PK
Sir,
Taking a cue out of the awe aspiring Bollywood blockbuster PK, that puts superstition harboring religious men to sword, I am pointing a finger at the mullahs spewing hate on TV in Pakistan. Hate speech in a morning show on a private TV channel virtually snowballed into the murder of an Ahmadi in Gujranwala the very next day. But I reckon that is business as usual, for it was conveniently put under the mat.
Recently, the civil society maturity by protesting against Maulana Abdul Aziz outside the Red Mosque in the wake of the barbaric Peshawar attack which he refused to condemn. Some say it is nothing more than a few bold people making a brave move, but the movement won’t last. But I believe the short lived demonstration did create a few ripples in the status quo. Where fighting against extremists is not possible on mainstream media, the social media, despite its limited scope, has proven to be a good battle turf.
I hope that the Peshawar attack becomes a water shed moment, although paradoxically, the same day 43 years ago – when our country was dismembered – should have been the critical juncture for us to come of age as a nation.
It is high time that those who still believe that Malala is a Jewish conspiracy and the attack on her was a set up, should put their theories to rest. Let us awaken the PK inside us, and start questioning the authority of hate spilling religious bigots having wrong numbers.
Asad Mustafa Kahlon,
Lahore.
Claim check
Sir,
Terrorism is generally a style of communication. It’s completive, and then there are competitor claims for a specific attack. In some cases there are false claims, where groups take credit for attacks they did not order to be carried out. Unlike most crimes in which the wrongdoers try to hide their identity, terrorists actually prosper by promoting their involvement with attacks. Their association with a successful attack can boost a group’s notoriety so successfully that terrorist organizations often claim responsibility for an operation they had nothing to do with. This trend of claiming of all acts of terrorism, followed by media reports that do not check the authenticity of such claims, is on the rise especially in the Baloch separatist movements. It can be stopped by sensitizing people in general, and the Baloch people in particular.
Four such claims by Baloch separatists in November were recently found to be fake. The attacks never really occurred, and there were no reports of the actual attacks in the media. But there were reports of them accepting responsibility. I just want to highlight that if a rebuttal is not issued, such false claims will keep on multiplying, and the situation in the country will get even more chaotic. The media’s immaturity has the effect of glorifying the acts of terror and terrorists.
Farooq N Pirzada,
Multan.
Where there’s smoke
Sir,
The government is obliged to pay compensation to victims only in cases of natural disasters or to internally displaced persons. There are insurance companies that cover losses for legitimate business operations. Even in the event of natural disasters, compensation by the government must be directly proportional to tax returns and declared assets of business premises. The state paying compensation to those involved in massive tax evasion will only encourage others not to pay taxes.
The large fires that broke out in Karachi and Lahore recently, and the loss of previous lives in them, occurred because basic safety regulations for construction of such buildings were not followed by owners, the criminal corruption in local governments which approved their construction, and the failure of regulatory bodies tasked to ensure safety regulations.
Most of these fires erupt because of short circuiting and the loss of life is to be blamed on the absence of fire exits, which are mandatory. Even in affluent localities, numerous commercial buildings exist without fire exits, fire alarms and sprinkler systems.
And instead of prosecuting those responsible for culpable homicide, all that we see are calls for compensation by the government.
Ali Malik,
Lahore.
It won’t fly – I
Sir,
On 31 December 2014, Shaheen Air Boeing 737 suffered a structural failure in its landing gear while approaching Lahore Airport’s Runway 36 Right at a height of 10,000 feet. It is equipped with a category-2 landing system – which facilitates operations in low visibility. Within hours, a PIA Boeing 777 coming from London, while landing on Runway 36 Left at a height of 9,000 feet – in good visibility – landed far beyond touch-down point, requiring hard braking, with the front wheel going beyond the active runway.
Thousands of airline passengers were stranded in Lahore for days because of fog and poor visibility, and then had to face inconvenience with both runways blocked after visibility had improved. Many passengers missed deadlines for meetings, with numerous failing to reach their destinations before visa expiry. The problem of congestion in lounges can be resolved by restoring the original design plan which caters for a greater capacity, provided there is a will to deliver.
Occurrence of fog is a regular seasonal feature, which leads to poor visibility. Installing a Category-3 landing system can aid an aircraft to land in poor or low visibility conditions, provided that it is equipped with the required instrumentation.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) earns from taxes on passengers, and landing, navigation and parking charges, which are required to be invested in providing technology and systems to facilitate airline operations in compliance with international safety standards.
Unfortunately, the CAA has become more interested in commercial ventures, providing waivers and short cuts to airlines and crew, something it is required to prevent through strict regulation. CAA’s regulatory responsibilities run counter to its commercial corporate interests, due to a conflict of interest amongst its top executives, and relegation of safety as a secondary priority. There is a National Aviation Policy that regulates the granting of air operator certificates, but the CAA allows the use of old aircraft, whose hull and landing cycles are near completion.
Ironically, the CAA’s vast revenues are its biggest handicap, attracting corrupt bureaucrats, retired uniformed officers and political cronies to hold key positions for which they are not qualified.
Tariq Ali,
Lahore.
It won’t fly – II
Sir,
The unfortunate reality is that PIA’s incompetence, mediocrity, corruption infected management, over staffing, and decline in professionalism has more to do with disruption of flights than occurrence of fog at Lahore. The fog is a regular annual event, that should been dealt with had competence, professional flight dispatch planning and merit been allowed to prevail. Ever since our ruling elite, both elected and paid, started traveling on private jets, safety of revenue paying passengers or their convenience is no longer of any concern to them.
Fog should not be blamed for mismanagement. Even in the worst foggy conditions at Lahore, there is a window of more than 8 hours, when flights can land and take off. It baffles my imagination that billions of rupees are available for a new airport at Islamabad, or increasing salaries being paid to the CAA administration, but not for the installation of a better landing system at Lahore, which costs a fraction of that sum.
Airlines of repute all over the world manage to run schedules smoothly in far worse weather conditions than the fog in Lahore, keeping themselves updated with reliable weather forecasts and planning, with their Civil Aviation regulatory bodies monitoring and aiding them.
Unless the PIA and CAA are cleansed of rot within their management, hostage to their conflicts of interest, devoid of professional discipline, and unless there is deterrence against financial and professional indiscipline, the situation will continue to worsen.
Shabbir Shah,
Islamabad.
Give peace a chance
Sir,
The modern world has become full of violence, hatred, unrest, injustice, disrespect for human rights and lawlessness. Especially in developing countries, gun culture has become a predominant. There is a great need to overcome this situation by creating an environment which is free of conflict and violence. Young people constitute the majority of the population of a country. They can play a huge role in the promotion of peace in their society.
They should be able to defend the frontiers of nonviolence and peace. There should be active participation of youth in the promotion of peaceful activities with their new ideas and new energy. The exercise of human rights, freedom and liberty is an essential element of peace. Young people of developing countries face a lot of problems including unemployment, poverty, lack of educational opportunities, drug abuse and poor health facilities. Education, training and the capacity building of youth is necessary to encourage them to spend their time and energy in the fields of peace and conflict resolution. They should first educate themselves so that they would be able to train and educate the people in rural areas, because a lack of education and knowledge results in conflicts and disputes.
Education should not only teach the youth to tolerate differences, but to respect differences, for the creation of an environment full of harmony, care, respect and unity. Youth can become the peace ambassadors of their countries when they interact with young people from their regions and the rest of the world. Exchange programs in culture, science, technology, sports, education and tourism should be promoted at the international level to promote peace. The youth can engage in various political awareness programs to bring reforms in bureaucracy and to ensure the good governance. They can run campaigns for the eradication of corruption and injustice from the society. It’s the duty of young people to organize seminars and workshops to educate common people about the importance of peace especially in the rural areas where the people are mostly conservative and illiterate. They should participate in community work for the establishment of a conflict free environment. They can also link the different ethnic and religious groups within a society to remove the air of distrust and hatred among them by promoting the respect for all cultures and religions. Young people should also learn new and innovative ways to deal with the conflicts in a peaceful way.
Without the promotion of mutual understanding, trust, cooperation, and goodwill among the youth of the world, international peace and security is difficult to achieve.
Aneeza Maham,
Rawalpindi.
Save Pakistan – I
Sir,
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan accepted responsibility for the December 16 terrorist attack on Army Public School in Peshawar, and since then, the civil and military leadership has been trying to cope with an unprecedented security situation.
Taliban apologists in right wing and center-right political parties blame foreign conspirators for the attack. Rightist have not even actively spoken up against terrorist ideology. It is extremely sad that it took Pakistan 12 years and thousands of lives to finally get to a national consensus against terrorism. Despite divided political opinions, immense pressure from the army has caused politicians to formulate a National Plan of Action against terrorism. Some analysts call the situation a “soft martial law”. The parliament, a symbol of national unity, seems totally irrelevant in this extremely critical time in the nation’s history. The judiciary on the other hand seems unperturbed by the acts of terrorism. The release of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi is an example of how the legal system is responding to the highly volatile security environment in the country.
It us up to the civil and military leadership to act, and take the required steps to prevent Pakistan from becoming Talibanistan.
Atif Mahmood Majoka,
Melbourne.
Save Pakistan – II
Sir,
The National Assembly and the Senate have approved the 21 amendment to the constitution, which will allow the government to set up military courts. This extraordinary legislation may help in resolving an extraordinary case.
Our past policy of forming proxy militant organizations has proven disastrous. The whole Pakistan, including the military, is paying the price of ill-perceived adventures of the past. The military courts alone can’t solve all problems related to terrorism. The civil society will have to step up and assist them in order to save Pakistan.
Shiraz Paracha,
Islamabad.