| May 31, 2008 | Saturday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 25, 1429 |
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Shaukat Aziz’s claims
Independent leadership
Celebrating nuclear tests
Living in Saudi Arabia
Blind trust
PTCL billing
Does the government care?
Junoon’s performance
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
THE World No Tobacco Day is held globally on May 31. This year’s theme, Tobacco-free Youth, is a reminder to us all that we need to take measures to prevent young people from using tobacco, the most powerful addictive substance currently available in the world.
Tobacco is the only legal consumer product that kills almost half of its users, with its victims dying 15 to 20 years prematurely on average. According to WHO, 5.4 million people died last year because of tobacco. This toll is expected to rise to 10 million per year by 2025 if the tobacco epidemic goes unchecked.
There are approximately 1.8 billion young people between the ages of 10 and 24 years of age in the world today with more than 85 per cent living in developing countries. Having survived the vulnerable childhood period, these young people are generally healthy.
However, as the tobacco industry intensifies its efforts in developing countries like Pakistan to hook new, young and potentially lifelong tobacco users, the health of a significant number of our young people is seriously threatened.
Nicotine is a highly addictive substance and child and adolescent experimentation can easily lead to a lifetime of tobacco dependence.
The transition from high school to college is a critical period to adopt healthy habits and lifestyles. Unfortunately during this vulnerable period, many of our young people fall victim to aggressive marketing by the tobacco industry and become regular smokers.
The tobacco industry spends millions of rupees in the country annually in marketing their deadly products. Their activities are intended to bring young and hopefully lifelong tobacco users into the fold.
In a recent survey, 24 per cent of college students in Karachi were found to be regular smokers. A similar survey in Islamabad showed the prevalence of smoking among young people to be even higher at 28 per cent.
Sadly, girls are also taking up this deadly addiction which is responsible for the deaths of over 100,000 people every year in Pakistan.
One of the most effective ways to protect young people from the harmful effects of tobacco use is to ban the promotion of tobacco products, and to bar the sponsorship of any events or activities by the tobacco industry.
Young people tend to copy show business celebrities and there is a need to strictly ban tobacco scenes in our films and TV dramas.
Our political leaders should also refrain from smoking in public in order to promote a non-smoking culture in our society.
An anti-smoking ordinance passed by the federal government in 2002 clearly states that tobacco products could not be sold to people under the age of 18 but everyone knows how easy it is for a minor to buy cigarettes or other tobacco products in Pakistan. Policymakers should be aware that voluntary policies introduced by tobacco companies do not work.
Also educational institutions are supposed to be smoke-free zones but sadly tobacco products are being openly sold inside universities and colleges in Pakistan.
In countries where clean air laws are being implemented, tobacco use among young people has declined.
Our government and civil society must come forward and protect young people from this addiction and take appropriate measures to control this single largest preventable cause of death in the country today.
DR JAVAID KHAN
Aga Khan University
Karachi
ACCORDING to a report (Dawn, May 18), former prime minister Shaukat Aziz made certain claims.
Some of these are: 1) The recent food and energy crises in Pakistan were linked to a sudden rise in oil prices last year, which could not have been foreseen.
Further, that his government failed to control smuggling and hoarding of the food items.
2) The law ministry sent the reference against CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry to him and he referred it to the president, as required by the Constitution.
Mr Aziz is making it appear that the power shortage only occurred last year. He has forgotten that loadshedding has been going on for several years.
Besides, as noted by Shahid Javed Burki in a couple of his recent columns, given the emphasis placed on development at the rate of seven per cent or so by Mr Aziz’s government since 2002 03, it was only a matter of good planning that power production should have been increased by about 10 per cent.
Also, as observed by PPP MNA Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur, nearly 70,000 villages were electrified during these years in Punjab and Sindh, but no attention was paid as to where the additional power would come from (May 20).
A catch in the ex-PM’s argument is revealed from a BBC report (Feb 1) about his statement that he had been provided exaggerated figures regarding wheat production by his ministers, as a result of which he allowed its export.
However, at the same time, he had reportedly acknowledged that the then Punjab CM Pervaiz Elahi had written to him with a warning that export of the commodity would lead to trouble, hence it must not be done.
In the same context, Mr Aziz had said that if he had heeded this warning, the crisis would not have occurred. Besides, after getting a drubbing in the Feb 18 election, various PML(Q) leaders, notably including Pervaiz Elahi, had blamed Shaukat Aziz for the flour shortage and other problems.
So, if these facts aren’t true, Mr Aziz should come out with a denial about the BBC report. Also, if Mr Elahi did write that letter, its record should be traceable in Islamabad and Lahore.
As far as the Justice Chaudhry case is concerned, the then law minister Wasi Zafar has rejected the former PM’s claim that the reference had been sent to him by the law ministry and he (i.e. Mr Aziz) merely forwarded it to the president after a ‘thorough analysis’.
Mr Zafar said the procedure had been kept secret even from him and he obviously didn’t sign the summary.
This suggests there was something fishy about the whole thing.
One also wishes that Mr Aziz had analysed the data about wheat production as thoroughly as he had analysed the reference against the CJP, since provision of food to the nation is far more serious business than finding the CJP’s faults or removing the impediments to the president’s re election.
Another question begging an answer is what role did he have in ordering an plane to be put on standby last year so that Nawaz Sharif could be deported to Saudi Arabia after arrival from the UK, despite the Supreme Court ruling that he had every right to return to the country?
This question was due to be taken up by the SC when emergency was suddenly imposed.
Q. IQBAL
Karachi
PAKISTAN is facing two problems. One is the dangers associated with the rise of irrational idolatry of religion among the general masses and second is the lack of proper political and economic setup.
The former is inimical in understanding the working of the modern world by establishing the supremacy of the divine consent in every event that took place in the world.
The latter provides an opportunity to hijack the the entire economic system of a country in the presence of the preferred policy of commercialisation and free market economy being followed all over the world.
Thus, these two phenomena are taking us away from the path of science-based mass understanding and that of the building and flourishing of effective institutions so much necessary for the normal functioning of the capitalist system.
While both the problems can be explained as a result of the lack of democratic system in the country and thus can be attributed to those external factors that encourage or justify the existence of non-elected regimes.
The result of this mingling up (of ignorance of the masses at the domestic level and an expedient approach at the international level) is that the country now is called most dangerous in the world.
The question now is about the solution to the problem. Unfortunately, the various social segments that resulted from the long durations of the non-elected regimes have become so powerful that they are beyond the control of the government.
I think the only viable solution is the independent leadership backed by a team of intellectuals and visionaries that have a proven capability of seeing things in the proper context.
EMAD UD DIN
Karachi
ON May 28, the Yaum-i-Takbeer, Pakistan, 10 years ago, became a nuclear power in response to India’s similar provocative act on May 12, 1998.
Pakistan made history by being a nuclear power, being a Third World country and the first Muslim nation.
Above all, the country went ahead with the nuclear tests despite unprecedented pressure from the world at large, specially the sole superpower, the US.
The credit first of all goes to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for conceiving the idea, visualising the threat, and initiating this gigantic programme with no resources at hand.
Great was the man whose contribution not only let Pakistan survive but prosper despite odds, political turmoil, external threats, economic sanctions, internal rifts and then his own tragic end.
The credit goes to Gen Ziaul Haq and president Ghulam Ishaq Khan who did not let this project culminate despite many hurdles and pressures.
The credit also goes to Benazir Bhutto who, despite unhappy deals with India over the Sikh insurgent movement and Kashmir or Siachen, as she herself admitted, gave Pakistan the missile technology because without the carriers of nuclear warheads, the nuclear capability was not effective.
The credit goes to Nawaz Sharif who withstood the unprecedented pressure from the US and the world at large and refused to budge an inch from honouring the country with such a great honour.
Above all, the country owes Dr A. Q. Khan and thousands of other scientists, workers and those at the helm of affairs in any capacity.
All are to be regarded as the heroes of Pakistan. My salute to everyone from ZAB to even a security guard for sacrificing their lives and bestowing the country with new life.
God bless this country, long live Pakistan.
F. Z. KHAN
Islamabad
THIS is in reply to Omar Moonis’s letter, ‘Peace deal with militants’ (May 24), in which he referred to Saudi Arabia as a ‘backward nation’ where ‘women and minorities have the status of third class citizens.
With all respect, apparently the writer has little experience living in the great country. I have lived in Saudi Arabia for almost 15 years, most of my stay being in the capital city of Riyadh, till my family had to shift to Karachi after I got admission in DMC.
I am sure if he asks Pakistanis who have shifted from Saudi Arabia for their children, or after retirement, or girls after marriage, an overwhelming majority of women would say that they would like to re-establish themselves in Saudi Arabia at the first opportunity. Despite the fact that women there cannot vote or drive, they are happier and more protected.
Saudi Arabia has illustrious universities for women, like the King Saud, King Faisal and Prince Salman universities, for women to pursue their education in competitive fields and Saudi women have proved to be great entrepreneurs, doctors, bankers and teachers. Sultana Ali Riza, founder of the Jeddah Institute for Speech and Hearing (JISH), is an inspiring example.
In addition, women in Saudi Arabia gain from certain facilities which women in the more liberal Pakistan don’t, such as running amusement parks, zoos (even small trains in these places) and entire floors reserved for women in shopping malls. They even get fewer stares in public.
And what’s even better and more magnetising is the love, care and respect that Saudi mothers get.
Having one of the lowest rates of crime in the world is yet another affirmation of it being a progressive nation and not a backward one.
In fact, like many other of my friends, who have moved from Saudi Arabia, I feel it would be great if Pakistan could become a little like Saudi Arabia.
MEHAK HANIF
Karachi
THIS is apropos of the letter, ‘No cavemen’ (May 27), in which Dr Owais A. Farooqi says that 9/11 was planned by Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Although he has tried to defend Pakistani tribal areas and their indigenous way of living, in the process he agrees to what the western media and governments think about who was behind 9/11.
The nation is yet to see the proof of Al Qaeda’s physical involvement in 9/11, which was shown to President Musharraf by Colin Powell before slaughter of the Taliban.
The events of 9/11 are yet to be investigated by any authentic neutral organisation. We should not blindly believe in what our friends in the West think “might have been the case”. History will never forgive us if truth turns out to be different than what we have been told to think is.
SHAKIL AHMED MUGHAL
Dubai
IN my bill for April, Pakistan package amount was included which I never requested for.
I tried to contact, many times on phone, PTCL revenue manager (as directed in the bill) but nobody picked up the phone.
I sent an email ID given in the bill evpops@ptcl.com.pk but the reply came that email ID is not correct.
I don’t know who and whom shall I contact.
MRS FAIZUNNISA
Karachi
THE Karachi Stock Exchange has been feeding many families as countless small investors have invested their lifetime’s savings in the market in the hope of better returns.
The Exchange’s tumble of around 3,000 points in a week’s time has wiped out billions of rupees from the market. Since the market runs on the shoulders of small investors, its nosedive is a shocker for those who have been relying on it to run their kitchens.
Ironically, the Stock Exchange’s fall seems to have made no stir in the serene environs of Islamabad, the home of the government, as it maintains an absolutely nonchalant attitude towards the crisis.
After the government’s criminal shrug-off of the brutal mob attack on robbers in Karachi, the stock exchange wipe-off is another tragedy that failed to draw the attention of the newly-elected government.
This is my earnest request to the government — I believe I would be speaking on behalf of all the small investors — to please take note of the stock exchange crisis. The Karachi Stock Exchange should not be taken as an instrument to settle scores with the last regime.
It is not our fault if the last government exploited it as a means of projecting its positive image. Like any business professional, we invested because it was a sound proposition. We don’t deserve to be punished for this. The fate of thousands of families is tied to the market. The least the government can do is to hold dialogue with the delegates representing the market to sort out a way out of the crisis.
Another favour would be to stop scaring the investors away by ‘breaking’ bad news about the economy every other day. The public surely knew the problems of the economy. That is why it voted the PPP, the PML(N), ANP and the MQM into power.
I am sure the leaders of these political parties understand that the stock exchange tumble is neither adding a feather to their cap nor is it earning them any goodwill from the people who voted for them.
SHAUKAT ALI
Karachi
THE rock band Junoon went ahead with its concert in Srinagar despite the objection of some Kashmiri freedom-fighters, who had said that given Kashmir’s disputed status, it wasn’t right for any individual or group to engage in any activity that would tend to give legality to India’s occupation.
The argument cannot be refuted because last year, when the British and Indian commandos held a joint exercise in Ladakh, Islamabad had objected to it on similar grounds.
We cannot have double standards about the issue. On its part, the band purports to be a “Sufi group” and its lead singer Salman Ahmed countered the objections by saying that we should wage a jihad of love and of peace (rather than an armed one).
Mr Ahmed is a young man with a lot of goodwill and desires to promote peace in the region and the world.
However, it should be instructive for him to learn what the Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927) had to say on the subject.
As a brief intro, he hailed from a famous family of musicians of Baroda in India and belonged to the Chishti Order. He spent the last half of his life in trying to spread Sufism in the US and Europe and was quite successful. His message finds disciples even today amongst Westerners in eminent positions.
In his book Mastery, which has a wealth of knowledge about Sufism, love, peace, desire, free will, life’s purpose and so on, in the chapter titled, ‘The battle of life’, he says that whatever one’s occupation, if one lacks the knowledge of the battle of life, one lacks the most important knowledge of all.
He then explains: “(This knowledge) comprises the knowledge of warfare, how to fight and how to make peace. Human nature very often makes the mistake of taking sides, either the side of war or the side of peace.
“But… the history of nations and races …. (shows) that it was this mistake which often caused their failure … Sunshine and rain are both needed to make the fruit ripe; and that shows that war and peace both have their place.”
He sums up by saying that the full knowledge of warfare consists of both the knowledge of battle and the knowledge of peace.
Thus, Mr Ahmed must understand that there are times and situations when warfare is essential.
By saying this I am not taking a position on the Kashmiri Jihad – I am neither a politician nor a military strategist and would let the Kashmiris decide what kind of struggle they wish to wage.
However, like most Pakisstanis I am interested in the right of the Kashmiris to decide their future and not to be subjected to killings, burnings, rapes and disappearances that have been carried on by the Indian troops for decades.
I am also not against Junoon or any other band performing over there, but they could do it without getting associated with India’s leadership or politicians, as a normal, apolitical concert, for the ordinary Kashmiris’ sake.
Rabindranath Tagore had said: “The song I have come to sing remains unsung to this day. I have spent my time in stringing and unstringing my instrument”.
For the long-suffering Kash-miri, it may be said: “The song of freedom of the Kashmiris remains unsung to this day.
I. INAYAT
Karachi
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