India’s untenable stand
INDIAN leaders present various comments and arguments to justify their stand on Kashmir, which are also echoed in their TV talk shows and debates. These basically include:
The Maharajah of Kashmir acceded to India in October 1947. If this was the case and decisive factor, what were the UN resolutions all about?
The constituent assembly of the Indian-held Kashmir enacted accession to India in 1954 — This assembly was contrived by sham elections and policy continues till today.
Pakistan did not withdraw its forces from Kashmir to enable the plebiscite to be held. On a TV newscast about two years ago, I recall Vajpayee expressing how long they should be expected to wait for Pakistan to withdraw. Last year in a televised press conference, I recall their foreign minister Jasvant Singh, to a question on the plebiscite, reminding the reporter that Pakistan was required to withdraw its forces. But UN resolutions 47 and 51 required both countries’ forces to simultaneously withdraw in stages, monitored and coordinated by a UN commission. This was stalled by India.
The Simla agreement of 1972 required differences to be settled bilaterally. This is in para (ii) of the 1st part, which India states supersedes the UN resolutions. There is also para (i) which states that the Charter of the UN shall govern the relations. I understand this to mean respecting the UN resolutions. Para (ii) of the 3rd part also states that both sides shall refrain from use of force in violation of the LoC. India did not respect this when occupying about 2,500 sq-kms in the Chorbat La, Siachen and Qamar sectors.
The UN resolutions are outdated. In a recent TV newscast I heard this being stated by Jasvant Singh, which contradicts his statement of a year ago, when he stated that the plebiscite was not held on account of the withdrawal issue, not that the resolutions were no longer valid.
None of the above points are interrelated, but rather contradictory to each other. It appears India is trying to use each and every argument it can think of without presenting one solid irrefutable point to justify its stance.
With regard to the international calls for dialogue, even when this was in progress a few years ago, Kashmir was evaded on the pretext of discussing all ‘other’ issues.
Till the Agra summit in 2001, India insisted on not regarding Kashmir as the central issue and discuss all ‘other’ issues. Now India is avoiding dialogue at all on the pretext of Pakistan’s alleged involvement in infiltration.
RAFI AHMED
Karachi
Why change the Quaid’s saying?
THIS refers to the letter by Hassan Aziz Syed ‘Why change the saying’,(July 12). I am afraid the PTV commercial he refers to was correct. I cite the Quaid-i-Azam himself in person and describe the setting in which he gave his exhortations.
At the end of a train journey in which I had the rare opportunity of travelling from Delhi to Lahore next to the Quaid’s compartment, during pre-partition days, I witnessed the following scene at Lahore station. The platform was packed with a sea of humanity, mostly young men. A part of the crowd was respectfully standing in front of the door of the Quaid’s compartment. They were very enthusiastic for the Quaid but very dejected and depressed at the negative political scene.
After greeting him, they told him that they saw no prospects of Pakistan as the Punjab Government (Khizar Hayat’s) was so antagonistic and obstructive.
The Quaid responded to them with great anger. He came down on the platform and asked them, in a flare of temper, Aray, yeh Pakistan koi Bambaee main banay ga? Then defiantly and emphatically he declared, Pakistan idhar banay ga, idhar banay ga, idhar banay ga. Stamping his foot and stick on the platform, each time he said, idhar.
The eyes of the young men brightened up at this superb confidence, but were still at a loss as to how it would come about. So they dared ask him. The Quaid called out to them saying, “Have faith”, and he gesticulated not with a finger pointed heavenwards, but with palms towards the crowd, fingers directed downwards. He moved them up and down as though he was exhorting the people to have faith and confidence in themselves and in their destiny. He repeated “Have faith, have unity and have discipline. With faith, unity and discipline, your problem will be solved. Taalay main saheeh chabi lagao, tala khul jaye ga!”
The crowd now fully brightened up, having imbibed this transfusion of confidence. So the Quaid’s motto was Faith, Unity and Discipline. However, he himself occasionally changed the order, putting faith last, as when he addressed the students of Islamia College, Peshawar, on April 12, 1948. He did that as he wanted to elaborate on faith. “Faith not only in our selves, but in God who determines the destinies of peoples and nations.”
PROF MUSHTAQ HASAN
Karachi
No need for Machiavelli’s ‘prince’
IN his article ‘In defence of Machiavelli’ (July 27), Roedad Khan comes up with a few interesting arguments to advocate Machiavelli’s rather injudicious views regarding the nature of man and his inherent inability to be ruled and led by a leader less despotic and arrogant than the metaphorical ‘prince’ conceived by Machiavelli.
The ‘prince’ is supposed to be a patriot who has arrogated to himself the right to determine what is good for the state and the people and who is ‘ready to burn, to cauterize, to amputate’ without being bothered by ‘personal qualms’.
The defence relies primarily on the acceptance of two assumptions made by Machiavelli: one, that a person of sound moral bearings is intrinsically unfit for the job of a leader, and two, the inherent lack of scruples in the human species makes them unfit to be ruled by a person not willing to use the vilest tactics to force them into submission. If we accept these assumptions we are surely a doomed people.
It needs to be said that being conscientious and just is not synonymous with being weak and indecisive. Also ruthlessness and cunning of the ruler is no guarantee for a nation’s prosperity and progress.
It is true that mankind has been ruled through a greater part of its existence by monsters possessing the qualities professed by Machiavelli in varying degrees. But what good has ever come out of unjust despotic rule by patriotic princes who killed and plundered all in the ‘supreme national interest’.
Do we want more of the same or are we better off with a few blundering idealists who, by the sheer power of their principles and ideals, may yet save us from the abyss of unbridled patriotism?
NUSRAT BOKHARI
Islamabad
Shoaib Akhtar’s ingratitude
I AM shocked to learn that Shoaib Akhtar has decided to skip Pakistan’s upcoming international cricketing commitments to play for Lashing Cricket Club in England.
According to press reports, the reason Shoaib has given for not playing for Pakistan is fatigue. How does that square with playing cricket in England?
I also understand that the PCB has gone to great trouble and expense over his career. The only action open to the PCB is to slap a ban on Shoaib.
It would certainly be a loss to the cricketing world but no individual is indispensable. England had dropped Gough and Stewart when they refused to tour India.
I am sure Pakistan has a few quickies in reserve who should now be tried and Shoaib should be side-lined, allowing him time to reflect that it was playing for his country that has brought him the success and glory.
PHILIP LARKIN
Dallas, USA
The road ahead
THE battered, self-stalled, tired cavalcade of ‘Anglo-Saxon’ parliamentary democracy is once more struggling to get up to move for another uncertain rendezvous with national destiny.
But the stars are hardly well-aspected, for those who are anxious to get hold of the reins of power have still to learn how to put their necks under the yoke of the ‘discipline of democracy’.
Without being too cynical one cannot but have misgivings of the unfolding scenario after October 10 when even the basic chemistry of the clamoured for process — sense of responsibility, level of educations, maturity, integrity, tolerance — are missing at all levels of the body politic, and there are no signs on the horizon that there is tangible movement towards acquiring it with purposeful speed.
The ‘democracy’ that history has dismally recorded is of the variety that suited the feudal mindset and the interests of those who had no cash flow problems. It was certainly not the needed democracy buttressed by responsible political parties having firm moorings in the middle classes. unfortunately, again, the likelihood, very much, points towards our trudging the same barren route.
Indeed we are under great pressure from powerful forces to cleave to their long distilled form of democracy suited to their soil, climes and culture with their urgings clothed in pious altruism (?). But let’s call a spade a spade; surely in ultimate terms we have to move towards pluralistic democracy, but not with disastrous haste, with literacy at 40 per cent! We must move step by step; on a graduated trajectory.
In consonance with this approach we should look at the ‘Naqvi package’, only as an evolutionary and amendable prescription, with an open mind and with a problem-solving attitude acquired through productive debate and discussion and then leave those in the saddle — remembering that perfection is only the domain of God — to live by the logic of their decisions but with the assurance that opposing viewpoints will only assume a constructive, critiquing role.
This is not the time for squabbling; it is for closing ranks; it is for building mutual trust; it is to protect our very being. So let us stand solid, for the stakes are far too high.
M. J. AS’AD
Karachi
Treatment of MDR-TB
I READ with interest the news item, ‘TB referral labs’ (July 21). According to Dr Ghulam Nabi Kazi, WHO programme manager for Sindh, a chain of referral labs will be set up by the end of next month for timely diagnosis of Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) TB.
There can be no doubt that the number of MDR-TB cases are on the rise in Pakistan, entirely due to a failure to treat tuberculosis in an organized way.
Faulty prescriptions by doctors, poor compliance by the patient, either due to lack of awareness or inability to afford full eight months’ treatment, spurious medicines invading the market and over-the-counter sale of TB drugs are the main causes for the spread of MDR-TB.
Normally the cost of drugs required to treat a patient of TB for full eight months, is between Rs2.000 and Rs3,000. As compared to this, the cost of treatment for MDR-TB ranges from Rs200,000 to Rs300,000.
With the present state of public healthcare system in Pakistan, it is very difficult to arrange the enormous financial resources required to treat the growing number of MDR-TB cases.
In the JPMC, we are treating a small number of such patients by getting donation of drugs from a welfare organization — Khaadim-i-Insaaniat.
I am not sure as to what strategies Dr Kazi has in mind to treat such patients once they are diagnosed through these referral labs.
DR NADEEM RIZVI
President, Pakistan Chest Society (Sindh),
Karachi
Police assault on teachers
I WAS ashamed and shocked to read about the police assault on teachers in Lahore on July 29. Although this is not the first time our police has done something as ugly as this, yet beating, dragging and ripping the clothes of teachers is something which has achieved new heights (or depths!) of shameless and senseless brutality. That shows the state’s apathy towards one of the noblest professions, that too in a country where lack of education is the mother of many evils.
If this is how we treat the teachers, can we ever hope for an educated society in our country?
All governments (including the present one) claim to give high priority to education, but when it comes to action, all have failed miserably. Incidents like this indicate a much deeper problem; and unless the government and society as a whole are ready to set their priorities right, the situation is bound to get worse.
Another aspect of the incident is of course the way our police treats the citizens. The police is there to protect the life and property of citizens, but in our country (like many others in the third world), the primary function of such agencies is reduced to protecting the rulers. Life, property, self-respect and welfare of the common man don’t mean anything to them.
The Governor of Punjab is requested to take notice of the incident, and ensure that such excesses are not repeated.
Similarly, the federal minister of education is requested to take notice of this, and at least console the beaten up teachers (some of them female teachers).
M KHALID
Islamabad
KESC: some options
WITH one of the two serious parties, intending to purchase the KESC, being deep in trouble itself and the other unable to send its representatives to Pakistan due to their government’s restrictions on travel to this country, and the situation further aggravated by an additional loss of Rs17 billion to the KESC, let us look at other options.
The first one is for the KESC to launch a campaign for eliminating power theft by making appeals on the electronic media accompanied by steps for the removal of kundas, severe action against meter tampering and punishments to corrupt functionaries.
The second alternative is for the higher functionaries to have the courage and the decency to leave their jobs. The government can then assign the management to competent professionals with full powers and protection.
As a last resort, the enterprise could be disposed of for Re.1, as was wisely suggested by the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, to a buyer who comes up with a credible plan to resurrect this once profit-making enterprise.
WAJID NAEEMUDDIN
Karachi
Oil leakage
THE recent fire under the Teen Hatti Bridge has once again exposed the dangers to public safety which are often ignored by the authorities until disaster strikes.
This attitude is slowly, but surely, turning Karachi into a city full of hazards threatening the lives of the people.
Corroded oil pipelines passing through residential areas, also pose a threat that might lead to a disaster in the future.
Such a thing has already happened in the Seaview and Defence Phase-V areas. Oil had been leaking from these corroded oil pipelines, belonging to a nearby refinery, since long. But during the last six months the quantity and frequency of spillage has increased.
This has created a serious health problem for the residents of the area as oil has seeped into the water pipelines and has found its way into the water tanks of hundreds of homes.
People have contracted allergies and other health-related problems, while trees and plants have also suffered.
These leakages could lead to a fire or explosion.
We know that replacement of the entire pipeline or taking it along an alternative route, would be very expensive. But the management of the oil refinery must ensure that officials who supervise the repair work, exhibit humane behaviour and rectify the damage that has been caused by oil leakage and subsequent repair work.
AZIZ SUHARWARDY
Karachi
Pollution along the coastline
I WENT to the Karachi Boat Club the other day. It shares a common boundary with a well-known hotel. I and my friend were disgusted to see that tons of rotting garbage was moving from the hotel towards the sea.
The relevant authorities are requested to take notice of this and make sure that such dumping along our coastline is stopped.
This not only endangers marine life but also damages the much needed mangrove forests which are already dying.
ATIF ANWAR
Karachi
Frere Hall
THE Frere Hall Garden has been closed to the public for six weeks and there seems to be no chance of its being reopened in the near future.
Now it appears that Pakistani civilians will have to obtain US visa to visit a park.
SHAHABUDDIN GILANI
Karachi
Expressway and evacuees
THIS is with reference to a news item ‘Expressway dislocation: government vows to rectify grievances of victims’ which explains the government’s point of view.
Development projects and community should not be in conflict. And if they are, then there must be something very wrong with the development project.
Due to this belief, I have been giving a little support to the people being affected by the project and facing the inhumane demolition and destruction of their houses, shops, businesses establishments, etc.
The demolition operation has affected all in the way of the Expressway most of them obviously from lower class.
Having followed developments since January, I am surprised at the government statements which appeared to be confused and far from reality. Four points are sufficient to show this: One, the government claims that people are misinformed as the Expressway will not be used for port traffic. On the contrary, the pamphlets, distributed among the people and containing details about the project, reveal that it will be used for the the port traffic.
Two, the government claims that affected people are being accommodated in a better environment (at Hawks Bay). When we visited the proposed site, it transpired that it lacks electricity and water. Water was being sold on donkey carts at a rate of Rs50 per drum.
The site is a low-lying area where rain water accumulates. There is no school within a radius of many miles.
Three, the government clarification gives an impression that Lyari settlements are all shanties. This is not correct. These ‘settlements’ have become developed areas having almost all amenities like water, power, gas, schools, markets, sewerage system, etc.
Four, press reports say that 1.8 million square metres of land will be recovered from the Expressway for development purpose. Can the Governor and the city government officials confirm this and give details about the use of the land?
They should visit the areas marked for demolition, meet the residents, visit the Hawks Bay site and stop relying on minuscule satellite images for their information.
RUBBY HUMA
Karachi