| February 17, 2006 | Friday | Muharram 18, 1427 |
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Benefit for PoWs
University reform
No second opinion?
Loi Bher park
Needless sea wall
‘Silver lining in Dhaka clouds’
‘Iin a fix’
Third term
Reading habit
Domeli accident
PIDC parking
“YOU do not do evil to those who do evil to you, but you deal with them with forgiveness and kindness.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari) That description of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is a summary of how he reacted to personal attacks and abuse. Islamic traditions include a number of instances of the Prophet having the opportunity to strike back at those who attacked him, but refraining from doing so.
These traditions are particularly important as we witness the current outrage in the Islamic world over cartoons initially published in a Danish newspaper that are viewed as an intentional attack on the Prophet.
Peaceful and not-so-peaceful protests have occurred from Gaza to Indonesia. Boycotts have targeted companies based in Denmark and in other nations that reprinted the offensive caricatures.
All of us, Muslims and people of other faiths, seem to be locked in a downward spiral of mutual mistrust and hostility based on self-perpetuating stereotypes. As Muslims, we need to take a step back and ask ourselves the question: “What would the Prophet have done?”
Muslims are taught the tradition of the woman who would regularly throw trash on the Prophet as he walked down a particular path. The Prophet never responded in kind to the woman’s abuse. Instead, when she one day failed to attack him, he went to her home to inquire about her. In another tradition, the Prophet was offered the opportunity to have God punish the people of a town near Makkah who refused the message of Islam and attacked him with stones. Again, the Prophet did not choose to respond in kind to the abuse.
Even when the Prophet was in a position of power, he chose the path of kindness and reconciliation. When he returned to Makkah after years of exile and personal attacks, he did not take revenge on the people of the city, but instead offered them a general amnesty.
In the Holy Quran, God states: “When (the righteous) hear vain talk, they withdraw from it saying: ‘Our deeds are for us and yours for you; peace be on to you. We do not desire the way of the ignorant’. O Prophet (Muhammad), you cannot give guidance to whom you wish, it is God Who gives guidance to whom He pleases, and He is quite aware of those who are guided.” (28:55-56)
Another verse tells the prophet to “show forgiveness, speak for justice and avoid the ignorant.” (7:199)
These are the examples that Muslims should follow as they express justifiable concern at the publication of the cartoons. This unfortunate episode can be used as a learning opportunity for people of all faiths who sincerely wish to know more about Islam and Muslims. It can also be viewed as a “teaching moment” for Muslims who want to exemplify the prophet’s teachings through the example of their good character and dignified behaviour in the face of provocation and abuse.
We should protest at all forums and in all ways but we should not destroy the lives, property and the freedom of those who are not even remotely connected to this event. Let us not be emotional and analyze the whole situation objectively.
DR M RAFIQUE GOODA
Karachi
THE violence accompanying the protests in Muslim countries is not good. A more appropriate way would have been to write letters of protest to the editors of the newspapers that published the cartoons.
ADEEL AHMED QURESHI
Lahore
MUSLIMS are being looked upon in the West as extremists. Many people in the West equate our religion with terrorism. Sadly, such misinformed opinions are only reinforced by the behaviour of the demonstrators in Pakistan.
As a concerned citizen I want to ask one simple question of those who took part in the violence: were the governments of Pakistan or Punjab behind the blasphemous cartoons? Were the citizens of Lahore or Islamabad behind them?
We should express our feelings through peaceful protest and not by harassing foreign diplomats. Our beloved Holy Prophet always exercised patience and tolerance and forgave everyone despite many inhumane acts against him. The intelligentsia and the learned should voluntary shoulder the responsibility of educating and creating awareness among the general public to prevent such unpleasant events in the future.
SAIYID ALI ABBAS RAZA
Islamabad
THE mayhem witnessed on the streets of Lahore on Feb. 14 negates the very essence of Islam. It is also a sad commentary on the government’s ability to stop such violence. The irony is that these acts were perpetuated seemingly in defence of a personality whose piety and broad-mindedness, in word and deed, inspired millions to embrace his message of peace. The organizers and the mob must share the blame for the loss of precious lives and extensive damage to private and public property. Those affected must be compensated swiftly and adequately.
The government too cannot be absolved of responsibility for what happened. Yet again it failed miserably to protect the lives and property of its citizens. The assault on the assembly was an assault on democracy, precious little of it that we have. The vandalizing of banks and commercial establishments is nothing short of criminal activity. Surely, the damage done to offices of foreign companies will not go down too well with potential foreign investors, notwithstanding the prime minister’s recent statement saying that Pakistan was an ideal investment destination.
The painful episode calls for an open parliamentary debate and full public disclosure following an impartial enquiry.
IQBAL AHMED KHAN
Lahore
INDIAN troops fought for the British Empire in China, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. They also fought the empire’s war against Japan, and many thousands went into captivity in Japanese PoW camps. A few years ago, the British government announced a prisoner award scheme, whereby British and colonial troops who were taken PoW by the Japanese became eligible for a one-time award of ten thousand pounds each.
A few days ago, while browsing the Internet, I came upon a report about how a large number of Nepalese Gurkhas who had been taken prisoner after the fall of Singapore had recently been given a similar award. I phoned the British high commission and managed to speak to a woman who processes such claims. She informed me that she would forward the claim to the Veterans Affairs office in UK and also gave me the email address of the person concerned. I sent an email asking whether any Pakistanis had received the award. Back came a reply saying that any such information cannot be divulged since it was confidential.
This made me think that perhaps the British government is hiding behind the fig-leaf of confidentiality because it hasn’t given the award to any Pakistani PoW — otherwise it would have loved to propagate proof of such generosity towards a former colony.
Perhaps the British government or its high commission in Islamabad can shed some light on the issue. It would also be interesting to know what the GHQ, which is also responsible for ex-servicemen’s welfare, has done to ensure that Pakistani PoWs benefit from the British prisoner award scheme.
SHER KHAN
Rawalpindi
THIS is with reference to Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy’s article “Controversy on HEC measures: Reforming our universities” (Sci-tech, Dawn) in which he has deplored the lack of a research culture in Pakistani universities.
Most students lack interest which is the driving force and the ultimate source of motivation to create knowledge. Professors in universities kill the fertile minds of their students by forcing them to cram for exams. I give the example of my cousin, a final year M.Sc. student in fluid mechanics. A day before his final term paper was due, he told me that he had lost all his interest in the subject and was studying it only to pass the course. He showed me his notes, which he was trying to learn by heart, and said that teachers had been using the same notes for the past four years and that not a single teacher of his had ever encouraged students to consult any book.
My cousin was not studying in some third-rate university but in Pakistan’s esteemed Quaid-i-Azam University, and in its prestigious mathematics department.
KASHIF ALTAF
Chakwal
HEART problems are fairly common in Pakistan. This means cardiologists are in great demand. My uncle had a bypass. He is still having problems and recently had to decide whether to have a second one. As a free citizen I believe he has the right to go to different cardiologists for opinions, as long as he pays for them.
One of the cardiologists he went to, it seems, does not like his patients to go for second opinions. I say this because when my uncle went to him — after meeting another cardiologist — he was made to wait for two hours. And after being called to his office, the cardiologist then refused to see him. He told my uncle to go to the doctor he had previously gone to. Just as my uncle has the right to go for a second opinion, the doctor has the right to choose his patients. But does he have the right to make a heart patient wait for over two hours, after initially agreeing to see him, and then refusing to examine him because he had chosen to take a second opinion?
MRS AMBREEN FAWAD
Karachi
I HAPPENED to recently visit the Loi Bher Reserve forest, Rawalpindi, with my family. The wildlife park is located about 3-4 km off the Islamabad highway, just short of the airport. The single road leading to the reserve is totally broken.
After getting our tickets (Rs 75 for two persons and the car) we enthusiastically headed for the lion section of the park known as “sher ghat”. Again the road was in ruins. The section was fenced with a steel net and the main gate was operated by a chowkidar checking tickets. I asked him if there was any guard or facility for rescue in case of emergency at which he simply grinned.
A narrow and uneven katcha track runs through the entire lion section. As I moved on, the track became worse. No effort had been made by the park staff to clear the route of tree branches.
The track was so bad that I turned around before even reaching halfway.
Clearly, the money collected from visitors is not being spent on the park. Besides, the wildlife department is doing a terrible job of maintaining it.
AFZAAL AHMAD MUGHAL
Lahore
OVER the years driving along Karachi’s Seaview beach has been one of the city’s best driving experiences. One could just drive down looking at the sea enjoying the serene surroundings. Unfortunately the city government has taken this pleasure away from us by building a most ugly wall along much of the Seaview road. In most countries governments make it a point to allow citizens unhindered views on such drives, especially if they are along the sea.
The Karachi city government should have kept this fact in mind when it decided to revamp the beach area. Now when one drives down Seaview it seems as if one is driving down M A Jinnah Road. It would be really nice if this ghastly wall is done away with.
SYED ASIF SAEED
Karachi
COLUMNIST Kuldip Nayar appears to be distressed about the fact that Bangladesh has much closer ties with Pakistan than India. He is also unhappy that Prime Minister Khaleda Zia chose to visit Islamabad before going to New Delhi and that most Bangladeshis and their leaders feel closer to their former compatriots than to his country.
In his column, “Silver lining in Dhaka clouds” (Feb. 11), Mr Nayar has expressed his displeasure at such Bangladeshi sentiments towards this country, even saying that Begum Zia “would like Bangladesh to be an independent East Pakistan”. He has also habitually vented his displeasure against the Islamists and those others who do not to the Indian line (and who happen to be in the majority in both the Islamic nations) for the gulf between India and their countries.
Most Bangladeshis have been able to sense the genuine love the Pakistanis have for them. Before wondering “why do they hate us?” he should have done some soul searching. In his book “RAW and Bangladesh,” the former Mukti Bahini guerrilla, M. Zainul Abedin, who had been trained by the Indian army to fight the Pakistani forces in our eastern wing, has exposed the many misdeeds of the Indians that disillusioned him, such as the loot and plunder by its soldiers after the fall of Dhaka and RAW’s attempts to get a stranglehold over his country.
Apart from that, the Bangladeshis resent the denial of a fair share in the river waters by India’s failure to resolve the Farrakha Barrage issue despite the promises made in 1974 and the plan to divert and inter-link India’s rivers that is likely to hurt their country by causing droughts and ecological problems. Mr Nayar has mentioned the recent long march to Dhaka by the supporters of Awami League but has ignored last year’s long march by the Bangladeshis to protest the disruption of their river waters.
In addition, the citizens of that country are wary of India’s demand for transit facilities through Bangladesh to its northeastern states and the failure of New Delhi to trade with its eastern neighbour on equitable terms.
Thus, like Pakistan, the Bangladeshis too have many genuine grievances against India’s South Asian hegemony. Indeed, every neighbour of India has had bitter experiences including, in some cases, the fighting of wars. Recently, Dhaka has expressed its profound concern at the unprovoked killing of hundreds of Bangladeshi troops and unarmed civilians by India’s border security force in the last several years and for abetting acts of terrorism in the country.
HAFEEZULLAH
Karachi
KUDOS to Mr Ayaz Amir for a balanced, forthright and fairly accurate piece on the pitfalls that seem to be the fate of the “world of Islam” (‘Denmark: wrong target’, Feb 11). One can easily sense the inherent dangers that await Muslim states and people on the versions of the ‘democracy road maps’ being set out for us by the “freedom of speech” ‘power brokers’. (All of them either members of the Jewish faith or more ‘loyal-than-the-king’ acolytes/neo-cons or devout Christians).
Sadly, our obscurantists and extremists are not about to relent in their abhorrent ideas — despite the many injunctions in the Holy Quran and the precedents, teachings and personal declarations of our Holy Prophet (PBUH) against bigotry, fanaticism or hate against other faiths or beliefs.
We are truly “... in a fix”, to state it mildly. Our present lot of religious ‘leaders’ are a disparate and self-glorified bunch who rival the ‘acolytes’ and ‘neo-cons’ in spreading the “ailments” that would “... be suffocating to live under”.
We are already well on our way to perdition on the twisted road, as far as some parts of Pakistan are concerned. With quite a few pushes from ‘sardars’, ‘sayeens’, ‘maliks’, ‘chaudhris’ and, recently, the ‘aalims’.
BRIG (r) MATEEN M. MOHAJIR
Karachi
ACCORDING to a news item, President Pervaiz Musharraf is reported to have said that both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif could not contest election for the post of prime minister for a third term as it would be tantamount to a violation of the Constitution.
Despite the fact I don’t have any political affiliations may I ask the respected president under which constitution he overthrew an elected government and assumed the post of chief executive? Similarly his predecessors Ayub and Zia also treated the constitution with scant respect and grabbed power by force.
So if the president wants to rule by force he may do so without any fear as he has the backing of the armed forces and there is no power to stop him from doing so. The constitution is merely a “piece of paper” which can be torn at will. There is no need to tell us what is constitutional and what is unconstitutional.
ABDUL HAKIM
Karachi
I READ with interest the article “Promoting the reading habits” by Mr Anwar Syed (Feb 5). The writer is right in saying that due to television the reading habit is not being developed amongst children and grown-ups alike. However, there is another important factor that needs to be highlighted.
Once I happened to come across the late Abdul Hafeez Kardar, the great cricket captain-turned politician of yesteryear. I pointed out to him that his new book, A View from the Pavilion, cost an ordinary reader Rs600, which was too high.
He instantly agreed with me and said that usually a writer was helpless while fixing the final price of a book. He went on to clarify that it was often the publisher who made the difference so far as the price of a book was concerned.
So one of the best ways to revive the book reading culture will be to sell books at an affordable price. A law prohibiting the sale of a new book for more than Rs80 can be of great help in this regard.
RAFAT MAHMOOD ANSARI
Islamabad
WE used to go for picnics during my childhood days to the Domeli area where the recent train accident occurred. The rail track at this place comes down a hill, passes through two small tunnels, and then makes a big loop. It was laid down for old style low-speed locomotives and not for the modern high-speed trains that ply on it. I am sure that perhaps one reason for the recent accident may have been this factor. Hopefully, this aspect will also be considered by the railway authorities in their investigation.
DR ALTAF HUSSAIN RATHORE
Karachi
IT has been more than three month since the bomb blast at the PIDC House, Karachi, but parking there and on Beaumont Road is still banned. Many people who have offices in nearby buildings and used to park their cars in front of the PIDC or on the road are suffering. They have to park their vehicles very far from their offices. Apart from being unsafe, many times the traffic police lifts the cars.
I request the authorities to reconsider the decision.
MAJID UDDIN
Karachi
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