Private exam boards

PAKISTAN abounds with many dysfunctional social sectors. When asked, most people with children point mainly to the mess within the educational system. The examination boards at the matriculation and intermediate levels come in for severe criticism. The appearance of the Aga Khan Board of Examinations (AKBE) has, therefore, been welcomed by many.

The charter of the AKBE falls into an old pattern: not seriously attempting to fix the old system, and instead churning out a new one. While the AKBE may help set new standards, its impact will be limited in the short-term. The appearance of this board must make us think again about how we approach our societal problems generally. Let’s begin with a detour.

Take the earlier case of the Grand Trunk Road link between Lahore and Islamabad, which suffered from years of disrepair despite the heavy demand on its use. Instead of rebuilding or repairing it, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s government decided to build a totally new, much longer road, with huge sums of borrowed money. The road, to this day, remains grossly under-utilized. In contrast, G. T. Road remains the road of choice for it connects areas where people live and where businesses have grown up historically. The grand Sharif highway, according to experts, ended up longer as militarymen and big feudal landlords, close to the government of the time, wanted this highway to pass near their lands.

So, what has this got to do with the AKBE? Instead of asking them to build a totally new board, it would have been much wiser to pass over to it the control of the existing Karachi board with the mandate and power to completely reform it. This is clearly a much harder task than setting up a new board, that is where the AKBE will be free to choose new people and systems of its choice. But it is the reform of the Karachi boards (Matric and Inter) with its vast number of students that is vitally important today.

Now that a charter to set up a new board is given, one wonders if the government may stipulate that the AKBE also take over the existing Karachi boards and improve them first. Although it seems a fanciful thought, it could become a reality if enough people demanded it from the decision-makers.

Incidentally, the appearance of the new AKBE will not affect the children of most decision-makers and the rich. They are catered for by the over-priced and quite inappropriate British overseas school exams. True educational reforms will only appear when such escape routes for the privileged classes are closed.

The Indians no longer waste their money on what Cambridge or London dishes out; their own exams now are probably better and a lot cheaper than the foreign ones. Some day such an awakening will drift northwards.

Q. ISA DAUDPOTA

Lahore

Ban on Indian TV channels

WE have heard different reasons for the ban imposed on Indian TV channels. These have varied from programmes containing Indian propaganda against Pakistan to the contents of the channels being vulgar and immoral and finally to the promotion of Pakistan channels that the authorities believe can only be done in this way. Since it is not unusual for the authorities in Pakistan to act on any whim they might have, their action was not surprising. The reactions of the general public, however, were slightly strange.

On one talk-show someone said that he was happy about the move because he had found his children questioning him why certain Indian (Hindu) rites weren’t being observed by Muslims at certain occasions. This had horrified him. One other person talked about what was right and wrong about the “cheap thrills” people apparently get from watching Indian entertainment channels and how she failed to understand how it could be classified as entertainment in the first place. I am afraid their remarks confuse me.

I always assumed that children are not born knowledgeable and that is why they question everything (which is considered to make them wiser than the average adult with his/her preconceived notions). Should there really be a huge fuss if a child learns about another religion? Islam teaches tolerance first and foremost, so how can knowing about the other religions be wrong and something to get worried about? Are the parents so insecure about their method of bringing up their child that they think discovering other religions will lead the poor thing astray?

And entertainment is anything that amuses a person, even though some people may consider it cheap and vulgar. Lots of Pakistan films are the same.

I think that instead of banning Indian channels, we should have tried to raise the standards of our programmes so that people would have willingly turned to PTV instead of Zee TV or Star Plus.

Indian movies were banned long ago to promote Pakistani films but even the most mediocre of Indian movies are available on video cassettes and discs. So, will banning Indian channels now make a difference?

MEHROO SIDDIQUI

Lahore

Contaminated and toxic milk

A RECENT report, released by a microbiology laboratory of the Rawalpindi General Hospital, shows that almost all raw milk and some of the locally pasteurized milk brands available in Rawalpindi are toxic and contaminated. The report is very alarming since most of the people consume a good quantity of milk every day.

The content of the report is equally applicable to other parts of the country. It is not clear how the pasteurized milk carries harmful bacteria since labels on packets show that the packed milk has been so processed that it cannot contain any undesirable bacteria. The authorities concerned should take immediate notice of this plain lie.

Needless to say that bottled water, colas and now pasteurized milk in packs have been declared as injurious to health because they carry toxic material. People previously had faith in packed matter, specially from multinational companies, but their confidence has now been shattered.

The Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority should immediately take cognizance of the situation, and also marketing advisers of the above-mentioned commodities should come forward and explain their position through electronic and print media.

S. ALI NASIR RIZVI

Lahore

Kalabagh Dam

PRESIDENT Gen Musharraf in his address to the nation on radio and television on Saturday has vowed to construct water reservoirs, including Kalabagh Dam. Irrespective of technical pros and cons of construction of the dam, it is a fact that the project has been controversial since the very inception of the idea. There is strong opposition to the project in Sindh and the NWFP. The assemblies of both the provinces have passed a number of resolutions, that too with consensus, against the dam.

As the office of president is symbol of unity of the federation, it was not advisable for Gen Musharraf to disregard the resolutions of these assemblies whose decisions in this regard should be respected as they represent the provinces concerned.

The people in the NWFP and Sindh have arguments against the project as we in Punjab have in its favour. It is not fair on anybody’s part to call others ignorant or mischievous just because they consider a project not in the interests of their respective provinces. We have lost half of the country by degrading the feelings of the people of particular areas. Let us not risk it again.

Kalabagh is not the only site where a dam can be built. Preference should be given to a less controversial site for building the dam. Five maf water is not more important than the unity of the country. Anyway we gifted 27 maf water to India just for nothing.

WAJIH ABBASI

Islamabad

Karachi city library

THIS refers to your staff reporter’s story (Aug 25) about the abandoned KMC project to provide central library facilities to the culturally-starved citizens of Karachi.

An ambitious Rs80 million plan to build a city library was announced by the then mayor, Dr Mohammad Farooq Sattar, in February 1992. I was a member of the committee of the Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners (PCATP) to help concrete the library’s function into an architectural form. During this period there was another pledge of Rs300 million from an old student of Karachi University. Unfortunately all this committed amount could never be put to use.

There was a last chance to activate this still-born plan when Hakim Said was the governor of Sindh and who presided over the prize-giving ceremony at the conclusion of a two-stage design completion way back in September 1993. Earlier, in November 1992 a seminar was organized to elicit further input for the upcoming city landmark on the vacant plot in Gulshan-i-Iqbal in a highly literate area of the city. Land grabbers have been casting an evil eye on this piece of prime land since then.

With quick changeover in the government and rampant fault- finding in the previous regime, the mega city continues to be without a worthwhile library to serve the people of all age groups. In the 19th century colonial era post offices were the zero point in a town. In today’s knowledge-based economy libraries are the starting point.

It is a matter of record that Dawn has relentlessly pursued the citizens’ demand for a central city library in Karachi but all this failed to enlist official support. Moreover, no one from among the philanthropists rose to the occasion. Library is invariably a source of healthy and creative pleasure. Your editorial “Libraries for the community (Oct 14, 1995) was almost the swan-song.

Incidentally, the moribund selected design may be available with the PCATP which had organized the competition in case the engineering department of the city government had wilfully destroyed it. It is imperative that public pressure is exerted to awaken the city fathers to inform the people about the mission of the public library movement.

MOINUDDIN KHAN

Karachi

Import duty on billets

THE Pakistan Steel is the largest and the only producer of billets in Sindh. It has a monopoly in steel billets and can produce 25 per cent of billets and other raw material required by re-rolling mills to produce steel bars.

Allowing the mill to import billets will not only strengthen the monopoly of the Pakistan Steel, but also result in negation of the government’s resolve to strengthen and promote investment in the private sector.

In view of the shortage of 600,000 to 700,000 tons of raw material for re-rolling mills, the government should reduce the rate of duty on billets from 20 per cent to 7.5 per cent. At the duty rate of 7.5 per cent, the prices of imported billets will equalize to the prices of the Pakistan Steel billets, and high profit margins for the Pakistan Steel would be ensured.

The government should immediately reduce the duty on billets to 7.5 per cent for industrial consumers only. This is the only way to increase availability of raw materials to re-rolling mills in Pakistan in the shortest possible time.

The government also must reduce duties on scrap ships and shredded scrap. If the duty on steel billets is not reduced to 7.5 per cent, then in the coming months the prices of steel bars and other steel products will rise to Rs35,000 per ton, and will thus defeat the government’s hankering to revive economy by boosting the construction industry.

MIRZA KHADIM ALI BAIG

Karachi

Condition of Mauripur roads

THE purpose of going to a beach is to unwind, relax and get away from the problems and worries of daily life, but the roads in Mauripur make sure that this purpose is thoroughly defeated. That the roads leading to the Hawksbay and Sandspit beaches are in a dilapidated condition is an understatement.

These roads become the cause of accidents, not to mention the harm caused to the cars which are driven on them. There is a regular traffic of heavy vehicles on these roads which carry large shipping containers. With conditions such as these, it is surprising how they survive, anymore, major accidents that they already have.

Whoever is responsible for the repair of the roads should take action to urgently improve driving conditions in this neglected locality.

SYED HARIS HASSAN

Karachi

Awareness about WTO

I WAS recently assigned a study on the WTO agreement which will be implemented from January 2005 when the world will become a so-called “free-trade” zone, with no trade barriers and fair trade between all countries.

One hundred and forty-six nations signed that agreement in November 2001, and Pakistan was one of them. However, it is sad to note how little awareness exists about the possible implications of this agreement. As countries will not be able to give their industries subsidies, with abolition of quotas and severe anti-dumping regulations, what will become of our local industries is a good question.

True, our governments are spending quite a lot of time trying to prove that in the long run we shall be better off and that we are in a good position to face the challenge, but awareness needs to be created at the grass-roots level also. People need to be told that even when our markets are flooded with cheaper foreign products, which India, China and other such nations are likely to make, we need to buy our own products.

Everyone of us as an individual will be playing a role in keeping our local industries alive. Otherwise, the picture is quite gloomy. Our industries are barely able to hobble on their own, with much needed help from tax exemptions and subsidies and grants. What is to become of them if these crutches are removed? And most importantly, who is to be held responsible if indeed our economy takes a turn for the worse. I think someone needs to do something about educating the people on how to act once this agreement comes into force, otherwise all of us will be paying a very heavy price.

ZAINAB AZFAR JAFRI

Karachi

US veto in favour of Israel

THE US veto in favour of Israel at the UN Security Council has a long history. The usual excuse cited by the US is the lack of even-handed approach by framers of the resolutions, who wish to condemn and impose restrictions on Israel. The routine manner in which the US has been handling this sacred duty to its protagonist has rendered the whole process of UN actions against Israel a futile exercise.

But times change. The cost to the US itself for such prejudiced veto will be much more than in the past. Now it has not to contend with the evil empire of the Communist Russia. With every US veto, where it disagrees with its own erstwhile camp followers, France and Germany, it will end up enlarging the gulf of misunderstanding and non-cooperation, ever so much.

As it is, the “super-patriotic” US media — read neo-con Jewish writers — have already declared a war on France. In his New York Times’ column, Thomas L. Friedman, could not have been more explicit, short of calling names, when he announces to the people of the US that “France is becoming our enemy”. Just because France does not see eye to eye with new US warmongers on major issues of the world and does not follow US dictates like a tamed poodle.

President Bush’s unilateralism is in tatters, but the whole gang of groupies who survive at state largess are bent on pressing their luck. In the event that UN veto against a general consensus at the Security Council will further alienate friends and unite the non-committed against the US high-handedness. Israel has become Achilles’ heel for all the US presidents. Not all other independent countries, big or small, are so handicapped. The difference will now show up.

GHULAM MUHAMMED

Mumbai, India

Clarification

THIS is with reference to a news item, headlined “President, PM’s US trip to cost Rs60m” (Sept 20, page 3) in which my name has been mentioned in the list of people who will attend the General Assembly session. The news item caused me shock and dismay. I wish to point out that I have neither been invited to be a member of any delegation nor do I have any desire to be part of such a delegation. Therefore, there is no question of myself being party to a wasteful expenditure of scarce national resources.

DR AKMAL HUSSAIN

Received via email

Please leave Indian Muslims alone

THIS is with respect to the article by Anwar Syed, titled “We and Indian Muslims” (Sept 7) and the subsequent debates generated by it in these columns.

We Pakistani Muslims love to assume that just because Muslims are doing badly everywhere else in the world, and specially since 9/11, there might actually be a great chance that they are doing bad in India as well, just because India happens to be on the ‘other’ side in the local context of partition in 1947.

However, there are a number of problems with this assumption: first, it has probably occurred to very few in Pakistan that though it was Pakistan which was created in the name of Muslim nationalism, it is actually India which has the largest Muslim population in the world, which makes it an attractive candidate to represent not just its Hindu majority, but the large Muslim minority there as well, on the international horizon.

The fact is that the Muslims who preferred to stay in India did so out of their conscious desire to do so because they did not believe that Jinnah’s separatism was the solution to the economic and political problems of the Indian Muslims (remember that Jinnah too was an advocate for Pakistan for only seven years of his active political life).

Surely this is tribute to the patience and courage of the Indian Muslims who chose to remain a minority in India but never preferred to migrate to the new land. Perhaps they had visualized what evil separatism would bring in its wake and looking at Pakistan 50 years on, it seems like they were right.

The Indian Muslims have given a really good account of themselves: four chosen as head of state since 1947; most of the Indian film industry of yesteryear and present is dominated by Muslim men and women. They have been contributors to India’s strong growth rates in the early 1990s and are now building its information technology.

Yes, Jinnah created a separate Muslim state, but he wanted it to be a smaller model of the larger neighbour India in terms of secularism. He had not envisaged otherwise.

However, what has happened in Gujarat is unfortunate. One can only hope that the Indian government stops resorting to punishing its brave Muslim citizens and brings them back into Indian life.

RAZA NAEEM

Lahore