| July 17, 2008 | Thursday | Rajab 13, 1429 |
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PPP govt and rising prices
Respecting Sindh
Afghans’ massacre
. . . the White Man’s burden?
Hangu ambush
PTCL: a first welcome
Sam Bahadur
Lal Masjid deal
Crucifixion of democracy
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
THIS is apropos of the news item (July 9) and editorial (July 10) on the distorted history of Pakistan. Based on the bold contents of both items, it seems that there is finally an increasing awareness of the fact that the nation’s history remains incomplete.
While the news item and editorial are an encouraging sign of this awareness – at least for those who have been working to fix Pakistan’s history — the two pieces could have elaborated further on the actual nature of the distortion.
The question is not only whether history has been distorted, but also how it has been distorted. More specifically, historians have failed to adequately cover: (1) the nationalists’ reasons for opposing the partition of India and (2) their painstaking struggle to liberate the nation from British rule.
Based on what has been published thus far, the role of parties such as the Khaksar Tehrik, Ahrars, Khudai Khidmatgars, Momins, and Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind has been completely overlooked, while the status of the All-India Muslim League has been continuously promoted and elevated.
An honest analysis of why leaders like Allama Mashriqi (founder of the Khaksar Tehrik) were opposed to partition, as well as a study of their role in bringing freedom to British India, is critical to achieving an understanding of how the nation has arrived at its present, worrisome state.
Another point is that while historians of the subcontinent have certainly played a role in the distortion of history, the problem goes beyond this group alone. For instance, most foreign historians focusing on India/Pakistan have presented an unbalanced view of the region’s history as well.
Furthermore, book publishers and scholarly journals have thus far failed to print any substantial, unbiased works on parties beyond the All-India Muslim League. While foreign sources may have their own motives, in Pakistan the reason seems to be owing to the establishment and ruling class, who dictate the role of educationists and research institutes.
It is time they recognised that a balanced analysis of the division of British India cannot be presented without discussing all parties’ perspectives on the partition episode.
Ultimately, the root cause of the prevailing situation seems to be the lack of emphasis on independent thinking and analysis in Pakistan. As a result, most of us, including intellectuals, have developed ‘tunnel vision’ and are unwilling or unable to consider differing points of view.
This suppression and intolerance of independent thinking is extremely dangerous, and must be stopped if Pakistan is to right its history and move forward. We must keep in mind that history is not simply a record of events, rather an opportunity to learn from past mistakes, in order to steer the nation towards a better future.
NASIM YOUSAF
(Researcher & author)
New York, USA
PRICES of essential items of daily use have gone skyhigh , making it now impossible for the honest and the poor of Pakistan to survive, specially after subsidies have been withdrawn by the PPP government and the burden of inflation has been passed on to the people.
Paying for electricity, gas and petrol or and buying essential items appears to be beyond the power of the ordinary folks. People are not ready to listen that the price hike in Pakistan is due to global recession and the price of petrol, gas, electricity, etc., has been raised because of increase of oil prices in the international market.
If this is a direct effect of the global crisis, then what are PPP economic managers doing for the country? What adequate and positive steps has the minister taken to bring the prices down?
The responsibility of the minister is not limited to just passing the inflation on to the end-users, rather it is his sole responsibility to take urgent measures to defeat the price hike.
The people did not give the mandate to the PPP representatives to pass the inflation on to the people, it was rather given to undo the wrong that had been done during the tenure of the PML(Q) government.
Now do we have to wait for a revolution to come in the country? Can the people survive under the present financial pressures? The answer is no. So who is going to put the things right in the country? Of course, the angels are not going to come from the heaven.
Nawaz Sharif has played his cards very intelligently. His MNAs did not participate in preparing the budget. Mr Sharif’s MNAs are neither responsible for withdrawing the subsidies, nor they are responsible for the price hike in the country.
So, right now, the ultimate loser seems to be the PPP ministers and its government, not the PML(N) legislators, as the latter did not join the government and only remained part of the coalition government, without giving any advice to the PPP ministers.
It’s time the PPP government came to the rescue of the people, and resolved their day-to-day problems or else it should not expect the people to vote for the party in the next election, whenever it is held, sooner or later.
SYED A. MATEEN
Karachi
APROPOS of Abdul Khalique Junejo’s letter, ‘Respecting Sindh’ (July 11), in response to my letter under the same caption (June 21), I am thankful for his appreciation of my ideas. Seeing appalling conditions from which a man in the street passes, I agree that we Sindhis need a big change. However, the revolution, as Mr Junejo suggests, seems to be a bit idealistic. We need a long-lasting change, not an abrupt and violent one.
We need the reformation of our mindset. Primarily, let us broaden our horizon and galvanise our energy to train our younger generation to face the challenges of the 21 century. It was a disheartening experience when, violating the examination rules, the daughter of a well-known Sindhi nationalist leader inquired from the invigilator the name of Sindhi poet who composed a famous couplet, “Saeen sadaeen Karen mathe Sindh sukaar (God, Bless Sindh with prosperity, by Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai).
This supplication is recited only next to Kalima by Muslims and Guru Garanth Sahib/Geeta by the Hindus. Similarly, it was also very disappointing to read some profiles of affluent foreign graduate Sindhis, having proficiency in German, French and English, while Sindhi was mentioned nowhere.
These examples indicate a sharp contrast in our words and deeds. We should give up this double-speaking.
Our vernacular media can work for a change. It should project a positive perspective of our lives that we are coming out of that mindset and breaking the shackles of feudalism.
Moreover, a threat to our identity is hanging in air all the times. In order to overcome it, we have to move towards our capital for exposure, studies and jobs too. The landscape and the fields of the present-day big cities belong to our ancestors. These cities are the part and parcel of the immortal poetry of Latif. Relinquishing our claim and control over them is unthinkable.
Once we realise our worth, we can easily defeat the forces of exploitation: civil-military bureaucracy, feudalism and the extremists. Jim Stovall says: “You need to be aware of what others are doing; applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins”.
KIRAN SHIRAZI
Jamshoro
THE killing of innocent Afghans in Nangarhar province by Nato forces is a slap on the face of self-proclaimed civilised western world. Coalition forces have continuously been involved in massacre of innocent Afghans, including women and children.
According to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), nearly 260 Afghan civilians have been killed or wounded in insurgents’ attacks or Nato-led military operations in the last one week. The puppet regime of Hamid Karzai has failed to stop the mighty westerners from killing of the poor non-combatant Afghans. Now, it has been crystal clear that the West, following the Mussolini doctrine, needs Afghan land, not the people.
Historically Afghans never accepted foreign rule and showed great resistance. From Alexander the Great to the Soviets no one could sustain themselves on Afghan soil. History is repeating itself once again. The growing Taliban-led insurgency is posing a serious threat to the existence of foreign troops in Afghanistan.
June has been a deadliest month for coalition forces in Afghanistan since the toppling of the Taliban regime in 2001. Now the war is becoming out of their control. Nato forces’ indiscriminate bombardment on general Afghan population is an expression of their deep frustration.
IHSANULLAH TIPU
Ladha, South Waziristan Agency
THIS is apropos of Jawed Naqvi’s column, ‘How long will India continue to carry the White Man’s burden?’(July 14).
Although Mr Naqvi’s column is wide-ranging beyond issues of India Gate, I will restrict myself to explaining why, as an Indian, India Gate is not a burden to me.
More than any country in the world, Pakistan probably knows more about institutional memory and how important it is for the military to maintain it. What is institutional memory? It is a collection of experiences that help future generations to avoid mistakes and perform their duty with wisdom.
Military institutions thrive on such institutional memories and to take that away from them is to deny them their past glory. Sure they were under orders from the British, but to the Gurkha who guards the ‘Amar Jawan Jyoti’ in India Gate today, the Gurkha that died in the trenches of Africa is still a brother. Nothing can take that away from him.
It is no more than the equivalent of a grandma and grandpa advising young children. The fact that grandparents made mistakes or were of less than pristine moral stature should not negate the value of their experiences.
The fact that India was colonised should not mean that everything that happened under the British should be eradicated with vengeance. Let me ask your learned readers this question: If we should be so ashamed of 200 years of British rule, why should not the Hindus of India be even more ashamed of 1400 years of Muslim rule? Does Mr Naqvi then condone the rabid Hindu fanatics who want nothing less than to eradicate every sign of Muslim rule in India?
India has never made any bones about learning from others. From countless invaders who came to India, we forgot the misery imposed by them, but retained the knowledge they brought with them. From the time of Alexander, to the Islamic period, and all the way to the British, we have believed in living and letting live.
To take up witch-hunts is simply not in the DNA of India.
Furthermore, the relationship we had with the British was not all that one-sided as Rudyard Kipling elegantly expressed in the concluding lines of Gunga Din:
”Din! Din! Din!
You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din!
Tho’ I’ve belted you and flayed you,
By the livin’ Gawd that made you,
You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!”
B.K. VASAN
Chicago, USA
OVER 25 people, including 17 trained troops, were killed and many injured when local Taliban ambushed a convoy of the security forces near Zargary Bazaar in Hangu district on July 12. The convoy was moving in a highly unprofessional manner.
This reminds me of an incident of 1964 in Balochistan when the Mengal tribe revolted against the then government. A military convoy moved towards Khuzdar to suppress this uprising. When three military vehicles were crossing a defile near Wadh, the tribesmen opened fire from the hilltops and killed all the 30 troops.
The troops convoy did not follow the drill of mountain warfare where the hill tops are first secured and then the convoys are moved forward. Had they secured the hill tops of the convoy route, this tragedy could have been avoided. One suffers when proper drills and procedures are not followed. It is applicable to all fields and departments.
We lost Chinese engineers due to lack of proper security arrangements for them. The enemy hits you when you are showing laxity. The Taliban cannot fight a pitched battle. They watch your movements and hit you where you are weak.
I hope the commander of the troops killed would be hauled up for not following the correct procedure of mountain warfare or fighting against the insurgents. The compensation given to their next of kin is good but does not absolve them of their unprofessional movement through the troubled area of Hangu.
M. AZHAR KHWAJA
Lahore
IT is gratifying to note that in the June bill the PTCL has listed, for general information, various services provided by it, their new phone/email addresses and the charge for each, where applicable. Thank you PTCL.
Through these columns, may I request the PTCL to also publish a complete list of ‘other’ services which it provides, with special reference to ‘call waitng’ and ‘no reply’, which are not requested by the subscriber, together with the charge for each of such service? Also, the procedure for cancelling a service which the subscriber does not need.
RAHAT ALAM
Karachi
IN HIS column, ‘Sam Bahadur’ (July 6), Ardeshir Cowasjee has lavished much praise on Field Marshal Maneckshaw, who became the Indian army chief in 1969, saying that the “highlight of his career was his resounding victory over the armed forces of Pakistan in 1971, when we lost East Pakistan to Bangladesh.”
A small intellectual exercise, if carried out by Mr Cowasjee, could have revealed whether Maneckshaw’s achievement was as big as it is made out to be.
If Pakistan’s and India’s positions are switched, that is, Pakistan is made about seven times larger than its neighbour and India had a part located 1,000 miles, on the other side of Pakistan, like our former province, and imagine an insurgency was going on against India. I think most Pakistan army generals could have severed the distal province of India. So, why praise Maneckshaw’s easy victory?
M.Y. KHAN
Karachi
PML(Q) chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has stated that the Lal Masjid deal was sabotaged. Everything, he says, was agreed upon, however, things were ruined at the last moment. The PML(Q) chief stated that circumstances would have been different had his government resigned that very night.
The past cannot be undone; Mr Hussain should realise this fact. Negotiations would not have solved this issue as the miscreants in Lal Masjid were always making fresh and new demands when an agreement seemed to be near.
The PPP government should never have allowed the meeting commemorating the first anniversary of the Lal Masjid to have taken place. Many inflammatory statements were made by the participants which is a clear contravention of Article 19 of the Constitution. The situation cannot be changed.
However, steps should finally be taken to curtail institutions like those which were run on the lines of the curriculum by Lal Masjid.
SADIA BUTT
Peshawar
FIRST of all this crusade for the judiciary has gone too far. Granted that Iftikhar Chaudhry and the other judges, who did not go along with the PCO, should not have been removed.
However, one cannot see some of them being impartial any longer because it has all become so politicised.
Unfortunately, the whole affair has been turned into a political/judicial circus. In fact, this ‘judicial crusade’ has brought about the crucifixion of democracy. The people voted for democracy, not ‘demoncracy’.
Secondly, why this extravagance of having political consultations in London and summoning the prime minister and others for a meeting in Dubai? Why not in Islamabad?
There is a dire need for ‘effective’ governance. The country is in a state of economic and political limbo.
It is imperative for all concerned, including the very top hierarchy in and outside the government, to drop their personal/political/party agendas and focus on the Pakistan agenda.
This country is going downhill and every sane citizen is very much concerned.
Act sensibly before it’s too late. This is a fervent appeal to the coalition partners.
JALAL AL-KARIMI
Karachi
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