| August 05, 2006 | Saturday | Rajab 9, 1427 |
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Has the rot set in?
Ethics of inquiry
The same old story
Chaotic transport system
Dancing minister
Attestation authority
Heroes
Why we lack good governance
Good Samaritan
No one can seriously believe that the reason for Israel’s destruction of Lebanon is the release of the two Israeli soldiers taken prisoner by Hezbollah. Just as in the case of the soldier captured by Hamas, this is a convenient excuse for the achievement of much deeper political and military aims. Israeli policy has always been implemented through either manufacturing such pretexts by provocative acts or waiting for them to present themselves before launching its massive retaliation.
Leading Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery has argued the other day that Israel’s real aim is to effect regime change in Lebanon. Just as in its invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the real purpose was to install a puppet government subservient to Israel and the US (on that occasion, the excuse was the attempted assassination of Israel’s UK ambassador).
As in 1982, according to Avnery, Israel’s attack has been planned in coordination with Washington. This suggests a second reason for Israel’s offensive: it is the opening salvo in a US/Israeli attack on Iran. For this to succeed, Hezbollah, which is supported by Tehran, must first be neutralised if it is not to spearhead a campaign in defence of Iran throughout the Arab world. Also, attacking Hezbollah provides a route leading, through escalation, to Tehran.
Also, Israel wants revenge for the defeat inflicted by Hezbollah in 2000 when it forced the most powerful army in the region to withdraw from southern Lebanon. The destruction of both Hezbollah and Hamas would, in turn, facilitate the fulfilment by Israel of its main long-term objective: the de-Arabisation of Palestine, completing the unfinished business of 1948 when two-thirds of the Palestinian people were ethnically cleansed.
How many more Arabs must die before the British government abandons its sickening complicity with Israeli war crimes?
SABBY SAGALL
London, UK
A PREVIOUSLY scheduled meeting in Rome between European and Arab states was turned into a major summit on the current Middle East conflict, with top officials from United States, Russia, Turkey and United Nations also participating. However, it is interesting to note that two main players in the region, Iran and Syria, were not invited, which angered both Tehran and Damascus.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in Dushanbe that the survival of the Zionist regime depends upon creation of crises and unrest in the Middle East region. He further said that without the participation of Iran and Syria and other Arab states the prospects for success of the Rome summit are remote.
For many years Iran has been openly supporting Hezbollah by giving them finance as well as arms. In fact, Iran’s revolutionary guards played a major role in training Hezbollah guerillas when the organisation for formed in 1982. Currently one can see camps opened up in Tehran asking for donations for Hezbollah. Therefore, Iran stance is pretty straightforward. Local Iranian media is full of reports condemning the US and Israel’s aggression on Lebanon, as well as the demolition of Lebanon’s infrastructure and the killing of innocent people.
NASIR RIAZ
Tehran, Iran
AS an American, I would like to apologise to the people of the entire Muslim world for the hypocrisy shown by the Bush administration. Killing of innocent civilians is okay as long as it is done by Israelis. If done by Arabs, it is terrorism.
Israel can even kill UN officials and it is okay. Collective punishment is against Geneva conventions, but in Israel’s case it does not apply. We expect the Islamic world to crack down on their extremists while we encourage ours.
ROY MEDDOCK
California, USA
I REPRESENT average Pakistanis who are confused about a recent statement by the PM regarding improvement in the per capita income of Pakistan. What are the indicators determining per capita income? Is it the acceptance of price hikes in sectors like fuel, power, edibles, and medicine? Is it determined by the import figures of expensive refurbished cars? Is it determined by sky-high real estate prices in big cities? Is it determined by lavish lifestyle of two per cent population? Or is it determined by non-productive loans extended through consumer banking?
I sincerely hope someone will answer these questions in the these columns. Coming to the reality, every now and then the government is giving a dose of price hike to the masses in all sectors and observes: “Can they survive it? Yes, they can. OK, plan a stronger dose.”
The people are guilty of accepting every dose quietly unlike the people in India, the US and Europe where every such change by the government brings people on the roads with placards.
Telecommunications (cellphones), real estate (investment in plots) and consumer banking (wastage of public savings) are the only sectors where improvement has been observed during the last five years. Is this the right direction of development?
Neither industry nor agriculture has shown any remarkable improvement (to the best of my knowledge). Building one’s own house has literally become impossible due to the recent conspiracy by land mafia in all major cities of Pakistan. And what did the government do to stop these tragic crises? Nothing.
So, it is the fate of average Pakistanis now that they will never be able to acquire their own house. Total concentration of the government is on foreign aids and investment. It has a firm belief in improving economy by injecting foreign aids and investment. It has least trust in self-reliance and efficient use of local resources (including human resources).
Inflation control is none of the government’s business. Bitter reality is that our state is almost 60 years old and yet we have not been able to overcome the very basic problems like water shortage, power shortage, health facilities, food quality, etc.
Let me share with you my daily observations when I return home from my office. Staff on a lifter meant to take away vehicles parked at ‘no parking’ areas is taking bribes from vehicle owners to settle the issue ‘on the spot’. Staff on municipality truck meant to clear illegal occupation of footpaths, etc., is taking fruits and gifts from footpath occupants. The traffic constable “settling fines on the spot”. The police being ‘sympathetic’ with criminals, avoiding to file cases and trying to settle the disputes by other means.
Wapda representatives taking bribes from those stealing electricity. Teachers running their coaching centres instead of coaching at schools and colleges.
Who are they? These are the ones with authority given to them by the government. And all of them are misusing their authority, further complicating things for the people. These institutions were made to serve the people and now the masses are continuously serving them. Oh my God! the whole system is corrupt. Corruption begins at the top. This is the environment we have provided to our next generations. What should we expect out of them?
MUBASHER AHMED
Lahore
THIS refers to Dr Manzoor Ali Isran’s letter ‘Elements of politics’ (July 10). Dr Isran has inappropriately used the phrase ‘freedom of inquiry’ to support an alleged victimisation on account of views held in favour of three-year BSc degree programme in the social sciences. The phrase is actually used for freedom of scientific research which may be conducted within a given legal and ethical framework.
Ethics of such inquiry dictates that it should be value-free, objective and positive in terms of its impacts on mankind. For human subjects, such inquiry must also ensure confidentiality and voluntary participation of respondents.
In scientific research, media reports and print messages for public consumption, manipulation of information and subjectivity are ethical offences unworthy of being referred to as ‘freedom of Inquiry’.
A doctoral degree from an internationally reputed institution should bestow upon incumbents a high sense of proportion, honesty of purpose and objectivity: not only in scientific research, but also in speech and expression.
This is only natural because all acknowledged freedoms and civil liberties, are essentially rights-associated with corresponding responsibilities.
As regards the four-year degree programme (after FSC/Intermediate), it was adopted by agricultural universities of Pakistan in the 1980s. Recently, most public universities and some well-reputed private institutions, such as the IBM and the SZABIST, have also adopted the four-year degree programme in management and computer sciences.
The programme has inherent benefits of quality, higher departmental workload and faculty strength, prestige of social science subject areas and nomenclature of their degrees, equitable flow of research and development funds and better pay- scales as well as job opportunities for graduates in the social and behavioural sciences.
Most entry positions in well-reputed banks and other private sector organisations require a four-year bachelor degree. In public universities, the programme and syllabi of courses are approved and adopted by respective board(s) of study and faculty as well as by the academic council.
This is a matter of higher education policy broader enough than specific scientific inquiry by an individual researcher. This could not, most certainly, be the sole reason behind the alleged victimisation and an unwarranted media campaign against the University of Sindh.
DR RAJAB ALI MEMON
HEC Merit Professor
Jamshoro
In his article titled ‘Power-sharing among the provinces’ (July 29), Nadeem Nusrat has altogether ignored the very basic aim and objective on which Pakistan was founded and can survive.
As rightly mentioned by the writer, the Muslim League was representative of Muslims only. It is a historical fact that India was partitioned on the basis of the two-nation theory and Pakistan was established on the basis of Muslim nationhood and in the name of Islam — the essence and foundation of Muslim nationhood.
Unlike other countries, Pakistan was envisaged to be the role model of Islamic principles of human freedom, fraternity and equality. But, in practice, we remain a faithful slave of the world powers till today.
As a consequence, we broke in two parts in 1971 and are ripe for another catastrophe unless we revert to our fundamentals. How can constitutional safeguards work for us in the presence of absentee landlordism and interest-based banking system, which are the biggest tools of exploitation and corruption? “Pakistan is inhabited by people who have been ethnically and culturally distinguished from each other for many, many centuries.” That’s true, but then what made these people one nation under the banner of the Muslim League? Obviously Islam is the only raison d’etre for the existence and survival of this unique country.
Islam did not mean denial of the republican form of government and or the statecraft invented by the West, as thought by many. Rather, Islam offers a best democratic model as rightly concluded by Dr Salahuddin A. Khan, in an article published in Dawn under the title “A democratic model in Islam”. We, therefore, need not be shy of Islam and avoid further injuries and miseries to our body politics.
SARDAR AWAN
Lahore
REFERENCE your editorial ‘Chaotic transport system’ (July 10),the Planning Commission’s disclosure indicates that due to congestion, poor quality of roads and inadequate supporting infrastructure the national economy is losing Rs230 billion ($3.8 billion) annually as 90 to 96 per cent long-distance traffic is being carried by road.
This was earlier carried by rail in the early 1980s when the then minister started transferring this to road through the National Logistics Cell (NLC), since taken over by the private truckers, little realising that trucks consume over eight times more fuel per ton-km of payload.
It is primarily due to this vital factor that all over the world road transport is considered uneconomical beyond about 120km haul.
Besides this, the losses due to additional road building, higher wear and tear, replacement of vehicles, higher environmental pollution and, above all, much higher road accident fatalities also deserve due consideration.
This lopsided policy thus also added about one to two billion dollars’ worth of additional fuel oil being consumed annually, besides huge annual losses to the Pakistan Railways and losses due to other factors mentioned above.
The Privatisation Commission would do well to also assess the total loss to the national economy due to this faulty policy during the last two-and-a-half decades, which might add up to a mind-boggling figure perhaps matching the entire debts accumulated so far, justifying immediate action to reverse this policy, by improving the capability of the Pakistan Railways to handle 80 to 90 per cent of all long-distance traffic, especially dry freight.
Surely, this can be achieved by the long-awaited quadrupling of tracks between the KPT and Pipri, for which additional land was acquired, way back in the 1880s by the colonial builders of the railway, besides doubling the tracks between Lodhran-Raiwind and even beyond up to Rawalpindi-Peshawar in suitable stages, restricting and taxing the use of road trucks beyond 120km on highways, as was the practice up to the late 1950s or so when these were restricted to ply within civil divisional boundaries.
This will also require very careful improvements of signalling, additional fleet of locomotives, rolling-stock, suitable line capacity allocation between passenger and freight trains, possibly re-designing the passenger carriages to increase their carrying capacity to minimise the number of such trains to accommodate more freight trains, which are the major revenue earners, as passenger trains hardly pay their operating costs.
Indeed this needs to be investigated and assessed by a high-powered commission.
S.M.H. RIZVI
Karachi
IT was a pleasure to see a photograph on page 2 of Dawn (July 18) of federal health minister dancing with a foreign lady at musical function. The (healthy) health minister’s dancing style appears quite befitting to the occasion and is appreciable.
But the minister appears unmindful of the performance of his ministry. One is distressed to read further on page 17 of the same paper a story that the poor masses in rural Sindh are deprived of the basic health facilities because of 1,500 posts of doctors and health specialists are lying vacant at various government health facilities.
A number of basic health units, dispensaries and mother-child health centres have almost ceased to function due to non-availability of doctors. The posts remain vacant due to bureaucratic wrangle.
The basic health facilities in other provinces for the poor masses are not any better.
This is the height of misgovernance. The elites have the best medical facilities available in private hospitals in Pakistan and abroad but the poor are ignored. This is what expected of an undemocratic dispensation. The poor shall continue to suffer till such time as real democracy is in place.
ABDUL SAMAD KHAN
Karachi
IN order to obtain a CNIC or a birth or death registration certificate, people have to approach officers of government, semi-government, autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies like banks, financial institutions, etc, for attestation of documents. Also, attestation of documents for purposes of employment, admission to educational institutions, domicile, PRC, passport etc, is required.
It would be easier for people if attestation work is done by nazims, councillors, and officers of denationalised institutions such as banks. Also, officers of prime/renowned multinational companies, banks, etc., be authorised to attest documents.
NISAR AHMED
Karachi
THIS refers to the letter by Mr Anil Saxena from Houston, USA (Aug 1). Mr Saxena is amazed to know that Mr Ayaz Amir considers Sheikh Osama bin Laden and Sheikh Nassrullah heroes. A Gallup poll in any or all Muslim states will prove there is popular support for Mr Amir’s views. Mr Saxena probably considers impotent rulers of Islamic states ‘heroes’.
KHALID MUSTAFA
Lahore
THIS refers to Zubeida Mustafa’s article ‘Why we lack good governance’ (July 12). Her analysis is very good but she has missed a point of primary importance, that is about the selection of the chief executive of the country.
Had we ever had or do we have now any system of selection of the chief executive on the basis of merit in Pakistan?
Efficiency in governance comes from the top, not from the middle or the bottom of any system of government or institution.
All of us should seriously think about this. Not only is this true for Pakistan but also for all Muslim countries. Is there any system of smooth transfer of power on the basis of the merit set for the top position?
This is not a new problem. This was the root-cause for the division among Muslims into different sects after the death of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). I believe this is reason why Muslims don’t believe in merit established on the basis of qualification, ability, capability and wisdom. Instead they believe in the status of the person achieved by any means and physical power. In this situation how can we expect good governance?
MEHDI RIZVI
Pickering, Canada
IN the yesteryear it was the white man who went into the jungles of Africa, South America and Australia. They invaded their privacy, disturbed their culture, killed at will and even made slaves out of them.
If the people of the jungle were left alone, they would live and die according to the laws of nature. They would have been saved from starvation and tears they endure at present. The West certainly aids them with genetically-modified cereals and provides arms to the warlords which are remote-controlled killing machines.
After the downfall of the Taliban government the coalition offered olive branches to the people and in the words of Mr Bush “we will not walk away this time.” Now after four years no reconstruction activity is visible in Afghanistan which was severely rendered by the carpet-bombing.
As hostilities erupt, the attacker pulverises the infrastructure and kills and maims people with impunity. Later the Red Cross and other groups of the same creed pick up the pieces and dress the wounds of the injured.
In other words, the assailant and the good Samaritan are the faces of the same coin.
RAFI ADAMJEE
Karachi
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