| September 13, 2008 | Saturday | Ramazan 12, 1429 |
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The show begins now
Alcoholism & drug addiction on the rise
Mind your language
Buraq Express train service
A call from a bank
PPP warns against blackmailers
Come September
Reduce speed to save fuel
Double jeopardy
Persecution of a lecturer
NIP salary
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 Tasneem Siddiqui’s article, ‘Incompetence all around’ (Sept 1). I feel that the writer is a little harsh in his comments vis-a-vis the nation as a ‘whole’ when he says that we are fast becoming a mediocre nation, a bunch of disorganised, inefficient people, with low productivity level.
Coming from an intellectual like Mr Siddiqui, a well-known personality, his remarks shocked me. If he was addressing the government and semi-government machinery, institutions and the ‘establishment’ (which would not be even one per cent of the entire nation), I would have agreed with him without an iota of doubt. But when he sweeps the entire nation with one remark, I beg to differ and offer an opinion.
We all know that Pakistanis can and have become the finest minds (like himself who is a product of the very same people he laments). They make the finest doctors, engineers, lawyers, economists, artists, technicians and professionals in various fields. However, we as a nation were never provided an even playing field.
In fact, we were never provided the basic amenities and opportunities that are needed to develop. The people at the helm of affairs, or the ‘landed aristocracy’, have systematically destroyed all the institutions that a country, a nation needs to survive.
The majority of the staff of all the institutions, at almost every level, does not do justice to the position they hold. With the result, there is a lot of injustice leading to discontentment, rebelliousness and lawlessness amongst the people.
Despite all this suffering, the nation has survived. They, I think, are the most hard-working and enduring lot, as they have shown great resilience. I think Pakistanis are a great nation, it’s just that we have been led by the visionless and spineless leaders who keep on manoeuvring their way back to the assemblies again and again with their anti-nation policies meant for self-aggrandisement or to please the masters abroad. In the process, they kept us disenfranchised, deprived, ignorant, hungry and helpless. We have been the victim of the systems gone wrong.
Even Princess Diana fell for a Pakistani doctor. Agha Hasan Abidi became a banker par excellence. There are people like Dr Abdus Salaam, Nusrat Fateh Ali, Jehangir Khan, Jansher Khan and Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Abdus Sattar Edhi, I can quote name after name, who have made a mark in the world and they are/were Pakistanis….. There are millions of committed and talented Pakistanis at every level.
How can we talk of competence when the people are having sleepless nights without electricity, and if you do have employment, the work and road to work is hell, and then the wages are snatched by the very LEAs that are meant to protect us... and please no more rhetoric on democracy that it is ‘us’ who vote ‘in’ the leaders who make our life miserable, and one should give due time to democracy as one day everything will be fine.
It is a process that takes time. Do the state and its organs have any responsibility except taxing its population?
By saying all this I am not denying that there is no incompetence, dishonesty, inefficiency and disorganisation around, but it would be right if we analyse and identify where? It’s the institutions that are ruined.
I was relieved that at the end of his article Mr Siddiqui did acknowledge that there is no shortage of competent, qualified, and committed people in Pakistan, but it is our ruling oligarchy and their cronies that … have tried to stop the process of change.
The socio-political conditions of our neighbour India are not very different from ours but there majority of journalists and writers criticise in a positive atmosphere and write good about India, they take ownership and love their country, they project their country as a great country and despite the shortcomings they show respect to their country unlike some of our commentators.
Some of the journalists go as far as to humiliate the nation in front of the entire world. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that the Indians have an edge over us.
My suggestion is to be kind to the nation. Give them peace of mind and opportunities and they will prove that they are the best.
My suggestion is not to accommodate articles that belittle our country and our nation.
DANISH AZAR ZUBY
Karachi
THE ouster of Musharraf and his unconstitutionally constitutional government by the coalition partners was seen as a ray of hope for democracy to flourish in our country.
How the coalition leader and now the president, Asif Ali Zardari, did this without involving much upheaval in the already disturbed nation made many wonder about his own political mind and strategies.
As Zafar Abbas writes in his article (Sept 10) about the political acumen of this man and his own rules of the game, which were there during his incarceration but were unnoticed and overlooked due to the headship and control of his late wife, Zardari the president has come a long way.
But the intricate part comes now whereas he has to show that he can run the battered federation by his political will and strong stand on various issues, now on the agenda of his government to be addressed fairly and in time.
In his tenure of the past seven months, he has been seen as the man who regards political agreements and contracts as not something that is written in concrete. And he has done this practically by making and breaking many a promise with the nation and with his then coalition partner.
But still he has risen to many important positions in a very short time by playing his cards very well. He has not presented any breakthrough announcement at his maiden press conference, with the current problems being inflation, the restoration of the deposed chief justice, the poverty and the US war on terror and many more issues of concern.
But he has given us, after becoming the president, the huge rise in the electricity cost and bills.
What will be the future of Pakistan under the presidentship of Mr Zardari, no one can tell, but that everybody should be given a chance to prove his mettle, Pakistanis are very generous in this attitude.
But one cannot ignore his political irresponsibility of breaking his own words, and his ‘Tajawule Arifana’ (pretended ignorance) about many important issues which he should be handling with much political maturity and great concern as a co-chairman of the major party in power and now as the president of the state. For he is a new face in playing the major politics, but not a new name.
ANEELA MAHSUD
Peshawar
“HAN Sahib, kia chahiye” was the question I was asked when I was standing at a busy road of Defence in Karachi.
My reaction to such a question will usually be to ignore it, but for the sake of curiosity I did asked that so-called salesman: “What exactly are you selling?”
“Sahib, whisky, sharaab, wine,” was his reply.
In the present time it is quite common to see an under-aged teenager having himself indulged in either alcoholism or drug addiction. On the contrary, it would be pretty astonishing for the readers to know that per capita consumption of alcoholic drinks in Pakistan is supposed to be very low as 97 per cent of Pakistan’s population is banned from having alcohol, and drugs are strictly prohibited in Pakistan but the present situation is entirely opposite to it.
Sindh holds the biggest share of alcohol and drug sales, even though taxes on the alcoholic drinks are very high which make the alcoholic drinks very expensive as compared to other three provinces. But regardless of this fact people here in Sindh spend extra money to buy them. Drugs are mainly smuggled from neighbouring countries in bulk quantities which are then distributed in the four provinces without any restrictions.
The sellers of these health-destroying addictive substances walk freely throughout Pakistan, increasing the rate of drug takers and alcoholics. Today Pakistan has the largest consumer market in South-West Asian region.
This bitter fact usually falls back in the line of problems that Pakistan is currently facing, hence the number of drug takers and alcoholics is increasing day in and day out. It seems that related authorities instead of controlling its immense usage are involved in promoting it.
People belonging to lower class families usually involve themselves in either alcoholism or drug addiction in order to run away from the misery and that squalor life that our rulers have given them.
I believe it’s time the government really needed to establish some good rehabilitation centres which people suffering from such addictions can join and pull themselves back from brink of death.
SYED TAHA JAMIL
Karachi
THE heading of a letter, ‘Mind your language’ (Sept 10), reminded me of the hilarious programme telecast by the BBC some time back. This one appeared to be about Imran Khan. However, language is much more important a subject, which could help in resolving differences amongst various peoples and regions, where different languages and dialects are spoken.
For instance, we may consider the different languages, encountered by a person travelling by train from Lahore to Madras now Chennai. Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, Chattisgarhi, Tamil and Telegu, etc, could make any communication a problem. Once my son travelled from Delhi to Agra to see Taj Mahal, with an Indian Sikh driver. The driver was much surprised with my son’s Punjabi language and explained that it was similar to what his old family members spoke, as the Punjabi language in India had changed a lot during the past 50 years, with the adoption of many Hindi words in Punjabi.
My son noticed that the young Sikh driver from Indian Punjab spoke about 90 per cent Hindi with 10 per cent Punjabi, diluted by Hindi accent. A former south Indian also expressed a similar phenomenon.
This clearly indicates that in India some positive effort has been made, as a matter of policy, to minimise the language differences apparently as it offers a positive advantage in such a multi-lingual country.
Perhaps in Pakistan also a similar phenomenon has unknowingly taken root, as one could make himself understood and communicate with the people, wherever he visits due to intermixing of English, Urdu and several local languages. Even in Europe and Far Eastern countries the English language is generally understood. Possibly in Pakistan also a common language might develop soon, minimising difficulties in publication of books for students.
I remember talking to an engineering professor in Hyderabad Deccan long ago. He was educated in English, but was teaching engineering in Urdu. I asked him if this did not offer him much difficulty. He explained that he did have difficulty for one session only, after which he was surprised to find that he could discuss even research subjects, sitting in the drawing room.
This shows that there is need to look into such possibilities in Pakistan. After all, Russians, Japanese and Chinese have utilised their common language to the best advantage to acquire the high standard in all aspects of development and research.
S.M.H. RIZVI
Karachi
The condition of the Pakistan Railways is deteriorating every day and apathy of railway officials is deplorable and has crossed all limits of negligence.
Buraq Express that connects the capital of our country and the provincial capital is considered the most important train which unfortunately is in the worst condition owing to gross negligence of the officials concerned.
A journey by this train on Sept 1 (ticket nos. 001483-001484 – coach no. 14), with my family and other fellow passengers, from Rawalpindi to Karachi was agonising for everyone on board. The apathy of railway officials towards minor children, old and young was the worst example of inhumanity.
The train started behind the schedule from the originating station with defective airconditioning system and no heed was paid to our repeated complaints. Children were crying due to heat and suffocation, old and young moaning and nobody coming to rescue.
When the train reached Lahore, the entire airconditioning system collapsed. The train was detained for two hours.
At the Lahore Railway Station the fact was revealed that it was the power supply van, attached to the train, that was of much lower capacity. It was old and actually exchanged with the power van of Jaffer Express that carried only two airconditioned coaches, whereas Buraq Express carried four airconditioned coaches. It was certain that the system was bound to collapse because of half power-supply.
The worst part of this episode is that Lahore railway officials tried to get rid of the train with the same small power supply van, with everyone crying. Seeing the apathy, all passengers agitated bitterly and resorted to gross protest. After a long scrutiny an appropriate power supply van was attached to the train.
Moreover, no bedsheets, pillows and blankets were provided as it was being done previously like in the Karakoram Express and other such important trains. Also, no dining car was attached to the train.
The entire matter needs a detailed inquiry about whether this was deliberate or due to negligence, and action should be taken against the those responsible, in order to avoid recurrence of such incidents.
AMARLAL WADHWANI
Karachi
I WANT to relate a call that I received from a bank the other day.
Me and my kids had barely returned from school and were rushing about to shower, change, etc, when the phone rang and my maid brought the phone to me saying it’s Hina and she says it is important.
I left everything and took the call — I have a cousin by the same name and my first thought was that God forbid, what has happened? This was the conversation that ensued:
“Hello? Hina?”
“Mrs Abbasi?” (that’s me)
“Who is this?”
“Hina” (by now I was sure this was not my cousin).
“Sorry, I don’t know you. Where are you calling from?”
She mentioned her bank’s name, and launched into a long narrative about credit card loan offers, easy installments, interest-free return and all that rubbish that banks use to ensnare poor unsuspecting customers.
At this point I lost it. I cut her short: “Look Miss Hina, is this call being recorded?”
“Um um, madam, it may be...” “All right. Now make sure it is recorded because I have a word of advice for you. When you call a customer for offers make sure you say: ‘I am calling from … bank and my name is Hina.’ Because your bank is your first identity and I don’t know which Hina could this be — my sister, my dead mother or nobody? On top of that, never say it is important because since it is your job, it may be important to you; it is definitely not to me. In fact, I am not even aware of its existence, so how can it be important to me?
“Also, my dear, a customer should be given the right to accept or reject such calls. If you would’ve told my maid you are calling from the … bank or any bank for that matter, I would not have taken the call but may have asked for a callback at a time that suited me. It would have done you more good because I would’ve listened to your offer at peace. Now it’s a bad time, so please call after 6pm. Goodbye.”
So, basically I was conned into taking this particular call with the caller trying to masquerade as a someone I may happen to know.
Any member of a civilised society would rebel against these unsolicited phone calls from banks such as these offering loans on the wire. They encroach upon and waste our private time and in most cases the bank callers show no regard for what hours suit us, especially the women who are multitasking at a mad pace all day.
MRS ABBASI
Karachi
IN continuation of the popular Shakespearean ‘Methinks the lady doth protest too much’ strategy, the PPP at Hyderabad is reported to have asked citizens, businessmen and administration to “identify elements using the name of the PPP for extortion and demanding donations”. Such people were “defaming the party and (were) involved in blackmailing in the name of PPP.”
With a feeling of déjà vu, one realises that such a move is a part of the opening bowler’s tactics whenever a new political dispensation takes over the reins of government. When Dr Ishratul Ebad of the MQM became governor of Sindh in 2003, his first order was to promulgate an anti-extortion ordinance. He even had the inspector-general of police set up anti-extortion squad with particular emphasis on industrial and business areas.
Invading armies have a policy of ‘living off the land’, supposedly a compensation or the sacrifices they have made and the deprivation they have experienced before attaining victory. Marquis of Queensbury and Geneva Convention rules do not apply.
ROLAND DESOUZA
Karachi
US-led allied forces in Afghanistan thrice intruded in three days into our Fata region and killed five militants, three children and two women (Sept 6), as if the children and women died sitting in their homes for the fault of the deceased militants who may be responsible for the American 9/11.
Z.A. KAZMI
Karachi
SHAHRYAR Saigol’s suggestion, ‘Reduce speed to save fuel’ (Sept 11), is worth consideration, especially in times of serious fuel crisis the nation is facing.
By limiting the speed of vehicles, not only can we save fuel but also help contain road accidents which mostly take place due to overspeeding.
The losses of precious lives in these accidents alone make the proposal worth appreciation.
Additionally, the limit of 100km per hour suggested by Mr Saigol also helps in reducing the strain on the engine and parts which consequently increases the life of a vehicle.
Thus in the proposed plan, benefits are multifarious and loss in terms of time of journey is inconsequential.
The authorities need to consider this valuable proposal in right earnest so that not only use of fuel can be reduced but accidents can also be controlled which take lots of lives on the roads.
DR KAZI KHADIM HUSSAIN
Hyderabad
PETROLEUM prices have increased many times to contain crude increases and reduce subsidy.
It is intriguing to note that the government subsidised by $175 billion and earned a net profit of $70 billion.
In case of gas, prices were jacked up in addition to sales tax.
This increase makes a double-edged sword whereby vehicle owners pay hefty surcharges on whatever fuel they consume.
The electricity scenario is no different. While government agencies own billions to power companies, consumers are penalised with another steep increase along with income tax, GST, etc.
The power minister said that ordinary users consuming up to 50 units (according to the latest report, it is less than 100 units) will be exempted.
This is the joke of the century because even colony dwellers using basics like fans, tubelights and iron consume no less than 200 units.
The present situation of uncontrolled prices of basic necessities and burdens of jaw-dropping utility bills have left the people walking barefoot on the grind-wheel as another is placed on their necks.
RAFI ADAMJEE
Karachi
THIS is apropos of Chaker Haider Baloch’s letter, ‘Persecution of a lecturer’ (Sept 10). I thoroughly see eye to eye with his views and respect for teachers.
How interesting and amazing it is that the builder of a nation that we call teacher is being treated as an animal without any proof which makes it clear that the civilian government has failed to take over the control from agencies which have been ruling over the country for many decades.
The recent abduction of a Balochistan University lecturer, Hassan Janan, in front of the city centre in Quetta shows the lack of respect for a teacher in this country. If he really has done something wrong, then he must be brought into court. Why is he being thrown in torture cells, which is against the Constitution of the state?
One wonders that on the one hand apologies and commitments are being made to assuage the Baloch grievances, and on the other hand the policies of the previous regime are carried on, which is beyond one’s grasp.
Federal Adviser Rehman Malik on his visit to Quetta promised to release all missing persons but instead of releasing them, these inhuman agencies are doing the same which they had been doing in the past.
The new government should show seriousness about Baloch grievances, and release lecturer Hassan Janan as soon as possible.
NAEEM BALOCH
Turbat, Kech
I WANT to draw the attention of the higher authorities that a number of candidates working under National Internship Programme in Jamshoro district have not received their salary for the last three months.
At first the district account officer, Jamshoro, denied us salaries on the grounds that there is no budget released from the AGPR, Karachi. When we contacted the AGPR at Karachi, they too admitted the non-availability of the budget. However, for the last three weeks we have been hearing that the AGPR has the budget and has released funds in many other districts of the province but the district accounts officer in Jamshoro is constantly refusing us the salaries.
Why is this treatment being meted out to Jamshoro district? Why are we not receiving our salaries when there is a budget available?
In such a situation we, the poor candidates, are confused as to what to do and we all are suffering under great social, psychological, economical constraints, as well as are extremely disappointed by the official attitude towards us.
I hope and pray that the higher authorities will look into the matter and resolve our genuine problem immediately.
MUHAMMAD SHAHID NIZAMANI
Intern, Department of Sociology, University of Sindh
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