| August 31, 2008 | Sunday | Sha'aban 28, 1429 |
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The case for Sindh Bank
Creating irritants
Fate of Aafia and children
Resolving Kashmir issue
What is govt doing?
A Japanese scholar of Urdu
No end to polio cases
Whither SBP autonomy?
Education in rural Sindh
Swatis seek protection
Turbat incident
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
APROPOS of Khalid Chaudhry’s response ( Aug 29 ) to Yousuf Nazar’s ‘Setting the record straight’ ( Aug 10), even if the CIA agents quoted in ‘Charlie’s War’ are half right, and if Eric Margolis’s “very positive image” of the ISI is correct, why has even one suicide bomber not been caught before he did his dastardly deed?
Why has not one suicide jacket maker, or rigger, or explosives supplier, or facilitator, or instigator been found; why has not one leader of the so-called Taliban, even those who are loudly proclaiming that they have killed hundreds of innocent Pakistanis, been arrested?
I absolutely agree with Khalid Chaudhry that fairness and objectivity should be shown when talking about the sensitive agencies of the state but I am sick of all the hype surrounding this Mother of All Agencies which, as far as the people of this country are concerned, has done damn all to keep them safe.
And, what has patriotism got to do with controlling an out-of-control department of the government of Pakistan? Indeed, the ISI has committed heinous acts such as ‘disappearing’ its own people (and innocent Afghans too), at $5,000 a pop, into the secret and cruel maze of American and American ally-run prisons.
For proof read the back cover of Musharraf’s In the line of fire where he boasts about this bounty-hunting. For more proof look at My Lord Iftikhar Chaudhry’s predicament; recalling that he committed the great crime of trying to locate some of the disappeared. (Please see ‘Rendition’ – I couldn’t go beyond 15 minutes of it, weeping uncontrollably at what I saw.)
One must also take issue with Khalid Chaudhry when he says “Gen Kayani has been its chief and should have no problem in running it apolitically smoothly, according to our best interests”. The ISI is not the army chief’s to run. Constitutionally, that is. In reality, because the ISI chief is invariably an army general as are the other DGs, whose ACRs are written by the army chief, they are already in his pocket.
The only way out is to place the ISI under the direct control of a parliamentary committee. Let it be the largest committee for all I care, but let the ISI (and the IB, for that matter) answer to it.
Mr Nazar was spot on.
KAMRAN SHAFI
Wah Village,
Rawalpindi
THIS has reference to Dr Ali Akbar M. Dhakan’s letter, ‘The case for Sindh Bank’ (Aug 25). I would like to endorse his ideas and add that the Sindh Bank Act 1995 (Act No.XII of 1995) was promulgated on Oct 30, 1995, vide Gazette of Sindh, Extraordinary, Part IV dated 30th October 1995, in respect of creation of Bank of Sindh.
Although more than 12 years have passed, the Bank of Sindh is not operational. The present government may take a step in the interest of the province of Sindh and people of Pakistan and make the Bank of Sindh operational, which is a statutory requirement. The bank requires a president, a managing director, a chairman, a board of directors and funds.
According to the preamble of the Sindh Bank Act, the Bank of Sindh has been established for providing all types of commercial banking and investment banking services in the whole province of Sindh.
Section (1) sub-section (3) of the Sindh Bank Act says that “the Act shall come into force at once”. According to the provisions of the Sindh Bank Act, the authorised capital of the bank shall be Rs2.5 billion, and the head office of the bank shall be at Karachi.Highly professional senior bankers may be appointed as chairman, managing director, president and directors of the Sindh Bank, and its branches may be established in every district, city, town and taluka of the province.
Through a circular/notification of the government of Sindh all provincial departments may be directed to open their accounts in the Bank of Sindh and all transactions/payments in respect of the government of Sindh may be disbursed through the Sindh Bank.
A viable portion of the 45 per cent non-government shares may be subscribed through public subscriptions through stock exchanges of Pakistan.
All loans/grants related to the government of Sindh may be distributed through the Sindh Bank through crossed cheques to the accounts holders and not in cash to avoid wrong distribution of loans, grants to the poor and farmers, as well as to others.
I further propose the establishment of Bank of Balochistan by the provincial government on the same line through the promulgations of an ordinance by their respective governor or by virtue of an Act of the Balochistan Assembly for the welfare and uplift of the people of the province of Balochistan.
SAALIM SALAM ANSARI
Karachi
LIKE most of the people, I was also expecting that the clocks will be put back by one hour on Sept 1, as was announced by the government while advancing them three months back. However, it is extremely distressing to know that our ordeal has been extended for another two months till Oct 31 for reasons best known to the cabinet.
When the clocks were advanced effective June 1, a number of letters had appeared in these columns opposing the change as it had miserably failed earlier and had caused unnecessary inconvenience, especially to the office-going people. Sleeping late by one hour in accordance with the set sleeping pattern and getting awake at the previous time in order to attend the office results in lack of sleep leading to health problems.
This problem will aggravate during Ramazan as people will return home after Isha and Taraveeh prayers at about 11pm. Even if they go to sleep after half an hour, they will have to get up for Sehri at about 4.30am.
In Ramazan most of the offices will either start at 7.30 or 8 am. Hence those fasting will not be able to sleep after Sehri. The inconvenience so caused to such people is obvious. How far the declared objective for this move by the government of helping the energy crisis has been achieved can be best judged from the fact that we are at present facing the worst-ever loadshedding with no relief in sight. There is still time for the government to stick to its earlier decision of putting back the clocks on Sept1.
According to a news item appearing on Aug 27, the chief of the JUI(F) has sent a wish list to Asif Ali Zardari for extending their support to him in the presidential election. One of their demands is to revive Friday as weekly holiday. It is in every one’s knowledge that having the holiday on Sunday is beneficial for the country’s economy as our businessmen are in communication with the rest of the world on the remaining week days. I do not understand why the clergies always keep striving to make non-issues as issues. They should channel their energies in proposing solutions to real problems being faced by the people.
It is a pity that after 62 years of getting independence we are still arguing as to what should be the Pakistan Standard Time during the summer months and on what day we should have the weekly holiday. Probably we feel pleasure by making a laughing stock of ourselves before the world.
PARVEZ RAHIM
Karachi
THIS is further to the letters, titled, ‘Fate of Aafia’s children’ (Aug 27). Both the correspondents have very logically proven that the American officials as well as their ambassador in Pakistan have been untruthful regarding the information provided by them about Dr Aafia Siddiqui and her children, which is unfortunate. In the meantime, there have been two new developments (reported in a section of the press). One had quoted Dr Fauzia Siddiqui, the sister of Aafia Siddiqui, a couple of days back. According to her, the American officials had told her that they were interrogating Ms Siddiqui’s son, aged about eleven. The other said the BBC reported on Aug 27 that the Americans had stated the boy was being held in Afghanistan further, that the incarcerated lady’s lawyers have said that Aafia Siddiqui’s condition is worsening and she must be admitted to hospital, as also reported by a TV channel.
It was further observed by the BBC correspondent in the US that the judge hearing her case had asked the authorities on Aug 11 that a complete medical examination of the woman be conducted within 24 hours. However, that has still not been done.
This goes to show that the US authorities appear to be delaying her check-up deliberately for some ulterior purposes. It should also be recalled that the US ambassador, in her letter of Aug 16, had claimed that Ms Siddiqui had been provided medical attention promptly, which shows how she tried to mislead us.
The other thing is that the US officials had told our foreign office (Aug 22) that the children were not in their custody, whereas they have at least changed their statement partially by admitting one of them is under detention. How many times will they change their statements? This also strengthens the widely held view that they actually have been holding all four of them for the last five years.
We have had more than enough of this American deception. If those US legislators, who have thus far appeared to be fair-minded folks and the upholders of justice, as well as friendly relations with Pakistan, do not intervene quickly and save the day by getting the Siddiquis freed immediately, the Americans will soon find themselves in a situation similar to Iran after the 1979 revolution.
ABDUL HAQ
Karachi
IT’s time India and Pakistan brought the people of Kashmir to the negotiating table and thrashed out the issue. But for any dialogue to take place and any solution to be found, violence must stop. If there’s no peace, there can be no dialogue and there will be no solution to the Kashmir tangle.
I think that the onus of the problem lies squarely on the Indian government to have let this pot simmer for 60 years and ignore the facts that Kashmiris are not Indians.
It is time Indian policymakers took the bitter pill and accepted the fact that Kashmiris are not Indians. They do not want to stay with India. If India still refuses to see the truth, then the Kashmiris will be in for trouble and India will present them as militants to earn sympathy from the world. India will keep its forces there forever.
The sooner the Indian government realises the reality that Kashmir was never and will never be a part of India the better it is. Clinton has rightly put this region as a nuclear flashpoint if this is not resolved as per the wishes of the Kashmiris.
SYEDA MAHWISH FATIMA NAQVI
Karachi
THE government came with the slogan to provide relief to the public. But what we observe is not relief, instead of it a huge burden of price hiking. Petrol is still sold at Rs86 a litre though the international prices are going down.
We are facing loadshedding of 10 to14 hours. I am ashamed of the statement of authority concerned that there will be a loadshedding of only six to eight hours and not more than that. Imagine the future. They blame the previous government but they have done nothing to increase electricity production in the last six months except passing a 1000MW project by the Senate and daylight saving system.
Fifty to 60 per cent regulatory tax has been imposed on many household items. An iron that just cost Rs1,000 earlier now costs Rs1,600. A refrigerator now costs Rs8,000 more.
Pakistan’s foreign reserves show depletion to $9.3 billion.
Borrowing of Pakistan has risen to $47 billion.
Will the government install some new industries to gain revenue or they will keep on imposing taxes on the people of Pakistan?
HINA NAZ
Karachi
IN his interesting column, ‘A Japanese scholar of Urdu’, Dr Rauf Parekh has introduced Prof Hiroji Kataoka, who heads the Urdu department at Japan’s Daito Bunka University’s faculty of international relations (Aug 26).
Prof Kataoka recently visited Karachi and has travelled to Pakistan many times, when he also brings along his students for a familiarisation tour of the country, where they then study Urdu at some of our varsities. The professor revealed that the students have even been holding an annual Urdu mushaira (a poetry recital) at their university in Japan for the last 10 years, along with the traditional ‘wah wah’ (words of praise).
He further revealed: “During the last 40 years, I have never been detached from Urdu even for a single day. The fact is that Urdu has become a part of my personality. Now it is in my blood with all its tastes and flavours. That’s the reason I am very happy when I hear good news from Pakistan, and if it is bad, I am saddened.”
This great lover of Urdu and of Pakistan further confided that although he is Japanese, now he feels he hasn’t remained completely Japanese: “My soul is in Japan and my heart is in Pakistan.” He then queried wistfully: “What shall I do now when, in the words of Ibn-i- Insha, ‘Ab umr ki naqdi khatm hui (now, life’s capital has reached its end)?’ There is only one reply that comes from my heart: Urdu, Urdu aur bas Urdu’ (Urdu, Urdu and only Urdu).”
I was greatly touched by Prof Kataoka’s sentiments, as, I am sure, many other readers would have been. Such wonderful and friendly human beings are the jewels of humanity and a treasure for the rest of us. We must also acknowledge gratefully his immense contribution to the popularisation of our national language in the friendly country of Japan, having translated Ghalib, Iqbal and Faiz, besides publishing 60 research papers pertaining to various aspects of Urdu.
I sometimes write poetry and had even written some in Japanese style, being in love with the Zen verses. It may please him to know that by a great coincidence, I had happened to select the pen name of Kataoka for the latter – which, I understand, means an ‘incline’ in Japanese – over two decades back.
This happened after I read the account of Osamu Kataoka, who was studying in 7th grade when the atomic bomb was dropped on his hometown of Hiroshima. His was one of the many such essays contained in the book, ‘Children of Hiroshima’, compiled by Dr Arata Osada.
Needless to say, there are people in Pakistan who love Japan and their hearts reside in that beautiful country. As far as his lamentation of reaching the end of life’s capital is concerned, perhaps these words of mine, inspired by the 19th century Japanese poet Okuma Kotomichi, will serve to hearten him:
When thoughts of the journey’s end
Burden the mind and the spirits dampen,
Remember the flowers that you planted, And the fragrance that fills the garden.
May Prof Hiroji Kataoka have a very happy, healthy and long life.
A FRIEND OF JAPAN
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the news item describing thousands of children not immunised (Aug 29). According to the latest report by Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the year 2008 has so far seen 1,088 cases of polio. Nigeria tops the list with 597 cases, followed by India (372), Pakistan (37) and Angola (25).
Despite millions of rupees spent on eradicating it, polio continues to resurface in Pakistan. If polio has to be eradicated, immunisation campaigns need to look at polio from anthropological perspective and not just from biological one.
A disease is situated in a social context. History knows no disease which did not carry a myth with it. And polio is no exception. That anti-polio vaccine is an American plot to sterilise people is the modern myth supported by clerics in northern Pakistan. This has resulted in many children not receiving the drops in the last two years.
Moreover, military operation in northern parts has restricted access of many people to vaccination. Last month, a seven-year-old child in Swat tested positive for polio as she could not get vaccination due to military strife. And for the same reason, 6,000 children were not vaccinated in Bajaur and the Swat valley last year.
If seen geographically, this disease is mainly found in the northern parts of the country, upper parts of Sindh and Balochistan. These are the areas where life remains insecure due to military operations, tribal conflicts and violence (where bullets kill more people than the virus). And sense of insecurity breeds more myths.
The government and civil society organisations should put sincere and earnest efforts to end violence, create secure environment, raise awareness of the people and make 100 per cent coverage in immunisation, if Pakistan has to be polio-free.
MOHAMMAD SAJJAD ABRO
Karachi
THIS is apropos of Ghulam Muhammad’s article, ‘Back to a regulated financial system? (Aug 18). The writer has thoroughly examined the policy measures adopted by the State Bank of Pakistan and justified the conclusion that the economy is neither responding to the SBP policy measures nor is any miracle expected in the future in view of the fact that the SBP status is no more than that of a subservient department of the ministry of finance.
Besides this constraint, the other faulty measure is lower return on deposits to lure the banking industry to create a false impression that economy is prospering, though this will prove to be short-term euphoria.
In fact, the rate of return on deposits should be slightly lower than inflation, i.e. up to two per cent, so that retired persons, pensioners, housewives, expatriate Pakistanis and those devoid of business acumen avail themselves of this option and survive on the return and thus contribute their share to economic and banking prosperity by spending. A slight erosion in purchasing power of their original capital will not be visible. Whereas the lending rate should be two per cent higher than inflation to discourage hoarding, speculation and encourage investment in profitable productive investment venture. This way depositors will not feel the pinch of inflation, the banking industry will flourish on a small scale but on a sound footing and the wheel of economic activities will move on a fast trek.In a nutshell, this is a practicable step towards market-oriented banking and development of robust economy.
SIDDIK S. JAANGDA
Karachi
IT is worth mentioning that education is considered to be a tool to accelerate socio-economic growth but unfortunately enough the situation is totally different in rural Sindh, particularly in Ratodero (city of Larkana district).
Despite being the home district of the ruling party of the country, it is ignored to an extent. A few days ago I went to meet someone at the main government high school of the city, and there I noticed the unavailability of teachers in classrooms , the poor maintenance of the building and unavailability of proper furniture.
The authorities concerned should look into the matter.
ENGR. AMAD ALI ABRO
Jamshoro
THE once picturesque, enchanting and peaceful valley of Swat has been gripped by the menace of militancy and extremism being spearheaded by a local thug, namely Fazlullah. This bigot mulla and a handful of his associates have spread a reign of terror by burning down a large numbers of girls’ schools which have caused a wave of fear and terror, especially among womenfolk. The educated women of Swat are foreseeing a dreadful consequences if the militants were able to impose their writ over the valley.
We have pinned high hopes on Army men that they are our only protectors in this situation. There is no doubt that the Army did a commendable job by cracking down very heavily on militants by dismantling their network. The need of the hour is that the Army should be permanently deployed in the whole of Swat Valley so that the militants may not again threaten the security of common citizens.
The Army completely eliminated the menacing influence of the militants from the city of Mingora by a series of well-calculated measures against these miscreants and thus saved the city from imminent destruction.
The reverses suffered by the militants at the hands of the Army forced them to seek refuge in far-off mountainous areas of the valley.
Now the militants, disgusted with their defeats, have embarked on a wilful policy to burn down girls’ schools, basic health units and bridges in far-off mountainous areas, with the aim to further terrorise the innocent people.
The people of Swat request Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Chief of Army Staff Gen Parvez Kayani that the Army should be permanently stationed in Swat maintaining peace and, secondly, the local people should be provided with arms so that the they can fight together in aid of our forces in order to eliminate the menace of militancy from the area.
Also, we request the prime minister that a special package should be announced for Swat for improving the socio-economic plight of the people who have suffered terribly at the hands of the militants.
FARAMOSH KHAN
Swat
ON Aug 25 the FC made a big blunder by not letting the people of Turbat make the stage for the programme in remembrance of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti at the main Chowk.
Although PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari has apologied to the Baloch , yet again the FC personnel didn’t let the Baloch manage the programme.
This shows that the government doesn’t want peace in Balochistan. After this incident, no Baloch will be willing to make any compromise with the government. Although the government had said that no such action would be taken without any orders from the federal government, the FC still went on with the same against the Baloch. Action must be taken against the FC and the government must apologise.
AJMAL LATIF
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