Madressah reforms

The Pakistan Madressah Education Board, under the control of the religious affairs ministry, was set up in 2002 to promote a modern and moderate Islamic spirit in madressahs. Another aim was to affiliate all the religious madressahs.

At present, three model madressahs (Islamabad, Sukkur and Karachi) are working under the madressah education board whose job is to conduct examinations of the madressahs under its control, as well as of privately-affiliated madressahs (so far 105 have been registered).

Regretfully, despite many requests and reminders to the board's administration and the religious affairs ministry, nothing is being done to conduct the madressah examinations. Even the course books for students have not been finalized as yet. A good plan appears to be losing ground.

The Model Deeni Madressah for Girls situated in the Haj Complex, Islamabad, has no satisfactory supervision. It is without a principal. Students are not properly uniformed, the meals provided to them are below standard, and no proper coaching is available.

It is being said that the religious affairs ministry is not interested in running the system and there is a tussle between it and the board. It's strange that the board has neither its own permanent chairman nor secretary. It also does not have its own building.

The impression being created that the clergy or mullahs do not want to be affiliated/registered within a system is wrong. The ministry and its subordinate board do not have any solid plan for these madressahs.

The annual meeting of the board's committee has been pending for more than a year. The academic council is doing nothing. It all shows the ministry's insincere attitude.

The madressah reform process can be effective if an independent or semi-independent body/organization, consisting of educational experts or scholars is established.

It can be an independent commission on the pattern of the Higher Education Commission or under the direct supervision of the education ministry but not under the control of the religious affairs ministry.

MATEEN HAIDER

Gujranwala

Islam and the West

Mr Khurram Haneef (Jan 26) seems to be allergic to the phrase "Islam and the West". The phraseology has been developed to indicate the relationship between Muslim (Islamic) and western countries spearheaded by the US because Muslim countries have been the victim of the West for the last over two centuries in general and since the end of World War I in particular when the Ottoman empire was dismembered by the West and Muslim lands were occupied or divided into smaller states and when Israel was created for immigrant Jews by driving the native Palestinians out of the territory.

Although the physical occupation of many countries ended after World War II, strategic control by the West continues. Now with the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq by the US, the colonial era of the previous centuries has returned.

Muslim countries have also been the victim of double standards of not only the governments of western countries but also of the western media. When Israel and India detonate atomic bombs, their nuclear warheads are not named "Jewish" or "Hindu", but Pakistan's nuclear warheads are termed "Islamic" by the western media.

The US now seems to be bent upon introducing 'democracy' in Middle Eastern countries, but when the Algerian people elected a government through a democratic process in the early 90s, America immediately came forward to ensure that the elected party did not take over the reins of the country and ultimately paved the way for a military take over.

How representative is the government brought now in power in Afghanistan with US connivance and how representative will the Iraqi government thrust on the Iraqi people in February be is anybody's guess.

Is it not strange that sovereignty has been returned to the Iraqi people but the US occupation continues? Nothing like this has come to the Muslim world from the East, and this explains why the phrase "Islam and the West" is used.

GHULAM MUHAMMAD

Karachi

MMA's misplaced mission

Some of the graffiti on the Sharea Faisal in Karachi shows how superficial the MMA's campaign against President Musharraf is. One slogan calls for closing down the St Joseph's and St Patrick's schools as they are "propagating Christianity".

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Not only do such baseless allegations show the calibre of our mullahs, they also reflect their true intentions - the clergy are bent on raising non-issues simply to be in the spotlight.

The above-mentioned institutions are distinguished in the field of learning due to their higher standard of education, dedicated and caring teaching faculties, etc. The fact is that none of the schools run by missionaries thrusts its religion on the pupils.

Muslim students are taught Islamic studies while Christians pray at the adjacent churches. However, these institutions offer free education to children of the Christian community and are run by grants provided by the public at large.

An alternative to these mission schools is either public schools and madressahs or private schools. Public schools are notorious for their outdated curricula, crowded classrooms, inefficient teachers and decadent infrastructure. Madressahs only teach archaic religious syllabi and are usually patronized by extremist groups.

Students graduating from some of these institutions cannot compete in professional life and end up being unemployed, disgruntled and at times ripe for terrorism.

Most private schools are run by people who are only interested in minting money. They hire unqualified staff on low salaries and operate schools in cramped vicinities. Some elite private schools which do offer quality education are too expensive for the common people.

Therefore, instead of targeting St Patrick's and St Joseph's on flawed grounds, the need of the hour is to provide support to the few prestigious schools that are available to us.

MISBAH NOMANI

Karachi

PPP and its followers

People like Col Rafi Nasim ("PPP and its followers", Jan 16) who continue to raise doubts about the performance of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto while in government are merely trying in vain to sideline and dilute the main national issue.

In spite of heavy pre-election day/post-election rigging, people continue to vote for the PPP as the single largest party of Pakistan in acknowledgement of its services to the nation and the country. The establishment had to resort to horse-trading to deprive the party of its legitimate right to rule.

The main national issue is, however, that of freedom. Why at all was there an independence movement if the British were ruling India well enough? The people of Pakistan are no longer ready to be ruled against their will under the barrel of the gun.

The price of liberty cannot be put in any balance sheet or budget, but hundreds of thousands of people continue to sacrifice everything they have for this ideal all over the world.

Col Nasim and other pro-establishment people are welcome to raise the performance issue in any forthcoming elections and they will once again find that a conscious people cannot be led astray by baseless propaganda.

What has earned Z. A. Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto a place in history is their commitment to the ideal of freedom and the sacrifices made by them for achieving this end This is a historic truth which "paid patriots" who have never suffered for anything that they proclaim cannot digest.

TAJ HAIDER

Secretary, Information, Pakistan People's Party, Karachi

The Balochistan dilemma

There are two parties to the Balochistan dilemma: the recalcitrant tribesmen and the army, both armed to the teeth, both ready for a duel, both itching to draw blood.

Who are the trouble-makers? Where do they come from and who sends them? Why do they abduct Chinese engineers? Why do they destroy government buildings and other facilities like the Saindak project and coastal highways? Why don't they want roads and highways built? Why don't they want schools, colleges and universities opened?

Is it something to do with the apprehension that modern facilities would weaken the hold of the sardars over the poor tribesmen? Some of Baloch sardars distance themselves from some attackers.

Nawab Akbar Bugti, one-time friend of former prime minister Z. A. Bhutto, and ex-governor of the province, has categorically said that they are not his tribesmen but independent people.

Even if we consider them to be independent people, why do these sardars and leaders say that the army should not retaliate against the trouble-makers? What is at stake? One suspects the sardars do not mean what they say. They are protecting the fighters by warning the government against a crackdown.

They warn the army that an operation like the one launched in East Pakistan may bring the same result. Though I favour a political solution, if an operation becomes necessary, it should be launched - not against the tribesmen but against their warlords.

S. M. KAZIM NAQVI

Karachi

Devastation of mangroves

In his article "Tsunami, mangroves and market economy" (Dawn, Jan 15), the writer, Devinder Sharma, has alerted countries having long coastlines like Pakistan to the danger of depletion of mangroves and coral reef surrounding the shoreline which can play an important role in breaking the fury of tsunami waves.

Unfortunately in our country these barriers, formed by nature to safeguard the coastal areas, have been subjected to devastation by the industrial effluent discharged in the ocean without proper treatment and by the rapacity of a builder mafia oblivious of the horrifying consequences.

The mangroves are being hacked by them to reclaim ocean land in order to construct residential and commercial projects. We have not even devised a forecasting or warning system for the people living in the coastal belt.

A few years back we experienced a great shock when a cyclone hit the coastal area of Badin and Thatta districts bringing much destruction to the lives and property of the people living near the coast.

Thereafter, as is the custom, newspapers published a few articles and editorials pointing out the flaws in our system and tried to rouse the conscience of those who matter in formulating policies to meet such emergencies. But no action was taken and with the passage of time the incident was forgotten and business went on as usual.

The city of Karachi, with a population of more than 10 million, is open to hazards as, on the one hand, it lies on the Arabian Sea with Kanupp located on the shore and, on the other, it is on a fault line in the seismic zone. Tremors were registered many times in the past, especially in the '80s and '90s.

We should immediately prepare a comprehensive programme to save the remaining mangrove forests and encourage the planting of more by creating awareness among the masses through the media and also develop a plan for modern crisis management and a warning system.

ALTAMASH MANZOOR H. KURESHI

Karachi

Cell phone use at gas stations

It is often seen that during refuelling people do not bother to switch off their cellular phones at petrol and CNG stations. This is a very unsafe practice in view of a cell phone's ability to produce a spark.

Cell phone batteries are high-powered ordinary ones and are not capable of preventing sparking. Moreover, the electromagnetic waves emitted by cell phones can create static electricity that can heat the surrounding air.

Manufacturers of cellular phones advise users to keep cell phones off during gas filling. The ministry of petroleum and natural resources in India has already banned this practice.

Oil marketing companies should arrange distribution of suitable pamphlets in this regard to each and every vehicle coming in for refuelling at their outlets. According to a report released by one oil marketing company, a driver in Indonesia suffered burns and his car was severely damaged when petrol vapours exploded after being ignited by static electricity from the cell phone he was using.

In Belgium, customers have been prohibited from using cell phones within 10 metres of gas stations and warnings are posted everywhere to remind people of the danger.

RASHID ASHRAF

Karachi

Cattle colony

Neglect of civic facilities like sanitation, electricity, streetlights, water supply, clean drains, etc., has reached its limit for the residents of the Landhi Cattle Colony, Karachi.

All roads in the cattle colony portray a dreadful picture. There is dust and pollution everywhere. Not only human beings but even the cattle are falling sick. It is worse when it rains. The hay market presents a depressing sight.

School vans are reluctant to pick up students from here as it is next to impossible to travel on the dilapidated roads. No ambulance can be called to lend a hand to a seriously ill patient.

Since the very inception of this dairy colony, out of 13 (roads #0 to #12) roads, only one road (#6) has been carpeted. The civic agency has collected more than Rs20 million in tax from dairy farmers on the promise that the money will be spent for renovation of the cattle colony. But no such thing has happened so far.

SHAHARUZZAMAN

Karachi

No cure for tall claims

Some diseases, no matter how they are treated, are hard to cure permanently. But management is always possible to mitigate suffering and to improve the quality of life of the person affected.

A number of commercials are now invading our TV channels from so-called professors and gold medalist homoeopathic practitioners from Lahore and Faisalabad who claim to offer guaranteed cure for such diseases as cancer, diabetes, alopecia, AIDS, hypertension and palsy. They also offer a ready-made formula for increase in height or for loss of extra weight.

Some credibility is required to justify treatment claims. Claims for permanent cure of diseases that are incurable should not be publicized on electronic media.

M. SHAFIQUE AHMED

Karachi

Population control

Like the Republic of China, we, too, should adopt a one-child population planning policy, according to which each couple is persuaded to have only one child.

Unless we bring down the birth rate to one per cent annually, our survival would become difficult as the population will double in only 30 to 32 years and we do not have sufficient resources to support such a huge population. The increasing population growth rate is a serious issue, and we should chalk out a policy according to our needs and circumstances.

SAALIM SALAM ANSARI

Karachi

Police terror

Two innocent brothers, running a car-wash station in a Karachi area were shot dead, their families humiliated and their house looted in a police raid. This is the terror that the common man faces every day and not the remote variety that our president says he is committed to fight.

The chief of the police justified the raid, citing the reported presence of some wanted person at the place. The bereaved family and neighbours were not allowed to register an FIR over the killing of the two innocent brothers.

The people of the city call for suo motu action by the chief justice of Sindh to order an investigation into the incident.

M. JAMIL

Karachi

Grave concerns

Graveyards too are now at the mercy of different mafias. On Eidul Azha, I went to a Karachi graveyard and while there heard an altercation going on. It turned out that somebody who was visiting his grandfather's grave after an interval found that the grave he was looking for no more existed. Instead, a new burial had taken place there.

A fresh headstone with a new epitaph was fixed on the old (now new) grave. The angry grandson decided as an act of vengeance to take out the new headstone and told the grave diggers present there to ask the family concerned to contact him or face severe consequences.

The final twist came when I saw the removed headstone. It had different epitaphs on either side - indicating that when the new body was buried, an old tombstone was used.

Some time earlier I had seen a marble tombstone lying on my mother's grave and had pointed this out to the grave diggers. Obviously, the headstone must have been removed from some other grave and was on its way to be sold as a new one with new engravings.

NASIR KHAN

Kuwait

A prisoner's diary

January 4, 2005 (Tuesday). Reached a court for narcotics suppression at 10am. The state public prosecutor (SPP) with his homework not done requested the judge for another date.

The judge was not convinced by the prosecutor's lame excuse but reluctantly accepted his plea and fixed Jan 25 as the next date in my case. I was back in prison for another three weeks.

There are over 5,600 prisoners in the Karachi Central Prison and everyone has the same story. The prisons will continue to be overcrowded unless the judicial system is streamlined and a code of conduct is prescribed for the state prosecutors.

UNDER-TRIAL PRISONER

Karachi Central Prison, Karachi

Bad batting

In the recent Test and ODI series in Australia, our middle order batsmen did not perform well. One player that has to be pointed out is Yousuf Youhana. With his experience he should bat well but his performance has deteriorated in the past one year.

The selectors have to find a good middle order batsman to make the team a fighting unit.

KHAN-E-ALAM

Karachi

Street names

I want to draw the attention of the authorities concerned towards the absence of street names in various sectors of Islamabad, posing great hardship to visitors. The authorities are requested to name all streets.

MUHAMMAD ARIF CHUGHTAI

Islamabad