| May 27, 2007 | Sunday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 10, 1428 |
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Jinnah for lawyers
Ayub’s extra-constitutional method
Attention DHA
Outlook for South Asia
Discrimination against couple
Pervasive evil of corruption
Loadshedding at night
NICVD responds
Wheat ban
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
GEN Musharraf made a colossal error in attacking the independence of the judiciary. He can rectify this error by recognising that an independent judiciary is essential for the survival of a country like Pakistan. Once he achieves this recognition, he can act as a catalyst for patriotic and democratic forces to meet and create the necessary structure to guarantee a permanent independent judiciary.
The lawyers of the two sides -- Sharifuddin Pirzada , Muneer Malik and other leading jurists -- involved in the present struggle need to sit face to face and come up with a solution that is beneficial not to Gen Musharraf or Justice Chaudhry but to justice and to Pakistan. It is also essential that Pakistan use its security apparatus to protect those who are brave enough to stand up to protect a vital element of the state, i.e., the judiciary, from acts of terrorism.
A strengthened judiciary would be the greatest gift that Musharraf, Pirzada and all those who join in this effort can leave for Pakistan. It will be a legacy that will be remembered by future generations.
If Musharraf, however, chooses the same path that unfortunately some previous Pakistani leaders have taken, i.e., to ruthlessly trample all those who come in their way, such action will not just crush the proponents of freedom, it will destroy Pakistan. Musharraf will then be remembered as just another ruthless dictator who came, who saw, conquered and destroyed.
Absolute belief is a very dangerous thing to practise. In fact, this has caused a substantive damage to President Musharraf’s position. Strong faith in the PML and the MQM has made him to suffer immensely.
The first episode was that the president trusted the PML leaders' vision of filing a reference against the chief justice, who was probably no a threat to the president because he had taken the oath under the PCO.
The fact is that the PML leaders direly wanted to derail the dialogue process between President Musharraf and the PPP leadership. They thought they would remain stranded if this dialogue process would be successful/result-oriented.
At the same time they used the trick of reference against the CJ. They did their utmost to try to convince the president that filing of reference was in his favour for future events. The important element was the president’s re-election by the present assemblies, and there were speculations that the matter could go to the Supreme Court where they were not certain about its decision.
After all, they convinced the president about filing the reference against the C J, who was not trustworthy for the government after the verdicts on the Pakistan Steel Mills and Basant issue.
That decision of filing a reference has weakened the president but the tainted indigenous elements of this event remained out of the show and made the president the centre of gravity. The recent massacre in Karachi has further deepened the crisis for the president, who mentioned a number of times in his public gatherings that conspiracies are being done against him.
Indeed this is a true realisation of the president about this fact, but a little late.
However, I would say that some mishandling and mismanagement is done on the part of the president as well. Instead of scrutinising the facts of these events, he became party to them.
Another trick is being applied for the president to ask him to address the political events which are not appropriate for him in any condition. As the president of the country he should be aware of these people who are indulging him in chaos and should foil their nefarious objectives. The president should deal these things with prudent eye, otherwise it won't help his cause and further deepen the crisis for him.
FARRUKH SHAHZAD
Islamabad
THESE days one often comes across the slogan “Lawyers founded Pakistan, lawyers will save it too”. Without question, Pakistan was founded by a brilliant lawyer, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and the legal fraternity in Pakistan today have every right to uphold the rule of law in the country.
But do the lawyers who are campaigning, on the issue of the presidential reference, forget that Jinnah always stood for ‘ordered progress’, moderation, gradualism and constitutionalism?
Lawyers of Pakistan, today, cannot negate that Mr Jinnah found “the injection of violence into politics” least acceptable. While the issue of the presidential reference is in the apex court, it has turned into a gory political brawl. When in 1920, Gandhi got elected as the president of the Home Rule League; Mr Jinnah resigned from it, on the same point.
“Your extreme programme has, for the moment, struck the imagination, mostly of the inexperienced youth and the ignorant and the illiterate. All this means disorganisation and chaos.”
But, readers, these days, go through the chaotic news content, “Lawyers manhandled journalists”, “Lawyers clash at the Supreme Court gate”, “Lawyers beat up policemen with sticks and umbrellas” (May 4).
Lawyers of this nation should take pride in the fact that Mr Jinnah took their profession to new heights. In December 2004, the BBC conducted a poll for “South Asia’s greatest- ever leader”, and readers were given 16 names to choose from.
The poll proved to be ‘enormously popular’, according to the BBC. Vote results showed that Mohammad Ali Jinnah (lawyer) topped with 39 per cent of the votes, Mahatma Gandhi (lawyer) 36 per cent, Jawaharlal Nehru 0 per cent (failed lawyer). In this poll 335,422 votes were cast.
Unfortunately, today some black-clad persons belonging to Mr Jinnah’s profession try not to miss any photo opportunity, whether it comes from jumping on the roof of a car, or tearing apart someone’s clothes or uniform. On the other hand, Mr Jinnah as a lawyer exercised his legal faculties not political fantasies. He fought his legal battles in curia (inside court). According to Joachim Alva: “He cast a spell on the courtroom, unruffled by the worst circumstances”.
If lawyers really want the rule of law in Mr Jinnah’s Pakistan, they should heed the advice of another lawyer of the same stature; Abraham Lincoln: “We must disenthrall ourselves, and then shall save our country”.
KHALID HASAN KHAN
Karachi
TWO letters have been published on May 24. Mansoorul-Haq Solangi mentions the military operation in Balochistan (Kalat) and unbearable torture and punishments awarded to those in anti-One Unit movements.
Mr Solangi failed to mention that Sardar Akbar Khan Bugti, who was sentenced to be hanged, was pardoned by Ayub Khan.
The Khan of Kalat, against whom military operation was conducted, was made adviser on Baloch affairs to the governor of West Pakistan by Ayub Khan.
Mr Solangi also mentions that Ayub Khan abrogated the Constitution of 1956. It seems Mr Solangi has not seen or heard about Proclamation by General Iskander Mirza, president of Pakistan, Oct 7, 1958 abrogating the 1956 Constitution and putting the country under martial law.
Mr M.N. Qasmi seems not to have grasped my rejoinder of May 18, nor possibly seen Abid Mahmud Ansari’s letter (May 10).
The question just does not arise that Ayub Khan or I would make a disparaging remark against Gen Sher Ali Khan. I did not err as I am aware that Gen Sher Ali Khan was from about the last course of Indian cadets commissioned from Sandhurst, UK, and stood retired on Gen Musa’s appointment. Gen Yahya Khan was appointed commander-in-chief in September 1966.
GOHAR AYUB KHAN
Islamabad
I AM residing at Commercial Avenue, Phase IV, DHA, Karachi. Majority of the houses in Phase IV were constructed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Plinth level of most of the houses are below road level. The same is the position of houses existing at other commercial streets and commercial lanes in Phase IV.
It has been experienced during rainy season that water enters into houses at commercial streets and commercial lanes and had to be pumped out by the DHA/ cantonment board. One stormwater drain exists at Commercial Avenue which runs full and takes out rainwater from Commercial Avenue. Rainwater from other commercial streets and lanes are also pumped through hosepipes into the stormwater drain.
During the last year’s rainfall it was witnessed that the stormwater drain had been running full at the highest flood level. Had the rainfall intensified, the situation would worsen for the and residents.
The DHA has recently started demolishing this stormwater drain while the new stormwater drain is being built with half the capacity as compared to the capacity and cross- sectional area of the existing stormwater drain, which is being demolished.
Moreover, the invert level of the new drain has been raised, which further reduces its capacity. Also, the road level of Commercial Avenue is being raised by one foot, thereby lowering the plinth/floor level of the houses by another one foot and putting the inmates in immense problem. There seems to be no wisdom in the planning done for replacing the stormwater drain with smaller capacity. Disaster done by rain last year due to non-availability of an adequate stormwater drainage system in Clifton and the DHA is before us.
This is a very serious matter and needs to be reviewed and intervened by the management at the top level in the DHA to save the houses in Phase IV from inundation during rainfall in the future.
A CONCERNED RESIDENT
Karachi
THIS is apropos of the concluding paragraph of ‘Outlook for South Asia’ by Maqbool Ahmed Bhatty (May 24). Ever so often writers talk of India's desire and efforts to undo partition.
There has never been such a desire or effort, except in the utterances of some right-wing communal parties in India and that too in the early days for political propaganda. It is not India's goodness, but real politic, which is the reason for this.
Although India's democracy has survived, and its economy is growing, its plate has been full with problems from the dawn of independence itself. First, it was the Naga problem and the communist violence in Telengana in Andhra and Vayalar in Kerala.
Then came the Tamil separatist tendencies, followed by Naxalism, now re-christened Maoist movement.
Problems in Assam and the smaller states around it, and then in Punjab followed. In the midst of all this, there were many Hindu- Muslim riots, off and on.
Any undoing of partition will multiply India's problems manifold, not to talk of the irreconcilable conflict between Pakistan's fierce Islamism, and India's steadfast secularism. Today, nobody — indeed, nobody — in India thinks of undoing partition, even in their wildest dream.
Such a fear in the Pakistani mind should no more eclipse efforts to live side by side, in peace.
P.V. IYER
San Jose CA
THIS is apropos of the report, ‘Arrested she-couple vows to seek justice’ by Mohammad Saleem (May 21) on the arrest of transsexual male Shumail Raj and his wife Shehzina Tariq.
Mr Saleeem would have done well to at least research the psychological phenomenon of transgenderism before using a derogatory term such as 'she-couple' or 'she-husband' in relation to Mr Raj and his wife.
Pakistan is a ridiculously closed society, but sometimes one is in shock at the misinformation and prejudice even among more broad -minded circles. The case of the aforementioned is the first of its kind in Pakistan, but our neighbouring Muslim country, Iran, is no stranger to transgenderism or to sex-change surgeries.
Not only has Iran issued fatwas to support the struggle of transgendered individuals and support their right to live psychologically healthy lives by altering their bodies, but the Iranian government also pays for these surgeries, and assists the individuals involved to obtain new identification documents and papers.
Iran's clerics hold that transgenderism is not the same thing as homosexuality: a transgendered individual usually grows up in a body which is atypical for their sex, and is, therefore, constantly plagued with this feeling of being trapped in the ‘wrong body’. When one looks at Shumail Raj and hears his story, it is obvious that he was not born in the body of a typical female, and has always felt the need to change his body to conform to what he feels should have been its true nature.
Many causes for such conditions have been suggested, such as overexposure to testosterone in the womb in the case of female-to-male transsexuals. It goes without saying that rather than being harassed, individuals like Mr Raj should be supported and commended for their courage in dealing with a problem that many of us would be terrified by.
I suggest that the people and the government of Pakistan learn from the experiences in Iran and do not repeat the same inhuman and unscientific patterns of injustice and prejudice that are so pervasive in a world that insists on adhering to absurd caricatures of what it means to be a ‘real man’ or a ‘real woman’.
I suggest that we all get used to the fact that the Creator likes diversity, and it is only human beings who think reality can be contained in neat little formulas. Let us not allow religious extremism to run away with our good sense and will for justice.
NEHDIA SAMEEN
Islamabad
I APPLAUD Gayoor Ahmed’s article, ‘Pervasive evil of corruption.’
Elimination of corruption was the most prominent part of Gen Musharraf’s seven-point agenda, in view of which his violation of the Constitution and takeover was tolerated by the nation.
However, within a period of days the agenda was buried deep and since then loot and plunder has been the order of the day. How else could it be otherwise when persons serving prison terms for corruption were taken out of jail and together with those under trail and absconding in such cases were given lucrative portfolios in government.
Not only that but the only two reforms brought by the government in a period of seven and a half years, namely the police reforms and the so-called (wrongly) devolution plan (district governments), have in fact turned out to be a measure to facilitate corruption by the government side MNAs, MPAs, nazims, public servants and other connected people, with total impunity so that corruption seems to have become licensed.
To top it all, not long ago, I heard Gen Musharraf say, in answer to a question on Geo TV’s ‘Jawab De’ programme, that accountability had been stopped because it was adversely affecting the economy! Need more be said?
SARDAR MUMTAZ ALI BHUTTO
Karachi
IT is incomprehensible as to why there is loadshedding in hours past mid-night also. This deprives people of rest and sleep after a day’s sweat-full work, frequently under hours of loadshedding.
There is no apparent reason for post-midnight loadshedding in the city. All commercial offices, which because of their massive airconditioning consume a lot of electricity, stay closed during night. So do the majority of shops and marketplaces.
So far as industrial establishments are concerned, even if these operate during night they find it economical to generate their own electricity.
It is clear from the foregoing that the reason for loadshedding during hours past midnight cannot be any dearth
of electricity.
The relevant figures given in an Annual Report (2005) of the KESC are as follows: system evening peak demand 2,197 MW, and base demand (night) 860 MW.
It shows that the demand of electricity during night falls to less than 40 per cent.
Where is the justification for night loadshedding which is such a discomfort to the consumers.
SAMAD A. ABBASI
Karachi
THIS has reference to Yvette Franklin’s letter, ‘NICVD and state of cleanliness’ (May 26). I am saddened and sorry for the inconvenience experienced by her. Our citizens have every right to expect cleanliness and quality care in our public healthcare institutions, notwithstanding the limitations and other reasons that may exist. However, please consider the following:
The NICVD is at present handling a 1,000 per cent increase in the patient load it was originally designed to cater for. We have extra beds in all rooms and beds in corridors. We can never refuse any patient, unlike private hospitals. We spend a huge amount on disinfestations of our half-a–century-old gutters, pipes and conduits but as our wards are packed all the time, we cannot empty them even for a single day as required for proper fumigation and disinfestation. We do not refuse patients who bring lice and other infestations in their clothes. Everyone has claim on us. The best of our staff and trainees are engaged by the private sector at salaries we cannot compete with, leaving us perpetually training staff.
Despite all our handicaps, recently when fire struck the city government’s heart hospital, that entire hospital was emptied and dozens of patients sent to NICVD. This was over and above our own unmanageable load. All these patients were accommodated and not a single patient refused. However, the wards were a mess with oxygen lines running inside and outside the rooms just as mentioned by the writer.
The local community and NGOs like the Cardiovascular Foundation have always lent a helping hand to the NICVD for which the nation is grateful. But, the answer does not lie in expanding the NICVD. It lies in building cardiac hospitals and cardiac units in all districts of Karachi and letting the NICVD do the job of tertiary care, training and research that it was designed for. At present, we are serving as a primary, secondary and tertiary care centre all rolled into one.
So, please have a heart and forgive our inadequacies while we strive to survive and improve despite all challenges. We will never give up on you, so please do not give up on us.
PROF AZHAR MASOOD A. FARUQUI,
Executive Director, NICVD,
Karachi
IS the ban on wheat export not another way to exploit farmers who are always blamed for not contributing enough to the national kitty?
How can they do this when they are deprived of the market price for their produce? Where are the advocates for the market forces economy? Why are the same standards not applied to the cement and sugar sectors?
It is only because their owners have created a powerful cartel and are sitting ministers in this government. If only farmers too had real representation, so they could get their rights.
FAIZ ALI
Jeddah
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