A mosque in Minnesota

THIS refers to Mr Aziz Khalid’s letter (June 15). Perhaps what the writer did not mention about the history of this Minnesota mosque in the twin cities (if it is the same mosque) is that in the mid-’70s it was a church which was later on sold to some Pakistanis who were seeking to construct a mosque in Minneapolis. The church management wanted to sell their place of worship for the sole reason that the turnout at its Sunday services had started to decline.

Every Friday, I used to drive from my university at Mankato 75 miles south to Minneapolis. Muslims of all major and minor faiths (mostly students) from as far as Wisconsin, Iowa and South Dakota used to come for the Friday congregation.

The imam of the mosque used to be a very educated person and his sermons mostly related to social, cultural and fiscal problems concerning Muslim families in the new environment of community relationship in America’s open society.

We used to park our cars in the specified areas and there used to be a cross-marked area as parking space reserved for invalid worshippers. No one parked his or her car even if that specified parking place remained unoccupied.

During the summer of 1975 there was an advertisement by a local church needing caretakers for a year. Along with a Sikh colleague, I walked into the church for the job. After an interview we both were taken in and provided a two-bedroom apartment inside the church.

No worshipper or anyone from the church ever questioned our faiths or objected as to why as non-Christians we were living on church premises. Sometimes I prayed in my apartment but neither the pastor nor any other church official ever objected to a Muslim praying in the church. The only thing they were concerned about were the jobs assigned to us.

We are still not an open society, in our religion and faith, simply because its interpretation is given to those who either have very limited knowledge about other worlds and religions or are too conservative due to a constrained environment.

In the US, there is a precondition of a four-year college degree in religious science for those who want to devote their careers to preaching and serving Christianity. Along with studying religion, one also has to study other religions as well as all other scientific subjects, even sports.

My old friends who communicate with me from the US believe that it is being wrongly and deliberately projected in Pakistan that nowadays the Americans hate Muslims. However, in some area,s Arabs and Pakistanis are not liked, but this is the aftermath of 9/11 and is but natural.

It is held that the 9/11 suicide bombers were all Arabs and had passed through Pakistan. The damage done to Islam by certain unwise clergymen would take time to heal.

In the meantime we as a nation may ponder the reasons and causes as to why we Pakistanis carry a certain stigma in the eyes of the free world on the subjects of jihad, suicide bombing and terrorism?

As far as the ‘brothers” and the ‘sisters” in the US are concerned, those living 30 years back were definitely more community-friendly and law-abiding citizens.

KUNWAR KHALID YUNUS

Islamabad

Armed forces’ role

THIS is with reference to Ms Asma Jehangir’s address at a seminar in Karachi (Dawn, June 4). Ms Jehangir has often spoken of safeguarding the rights of ordinary citizens, and is respected both at home and abroad. But it seems that at times she tends to transgress those ethical boundaries of which she proclaims herself to be the guardian. Her latest statements about the army have deeply hurt many, especially those of us who have seen the 1965 and 1971 wars from close quarters and witnessed the transformation of the flesh and bones of their friends into ashes.

She has desired to try all those army generals, living or dead, who have interfered with the Constitution. It is a wonderful idea. I surmise that the overwhelming majority of serving and retired officers and men will support this idea. But do include in this trial all those responsible for creating situations when the armed forces had to intervene. Also, try to find 10 unprejudiced, knowledgeable, respectable and acceptable individuals from Khyber to Karachi who can be asked to constitute a court for this trial.

She has also recommended that all armed forces personnel working in civil appointments should be removed. Right from British times, members of the armed forces have been sent on deputation to civil posts or sought a job on their own merit. Most of the officers and men who retire from the armed forces are in their 40s and 50s. It is only a few of them who get absorbed in civil appointments. These men are part of this nation and have a legitimate right to live. Ms Jehangir’s plea to expel any group of individuals from the orbit of the human race negates those very values which she so ardently preaches.

She thinks that the MMA and the present government are only the observe and the reverse of the same coin. I pity her vision. The danger from extremism to our internal security is real and the present government has nothing to do with its creation. When young men of this country were fighting for decades under the umbrella of jihad for the satisfaction of a superpower, for the destruction of another superpower, none of our human rights activists raised their voice.

BRIG (retd) KHALID

HASSAN MAHMOOD

Karachi

Retaining old names

THE city district government of Lahore has done well to decide against changing the names of city roads.

Among those up for renaming was Guru Mangat Road in Gulberg. A number of people had got together and put up banners, announcing that the road had been renamed Alkhair Road. The new name could never have been accepted by the citizens of Gulberg, where buses, rickshaw drives and residents alike are known to refer to the entire area as Guru Mangat. Thank goodness, the madness has been nipped in the bud.

Despite official ramblings to the contrary, for years now McLeod, Queens, Lower Mall, Jail, Davis, Durand, Empress, Ferozepur, Lawrence and many other roads have been continued to be called by their original, pre-independence names. Even The Mall and the Charing Cross have remained just that, official preoccupation with a narrow-minded interpretation of history notwithstanding.

In a city that itself was named after the mythological god Rama’s son Loh or Lahu, such things make no sense whatsoever. Lahore is expanding at a fast pace and new localities are being built in all directions. Why can’t those who wish to name roads and streets after their heroes create tree-lined boulevards and planned neighbourhoods that can then be so named?

By building and leaving behind prestigious hospitals and , institutions, it was citizens of Lahore like Sir Ganga Ram, Diyal Singh and Gulab Devi who deserve to have those places still named after them. Similarly, the colonial rulers gave us Mayo Gardens, Mayo Hospital, Lawrence Gardens, Lady Willingdon and so many other places of public good. These deserve to carry the names they do.

Any attempt to disown history always backfires by depriving a people of natural links to their own heritage. A lot of damage has been done by removing pre-Muslim history from our school syllabi. This also needs to be restored in the interest of future generations. Tolerance demands that history and historical names be given their due recognition, as is the case in most Muslim countries that have a past to be proud of.

MARIYAM and DANIYAL ALI

Lahore

Management fee

IT is disturbing to note that no action has yet been taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan regarding the management fees. A proposal to this effect was made on Nov 22, which was as under: The management fee of three per cent on net asset value is very high and must be scaled down to one per cent. Everyone is aware that in the recent past NIT and ICP were allowed to charge only half per cent as management fee on the net asset value.

Alternatively, it must remain three per cent to be charged by the asset management company on net profits earned by the mutual fund at the closing of their financial year in lieu of the net asset value.

If the mutual fund incurs losses in any year, no management fee is payable to the asset management company because it will result in enhancing the amount of losses of mutual funds. Hence, there will be no dividends for investors unless the losses are wiped out in coming years. The shareholders’ meeting of mutual fund must be made compulsory for each year as of other listed companies on the exchange.

The average sale and purchase price of each scrip bought and sold during the financial year by the mutual fund is to be disclosed in the balance-sheet and it should be made mandatory for every asset management company so as to protect the investors’ money.

We trust that higher authorities at the helm of affairs of the SECP will take steps immediately so that investors’ money is not eaten up during a bad period on the market. In order to give an incentive to fund managers to perform better, the fee should only be payable and restricted to net profits instead of the net asset value.

M. SIDDIQUE SULEMAN

Karachi

PML-Q’s role

THE PML-Q claims to be the real heir to the legacy of the Quaid-i- Azam. This party however is generally perceived to be the surrogate of the establishment as well as an advocate of the army’s role in politics, contrary to the principles of the father of the nation.

The Quaid always resisted even a shadow of the army’s political ambitions. By using the name of the Quaid as its suffix the ruling PML is degrading the political philosophy of Mr Jinnah. May I ask the leaders of the PML-Q to explain this contradiction in terms?

If the PML-Q believes in the Quaid as its political mentor, why does it pursue a policy which negates the democratic ideals of the great leader?

By invoking the mistakes committed by other parties in the past, the ruling coalition cannot justify its current support to the dominance of the garrison-led politics.

B. A. MALIK Islamabad

Mukhtaran Mai’s plight

FROM abandoning its alliance with the retrogressive Taliban regime to rescinding the decision to prohibit Mukhtaran Mai from leaving the country, it appears that the government of Pakistan makes every sensible decision only under duress and in response to pressure from the United States.

By still not returning Mukhtaran’s passport, in effect negating the announcement that she is free to go wherever she pleases, the government invites another dose of arm-twisting from the Bush administration and the inevitable humiliating capitulation.

The government obviously does not realize that such actions are far more damaging to the image of Pakistan than anything she could have said on her visit to America.

The president speaks eloquently of the need for “enlightened moderation”.

However, he has hardly taken any steps to reign in the militants, stop appeasing the mullahs, and his government has failed to protect the rights of women such as abrogation of the Hudood laws and providing justice to hapless victims like Mukhtaran.

The impression that political expediency is more important than doing the right thing for the future of Pakistan is quite strong.

MASOOD HAIDER

New Jersey, USA

(II)

Do Pakistan government officials believe that by containing Mukhtaran Mai’s movement they may be able to suppress the injustice done to her? They have just added more fuel to fire. The CNN is screaming murder and the rest of the news media has caught on. I do not understand why the prime minister needs to get involved in lifting Mai’s embargo unless he was involved in enforcing it in the first place. Is the rest of the administration so incompetent that they cannot take care of simple issues?

Somebody needs to be fired from their job for their incompetence. This is getting absolutely ridiculous. We do not need any negative publicity of any kind regarding our nation.

MASTAN KHAN

Caifornia, USA

(III)

PLEASE let your readers know that we in the United States find the Mukhtaran Mai episode to be shameful. She is a courageous woman who has been much maligned.

In spite of that, she has brought much goodness to her people, her community, and respect from people all over the world.

LINDA SMITH

Texas, USA

(IV)

CAN the government differentiate between Dr Shazia and Mukhtaran Mai? Why was Dr Shazia allowed to go abroad? Where was Neelofar Bakhtiar when Dr Shazia’s case happened?

M. AAMIR ISMAIL

Via email

The Holy Quran

KEEPING in view the general interest in Islam these days, many Indians (Hindus) have started reading the Holy Quran as philosophy.

I have also been gifted a copy of the Holy Quran by one of my Muslim friends. After reading it, some points come to my mind which I want to share it with others.

Many a time Muslims quote a single Ayat from the Holy Book to prove some of their arguments. I think this is an unhealthy practice because the Ayats of the Quran are always in a context. A single Ayat will not give the real picture unless it is read with the context in which it is mentioned.

The copy of the Holy Book which I have (published in Saudi Arabia) contains many interpretations of the Ayats. Many times, it is felt that the Ayats do not seem to say what has been given in the interpretations, particularly in cases of issues like jihad, women, etc. While the Ayats are so simple in their content and meaning that even a layman can understand them, the human interpretations attached to the Ayats are complicated.

From what I can understand, the Quran recognizes a diverse world with different kinds of people with different thinking, attitudes and religions.

It only expects the believers to follow the code of conduct as enshrined in it and try to become a role-model for others so that they are also are encouraged to adopt Islam. The general notion that

the Quran does not recognize the diverse world is not borne out.

I think a lot of injustice has been done to the Holy Book by vested interests and it is high time that like-minded people, irrespective of the religions they follow, came forward to save one of the greatest philosophies of the world from misinterpretation.

SANJAY SAXENA

Dehradun, India

Hyderabad zoo

HYDERABAD, the second biggest city of Sindh, has been suffering from many severe problems. The civic system has collapsed. Growing traffic, water shortage, battered streets and roads, etc, are a few problems which are making the lives of citizens miserable. Public libraries and cinema halls have disappeared. In such conditions, recreation is the only way to get rid of these worries for a while.

And for recreation the city once had a number of gardens and parks — Rani Bagh, Prem Park, Effendi Garden, Tirwit Garden and an artistic park on the bank of Phulleli canal being prominent. Most of these have disappeared now.

The Hyderabad Zoo, as the old recreational place of the city, now presents a dismal picture. The zoo, built during the British rule, is now in ruins. Seventeen of its 18 lions have died. Only one lioness is left and she too is counting her days.

Among the zoo’s more popular exhibits was an elephant that children could ride but it died decades ago. Most of animals have died due to negligence and lack of funds in the past few years and nobody has bothered to replace them with newer ones.

Currently, about 300 animals are in the zoo, most them are old and ill and are not provided treatment. There are some 60 cages in the zoo, but most are broken and require immediate repairs. Made 40 years ago, some of these cages require massive repairs and some need to be reconstructed.

Immediate steps are needed to save and develop Hyderabad zoo.

RASHID ASHRAF

Karachi

Senior citizens

IN early 1999 the ‘democratic’ premier of the country had unexpectedly sermonized that a commission would be set up to determine the quantum of financial relief for senior citizens/senior pensioners — for providing possible comfort during their old age. Unfortunately, this could not be implemented.

Regardless of the feebleness of the national exchequer, all the budgets onwards from 1999, including the 2005-2006 one, uphold the culture of providing facilities to the rulers. Bullet-proof cars are being purchased at the cost of Rs100 million each for the safety of the ministers, while cases of suicide as a result of poverty are increasing.

The present premier is requested to appropriate a fraction of his discretionary funds for providing free coffin/free burial for senior citizens/senior pensioners in the future — the funds that are being appropriated for the performance of free Haj/free Umrah by the rulers/parliamentarians.

MIRZA GHULAM HAIDER

Multan

Iqbal’s poem

IN our school days we had in our Urdu textbook a “Bachchay ki Dua” (Prayer), authored by Allama Iqbal — the famous Lab pe aati hai dua bankay tamanna meri/ Zindagi shamma ki surat ho khudaya meri .... This poem should serve as a beacon light in every student’s career. The education minister should issue necessary a directive to all educational institutions to have this “Dua” properly displayed at the entrance of each school and college and in educational institutions’ libraries.

Such an exercise will go a long way in disciplining the lives of students as envisaged by Allama Iqbal.

N. QURAISHI Karachi

State of education

GOOD education plays a vital role in the progress of a nation. That is why the developed nations put education on top of their national agenda. Not only this, they also make education inexpensive and accessible to all. But education in our country lacks quality and is also expensive and unaffordable.

Even public sector universities and institutes have raised their fees, thereby closing the doors of higher education on children of the poor.

The government must take measures to make higher education accessible to everyone equally.

AGHA ALI GOHAR KHAN

Ghotki