| June 14, 2008 | Saturday | Jamadi-us-Sani 09, 1429 |
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Sir Fazl-i-Husain: a role model statesman
Attack on FC soldiers
A sufferer’s plea
British CJs: some examples
Better late than never
How PSMC was saved
Import margin
Black & white
Selective package
Bush support
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 new budget certainly seems to be beneficial for poor families. Besides other benefits, the most important is the stipend of Rs1,000 to the poor every month.
This would surely go a long way to help the needy to meet the rising expenses of everyday commodities, and perhaps enable them to get a generator to relieve them from the harsh loadshedding.
One ardently hopes that these measures are implemented in the true spirit by honest officials, if honesty has not altogether disappeared. What I suspect is that many opportunists who have links with the authorities would ‘create’ a number of qualified families and receive several thousand rupees every month, thus depriving a large number of deserving families of their share.
Another possibility is that the recipients may have to give a cut of what they would get to the concerned officials.
If these factors are checked and the amount is given only to the deserving people by scrutinising their addresses, IDs and proof of income, then all kudos goes to the present government which would be doing a great favour to the poverty-ridden people. A step no other government has taken before.
RAFIQ EBRAHIM VALJEE
United States
THE big news of the budget 2008 was that Rs34 billion has been earmarked for Benazir Income Support Programme which will be increased to Rs50 billion for the poorer segments of society.
I beg to differ on this drumbeat. Are we helping the poor or increasing the beggar fleet indirectly by destroying their self-respect?
Zakat and Usher schemes were initiated by Gen Zia and billions of rupees vanished in the name of providing relief to poor families. Could someone give the details of the amount collected from Zakat and its uses?
May I suggest that instead of giving a peanut: rupees one thousand to a family of a few, why not establish factories and small industrial units in provinces from this money and provide jobs to the poor people.
It would not only provide a permanent source of income to a family but also generate the economic activities that would result in Pakistan’s prosperity.
BILAL SHAHID
Rawalpindi
SYED Naveed Qamar, at a post-budget news conference recently said that the budget was aimed at bringing macro-economic stability through fiscal policy measures, reducing the rich-poor gap, controlling inflation to a certain limit and its gradual reduction, reining in the runaway current account deficit (CAD), protecting labour, the salaried class and the poorest of the poor.
Trusting the intention, the poor citizens of the country will have to share the burden with an increasing prospect of increase of prices in the energy sector, i.e. gas, electricity and oil. Once the prices of these items are increased, there will automatically be a trickling effect of increase of prices on other commodities.
Can the masses undo the heavy burden and let the oppressed not be affected by such measures?
DAWOOD SHAKIL
Rawalpindi
SIR Fazl-i-Husain (1877-1936) will be remembered today (14/6) on his 131st birth anniversary by devotedly ardent students of the political career of this extraordinary Muslim statesman, best described by many as the architect of modern Punjab.
Recounting some salient characteristics of his personality, his son Azim Hussain, ICS, in his remarkably readable and objective biography (Longmans and Green, 1946) writes thus:
“He regarded popularity or public applause as ephemeral and of little value. He was interested more in the achievement itself than in the glory of it. His anxiety was to get done what he wanted, and if the credit went to someone else it did not concern him. This helped him to achieve more than he would have done otherwise, because it enabled him to avoid jealousies and petty rivalries, and at the same time to use people effectively.
In fact, very often he preferred that his proposals should emanate from others as their own. He never addressed any mass meeting, nor was he ever taken out in processions. He obliterated himself from the front page in order to control matters more adequately. …
“ … He proved by example that it was possible to act democratically and at the same time honestly, without resort to base forms of propaganda, from the platform or through the press. Hard work in the office, the committee room and the legislature, with honesty of purpose, could achieve a great deal; and resort to popular emotional appeals, mass meetings, hysteria and public deception was unnecessary.
“It was possible to work democracy to a very large extent without the evils generally associated with it. The chief lesson of his life and work, therefore, was its demonstration that democracy could be worked and the masses elevated thereby. ….
“ … He considered the price paid for achieving efficiency under a dictatorship excessive. For him the true object of politics was to raise the economic and cultural level of the common man, and though this was a painfully laborious process, it was necessary and worthy of sacrifice and effort. For him the end did not justify the means, because no political achievement can be permanent or of lasting benefit if the means adopted are violent or dishonest and destructive of self-respect. …
“ … Whether in the Punjab government, in the government of India, or in retirement, in health or in illness, during the last sixteen years of his life, he was a force all parties had to reckon with and none more so than the bureaucracy. …”.
M.J. AS’AD
Karachi
THIS is apropos of the report, ‘11 FC soldiers killed in an attack by US-led forces in Mohmand Agency’(June 12). Our ill-equipped and under-restraint forces, at the border with Afghanistan, are reportedly targeted by US-led forces and Afghan artillery, causing immense damage to life and property.
The latest attack on our checkposts has left 11 dead and 40 missing. Government leaders and the ISPR have come up with consoling and routine statements condemning the attack. This is not enough as the situation demands more than the words.
Why are our troops left at the mercy of hostile Afghan and Nato (US-led forces) actions and treated as sacrificial? Why are our troops not equipped in the appropriate weapon system to suitably respond to unprovoked hostile actions from across the border?
Commanders who fail to provide necessary protection to their troops against the known weapon system possessed by the hostile do not deserve to retain their command and the government which does not provide enough resources for the weapons has no right to be the custodian of dignity and respect of the country.
Let us forget our present internal issues and put our heads together to meet this menacing challenge from across the Afghan border, to defend our sovereignty, honour and self-respect.
KHAN A. SHAMSHAD
Karachi
I AM 29 years old and single, and have a stable job at Karachi in the telecommunication industry. But I do contemplate leaving my beloved Pakistan and shifting to another country, though my parents are old, all my friends are here and everybody in the vicinity has known me for the last 29 years.
You may ask as to why I need to go abroad despite a good job and supportive family and friends. I used to ask the same question in the night lying down at my rooftop. When I reach home after a heavy routine, I find no electricity at home and my loved ones suffering.
I hardly get a three to four hour sleep every night just like every other person living in Karachi due to no electricity and excessive heat, which is a mental torture for all Karachiites.
What is the solution to this grave issue? People are dying from the inside due to this electricity problem in Pakistan, especially in Karachi. Almost every kid, every household seems like there is no life within to move on without electricity.
Trust us, we are peaceful people and want to live in peace. I do not intend to march or destroy the KESC office near my home, but some one please guide me how I can change all this.
I do not know whether my voice will reach the relevant people for the solution of the electricity chaos in our city, which was once called the city of lights.
ASIM IRSHAD
Karachi
ARDESHIR Cowasjee in his column (June 8) stated that in or about 1994, superseding three senior judges, the government was prepared to appoint Justice Sajjad Ali Shah as the chief justice of Pakistan on the condition that he gave his written resignation in advance, which would be used if he failed to oblige the government.
Such an incident actually happened in the United Kingdom. In 1921, upon the appointment as viceroy of India, Lord Chief Justice Reading resigned his office. Sir Gordon Hewart, the attorney-general, made a claim to be the chief justice. Lloyd George, the prime minister, could not spare his political services in the House of Commons. “A gentleman’s agreement” was arrived at with a 77-year-old judge of the high court (Justice A. T. Lawrence), who consented to act as caretaker.
Lawrence was required to sign an undated letter of resignation. Justice Lawrence was appointed the chief justice. Before the fall of the Lloyd George coalition, Hewart was appointed the chief justice and Lawrence, CJ, in the middle of a case suddenly found that his resignation has been officially announced.
Lord Hewart, CJ, met his fate in the same way. He became seriously ill and could not sit regularly in court, nor discharge properly the duty of Lord Chief Justice.
It is reported that one day he was called from his sickroom to answer a telephone call from the prime minister’s office. He was informed curtly that his resignation was to be announced in the newspapers following morning. (Judges on Trial by Shimon Shetreet, pages 69-70).
S. S. PIRZADA
Karachi
THE recent awakening of our retired army commanders is a good omen for the nation which is waiting for some messiah to redeem them. This awakening of conscience by those who were responsible for safeguarding Pakistan’s boundaries may be taken as ‘better late than never.’
These newly ‘conscientious’ generals also put the nation in a predicament by posing serious doubts on our senior army officers’ professional, national and moral character. Their integrity and courage in battlefields also become questionable. Can a commander devoid of moral courage command his men?
This also gives rise to a moot point: “Is the present line of command also being groomed in the same manner as were their seniors, who could speak the truth after 10/20 years having enjoyed every facility their service promised them even after retirement?”
The common man hopes that there is no lacuna in the selection and promotion procedures in the army. We need a breed of officers who are conscientious and quick in taking the right decision at the time when their department and, above all, their motherland demand it, and not after the time has passed.
CAPT (r) S. S. ANWARI
Lahore
THE ex-chairman of Pakistan Steel Company Limited recently appeared on a private TV channel. He mostly spoke about privatisation of the PMSC, the deal of which was struck down as illegal and fraudulent by the nine-member bench of the Supreme Court. The apex court unanimously found the process of privatisation “vitiated by legal violations by the state functionaries, including act of omissions and commissions”.
The facts the ex-chairman uncovered, being the person most relevant during the interview, were so revealing that any Pakistani could not but accept his opinion that for collusion an FIR may be lodged against Shaukat Aziz, then prime minister, for such a blatant underhand deal.
The ex-chairman openly charged the former PM with complicity of impropriety when he insisted that the PM should not have intervened in the process of privatisation in view of the colossal loss the nation was to suffer in the shape of extra benefits to be enjoyed by the successful bidders. The ex-chairman also resisted privitasation on account of the fact that during the last two years alone the PSMC had earned a huge profit of Rs17 billion.
According to him, against the sale price of Rs12 billion, the bidders were getting land, cost of which was Rs40 billion, spare and stocks worth Rs12 billion and liquidity available in the banks amounting to Rs9 billion. The government had also accepted to pay the golden handshake liability to the employees to the tune of Rs18 billion. Besides, for this pittance, the government had to trade off the strategic importance the steel project has acquired for the national economy and defence production of the country.
I think it was mainly the prayer of 20,000 employees of the PSMC (and their families) who were to be made redundant that help came in the shape of the Supreme Court’s verdict, and privatisation was cancelled. Had this deal materialised, the country would, in addition to having suffered insurmountable loss of billions, have also faced a crisis such as created by the KESC and the PTCL, privatisations of which were also materialised by the previous regime, hastily and surreptitiously.
DR ALI AKBAR M. DHAKAN
Karachi
THE SBP announcement recently to levy 35 per cent import margin on all imports has started an uproar among the importers’ community as it will not only increase the cost of imports but at the same time it would definitely lead to price soaring, ultimately burdening the general public.
Notwithstanding, the anxiety would further augment when it will also be applicable to essential food items like pulses and milk powder.
The levy of the import margin on food items will put undue pressure on importers as well as seriously hamper the purchasing power of the general public.
Besides, one can ostensibly understand that imposition of import margin will certainly hinder the opening of l/cs and obviously slow down imports, resulting in the shortage of food items in the market.
Currently there has been a food crisis in the country and prices have escalated gigantically and in this sort of situation the imposition of import margin will be heightening the resentment of the public, on the one hand, and consequently intensify the food crisis, on the other hand.
The government should reconsider its decision to levy import margin on at least the food items, including pulses and milk powder, so that the general public may not suffer due to this controversial and excruciating imposition.
It is hoped the interest of the general public would be given a serious thought by the present democratic government and the unwarranted levy of import margin would be withdrawn to relieve the disquiet among the public.
MOHAMMAD IQBAL
Karachi
THE Americans have a painful history of the slave trade whereby thousands upon thousands of blacks were herded in Africa and sent to America in most inhuman conditions aboard slave ships. Upon reaching America, they were auctioned and bought by rich whites to work on their farms and homes.
A detailed account of their ordeal can be understood by viewing films like Roots and Amadeus. The slave trade was finally stopped by Abraham Lincoln who emancipated them and gave them equal rights. But the whites have to this day abhorred them.
At the time of the election of the Pope it was evident from the white smoke from the chimneys that a black was being elected to lead the Catholics. At this juncture President Bush said that a black Pope was unacceptable to the millions of Catholics who happen to be white.
As this pressure increased, the bishops were forced to elect Cardinal Ratzinger as the Pope.
Now as Obama heads the Democrats in a bid to become the first black in the White House, it remains to be seen how the Americans manage their democratic values.
RAFI ADAMJEE
Karachi
THE ‘constitutional’ package to be presented in the National Assembly soon is not a final draft. The addition of eight more points are a proof of it. There is a possibility that, after consultations and discussions with other parties, it could include a few more points.
Every party has been complaining since 1973, when the present Constitution was promulgated by ZAB, that it has been amended so much to look completely changed.
It is more like a constitution of presidential form of government instead of parliamentary. Even ZAB brought a lot of changes in it as he had a two-thirds majority in the assembly. Now the PPP would again be doing the same thing.
What you must do is to restore the Constitution in its original form with no changes after Aug 14, 1973. These piecemeal changes would bring some more complaints. Now some of President Musharraf’s Nov 3, 2007 changes will be protected. As you say that Mr Musharraf has been changing the Constitution the way he wanted, and if you want him to go, why be so selective about his changes?
REHANA NAQVI
Karachi
IT has been reported in the electronic as well as in the print media that President Bush has spoken to President Musharraf for almost 25 minutes and extended his full support to him against his political opponents (who have been democratically elected).
White House spokesperson Dana Perino and Defence Secretary Robert Gates have confirmed this in unequivocal terms.
It has been observed that Bush not only phoned Mr Musharraf but the White House also took the unusual step of announcing the details of the conversation. Bravo Bush! A friend in need is a friend indeed.
All said and done, it goes on to confirm the general perception that wherever it suits their interests, the US supports the kings and military dictators. The present US policy is against the people of Pakistan and may harm the fledgling democracy
SALIM AHMED
Karachi
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