| September 28, 2008 | Sunday | Ramazan 27, 1429 |
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Speedy justice dispensation?
Plight of PIA’s Toronto passengers
Lebanon come to Pakistan?
World Heart Day
Zardari’s meeting with Palin
Friends of Pakistan
The future divide
The same mistake, again
Eidbusters
A plea to president
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
FOR a year or so, some people in the US had been asking if Pakistan was sincere to their country in the war on terror. This query has assumed a shriller pitch in recent days, after they heard the news that American helicopters trying to violate Pakistan’s air space have been fired upon.
Before asking this question, the Americans need to ask a few questions of themselves. For instance, was their ruling coterie, led by George Bush, sincere to the country’s citizens when it went to war in Iraq by lying to them about WMDs? The war has cost the American taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.
The irony is that between 70 and 80 per cent of the Americans are now saying that it was wrong for the US to have attacked Iraq and that their country is headed seriously in the wrong direction. They should also recall that before the invasion, not only their closest allies France and Germany had advised Washington to desist from it, but all the Muslim countries, including Pakistan, had done that.
However, the same Americans who are now acknowledging their folly, were so gung ho about attacking Iraq. Worse still, the same people had expressed their annoyance over France’s opposition by childishly renaming French fries as ‘Freedom Fries.’ This only proves that the two European nations and all the Islamic ones possessed greater wisdom.
The other thing is that Bush’s lies about Iraq and Saddam Hussein have cost the lives of more than 4,000 American soldiers, yet the Americans are still not saying he is an insincere man. Over here, Pakistan has lost more lives after 9/11 due to this war than the Americans had lost on that day. Similarly, more Pakistani troops have been killed in fighting the militants than the combined losses of all the allied troops operating in Afghanistan. But we are ‘insincere’.
Consider some other facts. The US has bent backwards to sign a civilian nuclear deal with India, which will only free India’s fissile materials for building more atomic bombs whereas many American experts and legislators, as well as Nuclear Suppliers Group member-countries, have warned against it.
Obviously, New Delhi’s increased production of nukes will make life more difficult for Islamabad and it will have to either live under a greater threat or divert scarce resources towards countering India’s strategic advantage. Is America being sincere to Pakistan?
And, that is not all. In an interview to Dawn (Sept 22), Pakistan’s former army chief Gen (r) Mirza Aslam Beg has revealed that after the US and India signed a strategic partnership agreement four years ago, Washington gave India the authority to establish in Afghanistan one of the largest spy networks. This is meant for use against all the neighboring countries but is particularly disturbing for Pakistan, given India’s hostile intentions towards us and its dismemberment of this country in 1971.
Gen Beg additionally stated: “Now, they have signed another agreement that by the end of next year they will have 150,000 Indian soldiers in Afghanistan. From this one can imagine what are their intentions for the region.” He also opined that the US wanted to keep the Pakistan Army engaged in a ‘running war’ with its own people.
Therefore, we are more justified in doubting America’s sincerity. The thing is, as also noted by Gen. Beg, whenever Pakistan tries to have a peace deal with the Taliban, the US does something to sabotage it. Pakistanis understand their situation and the psyche of the tribal people and the religious extremists better and their strategy to deal with these folks must not be undermined.
ABDUL ALEEM
Karachi
ACCORDING to a press report on Sept 13, Attorney-General Sardar Latif Khosa has stated that the government is working on various reforms for speedy dispensation of justice and, in this regard, packages and other facilities for the judges have been increased.
The motive behind more perks at public expense for judges is quite obvious. However, relevance of perks to speedy justice is not convincing. Almost every government in the past has increased perks of judges but, so far, the promised cheap and speedy justice is a dream, and no effective authority exists to question courts for inordinate delay in justice. Practically, the entire legal system at public expense is primarily serving the interest of the rich, judges, lawyers and associated persons.
In response to the attorney-general’s call for suggestions, I offer the following in public interest. One, most laws and legal procedures are so worded as to allow litigation for years without final verdict which need review.
For example, rent laws permit a judge to overrule written rent agreement (conforming to the Holy Quran teachings) and let the litigation proceed for years up to the Supreme Court.
Another common example, bereaved families undergo mental and physical torture for months or even over a year to get a succession certificate from a court and that at a high cost: a lawyer’s fee in Rawalpindi varies from Rs30,000 to Rs50,000. The owner tenant problem can be solved if the written rent agreement is made mandatory and honoured by courts. The succession certificate problem can be solved if citizens are permitted to declare their legal heirs on oath, with their consent to accept responsibility for liabilities, if any, as done in various financial and other deals.
Two, centuries old Fiqh Jafria and Fiqh Hanafi meant for those periods should not be made mandatory for those Muslims who are willing to accept laws relevant to the present socio-economic conditions but conforming to guidelines of the Holy Quran and Sunnah, which are meant for changing situations for all times to come. These two different laws for Muslims justify the third option for the renowned and well-respected legal and religious scholars to examine.
Three, the attorney-general, as well as the law minister, should examine those 23 cases pending in normal courts for over 20 years which were decided by Maulana Fazlullah of Swat within a short period, and more people were approaching him for cheap and speedy justice, as reported in the press on June 3.
In fact, the objective of the legal system at public expense should be cheap and speedy justice for the common man. It is not possible unless the print and electronic media gives as much coverage as given to restoration of an independent judiciary. Obviously, beneficiaries will include mediapersons as well.
RAJA M. AFZAL KHAN
Gujar Khan
PASSENGERS travelling by PIA’s direct flight from Pakistan to Toronto undergo rigorous scrutiny on landing here, following the horrifying incident when a passenger managed to travel on one such flight on Aug 1 without a ticket, visa or even a passport.
The mere thought that such an incident can take place in an environment where security at airports has become an important issue exposes serious flaws in security arrangements prevailing at Pakistani airports.
In this case a PIA contract employee, who was recently regularised, travelled on PK 781 from Karachi to Islamabad on a rebated domestic ticket, managed to stay on board the aircraft, succeeded in avoiding detection and then travelled all the way to Toronto, a 14-hour-long flight. All the systems placed failed to avoid such a scandalous goof-up that should not have occurred.
The fact that this stowaway passenger was a PIA contract loader makes the situation even worse. Reports that this stowaway passenger was known to a few cabin crew members who gave him special attention is even more worrying.
PIA, which already has the highest number of employees to aircraft ratio in the world, should not have employed such a man in the first place. It points to serious flaws in PIA recruitment procedures and the fact that political recommendations have managed to circumvent security assessment that should have been done prior to such employments.
Yet in one go the airline has regularised services of over 4,500 contract employees to gain cheap popularity, a serious compromise on safety and security, that can lead to PIA flights being blacklisted out of security concerns.
It is mind-boggling that such an incident can take place where a passenger can travel without going through immigration, customs or security. Airlines have systems where headcount of passengers is a mandatory requirement before departure. What if this passenger had been a terrorist? Heads should roll, but will they? If not, PIA is heading for a disaster.
TAHIR HASSAN
Canada
ON July 26, 2006 there was a report in Dawn citing a statement given by Jan Egeland, the UN humanitarian affairs coordinator, after a visit to Lebanon, which was being incessantly bombed by Israel in its fight with Hezbollah. He had said:
“We hear horrific stories from there where so many women and children were killed. The women told us: ‘(Israel should) Let us at least be able to retrieve our bodies, because the dogs are eating them.’”
A few days back, I was listening to interviews of some refugees from somewhere in Fata by the BBC Urdu Service. Apart from the enumeration of their other difficulties due to becoming homeless, which were painful enough, a man narrated that due to the ongoing bombing by aeroplanes and shelling from the ground, it was not even possible to shift the injured to hospitals or dispensaries. It made me cry to hear him say in a choked voice that even their dead could not be buried and the dogs had eaten up half of a relative’s body!
Good Lord! Pakistan has practically become another Lebanon, with hundreds of thousands becoming homeless and the promised relief not coming through even in the month of Ramazan. The sectarian killings in Kurram are another page out of Lebanon. The Israelis had full backing of some western countries while our troops are being made to fight their own people, because there are powers that won’t allow us to negotiate peace with the Taliban.
In view of all this suffering, one cannot but agree with F.M. Zahid’s letter, ‘Sorrow and grief’ (Sept 19), who has written that as a gesture of solidarity with the victims of the bloodbath in the Pashtun region, we should all cry at Eid day, instead of engaging in merrymaking.
The writer has further suggested we should not wear new clothes, convey Eid greetings or offer sweets to each other. My advice is that at least 50 per cent of the sum of money the people are planning to spend during the festival may please be donated for the welfare of the poor refugees who are having an extremely hard time, having left all their meagre belongings behind.
KHALID CHAUDHRY
Karachi
“Know your risk” is the theme of this year’s World Heart Day, being observed on Sept 28. This day is a call to action, to help, to achieve the longer and better life, through prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension.
There are no obvious symptoms of high blood pressure, and the only way to know is to visit your healthcare professional for a checkup. That’s why this year’s World Heart Day will be urging people to ‘know your risk’.
The world’s No.1 enemy (heart disease and stroke) kills 17.5 million people each year. The figures given by researchers show that by 2025 more than 1.5 billion people will have high blood pressure.
To register a protest against the world’s No.1 killer (hypertension), we all have to take a significant step towards the prevention of our life being affected by hypertension. It is our lifestyle and culture which seems to be contributing to our risk of developing heart diseases and stroke.
Many of us are not aware of how to prevent a heart disease and this unawareness is one of the causes of its increasing risk. To prevent a heart disease and stroke, take regular exercise, say no to smoking, and have a healthier diet, low in salt and fat and rich in fibers, fresh vegetables and fruits.
We should unite to support the World Heart Day together and register an act to help the people by educating them about heart diseases and their prevention.
MUBASHIR SHAIKH
Hyderabad
IT was very sad to read how President Zardari reacted while meeting Sarah Palin in New York last Tuesday. Palin was there as a GOP vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor, and wanted to meet leaders of different countries.
CNN reported : “Zardari then called her ‘gorgeous’ and said: ‘Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you.’”
A handler from Mr Zardari’s entourage then told the two politicians to keep shaking hands for the cameras. On which Mr Zardari is reported to have said: “If he’s insisting, I might hug”. Palin smiled politely in response.
Being the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, it was very unworthy of Mr Zardari to make such remarks. These remarks by President Zardari have disturbed millions of Pakistanis across the globe.
I hope our foreign affairs ministry should arrange lessons on diplomatic etiquettes and norms for PPP government officials before they schedule their next meeting with any foreign leader.
MUHAMMED ZAFIR ZIA
Karachi
This refers to the report on the formation of a forum to be called as friends of Pakistan (Sept 27). The forum will help to raise billions of dollars to avert a possible economic collapse in Pakistan.
Pakistan once again is standing on the edge of a total economic and financial collapse and even at such a grave situation no serious positive steps are being taken by the government in particular and by the people in general to avert this collapse.
When Pakistan appeared on the world map in 1947, the rulers of many princely states such as Hyderabad Deccan, Mahmoodabad etc and Prince Agha Khan came to the rescue of the newly independent Muslim state and donated generously towards the financial needs of the country. Now when we have no Agha Khan or Nizam of Hyderabad, is it not the duty of our industrial giants mostly from the province Punjab to come forward and contribute in rebuilding Pakistan?
It is because of Pakistan that they are the owners of major industrial units today which are worth millions of dollars. The country now needs their help but they seem to be busy day and night in transferring their foreign exchange outside Pakistan, forgetting completely that they had nothing before Pakistan.
Today they live in beautiful castles, but they hardly think of bailing out Pakistan of this economic crisis. It is unfortunate that we need to ask our friends from outside while our own billionaires evade tax, bribe different government departments and adopt the worst forms of corruption, both moral and financial, to harm their own country.
They do not even spare the national utility and steal electricity and natural gas at a time when the country is facing the worst crises of electric power. We tend to call ourselves very proudly to be Muslims and the followers of Prophet Muhammad while on the other hand the proud owners of huge industrial empires don’t hesitate in bribing, lying or even evading taxes in the holy month of Ramazan.
We will go around the world with a begging bowl under various names like the friends of Pakistan forum, but I am sure if our industrialists, land owners, private high salaried class start paying taxes honestly, Pakistan will easily come out of the present trouble days.
Pakistan is passing through its most crucial stage and it’s time when every citizen, rich or poor, must realize that he/she has a responsibility and should share the burden equally, but we see that the poor is being crushed. While the rich continue to enjoy Eid lavishly, the poor will not enjoy eid to its fullest.
I sincerely hope that the aid from the “Friends Of Pakistan” will be used for Pakistan and like the Karz Utaro Mulk Sanwaro movement in which the poor Pakistanis donated wholeheartedly, and will not be used for the loan payment of unknown or non existents. It’s a matter of shame for us that on the one hand our politicians, industrialists, land owners, retired government officers (even serving one also,) possess millions and millions of dollars (in their foreign currency accounts) and we are begging our friends all over the world to bail us out from the worst financial crises.
AAMIR AQIL
Lahore
I WAS surprised to note how Ayesha Siddiqa has made Pakistan look like a pushover that simply cannot take any effective stand against the American incursions, in her article, ‘The future divide’ (Sept 19).
She has ignored several facts. First, a report revealed on Sept 16 how Washington immediately parted with $365 million worth of reimbursements for supplies that it had been withholding, after Islamabad blocked the US supplies following the Sept 3 commando raid.
Second, not only Admiral Mike Mullen but also UK minister Jack Straw and the Nato military commander for Afghanistan came running to Pakistan. The latter two urged Pakistan not to stop the supplies to their forces.
Third, some tribal elders from Waziristan, while enthusiastically welcoming the Army chief Gen Kayani’s statement about disallowing any further violations of our territory, said that hundreds of thousands of tribal volunteers are ready to join the Army if it decided to attack the American military base across the border.
While this is not to suggest that we should start a war against the US, but they must not step onto our toes either and we would certainly be within our rights to take appropriate measures to ensure the sanctity of our territory. It should be remembered that Turkey had refused to allow the US to use its airspace or soil to launch attacks on Iraq at the start of the war over there, though Washington had offered them something like $50 billion in aid.
We must not show ourselves to be weak when there are things we can do in our defence. This only encourages others to take Pakistan for granted. Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela are examples where countries much smaller than Pakistan have stood their ground. America needs us no less than we need it. The only way out is for our political leadership to adopt an honest and courageous attitude, in tune with the people’s aspirations, like the Turkish government.
M.Y. KHAN
Karachi
THE intellectuals say that we have learned from history that we have learned nothing from history. This holds good for all the Muslims around the world.
President Zardari has made the same mistake the prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan had made. He was invited by the Soviet Union to pay his first official visit to Kremlin. Before an acceptance was conveyed by Pakistan (or was it conveyed?), the US also invited him. His fellow cabinet ministers urged him to visit the US first.
The special breed of advisers always misguides you because it cannot guide you. PM Khan went to the US – and ever since the Pakistani nation has been paying its price. The Soviet Union tilted towards India and set it in their lap – and even nudged it to go to war with Pakistan.
President Zardari, who had declared before going to the US to undertake his first official visit to China, seems either to go back on his words or was compelled to visit the US first. The Chinese leaders – large-hearted as they are – would not have felt betrayed or altercated as did Russians.
He could have sent the prime minister to New York for the speech at UN and himself gone to Beijing. The impact of that visit would have been quite favourable to Pakistan and for the ‘friends in need’.
The message to the US could have been equally important and meaningful. Washington needs to be told about Pakistan’s needs, requirements and priorities. When will they understand Islamabad’s position? Pakistan is, and if it is not – then it should be, as important to the US as the US is to Pakistan.
REHANA NAQVI
Karachi
I WANT your readers to share an incident with a relative in Karachi. He had gone for late-night shopping for Eid with his wife and children in a Federal B Area market.
Noticing a newspaper hawker near their car, the wife lowered the glass and asked for a copy. The hawker came near and offered a copy of newspaper and immediately drew a gun and asked the lady to hand over cash, jewellery and mobile phone quickly.
Panicked, the lady quickly handed over whatever was at hand. The hawker disappeared before they came to their senses. They returned home without shopping. There was a police mobile standing at a distance. Nobody noticed and the business goes on – noticed, unnoticed, reported, unreported.
In a country where the law and order situation is deteriorating day by day, how can a common man feel secure. Who these people are, who are their sponsors, who shares the booty – all is known to all but alas! Anyone cares?
HAJI ASHFAQ
Muscat, Oman
THIS is apropos of Ardeshir Cowesjee’s column, ‘A date etched in memory’ (Sept 13), regarding the parks in Karachi and his suggestion to the president of Pakistan.
I appeal to President Asif Ali Zardari to convert the Kidney Hill, Gutter Baghicha and the land of waterfront in Clifton into three big parks at Karachi as proposed by Mr Cowesjee.
Karachi is full of pollution and needs these kinds of open spaces and trees for healthy living. It will reduce smoke, lead, carbon mono oxide and noise pollution from the atmosphere. Please do not allow the vested interest group to convert these places into concrete jungles. Mr Cowasjee is talking sense.
DR SHERSHAH SYED
Karachi
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