| December 18, 2008 | Thursday | Zilhaj 19, 1429 |
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Mumbai mayhem
Accepting moral responsibility
Pakistan and the language issue
Mistreatment of animals at zoo
Excessive fares
Child labour in movies
Women’s bus service
Nuclear assets
The tragedy of the subcontinent
Airspace violation
Remembering the 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
ON Nov 18 there was a photograph in Dawn taken by the Associated Press in the Indian-occupied Kashmir capital of Srinagar.
It showed several Indian police officers pushing aside a Kashmiri woman of around 60 while she was protesting the detention of her son during an anti-election protest.
They were armed with guns and sticks; one officer was pulling her hair and another had grabbed her by an arm. The terrified and unarmed lady was about as old these men’s mothers would have been, yet they had no mercy on her. What humanity can be expected of such people who terrify somebody’s mother like that and how would they feel if their own moms were treated similarly?
An Indian mystic had once observed that the Hindus believe a person is born with what they call Karma, which is some action of the past that he has brought with him and has to pay back in the present life. In the Hindu text Panchatantra it is written:
A calf can find its mother cow
Among a thousand kine:
So good and evil done, returns And whispers, ‘I am thine’.
The Indians have been treating the Kashmiris, other Muslims and the remaining minorities barbarically. While upwards of 80,000 Kashmiris demanding their freedom and other rights have been killed since 1989, another 2,000 Muslims were massacred in Gujarat in 2002, where the wombs of pregnant women were slit open and the unborn children thrown into the fire.
More recently, about 100 Christians have been murdered by Hindu fanatics in Orissa, before that a missionary and his son were burned to death. The Mumbai terrorism can therefore be seen as one manifestation of their Karma.
Unless the Hindu majority stops brutalising the minorities, the evil will keep returning, as the poem above warns.
Then there was another snapshot of a bunch of Palestinian schoolgirls on Dec 4. These kids seemed between 10 ando 12 years of age of whom some were crying while others looked very scared. The reason? Some Israeli settlers who were asked by their Supreme Court to vacate an enclave in the West Bank city of Herbron had refused to budge and instead started clashing with the Palestinians.
Such violence can only traumatise the children and, unsurprisingly, the rate of prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological problems is exceedingly high among Palestine’s youngsters.
A couple of years ago, there was the story of a 70-year-old Palestinian woman, Fatima Najr, a kind-hearted lady known for her generosity and love for children, who was one of those intentionally hit and injured by an Israeli bulldozer, while two had died. Three weeks later, she blew herself up near Israeli soldiers, wounding two.
One of her grandsons was 18 when the Israelis killed him for throwing stones at them. His brother attacked a solider with a knife and was shot 72 times due to which he lost a leg and also became paralysed (Dawn, Dec 5, 2006)
The trouble is, both the Indians and the Israelis invest a great deal of effort in propaganda through the largely Jewish and Hindus-controlled media. They often manage to cover up their own wrongdoing and, instead, make it appear as if only the Muslims indulge in violence. It is, therefore, essential that the Islamic world pays particular attention to coming up with a robust and global answer to such hostile media.
To be able to resist them and their patrons, the Muslim leaders must unite and follow domestic sentiments rather than foreign dictates
A MOTHER
Karachi
THIS is apropos of the article, ‘The media and Mumbai’ (Dec 14) by Dr Tariq Rahman.
Whatever makes people like the writer of the article think that one day he will wake up and this world will be a clean and nice place to live in. However, reality is quite different.
Indian warmongering was not initiated by the Indian media after the Mumbai mayhem, but by the prime minister of India who claims it to be one of the biggest democracies in the world. The response of the Pakistani media was not immature and uncalled-for.
If such a media had existed only a few years back as it does today, the fate of Kargil would be quite different. This time the Pakistani media nullified false accusations of the Indian media and did not allow them a free run.
Some weaknesses are condonable but overall the response was very apt. The decisions of some of the key government personnel were amended by some analyses presented by anchor persons and analysts. An example of Talat Hussain, Live with Talat, was a key factor in reversing the decision of sending the director-general of the ISI, in addition to pressure exerted by the armed forces.
Pakistan could not impose itself on India being weaker militarily, politically and economically.
However, this does not mean that we should accept Indian hegemony. There is a difference between India and the US and it is time that Indians acknowledged it.
What Pakistan did in the past was not something for which we must be ashamed of.
We are proud of those actions as we are still in a state of war with India.
Peace should be professed but can the writer respond as to India is involved in Balochistan and Fata areas through its numerous consulates in Afghanistan? Can India remain stable if Pakistan is destabilised?
The Mumbai mayhem is condemned by everyone in Pakistan as innocent lives were lost but there is a need for serious soul-searching. If war has to be averted, then both countries have to show respect for each other.
Unilateral concessions could not be granted as we may be weak militarily, economically or politically but we consider ourselves very powerful to respond to any eventuality.
SAJJAD AHMAD
Mardan
AS reported in Dawn (Dec 1), Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patel owning moral responsibility for Bombay’s tragedy that lasted for about three days resigned from his post. On the same day the Maharashtra’s chief minister and his deputy also tendered their resignations as televised in the breaking news of different channels.
The acts of resignation on grave events such as the Bombay massacre, where many innocent people lost their lives and which is equally mourned by the people of Pakistan, are nothing but a show of moral courage to accept responsibility of failure.
This tendency not only enhances the respect of a person in the eyes of the public, despite failure of his leadership, but also makes the one who succeeds him more responsive to the future challenge.
Unfortunately, no such tradition has been established in Pakistan. In more than 60 years of its age the country has gone through myriad of vicissitudes leaving deep scars on the overall psyche of the people.
Right from the assassination of the first prime minister of the country, imposition of five martial laws (Pervez Musharraf imposed martial law twice); break-up of the country; from the judicial murder of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a popularly elected prime minister, to the attack and, thereafter, assassination of Benazir Bhutto; numerous accidents and massacres: ethnic, sectarian and terrorist: in which so many lives were lost, none of the leaders or heads of institution had the courage to accept moral responsibility and bowed out.
When will the leaders of our country, elected by the people to serve them, come to realise that blame of failure always rests on the top and not on the petty officials? While accepting the blame only raises the stature of the person in the eyes of citizens. Since the top leadership doesn’t believe in this exalted principle, the people down the line too remain unfamiliar to accept the culpability of any failure in the system.
Therefore, a system will never improve unless leaders step down owning responsibility for any breakdown in the functioning of an organisation. This is the only way to bring improvement in the socio-political structure of the country.
SHAFIQUE ANSARI
Dubai, UAE
THIS is with reference to letters of Shakeel Nizamani (Dec12) and A.G.Chaudhry (Dec 6) regarding the state and status of Urdu and ‘other languages’.
The language issue has been one of the most contentious issues in the political, legal and constitutional history of Pakistan since its inception. Particularly Bengalis and Sindhis have been very conscious, sensitive and proud about their languages. And they have enough reasons to be so as, according to noted linguist and historian Dr Tarique Rahman, when Urdu and Hindi were being promoted under the state patronage in the Indian subcontinent, the two languages that faced the onslaught successfully were Bengali and Sindhi.
There is no denying the fact that it was the language issue in East Bengal that ultimately led to the breakup of Pakistan. Recently demands for the recognition and promotion of Punjabi language have started becoming vociferous.
So it is time the all - important issue of language is addressed with due care and importance and the status of different languages be recognised in accordance with historical facts and universal standards.
The perception of Urdu being the national language and ‘others’ being regional languages needs to be changed. One may ask as which nation Urdu is the national language of? If the answer is Pakistani nation, then another important question comes to the mind: what happened to the idea of ‘Muslim nation’? If this is the country of Muslim nation, then Arabic, not Urdu, should be the national language. So it makes things very complex. The simple and factual position is that Pakistan is not a nation but a multi - national country consisting of Sindhi, Baloch, Pakhtoon, Punjabi and Seraiki nations. Hence the languages of these constituent units/nations (using the termnology of 1940 resolution) should be recognised as the national languages while Urdu may be considered as the lingua franca.
As far as Sindhi is concerned, many Sindhis feel offended when their language is called a’ regional language’. Isn’t it an irony that in India Sindhi is recognised as one of the national languages but in Pakistan, for whose creation the Sindh Assembly passed the resolution, it is relegated to the status of ‘regional language’ or ‘other language’?
On the question of romanising Sindhi, I agree with Mr. Nizamani’s view that Sindhi should continue to be written in Arabic script. But at the same time I would suggest that we should not close the doors for a healthy debate and the windows for new ideas.
However I vehemently disagree with Mr Nizamani that religion happens to be the lasting force behind the development of a language. Can anyone say that Bengalis are the Muslims of lesser degree despite the fact that their language is not written in the Arabic script?
Similar is the case with the Sindhi language. No one can say that the role of those Sindhis belonging to Hindu religion in the progress and promotion of Sindhi language is, in any case, inferior to that of any other Sindhi? In fact without the services of scholars like Dr Gurbakhshani and Bherumal Mehrchand Advani, the Sindhi language would not have been what it is today.
ABDUL KHALIQUE JUNEJO
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the news item (Dec 15) regarding the callous attitude shown towards the sole leopard in Karachi Zoo. This letter also addresses the previous reports published from time to time on the mistreatment and deaths of animals, which was always justified to lack of funds for the Zoo’s upkeep and animals’ welfare.
The zoo warden (who had his name withheld from being published) stated the same lame excuse that due to insufficient funds the leopard couldn’t be maintained or given proper attention and facilities due to which it became depressed and thus spends its day lying in a corner. Also, the callous attitude of the visitors has made the animal extremely distressed and weak.
Though I do not advocate keeping animals caged, nor am I a frequent visitor to this zoo, I have had the pleasure of visiting some great zoos of the world where animals are kept in very comfortable environments. I cannot think why the Karachi Zoo is even functioning when it doesn’t have proper funds, or the animals for visitors’ entertainment?
If it is to be kept operating, then there should be tough enforcement against harassing poor animals.
The zoo should be closed down and the animals should be released in the wild, instead of either killing or poorly maintaining the remaining hapless animals for visitors’ entertainment. I, for one, cannot see how a distressed-lying-in-a-corner animal can provide any iota of entertainment to a visitor.
ARSALAAN HALEEM
Karachi
With reference to ‘Excessive Fares’ under ‘Other Voices from Sindh Press’ by Suhail Sangi (Dec 16) depicts the real picture of what injustice takes place on the occasions of Eidul Uzha and Eidul Fiter in Sindh and that no actions are taken against transporters in this regard as they continue to take unfair fare.
I myself am a victim of the situation. I had to pay almost 50 per cent more than the normal from Hyderabad to Mehar taluka of District Dadu and 40 percent more while coming back to Hyderabad day after Eid.
It is very depressing and distressing to observe that a large number of families ranging from average income generation don’t go to their hometowns to celebrate these auspicious days because it is too expensive to bear the burden of the fares. Further the transporters have not reduced the prices of fares despite falling oil prices and are taking the same charges as mentioned in the article. They are very active in raising fares when even a rupee is increased in the price of oil while in case of falling prices they are found unwilling to budge. It is the responsibility of officials to ensure a proper mechanism to regulate this imbalance.
AFTAB AHMED JUNEJO
Hyderabad
THE notice given by the child labour commissioner to the producers of TV serials and movies, is a step in the right direction. Child exploitation in the entertainment industry is rampant today.
Notices should also have been sent to the parents of these child artists because these parents are as much responsible for child labour and the film and serial makers.
Today, child artists have become a vital constituent of the film, TV, and advertising clique. These adorable little stars cast a magical spell on the screen. Fame and fortune is theirs for the asking. However, the other face of the coin presents a not-so-pretty picture. Considering their tender age, they literally have to rough it, whether in stuffy studios or out on treacherous locales. They are forced to keep odd hours and very often, studies take a backseat.
Parents of these ‘wonder children’ invariably swear that their tiny tots are in showbiz only because of their talent. This, more often than not, is a blatant lie. It is a mere front to disguise their burning ambition of making huge amounts of money.
For, once the hen starts laying golden eggs, the quest for more and more outstrips all other considerations. Is this not a child labour?
All seem to turn a Nelson’s eye to the statute that strictly prohibits child exploitation. Do the binding arc lights of the film and advertising world shroud this law? The greed of money and the desire to see their children on TV and big screen have made parents forget their real duty towards their children. Instead of making their children slog all through the year in film shootings, the parents should make it a point to allow their children to shoot only on holidays, if necessary.
Some parents go to extreme length of making their child successful. For example, Kulbir Kaur, the mother of child artist Ahsaas Channa, who has acted in films like Kank, Vaastu and Shastra and also appeared in many advertisements on TV, had cruelly forced her daughter to behave like a boy.
Just spare a thought of what the girl must be going through mentally, biologically and physically at this tender age.
There’s no harm in children working in films and television but it should be ensured that their education and childhood does not suffer. These young children have a long life ahead to pursue their acting careers and to fulfil the expectations and dreams of their parents. Till then let the innocence in the child remain.
But the labour commissioner should also look into the fact that apart from the entertainment industry there is an estimated 250 million children between ages five and 14 who are engaged in hazardous work, prostitution and bonded labour even after the ban on child labour has been enforced.
AMJAD K. MARUF
Thane
THERE was a quarter-page advertisement in the Dec 16 newspaper regarding inauguration of women’s bus service in Peshawar.
I was amazed to see the advertisement as it reminded me of an earlier such campaign such as ‘Para likha Punjab’on which billions of tax money of the common man were wasted without achieving any results.
I wonder when our politicians will stop such nonsense. Does this feat, started by the government of North West Frontier Province, deserve the carrying of a photograph of the chief minister and names of two provincial ministers in the media?
Yes, they will get recognition when they provide an atmosphere where women can travel freely; can work side by side with men without any discrimination; when they will not be made ‘vani’.
With more than 50 per cent of the population dumped in homes at the discretion of male members, we don’t deserve any pat.
Instead of wasting money on these ads, please save girls schools from burning in Swat.
KOKAB KHWAJA
Rawalpindi
“PAKISTAN’s nuclear assets are in safe hands and well protected and there is no possibility of their falling into the hands of terrorists”.
The president had to give this assurance to the visiting US Senator John Kerry (Dec 16).
These words are repeated quit frequently, particularly whenever a foreigner visits Pakistan and meets our leaders.
It would be more appropriate if the recording of this assurance is played and replayed on our electronic media. And if possible, make it a part of our national anthem.
One wonders why we need to give this clarification to everyone. We have lowered our dignity.
Even a section officer from the United States of America enjoys the status of calling upon or making a phone call to our president.
ANIS SIDDIQUI
Islamabad
APROPOS of Dr Mohammad Ali Shaikh’s thought-provoking letter (Dec 18); one, reassuringly, must not lose sight of the fact that, fortuitously, such cycles are not divinely decreed.
Therefore, it is very much possible that mature and sensibly integrative behaviour on the part of concerned leaders — particularly in the 21st century with a surfeit of tested, enlightening behavioural concepts available to be harnessed — can convert the proclivity to such morbid, historically recorded cycles to those beneficent.
My thinking suggests that the tragedy (if not catastrophe) of this subcontinent lies in its intractable allergy to speaking the truth, writing the truth and standing by the truth.
Furthermore, to compound it all, power brokers recalcitrantly believe that the acme of achievement is to be found in the suave skill with which clout and resource-driven avarice is translated into chicanery and ruthlessly practised to the dire disadvantage of the weak.
M.J.AS’AD
Karachi
DID the Indian Air Force violate our space or did it not? The IAF is claiming it did not. Both, the IAF and PAF in their versions have implied that with virtual idiot-proof navigational and positioning systems in today’s jet fighters, it is almost impossible to violate air space.
The prime minister, going on, and on about ‘technical’ fault, when there cannot be one, is clearly saying the violation was not wilful.
If the violation was not wilful, then it had to be an upshot of IAF ineptitude. A wilful violation, or through the enemy’s ineptness, both can be equally dangerous.
The PAF has also explained its interceptors go on alert even while an enemy aircraft is 10 miles or more from the border, and has enough space and time to turn around. If this is what happened, then can it be termed a ‘violation’? Is the prime minister quoting the air chief correctly?
Why must everything turn into a riddle, and then get worse confounded, with one or the other from amongst the present rulers beginning to mouth ‘explanations’, without comprehending what the problem is.
S.KHALID HUSAIN
Karachi
DECEMBER has two very important dates, first 25th, the birthday of the Quaid-i-Azam, and, secondly, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on 27th. Both these days have their own importance and will be remembered by every Pakistani.
But our media is only paying tribute to Ms Bhutto. My request to all concerned is to also remember the Quaid without whom the very existence of our country would not have been possible.
SHAIKH SALMAN
Karachi
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