Where are these U-turns leading us to?

The most disappointed Pakistanis today are those who had thought that once he gets going General Musharraf and his magic wand would set everything right — bring in genuine democracy, cleanse the country completely of all kinds of corruption, usher in the rule of law and make the US deliver to us all kinds of free lunches and Kashmir, too, to boot. They had not reckoned with his pragmatism mantra!! Neither were they aware of the lengths to which the US would go to protect its national interests. When these people see the company that Musharraf has selected for himself from among the Pakistani politicians and also see him maul the rule of law to save Pakistan from Pakistanis, their disappointment gets degenerated into desperation. And when he tells them that the only democracy that suits Pakistanis is the one that was practised so successfully first for 10 long years by General Ayub and then for eleven long years by General Zia, their desperation turns into an outrage. And when he tells them that he is totally incapable of getting Pakistanis residing in the US off the host country’s immigration laws they feel totally betrayed. But their sense of betrayal or outrage is not going to make any difference either way, to him or to the US.

Those who had warned the nation what dire consequences were in store for it when Musharraf took over on October 12, 1999, too, seem to be a disappointed lot today. Not because they found him failing to come up to their expectations but because he had surpassed even their expectations and seem to be taking the country straight to where Ayub and Zia had taken it before they came to the end of their respective tenures. Ayub’s so-called golden economic period ended in the dismemberment of the country following an ignoble defeat of our armed forces at the hands of our enemy No.1 — India. Zia’s golden economic period took the country straight into the land of drugs, guns and never ending lawlessness. Musharraf has already taken care of whatever little was left of our superior judiciary. And his pragmatism has brought in the worst of the political lot to power. And both of this he has succeeded in passing off as the essential ingredients for the formula he has concocted to bring in genuine democracy and keep away for good future military adventurers. And like his predecessors, he too has presented the American dole-related relative improvement in the economy as the very manifestation of reforms he has introduced. And now he wants the nation to see this as his golden economic period and has even announced that the economy was all but poised for the long awaited take-off!!

Pakistanis do not take on their military presidents. Instead, they give them all the rope they need to hang themselves in due course of time. In this way they have taken care of three such overt usurpers and, perhaps, about as many covert ones. Musharraf, too, is seemingly getting all the rope that he wants. The people at large are likely to remain silent spectators. They know what would happen to them if they intervene. They have seen the fate of their Bangladeshi brethren in 1970-71. They know how the Balochis suffered at the hands of our armed forces during the decades leading to the 1970s. The Red shirts of Ghaffar Khan have also not forgotten their lessons. The Sindhis have not yet forgotten what they had learnt during the MRD movement at the hands of the armed forces. The 1992 invasion of Karachi and its occupation until December 1994 has taught the MQM all the lessons that they need to learn. So, Musharraf need not have worries about being forced to give up his uniform. Nobody is insane enough even to contemplate doing so.

Musharraf wants the nation to believe that it was he who has made all the difference between being a failed state and what Pakistan is today despite the 9/11, the long-drawn drought and the Indian war threats. May be he is right. But then except for the drought which is a natural calamity the other two calamities were brought upon Pakistan by the very foreign policy that he himself had reinforced after coming to power on October 12, 1999. Like his predecessors Musharraf too was convinced of the need to maintain and sustain the “strategic depth” in Taliban-dominated Afghanistan. And again like his predecessors he too was convinced of the efficacy of the policy of bleeding India in occupied Kashmir. The 1990 militancy-dominated Kashmir policy of Pakistani Army had promoted its Taliban-friendly policy, the Taliban-friendly policy in turn had sustained its militancy-dominated Kashmir policy. When the Taliban policy collapsed with his historic U-turn, he should have immediately changed the Kashmir policy as well and taken a U-turn on this policy too which he did not do in time and that was why we found ourselves facing war threats from an emboldened India until he did a U-turn on this policy too.

Musharraf is right when he says that Pakistan stands friendless today. The proverbial US tilt towards Pakistan has vanished for good. Almost all the Muslim countires seem to have come to the conclusion that it would be mutually more beneficial not to let their sympathies for our Kashmir problem influence their India policy. He is also right when he says that no one will come to our help if we are in trouble. We have to fend for ourselves on our own. Who has brought us to this sorry pass? Not the much maligned politicians. They never had anything to do with the foreign and defence policies of the country, especially those policies which related to Kashmir and Afghanistan. In fact those politicians who tried to tinker with these policies were declared security risk! The Armed Forces of Pakistan are reaping the harvest which they themselves had sown. But then, the Generals do not seem to have learnt their lessons. They still think that they have the absolute right to think for the nation. And Musharraf thinks that he had done the right thing by taking a U-turn on Pakistan’s Taliban policy after 9/11 and a U-turn on Kashmir policy after 13/12 but does not know how the US would treat Pakistan after it would take care of Iraq. That is why, perhaps, he wants to take a U-turn on Pakistan’s Iraq policy as well. One only hopes that he does not end up taking a U-turn, in due course of time, on his Pakistan policy itself.—Onlooker

Ustad Fateh complains of neglect

Who does not know classical music maestro Ustad Fateh Ali Khan. A recipient of Pride of Performance, Sitara-i-Imtiaz and TK Class 1 awards, the Ustad is a known figure in the subcontinent because of his half-a-century long commitment to classical music.

Unfortunately, this legendary singer is now leading a life of seclusion, with poor financial conditions.

“I feel neglected and unwanted in the country that I have served with my life’s blood for the past 50 years,” Ustad Fateh Ali Khan said.

Invited to perform before the King of Nepal, Shah Mahinder, twice in front of the King of Afghanistan Zahir Shah, and most recently before the King of Norway, Ustad Fateh said: “It simply astounds him when Pakistan Television refrains from inviting me to perform. It has been more than two years since I was last invited,” he told Dawn.

He said he had been invited several times to the US and UK by the expatriate Pakistani community to set up an academy. But, he said he felt very upset on the prospect of even considering to leave Pakistan for good.

“This is my homeland and I do not want to be forced to leave it just for economic reasons,” he added.

“I am living in a rented house and feel constrained even when I have to pay only Rs5,000 every month as its rent. Whatever, I earn from the shows abroad I spend on the upkeep of myself and my family over here,” he said.

Eight years ago, India had offered him nationality since he originally belonged to Patiala family. But, he declined it, saying “I do not want to be like Adnan Sami Khan or Abdul Sattar Qari who made India or the US their home.”

Ustad Fateh said: “I have been promised by the government of Pakistan that an academy will be opened for me, but till now it seems as if only empty promises were made to me.”

Not having any other source of livelihood, he feels dejected by the manner in which he is being treated by all and sundry.

“I have tried to meet the prime minister twice, but to no avail,” he added. Disheartened, his family pressurizes him to leave for greener pastures, but he declines.

Salamat Ali Khan, Amanat Ali Khan and other classical music performers have died and I am the only one who is left behind. Therefore, I feel it my responsibility to carry on before this art goes totally into oblivion. However, I need to have an incentive to stay. What good are these awards if he is denied each and every sort of facility by the government,” he said.

“Why songs of Fareeda Khanum, Mehdi Hassan and Iqbal Bano are not being played on the TV.”

This way our youth is going to be totally unaware of whatever heritage we have.”—Sadia Bokhari

More from The Statesman

HERE are a few more excerpts from The Statesman, 1875-1975. The book was gifted to me by a friend who lives in Karachi.

April 6, 1902.

The Madras Mail, in a recent issue, makes out a strong case for a substantial reduction in the rates for press telegrams in India. The public will probably be surprised to learn that these rates are at present more than four times as high as the corresponding rates in England — 32 words, that is to say, for a rupee, against 100 words for a shilling. Now, not only is there no good reason for this startling disparity to the disadvantages of the Indian press and public — and much more to the disadvantage of the public than of the press — but the weight of argument is the other way. It is true that the average distance over which messages are transmitted is greater in India than in England, but the difference in this respect is more than compensated by the comparative cheapness of labour in India. From every other point of view the case for a cheap press service is even stronger in India than in England.

July 8, 1902

Swami Vivekananda, whose somewhat sudden death on July 4 was announced in our columns of Sunday, was a comparatively young man, being it is said by those who knew him intimately only 39 years of age. He was the son of Babu Bissonath Dutt, managing clerk of Messrs Temple and Friend, a well-known firm of attorneys which has ceased to exist.

Norendro Nath Dutt — for such was the late Swami’s proper name — received his education in one of the many native schools of Calcutta, but did not pursue his studies further than the Entrance Examination. Shortly after leaving school he was attracted as indeed, were many others besides himself, by the teachings of a man named Ramkrishna Paramhangsa, a warm devotee of the goddess Kali, who taught in a temple at Dakhineswar, near Barnagore. Ramkrishna was a man noted among the Hindu community for his pieties and austerities, and young Norendro Nath became one of his disciples, while here, it is said, he mastered evidently from the English translations, the mysteries of the Vedanta philosophy. Norendro Nath then went to Madras, where he stayed several years, studying in one of the famous temples of Madura belonging to the Raja of Ramnad. When it was announced that in connection with the Chicago Exhibition there would be a parliament of Religions, the Raja of Ramnad and other leading Hindu gentlemen of Madras decided to send Norendro Nath Dutt to it.

The address at the parliament attracted immense attention. The Swami was not exactly an orator, but he was gifted with a singularly fluent and apparently convincing method of speech.

With the help of subscriptions, most of them received from England, he started in memory of his former instructor the Ramakrishna Mission, which did much good work when plague first broke out in Calcutta.

The Math or temple on the banks of the Hooghly at Belur in Howrah was purchased, and several orphanages established. Sister Nivedita who is now at Almora, is one of the principal disciples of the Swami.

November 25, 1902.

Herr Alfred Krupp, the renowned gun-maker of Essen is dead, at the great age of ninety years. For half a century his name has been a synonym for the last results and the greatest enterprise in the manufacture of the weapons of modern war, and the vast concern which he directed was beyond doubt the largest industrial undertaking in the world owned by a single man. He was the son of an artisan who failing to obtain adequate support in the manufacture by a process of his own inventions, of a steel which he claimed to be equal to the best from Sheffield, died a disappointed man, leaving his secret as a legacy to his family.

February 10, 1904.

The news received in Calcutta yesterday that war between Russia and Japan had begun with an attack by Japanese torpedo boats upon the Russian Squadron at Port Arthur may prove to be the most momentous of possible news for the epoch in which we live. It is the first scene in a world drama of which no eye can see the end. It opens a new chapter in history, a new experience in the international conflict, a new development in the relations between East and West. The dread trial of strength upon which the two powers have entered is charged with incalculable issues. Never before in the modern world has an Asiatic people challenged a great European power upon equal terms; never before have two fleets of modern warships equipped with all the diabolic engines of scientific warfare come to the grapple; never before have the neutral or allied powers in Europe been placed in so terrible an uncertainty. The bare attempt to realize the possibilities of the struggle for Great Britain is stupefying to the imagination, and, we conceive, the great majority of British people will be content for the moment to watch the initial stages in silence. As regards the general sympathy of our fellow countrymen there can be no doubt; Britain is heart and soul with the little nation which for the past two years has been her ally. So far the news is meagre, but one fact seems to be clear, namely, that although the attack was actually delivered by Japan, the original act of provocation came from her enemy.

What and wherefore of Madaris

WHO would have thought that in Sindh province we have more than a quarter of a million students in the religious Madaris. In Karachi alone there are well over 226,000 children in these religious seminaries that number 869. It would be interesting to know how many government primary schools we have in this city of around 13.5 million people.

Education Minister Marwat has lamented that of the 36,000 primary schools, 1,400 are one-room units with no boundary wall. Pathetic indeed is this state of affairs. In the whole of the province there are only 1,500 middle schools. Compare this with 869 Madaris in Karachi alone.

Even in the absence at the moment of the exact figure of primary schools in Karachi, one has to admit that the government of Sindh has long since ceased to be famous for its concern for education. With 1,248 Madaris holding 264,169 ‘Taliban-i-Ilm,’ Sindh may have the largest number of Madaris and their students per thousand than in any other province of this country. Bravo!

Thoughtful citizens have urged the government time and time again that, like other private educational institutions, these Madaris too be brought under some form of state supervision and discipline. Right now the education department of the provincial government is in the process of registration of private schools. Are the Madaris going to be included in this drive? If not, why not?

All education is to prepare the alumni for life — and better and ever improving life at that. Education has to be purpose orientated. At a certain stage, it has to be career-related. What kind of career these Madaris prepare their students for? The products of these Madaris are fit for no career except that of the muezzin in some mosque. In that position they become a charge on the locality, not an asset.

Recent experience strongly suggests that thousands of the students of these hundreds of Madaris provide battle-ready street demonstrators for agitating religious sects. At the drop of a hat you see thousands of these Taliban in the street, shouting slogans, disrupting traffic and life in general. They have a typical bearing and behaviour, distinguishing them from the rest of boys in society.

A cursory look at the findings of the survey recently conducted by the government reveals some disquieting features of these Madaris. What stands out is the sharp-edged sectarian nature of these institutions. It would appear that the Deobandis outnumber the other sects by a long shot. Deoband is an India-based chain of schools of religious thought. The Deobandis opposed Pakistan tooth and nail. Where it stands now is anybody’s guess.

The sect that stands second in terms of the number of Madaris it patronizes is the Brelvi. Here too the source of inspiration (or commitment) gives out a distinctly Indian flavour. Then there are the Ahl-i-Hadees with the Ahl-i-Tashee bringing up the rear. This would mean that our predominantly Muslim society is divided into four distinct sects, not united on its faith — Islam.

It is one thing to hold a certain opinion or commitment on the basis of educated and intelligently and honestly held perceptions. But to instill divisive tendencies in the heads and hearts of innocent children is quite another matter. It would amount to conditioning children before they are able to make up their minds as free and independent human individuals.

The fundamental question that we must ask ourselves is whether this is education or indoctrination? The two are antitheses of each other. This kind of education (if education it at all be) would create not thinking individuals but robots. It is time society addressed this question and found the correct answers. The next question, a direct corollary, is whether such Madaris should be allowed total freedom from social supervision and controls?

This issue is not to be confounded with freedom of thought or faith. Indoctrination is negation of education Here we are thinking of education. It would be agreed on all hands that education has to have a purpose. And that purpose primarily is to equip the student for future, for life with an elevated purpose. All other educational institutions are, or are being brought, under social control. Why not the Madaris?

Emphasis on purpose-orientated education is increasing by the day. The government of Pakistan has a special ministry to develop education in information technology. More and more importance is being given to this dimension of education that presupposes proficiency in English that is the language of tomorrow’s universal culture. The doors of the Madaris are closed to this essential discipline.

Another crucial question is about the finances of these Madaris. One should expect that the government survey has not overlooked this highly pertinent point. Who are the people financing these Madaris and for what purpose? Where they get their money from? Do they pay any taxes? What is the educational background and mental makeup of the characters backing these Madaris?

CNG — the New Delhi way

Personally one is all for using CNG, only if it weren’t for the ridiculously long lines at the few gas stations where you do get CNG. On the face of it there seems to be no better option than switching over to this very environmentally-friendly of fuels.

It’s much cheaper — some say it cuts the monthly bill of using their car by two-thirds — and it’s easy to install in your car. And if you have CNG, that does not mean you can’t use petrol. The only problem — and not all that major — is that the CNG kit is usually placed in the car’s boot so you can’t really use it for carrying large items like suitcases, etc.

So, in this context, it was very heartening to read this week that the city will soon receive its first batch of 50 CNG buses. A group of Pakistani expatriates living in Saudi Arabia have invested in this venture and have said that given the response they might expand the fleet.

Karachi’s public transport system has thousands of buses, minibuses, coaches and rickshaws and driving behind, or walking around, any of them can be pretty bad for your breathing. It’s another story that perhaps many Karachiites have become used to travelling in such toxic surroundings but surely everyone will welcome breathing in cleaner air.

Unfortunately, though, we do not seem to have an proactive judiciary like they have in India, and in this case specifically, New Delhi. Some years back, the Delhi High Court in a landmark judgement (on a public interest petition filed by the Centre for Science and Environment) ordered all of the Indian capital’s buses and auto rickshaws to switch from petrol to CNG. It also directed the New Delhi government to ensure that by a certain deadline all the vehicles had complied with the court order. There was the usual hue and cry and bus drivers and owners threatened to go on strike or kill themselves in protest. Go on strike they did, but the court and the Delhi government, refused to budge.

In the end, the residents of Delhi got perhaps one of the best things imaginable: a public transport system that was environmentally-friendly and did not choke them to death. Fifty CNG buses in Karachi is better than nothing but at best it’s a very small start and will hardly have any impact unless a significant portion of the fleet of buses, coaches and rickshaws switches over to using CNG. If I remember correctly some time back, there was even talk of a rickshaw that used CNG but nothing seems to have come of that either.

Will we ever get a public-spirited NGO here to file a petition with the Sindh High Court on behalf of Karachi’s coughing and wheezing millions?

Overheard recently at a high society wedding in Karachi: “Yaar, I have been invited to my secretary’s wedding in Korangi tonight but how can I get there? I have a satellite tracking system installed in my car, and my Toyota stalls the minute you pass the limits of Defence!” A convenient excuse? Or a sign that a brand new status symbol has arrived?

The carjacking epidemic in the city has made many car owners install this latest hi-tech gizmo, which allows your car to be tracked by satellite 24 hours a day. You can programme exactly where the car can or cannot be taken. If it ventures into unfamiliar territory, the car simply stops dead in its tracks.

That these new gizmos have snob value no one can deny. But there’s a danger that their proliferation could further divide an already polarized city between no-go areas and go-go areas.

While the system’s proponents argue that they feel far more secure after installing the device, there are some glitches too. A number of unwitting people have found themselves setting off for picnics outside the city, only to find their cars stalling in the middle of nowhere somewhere on the outskirts of Thatta. Stranded and out of the range of their mobile phones, people have had serious hassles getting their cars started again. Who says security doesn’t come at a price?

There are hundreds of cable operators in the city servicing hundreds of thousands viewers. However, the increase in cable services has not at all meant a corresponding increase in quality. The Notebook often receives emails from readers who complain about their poor cable service. Here is one from Neena Khan:

“The residents of DHA’s Phase II Extension and Phase VII are suffering these days due to the monopoly of Shalimar Cable in the locality. Since they are the sole cable providers in the area, they have resorted to cheap tricks. The quality of reception is extremely poor and most of the time you see or hear static on the screen. To add insult to injury they charge Rs 3,200 just to install a new connection and recently upped the monthly fee to Rs300. Also, they do not provide new connections to subscribers who want to make use of their own cable wire. As for the channels, there is absolutely no variety — the ones available are mostly Arabic ones, Sindhi (KTN) or old English movie channels like Hallmark, TCM and UK TV, just to name a few.

“The power supply is frequently shut off and at times we don’t get any cable for a day or two. However, we have no choice but to continue being their subscribers since they are the only licensed cable operators by the DHA in the area. In fact, they often broadcast strange messages in grammatically incorrect English to viewers, such as telling that the use of “heavenly” polythene bags had been banned by the DHA. Another recent message asked their ‘valued’ subscribers to be alert during the night and help them catch thieves who steal their cable amplifiers. As for their maintenance people, they are never there when you want a problem fixed but always there to collect the month’s bill.

“Other parts of Defence have more professional cable operators who offer more than 50 channels and good reception. Why can’t PEMRA take such cable operators to task instead of issuing inane warnings asking them not to broadcast Indian channels?”

Complaining about Karachi’s traffic problems and other civic sob stories in the hopes of redressal by the powers that be is an exercise in complete futility. However, being the optimistic souls we are, we keep at it, hoping against hope that our meagre efforts bear fruit someday. One particularly ugly blotch on the City’s face is the oft-snarled strip of road in Golimar that runs from Nazimabad’s Chowrangi to the Lasbela intersection.

This is a vital artery that connects the old district Central to Saddar and the commercial district. Quite a few office workers and students live in the areas of Nazimabad, North Nazimabad and New Karachi, and their places of work or study are mainly in Saddar, I I Chundrigar Road, M A Jinnah Road and the surrounding areas. This is the main route in to downtown, yet commuters more often then not face a hellish experience day in and day out while getting from their residences to their places of business because this critical road is often blocked or jammed. We haven’t even taken into consideration the God-awful state of buses and coaches yet, as commuters often risk their lives on these speeding corteges of death.

Causing the congestion on the road are the ceramics shops and plumbers, because of whom vehicles are often double-parked by the curb, reducing the reasonably wide road into a country by-lane. As usual, coppers turn a blind eye as they have more important matters to tend to (harassment of couples, extortion, etc). And if, God forbid, one of those hulking iron beasts we affectionately refer to as buses breaks down, it’s curtains for smooth traffic flow. There is no respite till the Golimar bridge with its magnificent placid blue Hala tiles (now sporting a brilliant red paan sheen and the remnants of many political posters and oddball graffiti) is reached.

So vexed are many commuters that a friend who lives in North Nazimabad and works at I I Chundrigar Road has started avoiding the thoroughfare at all costs, rather taking the more circuitous route from SITE, meandering through Garden East onto Tibet Plaza to get to work. Perhaps there should be a flyover built that starts at Nazimabad Chowrangi and ends at the Quaid’s Mausoleum to ferry commuters in relative ease and speed. Either that, or there should be a helicopter service initiated in Karachi to ensure citizens get to work on time. — By Karachian

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