Share this story!            

LETTER'S:

Post letters to Letters to the Editor, The Daily Times, 41-N, Industrial Area, Gulberg II, Lahore, Pakistan Phone: 92-42-5878614-19; Fax: 92-42-5878620 E-mail: letters@dailytimes.com.pk . Letters may be edited for length and clarity

Pakistan under-pressure

Sir: Pressure cookers work by completely sealing boiling liquid in a vessel in order to take advantage of steam build-up. Having nowhere else to go, steam builds up pressure which results in higher temperatures and shorter cooking times. A gasket or rubber ring makes a seal that traps in steam and heat and allows pressure to build-up. To ensure safe delivery, the vessel is cooled down slowly to reduce pressure. If the lid is opened prematurely, the vessel can explode.

Since March 9, Pakistan’s politics have resembled a pressure cooker. The fervour and commotion created by the sacking of the chief justice reconfigured the hearts and minds of Pakistanis. Uncontrollable, the masses started boiling but remained sealed in by the all-encompassing lid of the Musharraf regime. Several elements ensured that the seal around the masses remained impenetrable, so that the drama could seethe and boil and be done with. However, the lid to the pressure cooker of our politics has been prematurely lifted by the restoration of the chief justice, and the legal green light given to the Sharif brothers’ return.
SAIMA PERVEZ
Islamabad

PTA’s rejoinder

Sir: This is with reference to the letter “Monitoring SMS messages” published in Daily Times on September 9.

First of all, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has never asked any mobile operator to monitor all text messages. In fact, PTA has warned senders of text messages which are unwanted, indecent, illegal or offensive in nature. The senders of such messages try to transmit anti-social and anti-state messages via SMS, thereby misusing the facility.

PTA clarifies that only those numbers will be monitored/ checked against which complaints from other users are received for sending unsolicited, harassing, offensive and illegal text messages, therefore, no question of monitoring text messages of all users and imposition of censorship arises, as was wrongly concluded in the said letter.

PTA will take legal action, including blocking SIMs and handsets, only against those who are involved in this illegal practice. The authority has also announced a toll free number 0800-55055 for the registration of complaints for the convenience of general public.

PTA, being a socially responsible organisation has taken this action in the interest of mobile phone users.

PTA honours the right of freedom of expression and strongly believes that under no circumstances should anyone intrude into the personal lives of the consumers.
DIRECTOR (PUBLIC RELATIONS)
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority
Islamabad

Bridge the gap, CDGK!

Sir: This is with reference to the letter titled “Surveying bridges” by Mr Shahjahan S Karim (Daily Times, September 10). I would like to add that for the people wanting to go to Korangi via Defence, there is only one common route that includes a bridge. This bridge was built around 25 years ago and was not designed for the volume of traffic it is now made to bear. Occasionally, when there is rain, the road from Qayyumabad to Korangi Creek is closed and this little bridge is left to take care of that traffic as well. Three to four times a month, it is also closed for repairs. The CDGK should look into this and realise that it needs to plan and build four to five new bridges (with strong and genuine materials and precautionary measures, one might add) to link Korangi to other parts of Karachi, otherwise this bridge might just suffer the same fate as that of Sher Shah Bridge.
INAYAT ULLAH SHEIKH
Karachi

Strange, faraway lands

Sir: This is in reference to Ms Angela William’s article “Strange, faraway lands” (Daily Times, September 10). Ms Williams, I wanted to thank you for a very good piece on Cuba and Venezuela.

You mentioned Carlos Acosta’s love for his roots and his ballet ‘Tocororo—A Cuban Tale.’ Your statements are correct and in case you did not know, the Tocororo is Cuba’s national bird, a very colourful fowl related to the Guatemalan quetzal and whose feathers show the red, white and blue of Cuba’s national flag.
LUIS RUMBAUT
US

Political theatrics

Sir: Political fiction is a sub-genre of fiction that deals with political affairs. Political fiction has often used narrative to provide commentary on political events, systems and theories. Works of political fiction often directly criticise an existing society or present an alternative, sometimes fantastic, reality. Prominent pieces of political fiction have included the anti-communist dystopias of the early 20th century. Equally influential, if not more so, however, have been earlier pieces of political fiction such as Gulliver’s Travels (1726), Candide (1759) and Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852). We, Pakistanis, do not need any such political fictions as we are witnessing live dramas since March 9. An ex-prime-minister has already been deported. How this will end, even the scriptwriters do not seem to know.
MIR TABASSUM MAIRAJ
Islamabad

Options for structural change

Sir: This is in response to Dr Siddiqa’s “Restructuring Pakistan” (Daily Times, September 10). In my view, structural change in Pakistan is possible only in two ways. First, through an internal or external shock that destabilises the existing structure to the point of collapse. This would provide an opportunity to build new structures on rational grounds and with safety nets (probably with some external help).

The second possibility is that the army itself initiates, on credible grounds, a change in the power structure. This requires a democratically-inclined army, which is hardly possibly as indicated by the Turkish example.
UMAD MAZHAR
Karachi

Managing the Bank of Punjab

Sir: While interviewing the President of the Bank of Punjab Hamesh Khan, Amer Qureshi has perhaps diplomatically not brought up the inordinately large proportion of the Bank’s advances — reportedly as much as 70% — that are unsecured! (Daily Times-Boss, Sep 10-16).

This was commented upon adversely in the press not so long ago, and prompted the Bank to run prominent advertisements in the press, and on its behalf by some of its major customers, in generous praise of the Bank’s sound management. A credit rating report by PACRA was also cited in support of the Bank’s financial strength, but a careful reading of the rating report reveals a big caveat — that the future success and stability of the Bank is dependent upon the continued association of Hamesh Khan with the management of the bank.

What would happen to the positive credit rating if he were to leave the bank tomorrow? For that matter, the link between credit rating and a specific personality has not been explained in the PACRA rating report.
ASAD SIDDIQI
Lahore

Disgraceful defiance

Sir: Pakistan has become the laughing stock in the comity of nations. A general who claims to establish the writ of the government himself denounces the verdict of the Supreme Court by deporting Nawaz Sharif. It is not only contempt of court but also a grave insult to the wishes of Pakistanis. If the Supreme Court’s verdict can be so blatantly refused and rejected then what remains of the writ of the government? We are fighting a war against violence, but the irony is that the violence has been instigated by the government itself by constantly defying our laws. The government has to show the people that it respects the law, or else it will no credibility when it carries out illegal actions in the name of protecting the ‘writ of the state’.
DR ABID RAUF ORAKZAI
Hangu

Home | Editorial

Share this story!