doubt whether these lawyers have ever pursued their other clients’ cases as devotedly and fervently as the present one in their lifetime, barring exceptional honest and devoted lawyers.
It is time the incumbent government was seized of these matters and started devoting its entire energy to its avowed task of resolving the citizens’ daily matters on which basis only the future electorate will cast their vote.
The budget is on the anvil, and the government should also sincerely see how best it can deliver a people-friendly and economy-growth budget which can mitigate the looming grave crisis of the teeming millions.
In order to stem the free fall in the local currency, new enabling business-friendly environment with especial attention to developing agriculture and local import substitute industries should be focused, and import of all non-essential and luxurious items be curbed so as to prop up our own currency and be back on the track of a developing nation.
Without any bias and prejudice, people were definitely more comfortable in the previous regime – barring, of course, a few mistakes they had committed in the performance of their duty.
A CONCERNED CITIZEN
Karachi
THE recent wheat crisis in Pakistan has the potential to become a major problem that can cause a civil strife in Pakistan. It is not a temporary problem that would subside in a few months but a permanent problem for Pakistan, which needs to be addressed on the international level.
The government of Pakistan has still not completed any inquiry into this crisis to find out the root cause of the problem. I have worked in the supply chain and I know that wheat is stored in huge godowns in Pakistan.
The stored wheat has a safety stock level and once the wheat volume goes below that level, then the government reacts and buys more wheat.
But in this case, the government never got a chance to react to the safety stock, instead had to react to the wheat shortage.
Similarly, the government is not taking into account the worldwide shortage of food ingredients, the mass movement of Afghan refugees from Pakistan to Afghanistan in the spring weather, the high demand of wheat in Afghanistan and the greed of the Pakistani flour mill owners. All of these factors are affecting the wheat supply in Pakistan and all of these factors need to be addressed separately and quickly.
Now that Afghans are moving back home, they are creating a new and bigger demand of wheat and other food products in that country. The major supply of food items to Afghanistan is coming from Pakistan. And due to the laws of supply and demand, a higher demand in Afghanistan means that the sellers will get a higher price in Afghanistan.
But if all the supply or major portion of the supply goes to Afghanistan, then that would create a gap in the supply of food items in Pakistan, thus leading to situations like a civil strife or a complete ban of all goods movement to Afghanistan, which can then create issues for Afghanistan.
To avoid all this, the government and NGOs need to assess the following items:
1. Root cause for the sudden wheat crisis in Pakistan.
2. Better control on goods movement to Afghanistan
3. Seeking UN help in starting new supply chains for sending goods into Afghanistan
4. Improved monitoring of wheat and other food item stocks in Pakistan to improve response time.
5. Harsher punishments for smugglers of food items.
6. Reduction in taxes for import of food items into Pakistan
To avoid a really serious problem, the government of Pakistan, NGOs and other international organisations need to react now and come up with new, better and more responsive solutions to the current trend.
SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEER
Peshawar
IT is a real crisis situation as far as the shortfall in supply and demand of electricity is concerned in the country. The government and its policy managers must be working hard on bridging the gap. Yet I very humbly submit that still a lot is needed to demonstrate seriousness as far as load management is concerned.
This requires both short-and long-term interventions. For short term, I urge the leaders to come forward and practically demonstrate that they are chipping in their share. For instance, I would share with you the Japan example, in the years 2004/05 I was in Japan in May and June, and their prime minister announced an energy conservation measure.
This included fixing the airconditioning in all official buildings at 26 degrees Centigrade, necktie was banned as it enhances the body temperature. I had seen myself that the prime minister and all his cabinet wearing bush-shirts.
Also in Japan, all rooms of offices (both public and private) are equipped with centralised switches at the entry doors and it is a practice to switch off while leaving the room. Besides, the day light advantage may also be adopted as being practised in developed countries.
For long term, I would like to request the decision-makers to be careful in selection of generating units as lots would be offered which might be redundant, inefficient and high on emission, thus we would be losing on carbon credits and further deteriorating our ambient air quality.
Finally, I urge our leaders to learn from the examples of genuine leaders of the world (both spiritual and political) who practically demonstrated by setting their own examples, and then the public followed.
ZIA UL ISLAM
Islamabad
I SYMPATHISE with the grief-stricken mother (May 7), who opposes any abolition of death penalty. She has made out a strong case for punishing the guilty, for the murder of her dear son.
However, leaving aside individual cases for a moment, the following broad issues arise regarding capital punishment in general.
1. Will death penalty to murderers and such others bring us back those whose lives are lost?
2. Is’nt there a chance of miscarriage of justice, and if that happens, can we bring back to life the accused who is wrongly hanged?
3. Should we draw perverse pleasure from hanging of anyone? Let us remember that quite a few tears were shed all over the world, including in India, when Saddam was hanged by the Americans after a unilateral trial.
4. Has terrorism decreased in countries where death penalty adorns the statute book? How about India and Pakistan?
5. Serious terrorists today have become suicide bombers. Do they at all care for the anachronistic death penalty?
6. Last but not the least, haven’t we lately seen politicians using the persons facing the gallows as mere pawns in politicians’ own games?
Let us abolish death penalty which is nothing but state-sponsored murder. Those guilty of murder or such other heinous crimes could be kept under even lifelong detention/ surveillance and made to undertake socially useful hard work as ‘prayashchit’ (penance) for their crime against society. This is just one suggestion. Many more can be thought of.
SUKUMAR SHIDORE
Pune, India
AS a student of English literature, I like reading and good reading at that. What I have noticed over the years is that reading is becoming out of fashion or even if people do read, it’s either out of compulsion because of course syllabus or what they read can easily be called ‘trash’.
The so-called fast ‘best sellers’ actually do nothing to improve either the language or sensibilities. They neither provide knowledge nor perhaps good entertainment. They can never be called gentle reading, as I phrase it.
English literature is filled with books that are enlightening as well as good entertainment. In the bygone days, education of a woman could never be considered complete without reading Pride and Prejudice, Little Women and Jane Eyre.
Nowadays hardly anyone knows the name of Elizabeth Bennet or the lovely March girls or anyone who has explored the Treasure Island or the Coral Islands, read David Copperfield or Prisoner of Zenda, Moby Dick, Huckleberry Fin and Tom Sawyer are virtually unknown. And perhaps on a more literary note, Shakespeare, Thackeray and Somerset Maugham, which open to a whole new world of stories to be explored, both for children and adults.
Now due to the television, parents hardly know what their children are watching. What kind of trash they are filling their minds with. Television literally deadens imagination and it takes away any family time that people might have to offer. In a normal household you will see basically everyone glued to the television, especially children.
Take away the television or at least cut down the time, and fill your home with good books; stories and amazing adventure, there is something for everyone. Keep away from the trash, you will see the difference. The amazing intelligence that comes from reading leads to a stretched imagination and the avid interest in the world. Have a story time. Read aloud. Enter the amazing world of stories, there is no end to it. Welcome to the world of books. I hope that everyone of you has a great trip.
MUBARAKA AHMED
Rabwah
REFORMS are always welcome but an obvious attempt is being made to limit the judiciary’s independence in the garb of reforms. Even if this is taken to be in good faith, the supporters of democracy should remember that democracy is all about consultation.
So in a democratic government, of which the judiciary is also a part, reforms within the judiciary should also be brought about with the consultation of the judiciary. This is similar to that rare possibility of bringing reforms in the army, in which parliament would dare not to even suggest reforms without consulting the army brass, let alone bulldozing their way through.
But if at all there is some twisted logic for the necessity of carrying out reforms in the judiciary, then why only in the judiciary, why not in the legislature also or for that matter why not the executive too.
Introduction of a constitutional amendment is a serious and cumbersome process, so might as well take this opportunity to include some reforms for the legislature and the executive also. I am sure there are many cracks, if not structural faults, in these pillars of state.
MUHAMMAD IBRAHIM
Karachi
THE newly-appointed IG, Sindh, has shown his resolve to curb street crimes, specially the menace of cellphone snatching. It’s a welcome sign but needs an entirely new strategy to deal with it.
As a concerned citizen of Karachi, I would like to put forward a plan that I believe can be highly effective in catching these criminals red-handed. The police should appoint some of their own men as bate by getting them dressed up in civilian dresses and asking them to stand at bus stands and all those marked places where cellphone snatching takes place the most. They should expose their cell phones and pretend to be in the middle of a conversation.
I can bet they will be confronted by these cellphone snatchers and that is the time when a team of undercover policemen, already watching this activity from a distance, could catch the criminals red-handed.
It’s like throwing bait and waiting for the catch. Twenty or 30 such exercises will seriously curb this menace to a great extent provided our police get serious about this issue.
ARSALAN FARUQI
Karachi
WITH reference to my article, ‘Measures to save energy’(May 6), a factual error was inadvertently left by me. The correct figures for energy saving should read as: “Realistically, power saving will be around 250MW, which is only 1.3 per cent of the total installed generation capacity of the country (19.4 GW).”
The quoted figures of 25 MW and 0.13 per cent refer to saving from one million energy savers that PEPCO plans to distribute in the first phase of the project only.
WAQAS BIN NAJIB
Islamabad
THIS is in response to Marzia Raza’s letter, ‘Serialised, systematic cheating ‘ (May 5). It is this state of insensitivity by society in general where a crime is no longer a crime. We have cheats in all walks of life, education being one of them.
When bribery is no more a crime, looting from the exchequer is not looked askance (in fact, people are forgiven), the seller does his best to fleece the unaware buyer, then what you know that you are dealing with a society sick to the core.
We are a diseased nation, with illness that will lead to an inevitable death.
I can only console her by praying that Allah eases her way (and the way of a few select ones who are sensitive to amorality). Additionally, I would advice her that if she does not want to become part of the incorrigible system (and/or are sick and hopeless of the country like many of us are), please try and slog it till you can, and pray that you can, have an exit route out of Pakistan.
I used to have a bumper sticker saying ‘Pakistan: Love it or leave it’, I was a fan of promoting the ‘love it’ but I guess ‘ leave it’ is the way to go.
ARSALAN AHMAD SIDDIQI
Saudi Arabia
APROPOS of the news item, ‘UK visa applicants cautioned’ (May 7), the British High Commission cautioned UK visa applicants against unscrupulous elements inside and outside the visa section. I recollect how simple it was to get a visa for the UK a few years back. Just stand in a queue, present your documents at the counter, answer a few questions and get the visa by the same day and no fee.
Now, when the procedure has been made complex, unpredictably long and costly, the cropping up of cheats and unfair means is a natural phenomenon. The genuine visa seekers who daily go to the website or call on telephone do not get an appropriate response and sit frustrated.
The fee charged vis-a-vis the time taken in processing is grossly disproportionate.
Britain has its own traditions and comparison with other European countries in term of processing time may not be very appropriate. British High Commissioner Robert Brinkley is well suggested to simplify the visa issue system rather than searching the wrongdoers for punishment.
LT-COL ( r) KHALID MAHMOOD
Abbottabad
DINNER parties at the Prime Minister’s House show that still the same lavish lifestyles are carried on by the government machinery. My heart bleeds for my poor country folk who can not even afford simple necessities.
Is there any hope for a better Pakistan for all and not just for the ‘rich’?
There are too many issues and not enough vision.
TALAT FAYYAZ MANSOOR
Canada
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