Articles and letters may be edited for the purposes of clarity and space. They are published in good faith with a view to enlightening all the stakeholders. However, the contents of these writings may not necessarily match the views of the newspaper.
Eccentric Modi
An English proverb reads “Foolish rush in where angels fear to tread”. The sharply declining law and order situation in Assam and Delhi speaks volume of inefficiency of Indian Government. Muslims have continuously been annoyed and teased in Modi’s regime on one pretext or the other. From Babri Masjid decision to atrocities inflicted upon innocent Kashmiris, Modi remains on the forefront; a real stigma on the face of Indian secularism.
The Hindutva, (an ideology seeking to establish the hegemony of Hindus and the Hindu way of life.) has forcibly been imposed on the masses of a country that always remained religiously diverse, vibrant and colourful in the annals of history. Modi’s Hindutva is a dream that can never come true. The gory incident of brutally killing protesters protesting the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 stands testimony to the fact that India will resist anything against basic human rights of her citizens.
Sadly, their government has no concern over these causalities that took place against the {in-}famous Act. It has also transpired that how vulnerable Muslims are in India. World must pressurize Modi for immediately revoking this biased Act. Alternatively, strict sanctions must be imposed on India by the United Nations and Muslim countries that are so far just silent spectators.
IFTIKHAR MIRZA
Islamabad
Imran Govt’s 16 months
Sixteen months of PTI government have passed. We are facing a roller-coaster-ride in Imran Khan’s Pakistan; ranging from the medical bails of Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari, inflation (up to 17%), rising unemployment, to the extension of the tenure of the Chief of Army Staff, and the most recent doctors versus lawyers bloody confrontation (Punjab Institute of Cardiology incident where 3-4 heart patients died). In the general election-2018, IK promised accountability against corrupt leaders of PML-N and PPP, and even PTI itself, creation of 10 million jobs and 50 lakh houses for the general public, especially the poor.
There has been progress in accountability, but not in creation of jobs or construction of low-cost houses. Still, there are 1.9 million applicants for Naya Pakistan Housing Programme. PIA and railways, which are under severe debt, have started increasing their revenues. Though fiscal deficit has improved and exports have increased, and Moody’s has rated Pakistan’s economy as stable, we are still 152nd out of 189 countries in HDI (Human Development Index).
Parliamentary legislation is also suffering due to PTI’s simple majority and the confrontation between the government and opposition benches. Governance is poor, especially in Punjab and the KP, as the lawlessness incident at PIC, Lahore, Sahiwal incident and mismanagement of BRT project in Peshawar have shown. Imran Khan forcefully articulated the Kashmir cause at the UN General Assembly. There is no immediate danger of an in-house change (threatened by Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman) as PML-Q and MQM are with the government. Prime-Minister Imran will have to improve overall governance, take steps to remove poverty and cooperate with Opposition in Parliament for essential legislation, if he has to complete his 5-year term.
SAAD BHATTY
Islamabad
New Delhi
A divisive citizenship bill has been signed into law in India, a move that comes amid widespread protests in the country’s northeast. Two people were killed and 11 injured on Thursday when police opened fire on mobs in Assam state torching buildings and attacking railway stations. Protesters say the law would convert thousands of illegal immigrants into legal residents. The new law lays out a path of Indian citizenship for six minority religious groups from the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
A movement against immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh has raged in Assam for decades. Protesters say granting Indian nationality to more people will further strain the resources of the tea growing state and lead to the marginalization of indigenous communities. Critics of Modi’s Hindu nationalist government say the bigger problem with the new law is that it is the first time India is using religion as a criterion for granting citizenship and that it excludes Muslims from its ambit.
The law seeks to grant Indian nationality to Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Parsis and Sikhs who fled the three Muslim-majority neighbouring countries before 2015. The Indian Union Muslim League Party has petitioned the Supreme Court saying the law was in conflict with the secular principles of India’s constitution that guaranteed equality to all without any regard to religion. The Party said the law is “prima facie communal” and questioned the exclusion of minorities such as Rohingya Muslims who were just as persecuted as other faiths listed in the law.
ADEELA IQBAL
Rawalpindi
Let the law take its course
There is no secret that justice system in Pakistan is rotten to the core to such an extent that a generation of the victims’ families die seeking justice. Same is the case with late Muhammad Khan, the father of deceased Naqeebullah Mehsud, who recently lost his battle of life while he was in the hope of seeing his son’s killer behind the bar. State’s failure to prosecute accused Rao Anwar, who is {in-}famously known for his fake encounters in Karachi, is a big slap on incompetence of state institutions. I fail to understand why and how long such lethargry will continue to reign Pakistani institutions? If precedents like this not changed, they can give birth to unimaginable crimes.
Failure to prosecute Rao Anwar is severe human rights violation and in contravention of court orders. And it is testimony to the fact that some people are certainly above the law. The PTI Government is strongly urged to enforce law equally without being selective and the case be considered as a litmus test and the accused be persecuted under the law of the land. Let the law takes its course and set a precedent that all are equal in the eyes of law.
M SHAHJAHAN MEMON
Islamabad
Three greatest passions
Pakistan is perhaps the only country in the world today where “re-tired “lot rules the roost in, more or less, all several public sector organizations. It is because of them many organizations are on the verge of collapse and a few of them have already collapsed and others have become financially bankrupt. These organizations are not having even a single penny to run their day to day affairs. In these ill-fated organizations crucial decision(s) regarding career growth of regular employees, among others, are being taken by these ‘dead woods’.
These retired rehired persons have done nothing for those ill-fated organizations. A classic example is of an important federal level organization where they are in plenty. More than three decades are over to the the establishment of that organization, but these retired rehired “Babas” failed to frame much required “Employees Service Rules.” Since there are no Employees Service Rules, it simply means no career growth for many in that organization.
These Babas have only these three greatest passions: Imperial menu in all scheduled receptions, parties and gatherings in the organization, frequent foreign trips-claiming TA/DA in millions of rupees, and exhaust 250/300 prescribed petrol limit per month for them and in necessary submit fake bills to claim money. They have nothing to do for the welfare of employees. Let the regular officers/employees retire in the same grade in which they were recruited, why should they bother about injustice within because there is no one to hold them responsible for this incapacity among them, but to grant them more extension in their contractual period because they know the art how to please the highest destination. Let organizations and its employees go to hell.
HASHIM ABRO
Islamabad
CAB: Hindutva expansionism move
Citizen Amendment Bill move is yet another cornerstone in BJP regime’s pragmatic approach towards transforming India as a ‘Hindutva state’. Muslim groups, opposition parties and rights activists in India see the contentious new citizenship law is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist agenda to marginalise India’s 200 million Muslims. This contentious law grants citizenship to religious minorities – Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians – from neighbouring Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan except Muslims, a provision critics say violates India’s secular constitution.
CAB has erupted nationwide protests and riots. Opposition parties have already indicated towards the ramifications of this draconian law which would erode the very fabrics of a ‘pluralistic secular’ India that Gandhi had ever dreamt of. They fear that this would subsequently create rift and fragmentation in the nation on an ethno-religious basis. While CAB is an unprecedentedly passed arbitrary law based on the bureaucratic whims of the clique ruling in New Delhi, major world organisations and flag-bearers of human rights seem to be acting as grand-standers. How come? Is because it is against Muslims?
ZAHID ALI ZOHRI
Nagar, Gilgit-Baltistan
