| June 06, 2008 | Friday | Jamadi-us-Sani 01, 1429 |
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Taseer’s credentials as PPP nominee
Is Osama in K-2 mountains?
Responsibility of the media
Cyclone sufferers
Another pain for Balochistan
Senior citizens
Possible appeasement
Discrimination
Bloodshed in Somalia
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
A TWO per cent capital value tax (CVT) was imposed by the previous government on real estate transactions in proportion to the value of land as per registered sale deeds. The tax was imposed on all urban immovable properties, measuring at least 500 square yards or one kanal, on residential properties and on commercial properties at Rs50 per square yard.
After this imposition, the real estate market took a nosedive, and $500 million was transferred from Pakistan via official and unofficial channels for purchasing properties in Dubai and Ajman.
Members of the Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD) are busy developing and selling building projects in the UAE to earn maximum profits. All under-construction highrise building projects in Pakistan have been either abandoned or construction of these has been delayed.
The bottomline is: property buyers are neither interested in purchasing properties in Pakistan, nor are the builders interested in completing their leftover projects. It seems that there is no end to it and the current political scenario has further aggravated the situation.
There are talks in the market that the government is either going to increase the percentage of CVT or will impose capital gain tax in addition to the CVT on property transactions during the fiscal year 2008-2009. This will be suicidal in terms of earning revenue from the real estate sector.
The government should take concrete steps to stop the flight of capital from Pakistan and for that it should make real estate more attractive — like Dubai where no taxes are imposed on the real estate — so that investors, local as well as foreign, instead of buying properties abroad should purchase properties in Pakistan.
With the budget announcement due on June 10, the government should abolish charging two per cent CVT on property transactions or reduce it to one per cent. Simultaneously, it should increase collectorate rates by 10 to 20 per cent to compensate for the CVT reduction.
Three per cent stamp duty should be reduced to two per cent and one per cent registration fee should be kept as it is. Prices of properties should come down as it has reached such a point that it has not only become unaffordable for middle class people but even the upper middle class cannot afford to buy properties.
Abolition of CVT, increase in collectorate rates and decreasing stamp duty will increase the volume of property transactions in the country, and property buyers instead of investing abroad will invest in the country. This will give the much needed boost to the real estate industry and will also increase the revenue collection of the government, both central and provincial.
The loss of revenue from the collectorate rates, stamp duty and registration charges can be recovered by issuing licences to real estate agency owners and real estate brokers.
A flat rate of Rs200,000 for three years should be charged for issuing licences to ‘A’ class estate agency owners and Rs100,000 to the ‘B’ class ones. This will bring more estate agencies in the tax net.
Also, a flat rate of Rs6,000 per annum should be charged for issuing licences to all real estate brokers working in any estate agency.
This will legitimise real estate brokerage business, as collecting income tax from estate agency owners and real estate brokers cannot legitimise the real estate business automatically.
SYED A. MATEEN
Karachi
MUCH has been made about the PPP credentials of the newly-appointed governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer. Mr Taseer joined the PPP after the return from exile of Benazir Bhutto. He was not a supporter of the PPP prior to that date, nor is there any evidence to show that he took any stand, positive or otherwise, on Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s ignominious trial and judicial murder. He remained in the PPP till 1994 but to claim that he was “a jewel of the PPP’s elite” is stretching it a bit too much.
What Mr Taseer did or did not do since 1994 from the political standpoint is not known, nor does it really matter in the present context but one fact cannot be denied and that is that Mr Taseer was a member of the caretaker government appointed by an unconstitutional and illegal president, a government which presided over the brutal assassination of Benazir Bhutto, a government that has yet to explain how and why and on whose orders the crime scene was washed clean of all evidence.
No evidence can also be found of any expression of grief or sorrow that Mr Taseer may have expressed on this darkest of all crimes. In fact, when a friend sent him a text message following the assassination, suggesting that he resign as a measure of respect for a national leader who was once also his leader, Mr Taseer chose to respond through a string of unprintable abuses. That it took him five long months to finally pay homage to Benazir Bhutto and that too at the expense of the taxpayers, does not speak well of him.
There can be no cavil on the right of the PPP leadership to appoint Mr Taseer as the governor, given Mr Taseer’s credentials vis-a-vis Musharraf perhaps this was but expedient.
That Mr Taseer should claim to be or be painted by others as a PPP stalwart is an insult to the thousands, nay millions of supporters and workers of the PPP and the educated and reasoned activists of the PPP ‘elite’ (the term borrowed) who stood up for ZAB through that farce of a judicial murder, who continued to support Benazir Bhutto and the PPP through thick and thin, who through a reasoned choice continue to fight for the PPP recognising that it is the only national federal liberal political party with grassroots support in the four provinces and that having lost our only national federal liberal political leader it would be a colossal tragedy if we were to break or lose the PPP.
Having said the above, I may add that I have no personal axe to grind against Mr Taseer. I am sure that he is highly educated and a very successful entrepreneur and has ‘earned’ the high (but not so high considering his recent predecessors) office to which he has been elevated.
However, may one ask Mr Taseer how he, being educated and hopefully knowing the constitutional role of the office which he holds, plans to make Punjab a stronghold of the PPP? It is hoped that he does not plan to replicate his mentor’s efforts to make the country a stronghold of the PML (Q).
As for getting Bilawal to win an election from Punjab, it is hoped that should Bilawal decide to enter the electoral fray, he will follow the glorious tradition of his illustrious grandfather and mother and win the hearts and minds of the people of Punjab and not have to depend on gubernatorial offices for securing his victory.
AMNA PIRACHA
Islamabad
ACCORDING to Dubai-based Arabic television network Al Arabiya sources, Osama bin Laden is hiding in the Karakoram segment of the Himalayan range and US security and military officials had a top-level meeting at a military base in Qatar’s capital Doha to plan an operation to hunt for Osama.
US commander in Iraq Gen David Petraeus and US ambassador to Islamabad Anne Patterson were reported to have attended the summit.
Last week, Petraeus testified before a US Congressional committee about security in Iraq and warned that members of Al Qaeda based in Pakistan’s tribal areas were planning a new attack on the US.
According to the channel, the CIA has located Osama on the ‘rooftop of the world’, the area of Pakistan that borders Afghanistan to the west, in particular the chain of mountains of Afghan province of Nurestan, and China to the north. How ridiculous is this disclosure?
After 9/11 it has been the part of US strategy of finding such ridiculous excuses that can pave the way for pursuing its vested interests.
Bin Laden is a character that has widely been used for this purpose. Afghanistan has been invaded and occupied. Iraq’s sovereignty has been humiliated by the US on the pretext of finding so-called lethal weapons of mass destruction.
In the next episode of this strategy the US is trying to bring Iran under pressure on the grounds of its ‘mass-destructive nuclear capability’.
As far as Pakistan is concerned, US officials have left no stone unturned in pressuring Pakistan on the alleged grounds of supporting Taliban and Al Qaeda elements. ‘Do more’ was the phrase that always came out form mouth of US officials.
Now the latest from the US is that Osama is hiding in the Karakorum segment of the Himalayan range.
I think the US now wants to take over the Himalayas. The area is of great strategic importance. Due to the breakdown in peace talks, the US policy seems to be failing in Fata. In the meanwhile, the US has marked another place to attack in Pakistan. This disclosure is so ridiculous that one cannot stop thinking how a superpower can sound so absurd?
AYESHA MAZHAR
Rawalpindi
A FREE press holds considerable power and responsibility in bringing about a change in a country and, by and large, the Pakistan press is quite capable of handling this responsibility. However, looking at the front-page news over the last couple of weeks, I feel that this responsibility has been neglected somewhat to the detriment of the country. Let me explain.
In the last two weeks in Karachi, I have watched the rupee continually fall against the dollar and the stock market crash to its lowest level for nine months. Furthermore, I have sat through power cuts of increasing length, and paid more and more money for food as inflation hits ridiculous levels. For the people not as fortunate as me, these experiences pose serious threats to their livelihood.
But what has appeared on the front page of the newspapers during this period? Stories of the governing coalition negotiating the future of the deposed judges or Asif Zardari calling for the head of Mr Musharraf.
I have been shocked, to say the least, at the governing authorities’ sense of priorities. Mr Zardari was even quoting the people of Pakistan telling him that “we don’t want bread, we don’t want electricity, but we want Musharraf out”, which, to me, a foreigner in Pakistan, seems remarkable.
It is the media that gives the airtime to these particular stories. It is true that the press is largely neutral, and it has the power to shape the public agenda. I mean it is the press that chooses what news features to go on the front pages of their publications. If we have a press that continues to speculate over the actions of the political leaders, then they will continue to be headline-grabbers as they hustle for power. Such speculation also becomes the cause of many of the economic woes.
However, if we have a press that is more geared ‘on the ground’ issues of Pakistan, then pressure for action will mount and the political leaders will be forced to respond by tackling these issues head on.
As an outsider, it is difficult to gain an understanding of what is really important to the people of Pakistan, but to me it feels like there is a big pink elephant in the room, namely the economic and social problems persisting in the country at the moment and it is up to the press to point this out. Only then may we see a change in the priorities of the political leaders.
BENJAMIN WEBSTER
Karachi
IT indeed breaks the heart to see the plight of the sufferers fallen prey by the last devastating cyclone which had severely struck a major portion of Balochistan’s coastal belt.
Needless to say that Turbat, being one of the hottest regions throughout the country, the affected people are left without any homes or shelter and are compelled to live under the scorching sun.
It is beyond my grasp to mull over the pattern that no satisfactory measures were taken over a year to rehabilitate these suffering people.
I am trying to manifest that thousands of people are at risk since no relief was ensured so as to compensate them. There is no water and power available in the area.
At a time when rapid development is taking place in the world, flood victims are still struggling for survival.
The government was supposed to carry out concentrated efforts to rehabilitate these people but, to my disappointment, it remains to be a mute spectator. It is time the rulers announced a relief package for these people who have lost their homes and belongings.
DUR JAN BALOCH
Turbat
BALOCHISTAN has suffered neglect by Islamabad for some time. The new government seems to have realised it. Asif Ali Zardari has shown a great heart to apologise for neglect, misdeeds and some other actions that the Baloch have disapproved of, like army operations of 1948, 1956, 1974 and 2006. It takes two hands to clap. If the federal government has been sending armed forces to crack down, why was it compelled to do that?
There is one answer, and that answer explains the causes of all worries of Balochistan as the sardari system. I know some Baloch people will raise eyebrows. The sardars and nawabs of Balochistan have kept the province backward and underdeveloped.
For this purpose, all they had to do was to keep them Illiterate and ignorant. Without education, nobody can improve himself, his house or society.
With respect and all humility I would like to give you the example of Punjab and Sindh. These provinces do not complain of their provinces’ backwardness and neglect. The reason is that their literacy rate is higher than others. Once the people of Balochistan have acquired the literacy rate equal to these two provinces, I assure you Balochistan will be a star province of Pakistan. It has got a lot of land, natural resources and potential for great progress.
The progress of this province is hampered by its bureaucracy and those responsible for development. According to a Dawn report (May 17), Rs2,205 million out of Rs4,646 million has been embezzled. The funds were provided for Lasbela’s uplift and development work. Won’t it hurt the Baloch?
M. K. NAQVI
Karachi
IT is indeed very sad that no tangible steps were ever taken by the respective governments to ameliorate the sufferings of its senior citizens, who have given their blood and sweat for the betterment and development of Pakistan.
The government should provide its senior citizens an appropriate relief so that they could pass the rest of their life in a dignified way.
PROF S. K. HASAN
Karachi
YOUR editorial, ‘And now the package’ (June 3), suggests some sort of appeasement.
In other words, the approval of Amendment 18, as reflected in the constitutional package now before the political parties, will only encourage future military adventurers to tamper with the law of the land. This should not be allowed!
Let Mr Musharraf be impeached for treason. He has played havoc with the 1973 Constitution and should pay a heavy price for the same.
JALALUDDIN S. HUSSAIN
Canada
IT is suggested that discrimination between finished products and raw material be removed in respect of withholding income tax. This is because the raw material imported under the shelter of industry is sold traded in the open market.
Thus undue advantage is extended to some persons. Therefore, disparity between commercial and industrial importer in respect of withholding tax should be done away within the national interest, exchequer and national justice.
SHAMSUDDIN
Karachi
THE US seems to be well on its way to creating another Iraq in Somalia, after having turned Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan into killing fields, with Iran next on the list. According to independent western estimates, nearly 1.3 million people have died in Iraq, five million have been injured and about an equal number made homeless in the Middle Eastern country after the American invasion.
Now, every other day we see reports of the mounting bloodshed in Somalia, thanks to the US-backed Ethiopian occupation of the African country, as a result of Washington’s overreaction to the Islamists.
By late 2006, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) had established peace over southern Somalia and after 18 years of lawlessness and warlords’ thuggery, things were on the mend: people had even started celebrating the Islamic festival of Eid after many, many years.
But the US and some other western powers accused the ICU of colluding with Al Qaeda, which the largely sufi-minded leaders of ICU had denied, resulting in the invasion and renewed fighting. An opportunity of bringing them into the mainstream has been lost.
According to a recent report, Ethiopian troops sprayed gunfire on Somali civilians, killing at least 12, after a roadside bomb blast hit a water truck in the town of Baidoa (May 11). The explosion had killed one Ethiopian soldier, prompting other troops to open fire in all directions, said a witness. This is similar to what the American soldiers have been doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, causing hatred for them among the locals.
It is not an isolated incident of violence. The very next day, US warplanes attacked a Somali militant belonging to the ICU, slaying 30 others. “Bits of human flesh are scattered on the ruins of the building,” an eyewitness told Reuters, “people are counting the skulls to know the exact figure.” After the December 2006 occupation, thousands of innocent Somalis have died and a million became homeless.
The US has learned no lessons from its earlier adventures in Islamic lands and is inclined to destroy countries to ‘save’ them. If the Muslims are left to themselves, they will choose democracy and peace, as has been amply proved in the Pakistani and Turkish elections. Washington has committed yet another blunder or is it a deliberate attempt to destabilise the Islamic world before redrawing its map?
Nevertheless, that fast asleep organisation, the OIC, must wake up now, before each and every strategically important Muslim state gets occupied. First of all, it should hold an inquiry into the Ethiopian troops’ firing cited above, which has been given a different spin by the Addis Ababa forces, to ascertain the truth and let the world know what the Ethiopians are doing.
It should also try to unite the world’s Muslims to protect them from violence and occupation. A new report from Kashmir, titled, ‘Kashmiris fighting a new battle’ (May 2) quotes a psychiatrist as saying that due to the Indian troops brutality and the violence resulting from the freedom struggle, “There’s an alarming mental health crisis.”
The same is true for Palestine and Chechnya. Pakistan must play its due role by first learning to protect its own dignity and security from destructive western interference and, along with Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran, in helping the smaller states to overcome foreign occupation, while letting the West know the Muslims aren’t its enemies.
A. ALEEM
Karachi
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