| January 10, 2009 | Saturday | Muharram 12, 1430 |
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Pakistani prisoners
Creating a book culture
Education system
Rights of provinces
Message for ruling elite
Draconian laws
Shelving university project
Investigate, please
Loadshedding and lip service
Gaza and world leaders
Thank you Mr Pickpocket
Whither India?
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 the report by Parvaiz Ishfaq Rana, ‘Task force ignores professional mariners:MMSP’ (Jan 4).
I have seen the nominated list of the eight members of the Task Force on Maritime Industry with the mandate for development of the maritime industry and to propose amendments to the Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 2001.
In my opinion as a chairman, as well as in the opinion of members of the executive committee, of the Nautical Institute, Pakistan Branch, the nominated Naeem Sarfraz has the background of shipping logistics, Justice (r) Shaiq Usmani has an extensive knowledge of maritime legislation, also a senior mariner, and Mohammad A. Rajpar having un-biased experience in commercial shipping would represent the maritime industry in a constructive manner.
I would say, overall, a best team with other selected members of repute, it constitutes a best well-balanced choice of the Planning Commission of Pakistan. If any extra member has to be admitted, then he should be included from the ‘Bahria University’ to cover the field of Maritime Education.
The Nautical Institute is an international professional body for qualified seafarers and others with an interest in nautical matters. The Institute has forty branches all over the world.
I.M.KHAN SAMADANI
Chairman, Nautical Institute, Pakistan Branch, Karachi
(II)
THIS is apropos of the letter issued by the ministry of ports and shipping, letter reference No. 10(5)/83-CNS dated 9th August 2007.
I was highly disappointed to learn through this letter that restriction has been lifted on preparatory courses for the Marine deck officers prior to appearing at their examination of certificate of competency (COC).
This makes me feel that whenever something good takes place in the education sector in Pakistan, some sort of disappointment or new rules are imposed that restrict the education from continuing in a progressive manner.
The shipping industry has changed a lot as compared to the past. A lot of new technology has been introduced that requires the marine officers to be thorough in their knowledge. This knowledge cannot be achieved without proper training and guidance.
Marine officers preparing for their COC examinations on their own may build up wrong concepts of the parts of nautical studies, unless they are properly guided and trained by experienced and qualified instructors.
The system of preparatory courses is in place all over the world through their certified nautical colleges and is in compliance with the Standard of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Convention.
I have passed all my examinations of COC from Pakistan during the time when there was no requirement of preparatory courses nor were there any proper nautical institutes.
I can, therefore, say that it is very difficult and a waste of time and your hard-earned money to study on your own and run around here and there to clear concepts.
This waste of time and money can be minimised or even eliminated by providing proper guidance and training through nautical colleges to the marine officers preparing for an attempt to their COC examinations.
This will greatly help Pakistani marine officers who will successfully pass their COC examinations after completing preparatory courses through certified nautical institutes in much less time than they would otherwise prepare on their own with lack of confidence.
This will also make our marine officers to easily match with worldwide marine officers and will not have to face embarrassment in front of port state officers and ISM auditors who frequently visit vessels to assure competency of marine officers.
I would, therefore, highly recommend to impose restriction with immediate effect onto all marine officers desiring to appear for their COC examinations to first complete preparatory courses through certified nautical institutes in Pakistan which are providing proper facilities, qualified instructors and have proper faculty.
I would also like to strongly suggest that all nautical colleges functioning in Pakistan should be closely monitored by proper authorities with regard to the facilities provided, instructors’ qualification, environment and hours of studies. They should also be ISO-certified.
SYED NAZAR HAIDER
Master Marine via email
RECENTLY I visited Pakistan in a Karachi-bound airline from Abu Dhabi with hundred per cent occupancy.
Out of them 70 per cent passengers on board were Pakistanis, ousted from the United Arab Emirates due to lack of visa or overstay.
These 200 passengers, who belong to Shabqadar, Peshawar, Multan, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Sukkur and Hyderabad, remained in three jails from Nov 23 at Jumeirah, Aver (Dubai) and Central prison in Abu Dhabi.
All were compelled to fly to Karachi and everybody had to pay money for three one-way tickets worth AED 1700 (Rs35,700). Whereas normal one-way fare was not more Rs10,000 on Dec 17, 2008.
All of them have various stories to tell and brief about the affairs they faced in the last 40 days.
Taj Mohammad, a Pushto-speaking passenger from Shabqadar, was one of them. He was arrested by the Sharjah police as he failed to show his time of arrival in the country and a valid visa.
He had spent Rs200,000 for a free visa that he obtained here two years ago. He was arrested on Nov 23 last.
Along with hundreds of Pakistanis, he remained in an airconditioned jail, having full facility of hygienic food of eastern cuisines but without any help from the Pakistan government.
According to him, President Asif Ali Zardari during his recent visit of the UAE had assured countrymen that all prisoners languishing in UAE jails would be assisted and could be shifted to the jails in Pakistan nearest the home town of the respective prisoners.
Taj suggested that the government should ask the Pakistan embassy and consular and community welfare attaché in the UAE to talk and assist their countrymen, and PIA should be made responsible for shifting of such people.
He thought that many people present in the flight were ousted in view of the minor charges as their visas were sent for renewal.
While narrating the inside situation in three jails in the UAE, he said: “There were thousands of Pakistanis in jails under different charges, many of them are compelled to continue to live having no contact, nor money to pay for airline tickets”.
Pakistanis living in different jails in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and other gulf states deserve great assistance under the guidance of the president of the country and need immediate intervention for relief from their present predicament.
I request the government of Pakistan to assign a special envoy to coordinate with respective interior ministries of the Gulf region for proper and timely handling of Pakistanis who have been detained for committing illegalities in immigration laws.
This effort will keep hundreds of prisoners, under soft crimes, at ease and make present setup more responsible towards the people living abroad.
DR AYOUB SHAIKH
Karachi
I WAS delighted to read the article, ‘Creating a book culture?’ by Zubeida Mustafa (Jan7) on the book fair held in Karachi.
Books and book reading are an important measure of a society’s culture. And so is the status of authors.
In a eulogy to dead authors, some 3,000 years ago, cited by Lesley and Roy Adkins in The Keys of Egypt, the book and its author are remembered in words worth spreading ‘in a society that is notorious for its aversion to reading’.
“A man is perished: his corpse is dust, and his people have passed from the land;it is a book which makes him remembered in the mouth of a speaker.
More excellent is a (papyrus) roll than a built house,than a chapel in the west.
It is better than an established villa,than a stela in a temple.......”
MAHMOOD HASAN KHAN
Via email
THE education system of a country plays the most important part in the progress of a nation and in grooming its future generation.
As examinations are an important component of the education system, it should be designed in such a way that it facilitates students.
In Pakistan, students suffer from a deficient examination system as different boards of intermediate and secondary education, along with universities, conduct examinations in different fields.
Instead of facilitating, these institutions are exploiting the students and earning too much in the name of examination fees.
Whether a student is appearing in all the subjects or in a couple of them, the examination fee is the same. This is unjust and should be remedied.
Moreover, external candidates have to pay more than those who are regular.
The authorities concerned should look into the matter and reduce the examination fee comprehensively.
Moreover, the examination fee should be fixed per paper and the candidates should be charged according to the number of their papers.
ZAHEER AHMAD
Dhakku, Chakwal
(II)
IT is agony to note the fact that our education system has been going down, specially in rural Sindh, creating a lot of problems.
In rural Sindh a politician and the chief of the village play a major role.
If an analysis is made, then right from the appointment of a teacher the process of exploitation begins, and when a teacher is inducted on political grounds, quality of education suffers.
Teachers don’t attend schools because the officials appointed to monitor school functioning are the product of the system.
It has also been seen that these officials allow the teachers to take long leave in return for money known as visa system in the education community.
Education is the backbone of any society. I would like to request the authorities concerned to intervene to improve the state of education in rural areas of Sindh.
NAZEER MAZNANI
Dadu
WITH reference to the editorial, ‘Rights of provinces’ (Dec 25), there is apparently no denying the opinions that the residents of a province should not be deprived of the benefits of their resources, such as gas, oil, and minerals.
A fair price must be paid for their use, and a part of it should be spent on the development of the area concerned.
The price would include:
(i) the cost of exploration and extraction;
(ii) an element of profit to make it worthwhile for a company to undertake these tasks; and
(iii) an element of rent commensurate with the scarcity and value of the mineral.
After the company has been paid, the residue should be spent on the development of the province concerned.
One way of determining a fair price is to use the border price of imports as a benchmark.
ASAF ALI SHAH
Lahore
AS a secular-minded person I don’t usually get to read books on religion. But, the other day I had to give a book as a gift to a young lady who, I thought, would like one on Islamic teachings.
So, I happened to pick up Thomas Cleary’s translation of some sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) titled, The Wisdom of the Prophet. I opened a page casually to assess what kind of a collection it contained and, amazingly, my eyes fell on the following three right away, which should provide much food for thought to our politicians and bureaucrats:
1) Responsibility: The Prophet said, “Anyone whom God has placed in charge of a citizenry but who does not take care of them sincerely will not even get a scent of Paradise”.
2) Deceiving the people: The Prophet said, “God forbids Paradise to any ruler of a Muslim citizenry who dies while he is deceiving them”.
3) Authority: The Prophet also said, “We do not assign authority to one who asks for it, or to one who covets it”.
I was very struck by the extraordinary relevance of these sayings to the situation in Pakistan for the past many decades and thought of sharing them with those who are running the affairs now, or may do so in future.
A READER
Karachi
BIRTHRIGHTS of permanent residents of Karachi have been eroded and they have been banned for appointment in the Karachi Custom’s House and Income Tax Office.
In these offices, they are eligible to serve as sweepers and peons only.
I am the son of a retired assistant collector of Customs and qualify for appointment on the post of examiner or preventive officer under the Federal Board of Revenue’s directive.
But my applications carried by the member ( retd), FBR, has not been accepted in the Customs House as I am Karachi-domiciled.
This obnoxious law was promulgated by the government over a decade ago.
The government should repeal this draconian law.
MUHAMMAD ALI ZAIDI
Karachi
WE have become accustomed to reading story after story about the grim state of affairs in the country.
But one story which perfectly encapsulated the direction we are hurtling towards, was that the HEC was shelving a project to build new universities in the country (Dawn, Jan 2).
Universally, higher education institutions are considered fountains of progress, which is represented by the correlation between a country’s socio-economic state and the number and quality of universities it possesses.
In dark times, these institutions are considered doubly important because they provide the stimulus in ideas that lead to necessary policy reform to correct the decline.
The government’s decision to axe these projects points to a lack of understanding of the capability of such institutions. But then this is not the first instance of insular thinking.
It saddens me to say that Pakistan is not just in a downturn, it is moving towards a dangerous socio-economic regression without the tools to reverse the situation.
UMAIR QURESHI
USA
YOUR editorial, ‘Investigate, please’ (Dec 28), has rightly raised some valid questions which remain unanswered about the investigations into the murder of Benazir Bhutto.
Whether one is a supporter of the PPP or not, the biggest question in his mind is, why is the PPP government, with all resources at its disposal, hesitant to initiate an inquiry into the murder of its chairperson?
Leave alone a thorough probe, not even an FIR of the incident has been lodged so far. Likewise, after her death it was strange that Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of the deceased, did not insist on the post-mortem examination of Ms Bhutto’s body.
Now the occasional demand from the PPP leadership for UN investigation into Ms Bhutto’s murder does not make much sense either.
It is fine if they want a world body to investigate into Ms Bhutto’s death, but what is harm in carrying out an indigenous inquest on her murder?
RAFAT MAHMOOD ANSARI
Islamabad
A FEW days back President Asif Ali Zardari ordered the highups of Wapda and gas authorities to finish the unscheduled loadshedding within the country.
Anybody having slight common sense can visualise the real situation. Is it possible to get rid of 20 hours’ loadshedding with only an announcement?
Is it entirely within the control of government authorities? Because Pepco has recently announced that our country is facing 4,000 MW of power shortage in the night, 2,000 MW in daytime.
In reality has our country been facing power shortage or has deliberately put into darkness the country to take away the attention of the common man from the drone attacks or economic downfall of our country?
BASHIR HUSSAIN AZAD
Chitral
ISRAELI troops are killing people in Gaza while the world is a silent spectator.
It is very sad that a captive population is being killed by air as well as by ground onslaughts by Israelis.
The whole world is mum over this situation.
Remember killing of one innocent is like killing of the whole humanity.
The world leaders should break their silence and put an end to Israeli brutalities in Gaza.
SYED MUZAMMIL HUSSAIN
Islamabad
I WAS in Hyderabad with my family to attend an engagement ceremony on Dec 3 last. In a good rush outside the house, a gentleman pickpocket stole my wallet that contained Rs11,000. It was a pretty good amount for a teacher but I prayed that, at least, he would return my important receipts, ID cards, etc.
The next morning a good soul rang me informing me that he had found the wallet with all important papers except the money. Thank you, Mr Pickpocket, you saved me from a good trouble.
You placed the wallet in front of a holy place of worship and made sure that the finder would inform me. Any comment by an expert about this positive side in a so-called criminal?
PROF J.N. RAHI
Petaro
INDIA’s de facto ruler, Sonia Gandhi, has warned Pakistan against “taking India’s wish for peace as a sign of weakness” (Dec 22).
Every country in South Asia knows that India is up to scores of times bigger in size and military strength. They have also learned from experience how the giant neighbour throws its weight around. Thus, even the landlocked Nepal was subjected to an economic blockade and Sri Lanka was so worried in the ’80s that it had reportedly asked Britain, China and Pakistan to help it in case of an Indian invasion.
Pakistan, too, knows this and much more, having lost its eastern wing primarily due to Indian military might. So, Mrs Gandhi, everybody around here knows India’s superficial strength. But, what is real power, do you ever try to understand?
True power is what China has been exhibiting in its relations with its South Asian neighbours. When, during the 1962 war with India, it had pushed the Indian army out of the disputed territory, it declared a ceasefire and returned the Indian weapons it had captured, after duly polishing and servicing them! That is what is known as strength.
Standing up fearlessly to a seven times bigger adversary, as the Pakistanis have been doing for 61 years, is also toughness.
It is not the bullying of weaker countries by holding a gun to their heads, as India is wont to do. Nor is it the occupation of territories, as New Delhi did in case of Kashmir, Hyderabad, Junagadh, Goa, Sikkim and Siachen Glacier. By no means is it the stoppage of river waters to Pakistan or Bangladesh, either.
The Indian Sufi Hazrat Inayat Khan had explained it in his own wise way.
“A person in the intoxication of outer power that he possesses overlooks the cultivation or the development of inner power, and, depending upon the power that does not belong to him, one day becomes the victim of the very power that he holds . . . . So it is that the heroes, the kings, emperors, the persons with great power of arms . . . . have become the victim of the very power upon which they always depended.
Thus, slitting open the bellies of pregnant Muslim women or burning to death Christian missionaries is not power, any more than holding Kashmiris or Nagas or Naxalite farmers captive at gunpoint is strength. That is why violent protestors or their sympathisers now besiege India.
If India had existed in Europe, would Italy, France, Germany or Britain have allowed it to gobble up slices of their territories? This is something that Mrs Gandhi and the European supporters of India should ponder about. How can China, Pakistan or other regional countries let New Delhi usurp their lands or riverine resources?
Former Indian president Radhakrishnan had said many decades ago: “Our opportunities are great but let me warn you that when power outstrips ability, we will fall on evil ways”.
More poignantly, John Milton had observed: “What is strength without a double share of wisdom? Vast, unwieldy, burdensome, proudly secure, yet liable to fail by weakest subtleties, strength’s not mad to rule, but to subserve, where wisdom bears command”.
Both of them could have been speaking of the present-day India.
S. QADRI
Karachi
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