| April 17, 2006 | Monday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 18, 1427 |
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Udham Singh
Importing used cars
Seerat conference
Special citizens
Transit system
Good governance and the CSP
Little progress on TB
‘Science, logic and belief’
Selection
‘Teen Talwar’
‘One way traffic’
Traffic jam casualties
Many errors
I COULD not agree more with Col. Riaz Jafri’s statement “Let’s face it — prevention is not the mullahs’ cup of tea” (April14). This is quite evident from the death of 29 innocent women and children in a stampede at a religious gathering in Karachi and the bomb blast at Nishtar Park.
Both the tragedies had one thing in common and that is lack of planning by the organisers. The difference was that in the former case the organisers had no one to blame except themselves and so everybody stayed quiet. In the latter case, the organisers had the government to blame so they took to the streets and damaged public property. Clearly, the clerics have double standards. The stampede could have been prevented, or at least the number of deaths and the injured could have been lessened, if all the doors of the mosque had been open. As for a huge gathering like the one at Nishtar Park, everyone should be made to pass through metal detectors as it is done at the airports. This should be made compulsory for all large gatherings and permission to hold such gathering should not be granted unless this can be ensured.
MUHAMMAD ALI SAJJAD
Lahore
THE bombing on the eve of President Bush’s visit to Pakistan and the suicide bombing at a religious gathering in Nishtar Park bring to mind a single word: lunacy.
It is hard to imagine what purpose is served by killing innocent civilians at prayer. The irony is that it does not matter what the issue is: the casualties are Muslims. In Iraq where insurgents are fighting the invaders and their supporters, in Kashmir where a war for self-determination is on going and in Waziristan where foreign and local ‘militants’ are being killed, Muslims are the major casualties.
A collective effort is needed in the light of Islam and its teachings on tolerance and coexistence to highlight the need for restraint and patience to root out the menace of militancy from Islamic society.
ANAS A. KHAN
Edmonton, Canada
YET another bomb blast took the lives of scores of innocent citizens of our country. The Karachi bombing and other such barbaric acts are highly condemnable.
My request to the government, especially to the president, is that instead of promoting the so-called soft image of Pakistan, immediate steps be taken to solve serious issues like law and order and improve education and health facilities. Improvement in these areas will automatically lead to a soft and peaceful image of our country.
ASAD AWAN
Islamabad
I REFER to Ch Jalil Ahmad Khan’s letter (April 13) wherein he claims that Udham Singh shot General Dyer to avenge the Amritsar massacre. One should be careful to avoid falling into the trap of historical myths. One such myth fondly believed all over the subcontinent, is the story that General Dyer (of Jalianwala Bagh) was assassinated in England by an Indian named Udham Singh.
The facts are as follows. Brigadier-General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer was commander of the 45th infantry brigade at Jalandhar. He ordered the massacre in Amritsar on April 13, 1919. Sir Michael Francis O’Dwyer (1864-1940) was governor of Punjab in 1919. He ordered the deployment of the army in Amritsar. Udham Singh was an Indian who had spent many years in Europe.
On March 13, a meeting of the East India Association was being held in conjunction with the Royal Central Asian Society at Caxton Hall, London. Udham Singh fired five to six shots from his pistol at Sir Michael O’Dwyer, who was governor of Punjab when the Amritsar massacre took place. Sir Michael was hit twice and died. Lord Zetland, the Secretary of State for India, who was presiding over the meeting was injured.
Udham Singh was overpowered and made no attempt to escape. Instead he said that he had done his duty. Udham Singh was formally charged with the murder of Sir Michael O’Dwyer. He was convicted and awarded the death sentence. He was hanged in July 1940 in Pentonville Prison, London.
The confusion of names is understandable, and one suspects that wishful thinking played a role in the myth about Dyer.
KHALID A.
London, UK
APROPOS of the report “Automobile assemblers fear changes in policy” (April 4), which tells us that car assemblers in Pakistan are critical of the increasing numbers of used vehicles that are being imported into the country, I have to say that whilst it may be to the detriment of the assemblers, the availability of good quality, well-made used automobiles is a great boon to common people who cannot afford to experiment with new models and/or who have been taken advantage of for too long.
So far the Pakistani consumer has been at the mercy of big business, in this case the car assemblers, who hand-in-glove with the government have fleeced him mercilessly. In no other country in the world does the customer pay 100 per cent upfront for a car and then wait for up to six months, sometimes even a year, for delivery. In no other country are trashy automobiles unloaded onto unsuspecting customers as they are in Pakistan. Moreover, customers here have nowhere to turn when their purchase turns out to be defective.
The government should continue to allow the free import of used cars so that there is some competition for the fat cats of our automobile industry. Perhaps they will improve their quality when their wallets are hit.
KAMRAN SHAFI
Rawalpindi
I LISTENED to President Musharraf’s address at the Seerat conference in Islamabad. He said that the major reason for the bad reputation of Islam was lack of unity among the Muslim countries. Also, that we have given our religion into the hands of uneducated scholars whose interpretation makes Islam appear to be a militant religion.
I agree with the president but the question is what strategy should be adopted to lead the ummah to the right path. I think that most Pakistanis are in the favour of progress. But they do not have the leadership that will make them progressive in the practical sense.
I can suggest one way by which Pakistan can be modernised. The government should take immediate action against the so-called scholars who incite people against other sects. In addition, all the mosques already constructed or those which are under construction must be registered.
The maulvis appointed at the mosques should be educated and issued a certificate by the government. All those who are deficient in religious knowledge should be asked leave the mosques because they are not well wishers of Islam. The people too should protest when an uneducated maulvi says anything contrary to the spirit of Islam.
AZHAIR AHMED
Lahore
VERY few commercial establishments in Pakistan are accessible to the physically disabled. This amounts to social discrimination against such people.
Many people tend to think the following about the disabled — that they feel inferior and are ashamed of their disability; that their lives are a burden for everyone; that they crave to be ‘normal’; that they are envious of the able-bodied; that their disability affects them physiologically and makes them bitter and neurotic and so on.
These assumptions are not formed after actual interactions with disabled people, but are due rather to a general mindset. The term “handicapped person” means any person unable to ensure by himself or herself, wholly or partly, the necessities of a normal individual and/or social life, as a result of deficiency, either congenital or not, in his or her physical capabilities.
Disabled persons have the inherent right to enjoy all the rights available to other persons. These rights should be granted to all disabled persons without any exception whatsoever and without distinction or discrimination. Disabled persons have the inherent right to demand respect for their human dignity and have the same rights as their fellow citizens.
NOORUDDIN S. BHAMANI
Karachi
In his letter “Transit system” (April 14), Muhammad Tariq Raja has described the superb transit system in Seoul. He has suggested that Karachi “develop a similar transit system”. The need for mass transit system in Karachi has been discussed for many years now.
This is how the issue is being dealt with, and a typical scenario runs something like the following: The committee recently formed by the Sindh governor will constitute a Karachi transit project sub-committee. This will report to the 12 members on the Karachi transit task force, which will be appointed by the federal railway transit committee.
Their recommendation will then be reviewed by the five members of the finance executive committee, who will place it on the agenda of an 18-member finance review committee. If they approve, they will bring a motion to the 27 members of the federal railway managing board, which will then appoint a 12-member project review committee. If they approve the plan, the managing board may proceed with the Karachi transit project. A resolution will then be brought to an ECNEC meeting.
The ECNEC will appoint an eight-member review committee. This, in turn, will appoint a seven-member tender committee to find the best offer for the Karachi transit project... so on and so forth. But what if by then there is a new governor, and consequently a new policy. A new Karachi transit project committee will be formed which will report to…
Engr. A. RAHIM
Michigan, USA
This is with reference to A Z K Sherdil’s article ‘Imperatives of good governance’ and Anjum Niaz’s column ‘The rise and fall of the CSP’, published on April 9. The former rues the demise of the all-powerful office of the deputy commissioner while the latter has lamented the fall of the CSP. Articles on this subject keep appearing in the newspapers with sickening regularity and in all cases are penned by erstwhile CSP officers. The harsh reality is that the elite CSP has been mainly responsible, together with the army, the feudal lords and the mullahs, for the present dismal state the country finds itself in.
The CSP officers involved were the worst offenders of the lot in that they were the most well-educated and trained. The abolition of the office of the DC and the commissioner is one of the two laudable actions of the present government, the other being the revival of a moribund economy. Cities and towns in the rest of the world are run by elected mayors who are answerable to their electorate and are assisted by competent professional managers. Here the situation was totally different. The DC and commissioner were demi-gods, running fiefdoms and not acting as public servants.
When they ruled the roost, all kinds of crime, felonies and offences were as common as they are today. Law and order was as much in a shambles and there was no protection given to the people. The multitude comprising the ‘unwashed’ and the impoverished had hardly any access to the high and mighty DC or the commissioner.
Except for the said offices, most of the senior officers in the federal and provincial governments still belong to the CSP cadre. Had any of these officers ever behaved less pompously and stood up or resigned his post on a matter of principle, things in Pakistan would have been much better. We have had a number of railway accidents during the past few months in which scores of people were killed and many more were maimed for life but the chairman of that organisation, who happens to be a CSP officer, has not thought it fit to resign. After all, he is doing such a fine job.
There is no shame and no accountability. Let us not forget the infamous trio of Ghulam Mohammad, Chaudhry Mohammad Ali and Iskandar Mirza (all senior bureaucrats), who started the rot. I would like to ask all the retired CSPs to devote more time to gardening rather than mourning the loss of the office of the DC and the commissioner. They have have had their time in the sun.
TANWEER-US-SAQALAN
Lahore
THIS is in response to a letter ‘Progress on TB’ by Dr A Hayee Sayed (April 4). The treatment called ‘short course’ (DOTS) is a WHO-recommended strategy which has been used successfully all over the world. The success rate is more than 90 per cent. It does not pose a risk to others, and can prevent and cure thousands of patients.
If a patient who is diagnosed with the ailment and he does not start treatment, he can infect other people. If a patient after diagnosis starts the DOTS therapy, he cannot transmit the infection to others after two weeks of therapy. However, the treatment itself lasts eight months.
The sputum smear microscopy is a cheap and accurate way of diagnosing pulmonary TB. Other investigations like X-rays are of secondary importance and may help in the diagnosis. For a sputum smear-negative TB patient there are specific guidelines formulated by the National TB Programme and the Pakistan Chest Society.
As far as diagnosing TB in children is concerned the programme has formulated guidelines with the Pakistan Paediatric Society. All the diagnostic centres in the public sector and private partners provide free sputum smear microscopy services and treatment facilities to patients. The Pakistan Anti-TB Association’s Sindh chapter, based in Hyderabad, has not reported any data of schools and communities to our directorate. Hence, all the data presented in the letter is without foundation. No pilot project has been reported to this directorate from Jamshed Colony, Karachi.
DR IQTIDAR AHMED
Director, TB Control, Sindh Hyderabad
IN response to Professor Anwar Syed’s article ‘Science, logic and belief’, Mr. Paracha writes (April 14) that “we do not need to worry about what to adopt as our ideology. Our ideology, as derived from the Holy Quran, already exists in our Constitution.
The Islamic ideology that exists in our Constituion is based on the Shariah. It is a man-made law, derived from hadiths. Can anyone provide a Quranic basis for the Hudood Ordinance? And how can we argue that the stipulations in the 1973 Constitution that embody the Quranic principles of equality, freedom to practice religion and the like hold any practical significance, when the military and politicians have made a mockery of the Constitution itself?
SHEHARBANO
Karachi
THE tour of Sri Lanka proves that whilst Muhammad Asif is an excellent replacement for Muhammad Sami, Sami should not have been discarded in favour of Rao Iftikhar and Umar Gul.
Rao particularly has proved an utter failure. Sami can perform reasonably with the bat also. Asif and Sami would be a good opening strike duo, with Umar and Razzak filling in as reliable pace bowlers.
RAFI AHMED
Karachi
This is with reference to Mr. Nazim Qureshi’s letter ‘Teen Talwar’. I completely agree with him in this regard and would like to add that not only Teen Talwar, but all other national monuments like the Kalima Chowk, Qadhafi Stadium, Lahore Fort and numerous other monuments in Lahore and other cities of Pakistan should be kept clean and be well-maintained.
RAAID MASOOD
Lahore
Critics of Irfan Husain’s column (April 1) miss his point entirely. Muslims usually harbour the expectation that when they leave their native lands and settle elsewhere, usually in western countries, the societies of their newly adopted countries will adapt to their norms, while in turn they will become even more hardened in their attitudes.
In the present era no theocracy exists except in Muslim countries, where a Muslim swayed by efforts on the part of a Christian preacher can be put to the sword. Meanwhile Muslims are free to proselytise in the West because of the secular nature of the government of these countries.
Equally feeble is the thesis that converts to Islam are well-educated westerners as opposed to converts to Christianity who belong to the exploited, low socio-economic level strata of society. At least in the United States, an overwhelming majority of the converts is from the Afro-American prison population. If the Muslims could rely upon the Holy Quran as the infallible source of divine guidance for all times we would not be wandering in the wilderness of fanaticism and intolerance.
MASOOD HAIDER
New Jersey
DAWN’s report “Traffic jams take 500 lives in two months” (April 9) is heart-rending. All the deaths were caused due to a delay in transporting seriously ill patients to hospitals. Who is to be blamed for this? These people died because of the brazen indifference of the authorities to the sufferings of citizens.
In civilized societies even a single such occurrence as this would lead to many heads being rolled. It would be fair to say that these deaths were not accidental but fall within the definition of murder and the families of those who died should be compensated by the government.
MANSOOR UL HAQ SOLANGI
Karachi
THIS is with the reference to US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice’s statement in which she admitted flaws and errors in American foreign policy. American foreign policy has caused the death of thousands of Muslims. I think it would be fair to say that the US has endangered more lives in Iraq and Afghanistan than it has saved. Clearly US policies in these countries are not winning it popularity or acceptance.
The ridiculously manufactured ‘war on terror’ is nothing but the most deceptive and one-sided war in history. The US can win hearts and minds by helping people in poor nations to raise their standard of living.
NASIR FAROOQ
Karachi
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