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Beating about the ‘Bush’ (I)
(II) THE heartrending and gripping article, Dear President Bush, by Rameez Rahman (October 21, 2001) was a great achievement. I appreciate his efforts in highlighting in minute details the events of the criminal activities meted out on Taiwanese, Japanese and now the Afghans. Mr Rahman has surely fulfilled his role as a Muslim and has followed the Hadith which states: “If you see something wrong, stop it through your tongue” and he has powerfully used his pen! Please go on doing this. FATIMA HUSSAIN, Karachi. Faulty forms Naeem Sadiq’s incisive review, How not to design a form, of the form prescribed for the new identity card, published October 21, 2001, provides an excellent example of the waste of time and effort in filling out various complicated forms. Such forms not only frustrate the citizens but also add to an overall level of inefficiency. A serious and comprehensive exercise needs to be taken to rationalize and simplify the forms required by various government departments. This can result in substantial improvement in the working of our public administration. The redesigned user-friendly forms would also help in improving the relationship between citizens and government. M. SHAFIQ, Karachi. Theories galore THIS letter is with reference to the article Theories galore, published on October 7 2001, by Asif Hayat Chaudhry and to the letter written in response to it by Shayan Elahi on October 21. As for the article, it was based on assumptions regarding the perpetrators of the September 11 incident. I personally feel that every human being has the right to discuss and express his/her views concerning anything. We commonly see this being done in Western and Indian media. I guess no one seems to object to the obscure views and assumptions that are made on these so-called international news channels against the Muslim world (either directly or indirectly) and against the nations who do not support them. As far as Pakistan’s decision of joining the coalition is concerned, we had to make this bitter decision and bow our heads in front of the so-called civilized world, the US, because of one basic reasons — our survival, which was at stake. If we have not provided our support, we would be labelled as a terrorist state for not helping or supporting the coalition. Then, a military attack on us from the `civilized world’ would have been justified as an attack on terrorists. Our major strategic assets would have been targeted and irreparable losses caused to the public. Besides, our most dangerous enemy, India, would have damaged Pakistan’s image, as it is still trying to. Moreover, if there had been anything left after the holocaust Pakistan could never have been able to gain the same position it enjoys now because of the isolation from the international community. No one can really imagine where we would have landed. Pakistan did not make this decision to gain something but to keep living. Foreign aid alone can not boost our economy. We need determination, commitment and honesty. Pakistan is our homeland and we have to take care of it by ourselves. Americans think that the Third World countries are hopeless and useless. Now the entire Muslim world seems terrorist to the Americans. Do tell me please, killing and crippling thousands of civilian Afghans, depriving them of food and sense of security, is it not terrorism? Were killing and crippling thousands in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Vietnam, Iraq, Tripoli, Palestine not terrorism? If someone kills your brother, you don’t kill the perpetrator’s whole family, do you? Especially, if you don’t have any authentic evidence. Is this justice or terrorism? SHAHNAWAZ NAIB KHAN, Karachi. | ||
THE article Dear President Bush written by Rameez Rahman, which was published on 21st Oct, 2001, was soul-stirring.|
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