| September 17, 2008 | Wednesday | Ramazan 16, 1429 |
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Growing inflation
Baloch lecturer: appeal to Zardari
US forces attack
Owning Karachi
Regularising PIA contract staff
Doctor falls prey to target killing
Olympic winner
Beyond the war on terror
Transport woes
Poor travellers
Dawn neglecting Quaid
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 news reports on the front page (Sept 10). Besides displaying President Asif Ali Zardari’s oath-taking ceremony, it also carried two major news reports: power tariff raised up to 40 per cent and oil price fall below $100: raising new hopes in the nation on this auspicious occasion but at the same time shattering their dreams by making an unprecedented increase in electricity charges despite falling oil prices in the international market.
These unpopular decisions at a time when national economic activity is at its ebb will act as the proverbial last straw on the camel’s back.
The decision of the phenomenal increase in power charges, when world oil prices are gradually coming down, will affect industrial as well commercial activity severely and at the same time break the back of the middle class irreparably.
Surprisingly, at each increase government spokesmen always come up with one justification or the other, i.e. increases in the world oil price. However, this time oil has come down, yet electric tariffs have been increased the highest-ever ceiling in the recent past.
Surprisingly the government has felt no compunction in maintaining 16 per cent GST imposed since July while notifying the huge increase as it has nothing to do with world oil prices.
The hyper inflation has made life of the general public extremely difficult and now with 31 per cent increase in electricity rates, without withdrawing the 16 per cent GST, will financially ruin even the middle class household of the country.
If the present regime is really concerned about the well-being of the people, it has to reconsider its decision without much ado.
SHAFIQUE ANSARI
Dubai
(II)
THE fuel prices at international level have dropped to $91 from $147.
The government has given Rs5 relief on petrol and increase of Rs3.50 on diesel. Why are diesel prices going up after an international price downfall?
The government of the people (People’s Party) should know that it’s diesel which is being used by common people in the shape of public transportation of all kinds. We shall be glad if the government could also give the reason behind this price increase of diesel.
ABDUL RAUF
Fateh Jang
(III)
THE only news that might have given some solace to our inflation-and politics-stricken people over the last few weeks was that the government was finally going to reduce fuel prices after unprecedented fall of the rate of crude oil in the international market.
The glad tidings, however, have come with a big pinch of salt as we learn that the price of petrol will come down by Rs5 but diesel and kerosene will both go up by Rs3.5.
This rather strange announcement is really unbelievable. It makes one wonder whether the ogre we call OGRA is really practising its ‘sick sense’ of humour or testing the limit of the already overstretched patience of our common people. At a time when the international price of crude oil is at its lowest of the last seven months, having plummeted from $146 to $98.31, it was expected that the elected government will transfer the benefit to the common man in a reasonable measure. What we get, however, is no more than a practical joke that defies justification.
The decision, approved by the highest office, seems to ignore the fact that our deprived multitudes living in far-flung rural areas (75 per cent of our population) are heavily dependant on diesel and kerosene for their needs of agriculture, fishing, transport and lighting of small one-room homes.
But perhaps the priority of these hapless hordes is now very low because feudal lords, again propelled with their votes to the giddying heights of power on Feb 18, are firmly ensconced in their seats for five long years. What need do they have to care for the voters when the next elections are so far away?
This is the saddest aspect of our peculiar dynastic democracy and what Rasul Bukhsh Talpur has very aptly termed the ‘pulao politicis’ of Pakistan in his recent political comment.
The latest decision of OGRA regarding fuel prices is a clear indication of the government’s callousness towards the misery of the people. It is indeed a largesse designed to fool.
If this attitude persists, one day the prediction of Faiz Ahmed Faiz may come true with all its tragic force, when the sleeping, sick, stray dogs of our surroundings finally wake up to chew the bones of their self-centered masters.
It will be good if our authorities desist from repeating such cruel jokes and instead provide some meaningful relief to our people who are passing through the most difficult time of our troubled history. Let’s not push them to the point where they can’t take it anymore.
LIAQAT ALI TOOR
Lahore
ONE of the economic problems threatening the people of our country is inflation. Poor and low-salaried people are hit hard because of growing inflation.
I am amazed at how many times I read in the press that Pakistan’s growing inflation is caused by higher oil and food prices.
Inflation is an economic evil and curse for a society. It has caused incurable social and moral damage. Social values have been eroded along with the value of currency .
The cause is monetary policy. The way they are used in economic statistics is like the way a thermometer is used to take a human’s temperature. The thermometer does not cause the temperature but only quantifies it. So it is with commodity prices.
It has diminished people’s trust in the government. Unchecked growth in population has worsened the problem. Inflation is caused by one thing only, and that is the failure of a country’s central bank to properly manage its money supply.
Saying you’re going to solve inflation by subsidising oil prices is like saying you can cure cancer by taking an aspirin for the pain.
It is because of this scenario that people are losing faith in savings. They have lost faith in honesty; become doubtful about long-term growth. They have come to believe in windfalls. There is no unity of trust. Growing social and political evils like bribery, hoarding, tax evasion, and smuggling have become rampant due to selfish interests and moral apathy.
There is no sanctity of law. People believe in the saying: ‘Make hay while the sun shines’.
Inflation is beyond recovery. As there is no simple cause for inflation, there is no simple cure either. The best remedy is to curb consumption, form the habit of saving at both private and public levels, and increase investment.
If the rupee were to be allowed to appreciate, relative fuel costs will become lower, while it will be harder to export foodstuffs, thereby keeping more food in Pakistan to control raging food prices.
SITWAT HASEEN
Karachi
I HAVE been following the letters regarding the Baloch lecturer, Hassan Janan, by Chakar Baloch (Sept 10) and Naeem Baloch (Sept 13).
The act of agencies towards the builders of the nation is immensely shocking.
No one in a civilised world apprehends an honourable man like Hassan Janan as a thug and harasses him. It is also not in the Constitution of the land to detain a person without any concrete evidence.
Besides this, the intelligentsia, writers and civil society of the country have no qualms as they have been silent on this issue. Many more like Hassan Janan are being thrown behind bars without any cases against them.
The government claim of giving the Baloch equal rights and opportunities and releasing them from prison has proved wrong.
It has become so common that every successive regime would extend apologies to the Baloch for the injustice done by agencies or the army but later they would also become part of them.
I’d like to remind the newly elected president of the apologies he had extended to the Baloch, and hope that he would address the Baloch grievances and will bring to justice the tormentors of the honourable lecturer.
I would also lodge a complaint against journalists, intelligentsia, writers, and civil society for not taking up the matter of the lecturer’s imprisonment etc.
SAMEERA ZAMAN BALOCH
Turbat, Kech
(II)
THIS is apropos of the letters regarding lecturer Hassan Janan’s detention and humiliation (Sept 10 and 13). It is very sad to say that the Baloch have been oppressed and victimised by every successive government.
Detaining a Baloch is not astounding news because many of them were allegedly made to disappear during the Musharraf regime. However, what is perhaps even more disappointing is that the new elected government is adopting the policies of all the previous military regimes.
The followers of democracy themselves are violating laws by committing such unfortunate acts. The silence of the media against the Baloch shows its bias.
I appeal to the electronic media to address Baloch grievances. I also appeal to President Asif Ali Zardari to take notice of the unjust arrest of the Baloch lecturer.
RIAZ KAMAL
Balochistan
AMERICAN forces attacked Angoor Adda in South Waziristan Agency on Sept 3, well inside Pakistan territory, causing casualties of innocent people .
Unfortunately, there was no world media to cover this attack and casualties to show to the world, especially American civil society, what the US-sponsored forces are doing in the name of war on terror.
In the process, they have killed innocent civilians. The terrorists do not define the opponent that can be neutralised with force. It is a purely intelligence operation and one has to pick up terrorists and finish them.
Apparently all the leaders, including President Zardari, have condemned the attack and are preparing to convey it to the Bush administration. President Bush himself had okayed all the attacks inside Pakistan in hot pursuit of the terrorists.
Unless the ousted President Musharraf had given his tacit approval to the Bush administration, Nato forces would not have dared to violate international laws and cross the borders of a sovereign country.
Why were there silent spectators during this attack? There must be some order that restrained them from retaliating. It is not the Army chief who should say that they would retaliate in future. They get executive orders from the government to go ahead with counter-action whenever forces violate Pakistani space, air or ground.
Pakistan is a nuclear state with a stockpile of nuclear weapons and missiles. This statement should have come either from President Zardari or Prime Minister Gilani, and not from the COAS.
The public at large is fuming with anger as to why Pakistan did not retaliate. The nation must be taken into confidence. On a second similar attack on Sept 9, Pakistani jets took off but did not take any action. Perhaps this was shown on the media to keep the grumbling public quiet.
We would like to see a few Nato drones or gunship helicopters shot down by our valiant Air Force or by ground troops air defence system.
M. AZHAR KHWAJA
Via email
THIS is apropos of Bina Shah’s article, ‘Who owns Karachi?’ (Sept 14). She asks this as she considers it to be a very complex question. What she does not understand or rather does not want to understand is the fact that Karachi is owned by Pakistanis.
Her article gave me a very clear picture of what has gone wrong with this country.
We have begun to worry more about our rights as Sindhis, Punjabis, Baloch, Pathans or Mohajirs than worry about being Pakistanis. We take more pride in belonging to one or the other tribe rather than in being true patriots. How can a system of equality and justice be implemented if our thinking cannot go beyond individualism.
Furthermore, what hurt me considerably was her mention of Sindhi youth’s inability to compete effectively in the urban atmosphere. I am a graduate from the IBA, which is arguably one of the most prestigious business schools of the country.
In the IBA we have people from all over Pakistan, from all religions and linguist backgrounds. The Sindhi students compete as effectively with their peers as can be possible. So the thing about the younger generation not being able to compete is absolutely baseless.
Another thing which upset me was her mention of Karachi being the inheritance of the Sindhis. By that standard the Baloch should inherit Balochistan, Punjab should go to Punjabis, the NWFP and the Fata regions to Pathans and let us say goodbye to Pakistan.
Such nonsense has created enough problems within the country and is tearing it apart at the seams. Why can’t Karachi be the inheritance of all ‘Pakistanis’? Why could Thatta not provide viable economic opportunities for Punjabis or Mohajirs?
TAHA HASNAIN
Via email
THE PIA management has recently announced regularisation of 4,500 contractual employees.
It apparently looks like a popular decision for those who are its beneficiaries, but what about those who have been denied jobs despite having merit?
PIA should have done this recruitment through a proper procedure by advertising them nationwide. The national airline is in a crisis due to lack of human resource and gross mismanagement.
Hundreds of thousands of young men and women, out of university now, are looking for jobs, for which they had achieved education and studied very hard. Yet with one stroke of the pen, the PIA chairman and his managing director have denied an opportunity to men and women of this country.
Everybody knows how contractual employees are hired, by word of mouth, through political manoeuvring, recommendations, etc.
Such jobs are hardly advertised ever. This is grave injustice to the people, especially those from smaller provinces like Balochistan, the NWFP and rural Sindh.
I appeal to major political parties and the ruling elite in Islamabad to immediately stop such injustice and disservice to PIA and the people of Pakistan.
ANEELA CHANDIO
Sukkur
THIS is apropos of the report, ‘Doctor falls prey to target killing’ (Sept 9).
Dr Abdul Mannan Siddiqui was shot dead in broad daylight by two assailants while he was going round the wards in his own hospital in Mirpurkhas, Sindh.
Dr Siddiqui was not only an eminent physician but also a very helpful and a generous person; the doors of his hospital remained open forever for the needy and the poor.
After graduating from the Sindh Medical College, Karachi, he went to the United States for specialisation. He cleared the American Boards and was a diplomate in internal medicine. During his stay in the US he also acquired diplomas in other sub-specialities in the medical fields.
He established his hospital in the same place where his parents lived. He could have opted for a posh locality of a modern city but he thought his own people needed him more.
He was murdered on Sept 8 exactly 24 hours after ‘scholars’ in a programme on a TV channel strongly condemned the Ahmadiya Jamaat and advised the listeners to murder Ahmadis as a spiritual act that will take them to the heavens.
Unfortunately, the case is part of a growing culture. All over the country, and especially in its northern part, whosoever wants to go to the heavens is advised to kill a soldier or a policeman or some other law enforcer. This disastrous philosophy has made Pakistan a dangerous place to live where nobody is safe, whether praying in a mosque or shopping in the bazaar.
The obscurantist elements have acted as suicide bombers and have burnt girls’ schools and delivered threats to prestigious academic institutions where there is coeducation: all in the name of Shariah. This is where we are being led to, among others, by the irresponsible TV programmes.
The other aspect, rather grave, is the ‘brain drain’: a squeal to sectarian prejudices now rampant in our society due to narrow-minded policies, utterances and general attitude of partiality towards minorities.
What did we do to Prof Abdus Salam, the only Nobel laureate from Pakistan? In spite of his sincere yearnings to work for and help make Pakistan a better place, he was not encouraged to come back home and work.
If you treat minorities partially and don’t give them their rightful place in their own country, the result will be an unfortunate ‘brain drain’ in the country. Who, in the end, will be the loser?
DR MUNAWAR AHMAD
Lahore
HAIDER Ali, an athletic who suffers from cerebral palsy, made his country proud when he won a silver medal for his feat at the long jump competition on Sept 9 at the Beijing Paralymics.
His endeavour though equal to that of the Gold Medal winner, a Tunisian, who ran the same distance, that of 6.44 metres, Haider was chosen as the runner-up as he was rejected for one of his five jumps during the preliminary rounds.
But nonetheless, he managed to do what many of his able-bodied counterparts couldn’t achieve just a few weeks prior to his competition – win an Olympics medal at Beijing.
However, the saddest part is that unlike the other sports persons, there is no announcement till date from either the Pakistani Olympic sporting bodies or the government regarding any prize money for our hero. If he had been a cricketer or from any other sport, or even an able-bodied Olympic athlete, he would by now have been showered with enough accolades and money to last him a lifetime.
However, being an optimist, I can only assume that the great news hasn’t yet reached those at the higher echelons of power.
ARSALAAN HALEEM
Karachi
THIS may help to explain what Sqn Ldr Ausaf Husain wrote (Sept 14). In the American edition of his book, Lawless World, Philippe Sands, a professor at University College, London, and practising lawyer, refers to notes taken by Matthew Rycroft, then the private secretary to prime minister Blair, and addressed to Simon McDonald, then the principal private secretary to the foreign secretary, Jack Straw.
According to these, two months before the invasion of Iraq, in a private telephone conversation on Jan 30, 2003, Mr Bush told Mr Blair that he “wanted to go beyond Iraq in dealing with WMD proliferation, mentioning in particular Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea and Pakistan”.
Significantly, there was no mention of India or Israel (Douglas Jehl in the NY Times of Oct 14, 2005).
This happened at the time when George Bush entertained Mr Musharraf at the US presidential retreat at Camp David and called him a great and true friend of America. Our new leaders will do well to remember this as go traipsing to the western capitals to pay ritual homage.
BATUL RIZVI
Karachi
TWO matters which are noticeable and both related to transporters are as follows: the first is about grille in front of the wagons, especially Mazda, Suzuki, etc.
This grille right in front of their bumper is very dangerous. The drivers of these vehicles drive very rashly and they know that their vehicles are safe because of the steel grille, though it is dangerous for other vehicles.
Whenever there is an accident or a mishap, the grille is very harmful for the other vehicle.
Secondly, in Lahore the number of vehicles has led to a tightening of space on the roads which are not big enough to hold them.
The noise and smoke produced by these vehicles are very harmful for the citizens; especially those travelling in private and public wagons like Mazda, Suzuki, etc., which have very noisy pressure horns.
Cyclists and motorcyclists get confused when such pressure horns are honked on them as they lose control or become off-balance, leading to serious accidents.
It is, therefore, requested that a campaign should be launched against such transporters and also against private vehicles that use grille and pressure horns in the city.
ABDUL WAKIL FAROOQI
Lahore
THE majority of our population travels by buses, but the condition of vehicles is awful.We have been discussing this particular problem for ages but see no improvement in it.
The number of seats in buses is very limited, especially for women. When male passengers barge into women’s compartment, the area for women gets further congested. Moreover, sleazy men do eves-teasing which causes great irritation.
Women should be respected everywhere. The government should introduce new buses, exclusively for women, or ban admittance of males in the women’s compartment.
ZEHRA BATOOL
Karachi
WITHOUT the Quaid-i-Azam there would have been no Pakistan and no Dawn.
Dawn has been neglecting the Quaid, especially when his thoughts are needed by the nation. Your negligence of the Quaid has reached such an extent that on Sept. 11, which is the Quaid’s death anniversary, there was no mention of the Quaid in the issue.
DR. A. HAYE SAEED
Karachi
Note: A number of readers have pointed out what can only be described as a grave lapse on Sept 11. Please accept our apologies.—Editor.
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