Oil tankers
Sir,
The whole country was paralyzed on only the third day of the recent oil tanker owners’ strike, and the government was forced to bend over backwards to make the men agree to resume oil supplies. The first question that comes to mind is, why don’t the petroleum marketing companies have adequate fleets of tankers?
Secondly, our petrol pumps ran dry just two days after the supplies were stopped, so we can imagine the situation if there is a war or floods. The tanker mafia, moreover, raised more demands when they saw that their strike was having the desired effect. This means, in effect, that they can force the government to accept all their demands, including non-payment of all taxes.
Surely it’s time for the government to do something, rather than wait for the next strike to bring the country to a standstill. For a start, they should compel the oil marketeers to have an adequate number of tankers, and to increase the storage capacity of the existing retail outlets, as well as increase the number of petrol pumps.
Shakir Lakhani,
Karachi.
Jirgas
Sir,
The status of citizen of Pakistan earns all the privileges and guarantees for which the State is duty-bound to provide necessary protection. The term State is meaningless unless every single organ functions properly and the people feel protection, safety, liberty and all the other rights which have been defined as their fundamental rights. To ensure this, the State confers its authority to different offices. It is the absolute and exclusive responsibility of the State through its organs to ensure the safety and enforcement of fundamental rights.
All the laws in Pakistan are subject to Article-8 of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973, which states that: “Laws inconsistent with or in derogation of Fundamental rights to be void. Any law, or any custom or usage having the force of law, shall to the extent of such inconsistency, be void.” Article-8(1) leaves nothing ambiguous and says that not only the law but all the ‘customs’ having the force of law, shall be void if they are inconsistent or in derogation to fundamental rights.
Which brings us to the custom of ‘jirga’ which is in derogation to fundamental rights, in particular of Article 10-A of the Constitution of Pakistan. It is not only void but illegal. A jirga cannot dress itself up with the status of a ‘legal authority’ which is always vested with the jurisdiction to enforce its verdict. Therefore, holding jirgas is illegal and has even been declared so by the Supreme Court in several judgements.
In 1963, the West Pakistan Criminal Law (Amendment) Act VII was promulgated under which tribunals were constituted. The president of the tribunal was the magistrate exercising powers of the additional district magistrate or subdivisional magistrate who was invested with powers under section 30 of the CrPC and four other persons to be appointed by the magistrate from among a panel which was constituted by the commissioner of the division for each district. The tribunal was even authorized to decide murder cases and other heinous cases, which were referred to them under the Act. During the enforcement of the Act, the trial before the tribunal was commonly known as a jirga trial. But this Act was also repealed in 1969. In 1976, another Regulation IV of 1976 viz. Provincially Administered Tribal Areas Special Provisions (Amendment) Regulation, 1976 was promulgated under which the word "jirga" was added in Regulation Nos. I and II of 1975. Under this Regulation, in section 2(1) and after clause I, the following clause was inserted: likewise in the province of Sindh West Pakistan Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1963 trials were conducted by the tribunals which were commonly known as "jirgas"'. But the Act has been repealed.
The repeal means that even the trials by tribunals consisting of private members headed by a magistrate have been abolished. Thus, it is manifest that by repealing the Act, the legislature clearly demonstrated that the trial of any case with the aid of private persons cannot be conducted. If any such trial is held with the aid of private persons, then it will be illegal and unlawful and will have no protection of the law. Its orders cannot be executed and will be void.
After the repeal of the Acts, when no trials with the aid of private persons can be held, how come jirgas constituted by private persons on their own conducted trials and awarded punishments and executed their decisions?
In jirgas no specific procedure is followed. It is the whim and choice of the jirga members to adopt any procedure even if it is detrimental to any party. Neither are the principles of natural justice followed nor are the well-recognized rules of evidence adhered to. They are free to pass a verdict on personal knowledge or belief and political affiliation. In jirgas they only settle disputes but do not provide justice according to the law.
At the conclusion of the proceedings, the decisions are announced in the shape of a punishment, fine or compensation. All of these acts are the functions of the courts of law. No other authority or person has the power to settle disputes of such cases except in court or with other authorities. Jirgas are thereby usurping the powers of the courts. As such jirgas are parallel judicial systems which are unlawful and illegal.
The arguments that the judicial system has failed therefore people prefer alternate remedies in the shape of jirgas has no substance. Thousands of offences have been committed which the courts of law are trying. Only a few cases are being referred to jirgas which by itself does not prove that the judicial system has failed. People have faith in the judicial system which is why they go to court.
A reluctance or hesitation by the senior police officials, who unfortunately often serve politicians, in taking legal action may compel the victim of an illegality to do what he is not legally required to do or to refrain from what he is legally required to do.
Arsalan Raja,
Advocate, High Court,
Karachi.
One hundred faces
Sir,
While going through the national newspapers of July 25, 2017, my mind traveled down memory lane almost three decades back, with the melodious voice of the king of ghazal Mehdi Hassan echoing in my ears with the famous song “Aik Charay per so Cheray Saja Latay Hain Loog” (People with one face have one hundred faces). The reason for the memory was news of a teenage maid’s recovery from a TV anchor’s home.
According to the report the 15 year old was recovered from the illegal custody of a an anchorperson in Lahore. The report quoted the father of the teenager saying that the anchor had not allowed his daughter to see her family for the last six months and had kept her in illegal detention.
What a disgrace; every day these TV hosts appear on our screens and give us sermons at the top of their voices, advocating justice, humanity, fairplay, rights of the downtrodden, and blame the ruling class or the system and sometimes institutions. But they never look into their own houses.
To call them hypocrites is not enough. They are people with a hundred faces, a different face for every occasion. They are the people who are actually responsible for decadence in Pakistan.
They preach but they do not practice. Their only purpose in life is to criticize others with bothering to look at their own faces in the mirror. Whoever that anchorperson is he or she should be subjected to exemplary punishment with his or her name disclosed in print and electronic media. They should be banned from all TV channels for life.
Not so long ago, an elected representative, an MPA, was reported to have beaten a housemaid. The story emerged in the national media. She was apprehended by a law-enforcement agency but then she was freed on bail. And in the end, the memory of that innocent maid will fade away from the minds of the general public. And the honorable MPA, the so-called lawmaker, will roam around freely and there will be nothing that will stop her from doing the same to some other poor soul.
All these reports of torture and maltreatment of housemaids and servants must be seriously taken up by the authorities concerned and the law of employing underage children must be strictly implemented.
Shakespeare once said, “A snake has poison in its teeth, the dog in its tongue, the scorpion in its tale, it’s only the human who has poison in their words.”
The elite of the country consider their servants and maids their physical property and disgrace them by using abusive language. Most of the time young children are employed to take care of their children and are given only leftover food and clothing. The poor and less privileged people of this country have no rights; they are simply at the mercy of the ruling classes, who even can’t bring themselves to share a meal with the maids and servants. Arrogance and pride in the urban elite is on the rise and the rural or feudal elite are no better.
We witness this in every walk of life. Pride, which is forbidden strictly in Islam, like many other practices, is freely expressed, openly and without fear of God. Our “elite” classes consider themselves above everything, above the law, above social norms of decency and above their fellow human beings who are less fortunate in terms of worldly possessions and belongings. They are “inferior” in the eyes of these “superior, noble and august” classes, who are “superior” only because either they themselves or their forefathers became rich by either illegal means or by systematically exploiting the poor and cheap labour.
These elite people, when they appear on TV talk shows, talk of making Pakistan into the nation as envisioned by Mohammad Ali Jinnah or Allama Iqbal. But when they are in private, they forget the message of the founder of the nation who spoke of equality and justice. They forget, ignore and disregard the lessons of Iqbal. They talk of making Pakistan a true Islamic state but forget the very message of equality in Islam. They forget the last sermon and they forget how the entry of the second caliph into Jerusalem after conquering the holy city was marked by his slave sitting on his camel while the Caliph was on foot. It had simply been the slave’s turn to ride the camel. In this story we have the practical example of equality and humanity as demonstrated by one of the caliphs of Islam, and we, the proud citizens of the Islamic Republic Of Pakistan, treat our maids and servants worst than animals.
Aamir Aqil,
Lahore.
Goodbye Nawaz
Sir,
At last the Supreme Court of Pakistan completed its order in the Panama case to address the allegations against the Sharif family and all five judges ruled. Nawaz Sharif has been disqualified as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. It is a fact that in Pakistan he becomes the 15th PM who was unable to complete his tenure. Most importantly, the court announced that the next case will be handled by the National Accountability Bureau to investigate further within six months. I appreciate the work done by the Supreme Court which has tackled the Panama case and closed it forever.
Adnan Dost,
Kech Balochistan.
Rain in Mirpurkhas
Sir,
Strong monsoon currents penetrated Sindh from the east, due to which heavy rain was expected in Moro, Sanghar, Qazi Ahmed, Nawabshah, Khairpur, Ghotki, Sukkur, Dehrki, Mirpurkhas, Hala, Hyderabad and Karachi. And, as a result Mirpurkhas district experienced good rain and thundershowers for two days.
It was August 11, 2011 when floods last came during similarly heavy rainfall. The highest recorded monsoon rain came on September 15, 2011 and completely destroyed parts of Sindh, including the city of mangoes, Mirpurkhas. The floods caused considerable damage; an estimated 434 people were killed, with thousands others affected. Houses were destroyed and many people were rendered homeless overnight.
The flood level in Mirpurkhas, the fourth largest city in Sindh, was about 603mm. As soon as people found out that the rain was not stopping they started to take it seriously. I remember I would open the window and look at the water flowing through the roads and streets. I saw people with their bags moving their families to safer spaces.
Those who survived the water, confronted illness such as malaria and gastroenteritis. Due to a lack of facilities many could not get access to treatment. Many protests were lodged.
On July 16 and 17, 2017, heavy rains again lashed Mirpurkhas city and to start off with its residents were overjoyed as the weather turned pleasant. It was a sight for sore eyes as the heavens poured down. People took to the streets and enjoyed the weather. Almost every feeder in the city as well those in the villages tripped. Almost all parts of the city experienced a power breakdown. The current monsoon spell is expected to continue for the next 25 days.
The extreme rain in Mirpurkhas has been a disaster for our lands and crops. Sindh recently faced a drastic change in its environment due to which a huge number of people died.
Unsanitary water mixed with drinking water. After the rainfall, Mirpurkhas Civil Hospital and railway junction could barely be seen as they were submerged. Farmers suffered heartbreak, as a season of unusually heavy rain and cold weather destroyed crops. Farmers say the chilli and cotton crops over hundreds of acres had been destroyed this monsoon. Many animals have died.
Why is our sewage system not strong enough to endure consecutive rains? All it takes is just one rain to completely destroy the city. We either need to maintain our system or develop new ones. After the first heavy rain in Mirpurkhas, the city drowned.
The Deputy Commissioner of Mirpurkhas emerged from his air-conditioned office to visit the city but we don’t have powerful machinery to pump the water out.
Sarah Illahi,
Via email.
Nawaz’s prediction
Sir,
After the disqualification of Mr. Nawaz Sharif from the seat of prime minister, I am sharing my analysis or assessment or prediction based on the ancient arts of numerology and palmistry for your readers. According to my analysis as an amateur palmist and numerologist: I considered the year 2017 for Mr. Nawaz Sharif a year of position or business or status change on the basis of his date of birth as 25 December 1949. Now, to conclude if the change or disqualification will be of a permanent or temporary nature? I have considered his hand lines and marks on the right hand. There is a mark of an island on the right hand’s palm at the crossing of the head and life lines. The period of this mark is around the age of 67 and this convinced me to state publically that there would be his downfall at the age of 67 (it stated in the second week of July 2017). To find out the total period of this downfall, I have taken the size of the island into consideration. The size has revealed that the period will be for around 12 months. It means after July 2018, there is a likely chance of him coming into power again as prime minister or president of Pakistan.
Advocate Khalid Mustafa,
Amateur palmist & numerologist,
Islamabad.