| February 02, 2009 | Monday | Safar 06, 1430 |
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PSP pulls DMG up for ‘ interference’
From global to domestic terror
Response to disaster
Future of Swat
A case of misquotation
Wargaming Cold Start
Sport portal
Remembering Prof Dani
Extra tuitions
Need for better policing
An ill-planned move
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
‘We must learn to live together as brothers, or we are going to parish together as fools.’ — Martin Luther King
EVER since independence in 1947, the relationship between India and Pakistan has hardly been easy, leave alone smooth and friendly ever. Besides fighting four wars, there were quite a few occasions when the two countries got locked in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation.
A similar tense situation arose when the Indian parliament was attacked on Dec 13, 2001 and, as a result, the two countries stationed their troops along their borders for one full year. India lost no time in holding the Lashkar-i-Taiba responsible for the attack on its parliament. Again when nearly 200 people were killed in the Mumbai attack on Nov 26, 2008, India accused Lashkar-i-Taiba, an off-shoot of the Jamat-ud-Dawa, of terror activities in Mumbai.
There was a deep anger in India over the Mumbai attacks and that anger might have shattered the carefully crafted détente that dialogue had been able to achieve in the past. Since the Mumbai attacks, there have been an unending series of allegations and counter-allegations from both sides. It was only after Pakistan put its foot down saying that in case of need force would be met with force, India toned down its war of words.
At present the likelihood of a war breaking out between the two countries appears to have reduced altogether. The defence minister of India has gone public saying that there would be no war. It is, of course, a good omen and his statement must have been received with a sense of satisfaction by the relevant quarters. However, in the wake of Mumbai attacks the role played by the electronic and the print media of the two countries cannot be played down.
If we want stability in the region, the media of the two countries should highlight the fact that there is no substitute to dialogue if we want to live like good neighbours. The editors of TV channels and newspapers should sit together and try to find out ways and means to evaporate the genuine fears of the people of either side or also help ease out tension at the level of the two governments.
Likewise, political leaders of the two countries also need to play their due role in the current unusual circumstances. Instead of using the language of war, they should urge upon their respective governments to adopt a low-key approach and head for the dialogue sooner than later. History is replete with examples when not war but peaceful means paved the way for the solution of sensitive and complex issues.
At the moment no-peace, no-war state exists between India and Pakistan. Kashmir and terrorism remain the two problems that divide them roundly. There is need to find out solutions to these two glaring issues by resuming the composite dialogue. Whether it is the restart of the confidence-building measures or to re-enter into the composite dialogue, the entire exercise will remain fruitless as long as sincerity of purpose is not exhibited, in its full measure, from both sides.
Before they move towards the dialogue table, the blame-game ought to be stopped forthwith because the countries cannot talk when they are already indulging in the blame game.
After all, battles can be won by sheer force, but hearts and souls can be won by mere words. So, in circumstances when emotions are running high, there is always need to go for the latter option which can be achieved only through dialogue.
RAFAT MAHMOOD ANSARI
Islamabad
THIS is apropos of a news item, ‘PSP pulls DMG up for ‘ interference’ (Jan 30).
The police group looks quite impressive at face value as there are convincing arguments given in favour of autonomy of the police.
It is true that security has now become a specialised subject and needs management by skilled, trained and professional policemen. There are a number of honest police jawans and officers who have upheld professional values but their proportion is outnumbered by other policemen are accused of highhandedness, indulgence in crimes, protecting fellows in heinous crimes and harassing the public.
The law and order situation is claimed to have improved in last eight years but there is still much that is desired. Street crimes have gone up skyhigh. Roads have become unsafe. People in districts are scared of travelling at night time. Vehicles are seized and taken away.
My question is, will it be sensible to leave the enforcement, evaluation of enforcement and accountability of such a big national issue to the discretion of one group of people that has arms in their hands?
The other reason stated in the article is about a sense of superiority and ego. In think ego matters should not be a big concern in the structure of the government. For instance, many students who cannot make it to medicine and engineering opt for the CSS. Also, this sector is traditionally controlled and governed by the DMG group and not the doctors themselves.
There is another dimension to this issue. The more sensitive and specialised the system, the more is the requirement for a third party watch and evaluation. In third world countries, moral values fail to perpetuate in the social system, and mafias emerge out of several different power groups. People are in the habit of using their discretion to any limit, e.g. one end to fulfil their need and the other end to block others’ interest. In this situation of our country we need broad - based decision - making bodies and many checkpoints to ensure the reliability and provision of justice.
DR MUSARRATUL HASNAIN
Faisalabad
THE American Predator is a hi - tech unmanned drone that the CIA uses for attacks inside Pakistan’s territory from the Bagram airbase under US occupation.
They claim to have information about the hideouts of Al Qaeda - Taliban terrorists gathered through satellite images and sensitive ground gadgets installed in the area.
There has been an agreement between the US - Afghanistan and Pakistan to share information that leads security forces to conduct operations on their respective sides. This obviously gives an understanding that operations will be conducted by the forces of respective countries keeping in view the sanctity of their sovereignty.
Despite that, the drone attacks continue to be conducted challenging Pakistan’s sovereignty and threatening its security environment. Americans claim this all is being done under an agreement with Pakistan which Islamabad denies and calls it the US bid to hamper Pakistan’s efforts in countering militancy.
The question is, doesn’t the US trust Pakistan? In other words, if it provides the same drones and other hi - tech weapons to Pakistan, these can be used against Americans.
This seems absurd since the aims and objectives of both US - Afghanistan and Pakistan are not different.
Had it been provided to Pakistan, the toll, cost and damage would not have been so high. The repercussions of drone attacks are more colossal and serious than any other fear on the part of the US.
Ever since terror has become Pakistan’s domestic war, which has made the tribal people and local populace join hands with our security forces to jointly fight it out, the American drone attacks lead them to believe that the Pakistan Army is fighting the US war and not a war of our own security -- thus creating hatred against the US, which the Obama administration would not like to be spreading.
This is tantamount to creating hatred against the security forces, which may lead to further destabilising – again not in the interest of American presence in Afghanistan.
The US - Nato - Isaf forces need to take care of their side of the border, and let Pakistan do its job inside its own territories.
AMMARAH MALIK
Islamabad
THIS is with reference to Umar Bhatti’s letter, ‘Disaster management at its best’ (Jan 30), in which he has cited the incidence of US Airways flight crashing into the Hudson River on Jan 16 and a happy ending to this saga due to the audacious professionalism of all stakeholders, from the pilot of the plane to the rescue workers. He ends his letter with the gory imagination:
”Keeping in view this incident, I want to ask the authorities and the people of this country a question: had this kind of crash taken place in Pakistan, what would be the number of casualties, dead and injured?”
Keeping in mind that there were 155 passengers on board and approximately six crew members (total souls on board 161), had something like this happened in Pakistan, then in my humble opinion the casualty figure unfortunately would have crossed 200. Let’s assume (God forbid) that an obsolete jet of our national flag carrier had suffered a similar fate and had to ditch in the Lyari River, the fatigued structure of the jet would have succumbed to the shock of the impact and made chances of survival grim.
Moreover, thousands of people living in slums alongside the so - called river would have been additional casualties to the debacle. Since there’s no concept of underwater rescue in Pakistan and we are well aware of the response time of our rescue agencies, most of the injured (on the ground) would have also succumbed to their injuries.
It would have taken ages to clear the debris and recover all bodies, since the water body, clogged with industrial waste and sewerage, would have been an additional misery.
A committee would have been set up to investigate why hell broke lose as the government would have been utterly surprised at its unexpected incompetence. Probably, a new federal minister would have been sworn in to head this committee.
So, Mr Bhatti, I hope this answers your question and also reduces your imagination, unfortunately in our case even the half - filled glass looks completely empty.
ALTAMASH LONE
Karachi
THROUGH the media and through interpersonal communication it is now evident that the region of Swat, over the years, has been deliberately let to slip into a chaotic situation, where terrorists and criminals are allowed a free hand in disrupting law and order of the land. Presumably this is being done under tremendous pressure from somewhere or from US agencies. It seems that when the situation comes to a boil, then US forces will walk in with the collaboration of India, perhaps, on the pretext of setting up the writ of the government.
The rest of Pakistan is slowly being made weak. It also is being deprived of education, starting from Swat, so that there should hardly be any resistance when the time comes. This assumption is being made on the basis that the prime concern for the US has been the Mumbai episode. The US establishment is not at all bothered about terrorism in Swat and elsewhere in Pakistan.
No cleric worth the name is prepared to strongly condemn terrorism taking place in Pakistan in the name of Islam. Leaders of religious parties are under the impression that after the fall of the government, the terrorists or extremists in the guise of Taliban will hand over the reins of the state to them in a platter.
This I am sure will remain a far-fetched dream because these leaders will perhaps be the first to be eliminated in case of such an undesirable event taking place. Since terrorists in Swat seem to be armed to the teeth, the worst future scenario is written on the wall.
IQBAL UNUS
Karachi
I READ the article, ‘A sign of Indian maturity’ (Jan 26), by Rahul Singh. In the penultimate paragraph the writer quotes Mr Bachchan’s blog: “Slumdog Millionaire projects India as a Third World, dirty, underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots...”
This is a case of misquotation. The full paragraph where Mr Bachchan writes about Slumdog is as follows:
”On blog, comments for the film ‘SlumDog Millionaire’ and the anger by some on its contents, prompt me to say the above. If SM projects India as Third World dirty underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky underbelly exists and thrives even in the most developed nations. It’s just that the SM idea authored by an Indian and conceived and cinematically put together by a westerner gets creative Globe recognition.”
While quoting Mr Bachchan, Mr Singh has conveniently omitted the first operative word of the sentence, “If”. This completely changes the intent of the sentence.
Mr Bachchan is not exactly making a comment on the movie. He is only responding to some of the comments made by others whose sensibilities seem to have been hurt by the movie. And he is expressing an opinion on the kind of movies that get acclaim.
KAMAL KISHORE
Via email
THIS is apropos of Ahmad Faruqui’s article, ‘Wargaming Cold Start’ (Jan 5). I agree with the writer’s version that “the danger of war in the subcontinent hangs in the air as hotheads in South Block consider putting their Cold Start doctrine to the test”.
The four scenarios of how the Indian attack may unfold mentioned in his article are quite interesting. Similarly, on opening the web site of the doctrine referred to by Mr Faruqui in his article, the 33-page ‘Indian Army’s New Limited War Doctrine’ found is also an eye-opener.
No doubt that Pakistan is ever ready to meet the threat of war and would react within minutes of any aggression from any side of its border. Our armed forces are quite capable of defending the country while our nation has also shown unity for standing on one platform to fight with the enemy in the event of war. But how far our nation (civilian population and civilian government) is prepared and ready to bear the brunt of war in case Pakistan is attacked, is however, debatable.
The first war we fought during 1965 lasted 17 days only, while the second war of 1971 was almost of the same duration in which we lost half of our country. The 1965 war was the first war witnessed by our nation since independence in 1947, hence the nation had no experience of war and they knew nothing about war-time national discipline. Similarly, people had no idea about dangers and difficulties which are generally faced by people during the war.
During the 1965 war people were not only excited but became emotional too. Without realising the dangers of war people at times displayed somewhat childish behaviour in certain areas, especially in Lahore.
For example, on hearing the air raid siren, crowds coming out in the open and started shouting slogans and showing fists to the enemy’s planes overhead or climbed on rooftops of their houses, waving their hands and cheering up our jet fighters during dogfights with the enemy aircraft as if witnessing a kite-flying match. Perhaps all this happened as air raids were not carried out on civilian population on both sides of the border.
During World War II (1939-45), the civilian population of British India was prepared by the government to protect themselves during air raids and other acts of invading forces, anticipating that war might engulf the Indian subcontinent, though there was no immediate threat of invading forces of either Japan or Germany reaching the subcontinent.
This was done by establishing civil defence organisations and issuing guidelines to local administration throughout India. People in cities, towns and even in villages were trained in ‘air raid precautions’ and what to do in case of atomic, biological or chemical attacks and in various other emergencies.
In addition, boys and girls in schools and colleges were also trained in rescue, first aid and fire-fighting. Similarly, dry practices of air raid precautions were carried out frequently at day and night by blowing air raid siren and creating war-like conditions. They were also trained in observing blackout, rescuing casualties and in identifying enemy spies.
In the Gaza strip during the three-week attacks and atrocities by Isreal, 1,300 Palestinians, a third of them children, were killed and over 5,000 wounded. Israel deliberately bombed 67 schools in Gaza Strip which were turned by UNRWA into shelters for Palestinian families which fled the constant Israeli attacks on civilian population.
There were not enough air raid shelters for people to save themselves from bombs, rockets and missiles. Also, there was shortage of medicines, blood and space in hospitals. Shortage of food supplies further made people’s life miserable. We should learn a lesson from this tragedy.
The cold war by India with Pakistan has started after the Mumbai terror and one cannot predict that it will not turn into a hot war. But if it does, then we should ask ourselves a question now: is our nation prepared for war?
SQN LDR (r) S.AUSAF HUSAIN
Karachi
WHY ARE there no sport portals by Pakistan? Today most of the sport portals are managed by Indians who make a mockery of sports by highly selctive reporting only to boost its image?
For instance, when Pakistan wins, these portals underplay it and when it loses a match, they blast the news as the top item. Look at what they are doing with the Australia-SA and Indo-Lanka matches. It is atrocious, indeed.
DR A. R. COLACHAL
New Delhi
WITH the death of Dr Ahmed Hassan Dani, Pakistan is deprived of a great scholar, historian, archaeologist and anthropologist. He devoted his whole life to the research of archeology in Pakistan, as well as in the region. He was a rare man who has a lot of things to his credit: he was part of the team which excavated and found the sites Moenjodaro and Gandhara civilisations.
He set up Texila and Islamabad Museums. It is a great honour for Pakistan that Dr Dani remained a part of the global expert team which worked on archeology in this region. He was regarded as an authority on archeology and was founder of the Texila Institute of Asian Civilisations. He was awarded by French, German, Italian and Bangladesh governments and wrote 30 books.
The Pakistan government decorated him with Hilal-i-Imtiaz and Sitar-i-Imtiaz, but I think he deserves more. I request the authority that the chair should be established in the Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, and award with his name should be announced in the field of archeology.
KHADIM SOOMRO
Johi
AS a parent I have always wondered why my children are called to school for extra classes, especially toward the end of the year. Taher Javed’s letter (Jan 18) was an eye-opener.
The number of actual teaching days doesn’t match the number of days for which the national curriculum was designed. It then doesn’t come as a surprise why teachers and students are in a quandary.
On top of this, we read articles about schools being issued notices for cutting short their vacations to make up for the lost time. The message that comes across is that it is perfectly right not to work but if you dare to work extra, you are committing a crime.
Over the years, it has been driven home that the government of Pakistan, in general, and the government of Sindh, in particular, don’t want an educated nation which will question their actions
A CONCERNED PARENT
Karachi
I AM reading with some bit of amusement the warnings that motorists with incorrect styles of number plates and tinted glasses will be booked. How ridiculous it seems that even to perform a normal, routine duty, the police have to issue such warnings and, of course, it is not the first time that we are hearing them.
Why don’t they get along and do their job? Some time back there was a lot of fanfare that motorists not wearing seat belts too would be booked. Well, they were but the enthusiasm didn’t last very long, and we see business as usual till the next warning on the issue.
I am certain that the traffic police (or shouldn’t they be referred to as the ‘terrific’ police) are not short of numbers. Every morning, as I drive to work, I see dozens of them having ‘gup shup’ in hordes around checkpoints at various points of entry to Islamabad, with absolutely no concern for the hindrance these barriers are causing to the motorists who are in a hurry to get to work.
I have never seen anyone seriously checking or monitoring any vehicles, but the nuisance remains. Yet the police higher-ups who may have ordered these barriers to be put in place after the Marriot incident have either forgotten to get them removed or are too busy to monitor what happens at these barriers, especially in rush hours or may I say they lack the will to do what they are paid for.
Is there any hope that we will ever recognise the need for better policing. I doubt.
A PINDIITE ISLAMABADI
Rawalpindi
THE recent reorganisation of the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) in the name of reforms has sent a wave of scepticism and panic among the taxpayers and tax collectors across Pakistan.
The integration of income tax, sales tax and federal excise as inland revenue under the garb of IMF’s agenda is certain to be proved as an ill-planned and disastrous move.
Both direct and indirect taxes have different modes of operation and putting them together will not only result in operational difficulties but will also create serious career issues for the officers of the customs and excise group.
Together, sales tax, federal excise and customs duties account for more than 70 per cent of the revenues being collected by the FBR. Putting the careers and future of hundreds of officers at stake will not only adversely affect the revenues but will also result in a disgruntled and demoralised workforce. The authorities concerned must take immediate remedial measures to save the revenue authority from a foreseeable disaster.
WAJAHAT HAYAT
Islamabad
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