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situation Where
is the ambassador? Taal
Matol education Literate Aid RIPPLE EFFECT
situation The government has so far failed to make any headway in solving the problems in Balochistan By Nadeem Iqbal The Pakistan People's Party-led federal government's approach toward resolving the problems in Balochistan -- by apologising for past atrocities and withdrawal of cases against Baloch leaders -- has not made any headway so far. At best, it could only be dubbed as political gimmickry. Soon after the Feb election, PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari announced: "The PPP, on behalf of the people of Pakistan, apologises to the people of the province of Balochistan for the atrocities and injustices committed against them and pledges to embark on a new highway of healing and mutual respect." In other resolutions, the party pledged to "work to give maximum provincial autonomy to the provinces in the framework" of the 1973 Constitution, and demanded deployment of traditional local levies instead of police in Balochistan. No wonder this announcement
failed to enthuse any interest among Balochs who considered it a Similarly, Prime Minister's Adviser on Interior Affairs, Rehman Malik's comment was also seen as beating about the bush when he said that the government would remove the sense of deprivation of the people of Balochistan and other provinces by bringing them into the mainstream. "People of all provinces will be treated without any discrimination and they will get equal rights." Balochistan -- land-wise the largest and resource rich province of Pakistan -- has gained more importance in the face of the lingering energy crisis that is expected to worsen further in the coming days. The province that is to serve as international trade hub after the completion of Gwadar port has had been in trouble with many Balochs complaining that the powers-that-be in Pakistan only care about the resources and not the people of Balochistan. In his inaugural speech, Nawab Aslam Raisani, the newly elected chief minister of Balochistan, said: "If Gwadar is a gateway for Central Asian states then it also is a mega problem for the Baloch because settlement of outsiders will deprive the natives of their right to sit in this house. The settlement of outsiders will be conditional and they will have no right to vote or contest elections." Raisani, who belongs to PPP, has been stressing upon the need to initiate dialogue with the dissidents saying "We don't agree with the elements who call fighters struggling for their rights in other areas mujahideen or hurriyat pasand but dub the fighters in Balochistan as traitors or terrorists." He said that national reconciliation meant sitting with the forces with whom one disagreed. "I want to talk with the militants to persuade them to come down from the mountains to resolve the contentious issues on the negotiating table," he said. He called for an end to the military operation so that displaced people could be rehabilitated and compensated. He also demanded that the federal government should release former chief minister Sardar Akhtar Mengal and trace the missing people. Later cases against Akhtar Mengal were withdrawn but he is still to be released. However, so far the PPP government has failed to come out with any formula for resolving the crisis or proposed a structured approach involving those who matter in the low intensity conflict. For example, had an apology come from President Pervez Musharraf the reaction would have been quite different and that would have helped break the ice on the issue The PPP has initiated the formation of the committee 'Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Reconciliation Committee for Balochistan'. A meeting of the committee under Asif Ali Zardari, Senator Raza Rabbani, Nabeel Gabol MNA, Ijaz Jhakrani MNA, Sardar Lashkari Raisani, Saadullah Shah and Rehman Malik nominated Dr Babar Awan as its secretary general with a mandate to prepare the detailed papers on vision of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto to resolve the over-due, long standing issues as well as irritants about Balochistan. It was also decided to take into confidence all political parties and stakeholders including educationists, intellectuals, journalists and non-governmental actors. It was also stressed to formulate a constant policy about problems of Balochistan which shall be implemented through the Senate of Pakistan after having taken the mandate from the National Assembly of Pakistan. Sardar Lashkari Raisani was tasked to contact such intellectuals, journalists from Balochistan, NGOs etc. where after a subcommittee of these intellectuals would meet in Islamabad to give their inputs on the issues of Balochistan. But all these initiatives do not match up to the huge magnitude of the Balochistan tragedy. International aid agencies estimate that the numbers of internally displaced persons are over 100,000. While women and children have suffered most during the conflict. In the past, political discourse was adopted to resolve the issue. In early 2005, a parliamentary committee headed by Shujaat Hussain and Mushahid Hussain had concluded an agreement with Nawab Akbar Bugti but this could not be followed in letter and spirit. In Aug 2006, Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed in a military onslaught. Similarly the death of Nawabzada Balach Marri, who was the youngest son of Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri, in November last year is a mystery. Balach had sought refuge in Afghanistan following the crackdown in the Marri and Bugti areas after the killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. Sardar Attaullah Khan Mengal, founder of the Balochistan National Party and first chief minister of the province views that the real question is that, who should hold talks and with whom, notwithstanding the fact that a credibility gap exists. Sardar Mengal argues that ground realities are quite different as the Balochs had been subjected to inhuman treatment as innocent people were being kidnapped and tortured by government agencies. "The situation may not improve unless some confidence-building measures are taken by the government which include withdrawal of armed forces from Balochistan, release of all political activists and other innocent people and release of the so-called disappeared people could provide grounds for a dialogue on the issue of maximum provincial autonomy as envisaged in the Constitution." He reiterated his party's stance that the Centre should keep only foreign, defence and finance portfolios with it while all other subjects should be with the provinces. To date the measures or the announcements made by the PPP-led government are not considered serious by Baloch fighters and their response is also not cordial. Instead the violence is on the increase. Recently on April 22, acting Pro-Vice Chancellor University of Balochistan, Professor Dr Safdar Ali Kiyani was shot dead by unknown armed men. The defunct Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the killing. The blowing up of energy lines and railway lines and the killing of personnel of security agencies is an every day news. It is, therefore, needed that the government should hit the nail on the head and come up with the talking points of the future negotiations. Except for the airing of a videotape, there has been no visible progress towards the recovery of Tariq Azizuddin, who is missing for nearly four months By Javed Aziz Khan Tariq Azizuddin, Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan, has reportedly contacted his family on a few occasions from an unknown location after the captors let him talk to his family and convey that he is in good health. As the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has denied its involvement in the case, it is largely believed that the envoy, who was picked up along with his driver and gunman from tribal Khyber Agency on Feb 11 while going to Kabul in his car, may be in the custody of the Taliban of Afghanistan. Nothing, however, is sure in this regard. The only thing that the
authorities of the Foreign Office have to say is that Tariq Azizuddin is safe The airing of a videotape by Geo and Al-Arabia TV in Dubai on April 19 is the only discernible progress in the case till this date. The envoy has conveyed to the government, his colleagues and family through the tape that he is safe. "I am Tariq Azizuddin, the ambassador of Pakistan to Afghanistan. On Feb 11, we were on our way toward Afghanistan in our official car. We were grabbed in the Khyber Agency by Taliban Mujahideen. We are their guests," he said. In the videotape, Azizuddin can be seen with a white beard. He complains about having some health problem but does not seem worried about it. The videotape also shows his driver Gul Nawaz and bodyguard Amir Sultan sitting next to him, while three gunmen stand in the background. The videotape, it is learnt, was offered first to the local media for Rs 300,000 but was provided to the Dubai-based television after the national channels showed no interest. An interesting thing that can be noticed in the videotape is that the envoy calls upon the government of Pakistan as well as the country's envoys to China and Iran to accept demands made by the captors so he could return home. There seems no apparent connection of China and Iran in the missing of the senior diplomat but it seems that Azizuddin mentioned them purposefully in his recorded message. "The two officials may be the best friends of Tariq. That is why he also urged upon them to make efforts for his immediate release," a source tells TNS. But no prompt response was given to the videotape that was recorded on March 8 and aired on April 19. Though the videotape did not carry anything about the demand against the release of Tariq Azizuddin, sources believe that the Taliban have demanded the release of Mullah Obaidullah Akhund and five to nine other militants caught by the security forces in the recent past. There were also reports that a huge amount has also been demanded. Mullah Obaidullah who had served as the Defence Minister of Afghanistan was considered second of the three top deputies to Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban. He is rated as the third most important man in the Taliban ranks. It is believed that he was also one of the Taliban leaders closest to Osama bin Laden. Baitullah Mehsud had also demanded the release of Mullah Obaidullah against the release of 256 Pakistani soldiers that he had captured in South Waziristan in 2007. Obaidullah had once surrendered to Northern Alliance troops but was later released as part of an amnesty pact. Having a head-money of one million US dollars, the top militant was captured by Pakistani security forces in Quetta on March 1 last year, the day when US vice president Dick Cheney was paying a visit to Islamabad. Maulvi Muhammad Umar, a spokesman for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has categorically denied involvement of the outfit in Azizuddin's kidnapping. He said that the ambassador might have been abducted by Afghan militants based in Pakistan but that Pakistani Taliban followers had no knowledge of it. "We will try our level best for the safe recovery of the ambassador, but for sure we had nothing to do with his abduction." Tariq in the videotape calls his captors as Taliban Mujahideen, a term normally used for militants of Afghanistan. Lashkar-e-Islam, another militant organisation that has been running a parallel administration in most parts of the Khyber Agency, has also rejected that the missing diplomat has been kept in his area. The abduction of Tariq Azizuddin is the first ever incident of its kind in the entire diplomatic history of the country. 57-year-old Azizuddin, who hails from a Pakhtun tribe and can fluently speak Persian, is not an ordinary diplomat. He had been appointed Ambassador to Kabul in Oct 2005 but he took charge of the Pakistan embassy in Afghanistan in Dec 2005. Before that, he was chief of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Apart from serving as ambassador to Sarajevo between 2001 and 2004, Tariq remained Counsel General at the Pakistani Consulate in Los Angeles. He had also served in Manchester, Cairo and Kuala Lumpur. The silence of the government agencies over the missing of such a high-profiled figure for the past almost three months speaks volume about the inefficiency of the security forces and intelligence agencies. Azizuddin's family, living in Peshawar and Islamabad, has been avoiding the media since he went missing, but recently Mrs Tariq Azizuddin was quoted as saying in a section of media that she hopes for quick release of her spouse and was satisfied with the Pakistani government's efforts to free him. "We are praying for his return," she said. By Shoaib Hashmi And if on the other hand you decide to come back to town from Shalimar Bagh and the Shrine of 'Ghoray Shah' via the overhead bridge, the first thing you must do is recall that this was the centre of the railway area, and at one time the North Western Railway was big business. For instance a few days after the national budget came out, there used to be another landmark, and it was the Railway Budget! Also somewhere near the overhead bridge there used to be two organisations called successively the 'Burt Institute' and the 'Griffin Institute'; both belonged to the railways and were kind of social clubs where the higher railway officials congregated to be among their own. They had card tables and billiard tables; at least one of them had a skating ring with a proper teak wood floor, and its membership or association was much sought after. Strangely I have not heard either one mentioned in years and have no idea what happened to them. Descending the bridge you
found yourself in the vicinity of Garhi Shahu, and in particular, coming It is clear, though not often mentioned, that this is by far the oldest shrine in the subcontinent, as it dates from the time of Karbala just a few decades after the advent of Islam itself! The ladies were of the family of Muslim Bin Aqeel, a hero in the episode of Karbala, in fact purported to be his sisters. Somehow they made their way to what was then the Brahmin town of Lahore. Their names are said to have been Bibi Haj, Bibi Taj and Bibi Ruqayya and after a short sojourn they felt uneasy among all the pagans around them and so they prayed to be taken to their Maker. It is reported that in answer to their prayers the earth opened up and swallowed them, only leaving a corner of their 'Chaddar' sticking out of the floor. Many people over the years have written about having seen this piece of cloth although I am not sure if it is still seen, but what is unmistakable is that the great Ali Hajveri whom the other great saint Mueen-ud-Din of Ajmer named Data Ganj Bakhsh or the 'Bestower of Treasures' after spending a 'Chillah' of forty days praying at his shrine -- the truth is that the great Data, who came a few hundred years after the Chaste Ladies, in turn often came to their shrine to pray. His nook at the shrine is still there, marked by a stone. The great Ajmeri is by no means the only one who acknowledged the riches bestowed by Data Ganj Bakhsh. He arrived from Ghazni in the time of Mahmood of Ghazni somewhere at the junction of the tenth and eleventh centuries, or around the time when Islam really established itself in the subcontinent, and many who came after him acknowledged him as the 'master.' One such disciple is 'Pir Makki' who came from Makkah and whose own shrine lies a short way from Data Sahib just off the Ravi road towards the river. It is still the tradition among his devotees from Lahore -- a large number of whom come from inside the walled city -- when they come to pay their homage, to first visit the shrine of Pir Makki, and having paid their respects to the disciple to then make their way to the master! The suicide of a student at a top private institution has brought to the fore the problem of excessive academic stress By Shahzada Irfan Ahmed The news of suicide by a fourth year student of the country's top-notch academic institution struck every one like lightning. The report of this death was received with great remorse and suspicion, especially because it came from place that is known for its bright students. Hashir Munawwar, a resident of Karachi, had opted for economics as major at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). In recent months he was put on probation and later separated from his course for not performing well. Reportedly, the university had also informed his parents about his poor performance that led to his admonishment at the hands of his father Col (retd) Munawwar Hussain. What followed was something very tragic. Hashir's body was found hanging with a metal wire tied to the ceiling fan of his hostel room on April 23, 2008. Students reacted severely
to the incident. Some even went to the extent of questioning the No doubt the issue of academic stress is universal and cases of suicides or attempted suicides have been reported from different universities of the world. In this case the issue has assumed great proportions because of the aggressive reaction of LUMS students who have resorted to blogging anonymously -- just to avoid any disciplinary reaction on the part of the university administration. The scribe tried to seek versions of some students but none of them wanted to come on record. On conditions of anonymity, one of them says it was a matter more of emotional handling than anything else. He tells TNS that Hashir's grades did not fall overnight and he was facing difficulties in studies for quite a long time. The student thinks that maybe it was the way he was treated by his father and not his being put on probation that broke him down. "I don't want to add to the miseries of the unfortunate family by saying this. In fact I want to convey it to other parents is that no loss is bigger than losing your child. So they must help their children when they are in need and avoid antagonising them." Another student says that LUMS is a very stressful place and the overall mood is depressive. She says the reason for this is that new students have to adapt to the highly industrious study routine at LUMS overnight. "The students who have never studied in sessions exceeding six to eight hours have to study for even 18 hours at a stretch," she adds. "Secondly, the university administration is in a habit of changing policies from time to time and making it tougher and tougher for the students to qualify in different courses. What I suggest is that there should be a transition phase in which new-coming students should be given counselling and given time to adapt to the demanding environment of the university." Yet another student, on the conditions of anonymity, says the media should see this issue in a larger perspective and also focus on the problems faced by the students of universities and colleges other than LUMS. He says the vice chancellor of LUMS has written an email to the students of the university and formed an eight-member committee to review the academic policies of the university. It definitely is a good move and will go a long way in boosting the morale of the students, he adds. "I would suggest that heads of other universities should also follow the suit and have interactive sessions with the parents of weak students." As per the email written by the vice chancellor, the review committee is supposed to submit its initial report by May 15, 2008 and the final by June 15, 2008. The email adds "I would like to reassure our students that while there may be blind spots in the delivery of quality education, the faculty and staff of the university are positively geared towards your general well being. I sincerely apologise if the university has not lived up to your expectations and I pledge to address your concerns in a very responsive manner. Thank you for your continued support. Together, we can make the difference." Dr Tariq Jadoon, Associate Dean, Students Affairs at LUMS, who is heading the review committee, tells TNS that the body has invited comments from the faculty members as well as students on the issue to which they are responding through emails etc. "We will scrutinise all these emails and then reach a conclusion. For the time being it is too early to say anything." The associate dean adds that the administration felt the need for this review during the open house dialogues between the university administration and students held immediately after Hashir's death. Many students raised certain questions and expressed their apprehensions that need to be weighed properly. Jadoon says the committee will review whether the university's policies are in strict conformity with international best practices or not. Every suggestion will be reviewed with an open mind and with the prime objective of further improving the campus environment and making it a stress free place, he says. "Hashir's death is an irreparable loss and we are yet to come out of the state of shock and grief," he adds. About the stress factor at LUMS, Jadoon says it is a place where best students from all over the country get together. "They may be best at their respective schools and colleges but once here they find themselves pitched against the best of the best. This gives birth to stiff competition and may lead to stress but I think there are ways to overcome these." Jadoon says there are student counsellors and psychiatrists on the campus but the university may increase the number. Similarly, the committee will see whether there is a need for reviewing the minimum requirements set for graduation and putting a badly performing student on probation. "Every professional institution has such policies. For example a medical student who fails in viva has to appear in written exams afresh. Another aspect that we are working on is that whether there should be different policies for different schools that are opening up at LUMS or not. Previously all the students were kept in the same pool," he adds. Email: shahzada.irfan@gmail.com
By Aoun Sahi For most people who have not visited the Gilgit-Baltistan region, considered to one of the most backward as well as conservative area of Pakistan, it may be hard to believe that women of the area have been participating in economic as well as educational activities very aggressively. According to figures provided by Agha Khan Education Service Pakistan.(AKESP) the literacy ratio in the female population of the area has increased by 25.66 per cent during the last five years. "The attitude of different communities towards female education has also been changing positively in this region," said Ataullah Baig, senior manager community development programme and outreach AKESP. According to him, in Diamer district -- considered to be the most conservative district of the area -- people have started allowing their girls to go to schools, colleges and literacy centres opened by AKESP and National Commission for Human Development (NCHD). "Some six years ago,
people in Diamer burnt six girl schools because they did not want them in
their area." Ataullah said that it took a lot of time for them to
convince people that there was a need for female education and they managed
to open the first literacy centre in 2006. "Now we have 35 The Gilgit district is also notorious for sectarian clashes in which hundreds of people have been killed while thousands of others have migrated to the other areas. "Luckily since the last two years no sectarian violence has erupted in our city but women have always been the worst victim of these sectarian clashes," said Riaz Hussain, a Gilgit based journalist. According to him, in recent years followers of the different sects have started to live in peaceful co-existence and women of the area are playing a major role in this regard. "It used to be a tradition in Gilgit that followers of different sects especially women were not allowed to mingle with the female followers of other sects. But now the tradition is dying out and through different educational as well as economic activities women have developed friendships with women of other sects. You will be surprised to know that in many localities of Gilgit, women have intervened in some cases to avert sectarian clashes," added Hussain. The female have not only successfully intervened to avoid sectarian clashes but they are also now working towards shaping up a new pluralist community in the area. "Two years ago, before the establishment of literacy centres, there were two different schools for Ismaili and Shia girls in my locality but Sunnis couldn't go to any of these and used to travel five kilometres from the village to get education in a Sunni school," said Robina Sultan, Field Supervisory Officer (FSO) of NCHD and a resident of Bulchipati village in Gilgit district. According to her, after the establishment of the literacy centre in the locality, they not only have succeeded in bringing both Ismaili and Shia girls in one school but now Sunni girls are also allowed to study with them in the same school. "In my literacy centre at present, I have 23 students ranging from 20-45 years in age, out of which 11 are from Shia sect, 10 Ismailis and two belong to Sunni sect. Majority of them are mothers and they are friendly with each other, and this attitude will definitely pass on to their next generation," she said confidently. According to her NCHD and AKESP have employed teachers, literacy coordinators and FSOs, all of whom are women. "That is also one of prime reasons behind the success of this programme in our region," added Robina. Surprisingly many of these women from different sects have been living in the same localities for decades but have no concept of having social contact with each other. "For the first time I now have a good friend belonging to the Shia community from my locality," said Naseem Bano, 40 years old, mother of four and resident of Jalalabad, Gilgit and student of literacy centre established in her locality. According to Bano if there was tension among the Sunni and Shia sects in Gilgit, it used to be a practice in her locality to force Sunni residents to leave the locality. "But last time, some two and a half years back, when we had severe sectarian clashes in Gilgit, male members of the Shia community came to our houses and asked us to leave the locality, but their women who had become our friends intervened and came to rescue us." Bano said that this was the first time when Sunnis of Jalalabad did not leave the locality and that was only because the Shia women intervened at the right time. "Now by and large we are living very peacefully and have a good social relationship with other sects of the locality," she added. Many of the learners were of the view that the literacy programme was good for them but they wanted professional training, something that would help them to earn money for their families. "This is a very good programme and it should carry on in our region but along with giving us education they should also teach us different techniques, like to store fruits, to make jams and juices from these fruits. Because more than 70 per cent of fruits are wasted in our region and we can do nothing with it," said Fizza Nisar, a student at the literacy centre in Ganguby, Skardu. She also thought that women will be taught to run small scale poultry and animal farms and techniques to increase the yield of different crops especially potatoes, the main cash crop of the area. The residents of the area said that as the government of Pakistan has been giving no attention to the area, they had to look towards NGOs like Agha Khan Foundation and other for very basic needs like education and health. "They are doing good work but the government should also come forward and perform its duties and not let others play its role," said Muhammad Ali, a Skardu based social worker. According to him it was a good initiative of NCHD to develop a partnership with AKESP in opening literacy centres, but at the same time new schools and colleges should also be established in the area especially in Skardu. " The Baltistan region is still is the most neglected area and both NGOs and government institutions are concentrating more and more on Gilgit regarding education and health programmes," he said. According to Ali, NCHD and AKESP have established only 126 adult literacy centres (ALCs) in Skardu district while in Gilgit alone the number of such centres is 238. "There is a need to divide the sources in a justified way otherwise people will be forced to suspect the intentions of both NCHD and AKESP," he added.
RIPPLE
EFFECT By Omar R. Quraishi According to a report in this newspaper, the new IG of the Sindh police,the apparently able but very controversial Shoaib Suddle, has upon taking charge of his office declared all of I I Chundrigar Road to be a no-parking zone. The fact of the matter is that much of the road was already off limits to parked cars but that a mafia of sorts had crept up (and this is the case for all major cities actually) which enabled those who worked in offices along the city's main business and commercial artery to park their cars without too much worry. The arrangement -- till the IG's directive -- would work in the form of informal parking lots in the streets and by-lanes of I I Chundrigar Road, or sometimes even on the main road itself, and was manned by men with whom one could leave one's car with a charge of anywhere between twenty and forty rupees. I admit that I may well have a vested interest in writing on this topic -- since my office is smack in the middle of where the parking mafia thrives -- but I suspect that it affects thousands of people who work in this city and in other urban centres. Other than these fly-by 'valets', one also has the option of leaving one's car at a couple of car parks, ostensibly run by the City District Government of Karachi (CDGK), but actually by contractors who rent them out from the CDGK. Take for instance, this parking lot where I park my car every day. It is situated right next to the Supreme Court's Karachi registry and is built to accommodate around 300-400 cars. However, on any given day it has twice that amount at least which means that inevitably some cars will get scratches and dents -- around half of the owners have to leave their car keys with the contractor's staff since their vehicles need to be shuffled around. And as one would expect, let alone compensation no motorist will even be provided with an admission of guilt by the parking lot staff -- in any case he or she will be told that the receipt clearly says that the contractor is not responsible for any damage to the vehicle! The parking charge per car per day is listed as Rs 20 on the receipt and even on a banner posted on the gate of the parking but -- surprise, surprise! -- one actually pays Rs 30 per car every day. I did ask the staff once about this and they came up with an obviously made-up story that the twenty rupees charge was for a year gone by and now the contractor had been authorised to charge thirty rupees per car. Asked to show any letter from the city government in this regard -- all parking contractors should have such a letter ready to show to a motorist if the need arises -- the staff sheepishly would say that they were not given the letter but that the contractor (their boss) had it in his possession. To some readers this may be just ten rupees but multiply that by at least 400 cars every day and 26 days (taking out four Sundays when there are no vehicles) and one gets Rs 104,000 per month being made over and above the amount sanctioned by the city district government. In fact, on an annual basis, the contractor stands to make around Rs 1.25 million in guaranteed profit! Furthermore, his staff not only use the space of the parking lot but also usually park many of the cars outside on the road (M R Kiyani Road) which is also a no-parking zone. Clearly, the contractor has to thank his stars in the CDGK and his staff in the traffic and area police -- on several occasions I have seen a traffic and/or a regular police constable come to the parking lot's staff and ask for their monthly cut in the profits -- in return for which the men are allowed to park some of the vehicles on the road. Coming back to the case of I I Chundrigar Road, after the IG's directive some of the cars have also found their way right on to the sidewalk/footpath. (This is of course in addition to the dozens of motorcycles that are regularly parked right on footpaths all over this and many other parts of the city -- again no prize for guessing why and how this is allowed). The question of course arises is that how can such flagrant encroachment of what is clearly pedestrian space be permitted by the traffic police? This is a question for the DIG traffic and his bosses to answer but one suspects that any such answer will not be forthcoming any time soon. In addition to this, the poor pedestrian -- at least in this part of Karachi -- is also harassed by numerous small-time thelas, panwallas and even mechanics, all of whom have thought it fit to take over part of the foot-path -- of course, they all pay to the traffic and/or regular police whatever for 'using' the sidewalks in this manner. And we all know who the biggest loser in all of this is: the ordinary road user, the poor pedestrian and to some degree the motorist (mainly because the buildings he or she works in never kept any space for parking -- thanks in large part to the 'generous' Karachi Building Control Authority). Also, before one ends writing on this, it would be good to quote someone who is clearly more qualified and knowledgeable to speak on this matter. I am talking of Ahmad Rafay Alam, a lawyer and visiting faculty member of LUMS who writes a column for this newspaper, who once explained in some detail how the ordinary citizen gets taken for a royal ride at various stages of real estate and particularly commercial 'development'. Consider a building that is to be built in a busy part of Karachi or Lahore. Like all buildings before it, chances are that it will not have any space for parking. Of course, it is likely that the builder/owner will include provisions for parking in the building plans which are submitted and duly approved from the KBCA but in reality this 'parking space' will in due course of time be either taken up by ground-floor shops and/or offices. This will happen because the builder will pay off the building control authority to look the other way. When the building is completed and its occupation begins, a parking problem will indeed arise. However, this will -- as all things are in this country -- automatically be taken care off by the parking mafia which will charge motorists (for space that the building should in fact have provided them) an exorbitant fee. The parking mafia will do all of this courtesy the traffic and/or regular police, both of whom stand to make a killing from this subversion of the building code and related regulations. At each stage, the ordinary consumer, the motorist, the motorcyclist and the pedestrian are inconvenienced -- and not just in some intangible fashion but are made to part with their hard-earned money. Welcome
to life in an urban metropolis in Pakistan. The
writer is Op-ed Pages Editor of The News. Email:
omarq@cyber.net.pk
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welcome step but not enough. Many of the Baloch leaders doubt the potential
and capacity of PPP to resolve the issue.
and efforts were on to ensure his release without any harm. Nobody knows as
to why the authorities are so sure about the health of the missing envoy when
even they don't know as to where is he since Feb 11.
straight down the road, the other twin institutions of Queen Mary's College
and the Convent of Jesus and Mary -- and opposite the twin gates there is
still a small street branching off and on the corner a sign indicating the
way to 'Bibian Paak Daaman' or the shrine of the 'Chaste Ladies.'
academic policies of the institution and the alleged mishandling of the
deceased student's case. There were those who called for an objective
handling of the situation and identification of circumstances that often lead
to such incidents. Some tried to shift the reponsibility to the parents who
expect too much from their children and have zero tolerance for any lapse on
their part.
literacy centres where more than 500 women, most of whom are mothers of young
children are getting education in these literacy centres. During the last
three years the enrolment rate of children in different schools in Diamer has
also increased significantly," he said.