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Voice of People
Constitutional package
Gulsher Panhwer
The PPP-proposed constitutional package seeks to, among other
things, empower parliament, clip president’s power and punish those
judges who had validated any military takeover. It also aims to cut
the tenure of the deposed chief justice. The constitutional history
of the country proves that no matter what legal guarantees are
enshrined in the constitution, they do not come into effect in case
a military coup is staged. It took Field Marshal Ayub Khan, General
Yahya Khan, General Ziaul Haq and General Musharraf only a few hours
to abrogate the constitutions of 1956, 1962 and 1973, respectively.
Then how can a constitutional package guarantee that nothing of such
sort will happen in the future? General Zia even had the nerve to
call the constitution a piece of paper which he could rip into
shreds in minutes. Moreover the 1973 constitution states that the
overthrow of an elected government by the army is illegal and the
violator of the constitution should be executed. Had any of the
usurpers been tried for this? The answer is obviously no. Then there
is a bunch of self-seeking politicians who are always ready to serve
army rulers but the package does not contain any clause to punish
these politicians. As the November 3 martial law was directed to
strangle an independent judiciary, the proposed constitutional
package is an attempt on the part of the PPP to emasculate the
judiciary. On the one hand Mr Zardari says people want President
Musharraf’s ouster and do not ask for flour etc but on the other, he
says people want flour not the deposed judiciary’s restoration.
Constitutional packages cannot deliver until honest and steadfast
people who have strong moral standing are not given due respect and
ensconced in their rightful positions. There is still time for the
PPP leadership to heed the voice of the people and reinstate the
judiciary as of November 2 which stood for the rule of law and whose
chief justice declined to toe the sitting government’s line.
—Dadu
Restore judiciary
M Maqsood Khattak
After the formation of the PPP-led government, hopes were rekindled
that the Murree declaration would be acted upon by restoring all the
deposed judges along with Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. But
unfortunately, whenever any positive step was to be taken, alleged
American interference halted government’s move and people’s hopes
shattered. It is a reality that the US does not want to see Pakistan
out of the prevailing state of despondency. Reports say that the
minus-one formula was also first introduced by the US in order to
save the sinking ship of the president.
The whole nation wants to see Mr Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry restored
as chief justice of Pakistan once again. On the contrary nobody
wants to see President Musharraf continuing as head of state. I
think Mr Zardari is afraid of Justice Chaudhry due to the NRO case
which was taken up by the latter before the November 3 emergency. Mr
Zardari should set aside his grudge against the deposed judiciary
and restore it unconditionally as per the people’s mandate.
—Karak
Islamic school in Australia
K Chaudhry
According to a Press story an Australian council has rejected plans
for an Islamic school in a rural area on Sydney’s outskirts that
have stirred controversy and allegations of racism. In its own
report, the BBC Urdu service, too, had revealed that this school,
meant for 1,200 students, has been denied permission ostensibly for
administrative reasons, but that didn’t satisfy the local Muslim
community, which perceives the whole thing as discrimination (May
27).
It would be of interest for the readers and even the Australian
government to know what I had learned some months back about another
Islamic school in Australia. This one named ‘Malik Fahd Islamic
School’ and is located in Chullara, which is also a suburb of
Sydney. It provides education up to the high school level. The
really important thing about it is that it has a very high standard
of education and is rated among the top three schools in Australia.
If I remember correctly, even the local or national Australian
authorities provide funds for running it, to relieve the burden on
the students. A friend’s daughter, who had studied there, secured a
top position in the entrance examinations to a university. This
should leave no doubt in anybody’s mind about the capabilities of
the Muslims to run schools in an exemplary manner or for their
students to benefit from them and to attain enviable grades. On the
other hand, if bias is shown and obstacles created in their
education and other matters, they can only get alienated, which will
be counterproductive for all concerned.
—Karachi
Terrorising Pakistan
Shazib Hameed
The statement made by Home Land Security Head Michael Chertoff that
Pakistan might see assassinations like Benazir Bhutto and strings of
bombing of civilian and official sites only reflect how much the
United States is concerned about the safety of Pakistan’s future. In
other words, Michael Chertoff has shown discontent with the on-going
dialogue with the militants within Pakistani borders.
He thinks that the only way to negotiate with these individuals is
the language of force and if any political process helps negotiate
the peace process, it is going to be nullified by targeting the main
stream politicians. His statement should be seen as a threat not
only to the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League (N) but also to the
other leaders who are vocal against the US policy in Pakistan.
The statement is a direct attack on the sovereignty of Pakistan and
on the people who are trying to take an independent view on the
issue of war on terror. The United States seems to be trying its
level best to undermine the restoration of judges by putting
pressure on different political groups to deliver a policy that is
inline with the US stakes in the region.
Terrorism is as big a menace for Pakistan as it is for others and it
should be dealt with keeping in mind the local dimensions. The
pushing and shoving on the part of the US to have Pakistan deliver
on its terms is no less than terrorism within itself.
—Lahore
Too much television
Tooba Alam
Everyday when I reach home from workplace, I find my whole family
glued to the idiot box watching so-called ‘current affairs’
programmes. It seems that the only entertainment the nation is left
with in the Musharraf government is the hundreds of political shows
telecast on a daily basis by numerous news channels. Dogmatic news
anchors invite pseudo intellectuals, fake defence analysts, retired
civil/military bureaucrats, hyper politicians and enthusiastic phone
callers to their shows who indulge in polemics using clichés and
superlatives, providing the entertainment-starved nation with a
pastime.
If I try to grab the remote control to watch a film, drama or music
channel, they look at me with surprise as to how a ‘normal’ human
being can afford to miss what Shaikh Rashid Ahmed has to say on the
president’s likely impeachment. Why have we become so obsessed with
news channels and politicians?
—Karachi
Reforming the exam system
Humera Alwani
Good education is one of the priorities of the present government in
Sindh. Starting with the fact that the prevailing examination system
is based on unfair practices, the foremost act on the part of the
relevant authorities would be to discourage recourse to unfair means
adopted in the examination, and other additional matters. There is a
network of people operating in and around the examination centres to
promote use of unfair means because a lot of money is involved.
The practice of changing seating arrangements and accommodating some
candidates in special halls to facilitate them has also been noticed
many a time. Allowing extra time to the selected candidates and
replacement of answer sheets/extra sheets to help them in cheating
are also in trend. Alteration of admission slips, interpolation
therein and impersonation also go unpunished many times. Verifying
the credibility of the invigilation staff before assigning them the
task of examination has so far remained the lowest priority.
Malpractices in examinations have particularly contributed to the
overall deterioration in the standard of education in the province.
To resolve the various issues/factors responsible for the increasing
tendency to use unfair means in the examination, a comprehensive law
is being proposed in the Sindh Assembly. It will cover the whole
scope of examination and deal effectively with all elements who
indulge in malpractices. Such a law should entail appropriate
penalties, including social disadvantages for offenders.
The malpractices that are commonly committed in the examination (at
the pre-conduct, conduct and evaluation stages) range from leakage
of question papers to copying, changing answer books, impersonation,
misconduct at the examination centre, approaching
invigilators/examiners, making false entries in award list/
examination registers, issuing fake certificates/degrees, sale of an
examination centre to organised gangs where cheating/unfair means
are arranged, etc.. As there is no law to regulate the examination
system and to stop the copy culture and cheating, there must be some
legislation to regulate all examination centres in the province.
Keeping in view the gravity of the matter, I had drafted a bill
titled ‘The Sindh Elimination of Copy Culture and Cheating in
Examinations” and submitted it in the assembly but it became victim
of the non-serious attitude of the previous government.
However, with the new government and the new assembly in place, I
hope to present the bill once again in the house to ensure that our
examination system is well regulated and cleansed of all vested
interests and mafia groups that at present rule the roost.
—MPA, Thatta
