Independence Day with a difference

AT the back of the mind are numerous priorities, preferences and problems that Pakistan has set its eyes on, and grapples with the challenges that come in its way. At the back of the mind are also the independence days that we have celebrated in the past, and on many occasions we have done so in very difficult terrain, to say the least. Tough people, Pakistanis!

Another Independence Day, the 58th such day in our lives, is here. One is certain that there will be such  discerning, contemplative citizens who will give at least  some thought to how the country is now faring. How the dreams of freedom and independence be realized and where have we failed? Questions and concerns of that kind. How different is the Independence Day this year from those in the past? This would, arguably, be a sound way to begin the analysis, if that is the goal.

This year, the 14th of August is a Sunday, and that makes a difference. Not just that a holiday has been lost, but that Sundays have their own mood and rhythm. So it is not a holiday in the traditional sense. It is a holiday with a purpose, almost. Think about Pakistan. Think about what needs to be done about Pakistan, for Pakistan. It is not a day to sleep through.

I am reminded of the Independence Day celebrations in the late ’50s and ’60s (when I was a student in Karachi). There was no phenomenon of the sale of the national flags all over the place. The Pakistan flag flew atop official buildings only, if I recall correctly. There was no selling of the flag in this popular festive manner, as a result of which there is this enthusiastic expression of patriotism, and nationalism. One citizen remarked to say that this shows how possessive the people are about Pakistan.

It would be interesting to see what the  media has to report  and reveal on the sale of the flags this year. How much more? But one hopes that citizens will show, once the Day is over and once the festivity  is over, and the routine returns, a respect for the sanctity  of the Pakistan flag. That, for instance, it will not continue to fly on their private residences and balconies, in weather beaten conditions. I find that a disturbing sight. Or that it will continue to flutter on vehicles of varied descriptions. It should be ensured that this does not happen.

In passing, as one reflects this way, a thought goes out to the national anthem that is played in cinema halls with an announcement asking the filmgoers to stand up as a mark of respect to the flag and the national anthem. Citizens have to be asked to do that! I find that too very disturbing, like I noticed that an English daily (on Friday) carried a photograph of a banner which had spelt ‘Jinnah’ incorrectly.

This made me think about the quality of education that we have been giving to youngsters. Even after 58 years of independence, we have not been able to have a uniform system of education in the country, which takes into account the reality of why this country came into being. As one says this, at the back of the mind is the thought that some of the very basic issues have not been settled still. This is a festival day and one does not propose to look at the unanswered questions. That is agenda for another day.     But what needs to be mentioned here are reports which mention (read complain) that school students in Karachi are still without textbooks. And that students of classes IX and X are the hardest hit. There is apparently no relationship between Independence day and textbook shortage. But, perhaps there is?

There is nothing new about textbook shortage in this city, or elsewhere in the country. As indeed there is nothing novel about the fact that there is an ongoing drive to enrol children aged 5 to 7 years in government schools, for what is being advertised as free education. The Punjab government did something on the aspect of raising literacy and educational standards like this earlier, and it is good to see that the Sindh government is doing something similar now.

On the subject of textbooks shortage, I spoke to a local educationist, a private school principal of over 25 years standing. She sounded somewhat disgusted, besides being disappointed, with this confusion about class IX and X examinations and textbooks. It was initially said that there would be seven subjects for class IX, but when schools reopened after summer vacations on the 1st of this month, the Sindh education department announced that there would be five subjects as per the old system. The result today is that the schools are confronted with a situation whereby they have the old class 9th system of education and examination, with textbooks relevant to the proposed new system. A final decision will come soon, it is  hoped. And students, teachers and parents hope that the textbook shortage will be over as well.

In passing, one would mention at least two newspaper reports suggesting that “city government fails to provide textbooks to students from class I to X. Free textbooks, that is. This is a reference to the realm of promise and reality. Well, in reality, there is no elected city government in place at the moment. Instead, there is an election campaign for the local bodies representatives. Indeed, this Independence Day is different from many of those in the past, in this respect too. Local bodies polls, scheduled for August 18 and 25, are bound to be interlinked with the mood of the Day.

Of course the predominant mood is so festive, and the city has the traditional scale of twinkle and illumination. Once again, there will be the conventional curiosity of Karachiites to go around, and walk and drive in the dreamy ambience of illuminations (private and public both). A cynical thought makes one wonder whether the private illumination is sourced from the kunda. Let’s leave it at that. Let’s celebrate!

But a dark thought enters the mind. It relates to the huge citywide power failure that the KESC gifted to the  Sindh capital earlier this week; its poorly maintained distribution and transmission system wilted under pressure and, what it called, a ‘cascading effect’. That aggravated the water shortage we live with (we also live  with promises, don’t we?)   But luckily for this city, that forever is crying out sewerage and garbage disposal and a sweeping of its dusty roads and streets dug up mercilessly and often without design, there was enough water to wash some of the roads.

It is this light in the tunnel, at the end of the road that is, that I want to sign off with … Happy Independence Day, dear citizens.

Monuments of neglect

ISLAMABAD has decided, yet again for the umpteenth time, to hand over the control of federally administered historical monuments to the provinces, with the Punjab government setting its eyes on some 147 of these. Two of the coveted monuments, the Shalamar and the Lahore Fort, were handed over to the province last year, with the Rohtas Fort, Texila and Harrappa now set to follow suit. All but the last one are listed by Unesco as World Heritage sites.

The demand by the province seeking control of these monuments was first made by the Sharifs during Benazir Bhutto’s reign. As expected, the latter resisted the move. When Nawaz Sharif came to power, the matter was all but forgotten. The present set of Punjab rulers, however, renewed the demand after they came to power. President Musharraf readily obliged, because he said he equated it with giving the provinces the autonomy and control over their assets as promised by the Constitution.

While Punjab was too eager to grab and run with the idea, other provinces only showed a lukewarm response, citing their inability and lack of expertise required to become custodians of historical monuments. The Frontier and Balochistan did not even have provincial archaeology departments, with that of Sindh being woefully ill-prepared for the move. The three provinces demanded that the federal government give them additional funds and staff to set up and adequately man their respective departments.

Punjab, meanwhile, had its archaeology department in place, although it was no better equipped than that of Sindh to take charge of the monuments. When the Shalamar and the Lahore Fort were handed over to the province last year, Punjab also demanded the transfer of the federal archaeology department staff to the provincial department along with their salaries and perks. Next, it demanded that funds allocated to the federal department for the upkeep of monuments must also be given to the provinces.

The situation now is that the federal archaeology department has a staff of over 1,000 on its payroll, while the total number of staffers at the provincial departments is about 250, most of them in Punjab. There was also speculation about the provincial government trying to allow limited commercialization of historical monuments to raise money for their upkeep and repair.

A Lahore High Court ruling, however, put an end to all such nonsense and restrained the Lahore city-district and the Punjab government from taking that route. Meanwhile, the Shalamar and the Fort remain in a decrepit state, with the government being a silent spectator. It was precisely for such reasons that Unesco had opposed the provincialization of national historical monuments. Evidently, the appeal fell on deaf ears of those making decisions in Islamabad.

TWO foreign students, Ahmad Ali, 21, and his relative, Shabnum Shagufta, 19, of Nepal, voluntarily left Lahore for India on Wednesday. Both were pursuing religious studies at separately run seminaries by the Jamia Naeemia. They said they had decided to leave on their own after Gen Musharraf announced the policy of expelling all religious students from the country by December.

While the prime minister has seconded the policy as abruptly as it was announced by the president, it fell to the Chaudhrys of Punjab to call for its review, despite an ambiguous stance taken on the issue by the interior ministry. Maulana Fazlur Rahman, whose faction of the JUI controls many seminaries hosting foreign students, has threatened to take the matter to the street if the decision is not reversed.

It remains beyond comprehension as to why such important issues are not tabled and debated in parliament. The matter supposedly has not even come up for discussion in the so far toothless National Security Council, which last assigned the formulation of the next NFC award to the president, and we are yet to hear its fate.

The ambiguity surrounding the expulsion of foreign religious students is as damning as the refusal in Punjab by returning officers to accept the madressah certificate as equivalent of that of matric. The decision was conditionally overturned by the Supreme Court, after the Peshawar High Court unconditionally granted acceptance of madressah certificates in the Frontier.

LIKE in previous years, the Punjab government has launched its annual Monsoon tree plantation campaign. The chief minister has said that a total of 13 million trees will be planted throughout the province this rainy season, 5.2 million of them by farmers in the rural areas. The CM inaugurated the campaign by planting a sapling and unveiling the plaque renaming the Racecourse Park after the former governor Ghulam Jillani Khan, earlier in the week. There was also some talk of restoring the tree cover of the denuded Murree hills.

All this is very well and one sincerely wishes the government every success in this endeavour. What baffles the mind is the fate of the millions of trees that we are repeatedly told are planted during such campaigns at least twice a year. Half the number of new trees we claim to have planted, say, over the past three years should have turned Punjab into a forestland. But what happened? Did the earth swallow them? Or was it lightening that struck and turned them into ashes, year after year?

SO it was some 19 medical stores in the city that were visited by drug inspectors and found to be selling spurious or expired medicines. Considering the size of Lahore, this is but a drop in the ocean. A number of other stores were said to be overcharging. While cases against the former have been referred to drug courts, the latter have been warned of action if they don’t mend their ways.

Overcharging by general-cum-medical stores is so rampant a menace that people have stopped protesting against the practice. You need only to go to a couple of such stores in your own neighbourhood and check out the different prices they charge for over-the-counter medicines or basic health and hygiene items.

Take the common Paracetamol, to use a generic term, a 10-tablet strip of which is sold in the market from eight to Rs15 a piece. Upon insistence, you may settle for Rs10 for a strip, but even then, remember that someone is pocketing the extra two rupees. To know that those who thus fleece the average man get away with only a warning is no less than a sin on the part of those issuing the warning. —OBSERVER