Perceptions about travelling to Pakistan

PAKISTAN is as safe for tourists as is any other country in the world. This was the upbeat comment by the Malaysian minister of culture and tourism during his recent visit to Islamabad.

But, judging by the e-mail replies of some western academicians, who were recently invited to come to Islamabad to attend a conference later this year, there is still fear in foreigners about visiting Pakistan, even though there has been no major attack on foreigners since the French engineers and the Daniel Pearl incidents.

The reply from one French scientist: “I’ve been strongly warned not to go because of security reasons. I’ve been told that only very special guests, like a large group of Frenchmen, can expect special protection from kidnapping. I’ll only be an easy soft target. So excuse me please. I hope to visit at another, more peaceful, time.”

When reassured that the security situation in Pakistan was not like that portrayed in the international media and that he would be overwhelmed by the hospitality here, the same French academician reiterated: “My institution just does not want me to go there. Their words are formulated as an advice, but in fact, they just do not permit this travel. They also said that since I have some Jewish blood and since terrorists (not the Pakistani government and the normal people, whom they say are friendly) can easily find this out on the Internet, going there is too dangerous. My institution does not want to have trouble regarding kidnapping of its employees. So they do not permit this travel. Sorry!”

From an academician in the United States came this reply: “Thanks for your invitation. I looked up for airline tickets on the Internet and could not find any economical tickets to fly from here to Islamabad...I looked up info on travel to Pakistan and read that the majority of international flights land at Karachi. The cheapest roundtrip to Karachi is about $3,360 (24 hours there and 34 hours back)!...I think the main reason for the high prices of air tickets to Pakistan is because the US airlines, and other countries’ airlines too, no longer fly to Pakistan.”

He added: “My university has deep financial problems (all universities here have now), and for the first time in the 23 years I have been here, there is no pay rise for the next academic year. Each college has also to cut its budget by 2 per cent and our dean has cut down our travel funds (and also closed down the university museum that employs 10 people).”

When he was asked to try Pakistan’s national carrier, this long reply came: “I tried to contact PIA and learned from their website that now they have direct flights from Chicago. Their Chicago website doesn’t work: it looks nice, all the buttons you may need are there, only they don’t lead anywhere. Even finding their telephone number requires effort...My attempt to call them came to nothing. I was asked to leave my number and message, but they never called me back. It was almost impossible to find out their prices. I finally got some information from New York but even they were cagey and said that the prices they quoted didn’t include some fees and payments.”

He continued: “I also tried the association of travel agents, where one can just leave our data on their website telling them you want to fly from here to there and at what dates. Within 24 hours, some of them contact you with their bids, and this is usually a way to get cheaper flights...On July 18, I left my e-mail address to these travel agents and said I wanted to fly from here to Islamabad, gave them the dates and said the dates were flexible. My message was instantly confirmed: I got two automatic replies that within 24 hours I would be contacted by many travel agents who would bid for my business. I am still waiting; not a single offer came. So I won’t be able to come this time. Let’s hope for a brighter future.”

He also added: “Pakistan is still on our Department of State notice that asks US citizens not to travel there after that US reporter Pearl was murdered in Pakistan. On July 16, they renewed this notice. Even the diplomats left (their families and all non- essential personnel). Because of that, there would be far fewer tourists and other travellers, and commercial airlines use this as an excuse to discontinue their flights. (Otherwise, if there were fewer travellers, they would have to lower their prices.) So I’ll have to postpone my visit to your country to the (as yet undetermined) future.”

In the same e-mail, the American academician also commented: “I’ve never seen such a devastating blow to Pakistan’s reputation...I live in a principally agricultural state. People here have great respect for my university because we have a strong football team. They raise chicken and, in the southeastern part of the state, grow rice. We are the biggest producers of both items in the States. I hear what they say. They say every criminal has plenty of excuses for his crime. If you feel wronged, you go into the street, catch the first passer-by, put a gun to his head, and he confesses that he is an Egyptian pharaoh, a CIA spy or an Antarctic penguin. Words are cheap. You kill him, and even if you were right, you automatically become wrong from this very moment because God gave you brains to use them, and you behaved like a 10-year-old child or a caveman. (I don’t mean you personally.) These guys hurt their country, hurt their people, hurt their religion, hurt themselves. What do they get for that? Moral satisfaction?”

“The airlines don’t exist to fly one professor from one country to another professor in another country. They need to carry as many people as possible, and a lot of people would be interested in coming to Pakistan trying to sell you whatever you might buy, or to buy whatever you might sell, or as tourists to see new places and make new friends...It is people like these who don’t fly to Pakistan now...This summer some of my students went to Greece, Turkey, India, Nepal, Malaysia - everywhere - in small groups. Tickets are cheaper for students; they can sleep anywhere, in a tent, even under the open skies unless it is too cold. I am not aware of anyone who went to Pakistan, although I am sure they would surely have loved to.”

Pakistan’s minister of state for tourism was recently reported to have said, in an interview with a visiting media team from Thailand, that the government planned to make the country a tourist resort by 2005. Judging by Pakistan’s security reputation abroad, the reputation of its international carrier, and the costliness of travelling to Pakistan, the government and its people will have a lot more to do to turn this ambitious goal into reality.

A man-made disaster

KAWISH this week analyzes the issue of the Badin catastrophe and argues that it was not rains but drains that flooded the tail-end district of Sindh and led to large-scale casualties, displacement and economic losses.

The paper recalls that before the construction of dams and barrages over the Indus, Badin was called the land of rivers as the Puran, Phulleli, Gooni, Sanho Gooni, Patihal and Kari rivers used to run through the district before going into the sea. As a result, the area was so rich in natural beauty that it was also called the land covered with vines.

Those days, Sindh had a natural network of lakes and waterways to drain out rain and flood water into the sea which was later not utilized. Rather, it was destroyed by the architects of the Puran Dhoro Outfall Drain (PDOD), Kadhan-Pateji Outfall Drain, Tidal Link Drain and the Left Bank Outfall Drain.

The local farmers, with decades-old experience of dealing with the water flow in the area, foresaw that the flawed layout and designs of the drains would not only fail to deliver but also invite an ecological disaster. They told the engineers marking the ways of the drains that since the KPOD was being dug in such a way that its tail-end was higher than the rest, it would lead to sea incursions during high tide. They also pointed out that the drain system did not envisage draining out of rain water during the monsoon. But their cries fell on the deaf ears of the engineers and consultants who predicted that the drain system would usher in an era of prosperity for lower Sindh.

However, Kawish asserts, time has proved that the apprehensions expressed by the sons of the soil were not misplaced. The wiping out of the Puran Dhoro (lake) led to the area between Digri and Kunri and this was repeated in half of Sindh. Moreover, frequent flowing of saline water drains in the opposite direction played havoc with the environment, destroyed natural water reservoirs and led to the rise of poverty in the area.

Kawish insists that this is not the first time that the drains have offered a way to the sea to invade the area between Tando Bago and Kadhan. This time also it is the drains and not the rains that have caused the catastrophe. The horrifying devastation once again proves that policy-makers tend to neglect natural factors while approving faulty development projects and it is the poor people who have to pay the price.

Ibrat comments on the proceedings of the latest Indus River System Authority meeting.

The paper says that it was hoped that by virtue of having equal representation of four provinces, Irsa would be instrumental in ensuring judicious water distribution, but its performance reveals its tilt towards Punjab. Now also, Irsa considers the benefits to be reaped by Punjab by the Kalabagh dam and Thal canal projects, and ignores the disaster they will bring upon Sindh.

It argues that the water agreement on the basis of which the dam and the canal projects are being advocated is not a divine document. Besides, only those parts of it are being implemented which are beneficial for Punjab. Otherwise, the agreement also calls for conducting a study on water release downstream Kotri but a decision on this has been delayed for years. In these circumstances, what is the importance of the accord, the daily asks, and adds that those advocating the disputed projects are harming national unity.

Sach takes up the issue of the outbreak of gastroenteritis in different parts of Sindh after the rains and points out that the collapse of the sewerage system in the urban areas and consumption of polluted rain water in the rural areas are contributing to the spread of water-borne diseases. The daily proposes that a well-coordinated contingency plan should be immediately executed to prevent the further spread of diseases and provide treatment to patients of the remote areas at their doorstep.

On an international note, Awami Awaz writes that after the refusal of the United Nations to be involved in the military occupation of Iraq, the Pakistan government, apparently at the behest of the United States, has said that it would be ready to send troops at the request of Iraq’s governing council. The paper advises the government not to be trapped in the Iraqi quagmire in the first place and if sending troops is seen as unavoidable, it should table the proposal in parliament.