Layout 22 pages LHR_Layout 1 6/22/2012 5:07 AM Page 13
Friday, 22 June, 2012
the second blow
riP, Fauzia wahab
During the 65-year long history of our country, the parliament received its second big blow by judiciary on 19June. it is not true that all the decisions made by apex court were always right. We had example of Z A Bhutto’s vital case in which the verdict was given by 3-4 judges. Nonetheless, the deciding judge, Justice Naseem Hassan shah, after many years of his verdict in an interview with Geo tV categorically said that had he wanted to save the life of Z A Bhutto, he could have done so but his advocate Yahya Bakhtiar annoyed the judges. this is not the first example of its kind. in 1954, when late Chaudhry Malik Ghulam Mohammad was Governor General (GG), the speaker of National Assembly Maulvi tameezuddin challenged the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly by GG in the apex court but the then Chief Justice of the supreme Court of pakistan, Justice Mohammad Munir, supported the decision of the GG and thus the judiciary delivered its first blow on the sovereignty of the parliament. it appears that the history has repeated itself in 2012 as the parliament has recently received its second blow by judiciary. throughout the world, the parliament is supreme whereas the job of judiciary is only to explain the constitution, not challenge every decision of the govt. Unfortunately, a group of people in pakistan have always tried to prove judiciary as supreme against the parliament and they have unfortunately succeeded in their designs. this will have highly bad repercussions on the sovereignty of the parliament besides on the future of the country as it is bound to further weaken it. MOHAMMAD KHAN SIAL Karachi
A great lady she was. May Allah bless her soul and give courage to the bereaved and the nation to bear this shock. she fought for democracy, human rights and women empowerment. through sheer hard work and sincerity, Mrs Wahab became the face of country’s largest political party (ppp). By virtue of her own personal background and dedication, she became a voice of the middle class, a self-made woman. through her visible and also indirect role as ppp MNA and office bearer, she did a lot for women empowerment. in countries like pakistan, it is very difficult for a woman to participate in politics and earn respect. Fauzia Wahab did it nicely and she set an example for all. she used to help and solve the problems of women hailing from middle class. And women also felt free to share their problems with Fauzia Wahab. she played a key role in a number of bills related to women empowerment. she was a popular parliamentarian and enjoyed
Say no to smoking through extensive epidemiological and clinical studies, researchers have shown that smoking is a health hazard of the first order. smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer. More than 80 percent of fatalities in this category are due to cigarette smoking. it is a major cause of cancer of the oral cavity, smokers are six times more likely to contract cancer of the mouth, larynx, throat and oesophagus than non-smokers. it is also a chief cause of pulmonary diseases and is one of the leading causes of heart diseases. it is a contributory factor in cancers of the bladder, kidney and panaceas. the sale and purchase of this injurious to health item should be banned in our country. i request the authorities to take action against this deadly and fatal thing. ABDUL BASIT Islamabad
after fission now fusion the prestigious Scientific American journal of June 2012 has revealed a project known as international thermonuclear experimental Reactor (iteR) which will attempt to reproduce sun’s power here on earth. six countries and european Union have joined together to build iteR, the world’s largest experimental fusion reactor. A fund of 20 billion Us $ has been set up for the construction cost with a donation of 45.5 percent by eU and 9.1 percent each by six countries of UsA, Japan, Russia, China, india and south Korea. supporters agree iteR is the only hope in the long run in meeting the unquenchable demand of power. During fission a tiny fraction of uranium’s mass turns directly into energy. Fusion is the same except working backwards with light nuclei such as hydrogen coming together. if the project worked, the payoff would be large: energy would be widely available and cheap; fossil fuel would become irrelevant. the energy produced would be three times the nuclear. the start date of project is 2020. One wished pakistan also became a member of iteR in view of our serious energy problems. DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI Lahore
women rights Regrettably, millions of women throughout pakistan live in conditions of abject deprivation of, and attacks against, their fundamental human rights for no other reason than that they are women. Women in upper sindh districts, the districts bordering with Balochistan and seraiki belt, are the worst victims. so far, nothing concrete has been done to
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massive support for her work. she embarked on her political career by volunteering for the ppp in the General elections 1988. in 1995, Ms Wahab became the information secretary of the ppp sindh Women’s Wing. she also remained a member of the party’s advisory council from 1994 to 1996 and chairperson of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s information committee from 1994 to 1995. Foreign affairs, finance and women’s development issues drew her interest in particular. Later on in 1998, Benazir Bhutto nominated Fauzia Wahab to become the Central Coordinator of the Human Rights Cell and was tasked to correspond with human rights defending organisations abroad. in 2003, she attended the National Defence College course for bringing the politicians and armed forces close to each other. she was one of the initiators of relationship with the National Democratic institute (NDi) and was invited to attend the “Win with Women – Global initiative” of the institute in December 2003.
ameliorate the plight of women who are the victims of violence and discrimination. in the past, a few cosmetic measures have been taken only to attract the attention of international donors. Had the past successive governments made genuine efforts the plight of women would have reasonably improved and young girls would not have been slaughtered as one was done last week in Jacobabad who married against the will of their callous parents. in the prevalent disappointing situation for women it is suggested that the problem should be tackled radically. We need to open to women new avenues of culture and social service and ample opportunities for public life. We need more changes in our culture to stop discrimination against women. Above all, we must work together to change this cultural attitude against women in pakistan today. HASHIM ABRO Islamabad
a sad event the Human Rights Commission of pakistan (HRCp) has called the disqualification of ex-prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani a sad and depressing occasion in a country where democratic traditions have perpetually been denied the nourishment they need to take roots. We all very well know who the HRCp has been pointing at for consistent and perpetual derailing of democracy in pakistan. that’s why HRCp was right to highlight the fact that supreme Court’s judgment (to dismiss an elected prime minster) was perhaps not unexpected. Will this judgment lead to better quality of life for masses, improved economy, resolution of power, water and natural gas shortages, elimination of
in June 2004, she was invited by the NDi to attend the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. she was appointed central information secretary of party in 2009. she chose to side with the ppp because she believed that it was the only political party open to liberal democratic values and the only political party that was not plagued by gender discrimination. Her dedication to ppp was matchless. she always defended her party in very difficult times. she was the most honest person. in my view, after BB shaheed, Fauzia Wahab was the only leader, who followed her footsteps. Moreover, she upheld liberal face of ppp in highly polarised, fanatic and charged environment of pakistan. No doubt, she was a courageous and brave lady. Outspoken secular voice is no more with us now. Her sad demise is a big blow for pakistan and the vacuum created after her death will never be filled. DR SAIFUR REHMAN Islamabad
terrorism, get the Baloch back in the mainstream, jack up the stocks market, improve the relationship with the Us and neighbouring countries, or will it lead to further political turmoil, enhanced uncertainty, dipping down the stocks market, forcing outside world not to deal with democratic government as it may get dismissed over a sneeze of a judge. i have failed to understand the logic behind such an action except that apparently we are all set for clash between institutions. to start the game judiciary has thrown its ‘contempt’ bait to catch anyone on any pretext. All the political parties who are at present rejoicing Gilani’s dismissal need to understand the trap; today it’s Gilani, tomorrow it could be their men getting thrown out of elected institutions at the whim of judges. institutions war of power and ego is on. Good luck to 180 million people who are just puppets, have nothing to do with the corridors of power. MASOOD KHAN Jubail, Saudi Arabia
trial of graves every man, women or child who was born is destined to die and face trial for the sins that he/she may have committed during their lifespan. According to our religion, there is no escape from this inevitable accountability which every commoner, king, or emperor will have to face and only the Almighty alone has the sole jurisdiction to decide such matters. those who submit to the will of Almighty and seek forgiveness or make amends for the wrongs that they may have committed to their fellow beings can expect pardon from Him, and no offerings of ill-gotten wealth as nazrana/sadqa can settle these debts.
it is also a matter of faith that evading any accountability process only adds to the woes of an individual in life hereafter. it is because of this belief in hereafter that relatives of those whose dear ones have departed publicly ask everybody before their burial if the departed persons owed any debt. Our religion very clearly has stated that Haqooq-ul-ibad, that is the rights of fellow human beings, if violated can only be forgiven by those who have been wronged and the Almighty will only pardon sins concerning Haqooq Ullah. political martyrdom does not absolve the soul of accountability from Haqooqul-ibad. therefore, if the political heirs of Benazir Bhutto have any love for her, they should facilitate rather than avoid settlement of any claims that an individual, or the national exchequer may have, so that her soul rests in eternal peace. Nobody, not even saints can avoid trial of graves, that is a reality if we have belief in our religion. so this politics and exploiting the graves must stop. IRFAN BUTT Karachi
Sukkur, Guddu barrages the discharge capacity of sukkur and Guddu barrages needs to be increased. this will be no small task and will cost billions of rupees. Does it make sense to undertake this gigantic task and not try and stop the flood waters at source? the flood waters of Kabul, Chitral, Haro and soan rivers cannot be stopped by tarbela, Bhasha or any other dam on the indus expect by Kalabagh dam. How long are we going to go on increasing barrage capacities but not build the one dam that can take care of the problem? ENGR KHURSHID ANWER Lahore
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