| November 11, 2008 | Tuesday | Ziqa'ad 12, 1429 |
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Relief for the quake-hit
Zehri as minister
Pakistan at a crossroads
Obama on Kashmir
Police force
Snake bite
Where are the statues?
Hello, Gorgeous!
My fellow countrymen
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 to Dr Suhail Naqvi’s explanation of HEC’s performance in these columns of Dawn (Nov 4), his views prove the point in my letter, published on Oct 24, that HEC has not promoted the social science faculties in public sector universities.
Pakistan may depend on advanced IT technology, more PhDs, more foreign scholarships for its scientists and engineers, but producing good social scientists is crucial for national integrity and social stability. Dr Suhail Naqvi has repeatedly mentioned physics, IT, video conferencing, and availability of online data, networking, and the prestigious science journal “Nature” as if the criterion for the advancement of knowledge and the development of our collective consciousness depends on moving ahead in science and technology alone, which is a one-dimensional approach.
Of course it is now realized more than ever that the future of Pakistan depends on the state of higher education. But the question must be asked, “What kind of higher education?” Are we moving towards good citizenship, national spirit, autonomy, social awareness, brotherhood, critical abilities, unity, sense of direction, philosophical faculties, to name only few. Or, (as mentioned by Mr Salim Ahmed in his letter on Nov 3), are we producing merely foreign bound individuals, reluctant to serve the nation during its time of distress like the present?
The international community of scientists and economists has a mindset to look at problems statistically and devise technical solutions that do not work in Pakistan’s socio-political and cultural setup. The clearest example was the much propagated idea of a “trickle down economy” by our defunct Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, which never trickled! And despite being a nuclear power Pakistan’s foreign relations still remain at bay. This shows that higher education in physical and technological sciences alone cannot save our country, although we cannot do without them.
There is no doubt that the HEC has done well in its selective approach towards developing certain areas which needed a vital uplift. But it has overlooked other crucial areas of knowledge which needed equal assistance.
Now that things seem to be changing after Dr Atta-ur-Rehan’s resignation, it should be realized by the Peoples Party’s Government that institutions backed by Musharraf’s military dictatorship need to be restructured thoroughly. Dr Suhail Naqvi’s explanations about HEC’s better performance in the past do not seem to wholly justify HEC’s resourcefulness and its past leadership. The fact is that HEC has wasted its resources in many unacknowledged ways.
One of the examples is its foreign faculty program. A few years back, the foreign faculty sent by HEC to philosophy the department at Karachi University stayed for a year without teaching and research, and returned to Florida State University with a handsome salary package (Rs20million) without submission of any progress report to the university authorities. There are a lot of other such examples. It is our Government’s responsibility to carry out a thorough accountability of HEC’s past funding.
Academicians should be more concerned about the future of this country and its leadership in higher educational sector. HEC should now be run by someone with a vision for our socio-cultural integrity, having a political will to encourage social scientists to come forward and help in making higher education a well balanced platform, where people from all walks of life may educate themselves and corroborate in saving the country from chaos and disintegration.
Our great poet and visionary Dr Iqbal brought this nation together with his poetry alone. Sadly enough his vision is now becoming lost in our zest for merely advanced information and communication rather than ideologically enriched knowledge harboring visions for the future.
DR ZAHOOR H BABER
Karachi
II
As apropos to the letter written by Mr Suhail Naqvi (Nov 4) regarding the pros and cons of HEC, I hereby suggest another school of thought.
It would be better and more result oriented, if we offer our graduates and post graduates higher degrees and offer them letters through mail to keep them updated regarding any upcoming and dynamic trends of educational diplomas or certain other ways of pursuing scholarships.
The plan can also be carried out through large banners and media. It is imperial for our generation to obtain higher education to stand out as proud citizens of the country.
On the contrary, if we will not encourage our younger generation to take interest in such activities, they are bound to throw their abilities and laurels into their hungry bins within a particular span of time.
I suggest our education ministry to take kind and due notice of my suggestion and take further steps to implement such teeny bits of advice.
AAMNAH MANSOOR
Via email
IT is the same kind of calamity, if not of same intensity, as that of the earthquake of northern Pakistan and Azad Kashmir on Oct 8, 2005.
The whole nation had galvanised itself into a well-oiled machine to help the displaced persons – and also the outside help did a wonderful job.
At present the nation has stood up again – and with these lines I want to tell the valiant people of Balochistan that in this hour of hardship they would not be left alone and ignored.
They have been neglected politically and financially too long already. This is the time to gear up – which the entire country is.
Everybody who could contribute in money or material is doing his level best to provide it. If there is some delay in reaching you, it is not because of not helping you, the places have become inaccessible.
You would be receiving food and medical supplies through air. The PAF and the Army are doing a good job.
The city governments have begun donating food supplies – the most needed commodity. The other day we heard that truckloads of flour have been dispatched from Punjab to Balochistan.
Sindh and the Frontier are supplying money and other essential items.
I invite the attention of the government toward the daily smuggling of flour from tribal areas to Afghanistan. It has been difficult to stop this illegal trade for some reasons – but not impossible.
I urge the government, when you can stop – or at least reduce – the insurgency, why can’t you stop (or reduce) smuggling. I urge it to invigorate itself into a patriotic force and stop this drain on food supplies.
The same flour can be diverted to quake-hit people. Their food shortage can be eased off quickly. Like someone said in a TV programme that if wealthy Pakistanis in the US and the UK bring their money to Pakistan, our financial crisis would be over in a jiffy.
M.K. NAQVI
Karachi
IT is very disturbing to learn that senator Israrullah Zehri, the man who recently defended the barbaric burial of 5 women in the name of honour, has been appointed a minister in the federal government by the PPP.
If the same thing had been done by Musharraf, PML-N or JI, the so called champions of women rights would have raised hell all over the world, but since this case involves the PPP, one does not see a similar outcry.
SOHAIB AHMED
Islamabad
II
I am absolutely appalled at the recent appointment of Senator Israr Ullah Zehri, as a minister, in a move for cabinet expansion by President Asif Ali Zardari. I would like to recall to the readers’ mind that this is the same man who supported the burying alive of girls by the Baloch Urmani tribe to control ‘obscene’ behaviour, in front of a shocked yet silent Parliament, some 6 weeks back.
The girls, who were inhumanly murdered were no different from me, were of my age. Their right to choose their life partner was trampled upon by misogynists who couldn’t bear to see their power slipping away by having these girls think for themselves.
The victims’ only crime was to have been born in a region which upholds barbaric tribal traditions.
It hurts me to the core to see that despite the hue and cry in the media over the affair and the public outrage, Mr Zardari still went ahead and appointed such a man as minister.
Of course, it should have been expected from a man of Zardari’s honourable stature to appoint Zehri as minister.
As a Pakistani girl, I do not want to live in a society which deems burying women alive to be an acceptable form of repressing and controlling them. I do not want to live in constant fear knowing that Senator Israr Ullah Zehri is minister.
RAMSHA QAZI
Karachi
Mr Yusuf Nazar’s recent analysis, “Pakistan can raise $5bllion in 30 days” (November 1), overlooks the fact that remedies to Pakistan’s current economic problems lie in providing political collateral rather than tangible securities.
With successive governments having shown neither the inclination nor initiative to extricate themselves from the debt cycle and instead mercilessly taxing the population so as to service overseas debt, Pakistan would normally not have difficulty in raising short-term cash from international lenders, despite the gravity of its foreign exchange position.
In the present geo-political circumstances, however, Pakistan will be pressed hard by the major powers to undertake measures, specifically in regard to action against extremists and financial prudence, in return for making available the required funding.
Bearing in mind also that development and maintenance in the strategic arena has a direct nexus with finance, it should be expected that assistance will be forthcoming in bare measures in order to extract maximum leverage from the financial vulnerability.
The whole purpose of the “Friends of Pakistan” forum is
(i) to prevent countries such as Saudi Arabia and UAE from extending bilateral assistance that would provide Pakistan the fiscal breathing space to revert to a policy of ambivalence in tackling extremism and
(ii) ensuring that the IMF remains the channel for achieving US and European diplomatic objectives though financial means in the same way as the UN is used for achieving these via military or political means.
Instead of stating the obvious, Mr Nazar might identify specific impracticalities within the IMF conditions so as to assist the government’s financial team and prepare a pragmatic and realistic negotiating brief.
SHAHID SCHEIK
Karachi
US president-elect Barack Obama, during his pre-election campaign had mentioned that as long as the issue of Kashmir remain unaddressed, threat of militants will continue to haunt India. He had stated that Kashmir dispute had to be resolved to ensure elimination of the threat of militancy.
The US president-elect has also expressed his willingness to appoint former president Bill Clinton as a special envoy on Kashmir to help bring about a breakthrough over the dispute, which is a good omen from someone who has suddenly promised an era of hope, peace and equality in the world.
Obama’s remarks have also been greatly appreciated by the leadership on both sides of the Line of Control. It is yet to be seen how India reacts to this overture.
Last time when Bill Clinton visited India, the latter staged a massacre of Sikhs in a district of Kashmir, blaming the bloodletting on elements coming from across the LoC. But Clinton was wise enough not to be hoodwinked by this drama.
There is no denying the fact that militant feeling will continue to grow in Indian administered Kashmir as long as India voids calls for its resolution. And innocent people will continue to become victims of Pakistan-India acrimony.
Time is now that the new leadership in White House put pressure on both India and Pakistan to back down from their stated positions on the issue and pull back their armies from the region and launch a process accommodating concerns of the concerned people.
YASSIR RASHEED
Rawalpindi
I was shocked to learn that the police forces in Pakistan not only get meager salaries and no incentives, but are also told to find other means of income for running their operations.
For example a police station gets around 10 liters of petrol/diesel per month for their patrol cars, while they easily burn more then 10 liters in a day during their 18 hour patrolling shifts.
The police force is one of the most ill-equipped and least paid government employees, while they have one of the toughest jobs in Pakistan.
The policeman is expected to deal with the criminals, perform 18 hour shifts in any weather, check people and stop crime.
They are expected to deal with all of these daunting tasks, with meager pays, no incentives, no holidays, no equipment or funds and they are also expected to keep a smiling face and a clear head.
No wonder the security situation in Pakistan has become so bad.
The police are not to be blamed, instead the government and the people of Pakistan are to be blamed for the current security situation in Pakistan because we have not supported the police forces and expect them to take care of us.
I request the government to stop the purchase of only one F-16 or Cobra helicopters and provide this fund to the police forces and then see how the security situation in Pakistan improves.
I also request NGOs and media people to start supporting for more funds and educated people in the police forces. We need to make a change here for a better and more secure Pakistan.
SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEER
Peshawar
IT was reported in Dawn (Oct 14) that Rafiq Rajput, official of the Sindh Wildlife Department, a friend and an efficient field worker, died of snake bite. This is no news. The news is “he was rushed to the JPMC, one of Karachi’s biggest hospitals where medical facility and medicine (antivenin) was not available and he died.”
Reports have appeared in the press many a time that people have died of snake bite in the interior of Sindh, mostly in small villages where either there are no hospitals or treatment facilities (medicines) were not available.
The province is infested with a variety of poisonous snakes like cobras, vipers and krait. And it is imperative that life-saving medicines and facilities are available in all hospitals – big or small.
The provincial health department should deem it the failure of system. Coming back to Rafiq Rajput – a professional field worker and as reported, an expert in identification of animal species, either underestimated or mishandled the creature, which was unfortunate and proved fatal.
The snake in question — coral (micrurus fulvius) — is found on seashores and creeks. It is one of the most deadly snakes, its teeth are small and injects a little quantity of venom which is very potent.
It attracts because of its bright red, yellow and black colouration (ringed). It is supposed to be a docile creature and not aggressive but can bite, if annoyed and mishandled.
So, those who go on seaside for picnic with family and small children are advised to avoid it if confronted. And by any chance bitten, pray for ‘forgiveness’ of the victim rather than take to a government hospital.
HAJI ASHFAQ
Muscat
I would like to bring your attention towards the statues of Mr Nadirshah Edulji Dinshaw (founder of NED University) and Mr Diwan Dayaram Jethamal (founder of D.J Science College). These statues were present in the year 1987 in the D.J Science College premises but were removed after few years. I don’t know where they are now.
I would like to advise the concerned department to place these statues in the museum. So our new generation can know about these philanthropists of Karachi.
ENGR. MEHMOOD ALI
Karachi
THIS is further to my captioned letter of Oct 17. It appears that some of your readers focused only on its superficial meaning, but weren’t able to understand the real message.
Thus, Samar Kaiser (Oct 21) and Riffat Rehman (Oct 29) were unhappy that I had apparently tried to justify Asif Zardari’s telling Sarah Palin she was ‘gorgeous’ and even offering to hug her. In her sequal, “The great ‘seducteur’” (Nov 2), to the column ‘Hello, Gorgeous’ which had set off the lively debate in these columns, Anjum Niaz has revealed another reader’s response.
Ms Niaz says that a female friend of hers in America ‘was not amused’ by my anonymous, light-hearted response. The friend threatened that if I tried to behave with her impulsively and called her ‘gorgeous’ as I had jokingly said I would be the first pretty woman that I next encountered in the west, I would get ‘punched’ (by her)!
The intended message of my letter had four points.
1) It is more difficult to restrain one’s impulses during one’s youth, compared to the time when one is in the 50s. A person is more likely to feel lonely when travelling alone, but even then self-control must be there, as in my trip to Paris.
2) Before saying the things that he did in front of Ms Palin, our president should have considered the adverse effect this could have on the people back home, especially the youth.
3) A married man has additionally got to consider his wife’s sensibilities. Mr Zardari, too, had a wife until just nine months before the incident. So, that was all the more reason for him to be extra careful. 4) He should have apologised to the nation, or at least expressed his regrets, but he hasn’t, so far. Perhaps his wife’s first death anniversary on Dec 27 may serve to make him contrite.
As far as Ms Anjum’s friend is concerned, she would have been better off, if, instead of emotion, she had used reason to assess my letter. Somebody had said, “I have never known a man who was sensual in his youth, who was high-minded when old.” If I could resist all the temptations of the West even in my younger days, why would I not be high-minded now?
Seneca’s words said in this context ought to be internalised: “What if one might have all the pleasures of the world for the asking? Who would so unman himself as by accepting them to desert his soul and become a perpetual slave to his senses.”
A READER
Karachi
The current political scenario reminds us of the political situations of the nineties. The politics of enmity and revenge engulfed the whole decade of democracy and we landed in the land of autocracy. A reasonable number of political analysts in Pakistan have accused our politicians for creating leadership space by not fulfilling the desires of the masses and needs of time. This leadership space, they say is the rule of nature, is eventually filled by the army coups and time and again we are made to hear ‘mere aziz hamwatno’ by the generals. The changing international scenario needs us to behave in a different way than before.
From 1990 to 1999, the governments of PPP and PML changed several times. Every time a new party arrived, they accused of the previous one of corruption, nepotism and ignorance of people’s rights and wishes. Every time they took oath to protect the benefits of this country and change the plight of the poor. Every time they repeated their own and other party’s mistakes and every time we saw the same result.
The accumulation of mutations leads to cancer. I am not here to justify the military takeovers. I believe democracy is the key to solution of our problems. But the key holders are not proving their worth. The national and international fronts are clogged with problems yet our politicians are busy cutting the cake into parts.
The rising tension between PPP and PML-N is a sign of danger to the coalition government. But no one is trying to reduce the tension. In fact international situation demands political stability at home so that we can deliver at those fronts with a peace of mind. The question is how to achieve political harmony.
The financial crisis has grown out of limits. The law and order situation is at stake. The need of the hour is to unite on some agenda, form a policy and commit to stand by it. The people are ready to suffer even if they have to by adopting an independent policy at home and abroad. None from the masses is demanding dollars at the cost of national integrity and instability.
In fact, they are suffering already in terms of inflation, electricity crisis and worsened law and order situation. But the politicians are busy securing their governments in their own provinces, enlarging their cabinets, suspending and restoring political appointments and exploiting national situation in order to secure two thirds majority in the next general elections.
I was stunned to read in a previous issue of Herald that in Balochistan, the provincial opposition consists of one person. And a record percentage of members of the assembly are ministers. The same has happened in centre. These are real signs of prevalence of the immaturity among the top political leadership. During the last seven months people have been desperately waiting for a pro-people step from the leaders. But nothing seems to be happening.
The change of leadership in America will be a testing time for Pakistan. The current series of events is an easy sign of impending instability at home. The amount of trust between the parties is decreasing like our foreign exchange reserves. With the economy in worse condition and impaired law and order, we can hardly think of anything else other than another ‘mere aziz hamwatno’ by a general in near future.
It’s high time to realise the gravity. The countdown has already begun.
KHALID FAROOQ
Via email
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