Message of Ramadan W
E observe Ramadan every year. Do we also listen to it? Ramadan is the most important month of our calendar. It is a tremendous gift from Allah in so many ways. In our current state of being down and out, it can uplift us, empower us, and turn around our situation individually and collectively. It is the spring season for the garden of Islam when dry grass can come back to life and flowers bloom. But these benefits are not promised for lifeless and thoughtless rituals alone. They will be ours if our actions are informed by the message of Ramadan. The most important message of Ramadan is that we are not just body. We are body and soul. And that what makes us human beings and that determines our value as human beings is the soul and not the body. During Ramadan we deprive the body to uplift the soul. This is all simple and familiar. But we can understand its significance if we remember that the message of the materialistic culture that has engulfed every Muslim land today — just like the rest of the world— is exactly the opposite. It
says that body is everything. That the Sha’ban, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) materialistic world is all that counts. gave a Khutbah about the upcoming That the greatest happiness — if not month of Ramadan. It is a very imvirtue— is in filling the appetites of portant Khutbah that we should carethe body. fully read before Ramadan is every Ramadan to here to liberate us The Spirit Of Islam prepare ourselves from all this. Here mentally for the sais a powerful mescred month. It besage that it is soul gins: “Oh people! A over body. Take a great month is combreak from the pop ing to you. culture. Turn off A blessed the music and TV. month. A month in Say goodbye to the which there is one endless and futile night that is better pursuit of happithan a thousand ness in sensory months. A month in pleasures. which Allah has Rediscover made it compulsory Khalid Baig your inner self that upon you to fast by has been buried day, and voluntary deep under it. Reorient yourself. De- to pray by night. Whoever draws vote your time to the reading of the nearer to Allah by performing any of Qur’an, to voluntary worship, to the voluntary good deeds in this prayers and conversations with Al- month shall receive the same reward lah. Reflect on the direction of your as is there for performing an obligalife and your priorities. Reflect on and tory deed at any other time. And whostrengthen your relationship with ever discharges an obligatory deed in your Creator. On the last day of one this month shall receive the reward
of performing seventy obligations at any other time. It is the month of Sabr (patience), and the reward for sabr is Heaven. It is the month of kindness and charity. It is a month in which a believer’s sustenance is increased. Whoever gives food to a fasting person to break his fast, shall have his sins forgiven, and he will be saved from the Fire of Hell, and he shall have the same reward as the fasting person, without the latter’s reward being diminished at all.” Unfortunately, today another scene seems to be dominant in some parts of the Muslim world. Here Ramadan is the month of celebrations, shopping, fancy iftars at posh restaurants, entertainment and gossip. People stay up at night but not for worship; they while away that time watching TV or wandering in the bazaar. Ramadan here is more a month of feasting than fasting. No one can take away our Ramadan from us; we just give it away ourselves. And if we realize the utter blunder we have made, we can take it back. — Courtesy: Albalagh.com
Budget: A great disappointment! Mukhtar Ahmed Email:mukhtar17@yahoo.com
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AKISTAN stands seventh in Asia leaving Afghanistan that recovers Rs 10000 billion less annually from taxes and national savings. Unless we improve upon this the economy cannot be improved. The most powerful people sitting in Senate, assemblies are not prepared to tax income derived by anybody through any source. Our annual budget is nothing but copy paste with change in figures with addition and deletion of certain paras criticising previous government and trying to justify their own performance and measures being taken. The government kept announcing mini budgets throughout the year in the name of adjustments suiting to their convenience even then they failed to achieve the targets set by them and we suffered shortfall of Rs 225 billion. Our performance on export side has been most disappointing and failed to attract foreign investors. The government and IMF have decided that GDP in the next financial year shall be around 4.5 percent, and there will be no tax on all earnings and economy shall not be documented. This is something very serious. In this backdrop to expect any improvement and relief
to poor would mean living in fool’s paradise. Let us discuss some salient features of the budget. The total outlay of the budget is Rs 4451.3 billion with fiscal deficit of Rs 1328 billion. The resource availability for 2015-16 has been estimated Rs 4168.3 billion. Out of this debt servicing Rs 1280 billion defence Rs 781 billion, grants and transfers Rs 410 billion that comes to Rs 2471 billion. Pension Rs 231 billion, subsidiaries Rs 138 billion, civil governments Rs 326 billion comes to Rs 695 billion and adding up it comes to Rs 3166 billion and if you add PSDP and other development expenditure it eats up your budget. Can anyone point out any relief for poor except some amount kept on subsidiaries? In fact budget has nothing to do with common man it always caters needs of elite and looks after their interest. It appears finance minister by allocating Rs 102 billion on BISP feels happy as he is serving poor, no sir this amount is political bribe and should have been discontinued but it will never happen as it is part of charter of democracy. Dolling out money to party loyalists is very harmful for both genders as we are making them beggar, idle and keeping them unskilled and depriving majority of people who are semi skilled but have no jobs. It should have been regulated through micro financing. If government really wanted to help poor and unemployed
youth a monthly stipend for all should be introduced. Political distinction is harmful for the country. Ishaq Dar continues to harp on the tune that rich have been taxed in this budget and poor have been helped by not raising the prices of POL and commodities, his argument died its own death when on questions from media he clamped on them. The prices of POL were increased just before the budget announcement, how he claims that POL prices have not been increased, and while the budget was being announced price of Dal, sugar, chillies, salt, baison went up by 30 to 40 percent and soon it will further rise once Ramdhan starts His claim that budget is economic growth is out of context as it is a deficit budget and people should be prepared for more taxes. People will continue facing shortfall in power thus increasing load shedding timings, shortage of water and gas somehow or other has no priority with Finance Minister so what if more people come on road, in a country where blind can be lathi charged by police anything can happen. We should be very clear in our mind that any budget that is deficit can never be friendly to people. The budget has been prepared in consultation with IMF who dictate certain terms and in the bargain most hit are poor and middle class people. IMF has just one formula, discontinue all the sub-
sidiaries, increase gas and energy charges and they are there to help you. If you glance through the budget the poor has been given lollipop in the shape of Ramdhan package through utility stores where majority of the shoppers are from elite. It is also true that poor are also seen lined up to get 2 kilo of sugar by the time their turn comes they only hear one command come tomorrow. It hurts the people when Ishaq Dar says it is poor man budget. Can he please prepare budget of a family comprising 5 members’ husband, wife, two children and mother or father in Rs 13000. Minimum amount required is around Rs 40000/- PM. Surprisingly by the time finance minister finished his speech the price of commodities were raised and the price hike is going on as being exposed by our TV channels. We have no regulator authority to control the prices. The fact remains the budget in totality is anti poor, anti workers, anti unemployed youth and has failed to address the middle class needs and has hit most old pensioners. The need of the hour is to address the points raised with open heart and tries to address the issues and act upon suggestions within resource constraints and no need to get annoyed and show dictatorial temperament. —The writer is political analyst based in Karachi.
View From Abroad
Removing Assad is best way to defeat IS in Syria Con Coughlin
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VER since Syria’s brutal civil war erupted more than four years ago, the one great imponderable for Western politicians has been how to deal with the country’s dictatorial ruler, President Bashar alAssad. Early on in the conflict, when leaders who should have known better were seduced by the false promises of the Arab Spring, the prevailing consensus was that the Assad clan’s 40-year tyranny should be brought to an end and replaced by a secular, Western-style democratic government. It was in pursuit of that goal – as well as responding to Assad’s use of chemical weapons against his own citizens – that David Cameron embarked on his ill-fated attempt in 2013 to win parliamentary approval for air strikes against Damascus. Downing Street shared Washington’s enthusiasm that military intervention would ultimately result in Assad’s demise, as was the case with the 2011 campaign against the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. One of the main arguments
advanced against Mr Cameron’s plan, though, was that, if the West succeeded in overthrowing Assad, who would replace him? The West might hanker after a Harvard-educated secularist who would uphold such vital Western values as the rule of law and freedom of expression, but the reality was that Assad would likely be replaced by the same Islamist fanatics who terrorised other parts of the Middle East. This, after all, is what happened to Libya after Gaddafi’s overthrow, and there was no reason to believe Syria would be any different. Since Mr Cameron lost the vote, thereby ending any possibility of military intervention by the West against Assad, a new consensus arose: namely, that keeping Assad in power was the lesser of two evils. But now it appears this approach is about to undergo yet another review, at least if the briefings given on the fringes of the G7 summit are anything to go by. According to Downing Street sources, dinner on the final night of the summit at the Bavarian resort of Schloss Elmau was dominated by discussion of the deepening crisis in Syria and Iraq. One of the ideas actively
being mooted, apparently, is that Assad will be sent into exile as part of a deal between Russia and the West to combat the rise of Islamic State. As a Downing Street official commented as the summit wound up: “We don’t want to overplay it, but there is a greater sense that a political solution is possible than there has been for many months.” Several factors explain this sudden change in thinking. The obvious one is the growing realisation that Assad, after his early success in preventing Islamic State (IS) fighters from penetrating the regime’s Alawite heartland around Damascus, is now very much on the defensive, with reports circulating in the region that the regime could collapse at any minute. This has focused minds in Western capitals as much as it has in Russia and Iran, the countries that have most to lose if Assad is driven from power. Moscow remains wedded to its long-standing strategic partnership with Damascus, while Iran needs a friendly regime running Syria to maintain its vital supply lines to Hizbollah in southern Lebanon. If Assad’s fate really does hang in the balance, then it
is very much in the interests of Russia and Iran to reach an understanding with the West, whereby Assad’s removal is managed in such a way that prevents the capital being overrun by Islamist militants. But behind the scenes, diplomats paint a different picture, one where, so far as Syria is concerned, there is a growing acceptance on the part of both Moscow and Tehran that their interests would be better served by working with the West to reach an agreement that meets their shared objectives: namely, preventing IS from capturing Damascus. Diplomats report Russian President Vladimir Putin may be ready to do a deal with Barack Obama over sending Syrian President Bashar al-Assad into exile. As one official familiar with the issue commented: “The Russians are prepared to separate their interests in Ukraine from their interests in the Arab world, while the Iranians are desperate to keep their lines open to Hizbollah at any cost, even it if means abandoning Assad to his fate.” — Courtesy: The Telegraph
Break free from yourself..!
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HERE’S always a still small voice, not the voice Sonia Gandhi heard telling her not to become prime minister, but a sterner voice maybe that keeps telling us we are not capable of doing something: “You can’t do it, because you have no personality!” “No looks!” “No confidence!” “No money!” “People will laugh at you! Ridicule you! Mock you on the streets!” For such as you, who hear this voice and
I myself hear that voice often, start building a better you!” It’s a great strategy; improve yourself! That was the strategy of the Greek orator Demosthenes two thousand years ago. Demosthenes lived in the golden age of orators, when public disputes were settled by oration. As a young man, he was given the chance to speak to the assembly on some vital issue. But his weak voice trembled, his thoughts were muddled and he grew less confident as the speech progressed. He was finally forced to step down to the sound of boos and hisses. Humiliated, he withdrew from public life. But the young man was not easily defeated. More than anything, Demosthenes wanted to be a
great orator. So he launched his own self-improvement program. To improve his diction, he practiced for hours at a time with stones in his mouth. To strengthen his weak voice, he shouted over the heavy winds blowing in from the Aegean Sea. To clarify his thoughts, he studied the techniques of the masters. And to overcome his fears, he practiced with a sharp sword hanging over his head. And then opportunity knocked, it usually does, it came several years later, and this time he was ready. He stepped in front of the assembly to warn the national leaders of the great threat posed by King Philip II of Macedonia. He offered concise ideas
as to how they should fight this dangerous intruder. So powerful was his speech, so clear were his thoughts that, when he had finished, the entire audience rose as one person and shouted, “Let us go and fight Philip!” Maybe it’s not a great public speaker you want to be, but its other heights you want to scale. Start working on them right now. Stop dreaming and start putting a plan into action and just like Demosthenes did, I am sure the opportunity will come when the world will see a different you and shout in one voice, the words you want to hear: “We will follow you!” Break free from yourself..! —Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com
Voice of the People CPEC: Modi stands exposed M FAZAL ELAHI
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he belligerent Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is believed to have told the Chinese leadership, during his recent visit to China, that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is ‘unacceptable’ to India. The Indian External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, in her recent news conference in the Indian Capital published in Pakistan’s print media, vociferously stated that Indian PM Modi has clearly told Beijing that the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was totally unacceptable to India. This audacious stance of India abundantly endorses the concerns expressed by Pakistan, time and again, that India is creating unrest in Balochistan, and other parts of the country, with the expressed intent of sabotaging CPEC that possessed every potential to be a ‘game changer’ for the region. China’s straightforward response to Indian stance on CPEC is indeed very encouraging. China, as reported in the media, has categorically said that the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will “not target any third party” a day after India reaffirmed its objection to the CPEC project. Responding to Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’ statement issued at a press conference in New Delhi that India has conveyed its objections to China over the CPEC as it goes through Azad Kashmir, Hua Chunying said “As for the Kashmir region, it is an issue between Pakistan and India. This issue should be properly resolved through negotiations and consultations between India and Pakistan. “Relevant cooperation extended by China in the relevant region will not target any third party and will not affect China’s position on the relevant issue,” she emphatically stated. The question that arises is: Will, for once, India endeavour to sincerely appreciate the explicit clarification given by China regarding CPEC? At least when seen in the backdrop of India’s blatant hypocrisy and the frequent summersaults, it has taken vis-a-vis its relations with Pakistan, chances seem pretty bleak. On the one hand the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offers an olive branch to Pakistan by saying that the deadlock between the two South Asian neighbours should end and that violence is beneficial neither for Pakistan nor for India, on the other it is doing everything under the sun to sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project which, on successful implementation, would not only benefit Pakistan but the entire region. Isn’t this Indian duplicity? Isn’t Pakistan’s Premier Nawaz Sharif then justified in saying that the country’s detractors are opposed to its progress and are trying to destabilize it through barbaric incidents like the Mastung bus attack? —Via email
Metro bus and its usage HASSAMUDDIN The Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has inaugurated Islamabad-Pindi Metro Bus Project on Thursday, in Islamabad alongwith political leaders of other parties. All the credit goes to Shahbaz Sharif and Hanif Abbasi who are very active, and compassionate about projects like this. Metro bus project is really a boon and a game changer in the lives of the people of Rawalpindi and Islamabad as it will give a luxurious, comfortable, clean and neat travelling facility to almost 1.5 lacs people a day. It is of course an international standard route and buses that show the present government’s zealous nature in transportation and communication. Especially students, aged people and more specially girls and women are really being blessed by Allah for getting rid of painful travelling of previously used Wagons and flying coaches. Allow the present government to work for five years to complete hundreds of other such projects in energy, communication and transportation. Well done CM Punjab. May you live long. —Via email
Health and medicines NOOR UL HADI I want to draw the attention of concerned authorities towards the health and Medical stores in our city. I had an experience and I want to share with the people who are buying these medicines. There is no doubts that for last many years in Pakistan the Medical sector has witnessed a visible progress and some great achievement has also been accomplished but still there is something we should take care of. There are number of medical stores in our city whom are selling expired medicines. A couple of days ago, I bought some eye drops from a medical shop in Rawalpindi, the expiry date printed on the box has long been expired. But I did not check at that time when I was buying medicine. After some days of use when I accidentally checked the date on eye drops box, I found that it was already expired. I took the medicine to the concerned shop, ; the merchant not only returned my money but also apologized. I warned him for future but the fact is that this practice should stop as it is harmful to the health of people. Eyes and such other parts are very sensitive. If they get affected its effect is not curable. I would also request the people to make sure that the medicine they are purchasing should be well within the expiry date. If you find some shopkeeper selling the expired medicines, please report to the health inspector or concerned authorities. Because it a matter of life and death also. —Islamabad
PIA: Chartering its course to revival ANJUM AKHTAR Much has been written about PIA in these pages in the last few months regarding the Airline’s performance and the services offered by its air crew. In spite of the criticisms leveled against PIA, the airline’s workforce remains resilient – operations continue thanks to the competency of its core staff. As a result, things appear to be looking up for the airline this year – for the first time in really long time, PIA has managed to minimize its losses by 34 per cent in 2014 while there has been an 8 per
cent increase in passenger revenue. It is encouraging to note that the country’s national airline is on its way to revival despite the challenging circumstances it has been faced with over the years. While the overall improvement in the economic situation has helped the airline, one cannot discount the management’s proactive approach to finding solutions. Globally, the airline industry has been known for short-term thinking, poor decision making and poor employee relations. The only airlines that have been successful are the ones that have adjusted themselves to the market’s realities. It is the measures such as fleet modernization, route rationalization and cost cutting that have put many an airline back in the game – measures that PIA is taking to minimize operational hiccups and maximize efficiency. It is only through new ways of thinking about organizational structure and operations that PIA will once again become a profitable and top-notch airline. One hopes management continues to pursue more such innovative strategies and strengthens its organizational culture to come back to the top. —Karachi
A word of gratitude SHAISTA AKRAM
families surviving in poverty tend to focus on keeping fed; rather than education. Other developmental domains such as psycho-social, emotional and physical skill are mostly neglected. Same as, early years are significantly important for cognitive abilities and the development of the brain capacity of a child as well. Pre-school and child care centres play very important role in promoting the social and intellectual development of children. In this world, every child needs early childhood education before he/ she is going to attend kindergarten Moreover, through early childhood education child can easily develop his interpersonal skills through his interaction and the particular environment. Research has shown that if the healthy environment is provided to the children, they can learn at faster pace. Teachers play important role in the whole process. They must be familiarize and should have sound qualification to fulfil learning needs of children. If teachers are familiarized with principles of love, kindness and care, they can easily teach students at primary level with the help of different pedagogies. However, professionally more trained people can educate the people to build a good nation. —Via email
Poverty ASIM IQBAL
I have observed, that we people including myself use to criticize government institution and individuals very often but we are reluctant to appreciate the positives. Here I would like to take the approach of half glass full. After Lahore, PML(N) government launched Metro bus for twin cities which is no doubt a good thing for commuters from all walks of life including government and private sector employees, students and other general public. After my utmost curiosity about services at Metro bus I came to know that free wifi service is being provided by PTCL which is one of the oldest national institutions of Pakistan and they are providing free wifi to public. It is good to see that national institutions are serving Pakistan at such a great deal. CDA played a good role in beautifying the Metro rout and overall Islamabad. I really appreciate government and all national institutions involved in this Metro bus project for their great efforts. Meanwhile I do urge government to focus on health and education also which are also important for nation development. —Islamabad
Early childhood education SHAZIA IRUM BUKHARI Education is a systematic process of establishing the pillar of the society. Its brings up an empty mind with awareness. Early childhood education (ECE) is a branch of education theory which relates to the teaching of young children (formally and informally) up till the age of about eight years. Its time of remarkable brain growth, these years lay the foundation for subsequent learning and development. The primary completion rate in Pakistan, given by Data Centre of UNESCO, is 33.8% in females and 47.18% in males, which shows that people in the 6th largest country of the world are unable to get the basic education. Various Researches have proved that first few years of life are particularly important as vital development in all domains and learning occur faster in these years than at any other time. The main challenging to the implementation of ECE in Pakistan is that the negative impact of limited access to education and its poor quality is disproportionately born by poor and marginalized children as well as
It is estimated that more than one billion people are living below the poverty line in the world. They are deprived of adequate food, water, healthcare facilities and other basic needs of life. According to the surveys of different international organizations of labourers, the daily wages of 40 crores workers are less than 1.25$. The main victims of nominal wages are young workers who find no way to get rid of menace of poverty. They and their families are not capable to meet their needs and are compelled to lead their lives in poverty. The one of the main causes of poverty is illiteracy. It is ground reality that higher the qualification more the opportunities of success and earning one has. Experts say that wages of literate persons are comparatively better than the earnings of illiterate workers. According to UNESCO Education for All Monitoring Report, in Pakistan, the salaries of educated employees are 23 per cent more than those workers who are not literate while highly qualified women earn 95 percent more than illiterate women workers. So far as the prosperity in the developed countries is concerned, it is attributed to the capitalist banking system. Experts say that poverty can be reduced if the developed countries, by changing their policies, focus on imparting education to the people of under developed regions. They also suggest that defence budgets of all countries whether developed or undeveloped should be cut down to 50 percent and funds must be allocated for the education sector. Besides this, creation of new jobs, increasing salaries to the proportion of price hike, taxing the rich more, can also be fruitful in reducing poverty.The most important thing in reducing poverty is political will. We just need to build the political consensus to eliminate this menace from our homeland. —Rawalpindi
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