technology
e-mpowered or not

Most e-Governance projects launched in the country have faced criticism for failing to involve the general public

By Shahzada Irfan Ahmed

Almost five years back, the federal government of Pakistan set up an Electronic Government Directorate (EGD) following a decision of the federal cabinet. The task assigned to this directorate, according to the government, was to fully utilise the potential of information technology to improve the quality of services to common man. Furthermore, it was hoped that the directorate would help evolve a system where all the stakeholders including state machinery would be provided a single entry point of information.

The decision was most timely and in accordance with the guidelines provided by UNESCO that defines e-Governance as "the public sector's use of information and communication technologies with the aim of improving information and service delivery, encouraging citizen participation in the decision-making process and making government more accountable, transparent and effective."

Five years down the road, the government claims that it has achieved its objectives to a great extent whereas its critics believe that everything done in the name of e-Governance has just been an eye wash. There have been voices raised that the scope of this whole project has been limited only to the deployment of basic infrastructure to government agencies and hosting of a few ill-maintained and outdated government websites. A common observation is that though every other government office is flooded with electronic equipment ranging from personal computers to laser printers and scanners, there is hardly any willingness on part of the officers to share information with the general public or pass on any benefits to it.

The official sources on the other hand claim that the much-awaited change is round the corner and just taking the time it normally takes. There are several projects underway with an aim of promoting transparency in the business of the state and involvement of the general public in policy decisions, they add.

Asad Rehman, a Lahore-based software engineer tells TNS that it's quite an easy task to announce projects like e-Governance but quite difficult to execute. "How can this scheme succeed in a country where common citizens have no say in the decisions taken by the state. Such initiatives suit only those countries where democracy exists in its true sense and both the bureaucracy and the legislature are accountable to the general public," he says.

Asad says in short only that information is shared with the public which the state departments want to and not the one in which it (the public) is really interested. "Which ever government website you visit, most of the links are down. You send them an e-mail and wait for the rest of your life to get an answer. Similarly, there's no use putting complaints link on any of these websites as there's no one there to address them."

While general dissatisfaction prevails in this respect, the government claims that projects like maintenance of national database by Nadra, records digitization, electronic archiving, development of Land Record Management Information Systems (LRMIS) etc are its achievements worth acknowledging.

On the lack of electronic interaction between the citizens and the state, Syed Raza Abbas Shah, Executive Director EGD says this was the case in the first phase that includes the provision of information alone. "The quality, usability and currency of the content determine the value of this phase of e-Government which is the least complex of all the phases."

He says it's in the second phase that e-Government provides some degree of online interaction. For instance, citizens can enter complaints or job applications online.

He tells TNS that the Government of Pakistan portal (www.pakistan.gov.pk) has been a flagship project managed by EGD. On average around 300,000 visitors visit the GoP portal everyday, which makes this the most effective vehicle for citizen-government interaction, he says. The website, he adds, provides basic information about the government to the public, search capabilities, hosting of relevant forms, linkages with other relevant sites, as well as e-mail addresses and phone numbers of offices or officials.

He says in order to increase the scope of the projects, EGD has launched a project titled 'Development of Urdu Lexicon, Machine Translation & Text to Speech Software for Urdu Language.' Once the project is complete and the desired software available, any material which is available on websites in English will automatically be converted to the Urdu language to make it easily accessible for the citizens who don't know English well, he tells TNS.

He says EGD has a portfolio of 37 approved projects that are being executed in the current financial year. In addition another ten projects are planned to be approved before December 2007 that include automated processing of Hajj applications, e-services for submission of documents at Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), online recruitment for Federal Public Services Commission (FPSC), setting up of e-Office and so on.

Samina Rizwan, Country Senior Director, South Asian Growth Economies (SAGE) West, Oracle Corporation tells TNS that the key requirement for a successful e-Governance programme is a strong political vision and will. Working for the company that's involved in 2,000 government projects around the world, her observation is that the senior most bureaucrats and legislators in the country need to be convinced that they want to give their people an easy and effective way of transacting with the government.

She tells TNS that e-Governance is definitely not about just computer deployment in government departments. "At best, it is the first step towards organizing vital information in a manner in which it can be easily retrieved and processed further." The scope of e-Governance is quite vast in Pakistan as things here are improving day by day, he says.

Samina says one of the best demonstrations of a successful e-Governance project at work is what happened in New York City on September 11, 2001. Soon after the attack on Twin Towers, 290 hospitals in and around New York city logged into a network called LEADERS. With the help of LEADERS, all 290 hospitals could track, accept and 'load balance' causalities to ensure that no injured person went without immediate medical attention. LEADERS is Lightweight Epidemiology Advanced Detection and Emergency Response System created by Oracle and some other partners, she adds.

On impediments in this regard, she says that the issue that nags most leaders of e-Governance projects is the security of the system and the data. But they need not worry as IT companies have developed foolproof/tamper proof systems and are striving to make them securer. Our company offers 18 independent security evaluations for various aspects of data security in its e-Governance projects," she adds.

On the road to progress

Where car financing has ensured a better standard of living for most Pakistanis, it has also unleashed an array of issues for the consumers

By Amna Yousaf

Consumer banking has seen a phenomenal growth in the recent past, thanks to the multifarious car schemes introduced by banks and leasing companies. Today, any person earning Rs 30,000 per month can afford to own a car, in spite of the rising inflation.

Till only a few years back, a 1300cc car was considered a luxury as well as a symbol of wealth, beyond the reach of the common man. Times sure have changed. Now every second household in metropolitan cities boasts at least one 1300cc vehicle, and every third house in small localities has a car.

Before the start of the new millennium, only 30 to 32 thousand cars were produced in Pakistan. But today, according to the data provided by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA), in the past five years, local manufacturing companies have produced 607,491 cars of different engine capacities, while the sale of these cars stands at 606,666.

As imported cars began to flood the market, a renowned local car manufacturing company decided to produce only 136,000 cars this year. But, the consumers should not worry as banks and leasing companies also offer financing on imported and used vehicles.

In such a situation, both conventional and Islamic banks together with leasing companies have stepped in to cash in on the people's needs and offer handsome packages for car financing and leasing for a period ranging from one to seven years at a mark-up rate that is incredibly high as compared to other developing economies, even the neighbouring India.

Where car financing and leasing have an edge in improving the standard of living for us Pakistanis, it also has many detriments for the consumers which remain hidden, mostly, due to their ignorance and the so-called bank-authorised car dealers who try to lure any consumer in, for the sake of their own commission that varies between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000.

A bank will always start off by talking about down payment which has to be paid in the first place, then such added facilities as 'car tracker' and 'insurance' besides processing charges. Along with the down payment, a person is also asked to pay a first-year insurance claim. The installment table will show, in one column, the insurance amount with a monthly deduction starting from the first year. The second column shall have the Equated Monthly Installment (EMI) amount that remains the same throughout the financing period.

By noticing a reduction in the insurance column that ultimately lessens the burden on the monthly total installment amount, what a person ignores and the bank bothers not to tell him, is that he has already paid the first-year insurance with the down payment and is paying the insurance for the next year in advance -- a strategy that will ultimately make him get rid of insurance claims earlier than anticipated.

Usually, the banks claim that there is no hidden cost involved in car financing and whatever they earn is mentioned in the advertisement. But, the real game begins when they calculate the monthly installments.

Only very few people will ask the bank about how the monthly installments are calculated. The banks are prudent enough to satisfy such extraordinary consumers.

They will tell the consumers that the remaining principal amount is divided by the number of payments and multiplied by the tenure factor. What the tenure factor is, according to banks, determined by the policy makers and cannot be divulged to consumers. However, according to a banker (who requested anonymity), after calculating the first installment, the interest rate is compounded, and the procedure is repeated for all the remaining installments that ultimately credits more cash in the bank's account.

In the case of simple interest, banks earn on remaining principal amount. Whereas, in the case of compounded interest, banks earn on the remaining principal amount as well as the interest previously earned on that remaining principal amount. For example, in case of simple interest the bank will earn Rs 120 against Rs 100 in two years of financing at 10 per cent interest rate (IR). But, in case of compounded interest, the bank will earn Rs 121.

In the first year, simple interest is followed, and the total amount stands at Rs 110. The bank, for the second year, will use the compound interest method and apply 10 per cent IR on Rs 110 that will fetch -- by the end of two years -- Rs 121. The banks use the compounded IR method because otherwise the time value of money is lost as the inflation is rising in Pakistan and the value of money is depreciating. A note of Rs 1000 does not enjoy the value that it used to, a few years back.

The Islamic banking system is also no different. The difference is only in use of words. Instead of 'interest', the banks in Pakistan now commonly speak of 'profit' or 'rent', according to Raza Ayaz, an expert on Islamic financing.

Other differences, he says, include that the car is registered in the name of the consumer, and the first installment is taken only after the delivery of the car.

In conventional banking, the consumers do not know before applying for the facility that the car will be transferred in their name only after the completion of the financing period, and that uptil then they will be using the car as the property of somebody else, and they are simply paying the rent.

About 99 per cent of consumers do not even give a casual read to the one-sided agreement that is signed after the bank finds a person eligible for car financing. The agreement, a copy of which was made available to TNS, allows the banks to confiscate their asset (car) and "have the right to cancel the facility under this agreement, without assigning any reason and demand immediate payment of the purchase price and any other amount payable under this agreement including the insurance payments within seven days of such demand."

In recent months, a number of car confiscation cases have been reported in almost every other city of Pakistan. "My car was snatched while I was on the Mall road, and my family was sitting inside," said Asad Zaheer, a sales executive in a multinational company. Asad could not pay the installment for a month due to certain circumstances and says he informed the bank in advance.

He complained that the security personnel misbehaved with his family and did not even let him explain his case. "They got all of us off the car in the middle of the road and took the car away," he said.

In view of the healthy consumer response and huge profit margins in consumer banking in Pakistan, a whole lot of banks have jumped into the financing sector and every other Pakistani, without realising the real burden of monthly installments on his small salary and the depreciating value of the asset, is going for car financing.

Moreover, initially, due to a lack of the decentralised banking system, any person could finance more than one car in his name, from different banks. Shahid Bhangash, who runs rent-a-car business in Islamabad. He financed three cars at the same time in his name from three different banks. The result was an ever increasing number of defaulters.

However, analysts believe that consumer banking has passed the nascent stage. "The banks have become more prudent now," said Wasim Butt, a banker.

He said that the Central Information Bureau had helped him in overcoming the duplicate financing practices. Now a consumer will not be able to finance more than one car at a time from any bank.

In the next three to five years, the consumer banking is likely to mature further and the rate of defaulters will ultimately be reduced.

Taal Matol
Prices going down!

By Shoaib Hashmi

I must confess the whole thing is confusing me a whit. Everywhere I go, the conversation comes round to how prices are skyrocketing. And, the coming of the month of fasting was the signal for a quantum leap. And, it is not a one-off phenomenon; it seems to be a national sport in which everyone is a player. Each morning shopkeepers come to work, having sworn to charge more for everything that they did yesterday. In the holy month, what they are selling the most is food stuff, and that is what they are operating on.

The odd thing is, at other times, no one is interested in food stuff -- man does not live by bread alone. There is also the computer and the cellphone. And, what goes on with these two is quite different. In Lahore, you cannot look anywhere in any direction without your sight being hogged by humungous signs, advertising cellphones, and what they are saying is how much prices are going down!

It is only a few years since the cellphone became fashionable, and then ubiquitous, and you had to have one to keep up with the joneses. And, if you said more than a hello, you paid through the nose, tens of rupees for each minute. Then, a lot of other servers barged in, offering an equal service at lower rates. And, pretty soon it developed into a rat race with more and more fabulous 'packages' being offered.

It has come to a point where, if you use their phone for a hundred minutes, they give you another hundred minutes free to talk your butt off. The first thing that occurs to an economist is that even at the new low rates they were making more than twice the profit they ought to have, to be able to offer you free minutes. The second thing that occurs is where will it all end?

I remember when they started putting extras into cell-phones; first voice mail, then still cameras then movie cameras and mini computers, my friends tried to sell me a phone with a thousand extras. I said I would wait until they installed the ultimate extra -- I would press one button and a living breathing tart should jump out complete with ankle bells and a sound track and should do her thing -- then I would buy a phone!

It's come to the point where I see a sign with the latest 'package' and my heart bleeds for the poor downtrodden servers who must be pawning wives' jewellery to let us talk away, because they can't be making any money giving all their minutes away for free.

The phone's first cousin is of course the computer, and that is not doing too well either. I first noticed it when each time I went to my dealer to acquire the latest gadget he looked sheepish and apologetic. I asked him why and he looked even more sheepish and told me that last gadget he had sold me for thousands was now down to a few paisas a dozen.

If you don't believe me think back to your first keyboard and how much it cost, I seem to recall it was a few thousand at least. It's very different now. Every time one key gets a spot I throw the keyboard away and get a new one. Because cleaning the spot will cost more in soap than a new keyboard. They have got so cheap people are buying them up in bulk and selling them to the junkman for the plastic. So why is everyone cribbing about rising costs?

attack
Demolishing history

The attempt  to demolish Buddha's statue in Swat poses a serious threat to the heritage of the valley

By Mushtaq Yusufzai

Taking their cue from the ousted Taliban militia who destroyed the Buddha statues in Bamyan, Afghanistan, in 2001, the Swat-based local Taliban attacked the rocks carrying engraved images of Buddha, early this month. The militants were reportedly led by the local religious hardliner, Maulana Fazl Hayat, popularly known as Maulana Fazlullah. Also known as Mullah Radio, Fazlullah was the first to launch a campaign to change the names of the local towns and villages, which he thought were unIslamic, and then started banning music and video centres across the district.

Maulana Fazlullah is the son-in-law of Maulana Sufi Muhammad, the founding leader of the now defunct Tehreek-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi (TNSM), now languishing in prison in Dera Ismail Khan for illegally taking more than ten thousand people from Malakand to Afghanistan to fight alongside Taliban against the US-led occupation forces in 2001.

Local residents of Jehanabad, a village about 20 kilometres off Swat's district headquarters Mingora city, informed that unknown people on September 11 came there and told them to remain tight-lipped while they removed this 'symbol of Hinduism' from the face of the earth. They said that every year a large number of tourists and followers of Buddha from all over the world used to travel to distant Jehanabad village in Swat -- also called Swat's Butgarh because of Buddha's images -- to watch this famous historic site of Gandhara civilisation, situated on a roadside near the tourist resort of Malam Jabba.

Local people said that one explosive device had been planted on top, and another in the foot of the rocks that were engraved with Buddha's historic images. Luckily, the images were not damaged probably because people assigned the job were inexperienced. However, a portion of the rock was damaged and the blast was heard in distant villages. Archeologists and experts assert that the incident is reminiscent of destruction of world's famous Buddha statues in Bamiyan, Afghanistan by the Taliban.

Following the incident local people called reporters in Mingora to tell them that Tehreek-i-Taliban had carried out attack on the Buddha's images -- the lone unique piece of Buddha's images in South Asia. They fear that even though the rocks survived the attack next time more powerful explosives could be used for complete demolition of what they thought were 'symbols of evil.

Other important archeological monument of the Buddhist era and the biggest stupa of subcontinent near Ghalegi in Swat are also under threat in the wake of this attack. According to archeologists, Uttarasena, an ancient king of Swat, had constructed the stupa in the seventh century AD to enshrine his share of relics of the Buddha on the main GT Road near Ghalegi village.

"This is a very important site of Gandhara civilisation and I don't think sensible people would have attacked it," remarked Dr Zainul Wahab Khan, a noted archeologist and curator of Dir Museum, Chakdara in Malakand. He said there were several rock carvings on the road right from Charsadda to Chilas in Pakistan's Northern Areas which are considered to be the archeological monuments of the Buddha era. Dr Wahab said meditating Buddha and other similar monuments were engraved on rocks in 5th and 6h centuries AD.

Senior archeologist Prof Fidaullah Sehrai said in Unesco's charter damaging historical monuments is crime against culture. He said Swat, which was a centre of Buddhism and its ancient name was Udhyana meaning gardens or parks, became the second holy land for Buddha's followers because of these rock carvings mostly on trade routs and river crossings. "Damaging these historic monuments is tantamount to destroying Swat's history," remarked the noted archeologist. "It was shocking news for me when I learnt that Buddha's image in Swat, which was the most beautiful cross-legged image of Buddha has been attacked, Prof Sehrai added.

People in Chilas have started damaging a number of similar Buddha's images after the site was selected for construction of a dam. However, when a Japanese journalist came to know about the ruthless destruction of historic monuments of Buddha, wrote an article in a leading paper in his country. Consequently the Japanese ambassador later raised the issue. The government then directed senior archeologist Dr Zainul Wahab Khan to visit the area and submit a report about the situation in Chilas.

After his report, Section 144 was imposed in the area to stop the destruction of statues. However, it will not be a durable solution as it would not keep militants from materialising their motives. Education is needed to convince people that these images in an Islamic country is not un-Islamic act since islam ensures security and freedom.

What lies ahead?

The forthcoming general elections are an appropriate time to assess the performance of the local government and its future

By Dr Noman Ahmed

Recent views communicated by prominent political parties -- with the exception of the ruling coalition -- speak of its reservations against the existing system of the local government. For one, the leadership of the Pakistan Peoples Party has expressed on several occasions its resolve to re-structure the present local government framework. These political intentions raise various questions with regard to the future governance of cities, towns, tehsils, talukas and other local sub-divisions. It also offers an opportunity to take stock of half a decade of performance of the local government against the previous set-up.

Mainstream political forces opposed the devolution plan which was allegedly instituted to provide a semblance of political support to the military regime. This approach of the Musharraf government was in tandem with all the other military dictators who had usurped power and, later, attempted to legitimise it. The Basic system of democracies of Field Martial Ayub Khan and the revival of municipal institutions by General Zia-ul-Haq were initiatives taken in the same spirit. The dissolution of district management cadres was seen by many as a radical step without a sound justification.

Traditionally the district management group (DMG) officers were trained in the erstwhile spirit of British Indian Civil Service. They entered the core spine of governance in public administration and continued to dominate the routine functioning of the affairs of every government. A deputy commissioner in a district was responsible for maintaining law and order through police force and other related agencies, acted as the revenue collector on behalf of the government; dealt with facilitating, initiating and monitoring schemes in his jurisdiction, managed emergencies and disaster situations of multifarious nature and also possessed magisterial powers in the overall respect of public management.

The institution of DMG was able to sustain the various schemes launched by the regimes from time to time such as the Green Revolution or the Village Aid Programmes in the Ayub era. However, the rot began to appear in the ranks after political influence increased, lateral and ex-cadre appointments were made and corruption became rampant. The DMG used to work in collaboration with the local government tier for routine municipal functions which existed in a very orthodox form throughout the post-independence period. However, due to the non-representative nature, municipal institutions were overtaken by bureaucrats or retired military personnel. Separation of urban development and management also rendered most of these institutions ineffective and non-creative.

The introduction of elected local government was a welcome move by the present regime.-- also useful to devolve the pre-existing institutions such as municipal corporations, development authorities, and committees of various ranks and profiles. However, there appear many flaws in the concept and application of the devolution plan. The present system has been instituted under the ambit of the provincial Local Government Ordinances (LGOs) promulgated in 2001-02. Like any ordinary bill, they can be repealed by any house that is run by a party which believes against its merits. Many parliamentarians consider LGOs as infringements on provincial autonomy. These are very vital constitutional and legal matters which probably deserve as much attention of the regime/opposition camps as the presidential or parliamentary elections.

While the system claims to be based on non-party elections, the procedure is entirely conducted around party influences and affiliations. Besides, the electoral college for town/tehsil/taluka municipal administrations (TMAs) and district nazim must be re-visited. At present, only union council level representatives are voted in through adult franchise. The same must be extended to TMAs and district level. It will entail greater legitimacy and clout to these offices.

The bureaucratic cadres under the control of TMAs and district governments also require a boost, both in terms of authority and capacity. If deemed appropriate, a new cadre of officers may be created for municipal services. The appraisal of various officers has shown tremendous deficiency in terms of competence, capacity and fundamental qualifications.

The local government tier shall have to evolve a mechanism for obtaining financial self-sufficiency to run the day to day affairs. Presently, the entire system is dependent upon federal or provincial transfers. This aspect curtails the independence of action and creativity from the local organs. No measure of decentralisation of power can survive without financial independence. Local taxation, municipal enterprises and stable procedures of federal and provincial transactions can be the basic means of bolstering local financial functioning. The system must also gear itself towards attaining good governance merit without delay. Strong measures of auditing, financial controls and efficient, timely utilisation of funds can lend credence to the system. Technical capacities in the domains of urban and regional planning, project planning and management, monitoring and supervision of contractors works and a liaison with all the public and private sector agencies need to be built as a top priority task.

The country has already gone through jolts in its institutional and social structure. Time demands from the political leadership to bury their hatchets and mull over core issues like the future of local bodies in the larger interest of the people they claim to represent.

RIPPLE EFFECT
A matter of pre-schooling

By Omar R. Quraishi

The other day I had gone to drop off my two-year-old son at his pre-school. The duration of his pre-school timing is one hour, so it is feasible to drop him off and wait in the car -- which is what I usually do. However, that day, the sun was in full force, and sitting in the car -- even with the air-conditioning on -- meant a moderate toasting. A better option was to just wait in the foyer of the school because there was a good breeze and no sun.

Around fifteen minutes or so were left for the kids to come out. I must have been the only male around; most of the others were mothers who had come to pick their children. Since there was nothing really to do except to wait, one couldn't help overhear the various conversations that were going on in all corners under the foyer.

Some of the mothers were talking about how they had to deal with their children once they were in their teens. For instance, a lady said that she had heard all kinds of stories of children at one of the city's best-known schools and that given a choice she would never send her child there. But then she went on to say that she really had no choice. Why? I wondered. Perhaps, because she will then have to deal with a whole new set of problems that might arise for her child.

Another group of women was found talking about how they could prepare their children for the school of their choice. But, weren't they already in school, one might ask? Why, at the very young age of two, go to school at all?

For the uninitiated, let me explain that most good schools in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad that admit students in nursery or kindergarten expect the candidates (all of four years of age!) to be good in social skills, communication, and also be able to speak in English (no, I am not joking). Hence, the need for pre-schools whose job, presumably, is to teach the children all these skills. Also, since in many cases both the parents work and the younger couples choose to move out of joint-family system, sending a child to school is also healthy, as it takes some burden off the mother's shoulders.

So, what if you decide not to send your child to one of these pre-schools? After all, many people, including myself, never went to one and yet managed to get into decent schools and turned out just fine. So why this pressure now?

I suppose one would have to ask this to the parents, but it's probably a combination of keeping up with the Joneses and the presumption that a child will have no chance of even being considered for admission to one of the top schools if he or she hasn't attended a pre-school.

The process for admission to any of the top schools -- in Karachi, there is one in particular which is especially sought by many well-heeled and aspiring parents -- can be cumbersome. Parents themselves may be interviewed after which the child is taken away by a teacher for a one-on-one interaction where the idea, one assumes, would be to gauge his or her potential and hence suitability for admission.

Like in any elite institution, legacy can play a role, and children whose elder brothers/sisters and/or parents are present or have been students may well have an advantage in admission.

As for the parents, those who speak in English with their kids will always have an edge. The problem arises when they live in large families or the domestic staff interacts with the child. In a majority of cases, the grand parents are not fluent English speakers. Of course, one may have issues with talking to one's child in a language you yourself are not fluent in. But if the intention is to get him/her admitted into an important school then this is something that will have to be done.

Besides, one can always rationalise it by thinking that the child will learn Urdu in due course of time, and that apart from the parent or parents, most people outside of his/her pre-school environment will be conversing with the child in a language other than English.

This may affect a very small percentage of the urban population, and many people probably send their children to any type of school not before they are four or even five. However, the fact of the matter is that tomorrow's leaders -- political, business, perhaps military, media et al -- are likely to come from the prestigious schools than from lesser-known ones, and certainly not from government-operated ones.

This may sound 'cliquish' but it's more an acceptance of the fact rather than supporting one system of schooling or the other. Besides, elite systems -- the appropriate word is 'plutocracy' -- exist even in the most democratic of societies. There's a reason why the Ivy League is what it is in America or why going to Oxbridge is considered to play a potentially large role in one's success in finding a job.

********************

I can't understand all the fuss about the blackening of a lawyer's face by another lawyer. In Taiwan and many other developed countries, the MPs have physically beaten up each other inside the house, using shoes and even microphones. Besides, why do all of us expect people who are part of our society to behave so differently from the majority? Isn't Pakistani society, by and large, intolerant of dissent and minority view, and quick to use violence to settle a debate? So why should the lawyers be any different? How many of us would be tolerant of people who have views other than those of us on, say, religion?

(The writer is Op-ed Pages Editor of The News. Email: omarq@cyber.net.pk)

|Home|Daily Jang|The News|Sales & Advt|Contact Us|