| December 12, 2008 | Friday | Zilhaj 13, 1429 |
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India: all talk and no evidence
Fuel hedging aims at risk management
Windmill project
IB’s involvement: clarification
Haiku anthology
BISP and its mechanism
Transport fares
Romanising regional languages
Concrete curing
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
AS the father of three innocent children, I have been frustrated and anguished by what has taken place since my divorce from Dr Aafia Siddiqui in August 2002. I hesitated to come forward because I did not want anything I said to be used against the mother of my children. I am only speaking out now because I am desperately worried about my children’s safety.
In October 2002, Dr Aafia and I signed an agreement. I agreed that Aafia would retain custody of our three young children, Ahmed, Marium and Suleman. Aafia agreed to let me meet them and ensure their well-being. But Aafia did not uphold her side of the agreement.
She did not let me meet my children or fulfil my obligation of financially supporting them. In June 2003, I filed a lawsuit for custody of the children. Based on past experience, I had reason to fear that Aafia might pursue her political ambitions to the detriment of our children’s welfare. It now seems that the truth may be worse than I could have imagined.
In the course of our lawsuit, Aafia’s mother, Ismat Siddiqui, testified in a sworn deposition in August 2003 that the FBI had informed her US lawyer that the children and their mother were safe with them. In US press reports, however, the lawyer, Elaine Sharp, said the FBI had told her exactly the opposite.
When my family and I inquired from the FBI, we were told that the US was still looking for Aafia and had no information about where the children were. Why did Aafia’s mother claim the FBI had told her lawyer they had the children when plainly the FBI hadn’t said anything of the sort?
My two oldest children are US citizens. If the Siddiquis had evidence that the US was holding our three innocent children prisoner, why didn’t they bring charges in the US against the relevant agencies?
Aafia’s uncle, S. H. Faruqi, in his article published recently, has claimed that he met Aafia in Islamabad in January 2008, and that Aafia’s face was altered by plastic surgery and that she had a national ID card under a fictitious name.
I would like to know where my children were at that time. Who were these ‘captors’ of Aafia and why had they held my children?
More recently, Aafia’s lawyer in the US, Elizabeth Fink, has claimed that our youngest son Suleman died in ‘captivity’. Whose captivity and where? Who were the people who were depriving me and my children from seeing each other? As an anguished father, I appeal to Elizabeth Fink and anyone else, here in Pakistan or in any other country, to come forward with anything they know about what has happened to all three of my children since 2003.
If there is any evidence that the US or any other agencies held them captive or, God forbid, been responsible for their deaths, I would like to see those responsible brought to justice.
I was relieved to hear that Ahmad was located in Afghanistan last month, and was brought to Islamabad, although I have many unanswered questions about how an innocent 12-year-old boy ended up in a war zone. Since Aafia’s sister Dr Fowzia was actively influencing the officials concerned and was posing as the real guardian of Ahmad, she took custody of him. I decided not to interfere in this process because Ahmad’s arrival might have been delayed or jeopardised as a result of the dispute and that would not be in his best interest.
In a New York Times report, Afghan officials who had interviewed Ahmad in Afghanistan said that “the boy was smart, confident and courageous”. After his handing over to the Siddiquis, however, they claimed that Ahmad is mentally unfit and cannot talk to anyone. Their lawyer, E. Fink, at a recent court hearing also claimed that Ahmad was heavily medicated because he is seriously disturbed.
I would like to know what happened after Ahmad was handed over to the Siddiquis that made him so mentally unfit as to require psychiatric treatment.
Since Ahmed returned to Karachi, I have tried contacting the Siddiquis over the telephone to see and meet him, but they refused to talk. I then went over to their house but was turned away from the gate. I sent a congratulatory letter to Aafia’s mother and sister requesting permission to visit and see Ahmad, but I did not get a reply.
Knowing the Siddiqui family’s intentions and attitude, I have no alternative left but to seek legal help for his custody. Why has Dr Fowzia been telling the media and government officials that my and my family’s whereabouts were not known, whereas in reality we had been frequently contacting her in connection with Ahmad. The government officials too did not bother to find out who the real and legal guardians of Ahmad were.
As of today, two of the children still need to be found. The truth does matter. If what the Siddiquis are saying is true, then whoever kidnapped Aafia and the children needs to be held responsible. I am still trying to locate and rescue my two younger children whose lives are in terrible jeopardy. I appeal to the nation to come forward and help in this regard before it is too late.
M. AMJAD KHAN
Karachi
THE Indian government and the media have been accusing Pakistan of plotting the Nov 26 Mumbai terrorist attacks since the time when shots were still being fired and not a single terrorist was arrested. So it is all talk and no evidence.
There are some factors which can help unmask the actors responsible for Mumbai mayhem. The following day (Nov 27), elections were scheduled to be held in the key state of Madhya Pradesh and in Rajasthan on Dec 4. In both states the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party is in power.
Indian voters were also going to elect local governments on Nov 29 in Delhi, which has been ruled by the Congress party for two consecutive terms.
Incumbent administrations in Indian states often do badly in elections. Obviously, the BJP wanted to retain power in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and regain its hold on Delhi by defeating the Congress. Elections were also held in the states of Chhattisgarh (at present ruled by the BJP) on Nov 14 and Mizoram on Dec 2.
The main fight for political supremacy in Mizoram is between the ruling Mizo National Front, the main opposition Congress party, and the newly-formed United Democratic Alliance of various regional parties.
In Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir, polls are scheduled to be held from Nov 17 to Dec 24 in seven phases.
The deteriorating security situation was a consideration with voters because India had seen a series of bomb blasts in the past few months, in addition to rising inflation and increasing prices of essentials, including foodstuff.
The state elections are being seen as a mini referendum ahead of national polls scheduled to be held by next May.
The Congress is looking to return to power for the next five years in Lok Sabha polls while the BJP is fighting to defeat it.
Another factor: The killing of Maharashtra anti terrorism squad chief Hemant Karkare, who had arrested Hindu extremists about a month ago in the Sept 29 Malegaon bomb blast case, was another factor to ponder over the Mumbai terror attacks.
The arrest of Hindu extremists by Mr Karkare and his team had added a new twist to the entire discourse on terror and religion.
The ATS had arrested Lt Col Srikant Purohit on Nov 5 in connection with the Malegaon blasts for questioning.
The ATS was accused of being used as a tool to target the Sangh Parivar. The BJP, Rashtrya Swayamsevak Singh and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders, among others from the Hindu nationalist brigade, accused the ATS of being on a witch-hunt.
Even, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, L. K. Advani, had demanded a change in the ATS team and a judicial inquiry into the torture allegations made by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a key suspect in the Malegaon case.
Additional commissioner Ashok Kamte, a key officer of the Maharashtra police, and Vijay Salaskar, one of the leading police encounter specialists of India, who had killed 75 dreaded criminals, were also shot dead by terrorists.
The question arises: Was Mr Karkare, who had arrested Hindu extremists, an enemy or a friend of Muslims? How is it possible for Muslims, be they Indian or Pakistani, to kill an officer who was unmasking terrorists with Hindutvawadi connections?
Keeping these factors in view, it is not difficult to come to a conclusion that who had benefited from the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
The BJP tried to influence the state election results and the Hindu extremists managed to sabotage investigations into the Malegaon bomb blast case. Malegaon is a communally sensitive Muslim dominated town.
Furthermore, according to Congress leader and Board of Control for Cricket in India spokesman Rajiv Shukla, of about 200 people killed in the Mumbai attacks, 80 were Muslims. Were Muslims the killers of Muslims?
Former chief minister of Indian occupied Kashmir and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah has also ruled out Pakistan’s had hand in the Mumbai attacks.
ASIF ALI KHAN
Karachi
FUEL hedging is a tool intended to manage risk in a volatile pricing environment. As is all too well-known, fuel has witnessed more volatility than any other factor impacting on airlines’ profitability.
Hence the need to manage the risk associated with such volatility.
Pakistan International Airlines, like other players in the industry, also has adopted for the first time fuel hedging as a tool to manage this single biggest cost variable in any airline. As it happened, the PIA management did not hedge last year even though the board of directors had authorised it to hedge up to 20 per cent of its annual fuel expense.
As a result, PIA remained exposed to volatility in the marketplace and ended up paying millions by not hedging.
The board of directors once again authorised PIA’s management to hedge its fuel expense up to 25 per cent of its annual fuel bill.
PIA’s management, to play safe, therefore, initially decided to hedge fuel for its Haj requirements so as to ensure that the Haj revenues, predicated as they were on a base price of fuel at the rate of $120 per barrel, were not eroded by volatile fluctuations like it had happened last year.
Hedging is not being undertaken in PIA as a speculative instrument to earn money or to turn the clock back; it is a risk management instrument. It is also a kind of insurance where you incur costs by paying insurance premium without any claims for years and yet you keep paying premium to cover the risks of big losses.
As it is, PIA has not hedged 100 per cent of its fuel. The total fuel hedged to date constitutes only nine per cent while the remaining 91 per cent remains available to PIA at current reducing market prices.
PIA remains committed to adopting the best practices in all its business policies, including fuel hedging.
Such steadfast commitment is steadily leading us to a point where I can confidently hold out hope to all the stakeholders that PIA is not far from changing the colour of its financial bottom line – from dark red to jet black.
CAPT MOHAMMAD AIJAZ HAROON
Managing Director
PIA, Karachi
I WAS quite amused to read a news report (Nov 24) about PEPA asking SEPA to evaluate the effects of windmill project on visual landscapes, noise from spinning motors, harm to wildlife, loss of habitat, etc, in a far-flung area of Keti Bundar in Sindh. During the last many years I have not come across in the press anything about PEPA asking SEPA for a report on effects of smoke, noise, water, and now added radiation (due to installation of mobile towers on residential buildings) pollution in the city of Karachi where millions of people are suffering with several fatal diseases like lung diseases, ENT diseases, nerves diseases and intolerance, resulting in deaths and destruction.
Neither have these agencies ever bothered about cutting of hundreds of thousands of mature green trees in Karachi (and Sindh) in collaboration with the timber mafia. On the other hand, as reported (Aug 25), funds allocated to SEPA for the purpose could not be utilised by the time of expiry. It was also reported that an amount of Rs31 million was said to have spent without even starting the project.
Authorities supposed to control pollution come out with excuses which a common man cannot digest like SEPA not having trained staff. DIG Traffic Wajid Durrani, as reported ( Sept 27), says that his department does not have modern equipment to check fitness of vehicles. He also admits that 20 to 30 per cent unregistered vehicles are plying on city roads. One can see with his naked eyes smoke being emitted from thousands of vehicles and can hear the deafening noise of these faulty vehicles.
What we lack is the will and aptitude to implement court rulings/ decisions. In a situation like this the only option left is to suffer. ‘There are only two types of people in our society – one who suffer and one who make them to suffer.
HAJI ASHFAQ
Muscat
APROPOS of my letter, “IB’s involvement in civilian matters” (Dec 4), I have been informed by the IB that the person I was referring to has nothing to do with the IB. This, therefore, corroborates my view that the person concerned is doing whatever he is doing in his personal capacity to favour friends and for personal gains.
I am, therefore, quite relieved to learn that the IB is not involved in matters of appointments in universities, research and teaching institutes and centres, etc. And that the IB, along with other intelligence agencies of the country, are working professionally on the tasks assigned to them. I am sure that they will take to task any fraudulent character who is trying to deceive the people to curry favours to his friends and working for personal gains.
DR SHAHIDA WIZARAT
Karachi
FIRST Urdu online Haiku anthology, Khushkun Hai Pattjhar (Pleasant is the Autumn), by Sohail Ahmed Siddiqui has now been uploaded. This is for the first time that the Haiku lovers would find and enjoy reading a complete online version of a published Haiku anthology in Urdu.
It may be recalled here that Sohail Ahmed Siddiqui is the only poet from the Urdu world to be invited to the World Haiku Festival, UK, in 2000, while his English Haiku is a part of world Haiku anthology, ‘Wild flowers — New Leaves’, published by World Haiku Club, UK, besides some 224 other world poets.
Furthermore, Sohail’s free verses have also been included in three world anthologies, published from the US, in 1992, 1993 and 2002.
The web address of Khushkun Hai Pattjhar is: http://khushkun.spaces.live.com
SOHAIL AHMED SIDDIQUI
Founding editor
Haiku International
THIS is apropos of the report, ‘BISP has many a slip between the cup and the lip’ (Nov 23). The report carries various misunderstandings regarding the BISP and its mechanism, which need to be corrected.
‘Benazir Income Support Programme’ is the response of the PPP’s government to the suffering of the poorest of the poor of Pakistan, as the manifesto of the PPP is to ensure the provision of basic necessities of life to the vulnerable section of society at their doorstep.
For the first time in the history of Pakistan such a huge project has been launched by the PPP government considering the problems of have-nots. Around 35 million people would get direct income support in the first phase.
The government aimed at increasing the number of families to 70 million.
A unique feature of the programme is that payment will be made only to the female head. It is true that a big number of women are still deprived of CNIC in the country, particularly in remote areas. Keeping in view the big number of unregistered women, Nadra has formed special teams which will visit door to door to register women in the countryside.
The gender sensitive orientation of the programme will also have an added impact on women empowerment. The BISP would empower women as only female heads of the family are entitled to apply for and receive the monetary relief package.
Apart from this, the step would also help in women empowerment in far-flung areas like Fata where women are discouraged from registering for CNIC. It would lead to registration of more voters, besides boosting security as more people would be registered with Nadra.
I would also like to mention here that the programme will cover up to 12 to 14 per cent of the population in low-income brackets in the entire country, including Fata, Northern Areas and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Special attention has been accorded to remote areas such as in Balochistan, Chitral, North and South Waziristan, Kohistan and Tharparker.
In this connection five coordination centres in all four provinces as well in Northern Areas/Azad Kashmir are being established for the programme, besides divisional directorates. A special quota has been allocated for Northern Areas.
Apart from being the largest direct cash grant scheme in the country’s history, a distinguishing feature of the programme is that it is free from any element of political partisanship. All members of parliament, irrespective of party affiliation, have been provided equal opportunity to recommend deserving families, based on specific criteria.
It is a step in the direction of strengthening a representative system since parliamentarians are directly responsible to represent their constituencies and it would also lead to greater public ownership of the programme by way of increased interaction between parliamentarians and the public.
The programme seeks to compensate economically vulnerable families for the erosion of their purchasing power suffered due to high inflation during the last few years. An amount of Rs2,000 will be disbursed on an alternate monthly basis amongst over 3.5 million families earning monthly income of less than Rs6,000.
It is estimated to cover current flour needs of a five-to-six-member family. While the payout does not claim to be such as to eliminate poverty, it can certainly serve to protect their nutrition intake to a certain extent.
Care has been taken to obtain maximum objectivity and transparency in the program. This has been done by the separation of programme management, recipient selection, verification and disbursement process. Another important step towards transparency is the availability of the data through website as well as through post offices and this data would be available for viewing for the general public. Anybody can review the data and point out anomalies, if any, to ensure judicious distribution of the funds.
B. A. MALIK
Former ambassador
Islamabad
THE Sindh government has announced reduction of one rupee in transport fares. The citizens of Karachi expected a substantial reduction when in international market the price of oil is crumbling daily.
This is really a cruel joke with the people who are not happy with this decision.
It is, therefore, requested that the notification of reduction of Re1 may be withdrawn immediately and instead Rs5 for all destinations be notified as reduced fare.
MUHAMMAD YOUSUFF KHAN
Karachi
In his letter Mr A. G. Chaudhry, “Fiddling with Urdu”(Dec 6), has called other Pakistani languages regional languages. As a Sindhi/Seriaki speaking citizen, I feel offended when somebody tries to marginalize other regional languages of the country.
He seems disturbed by the fact that some quarters are trying to Romanise Urdu, but does not take note of the fact that the very proponents of Urdu have left no stone unturned to make other Pakistani languages become marginalised in the name of national cohesion.
They find Urdu as an elixir to all other problems, while ignoring the fact that the rule of law and mutual respect are basic ingredients of a strong society.
Some people in Pakistan are under the illusion that all the Pakistanis are uniform: this is not true. They have similarities and differences which provide both opportunities and offer challenges at the same time.
Let us build a real strong Pakistan through mutual respect while recognizing our differences, and I believe that is the only way towards a bright future.
As long as, romanising Urdu is concerned, some shortsighted so-called intellectuals are also proposing the same thing for Sindhi. This simply should a sense of complex which probably emerges from a virtual economical dependency, say slavery, on the west.
Their argument about changing alphabets of Sindhi/Urdu from Arabic to Roman holds no water, as the Arabic alphabet has a backing of a great religion. If history is anything to go by, religion is a more lasting force than the ephemeral economic power.
SHAKEEL NIZAMANI
Canada
ON working days I daily cross Tohkar Niaz Baig in the morning and the evening. A much needed overhead bridge with massive structure is rapidly coming up. Due to construction work in progress the traffic slows down at Tohkar which gives me ample opportunity to observe the construction activities.
To my surprise, I have never seen any water curing activity of the gigantic concrete columns, beams and projections. Maybe the technology has changed that I’m not aware of.
However, I just wanted to share my anxiety with the authorities concerned to look into the matter as we already had witnessed a debacle in Karachi last year.
ANEES KHAN
Lahore
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