Quetta carnage and remedy

MY heart bleeds at the recent tragedy in Quetta. In its 55 years of history, it was perhaps the worst terrorist act that Pakistan has confronted. President Pervez Musharraf has promised a stern action while the prime minister has not ruled out any foreign hand. Other officials are claiming that they would apprehend the culprits.

But the question arises: will these hollow slogans and superficial actions address the real issue? Unfortunately, the answer is ‘No’. Whether it was an act of sectarian killing or a RAW conspiracy, we need to do soul-searching and address the root-cause of the issue by adopting a national strategy.

First, we should determine what factors are contributing to the falling of society and individuals in wrong hands. Perhaps these emanate from illiteracy and culminate at the failure of the intelligence agencies. Illiteracy is the worst menace which is breeding intolerance, depression and disappointment among the people. The high level of poverty, unemployment, lawlessness and injustice are immensely contributing to the growing frustration and depression.

Our intelligence agencies, which were once recognized among the world’s best professional and effective institutions, have lost their touch. They are now committed to suppressing the opposition, gaining support for the “master’s” prolonged rule and, consequently, enjoying perks and privileges.

It is time we set our priorities right. In the last three-and- a-half years, the Musharraf regime’s performance in the field of education has remained poor. The gravity of the issue is that the government is still adamant and persisting with a docile and incompetent education minister. The government should replace the education minister with some professionally competent and dynamic personality.

It also needs to launch a literacy programme on a war-footing. The intelligentsia should assist the government in promoting literacy and removing intolerance, depression and disappointment from society.

The intelligence agencies need to concentrate on their professional task. With such a huge organizational set-up, it should not be difficult for them to give a pre-emptive strike against a handful of culprits. The whole society, and the MMA in particular, should render all possible assistance to the government in eliminating this menace of terrorism.

The law-enforcement agencies should do their utmost to apprehend and give an exemplary punishment to the culprits. The government is also expected to educate and create awareness in society on this issue.

AZAD MINHAS

Chakwal

WHY has the coalition of religious parties (MMA) not announced a strike or a protest rally to condemn the killings in Quetta? During the Afghan war these parties held numerous rallies and strikes to protest against the war in Afghanistan, but no similar plans have been announced for the victims of the mosque massacre.

Why is it that we Pakistanis are so vocal on the issues of Kashmir, Palestine and Afghanistan, but ignore the atrocities taking place within our country? And, for how long are the Pakistanis willing to be used by the military establishment and the so-called religious leaders?

Instead of cursing and blaming these two groups we, the people of Pakistan, should stand up and make the leaders accountable for their deeds.

NUSRAT MEHDI

LA, CA, USA

Parks in Karachi

IN the sprawling metropolis of Karachi, congestion is considered to be one of the causes of frayed nerves and explosive tempers as human beings need space for physical movement and relaxation.

The planner’s ought to make provision in the development plans of the city to reserve and develop huge spaces exclusively for parks. Karachi lacks parks in relation to its ever- growing population.

The DHA has developed a few parks, though the need is more for green patches around. The Clifton area has Aunty Park and two or three other parks. These are much too inadequate for the people to soothe their nerves, walk, talk and jog around. The green spaces allow clean air, green bowers, the woodland, the chirping and melodious notes of birds add to an aura of peace where people can have reflection and relaxation, far from the maddening crowd. The people of Karachi need more green land to repair from confinement of cemented highrise apartments for a breath of fresh air.

The concerted and consistent efforts of some public- spirited men, with contributions from their pockets, have transformed the Aunty Park in Clifton which now wears absolutely a new look with expanded promenade and jogging track, fresh planting of green grass and new plants; installation of new globe lights and yellow and green painted new benches have added to the beauty of the park. Yet to make it a more alluring place, more exotic plants and fragrant flowers need to be planted.

The efforts of these public-spirited men who have lent a new enchanting look to the park need to be appreciated. The neighbourhood committees near the location of the parks need to be constituted for public participation in managing parks and financial allocations be utilized through such committees for the maintenance and expansion of parks.

Behind the Aunty Park and in the backyard the Runnymade of the British High Commission there is a space reserved for a park which is currently being used as a dumping ground for refuge and empty plastic bags. The urgent need is to immediately develop this space into a good park before some land-grabber raises yet another cemented monster on it.

FAZUL S. KAZI

Karachi

After making it to Camp David

ON his return to the country after the 18-day grand tour of the US and Europe, Gen Pervez Musharraf has been showered with praise for the brave stand he has taken against terrorism. No doubt, he will feel proud of the fact that he made it to Camp David (even for a few hours) as a great concession from the most powerful man in the world. All this is fine for a country that can afford such luxuries, but not for us poor Pakistanis.

However, what about getting back to the ground realities at home?

Nothing is working here, as we have no water and no electricity and the added burden of a revival of sectarian violence. Further, the federal government is paralysed owing to the LFO controversy which remains unresolved. No matter what the general says the LFO is not a part of the Constitution as it has to be approved by the parliament by a two-thirds majority.

The general can be pleased with himself by believing that he has majority in the parliament, but let him explain to the people as to how loyalties were purchased to keep out the majority party, the PPP. Is this “clean politics” the general promised us?

I sincerely hope that the PR side of his trip is over. Gen Musharraf should now devote time to the multifarious problems facing the country and talk to the opposition to help resolve outstanding issues as the opposition is as much part of our constitutional system as the government is.

M. ZIA ISPAHANI

Karachi

Need to continue good governance

WE as a nation are indebted to the government for having initiated a large programme and having set up a strong economic base for the country within a short period of three years, by introducing good governance, restructuring and upgrading various departments, devolution of power, police reform and declaration of jihad against terrorism and poverty.

These measures need a continued support and follow-up. Human activities are inter-linked and need coordination which can be achieved through the following steps:

Enactment of suitable “town planning laws”, preparation of “regional planning” for the newly-created district governments, preparation of master plans of cities and towns and approval of Karachi city master plan which has not been done since the creation of Pakistan. The absence of these measures has encouraged haphazard and uncontrolled growth of settlements, increased use of discretionary powers, corruption, crimes, and shortage of all kinds of services, including education, health, housing, transportation, recreation, water, electricity, etc. both in urban and rural areas.

To benefit from all these initiatives, continued presence of Gen Pervez Musharraf in uniform is needed till all the objectives are achieved.

ENGR AFTAB MUHAMMAD KHAN

Karachi

Non-performing loans

IT has been reported in your issue of June 24 that the banks and DFIs have so far settled 19,000 (out of 25,000 non- performing loan cases), involving Rs10.50 billion of defaulted amount. It is good news. More pleasing is the claim that the objective of the amnesty scheme is the revival of sick units.

However, this is a usual claim which can be trusted only if supported by facts and figures of the sick units which have been physically revived and are operating on the ground. It has been the practice of the banks and DFIs to revive the sick units on paper through their gimmicks of rescheduling and restructuring formulas which only result in the recovery of defaulted amount (not 100 per cent) to the creditor without any impact on revival.

Another report in the same issue says that the committee for revival of sick industrial units (CIRSU), probably a baby of the CIRC, have reviewed and restructured 160 cases leading to general employment opportunities for about 46,000 people. This report is even more misleading because it is not supported by the ground realities.

This shows that we have become expert in fancy paperwork, attaining thereby the desired results on paper only.

M. SIRAJUL HASSAN

Karachi

American taxpayers

THIS is in response to the letter (July 3) by Mr Pall from the United States. All I can say is that it is one of the most humorous letters I have read recently. I would like to know what made Mr Pall write these lines.

It is frightening to know the thinking of an ordinary American — how imprudent, or how ill-informed they are — but they can afford to say all this nonsense because they have a president who does not think much before speaking. So, why should they bother?

By the way, it is just to remind Mr Pall that the US taxpayers are also paying for the inmates of the Guantanamo Bay. What for? He will never understand.

If you have George W. Bush, Rumsfeld, and Dick Chenny on your pay roll, I am afraid the US taxpayers will need to get ready to cough out more to feed their habits.

TARIQ MASUD

London, UK

Enigma of change

THIS is with reference to Mr Niaz H. Jafri’s letter ( June 29). He has thrown light on the necessity of education in our society. He has even given a rough outline of the attention acquiring matters regarding education, of course.

Although I agree with him that education is very essential for any developed and underdeveloped state as it brings out awareness among people, I find the issue of poverty a much more attention-acquiring matter for Pakistan. When we have an official rate of 35 per cent (unofficial rate is 45 per cent) of population living below the poverty line (poverty line is one dollar a day), where 70 per cent people are getting no water and 70 per cent area has no basic medical facilities, I think education is not the most important issue.

A poor person would not give any thought to education when he cannot afford a day’s meal. He would rather spend the small amount he has earned to get a decent enough meal than buy textbooks. And no one can criticize him for his priority, can we?

I am not saying that education is not important but it is not as important as the issues I have tried to raise. We have to overcome these issues first, then focus on education at the national level.

SARAH PARVAIZ

Lahore

Waiving loans

THE World Bank and the IMF are known to control all our financial and fiscal policies. They are reported to force our government to increase the gas, electricity and telephone rates at regular intervals. The ministry of finance and the State Bank of Pakistan together with the Central Board of Revenue have become an extension of the WB and the IMF.

We do not hear much about the Asian Development Bank’s policies and role but we guess they must be similar to those of the WB and the IMF.

We are, however, at a loss to understand why these powerful financial institutions do not utter a word on the huge amounts of debts being written off at regular intervals. The written-off amounts are more than the annual budget of some of our provinces. Moreover, the beneficiaries are stingingly rich, living in palatial houses, owning a fleet of luxury cars and still running profitable business.

Why does the government not confiscate the palatial houses, factories, shops and luxury vehicles of these persons who are thriving at the cost of the poor millions of this backward country?

DR S. M. ALI

London, UK

Minorities’ plaint

YOUR columnist Hafizur Rahman’s voice to the plaint of the minorities (June 25) was not a day too early. I have often felt small when midgets and bigots among us act as though they set the rules. A “holier than thou” attitude - but, as per argument in the last paragraph, we have made so many differences without distinctions that we have, so to speak, got our tail in our mouth. The Quaid was a great role model, and believe me, he has millions of followers in the silent majority.

In 2000, a catholic nun was killed by a burglar in Malir. Air Marshal Azeem Daudpota, then governor of Sindh, was informed, and he and a number of cabinet colleagues joined the grieving congregation at St. Lawrence’s Church, Soldier Bazaar. I wish we would talk less and act silently in the true spirit of Islam.

PROF ANITA GHULAM ALI

Karachi

Reshaping map of South Asia

INDIA is indeed a state with a great social and political chaos that has been triggered by freedom movements in some areas resulting in the loss of a large number of lives.

I would suggest that a plebiscite be held in Kashmir and, if decided by its people, it may be included in Pakistan. Similarly, Khalistan is a genuine movement of the Sikhs who have been struggling to achieve their right to self-determination for a long time.

The Bangla language is one of the 13 major languages out of about 3,000 spoken all over the world. As such, West Bengal should unite with Bangladesh to form a separate state, (Bangla is already the national language of one sovereign state). The rest of the Indian Union may well remain united as I am no ill-wisher of India.

Furthermore, as compensation to India of the loss of Calcutta, a large and modern seaport should be built in Orissa adjacent to Bhubaneswar, with the help of the UN and the developed states of the world.

PROF S. AZHAR ALI

Karachi

Road in need of repair

LIKE other residents of Block 4, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Karachi, we frequently use Abul Hasan Ispahani Road on which there is a bridge before Rabia Flowers Apartments.

The road at the eastern side of the bridge was dug up some time back but has not been properly filled yet. As a result, the road has developed a big crater which causes damage to vehicles whenever they happen to pass through this route.

The authorities concerned are requested to repair the road without any further delay so that we can access our homes without having our vehicles damaged.

R. D. KHAN

Karachi

Consumers’ protection

I HAVE been using Travocort Cream 10 gram for the last six months and have used at least 12-15 tubes during this period. In all the tubes that I have used I have noted that by the time one uses half of the tube, one realizes that nearly half of the tube is filled with air only.

This means that when we pay Rs66 for 10 grams, we are actually paying Rs66 for 6 grams only. This cream is being manufactured in Pakistan by M/s. Medipharm Pvt. Ltd. under licence from M/s Schering AF/Berlin, Germany.

I would like to know if there is any sort of consumer protection body in Pakistan which can take up this issue with the authorities concerned.

MIR MAZAR

Karachi

Poverty & global security

AMERICA and other developed countries have been ignoring the link between poverty and the problem of global security for the last one decade. Development assistance from the rich to the poor countries has declined since the end of the cold war.

Unrealistic faith in globalization and market economy has its own contribution in this regard. It is now a recognized fact that violence and terrorism is directly linked to deprivation and poverty. The 9/11 tragedy has widely proved this harsh reality and the high idea of making the South a risk-free and secure place has come down with the ashes of the WTC.

It is unfortunate that half the world is living on less than one dollar a day. Mr Kofi Annan is right in saying that no one in this world can feel safe and comfortable while so many people are suffering and deprived. The UN launched a campaign to create awareness about the link between poverty and worldwide security problem last year. It was demanded of the developed countries to spare 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic production for the poor nations.

The Bush administration and leaders of other developed countries now realizing this vital factor seem willing to take some steps towards it and the flow of aid is likely to increase for the developing countries. A $3 billion aid package for economic development of Pakistan is one of such examples.

But the sad fact is that the donor countries are reluctant to sanction big amounts without conditions and institutional checks. This caution genuinely rests on the experiences as corrupt governments of developing countries did not do much to uplift the condition of the poor.

Now it is for the developing countries to mend their ways and make sustainable plans to eradicate poverty. It is a proven fact that trade, private investment and good governance bring about better living conditions. The money should be used on the social sector like food, education, basic health care, rule of law and improving the human rights’ conditions. Social reforms and economic developments are more vital than providing the poor with monetary help.

ADEEBA AKHTAR

Islamabad