Constitutional supremacy
Sir,
As long as the constitutionally elected civil government, the khakis, paid civil bureaucracy, judiciary and all institutions of the state funded by taxpayers do not accept the supremacy of the constitution, each working strictly within their confines, and answerable to the laws of the land, Pakistan cannot win either this war against terrorism, or attain economic self-sustainability, which is vital for state sovereignty. Governance in Pakistan is a casualty of mediocrity and corruption that dominates executive corridors of every state institution, corporation and regulatory agency, where key posts are held either by cronies of the political elite or retired uniformed officers, both lacking in professional competence and skills to handle jobs assigned. This has created not just a rule of mediocrity, but a rise in desperation and frustration in the ranks of qualified educated youth, adding to ever expanding ranks of unemployed, frustrating the youth that is already vulnerable to recruitment by terrorists and criminals.
Pakistan’s diplomatic isolation and economic stagnation is the result of years of abuse, wrong appointments, and failure to invest in development of human resources and lack of funds for the welfare of masses by successive civil and military juntas that have misruled this country. Without economic benefits and its fruit trickling down to masses, no country can either develop or protect the lives and property of citizens. Our salvation and survival is that every individual, irrespective of whether he is civilian or khaki, who has committed a crime and infringed the rights of any civilian, must be held accountable to the laws of land, not seek immunity, because all men are equal as per the Constitution and Islam.
The seeds for the birth of al Qaeda were sown when Ziaul Haq, exploiting religion, allowed Pakistan to become hostage to extremists and mercenaries from all over the world, just like ISIS was created when America, funded and supported by regional monarchies, invaded Iraq, disbanded its disciplined armed forces, followed by an insurgency in Syria for regime change, acting as a catalyst for recruitment by extremists. We have no option but to utilise our best-qualified human resources to transform Pakistan into a welfare state as envisioned by the Quaid, where the writ of law prevails, instead of a security state dedicated to serve its paid servants.
Tariq Ali,
Lahore.
Education system
Sir,
I, as a citizen of Pakistan, want to shed some light on the country’s educational system. Education is the most essential ingredient for the development of a nation. It is a global fact that nations who have reached the heights of development and prosperity have done so by using education and information as tools.
The educational system of the country is based on different mediums, which divide students into segments. Most private schools are English medium, while government schools are Urdu medium. Regional differences are also major causes for the poor educational system in Pakistan.
Gender discrimination is very common in Pakistan. Parents are very conservative and they don’t want their daughters to go to school and get an education. They may even want, but have trust issues because they do not want a co-education system. Due to this, the ratio of boys and girls in primary schools is 10:4. In the Human Development Report, Pakistan is placed at 136th for having a population of which only 49.9% is educated.
Poor people cannot afford to enroll their children in private schools, and in government schools, teachers are not well trained. People who do not get a job in any other sector end up trying their luck in the public education system.
Education is the only cure for a disabled country because today’s students are tomorrow’s nation builders. The government should take steps to remove the abovementioned problems so as to improve the quality of educational in the country.
Aqib Javed,
Rawalpindi.
PIA pilot’s scrutiny
Sir,
With reference to a report about a PIA pilot’s resentment against the CAA for suspending the licenses of a few pilots till they were cleared by a psychiatrist and a decision to conduct random checks for alcohol or drug consumption, CAA Pakistan needs a skilled manpower to carry out random breath-analyser checks for pilots before flights. Since 2009, almost 10,000 pilots have been checked every year for alcohol consumption in the US by the FAA, and this has served as a deterrent ever since.
In the aftermath of the German Wings crash, where the co-pilot, who was suffering from psychiatric problems, caused the deaths of over 150 people, it is ridiculous to make this argument that psychiatric evaluation can only be done at the initial recruitment stage. There have been too many incidents involving commercial pilots involved in activities unbecoming of disciplined professional airline crew. Complaints by female aircrew, both those operating in the cockpit and cabin, of sexual harassment, molestation and even unreported rape cases depict a sick mind set, which can be detected by psychiatric evaluation.
Incidences of pilots being involved in smuggling and money laundering are well known and can be verified by looking at the majority of pilots, who over the years have bought expensive houses in the west. In a country where numerous investigations such as one by AVM Mushaf Ali Mir have proven that irregularities were made in recruitment of pilots, there is a need for reassessment by regulator and airline management in light of series of incidents and fatal accidents involving aircraft regulated by the CAA. After all, when a pilot in command ignores professional input by other pilots or ATC, as was done in the Shaheen Air, Air Blue and PIA incidents, there a is need for psychiatric evaluation. It is also time to upgrade basic minimum academic qualification for pilot recruitments in commercial airlines to at least graduation, so that some level of maturity exists, which can be verified through stringent tests and evaluation before induction. If PALPA resists, it is better to close down airlines than submit passengers to unsafe travel.
Aneela Chandio,
Sukkur.
SGS and Cotecna exoneration
Sir,
Tons of papers in SGS and Cotecna references lay in Geneva and were shown on the TV, being moved by then high commissioner to the UK, Mr Wajid, only to be displaced so that vital evidence is lost. This reference moved in Pakistan since 1998 has witnessed various governments, including that of Pervez Musharraf, to be used as a tool for political blackmail, but never to punish criminals, because nobody wants to set a precedent for a high-profile white crime punishment to be carried to its logical and legal conclusion. What prevents the Pakistani government from writing a letter that the money stashed in Swiss banks is money whose taxes have not been paid? How have these robber barons managed to buy expensive real estate, factories and hotels in Europe, Canada, Dubai etc. should be the question whos answer should be sought.
NAB has become a bureau tasked with laundering black money and issue cleansing certificates to those who are involved. In the words of a former minister for finance, NAB is an over Rs 600 billion annual pilfer of state revenues, which is more powerful than the state, and is slave to the elitist corrupt mafia that rules Pakistan by default. When references are filed with numerous charges, the stage is set to have a mistrial by design. If ever there is a will to punish an individual who has pilfered several billions, all the state has to do is pick one solid case with irrefutable evidence and convict criminals, like was done in the trial of Al Capone and Leona Helmsley in the US.
Have we forgotten how a few powerful branded lawyers had no hesitation in ridiculing and insulting a chief justice with a brief tenure, whose sole fault was that he tried to expedite the trial of a land tycoon involved in the illegal occupation of over 4000 acres of land belonging to Punjab? It does not bother those who matter, that this region located on the Hindu Kush Fault Line, prone to frequent earthquakes, cannot afford cutting down of trees, whose roots strengthen the soil foundation and prevent landslides and soil erosion. The lives of the poor living in such areas are of no consequence when all that matters is billions in profits.
Ali Malik,
Lahore.
ISIS attacks
Sir,
For centuries, despotic monarchs and the church connived in Europe to inflict untold miseries and injustices in the name of religion. Private militias of feudal lords were engaged in wars, sanctified by the church. Europe has come out of this crisis and replaced despotic monarchies with constitutional rulers, devolved their powers, making them answerable to people, all submitting to the rule of law enacted by parliaments.
The Muslim world today is engaged in this same crisis, where religion has been exploited by the ruling elite to regularise injustices and discrimination, which Islam forbids. Violence against unarmed citizens is being sanctified by corrupt Muslim clergy, although Islam forbids such violations of human rights, even in war. It is Muslim men and women who have been brainwashed and recruited by al Qaeda in the recent past, and now by ISIS, in perpetrating injustices and brutalities.
ISIS is an organisation involved in unleashing maximum damage on Muslims living in their own countries, or as migrants in Europe, America etc. They have succeeded in radicalising young minds living in the West, causing more misery and isolation with prospects of eviction from these countries where they and their parents sought refuge in hopes of a better future, which was denied to them by despotic rulers in their own countries.
What purpose has the Paris attack served other than lead to harassment of Muslim communities living in that country? Would it not serve Muslim nations if their youth were to concentrate on seeking education in science and technology from renowned universities in Europe or America, rather than be radicalised and indulge in acts of barbarity in the name of Islam, which forbids attacking unarmed citizens even in war? Should it not merit some thinking that stringent sanctions can be placed in collaboration with Muslim monarchies of oil rich states on Iran, but somehow ISIS manages to have enough revenues from illegal sale of oil from the territory they occupy with the capability for procurement of lethal weapons of war? ISIS has served to divert attention away from occupation and atrocities in the West Bank. Does it not sound strange that there has never been an attack by ISIS within Israel, but only within Muslim states, or countries that offer them refuge?
Ali T,
Lahore.
So long Ayaan
Sir,
So long Ayaan Ali, now that you have got your passport, you can travel to Dubai and live happily thereafter. Celebrate the New Year with Sharjeel and perhaps Asim will shortly join you there. Just say a prayer for Custom Inspector Ijaz Chaudhry, who was murdered by target killers. What a coincidence, he was killed and I am sure there was no link with your currency smuggling incident, and the fact that he was the prime witness.
It seems the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was made for the likes of you. We must appreciate unanimity of purpose across the political divide when it comes to dealing with high profile financial crimes, transfer of money abroad and money laundering. As for our foreign exchange reserves, our brilliant financial wizards will float another Eurobond at rates nobody can resist. In the process, if Pakistan goes bankrupt, you don’t have to worry about it, because donor countries have an eye on our nuclear assets.
Malik Tariq,
Lahore.
Cannot hate
Sir,
I grew up admiring Imran Khan for his bowling action. As a schoolboy I raised funds for him. Playing cricket in the streets of Lahore, I aspired to channel his cornered-tiger’s spirit. When he first launched his political party, I hoped that he would succeed. As time passed, and he appeared more often on television, my admiration turned to respect.
For years I respected him quietly, with no hope of his success, as he languished at the fringes of Pakistan’s politics – as almost a joke. Then history turned a page and one day we woke up and found that his rise to power was imminent. In the last few years though, he has not succeeded in his mission to become prime minister, his actions have occasioned disappointed. He is after all, like many others before him, a politician. Not truthful always, full of contradictions.
More recently, I have been let down by his choice of associates, known members of the status-quo, men and women unlikely to bring transformative governance to our country. In the last few days, I have seen his faults more clearly than before. He showed poor judgment and a lack of self-awareness in marriage. He has been hasty and quick-tempered. Most distressing for me have been the rumors, spread supposedly by his own associates, about his wife’s many failings. Intimate accounts that could not come out without him condoning, if not approving them.
However, I am surprised to find, none of this has changed things for me. I have felt pity for him, as he grapples with this public embarrassment. I loved him in the past from a distance, loved him with blind faith. Now, when there are no excuses left to be made for him, I love him like we love the fallen, with deep concern and superstitious fervor — unreservedly, knowing that he was never the man I first idolised. But knowing also that it does not matter.
Munib A Khan,
Lahore.
A state at war
Sir,
Do we look like a country at war with an enemy, or at war with ourselves? Thousands of our soldiers and innocent citizens have been killed in terror attacks, over a million displaced and yet our elected PM and military leadership is on a never ending world trotting mission, visiting London, Malta, Tashkent, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Washington etc.
There has to be something wrong with leaders of other countries, such as President Hollande of France, who cancelled his trip to attend the G20 Summit following the Paris attack, or the 2002 Moscow theatre hostage crisis when Putin abruptly returned back from a foreign trip, but our leadership is undeterred by such events in Pakistan, continuing as if it was business as usual.
The mere enactment of laws and plans on paper is not enough to combat terrorism. What is required is the implementation of laws to prosecute and punish criminals and choke their funding sources through stringent application of rules to prevent money laundering. Unfortunately, vested conflicts of interest of our public officeholders prevents them from implementing strict laws in force and punishing those involved in the transfer of money through irregular channels, which are also used by terrorists such as ISIS or other sectarian outfits and common criminals.
Scarcity of funds because of massive tax evasion and flight of capital prevent the state from offering citizens subsidised education and healthcare, which offers terrorists with a perfect cannon fodder for recruitment. All the firepower and weaponry at the disposal of the state cannot win this war, unless steps are initiated for social and judicial reforms vital for a secure environment in which the economy develops, offering employment to the youth of this country and an immediate ban on recruitment of retired former government employees who already get pension beyond the age of superannuation.
Bilal Anwar,
Lahore.