Nose dive – I
Sir,
If only we would learn from our mistakes and follies, the loss of precious human lives and the dignity and honor of Pakistan – which has been seriously eroded by yet another Taliban attack on Karachi Airport – could have been avoided. It was only 3 yeas ago, in May 2011, that within a mile of the airport, a terrorist attack on the Mehran naval base shocked this country.
It is time we understand that security should be the sole criterion when utilizing space in proximity of sensitive installations, especially civil or military airports, and not petty commercial or welfare oriented projects that feed the insatiable greed of a few.
In 2013, a scam was unearthed in the media that for one full year, aircraft of nonscheduled airlines, mostly cargo or charter services, landed and utilized this airport and more than Rs 1.5 billion in landing and parking fees were pocketed by corrupt Civil Aviation Authority officials. It has been a year since then but nobody has been held accountable so far, nor the money returned. Thousands of irregular appointments without proper scrutiny or security clearance were made from 2008 to 2010 in both CAA and PIA, jeopardizing national security interests.
We should have plugged the loopholes exposed when serious security breaches took place in the recent past. Even today, wedding halls are operating in close proximity to naval and air force bases located within sensitive zones.
The CAA should have functioned solely as a regulator. Blatant conflicts of interests emerge when it assumes the role of managing and owning various commercial ventures located at the airport, which under no circumstances should have been under the administrative control of a regulator.
Unfortunately as it stands, security has been compromised at the altar of commercialism. This trend must be reversed, if national dignity is to be secured.
Tariq Ali,
Lahore.
Nose dive – II
Sir,
The enemy always looks for an opportunity to find a weak area to attack. They carry out thorough reconnaissance to find out the loopholes in the security system before they actually go for action. About three years back, we had a similar attack on Mehran base in Karachi because of similar loopholes and laxity in our security arrangements of the base.
It is our tragedy that we announce red alert on all sensitive sites immediately after an incident and with passage of time we lower our guards.
On such occasions some heads must roll otherwise such intrusions would keep on happening. We should not show any complacency in taking stern action against those who were responsible for the security lapse.
Azhar Khwaja,
Lahore.
Life and liberty
Sir,
The three day shutdown in Karachi, following the arrest of popular political figure Altaf Hussain, was a complete failure of the provincial government and law enforcement. The writ of state was challenged when Karachi was shut down through intimidation and threats, for an occurrence in London over which neither the province nor the federation had any jurisdiction. Even if Altaf Hussain had not been a British national, and residing there on valid immigration status, and an alleged crime had been committed, British law would have jurisdiction, unless the individual has diplomatic immunity.
Seven infants died in a Karachi hospital, because incubators ran out of oxygen, in a city where everything was closed and provincial government failed in fulfilling its basic obligatory function of protection of life and property – the sole reason the state has the power to collect taxes and exert its constitutional executive powers.
The media, as it is, cannot perform role of “eyes and ears”, if those who wield the gun, both state and nonstate actors, have powers to hold the constitution at ransom, and deny citizens their basic rights – security of life, private property and liberty.
Ali Malik,
Lahore.
Kashmir conundrum
Sir,
Pakistan projects Omar Abdullah as a puppet chief minister in Srinagar, but his recent statement has caused stir in New Delhi. Reports suggest that the newly installed Modi government took a serious view of a tweet by him, which has been taken as a threat to secede from India. “Mark my words and save this tweet – long after Modi government is a distant memory, either J&K won’t be part of India or Article 370 will still exist.” Whereas Omar Abdullah has categorically denied making any kind of threat to secede from India, his statement has kick-started a controversial debate across India, which, observers predict, may deprive him of his ministerial office in Srinagar.
In fact Omar Abdullah reacted to Jitendra Singh’s statement, which said “consultation process has begun, to repeal Article 370” of the Indian constitution that gives Kashmiris the right to decide which Indian laws apply to them. In an interview, he told BBC Hindi that his tweet had been misconstrued, but the fact remains that Article 370 was the only link Kashmir had with India.
PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti also criticized Jitendra’s statement and vowed to resist any such move. Leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference also opposed New Delhi’s decision to get the Article 370 repealed.
Another debate is whether the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan would foment the freedom struggle in Kashmir. This discussion began in the light of a reported statement by Syed Salauddin, chairman of the UJC, in which he warned that Indian targets could be attacked after international forces withdraw from Afghanistan. But Omar Abdullah dispelled the impression, saying, “the presence of Nato in Afghanistan may have contributed to a decrease in the violence in Kashmir but it is not the overriding factor. The withdrawal of forces will not also lead to reversal of the situation to the early 1990s when militancy was at its peak.”
Islamabad needs to not only understand the gravity of the situation, but also take a unified stance keeping in view the UN resolutions. Otherwise, silence on Pakistan’s part would leave the people of Kashmir more isolated and rather help give Modi a free hand to do away with Article 370. If it says it is internal matter of India, then the argument can weaken Pakistan’s official stance on the issue of Kashmir and Kashmiris right to self-determination.
FZ Khan,
Islamabad.
Every day is Mother’s Day
Sir,
Like many previous years, this year too Mother’s Day was celebrated all over Pakistan, with the electronic media telecasting special programs and the print media publishing special features. Its odd to watch and read special messages for mothers by “beloved sons and daughters” as if such gratitude is to be shown only on one particular day. Is one day is enough to dedicate in her name in return of her life long sacrifices?
Mothers never die they never leave us, they are some thing special for which no words have been invented.
Aamir Aqil,
Lahore.
Back to school
Sir,
If Pakistan had continued to invest in state-sponsored education as it did until the 1960s, this country could have avoided the unregulated growth of madrassas, some of which are nurseries for brainwashing and recruiting innocent young people to join the ranks of terrorists with an agenda to destroy this country from within.
There was a time when the state invested in running government schools, colleges and universities of repute, which produced scientists like Professor Abdus Salam, and numerous doctors, engineers, sportsmen and women, philosophers, and economists, who helped develop the little infrastructure that we have today.
These were schools and colleges like the Central Model School Lahore, GC Lahore, and DJ Science College Karachi, where talented students who could not afford to get educated in private schools and colleges were admitted on merit, and went on to pay back to this country. Even missionary schools like St Anthony’s High School Lahore offered free quality education to members of their faith, while charging others an affordable fee like Rs 25 per month till the 1970s.
When the state began to ignore its obligation and adopted a penny wise pound foolish policy that included cutting funds to subsidized quality education, the country was deprived of valuable human resource.
Nations like Japan and Germany, with hardly any natural resources, have developed economically because of their investment in human resources, research and development, while simultaneously developing technology for defense.
If we had invested only three to four percent of our GDP on education, a large majority of poor people who are forced to send their children to nearby madrassas would have had the option of providing quality education to their children in state subsidized schools and colleges.
Instead, we have lost over $25 billion because of the menace of religious fanaticism that has destroyed our economy, our industry, and our defense.
Ali Arqam,
Jhang.
Courage of a mother and daughter
That hazy morning of the nineties,
oozes from between the trees
I reached at her doorsill,
to fulfill her daughter’s will.
I locked and unlocked the door,
The mother had just finished a chore,
And allowed me to squat on the floor.
Oh mother of million smiles
Your patience is divine
But how are you still afloat, heaving heavy over this hell.
When those who were yours have sailed the boat,
and are doing very well
How precious, your faith is unwavering.
Oh mother of million lullabies
I had a dream.
I was frightened by the sight,
Your daughter is dead.
It makes me cry every night.
I am not shameless
She was so precious,
But we had to conquer our destiny,
That is why she rode to eternity
Oh mother of million thoughts
Your nurture is our truth,
But how did it all happen?
Your daughter became a victim.
She is up there in heaven
Filled with tears now
She wants to tell this world
Don’t let her be unheard.
Be courageous, life is unfair.
Although sometimes we can’t bear,
This feeling, I could never share.
The cold was searing and engulfed our souls
The cockcrows were heard on a mournful knoll.
Oh mother of million identities,
Your stoutness is authority.
You have held it for years.
Speak up, unmask those sinners.
Listen to this atrocity.
This is an awful story;
That night was dark and never really ended
We were alone when those demons descended
They banged the door and got themselves in.
They ransacked the house and tempted souls to sin.
My daughter was courageous and shouted, oh Indian skins
Your tenure is short, stop with your sins.
That officer was violent and dashed a potted pitcher on us
My vision became blurry.
Oh God! I seek your forgiveness
Oh God! I seek your forgiveness
Oh God! Save us from their onslaught.
Oh God! Save us from their wicked plot.
We are attacked, hindered and restrained.
Give us strength, give us courage.
Give us the armor that we need to wear
To conquer these demons with spiritual warfare.
I fell unconscious and did not dare to see,
What they had done to my daughter and me
It was only next morning that I discovered
My daughter was dead as a collateral calamity.
Zafar Iqbal,
Lolab.
Taxing the taxmen
Sir,
As heard in the finance minister’s post budget briefing and reports published in media, it is shocking that his government expects over 1200 tax collectors to collect taxes, when they have not filed mandatory tax returns themselves. The penalty that the minister proposes for such financial criminals is that their allowances will be stopped effective 10 June 2014, as if such a penalty would be punishment enough.
In any other country, such persons would be behind bars, their properties confiscated and under no circumstances would they have been retained at their post. Such halfhearted measures expose acceptance of tax evasion culture, not just by the elected government, but also by the bureaucracy of this country. As per reports published in media, tax evasion is to the tune of over Rs 1.2 trillion.
Tax evasion is as heinous a crime as murder or rape, because the very structure on which a government is based and paraphernalia necessary for administration, policing and maintenance of law and order and delivery of justice stands eroded. Retaining these criminal tax defaulters on their assignments is just like allowing policemen with known criminal record to run police stations.
Given the nexus between tax evaders and tax officers, the state would save billions in administrative costs by outsourcing tax collection with guaranteed targets set at double the tax collected in previous years. As for the budget, can the finance minister justify a nominal tax ranging from 1% to 2% on crores of rupees in profit from single transactions earned by individuals in lucrative real estate businesses, or exemptions given to massive earnings by stock exchange investors when there is paucity of funds for education, health and provision of clean drinking water to millions of deprived people in a country with one of the lowest Tax to GDP ratios in the world?
Ameena Khan,
Lahore.