| October 12, 2006 | Thursday | Ramazan 18, 1427 |
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Ombudsman’s appointment
Suo motu notice
Pakistan and us
The Byzantine riddles
PTCL’s discrimination
Which Monday?
Teaching allowance
Affected students
Attack on religion
Stone Age
Truth commission
Readers are requested to restrict their comments to a maximum of 400 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for reasons of clarity and space. Letters, including those by e-mail, should carry the complete postal address of the sender. The views expressed in these columns do not necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper.—Editor
CONTENTS of the president’s book can be debated for months but without any positive outcome. However, logical conclusions drawn from the book may provide some serious food for thought for the nation to reform itself for a better future. I take this opportunity to offer my humble conclusions based on my observations of events since the first US-patronised dictator Gen Ayub Khan.
One, tenure of dictatorial rule in Pakistan and fabulous prosperity of the dictator’s descendants are subject to pleasure of the US government.
Two, the US-patronised dictator can drive the nation, with no voice, in any direction to achieve US objectives, irrespective of the consequences.
Worthy readers may recollect statement of the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev regarding red circling of Peshawar for nuclear attack in case of US Soviet war, after the US U2 spy plane which took off from Peshawar was shot down in the USSR in 1960 or so.
Three, lives of sons of the soil (other than those of our rulers unlike many other rulers such as Queen of England, Mao Zedong of China, Josef Stalin of the USSR) can be risked or sacrificed with impunity for ill-planned and shortsighted adventures, including the adventure resulting in the 1965 war, and the nation can be kept in the dark and misled to believe in victory through massive propaganda, including ridiculous unprecedented motivation by a singer.
Worthy readers may please note that a war is lost and all sacrifices go to waste if the desired objective is not achieved.
Four, a dictator in Pakistan has never felt shortage of self-seeking politicians to admire and support his rule, may be they are descendants of those who served former rulers whether Mughals, Sikhs or British.
Five, the nation is now left with the government-patronised heroes or heroines in cricket, music and films to emulate while others stand discredited.
In the end, I dare blame myself and my nation for supporting self-seeking politicians for our miseries, and not the US for using us for its national objectives.
NASRULLAH KHAN SHINWARI
Peshawar
“THEN came 9/11 and its aftermath. The whole world changed ... counter-terrorism, nuclear proliferation, democracy, human rights and narcotics. Pakistan sits in the centre of each”, so writes Musharraf in his book (Sept 24).
At that time Pakistan being in the centre of such a situation would have been truer in case we have given shelter to Osama bin Laden, the 9/11 plan was in our knowledge, any of the hijackers bore our nationality, they were educated or trained in our country or even known to us. One may include our overtly or covertly financing also.
Regarding our nuclear proliferation problem, it would have cropped up after a while irrespective of the 9/11. Bush was honest to inform us when he said: “Pakistan has a different history.”
Afghanistan’s narcotics problem is a very old issue. It got extra exposure during the late Gen Zia’s era. It is basically a problem between the government of Afghanistan and their opium-growing Afghans. It is not understood as to how we can think ourselves to be in the centre of others’ problems?
Z.A. KAZMI
Karachi
AN unexpected statement by our president in New York concerning the Stone Age has raised eye-brows. It is extremely rare to hear a Pakistani president speak in this fashion on US soil. The US may have permitted him to speak with such audacity to forward another US agenda or merely to propagate his book In the Line of Fire”.
It is a known fact that every person, specially a politician, has skeletons in his cupboard, which are buried with its keeper.
However, it is extremely unusual to see cobweb-laden skeletons tossed on the courtyard for all to see.
RAFI ADAMJEE
Karachi
ON telephoning the Karachi regional office of the federal ombudsman on Sept 26, I was informed again that no ombudsman has been appointed so far. One had hoped that after the minister of law, justice and human rights stated on the floor of the National Assembly that the federation was without an ombudsman, action would have been taken to get an ombudsman appointed, but it is unfortunate that this has not happened.
I am feeling concerned as I have lodged a grievance with the ombudsman office against a government agency. Hearings in this case concluded some time ago and it is time I received decision in this case.
However, each time I contact his Karachi secretariat, I am told that decisions finalised in the cases of those whose personal hearings have been concluded cannot be announced in the absence of the ombudsman. A large number of cases appear to be involved and one wonders as to how all of them will be feeling.
It is said that justice delayed is justice denied. I cannot, therefore, emphasise too strongly the urgency of making the appointment of ombudsman. More the delay, more the anguish on the part of those who are waiting for decisions and those who wish to lodge fresh grievances against government agencies/government departments.
One does not know the internal working of the offices of ombudsman but as all actions are taken in the organisation in his name, one can understand the hesitancy on their part in announcing decisions taken in his absence or without his approval, where it was necessary.
The organisation of ombudsman is indeed very much needed, in order to keep the government and its agencies under check. As it is well-known, it is not easy to access judicial system in Pakistan without paying fees and without seeking the help of lawyers.
The organisation of ombudsman, as conceived, does not call for payment of any fees and lawyers are also not involved in the process. It is a useful organisation and can indeed help the government in its efforts to provide speedy and inexpensive justice. This organisation, therefore, needs to be strengthened, and not weekend.
Some other countries have separate courts of law and equity. In Pakistan, courts are expected to look after all aspects of law and equity. However, it appears that courts are generally found to be giving more attention to law points than to equity. On the other hand, the organisation of ombudsman is best suited to give due attention to equity without ignoring law and, therefore, needs all encouragement that can be given to it.
AN AFFECTED PERSON
Karachi
MR Ayaz Amir in his column on May 26 has rightly observed that in today’s Pakistan at least “a thousand supreme courts spread across the country and a thousand upright chief justices working through the night” are required to take care of the increased work of suo motu notices in the country.
The honourable chief justice of Pakistan is handling so many cases from violation of human rights to privatisation of huge national assets like the Pakistan Steel Mills done in indecent haste.
The apex court is doing all this in an unassuming manner not at all giving any impression of judicial activism. It will be in the fitness of things if the chief justice also takes suo motu notice of another very important matter of national importance that pertains to putting people on the exit control list (ECL) by the interior ministry without any valid reason.
The haughtiness of the interior ministry shown at times while putting respectable people on the ECL needs to be checked.
Then at times, shortly afterwards, under pressure from the powers-that-be, the authorities at the interior ministry remove the same name from the ECL with the speed of lightning. No explanation is given and the whole matter remains a mystery.
The recent example of such a case pertains to the CEO of Bahria Town, whose name was initially put on the ECL some time ago for reasons best known to the interior ministry and then only within hours it was removed from the ECL.
If the chief justice of Pakistan takes notice of this case, certainly some interesting things may surface, for example, the real motive of the interior ministry to embarrass a businessperson of the status of the Bahria Town chief executive.
During the hearing of the case the court may discover for the nation the inside mysteries that compelled the powers-that-be to intervene in this case. If the court discovers that the said business tycoon is no thief and putting him on the exit control list is only an arm-twisting exercise, the interior ministry may learn a lesson not to touch innocent people in the future.
PN COMMANDER (r)
M.Q. HUSSAIN
Islamabad
PEOPLE write about the hazards of sheesha, underage smoking and driving fast. Why do they fail to notice more pressing issues of life? Why does no one talk about Iraq anymore? Has it become old news?
Why was nothing done about Hezbollah? Have our lives become so shallow that they only revolve around our tiny little worlds? At 17 life isn’t supposed to make sense, but is it the same at 45?
I remember reading all those newspapers in the 1970s: it was a time when the people of Pakistan had spirit. What has happened to the protests and rallies? Are the strikes only to be held by union workers?
We are supposed to have our voice heard, not have it continuously suppressed by the government. No one is ready to take action, they sit and talk like intellectuals, but what do they really do about it?
They go ahead and blame religion or culture. Is this what we fought for in 1947? I don’t think so.
TOOBA MASOOD
Karachi
MR Iqbal Jafar has ended his article, ‘The Byzantine riddles’, (Oct 2) with a few queries. Why did the pope choose this time of troubles to raise the question of forcible conversion to Islam when no such conversions are taking place? Why has the pope almost de-linked Christianity from its roots in the East?
Also, why should he advocate the Eurocentric nature of Christianity that actually was a gift of monotheistic (Judaic) East to the pagan West? Finally, are all of these ideas somehow interconnected?
The answers to these can be found by considering some current and past realities. ‘Fishing in troubled waters’ is not an unknown practice. The foremost reasons for the pope’s actions appear to be:
a. To benefit from anti-Muslim sentiments in the West, especially when these were heightened by the fifth anniversary of 9/11.
b. To keep Turkey (and other Muslims) out of the European Union by presenting Islam and its adherents as being violent and intolerant.
His attempts to distance Christianity from its eastern roots may partly have to do with his latent sense of racial superiority that appears to be a leftover from the times of his upbringing in Hitler’s Germany. But, the major reason seems related to the fierce and ancient struggle between the Judeo-Christians and what has been called ‘Pauline Christianity’ by French academician Dr Maurice Bucaille in his book, The Bible, the Quran and Science.
Dr Bucaille has cited from the work of his compatriot, Cardinal Danielou, A New Representation of the Origins of Christianity: Judeo-Christianity, to explain how this tussle was shaped. The cardinal says that after Jesus’s departure the “little group of (his) Apostles” formed a “Jewish sect that remained faithful to the form of worship practised in the Temple”. However, the observances of converts from paganism were added to them, as it were: the Council of Jerusalem in AD 49 exempted them from circumcision and Jewish observances; “many Judeo-Christians rejected this concession”.
What is more, Paul and the Judeo-Christians were in conflict over the question of pagans who had turned to Christianity. For those Judeo-Christians who remained ‘loyal Jews,’ Paul was a traitor: Judeo-Christian documents accuse him of ‘tactical double dealing’. “Until AD 70, Judeo-Christianity represents the majority of the Church” and “Paul remains an isolated case”.
The head of the community at that time was James, a relation of Jesus. With him were Peter (in the beginning) and John. “James may be considered to represent the Judeo-Christian camp, which deliberately clung to Judaism as opposed to Pauline Christianity.” Jesus’s family has a very important place in the Judeo-Christian Church of Jerusalem. Cardinal Danielou has remarked that “it is to the Judeo-Christians that one must ascribe the oldest writings of Christian literature.”
After the Jews had been discredited, the Christians tended to detach themselves from them. The Hellenistic peoples of Christian persuasion gained the upper hand -– Paul won a posthumous victory. It is further said that he created Christianity at the expense of those whom Jesus had gathered around him to spread his teachings. Interestingly, Paul had not known Jesus during his lifetime and he proved the legitimacy of his mission by declaring that Jesus, raised from the dead, had appeared to him on the road to Damascus.
Dr Bucaille has noted that the writings of this camp about Jesus were afterwards classed as ‘Apocrypha’, that is, they had to be concealed from the Christians by the victorious Pauline Church. This Church made obvious excisions in the Gospel literature and retained only the four Canonic Gospels that constitute the most important part of the New Testament.
In his article, ‘Attacks on religion: a one-sided affair’ (Oct 3), Mr Muhammad Ali Siddiqi has pointed out that the Arab Christians don’t share their white co-religionists’ hostility towards Islam and the Holy Prophet (PBUH), as demonstrated by the attitude of such people as Edward Said, Yvonne Haddad, Philip K. Hitti and Albert Hourani. It is also evident from the Arab Christians’ and Muslims’ joint struggle for Palestine against Israel.
All these show that Pope Benedict’s distancing of his religion from its eastern roots probably lie in the old conflict between the eastern Judeo-Christianity and the Hellenistic Pauline one: the polarisation of the Arab Christians as well as his desire to foster an exclusive, all-white Christian Europe. This also shows how these ideas are inter-related.
K. CHAUDHRY
Karachi
I AM referring to the PTCL’s promotional scheme whereby subscribers are being offered special call rates during the holy month of Ramazan. Some calling card companies are also offering very cheap rates for making international phone calls.
The PTCL promises to charge Rs2 (excluding GST) per minute for international calls to countries like the US, Canada, Hong Kong, France, Italy, Belgium, the UK, Australia, Spain, South Korea, Norway, Malaysia, Germany, Netherlands and Greece.
I believe people living in the above-mentioned countries can afford to make phone calls to their relatives in Pakistan. Similarly, Pakistanis who have relatives in the above countries can also afford to pay for the international calls.
I wonder why the PTCL has not offered the discounted rate of Rs2 per minute to call India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran and other countries neighbouring Pakistan.
A majority of Pakistanis have relatives in neighbouring countries where making a phone call is quite expensive for people belonging to the middle and the lower middle class. It appears that the PTCL wants to please only the elite of this country.
I request the PTA to include neighbouring countries in the list of countries to which cheap international phone calls can be made.
M. RAFIQUE ZAKARIA
Karachi
MINISTER Liaquat Jatoi was quoted as saying that “there will be no loadshedding in Karachi from Monday”. Did he mean the following Monday, that is October 9, or did he mean a certain Monday next year? Perhaps what he meant to say was that there will be no load shedding on Mondays?
IMRANA MAQSOOD
Karachi
I WOULD like to draw the attention of the finance minister to his budget speech in which he had assured teachers that they would be given teaching allowance ranging Rs500 to Rs1,000, according to their cadre.
So far nothing has been done in this regard. The prime minister or the finance minister should immediately issue a notification in this regard.
MOINUDDIN
Hyderabad
THE earthquake-affected students of Palandri, Azad Kashmir’s only cadet college, are still waiting for fulfilment of their former prime minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan’s promise to exempt them from fees.
The new prime minister, Sardar Attiq Khan has also been assuring them of his support, but so far nothing has been done.
The AJK authorities are again reminded of this commitment which remains unfulfilled even after one year of the earthquake. Sardar Attiq should honour Sardar Sikandar’s promise to the affected students.
GHAZALA YASMIN
Rawalpindi
IN his article ‘Attack on religion: a one-sided affair’ (Oct 3) Muhammad Ali Siddiqi wrote that European Christians specialise in defaming Islam. Perhaps he is unaware of the German toilet manufacturer who put images of Hindu gods on the toilet. Hindu women in Europe are called ‘red dots’ because of the ‘bindi’ they put on their foreheads.
Like most civilised people everywhere, I protested against these issues by writing letters to the company, to be followed up by an economic boycott.
By becoming violent we give more power to the perpetrators. Most western states are liberal where freedom of speech is protected by their constitutions. My suggestion is to appeal to the sense of decency and if that fails, then ignore them.
Remember, only crazy people talk to themselves. If we stop listening, they will eventually stop talking.
ANSHU DEWAN
Illinois, USA
GAPING manholes, moon craters on roads, non-existence footpaths, waterlogged main thoroughfares, people stranding after rains using boats, ambulances stuck in traffic jams, etc, people being killed for cellphones and purses, prices too high for survival, no electricity from dawn to dusk and vice versa, minors raped, women killed in family disputes, religious frenzy over any issue under the sky, bomb blasts and corruption — nobody needs to send us back to the Stone Age. We are already there.
MOZAMIL A SAEED
Karachi
IN his article ‘Need for a truth commission’ ( Sept 25) Dr Athar Osama has made a strong case for measures that could be adopted in the country in order to prevent a possible recurrence of the 1971 debacle.
Unlike many other ‘whistle blowers’, the writer not only warns of the dangers ahead, but also recommends steps to correct the situation. The question is, will the people heed?
MOBIN KIRMANI
Orlando, USA
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