| February 12, 2009 | Thursday | Safar 16, 1430 |
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Need to end the Haj quota
Singing in tune
Independence of the judiciary uppermost
Questions about Afghan war
Damaged buildings
Indian Congress’s call
Resolving our problems
Expectations from Obama
Expressing in one’s language
Tourism industry
Suffering students
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 with reference to the letter, ‘NWFP: rethink the strategy’
(Jan 27). One agrees hundred per cent with the writer and would like to add some comments. First, the prime minister, in his address at Davos, has, according to a section of the electronic media (Jan 29), said that the American strategy for Afghanistan has failed.
This is a rare occasion when the PM has been compelled to depart from his usual approach towards the US and give a frank assessment of things. It appears to have happened because, instead of the new American administration putting an end to the drone attacks, it has adopted a more hawkish posture than Bush.
The resultant domestic pressure on Mr Gilani has forced him to not only trash Washington’s strategy in Afghanistan but, implicitly, suggest that it can’t succeed over here, too.
The point is that the whole exercise of giving an in-camera security briefing (after unbearable pressure had built up on the government) to the joint session of the parliament had the ostensible objective of coming up with a policy framed in accordance with the will of the entire nation. However, it now appears to have been just a sop, while the establishment continues with its earlier, unilateral policies in line with the US agenda.
However, let it be said that unless the collective wisdom and determination of the entire nation is employed, the problem of religious extremism and terrorism will never be overcome. For heaven’s sake, our rulers must put Pakistan first and not continue following Musharraf policies with added zeal.
It must be remembered that countries often have aims that are different from what they state or make to appear. For instance, it is entirely in American interest that countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and such others from where 9/11 type attacks may be launched on the US, stay engaged in a bloody encounter with the militants to keep the latter so busy that they are unable to focus on America.
This is a shortsighted approach and the Americans probably think that the billions of dollars being paid out to the rulers of these states is a compensation for the casualties being suffered by the military and the civilians. A fairer and sensible approach would be to form a strategy that renders the Americans as well as the Muslims safe.
It may be recalled that the Canadian Professor Michel Chossudovsky had said in a research report that the evolving US foreign policy agenda favoured disruption and disarray in the structure of the Pakistani state. “Indirect rule by the Pakistani military and intelligence apparatus is to be replaced by more direct forms of US interference….” (Dawn, Aug. 30, 2008).
Interestingly, the same academic has been cited recently by Robert Fisk as contending that the real reason for Israel’s attack on Gaza was that it wants to take control of the offshore gas reserves that belong to the Palestinians and for exploiting which negotiations had been going on between Hamas and western companies.
Therefore, Islamabad is urged to involve the entire nation in formulating a new strategy about NWFP while there is still time, otherwise it will only be lose-lose situation for us. Thousands of years of history have shown that the military operations on both sides of the Durand Line have tended to fail. We must never underestimate our adversary — what options will remain if the on-going operations don’t succeed in the NWFP?
M.P. CHISHTI
Karachi
THE Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly has rightly demanded annulment of the Haj Quota scheme as reported in Dawn, ‘PAC calls for abolishing Haj quota’ (Feb 8).
The scheme of ‘Haj quota’ was initially started by the government for facilitating pilgrims. However, it has become a source of corruption and scams.
The volume of money involved is so big that every year much before the Haj season begins more than 600 private Haj operators in the country approach the ministry of religious affairs for obtaining quota and it is here where corruption starts.
These operators offer a handsome amount to the ministry people for acquiring the maximum number of quota and, thereafter, lure the aspiring pilgrims by offering them comfortable journey, board and lodging at Makkah and Madina.
But after receiving full payments, the operators least bother about the intending pilgrims who never get the promised facilities. In fact, the pilgrims lose contact with them.
Most of the pilgrims who undergo such bad treatment do not complain officially and take such sufferings patiently as fait accompli. But once the Haj season is over, the ministry has to deal with a myriad of complaints where the affected clamour for redress of their grievances.
The ministry thus at the end of the Haj season is burdened with a plethora of complaints against those operators who defraud their clients. The Haj season lasts three months and during this time these operators, with a small amount of investment, make almost more than 70 per cent profit from each Haji by providing them poor facilities etc.
I agree with the Public Accounts Committee that the Haj quota scheme is a source of corruption, as well as an avoidable financial burden on pilgrims, and, therefore, needs to be declared null and void sooner the better.
QAZI SALEEM AHMED
Hala
The classification of pop and classical vocalists in three categories by Zafar Rahmani (Feb 5) is not justifiable. First, he has placed some of the outstanding classical singers and legendary playback singers of yesteryear in ‘Class A’ though the two genres of music are poles apart.
It is unfortunate that he has categorised Pakistan’s pop singers Junaid Jamshaid, Atif Aslam and Jal in his lowest class ‘C’ as, according to him, their singing is off-key (Baesuray). I do not agree with his point of view and will like to comment, especially about Atif Aslam, who has a unique melodious voice and his singing is being acclaimed all over the world.
Here I am quoting the example of Talat Mahmood, the Indian ‘King of Ghazals’ and renowned playback singer of yesteryear. Talat had studied classical music for three years in the Marris Music College, Lucknow.
However, due to his wavering voice, which was not suitable for classical singing, he started singing ghazals of Urdu’s classical poets, and Fayyaz Hashmi’s ghazal ‘Tasveer teri dil mera behla na sakegi’, recorded by Talat in 1944, became an all-time non-filmi hit.
Although Talat had mellowness, sweetness and pathos in his voice, which set him apart from all other singers, the music maestro and one of the greatest film music directors Naushad Ali was reluctant to give him a break in films due to Talat’s wavering voice, which could be termed off-key under the strict rules of classical singing.
Nevertheless, another great music director, Anil Biswas, gave him a chance to sing in a film, and the song was recorded in 1949 — Ae dil mujhe aisi jagha le chal jahan koi na ho — picturised on the matinee idol Dilip Kumar. It became an instant hit.
Looking at Talat’s success, Naushad recorded a duet in his voice with Shamshad Begum, ‘Miltay hi ankhen dil hua diwana kisi ka’, which is one of the best ever duets sung for films.
Atif Aslam’s voice is high-pitched and much different from that of Talat but it is also wavering. Had he been singing off-note, the composers from across the border would not have given him a chance to sing in their films where all his songs are super hits.
However, I agree with Mr Rahmani on one account that quality of singing has no link with the success of a singer. At the same time we should not forget that this is a world of entertainment and only those singers succeed who can electrify the general public with their singing style and voice.
It is sad to remember that the best male classical singer so far of Pakistan, the late Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, would always complain on television that his programmes were telecast by PTV so late in the evening that everyone would be sleeping by that time.
He and his brother late Ustad Nazakat used to be the last performers in the All-Pakistan Music Conference organised in Lahore every year by late Hayat Ahmed Khan in the 1950s and the 1960s. Only about 100 people would be sitting in the open air theatre at Lawrence Garden when the duo would perform just before dawn. Both Ustad Salamat and Nazakat had died as unhappy persons.
In contrast, Pakistan’s present pop singers are the most-sought-after throughout the world and demand one million rupees for performing in one show within Pakistan. This is how the show business operates.
PARVEZ RAHIM
Karachi
CIVIL society groups, particularly lawyers, have mistaken restoration of judges for independence of the judiciary and as such have renewed calls for a long march and a sit-in at the Constitution Avenue. They are joined by the PML(N), mostly probably for political score-settling with the PPP.
The history of Pakistan is full of incidents of the higher judiciary buckling under pressure of dictators, willingly or unwillingly, and issuing them certificates of righteousness and validating their unconstitutional actions of abrogation of the Constitution and dismissal of democratically-elected governments.
Barring a few, most judges succumbed to dictators’ pressure and helped to prolong their tyrannical rule. Even Justice Iftkhar Muhammad Chaudhry was part of a controversial judgment that validated Gen Musharraf’s coup in 1999.
This weakness of the higher judiciary to buckle in before dictators is embedded in our present judicial system and judicial culture.
There is need to review our judicial system, identify the underlying factors of its susceptibility and purge our judicial system of these evils by bringing in necessary reforms to strengthen it. This will pave the way for true independence of the judiciary and foster new independent judicial culture.
Our political leadership and civil society representatives should realise the gravity of the situation the country has been passing through and stop politicisation of the judicial crisis. It will be in the interest of common people, the judiciary and nascent democracy that all parties abandoned their pre-held positions on the issue, sit together and collectively contribute towards the necessary judicial reforms for independence of the judiciary rather than politicise the issue and make mess of it by exploiting the situation for personal and political gains.
AZHAR GHUMRO
Islamabad
WHY is the war fought by Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan being fanned? Let this be clear from the outset that even US and Nato forces have failed miserably in Afghanistan. Perhaps the new administration in Washington has declared to reinforce the US troops by 15,000 extra soldiers.
The next question is, are Pakistan troops also succeeding? The answer has more than several aspects. The Americans, Nato forces and Afghan army know that Pakistan has the power to crush Taliban — not in Pakistan alone but also in Afghanistan. Why has Pakistan not crushed them yet? An in-depth study of the situation is required before some answer is sought.
It should be taken into consideration — without an iota of doubt — that in Afghanistan and some parts of Pakistan Indian influence is working wonders. And why should not Indian money — distributed through more than a dozen consulates in Afghanistan — work wonders for poor people in these countries?
Any dismantling of this influence inside Afghan territory — and also some in Balochistan — might trigger another India-Pakistan war. The responsibility for this skirmish will be put on Islamabad’s shoulders. This will be too much for the PPP-led government. India is pushing Pakistan every now and then to make a mistake which could be rebounded as an excuse for a major retaliation.
What has to be done by Pakistan now? Islamabad should wait and let Indian make a mistake instead. When it is made, Islamabad should play the game as New Delhi wants to play.
M.K. NAQVI
Karachi
DECEMBER 27, 2008 was no doubt one of the darkest days in the country’s history when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Rawalpindi. Her death left irreversible scars on the souls of thousands of people.
The sad incident triggered violence in the country and buildings were set ablaze.
Here in our town Johi, Dadu, many of the government buildings were set on fire by an angry mob during the three days. These buildings included offices of mukhtiarkar, tapedar, UC nazim and a cellphone tower along with many private buildings.I would like to request the government to allocate a budget for the renovation of these buildings at Johi and other towns and cities which suffered the consequences. However, it should also be ensured that the utilisation of the funds is done properly.
AAMIR RAZ
Johi, Dadu
ACCORDING to a report, a spokesman for India’s ruling Congress party has called on the international community to consider declaring Pakistan a terrorist state in the wake of the recent release of the nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan (Feb. 8).
Look, who’s talking! The Indians should first examine their own actions and what the international media and human rights organisations have been saying about India’s state terrorism.
The Washington Post, in a story published on Oct 26, 2007 had written with reference to the anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat when about 2,000 Muslims, including many pregnant women, were massacred: “Five years after one of India’s worst episodes of Hindu-Muslim violence, a series of videotaped confessions ……. showed Hindu activists acknowledging their roles in the killings and detailing blatant state collusion.”
In the video footage recorded by the well-known magazine ‘Tehelka’, Hindu activists and politicians bragged about hacking Muslims to death and burning their bodies. One assailant said he slit open a pregnant woman’s stomach. The Post further observed that human rights groups in India and the US have charged that Gujarat’s ruling party, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, tacitly supported the mob violence against the Muslim.
Apart from that, the Times of India had claimed that one of the witnesses deposing before the Nanavati Commission of inquiry named several BJP leaders who led mobs on Feb 28, 2002 in one of the troubled areas. Interestingly, the Indian columnist and former legislator Kuldip Nayar had lamented in a column (April 22, 2006): “Sometimes I wonder whether Gujarat is part of India or whether India is part of Gujarat.”
The brutal treatment meted out to its minorities is not all. India loses no opportunity to hurt its neighbours, too. The Sri Lankan daily, The Island, of Oct 17, 2008 had come out with a severe indictment of New Delhi’s duplicitous and damaging policies in a piece aptly titled, “India’s moment of shame.” It noted that the Indian ambassador to the UN had spelt out a strategy for dealing with the militants in Afghanistan.
The paper said that he did it at a time when India is coming under increasing pressure from terror backers in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu to intervene and put the kibosh on Sri Lanka’s robust fight against terrorism by the LTTE guerillas and went on to observe:
“Ironically, India created the LTTE to tame the JRJ government (in Sri Lanka) which sided with the US in a bipolar world after 1977. But today, India has become more American than even America and is paying for its sins against Sri Lanka….”
A Bangladeshi acquaintance of mine complained how India had killed hundreds of Bangladeshi civilians and troops on their borders in recent years and obstructed river waters. We also know of the many Pakistani allegations about India’s aid to the insurgents in Balochistan. Then there also is the irrefutable example of the Indian spy released from a Pakistani jail about a year ago, who had been denying the charges against him but immediately after his return to New Delhi acknowledged all the hurtful activities he had done over here.
The most recent expose of India’s misdeeds has come from the UN (Feb 5). In a report it slammed the pervasive climate of fear and intolerance perpetrated by religious mobs in many parts of India and asked the government to provide effective protection to minorities, of whom Christians and Muslims in particular were vulnerable, often helpless and increasingly ghettoised.
As an example, it noted that by the end of September 2008, more than 40 people had been killed in Orissa, over 4,000 Christian homes destroyed and around 50 churches demolished. Around 20,000 people were living in relief camps and more than 40,000 people hiding in forests and other places.
The foregoing should give a very good idea of the terrorism being perpetrated by Hindu fanatics, yet some Indian leaders have the gall to nominate Pakistan as a terrorist country. What a clever way of camouflaging their own wrongdoing!
Instead of trying to turn cancer and heart patient Dr Khan into a bogeyman, who has access to nothing, New Delhi should focus on its terrorists-in-uniform, like Col. Purohit, and save its own Muslims and the Pakistanis from being blown up.
ABDUL ALEEM
Karachi
IN 1968 when Gen Ayub Khan celebrated his ‘Decade of Development’, it was proudly announced that Pakistan had produced eight million tons of wheat, and had achieved autarky in wheat.
The term ‘green revolution’ was coined to highlight achievement in this field.
At a recent meeting of the agricultural committee, attended by several ministers, the minister of agriculture mentioned that the country this year would produce 25 million tons of wheat, i.e. more than three times the production in 1968. The country’s population has also increased in the same ratio in this period.
This reminds me of the observation by an expert in the field of population planning that unless we solve this issue, we shall not be able to solve any issue relating to economy, education, health, infrastructure, etc.
I will add another subject to this list, that is ‘terrorism/criminal activity’ which, I think, is directly related to the problems mentioned above.
MOHSIN ALI
Karachi
WE congratulate you, Barack Hussain Obama, for becoming the new president of the US. Not only America but the whole world has very high expectations from you, specially the Muslim countries.
The behaviour and policies of the past president of America for the Muslim world were atrocious. We hope that you will change that as you have been elected in the hope that you will bring about a change.
By electing you as president, your country has set the best example of democracy in the world and now we hope you will set an example as a great leader of the world. We hope that you will not use your powers to hurt the rights of any country or nation as the people before you have done.
MADIHA ZAIDI
Karachi
I WOULD like to point out how the bureaucratic devised mechanism bars Sindhi youth from expressing themselves in their mother tongue.
A few days back National TB Control Programme, through an advertisement, announced an essay competition regarding awareness of tuberculosis sponsored by the ministry of health.
The advertisement stated that winners would be awarded cash prizes.
It was indeed a surprise for me to note that only two languages, English and Urdu, have been allowed. I think the relevant authorities ought to be aware that Sindhi is one of the three mediums of instruction in Sindh. Children all over Sindh, especially in rural areas, read and write in Sindhi.
I hope that the National TB Control Programme issues a corrigendum in this regard so that Sindhi youths are not deprived of participating in the competition.
ZAFFAR JUNEJO
Dadu
ALTHOUGH a number of steps taken by the present government are no more than a ‘comedy of errors’, the recent appointment of a federal minister for tourism is no more than a joke as well. The JUI minister deserved any other ministry but tourism.
As far as tourism is concerned, the newly - inducted minister needs a quick study tour of Bangkok, Dubai and Malaysia, if not European destinations, to learn the basics of tourism.
With the onslaught of Taliban and jihadi culture in this country, I would suggest that the ministry of tourism shouls be abolished. Money wasted on this ministry may be utilised elsewhere. After all there is no ministry of tourism in Saudi Arabia.
KHALID RASHID
Rawalpindi
THE immense problem for the students of Intermediate level is their huge syllabus, especially in mathematics.
Both teachers and students find it difficult to complete their syllabus in nine months. Topics that are unnecessary should be removed from our syllabus.
Instead, concepts which help students in their practical life and those based on application should be included.
In this way, the students will get attracted towards their studies.
MIRZA ZAEEM BAIG
Karachi
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