Influx of Afghan refugees

AS the United States moves with single-minded determination to root out terrorism by capturing Osama bin Laden ‘dead or alive’ and dismantle his organization and the Taliban are equally determined not to hand over their guest, a human tragedy is unfolding. The Afghan civilian population is fleeing the cities to the countryside or to neighbouring countries, most of whom have closed their borders.

War-ravaged Afghanistan is economically weak to look after its population and the impending US action places them in a pathetic condition, uprooted from their homes with nominal resources, dependent on other countries for food and medicines. They face a bleak future with winter setting in.

Pakistan has been placed in a very difficult position. Refugees from Afghanistan are already crossing its porous and extended border and at the same time it has been obliged to allow the US and its allies to use its air space, share intelligence and provide logistics to root out terrorism. Its own economy does not allow it to host any further influx of refugees who arrived over 20 years ago and exceeded three million at one time. Although some have left Pakistan, a large number have settled here attracted by the common religion, language, customs and culture.

Pakistan is playing host to the current influx should learn from the past and insist on:

a. Confining the refugees to well defined camps and

b. Disarming them on entry into Pakistan.

In this way, their identity and numbers will be known, assistance will be confined to the registered arrivals and it will facilitate their repatriation to Afghanistan when conditions allow. The genuine refugees will be provided food, shelter and medical facilities which will be their prime requirement and the humanitarian cause will be fulfilled.

K. MUZAFFAR

Rawalpindi

Tax on bonus shares

THIS is with reference to a news item (Sept 23) about proposed rules for taxation on bonus shares. Has CBR really given some thought to this proposal ?

Even if the companies are able to collect the tax from their shareholders, some points need further consideration : 1. On what basis will the tax be deducted, par value or market price?

2. If the par value is taken, it would mean that the effective tax rate would be considerably above 10 per cent on shares which are trading below par.

3. If the taxation is determined on the basis of market price, shareholders in successful companies will be required to pay a very high penalty.

4. The assumption, in any case, is that bonus shares are directly exchangeable for cash. In a market as narrow as ours, this is simply not true. What happens if shareholders are unable to come up with cash to pay the tax?

They will be forced to sell at whatever price they can get. And what would the shareholders do with shares which have no market?

5. In a bearish market, this taxation would mean double loss to shareholders. They have lost much of their capital investment and they will have to dish out more cash as taxes.

MARIAM HALAI

Karachi

Is resistance terrorism?

I LOOK forward to Kuldip Nayar’s articles in Dawn. But his latest one (Sept 15), “What price safety,” has left me puzzled and dismayed.

He has lumped all acts of “terrorism” as acts of blind fanaticism. First of all, why is there such “fanaticism” in the world today? And why, by implication, is it only Muslim fanaticism and not Zionist or Hindu fanaticism that he is addressing?

Secondly, are all acts of “terrorism” just blind fanaticism, or is it just possible they are the desperate actions of a people who see no end to the injustices heaped on them by the most powerful nation on earth? There are several articles by western writers who are asking this question. I had thought that he, too, would have the heart and mind to see that this terrible tragedy had a deeper cause than just blind fanaticism/fundamentalism. Has he also joined the ranks of the likes of Huntington and V.S. Naipal?

Ever since the bugbear of the USSR has been killed the Americans have assiduously cultivated the bugbear of “Islamic fundamentalism”. It is not without cause that Muslims in foreign countries feel discriminated against. On a larger scale can he justify “Desert Storm” and the sanctions against Iraq? Or what is happening in Palestine? Does he not see that such tragedies are the causes behind “Muslim” fundamentalism?

In his article, he is peeved that the world (the US and Europe) did not take note of terrorist attacks inside India. They stood aside as India bled. The “bleeding” referred to is surprisingly only by Muslim terrorists. What created the fanaticism in Gandhi’s India?

One can understand but not condone acts of terrorism by the minorities, but when a majority ups and smashes places of worship in the name of redressing a wrong does he not think it is ‘terrorism’? What is happening in Kashmir?

Is it not some of India’s responsibility and culpability? Is it not time that the powerful of the world put some morality into their actions? If they do not, the weak and the terrorized will continue to respond with their brand of “terrorism”.

SONNA RAHMAN

Lahore

State of the economy

THE stock exchange, indicator of the national economy, is touching the lowest level, industrial and financial institutions are being closed in large number, rendering millions of people unemployed; foreign remittances are diminishing steadily, capital is flying out, net foreign investment is negative, national savings have rapidly declined and thousands of educated persons are fleeing the country. Inflation is more than 10% and people are committing suicide to escape hunger.

Yet, the finance minister, with no stakes, has the audacity to state repeatedly that heavens have descended on Pakistan and the country is inundated with milk and honey.

Majority of the people in Pakistan are illiterate. but they are not such fools as not to distinguish between fact and fiction.

S. M. F. HASSAN

Islamabad

Separate electorate

I ENDORSE the views expressed by Ch Jalil Ahmed Khan (Sept 18) in regard to the sectarian menace. He is right when he says that Pakistan can never be one nation as long as separate electorates are in vogue here. As such, joint electorates must be introduced without delay.

Numerous letters have appeared on this subject in Dawn, not only from within the country but also from abroad. The fear of the mullahs, however, has so gripped the government that it dare not take even a right step in the right direction. However, it is imperative now that separate electorates must be replaced because otherwise the nation can never achieve unity.

This system is the mainstay of sectarianism and mullahism. Our country can get rid of both if this anti-national unity system is revoked. I wonder at the cowardice of the government when it hesitates to abolish this entirely undemocratic system.

MUHAMMAD ISHAQUE SOOFI

Rabwah

Tolerant society

IT is shocking that the Peshawar University considers the teaching of subjects like history redundant to the needs of today and has decided to do away with them. But by studying history we know the past to understand the present and work for a better future and a tolerant society.

We will also be able to counter those who want to limit access to education under various pretexts, such as blaming it for the corruption of minds or being unsuitable for women. Furthermore they make colleges and schools hotbeds of political intimidation so that acquisition of knowledge becomes almost impossible. They then declare strikes forcing people to staying at home, with the result that the economy is crippled.

I am grateful to General Musharraf for presenting the Pakistani point of view so clearly last week.

Yes, it is time to think of Pakistan. Those who feel we have not done enough for Afghanistan over the last 20 years should go there to help dig roads, plant crops and de-mine areas for the benefit of the Afghans. They should do this instead of calling for strikes here.

We, in the meantime, need to repair the damage done by the influx of refugees accompanied by the drug and gun culture. And it is time to restore Mr Jinnah’s vision of Pakistan as a liberal, progressive and tolerant society because that after all was what the rest of us chose.

F. MOWJEE

Karachi

Biased Western media

RECENTLY, I was watching the programme ‘ Q & A with Zain Vergee’ on the CNN. I found that Vergee had some pretty strong preconceived notions.

She interviewed, rather interrogated, Hamid Gul, the former ISI chief and Shamshad Ahmed, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN. She was evidently trying her best to make the two men ‘confess’ that the mess in Afghanistan was of Pakistan’s making and also that the Pakistan army was divided over the stand taken by President Musharraf.

The news media, as I gather, is supposed to be impartial. But the anchorperson of that programme was trying to elicit responses from the two Pakistanis that suited her own, or perhaps the CNN’s line of thinking. This is just another example of how the so called free and fair Western media try to present a distorted picture to its viewers.

NARGIS SAMDANI

Karachi

Troubled waters

REFERENCE Irfan Husain’s article “Troubled waters” (Sept 15). The writer is correct in highlighting the plight of fishermen and the problems faced by the fishing industry.

The fishery sector in Pakistan has been grossly mismanaged. Our fishermen did not get the opportunity to develop their skills and techniques. As a result, this zone has been a subject of over exploitation, coupled with port congestion and environmental degradation.

All activities from landing to processing and export have been concentrated at one port, the Karachi Fish Harbour (KFH), with an addition of 200 to 250 boats every year to the existing fleet of several thousand trawlers against a number of 400 to 500 recommended by the FAO.

This scenario is not only damaging the already depleted marine ecosystem but is responsible for huge post-harvest losses. Out of about 0.5 million tons of catch landing, only 10-12 per cent is suitable for processing and export while the bulk is turned into low grade fish meal after local consumption.

The Karachi Fish Harbour was facelifted with European Union (EU) funding in the 80’s and an amount of Rs one and half crore was set aside for the welfare of fishermen.

The fishermen would not have asked for donation if the amount could have been used for their benefit as revolving funds.

The authorities responsible for the welfare of the poor fishermen should have the answer.

KHURSHEED-UD-DIN SYED

Karachi

‘Another crusade’

THE letter by Asma Rashid, titled “Another crusade” got an important fact wrong. She mentioned that General Schwartzkopf’s offensive against Iraq was called the Ave Maria. To set the record straight, the offensive was not called that.

Rather the tactic of hitting the Iraqis on one front, therefore making them think that the offensive was coming from the Saudi-Kuwaiti border, and then sending most of the heavy tanks through the desert to strike the Iraqis from the rear, several hundred miles to the west, was referred by the general as the Hail Mary, a tactic used very often in American football.

SYED IRFAN AHMED

Winder

Guns are not toys

SEVERAL pictures have appeared in newspapers, showing children holding toy guns in their hands. These pictures were taken during the anti-US processions taken out by various religio-political parties.

We are living in a global village where within seconds a picture may be transmitted across the world. If such pictures are published in the Western press, under a caption saying that we are training our children for combat — then what would be our reaction? Shall we blame the western media for fanning hatred against us?

Then there is another side to it. If our children are given toy guns to play with, what would they do when they grow up?

We have often come across news items about school boys in the US, where access to real guns is easy, shooting each other and killing a playmate. Would we like such a thing to happen here ?

It is time that we take a decision. We must make up our minds not to allow our children to play even with a toy gun because of the psychological effects that it might produce on the thinking of the child.

DR ALFRED CHARLES

Karachi

Separate camp

ONCE again we are to host a large number of Afghan refugees. To deny them our hospitality at this juncture, when devastation is staring them in the face, would indeed be inhuman.

But to ensure that our own house remains in order it is imperative that they be kept in a separate camp, with proper identification tags, and be regularly accounted for. In no way should they be allowed a free run of the country.

YUSUF ALI

Karachi

Training camps

DID anyone watch the video clips of the Afghan training camps? The best these commandos could do would be to join the guerrilla warfare in occupied Kashmir and similar other places.

It is downright laughable to say that this motley crowd could go about in Jumbo jets, blowing up trade towers. Have a heart, gentlemen!

KHURSHID ANWER

Lahore

A contradiction

A PICTURE on page 27 (Sept 26) shows the Afghanis watching a football match. The matter of concern is that how the Taliban could spare those “bare legged players” in the field.

As far as my memory serves, the Taliban deprived our football players of their hair for dress code violation. Doesn’t that rule apply to the players in that match?

KHURRAM AFZAL

Lahore

Wapda explains position

THIS refers to the news item captioned “Report sought on Wapda’s performance” (Sept 13).

For the comment that on a specific subject, Wapda issues different figures on different occasions it is clarified that Wapda issues reports, data/information to various government bodies as per routine for their use. The data for the current year is subject to change on receipt of the actual results of the previous months, which is updated in the following months. However, figures for the past years are historical data and verifiable from the audited annual balance sheet of the utility.

It has been reported that Wapda was given Rs 142 billion revenue target during 1999-2000 but it could collect only Rs 120 billion leaving a shortfall of about Rs 22 billion. It is clarified that actual revenue for 1999-2000 was Rs 137 billion against revenue target of Rs 142 billion. The reason for this shortfall was that the year 1999-2000 was a year of incentives for agricultural sector whereby concessions were given to this sector.

These concessions were allowed w.e.f. December 1999 on directions of the government of Pakistan, well after the budgetary targets for the same year were fixed. This resulted in reduction of sale price and thus revenue. However, revenue target for the year 2000-01 was successfully achieved i.e. against revenue target of Rs 165 billion, the actual revenue collected was Rs 175 billion.

As regard line losses for the year 2000-01, it is stated that Wapda had initially fixed a target of 26 per cent line losses for the year which were already 1.3 per cent less than that of the last year i.e. 1999-2000. Subsequently, Nepra in its hearing held in November 2000 set a target of 25 per cent line losses, when six months had already passed.

Although this was a very stringent target for Wapda to achieve within the rest of the year, through an exhaustive campaign and better management control it managed to reduce line losses to 25.6 per cent, which was less than the original target of 26 per cent. The figure of 26 per cent actual line losses for Financial Year 2000-01 as reported is, therefore, not correct.

With regard to the point raised with reference to the Planning Commission, it is clarified that line losses do not remain constant for whole of the year, rather they change from month to month due to seasonal variations and consumption pattern of different categories of consumers.

It has also been reported that 26 per cent line losses turn into Rs 62 billion annual loss to Wapda. The fact is that line losses comprise auxiliary consumption and technical losses in transmission and distribution of power, and as such, are inherent in the system. These losses exist in every utility elsewhere in the world. Therefore it is not fair to treat it as operational loss.

KHALID AHMAD

PRO, Wapda,

Lahore