| May 30, 2008 | Friday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 24, 1429 |
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State Life Insurance
Reforms in educational system
A matter of shame
Oil levy on income
Bank recovery from customers
Rising prices
Tin cans
Burning bandits
Speed thrills but kills
Kalabagh dam
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
PEACE deals with the Taliban/Al Qaeda elements and their sympathisers are currently being touted as a viable alternative to war on terror, supposedly being waged on America’s behalf. This view is shared by a majority of political leaders, writers, intellectuals, TV commentators and others.
Unfortunately they are all afraid to fully explain the fundamental external and internal dimensions which should be the cornerstone of any such peace deal.
Taking up the external dimension, it is a well-known fact that the Taliban/Al Qaeda elements are genuinely committed to attacking Afghan/ Fata /American targets inside Afghanistan as per their most recent statements.
Baitullah Masood has claimed that Islam does not recognise international borders. So in return for stoppage in suicide attacks and targeting of security forces on Pakistani soil, “we shall be facilitating increased cross-border attacks.”
Irrespective of illegality or immorality of American occupation through a puppet regime, international law gives them the right of hot pursuit. Americans may be incapable of holding a territory but they are quite adept at creating untold misery and widespread destruction.
Can we sustain the collateral damage to which Americans are completely insensitive? Here I would not like to go into financial squeeze, as it is not my subject.
Regarding the internal dimensions, the main strength of the Taliban is their unflinching/rigid faith in a system practised nowhere else in the Muslim world. It would not be a problem but for the fact that they consider it their divine right/duty to forcefully superimpose their fossilised ideology on fellow Muslims under threat of death.
Killing or getting killed for their views is not a problem for them. If they are content to rule tribal areas, it may be a small price. But everyone knows they have already entered settled areas and are bound to increase their influence.
At no stage during the Lal Masjid siege they promised to give up their violent struggle for enforcement of their brand of Sharia. They started with blowing up CD shops, progressed to dynamiting girls school and currently threatening people to grow beards or else.
One fine day we shall wake up and find all our civil liberties taken away. Once they are sufficiently emboldened, they may drag women drivers from cars and carry out such acts as may seem highly improbable now.
This scenario is quite possible since the main ingredients fuelling their growth, i.e. American atrocities, endemic poverty, widespread illiteracy, unjust society and inequitable social order, are not going to disappear in the near future.
I would, therefore, like all those authorities which are at present engaged in negotiations to concentrate on two conditions only: a firm commitment not to indulge in cross-border attacks and assurance of peaceful propagation of their ideology which is everybody’s right. All the rest is mere hogwash and an attempt at fooling the masses with a false sense of security.
HASAN MEHMOOD
Muscat
IT was the last week of May 1972 when the Life Insurance Management Board (LIMB) finalised the agenda of a meeting scheduled to finalise the inception of State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan. The LIMB was formed under the Life Insurance Nationalisation Order issued by federal government on March 18, 1972. Those days I was an insurance agent writing bulk on life side and was well-off with my happy lot.
The LIMB gave place to State Life on Nov 1, 1972. The first board of directors comprised seven directors who were professionals chosen from life insurance activity sector, while the chairman and the finance director were from the bureaucracy.
The tradition continued in a befitting manner and seasoned professionals from within the corporation continued to be elevated as executive directors on the board.
As a result, the life insurance activity was promoted steadily and firmed up on quite a broad base. The latest, in other words the recent example, was the appointment of a director (an actuary by profession) as the chairman.
But the unfortunate phenomenon today is the filling up of the seats of executive directors from the bureaucracy.
With due apologies to the Superior Service officers, basically trained in district management, they have occupied the slots of the board of directors of State Life and not a single professional from within the corporation was given a seat on the board.
The professionals, heading several divisions, were to be promoted as executive directors, but the penultimate decisions in this context are said to have been stacked in the bureaucratic cold storage in Islamabad.
Having switched over to real estate business, I have no interest, material or otherwise, in life insurance activity, except that the tree of life insurance planted by its wizards and nourished with my blood is now exposed to a threatening doomsday.
The life fund, which is policyholders’ money, is supposed to be managed by State Life directors as its trustees. It is difficult to believe that millions of rupees of this trust money would be wasted on renovations to donations.
Being the fourth pillar of democracy, the journalists — and not the government — will surely take a serious view of this critical situation in which the boat of the State Life is sinking.
I.A. KHAN
Karachi
THIS is apropos of Pervaiz Iqbal Anjum’s letter, ‘Reforming education’(May 24).The writer has rightly drawn attention of the powers that be towards the deteriorating educational standards.
Education kindles the spark present in a human being so that it may bring to perfection the personality of man.
This spark, which all children bring with themselves, must not be smothered in the early years of their lives. If, for some reason, this spark disappears, he becomes worse than an animal.
The educational process strengthens this tender filament of man’s link with the life of the spirit to bring it to prominence so that the life of man can become the practical expression of that spark.
How far does educational activity in our country reflect the above-mentioned concept of education?
The answer to this question is not satisfactory because the quality of education imparted to our youngsters is not impressive.
It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that there are certain maladies that afflict our educational system.
First, our educational system is geared to stifling rather than encouraging creativity.
In search for the truth, the students and the teachers are co-partners.
Instead, here, the teachers show an attitude of indifference towards the students’ creative faculties and thus we remain groping in the wilderness.
Another problem with our educational system is its dichotomy, i.e. the association of different economic classes with two different streams of education — English- and Urdu-medium.
This dichotomy ultimately ends up in social disparity.
The difference becomes clear when they apply for a job. Education is a dynamic and evolutionary process.
The curricula should, therefore, not only reflect the cultural and ideological heritage of the country but also respond to fast-moving social, economic and technological changes.
NAUMAN ASGHAR
Law department,
Punjab University,
Lahore
AS a Pakistani living in the US I was appalled to read in a newspaper the other day that 50 per cent people of Lahore have faecal matter in their tap water.
For a country that is nuclear and has outside government officials come to meet its politicians so as to be able to influence them makes me sick to my stomach (literally just like it would, drinking this kind of water).
And this talking of a metropolis, not a remote area in the mountains of the north where there is water shortage, not contamination.
This is worse than a tribal-infested government of a country in Africa where its elected government officials are bickering to no end over how suave their ideas are as how a government should be run.
We as a nation don’t deserve to sit amongst other nations that hoist a national flag, much less brag about its few elite who have created an impression on the world of being Pakistanis.
Here in this country there are a lot of Pakistanis who, for the love of their homeland, are doing their utmost in influencing the local officials to have a favourable and positive impression of Pakistan, while fighting the post-9/11 dislike of Muslims.
And then to have to stand up to this rhetoric that “your country does not even have separate water lines to sewer drainage” makes me ashamed to be a Pakistani.
Should my rebuttal, “but, we are an advanced nation that had the know-how to become nuclear and our politicians in armoured SUVs meet to debate on principles of democracy”, hold?
How can I try to keep my head high being a Pakistani outside the country?
KHALED GOHER
Atlanta, Georgia,
USA
THE Indian petroleum ministry is considering imposing income tax and corporate taxes to bail out oil marketing companies (OMCs), which are reeling under high international prices.
I suggest that the government of Pakistan instead of shifting the burden of increase in oil prices across the board, which affects the poor more, should also consider such imposition of levy on the incomes of those who have the ability to pay, i.e. commercial and corporate entities.
Since tax rates on individuals and companies have substantially reduced for the last few years, besides withdrawal of wealth tax since 2002 which was payable by the rich, sharing some burden of oil price hike will not be any problem for those enjoying the best of everything.
It is time the privileged people came forward and accepted this challenge in the greater national interest so that overall economy, especially the poor, could be saved from the adverse impact of burgeoning oil prices.
RAFIQUE AHMED SIDDIQUE
Karachi
IT was nice to see that judges, the media and the State Bank of Pakistan have taken serious note of the bank’s cruel handling of the holders of credit cards for the recovery of their dues.
Mostly, the white-collared employees and businessmen have subscribed it.
In credit business there is a risk and we all know that banks and financial institutions have sustained huge losses (bad debts) in the business, which has now and always been accepted as part of the business.
While direct borrowers were given various opportunities by the government and the SBP to repay their old loans and avail themselves of huge concessions and remissions — they waived the interest, interest on interest (compound interest), late payment charges and other charges, etc. — but the small ones, who borrowed through credit cards and are having financial crunch, have not been offered any such package by the banks etc.
This is time the SBP and other banks operating in Pakistan with foreign mentality be advised to look into the matter and classify the accounts and offer concessions and remissions to the credit card holders.
I suggest the following immediate steps will help the credit card holders as well as banks to resolve the issue:
a. The concession should be made available to the credit card holders who have been availing themselves of the facility for the last five years and who have met their commitments in the beginning/past.
b. The credit card holders must submit proof for the deterioration of their ‘financial health’.
c. The remission and concession should include the waiving off of interest, interest on interest (compound interest), late payment charges, etc.
A CREDIT CARD HOLDER
Karachi
(II)
APROPOS of Nasir Zaidi’s letter (May 15), I would like to add that customers do agree to all the terms and conditions of the bank at the time of taking loan.
These terms and conditions, however, do not include putting up with misbehaviour, threats or use of abusive language with the members of the family of a customer, which has become a code of conduct of hired recovery agents of prestigious banks.
Will the authorities concerned see that the banks deal with their customers in a legal and civilised way rather than through agents who can go to any extent to earn their commission.
I would further like to add that the default on the part of bank customers is due to most uncertain economic conditions prevalent in the country which are beyond the control of the citizens, such as the rampant inflation upsetting family budgets.
In view of the present situation I would suggest that the State Bank of Pakistan should direct the banks to freeze the accounts of the borrowers and suspend recovery operations till such time that the conditions improve and customers feel comfortable to settle their liabilities.
I am more than confident that the banks can afford to defer the recovery when they have shown the capacity to waive billions of rupees in bad debts in the recent past.
NASEER A. MALIK
Karachi
IN the budget of 2007-2008 government employees received an increase of only 15 per cent in their basic pays, amounting to almost Rs350 for the deprived employees. Many mini-budgets appeared afterward and then a setback for the employees was in the flour shortage.
Many other victuals reached their highest prices and after the departure of the PML(Q) government, petrol prices skyrocketed. A relentless succession in price hike has been in full swing, which has broken all the records of Pakistan’s 60 years’ history.
According to a survey, in the last one year, there has been almost a 50 per cent increase in prices of petrol, electricity, LPG, house rent, etc, and flour, rice, ghee and other necessities got an increase up to 175 per cent.
All these necessities have been unattainable, which has made it difficult for the employees to make ends meet.
It is my appeal to the government, as well as to the private employers, to give us an increase of minimum 40 per cent on our running basic pay to make our lives a little better. We no longer can bear the price crush.
MUHAMMAD SAEED PIRACHA
Lahore
MOST of the edibles are packed in tin cans. The basic material for can manufacturing is tinplate which is becoming costlier every day.
The market price of tinplate is usually based on the import price but it is internally regulated by a firm which imports black plate to be tinned only in their coating plant and as such claim to be the manufacturers of tinplate in Pakistan.
They certainly are the largest stockists of tinplate who supply this material to traders at their own rates.
If the price of tinplate is not checked, the worst hit items will be edible oil and ghee used in every household.
Besides prices of paints, lube oils and pesticides shall also rise.
Will the authorities concerned do something to check the black marketing of tinplate to control the prices of countless items related to it.
AN AFFECTED PERSON
Karachi
THIS is apropos of A. Munsif’s letter, ‘Burning of bandits’ (May 21).
We are burning bandits who are committing robberies for a few hundred or thousand bucks but fail to bring those to book who were voted for but they ended up robbing the entire nation.
I strongly condemn the burning of three bandits.
DR. M. SHAHMIR
Malaysia
SUNNY is dead! I jumped out of my bed, my wife cried with agony as death was too soon to wreak my young cousin. A brilliant young lad in his mid-20s, he would make people happy with a potion of his warm-heartedness and laughter.
More importantly he was the life of the family and friends and whosoever he interacted with became spell-bound as they listened to him.
The deepest wound inflicted was upon the parents who have now lost their life which was always on the Sunny side.
The irony is that he was killed in a car crash on main Khyaban-i-Hafiz on May 21 in Karachi. A toddler of American School driving his BMW 7 series, out there with a licence to kill, rammed into the unfortunate vehicle which was carrying my cousin.
At that very moment the toddler called help from home, where his mother escorted his dear one back home and to safety, abandoning the car he had hit at a lightning speed which contained two young lads breathing their last sighs for life.
In a country like ours where no one comes to help, miraculously some passersby aided them to the hospital.
My cousin passed away on the way to the hospital whereas the other is fighting for his life.
Dear parents, please let this be a message for you all that life does not come cheap, we should ensure safety of our children and other children who are near and around us.
We cannot afford to give our children handguns without licences so that they can become trigger-happy while enjoying the shot, end a precious life of a loved one.
It’s not the kid to blame but the parents who allow such luxuries to their under-aged children.
Today it’s my sorrow, tomorrow it can be yours. Sunny ! may God rest your soul in peace. You will be always remembered in our hearts.
KASHIF CHAUDHRY
Karachi
AS a great supporter and well-wisher of the PPP since 1970, I am really sad to hear the remarks of Raja Pervaiz Ashraf regarding dropping of the Kalabagh dam project.
The PPP, being the party of the federation, has ignored the sentiments of 100 million people of Punjab. The claims of making parliament supreme and strengthening the Council of Common Interests do not seem serious.
When the country is facing acute water and power shortages, a technically genuine project, which is ready for take-off, is being ignored on purely regional sentiments, probably supported by Indian lobbies.
Benazir Bhutto never publicly opposed the project, rather she did not get time to sort out the differences on this important national issue.
RIAZUR REHMAN KHAN
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