| July 08, 2008 | Tuesday | Rajab 4, 1429 |
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Dealing with the Taliban
Double standard
Alternative energy
Car thieves using jammers
Protests in Kashmir
Privileged old guard
AFP’s gaffe
Rural problems and reforms
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
ANOTHER bomb blast has occurred in Islamabad. With bomb blasts occurring at regular intervals, life of the common man has become precariously insecure. Serial blasts have become so common in Pakistan that they do not occupy the minds of the people, politicians and the media for more than a couple of days.
The people will not have faith in the government. The Islamabad blasts are a tight slap on the face of the so-called ‘tight’ security arrangements. There are many loopholes in our security system.
Most of the time the authorities ignore the warnings of terrorist groups. Red alerts are sounded after the terror attacks. By not implementing a strong anti-terrorist law, it has given the terrorists the licence to kill more. We, the people, will be grateful to terrorists if they tell us the motive behind their acts. If they want to avenge the acts of some fundamentalist organisations, let them attack the groups directly. They should not harm the innocent people.
If we remain a silent spectator to the acts of our politicians, Pakistan may have to witness serial blasts on a monthly basis, then on a weekly basis, and so on.
From tomorrow, they will be back to their routine. Terrorist attacks will continue to take place and our people will get used to them. We also need tough laws to deal with terror, and a visionary leadership that cares more about people than remaining in power.
SITWAT HASEEN
Karachi
(II)
THE suicide blast in Islamabad is very tragic! However, the question is, ‘what is the elected government in Pakistan doing?’ Coalition parties in the government prior to getting in power promised the Pakistani people and the rest of the world they will take care of extremism rather effectively since they have their roots in people. What happened?
They are in power for more than several months now! Seems, the downward spiral for Pakistan started soon after they got into power and now this downward turn is gaining strength by the days. Are they really interested in solving problems? Or that so-called “mandate” is to place and transfer SHOs and SPS of their choice?
Are these failures pointing out that the current set-up is only good for making money out of transfers? And, wasting the nation’s precious time meanwhile taking it to the brink for an ultimate disaster?
KADAR KHAN
Vial email
THE tribal areas of Pakistan constituting the Pukhtoon elements have an abiding interest in the well-being of their kith and kin living on the other side in Afghanistan. The massacre at the hands of Nato and US forces is indeed a matter of great concern to them.
Historically speaking the Pukhtoons in Afghanistan have never reconciled to the occupation of their land and given great sacrifices for the sake of freedom. They have faced mighty powers like Great Britain and defeated them thrice; the same was the fate of the Soviet Union. Americans have not taken into account the psyche of the Afghan people before launching the invasion.
It is, therefore, naïve to expect that the Pukhtoon on our side of the border will see the bombing by the US and Nato forces, in which many Afghans have already perished, lying down. To remain a silent spectator to this tragedy is not in the blood of the Pukhtoons.
The Taliban are indigenous people and they may be poor, illiterate and deprived of modern amenities of life but they love to be independent. This is their way of life.
The problems of tribal area spill over from the problem of Afghanistan. The insurgency in Afghanistan can’t be controlled unless the Afghan people are provided a sense of dignity and freedom.
The global community must rebuild their infrastructure, which has been destroyed to serve the US strategic objectives to control the oil wealth of the Caspian Sea.
Tribal people are not our enemies and as such innocent Pukhtoon (Taliban) should not be subjected to military operation as it would be a strategic blunder.
YASIR ALI KHAN
Attock
(II)
A SIMPLE fact does not need rocket science to understand it. We should seal our borders with Afghanistan, let America deal with the Taliban inside Afghanistan, perish the status of tribalism in our present tribal areas and bring them into the mainstream settled areas of the country by providing all those facilities which a person enjoys in Islamabad.
By this way we can bring stability inside our country. We have a very active and vigilant leadership coming from this belt of the country which can give us right support in this regard.
ABU SHAHAB
Karak
Qazi Hussain Ahmed has demanded that President Pervez Musharraf be tried under Article 6 of the Constitution for rebellion. Unfortunately for Qazi Ahmed and fortunately for Mr Musharraf, Article 6 would not help to constitute a case against the president.
You can try him for: (a) If he has caused irreparable damage to the country and losses to the nation,
(b) if he did not crush armed rebellion by religious fanatics,
(c) if he has trampled human rights and committed crimes against humanity,
(d) if he has abrogated the Constitution and/ or
(e) if he is involved in looting the national wealth.
But the country is already on its way to economic disaster and social disorder; it can ill afford political anarchy.
I am worried about Qazi Ahmed’s double standard. He has criticised severely the ‘savage’ use of power in the Lal Masjid episode. I think it is a deep wound; he is still licking it. I have two questions: If Qazi Ahmed was ruling and the Lal Masjid rebellion had taken place, would he have patted the Ghazi brothers for converting the mosque and madressah into an arsenal and fortress?
The other question is: why hasn’t Qazi Ahmed demanded the rebellion case against the actual rebels — the Ghazi brothers? He had himself, with all other ulema and intellectuals, confirmed that their rebellion was against civil and religious laws. Why is he not demanding a rebellion case against Soofi Mohammad, Mullah Fazlullah and the Taliban who have rebelled against the nation and have cut the heads off the live bodies of our soldiers? Why didn’t he demand rebellion cases against Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan and Ziaul Haq? Mr Musharraf may be a bad president, but he is better than previous dictators. He gave you at least democracy, free press and freedom of speech.
M. K. NAQVI
Karachi
IN a recent news item (June 29), the minister for water and power was quoted as saying that line losses should be reduced from 45 per cent to 10 per cent and loadshedding should be reduced to a maximum of eight hours a day.
Furthermore, it was reported that the country faced a shortage of 4,000MW of electricity. It is time we started thinking of alternative sources of energy and their delivery mechanisms. Line losses of 45 per cent are totally unacceptable. It makes one think about the logic of having a national grid system. What’s the point of buying a bag of flour if you are going to drop half of it on the way home?
It seems more reasonable to have localised power-generating systems that would not destabilise the whole system. Among the various options available, solar energy seems to be most promising in the long run. Unlike hydro-power it is available in most parts of the country (most areas have more than 250W per square metre) and requires little or no maintenance. The cost of solar cells has also gone down considerably from $286/W in 1954 to $7/W in 1985 to less than $2/W in 2008.
On the other hand, the price of fossil fuels continues to rise. The life cycle of solar devices is around 25 years and this is expected to grow further as the technology matures.
YASIR AHMED
Karachi
THIS refers to a report by Munawer Azeem, ‘Upsurge in crime in capital worries police officers’ (July 2). Car-lifters have once again become active in the Federal Capital Islamabad -- this time with new gadgets. An average of four to five vehicles are stolen or hijacked every day in Islamabad. Over 350 vehicles were either hijacked at gunpoint or stolen from different localities of the capital during the last six months.
According to the report, some months ago the capital police had arrested a gang of auto-thieves and recovered foreign and local-made jammers from them, with which they would block trackers Global Positioning System (GPS). The recovery of the jammers put the business of GPS provider at risk, as the car-lifters jammed the satellite tracking system by inserting a device in lighter holder, the report said.
In a complaint Javed Thanwey (‘Car tracking ordeal’, June 30) had said that his car in which the vehicle tracking system was installed was stolen from Sharea Faisal in Karachi a few days ago. But the vehicle tracking company, whose tracking system was installed in his car, first made some lame excuses for not making any progress in tracing the car and then after a few days told him flatly that his car could not be found. In this case it might be possible that car thieves must have blocked the GPS installed in his car by using jammers.
Hence, the vehicle tracking companies need to tackle this new kind of threat of jammers by installing some kind of device in the vehicles such as frequency jamming device to protect the GPS against use of jammers by the car thieves.
SQN LDR ( r) S.AUSAF HUSAIN
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the ongoing protest demonstrations in Kashmir. This is not just any movement demanding the puppet governments to revoke the order of transferring 800 kanals of forest land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board but a mass uprising against the Indian rule.
India is playing a dirty game in Kashmir. They know that they have failed to suppress the ongoing freedom struggle by force. Now they are up to change the demographic status of Kashmir. Land transfer was a part of that strategy. According to a census, more than 6,000 kanals of land are under illegal occupation of the Indian army (quoting from Gautam Naulakha’s ‘Understanding the economy of Jammu and Kashmir’).
Out of 1,400mw of tapped hydroelectricity, Jammu and Kashmir has a share of 200mw only, while the rest is Delhi’s share.
India is exploiting our natural resources. They have unleashed a reign of economic terror in Kashmir. The current public uprising against Indian rule is the outcome of decades of exploitation and Indian state terrorism. The layman has ultimately revolted, and shaken the corridors of power in Delhi.
DR LUBNA FAYYAZ
Kashmir
THE government is facing a crisis-ridden situation on many fronts, especially the continuous state of ailing economy, coupled with price hike of essential commodities and extremely grim law and order situation prevailing in almost the entire country.
Employment figures represent further falling trends giving rise to poverty-related suicides, and this dismal state is a cause for common man’s desperation.
In this backdrop, I would highlight the lack of interest of the government departments and its corporations which continue to have in their management position a large number of highly paid M-1, M-2 favourites who have been re-employed both from retired military and civil cadres.
Most of the re-employed heavyweights are professionally average and keep sticking around at the cost of common man waiting to get into jobs. Let there be a clear-cut policy of the government to say goodbye to these honourable persons who already are settled in life drawing handsome pension and other benefits.
After all, rampant corruption has not been contained and mega scandals like collapse of bridges keep on happening without objective accountability. As a principle, a request for extension in service from retiring employees should be politely declined and all openings so created should be filled with new blood, targeting efficiency and promoting a culture of competition based strictly on merit and without political strings. It is hoped that men in authority shall swiftly move to shed extra load for the general good of the country.
AMJAD HUSSAIN MALIK
Rawalpindi
IN the short news report titled, “Czar’s descendants relaunch fashion house” (July 2) by the AFP, the former Russian Czar Felix Yusupov is stated to be a “descendant of a famed Russian dynasty dating its roots back to the Islamic Prophet Ali...” Obviously, the AFP reporter who contributed this news is unaware of the fact that Islam’s last prophet was Muhammad (peace be upon him), and there can be no other person holding this position ever. As far as Ali (R.A.) is concerned, he was a son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and was also the fourth of the Caliphs who ruled immediately after his death, in succession, and were known as the “Righteous Caliphs.” It is surprising how this gaffe escaped “Dawn’s” attention.
Z. AHMED
Karachi
THIS is with reference to Allah Nawaz Somroo’s article, ‘Rural reform’ (June 14). The writer discussed the basic problems of Pakistan. Here, I also share my views relevant to the rural problems.
The majority of people lives in the rural areas of Pakistan. These people play an important role in the progress and development of their country while they face many critical problems, a few of which are as follows:
— Unemployment: In rural areas two types of unemployment are emerging: one is agricultural unemployment, which is caused by backward agricultural system, shortage of water, poor machinery and seeds, waterlogging and salinity. The second is literary unemployment which is caused by lack of professional and vocational educational institutions in rural areas. Unemployment is a universal problem and great symptoms of our backward economy.
— Illiteracy: Most of the people who live in rural areas are illiterate, ignorant and uneducated. This is because most of the schools in rural areas have been closed by landlords. If a school is opened and students are present, the teachers are absent. The landlord has influence in his area and he can do everything he wants to do. So, he does not allow running a school where the children of the poor or farmers get education.
— Feudalism: Landlords, feudals and nawabs made many states within the state. A feudal is the lord of black and white in his state. He governs the state with the help of SHOs, DPOs, etc.
— Poverty: Many people who live in rural areas have no access to education, clean water, food and to hospital. Many diseases the people suffer from are the outcome of poverty, malnutrition and unhygienic condition. People live and die under the menace of poverty.
— Women’s degradation: Women’s degradation and honour killing is rampant in rural areas. This act of honour killing is a great menace to rural society.
Women are harassed, tortured and killed by the vested interest in the name of honour.
Besides the above-mentioned problems, there are many other problems in rural areas. Many reforms, policies and programmes have been started by the government but all in vain. International, national and local NGOs are working round the year, holding meetings in big hotels and restaurants, but all their work goes to naught.
This is because they only display their reforms and reports in books and newspapers to get some money. In reality, they are far removed from their subject, the suffering humanity and thus all these policies and reforms are not implemented in practice.
The government and humanitarian organisations should keep themselves in direct contact with the suffering humanity and coordinate and implement their policies in letter and in spirit.
If we want to run side by side with the developed countries, we would have to be realist and understand the harsh realities of life and implement every reform with a great will.
ABDUL HAMEED HULLIO
Islamabad
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