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DAWN WIRE SERVICE
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Week Ending : 29 March 1997 Issue : 03/13
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EC to decide on voting rights to overseas Pakistanis
Ehtesab chief says FIA, police not cooperating
Kashmir may mar talks, fears Gujral
President urges steps to revive economy
Foreign firms to be hired to help recover loans
PAF losing edge over IAF, says Khattak
Corporate savings, investment to be encouraged
---------------------------------
Package aims at boosting exports
Foreign firms show interest in PIA privatization
IMF loan only after assessment of budget
Khepias make good use of green channel
Make-or- break objectives for the new government
How a census could hit at vested interests
Motivating expatriates for investment
Incentive package fails to sustain stocks early run-up
---------------------------------------
Following on from Anushirwan Adil Ardeshir Cowasjee
I want it now! Mazdak
It takes two to tango Omar Kureishi
The imperishable cliche Hafizur Rahman
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Crowd behaviour in cricket
Jansher Khan up against a formidable challenge
Style semantics mask the reality in modern hockey
Germany bag laurels; Pakistan get bronze
National Games to be held from June 8
More severe action likely against Aamir
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970326
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EC to decide on voting rights to overseas Pakistanis
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Staff Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, March 25: The Chief Election Commissioner, Justice (retd) Fakhre
Alam, said there were multiple problems in the way of granting voting
rights to the overseas Pakistanis, and the Election Commission would be
meeting on Thursday to look into the complex matter.
Talking to Dawn, Justice (retd) Fakhre Alam said the Supreme Court of
Pakistan, in its judgment on the petition of an overseas Pakistani, had
held that Pakistanis abroad should be given the right to vote. Similarly,
the Election Commission (previous) had given its decision in favour of
granting voting right to the overseas Pakistanis.
The members of the Election Commission mentioned that We have to see
whether overseas Pakistanis would be given the right to vote for the
constituency in Pakistan from where they belonged or new constituencies
would have to be created.
Many of the overseas Pakistanis, the CEC said, did not possess identity
cards which was the prerequisite for using the right of vote in Pakistan.
He said if a Pakistan residing in foreign country had the right to vote,
who could stop him if he decided to contest election. After all he is a
voter, and has constitutional right to contest election, the Chief
Election Commissioner said.
He said the Election Commission would ensure that the right to vote to
overseas Pakistanis would not create problems of rigging and other
irregularities. Meanwhile, an EC official told Dawn that when the Election
Commission had written letter to the Foreign Office few years ago after the
Supreme Court judgment to provide data of all the Pakistanis living abroad
for enlisting them as voters, it was told that no such data was available.
An EC source which remained involved in the exercise of finding the modus
operandi in this regard opined that it would be very difficult for the EC
to make the voter lists of Pakistanis living abroad.
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970325
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Ehtesab chief says FIA, police not cooperating
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Masood Haider
NEW YORK, March 24: The Chief Ehtesab Commissioner, Mr Mujaddad Ali Mirza,
said that the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) and the Anti-Corruption
Police have failed to cooperate with the Commission, and he has asked
President Farooq Leghari to establish a task force for the Commission.
Mr Mirza, said when I saw that the Commission was not getting proper
assistance from these agencies, I verbally brought the matter to the notice
of the President of Pakistan asking him to consider creating a task force.
President Leghari indicated that he will consider his recommendation, Mr.
Mirza said.
Underscoring the significance of such a task force, Mr Mirza said I
believe whoever is the Ehtesab Commissioner should have a body of
investigators who are able to properly examine and investigate the cases
brought to their attention with fear and intimidation and without
prejudice.
Such a task force he said, should comprise of honest people who are
aware of investigation procedures, and who are expert in the accounting
field, like foreign exchange accounts, for they have to look into billions
of dollars which have been transferred abroad by those who have plundered
the country.
Mr Mujaddad Mirza said when he left Pakistan the Ehtesab Commission had
completed 50 cases and he had referred them to various high courts in
Pakistan. Moreover, I have given a lot of work to my staff to do spade
work in my absence and I will make sure that all that work is done as soon
as I return to Pakistan, he added.
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970325
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Kashmir may mar talks, fears Gujral
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Umashanker Phadnis
NEW DELHI, March 24: Indian External Affairs Minister I. K. Gujral made it
clear he did not expect dramatic results from the forthcoming foreign
secretary-level talks but at the same time said he would be happy if they
paved the way for India and Pakistan to learn to live as close friends and
neighbours. He added that India was approaching the talks in a very
constructive and positive way.
In an interview with Asian Age, he listed a number of reasons for the
guarded optimism on his part. He said one of these was the SAARC route
which would facilitate a closer coming together of the two in the fields of
travel, trade, people-to-people contacts and several such things which can
be done and which we should do.
This apart, he said, he had reasons to be hopeful of the prospects of
better relations because of the world alignments which had dramatically
undergone a change.
Asked whether his position was with reference to the Kashmir issue, Mr
Gujral said: If we can arrive at something, why not? Tulbul dam, Sircreek,
and we can take up many other things like this which cause each other fear
and anxiety. Referring to economic compulsions which underlay the need for
a reorientation of foreign policy perspectives, Mr Gujral said: I will
give you one example. A very large investment has been made in Pakistan for
energy. As it is, we have been sounded by the multi-nationals, who are
investing there that by the end of this year Pakistan will have a surplus
of energy, which they cannot use and whether India will be interested in
it. Now, energy is a perishable commodity and you cannot store it. So if
you have made investments and that does not cash in what will you do. You
have to pay interest.
Following are the excerpts from the interview in which Mr Gujral expressed
his views on an extensive range of questions pertaining to Indo-Pakistan
relations.
Q: Do you detect a political will to reach an agreement now?
A: I do. I think... I do take Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs statement
seriously and I give credence to it.
Q: All said and done, eventually Kashmir becomes the sticking-point?
A: Yes, main thing is not the sticking-point. It is understanding. I told
parliament that two things are not negotiable. Firstly, secular unity
anything which disturbs that cannot be discussed, and secondly,
sovereignty.
Q: Which basically means that Kashmir remains very much an integral part of
India?
A: It is. I dont have to feel shy about saying that. We have fought three
wars after all. Our young men have died in these wars. We have been
fighting a proxy war for the last eight years.
Q: But there can be a pull-out of troops from Siachen?
A: Anything which ultimately does not disturb these two things.
Q: Withdrawal from Siachen does not disturb these?
A: It does not, it is to the mutual benefit. If we can arrive at something
why not. Tulbul Dam, same thing, similarly Sircreek. And we can take up
many other things like this, which cause each other fear and anxiety.
Q: There are different voices coming out from the USA. One of these say
that unless Kashmir is resolved there can be no improvement in relations.
Do you think that is true?
A: Prophets of doom have been saying this all the time and when they say
resolve, they do not spell out what this resolution means. What is
resolve? What do they mean by resolve?
You see, a very interesting and heartening factor of the Indian situation
today. The misfortune of Kashmir, in the last nine years has been
agonising. But out of the 15 crore Muslims living in the rest of India. Not
one has had a word of sympathy for the militants in Kashmir isnt that a
dramatic change?
Q: But dont you think the US interest in the foreign secretary level talks
is a little misplaced?
A: US interests, have their own interests. They can take care of them. My
interest is the Indian interest. I must take care of this.
Q: Do you feel that without these kinds of eternal pressures over the
years, India and Pakistan might have been able to resolve their problems
more easily?
A: We were willy-nilly, either participants or victims of the cold war.
Therefore, that factor cannot be ignored.
Q: When are the foreign ministers meeting?
A: India and Pakistan? I had invited him (Pakistan foreign minister) and he
had been very kind to respond. So I have requested him to stay back after
the non-aligned meeting.
Q: Regardless of what happens at the foreign secretaries level talks on
March 28?
A: Regardless, let us always look at this thing. Basically that the success
of a talk is that the talk must lead to another talk. As Sardar Jaffri
says: Guftugu Band Na Ho, Baat Sey Baat Chale.
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970327
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President urges steps to revive economy
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, March 26: President Farooq Leghari on Wednesday asked the
government to revive food stamp scheme for the poor, recover written off
loans, accelerate privatisation, strengthen parliamentary committees and
enact laws for accountability.
Addressing the joint session of the two houses of parliament at the start
of the new parliamentary year, Farooq Leghari said people had pinned high
hopes on the government and now it was the responsibility of the elected
members to come up to their expectations. He called for urgent steps to
revive economy.
People have confidence that the new elected government will be able to
solve their problems. The confidence of the people in the government is an
encouraging sign but at the same time it is a challenge for the government
as well, the president said.
He said the country was facing a number of crises. The concept of rule of
law has more or less been swept away, economic conditions have
deteriorated, national expenditure is more than resources and the country
has been gripped by huge debts because of which we are spending a large
portion of our limited resources on debt retirement.
The president said that because of meagre resources, successive governments
had failed to improve the conditions of the people and provide them basic
necessities like potable water, health services or education. Similarly, he
said, unemployment was at its peak and the economy failed to provide
opportunities to those who wanted to exploit their potentials.
He said he would not hold any particular government responsible for the
present situation as it was the result of weak policies adopted during the
last 50 years. The economic situation today is the result of the
collective faults of the past.
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970327
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Foreign firms to be hired to help recover loans
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Mohiuddin Aazim
KARACHI, March 26: The governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Dr Muhammad
Yaqub indicated on Wednesday that some, international firms of chartered
accountants might be hired to identify recoverable and non-recoverable
amounts of loan defaults in Pakistan.
Speaking at the 46th annual general meeting of the Institute of Bankers in
Pakistan (IBP), he said the amount of stuck-up loans of Rs 1.0 million and
above stood at Rs 123 billion by end-September 1996. He said about 58 per
cent of these loans or around Rs 71 billion was in litigation.
The governor said the recovery of the loans in litigation was possible only
through court orders that take several years for settlement or out of the
court settlements. But in our society and culture such settlements are not
very clean.
He said it was in this perspective that international firms of chartered
accountants and financial analysts were needed to separate the recoverable
from non-recoverable stuck-up loans. He said individual banks could not be
assigned the job as they may have conflict of interest.
This task may have to be given to an outside agency preferably a
consortium of internationally reputed firms of chartered accountants and
financial analysts. He said once this analysis is available a loan
recovery drive could be launched.
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970327
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PAF losing edge over IAF, says Khattak
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, March 26: The Pakistan Air Force is losing its qualitative edge
over the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Abbas Khattak told reporters
here on Wednesday.
After the acquisition of (French-made) Mirage-2000, (British-
manufactured) Jaguars, and (Soviet-built) MiG-29s, by the Indian Air Force,
we are now also losing the qualitative edge, he said while talking
informally to them at a reception hosted by National Assembly Speaker Ilahi
Bakhsh Soomro after a joint session of the parliament.
Air Chief Marshal Khattak said Pakistan Air Force had always been far
behind the Indian Air Force in numerical strength but it had been
maintaining a qualitative edge, particularly when it got US-made F-16
fighter aircraft.
But, he said, after the induction of these high-tech military planes into
the Indian Air Force, Pakistan had also lost the qualitative edge.
He said Pakistan wanted to buy Mirage 2000-5 but they were cost-
prohibitive. Whether the country can afford it or not is for the
government to decide, he said.
But the Air Chief said the Russians were not willing to sell SU-27
aircraft. Other countries like Sweden, which manufactured military planes,
were also reluctant to sell them to Pakistan, he added. Unless there is
some breakthrough at the diplomatic level... (we wont get the planes), he
said. What can we do if the manufacturer is not willing to sell planes to
us.
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970329
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Corporate savings, investment to be encouraged
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Dilawar Hussain
KARACHI, March 28: Equity analysts generally greeted the economic reforms
package of the government with enthusiasm, saying that it was a bold
decision to lower taxes in the belief that the base would broaden. The
package was variously termed as, value-added export-oriented, geared
towards local production and supply -oriented economic package.
The reduction of 3 per cent tax on limited companies and banks would have
positive impact on their bottom lines, analysts said. This would help in
accumulation of capital within companies, which would enable them to lower
the debt/equity ratios and thus save on financial charges.
With better cash flows, the companies would be able to undertake BMR
activities and larger companies such as multinationals could enhance their
capacity to borrow from foreign markets.
Analysts say that the purpose of granting tax exemption to raw material
import appears to target the foreign direct investment (FDI) in the export-
oriented value-added industry. Also by giving tax incentive to companies
investing in education, health and social welfare sectors, the government
wants to make companies good corporate citizens.
The main beneficiaries of lower corporate taxation, an analyst said, would
be the high tax paying companies, such as fertilizer, tobacco and cement
industry. But companies that pay turnover tax, such as Dewan Salman Fibres,
or many loss-making companies, would not benefit that much.
By exempting locally manufactured machinery (LMM) from tax against tax at
10 per cent on imported machinery, the idea is to encourage indigenous
fabrication of machinery. By lowering the General Sales Tax to 12.5 per
cent, the government has brushed aside the IMF instruction not to decrease
the slab below 15 per cent, said one analyst, but it would have positive
impact on the corporate sector. The reduction of sales tax would provide
the greatest relief to the consumer goods (such as Lever) and packaging
(Packages) companies and they may lower prices of household consumer
products. The overall idea is to lower the cost of production, impart
industrial efficiency and and make exports competitive in the world
markets.
The Karachi Stock Exchange, where equities had posted net 20 points gain in
the previous four sessions, got off to a dull start in the second session.
Analysts said that this was due to the fact that most reforms were directed
to improvement of the market in the medium to long term; there were no
short term measures, such as reduction on tax on dividend or other
incentives for investment in equities.
Major expected incentives for the cement industry, in particular, did not
come about. The market had been expecting reduction in excise duty on
cement.
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970329
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Package aims at boosting exports
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Ihtashamul Haq
ISLAMABAD, March 28: The PML government on Friday announced its economic
revival package, substantially cutting down the tariffs from 65 to 45 per
cent, removing 10 per cent regulatory duty, reducing personal and corporate
tax slabs and GST in a range of 10 to 12.5 per cent.
The package was annouced by Finance Minister Senator Sartaj Aziz in the
National assembly amid thumping of desks by members of the ruling party.
The PPP were present but former prime minister Benazir Bhutto had opted to
stay away. Prime Minister Nawaz sharif was present throughout his finance
ministers speech.
The new measures were termed a mini budget but seen as a critical step
towards improving the countrys economy.
Although the minister did not give any figures concerning the revenue
impact of the package, but experts said it could be in the region of Rs45
billion to Rs55 billion and that the money would mostly flow into the
national kitty despite a wide range of concessions offered.
Speaking first of the issues relating to tax, Mr Aziz said a decision had
been taken to reduce the rate and broaden its base to the hitherto untaxed
or under-taxed sectors. He maintained that the prevalent rate of taxes had
encouraged under-invoicing and smuggling.
The regulatory duty has been abolished and the maximum tariffs reduced
except for imports like automobiles where the present rates remain
unchanged. The various slabs have been reduced from 13 to 5 with the rates
ranging from 10, 15, 25, 35, and 45 per cent. The rate of tariff on plant
and machinery has been standardised and brought down to 10 per cent.
However, with the objective of protecting the domestic engineering
industry, competing imports have been subjected to a tariff rate of 35 per
cent. The package proposes duties on primary raw materials, secondary raw
materials, intermediate goods and finished goods from 10 to 45 per cent. In
addition, a tariff rate on a wide range of smuggling-prone items has been
fixed between 10 and 25 per cent.
The minister said the reduction in tariffs on industrial raw materials
would stimulate industrial production, but he did not give any figures
about possible revenue losses on this account. However, he said, any
potential loss of revenue would be compensated through the induction of a
minimum tariff of 10 per cent on imports and by receiving the revenue
currently lost on account of the concessionary SROs and smuggling.
Discussing the scope of the general sales tax, the minister said it was
very low in Pakistan compared to many other developing countries, such as
Bangladesh, Turkey and Egypt. Lashing out at the previous government for
levying a high rate of GST, he said the standard rate had been enhanced to
23 per cent from 10 to 15 per cent in most countries. But now, based on
these considerations it is proposed to be brought down to the standard tax
rate from 18 to 12.5 per cent. This is the rate which prevailed at the time
of the industrial boom in the early 90s during the first tenure of our
government, Mr Aziz claimed.
He said the cover of the standard rate was also being extended to taxable
supplies, which were currently being charged at the rate of 23 per cent.
Items currently subject to 10 per cent would remain unchanged. Therefore,
there would only be two GST rates of 10 per cent and 12.5 per cent as
compared to the present three. This reduction, he claimed, would contribute
to the revival of the industrial sector.
He defended the broadening of the GST base from manufacturing to the retail
level and said since the retail sector was under-taxed, the trading
community should cooperate with the government in this behalf. This GST on
the retail outlets would be charged in the form of tax on turnover at the
rate of 3 per cent. The retailers would pay the tax on the self-assessment
basis and would receive protection with regard to the information on sales
tax payments not being used as a basis of assessment of income tax
liabilities.
Talking about the income tax, he said direct taxes on an average generated
about 7 per cent of the GDP in the lower and middle income developing
countries but in Pakistan their contribution was about 3 per cent.
According to the proposed tax structure, there would be a 5 per cent tax as
against the existing 10 per cent on an income of Rs100,000; 10 per cent as
against 20 per cent on an income of more than Rs100,000 up to Rs200,000; 15
per cent as against the present 30 per cent on incomes exceeding Rs200,000
up to Rs300,000, and 20 per cent as against 35 per cent on incomes above Rs
300,000.
Likewise, the tax credit which was until now Rs5,000 has been brought down
to Rs2,500 for salaried class, Rs3,000 against Rs5,500 for working women,
and Rs2,000 as against Rs4,000 for non-salaried persons.
Also, it was announced that the income tax treatment of perquisites and
allowances in the head of the salaried tax payers has been rationalised in
view of the reduction in taxes from a maximum of 38.5 per cent, inclusive
of the surcharge, to 15 per cent.
These perquisites are proposed to be taxed as under for employees in both
the government and private sectors:
Value of Perquisites Tax Rate
0-100,000 Rs 3 per cent
100,000-200,000 Rs 5 per cent
200,000-300,000 Rs 10 per cent
Above 300,000 Rs 15 per cent
The minister said the tax rates on perquisites would only be levied on
persons with a gross income exceeding Rs300,000. He said the salaried
persons would progressively receive a tax break from about 50 per cent to
20 per cent and in the case of non-salaried people the tax incidence would
fall by over 50 per cent.
However, the government has made it obligatory that income tax return be
filled out for the ownership of a motor vehicle or immovable property with
a land area of 250 square yards or more, foreign travel (excluding
residents, Haj and Ziarat) and subscription of a telephone. These
provisions would initially apply to areas falling in the metropolitan or
municipal corporation, Cantonment or Islamabad capital territory
jurisdiction.
The owners of motor vehicles of 1600cc to 2000cc engine capacity will pay
Rs 5000 as wealth tax. People owning motor vehicles above 2000cc shall pay
Rs10,000. This provision will not apply to motor vehicles more than seven
years old. The minimum tax paid by owners of cars will be adjustable
against their annual wealth tax. Widows, orphans (below the age of 25
years), pensioners and the disabled shall be exempt from these provisions.
The economic package also calls for a one-window operation for tax payment
by simplifying and rationalising the tax structure at the federal,
provincial and local levels. This has been done apparently on the demand of
the FPCCI which had alleged that there were more than 100 tax collection
agencies.
A decision was also taken to reduce the number of corporations and a
committee appointed to look into the issue. It is expected that the number
of corporations could be be reduced from 102 to 50.
The ministry of commerce is being instructed to prepare a mechanism to
ensure a transparent and credible input and output to facilitate the system
of duty drawback. Henceforth duty drawback payments would be made in 14
days instead of the present 30 days.
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970328
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Foreign firms show interest in PIA privatization
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By Omar R. Quraishi
KARACHI, March 27: Five major financial concerns have shown an interest in
the governments proposed privatization of the national airline, PIA,
sources said.
This is in response to a March 17 advertisement placed by Privatization
Commission in national newspapers seeking bids from foreign investment
banks and consortiums to act as financial advisors to the airlines
privatization, the first phase of which is the sale of a controlling share
in PIA to a strategic investor.
Sources told Dawn that Citibank in collaboration with another major
financial institution, Union Bank Switzerland, Credit Swisse-First Boston,
the UK-based Natwest Securities, and Merrill Lynch had shown an interest in
the governments ad and would be sending their bids to the Privatization
Commission before the April 21 deadline.
The first phase of the privatization will involve the sale of not existing
PIA stock but the sale of new shares, i.e., the airlines equity will be
increased and this will be sold to the eventual investor.
Fifty-one per cent of the airline will be sold through this process, the
sources said, and the money will not be deposited with the government
treasury to repay any debt but will go back into the airline which has been
badly strapped for cash for quite some time.
A senior executive involved in the process said that PIA was a difficult
sell because of its very old fleet and severe financial position. However,
its routes network and near-monopoly on the domestic market were big plus
points. He said another problem were the several unions in the organization
whose existence made the laying off of surplus workers difficult even for
any eventual non-government owner.
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970327
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IMF loan only after assessment of budget
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Mohiuddin Aazim
KARACHI, March 26: Pakistan may not receive any financial assistance from
the International Monitory Fund before the presentation of its annual
budget and its evaluation by the IMF in the light of the revival of economy
package.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to unveil the package in a day or
two the outlines of which have already been conveyed to the Fund. In other
words the country may not qualify for an IMF loan before July.
A source close to IMF told Dawn on Wednesday that Pakistan needs to
translate its revival of economy package as indicated to the Fund into
solid budgetary measures to qualify for negotiating Extended Structural
Adjustment Facility (ESAF).
Pakistan may not get anything before the budget, said a source that is
well familiar with the recent developments in Pakistan-IMF discussions on
the subject. He said the Fund on Monday had only approved of its Staff
Monitored Programme that recommended that the package if translated into
budgetary measures might provide the basis for the negotiations on ESAF.
The source said the revival of economic package that Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif is going to unveil covered a number of reforms that the IMF thought
were potentially capable of pulling the economy out of the crisis. He said
these reforms as indicated to the IMF through Pakistan included (i) tariff
reforms (ii) tax reforms (iii) transparent privatization (iv) banking
reforms (v) civil services reforms (vi) revitalization of public sector
enterprises (vii) creation of a resolution trust for speedy recovery of
stuck-up loans (viii) reforms in the government and (ix) conversion of
ordinances relating to the incoming and previously-announced reforms
particularly in the banking sector into permanent laws.
He made it clear that the IMF had not imposed anything on Pakistan in the
preparation of the package rather the Fund management had found the
package worth monitoring to make it a basis for starting negotiation on
ESAF. He said the IMF would first see whether the package being announced
by Mr. Sharif contains the same contents as were laid out before the Fund.
Then the fund would monitor its implications.
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970326
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Khepias make good use of green channel
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Tahir Siddiqui
KARACHI, March 25: The green channel facility at the countrys
international airports is apparently being misused widely by the Khepias
(professional goods carriers), which, legal experts maintain, can only be
described as smuggling unless the relevant law is changed to legitimise the
Khepia traffic.
According to trading sources, since the reintroduction of the green channel
on Feb. 23, the markets in Karachi and Lahore have been flooded with
electronic goods of foreign make, effecting a downward trend in their
prices.
The sources claimed that the goods brought in thus far under the so-called
Afghan transit trade arrangement were now largely replaced with those being
brought in by the carriers through the green channel.
A customs official said the CBR authorities were aware of this travesty of
the laws governing the governments economic policy but had been so far
avoiding a direct comment on the subject.
He alleged that the CBR was not presenting a true picture on the ground. He
explained that administratively the customs establishment at airports was
divided into three sections the air freight unit, accompanied baggage and
un-accompanied baggage. The air freight unit handles imports and exports by
the registered business houses, the other two sections deal with goods
brought in or taken out by passengers.
Actually, he added, the green and red channels are merely customs terms
used internationally. It means that when the passengers arrive from abroad
they choose to declare whether or not they have dutiable items. When a
passenger thinks or knows that he has dutiable items, the law demands that
he must opt for the red channel which amounts to his declaration under
Section 139 of the Customs Act and he has to pay the duty and taxes due
under the without any fine or penalty.
On the other hand, if a passenger knows or thinks that he is not carrying
any dutiable items, he can opt for the green channel. To prevent the misuse
of the facility the customs men randomly check the baggage of those who
avail themselves of this facility. Those found making a wrong declaration
are liable to stringent fines and penalties in addition to duties.
The customs sources said the percentage of the passengers checked kept on
changing from five to 10 to 20 percent or so, depending on the policy of
the government of the time. Without the concept of this random check for
deterrence, there cannot be a green channel as understood and practised
internationally, they added.
Customs officials apprehend that the present green channel facility might
lead to the smuggling of certain contraband items into the country. There
is a large number of items like the long range telephone sets, arms,
transmission apparatus, auto parts and precious metals like gold and silver
which can either not be imported through this airport channel or need
special permission from the authorities concerned.
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970324
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Make-or- break objectives for the new government
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M.B. Naqvi
THE NEW government is being bombarded with advice. However, in view of the
grave crisis, in which the economy is admittedly engulfed, it was
inevitable that all concerned citizens and commentators would rack their
brains and advise the government.
The government is amply provided with trained manpower to sift through the
mass of such advice, pick up the useful ones and club them together in
terms of workability as well as according to the new priorities. Fixing of
new priorities is the key to the governments survival and what follows is
intended to be one more set of advices.
In order to keep the perspective straight, it is necessary to remember
elementary truths. The world comprises nation states and preservation of
the autonomy of decision-making by Pakistan cannot be compromised in the
fashionable name of inter-dependence and globalisation of all economies.
Factually, it is not yet the stage of a single global economy-far from it.
In the coming years several economies are going to vie for success and
domination and there are several regionally integrated economic groupings
that bid fair for emerging as dominant centres of economic power and
influence.
The welfare of the people of Pakistan remains, and should remain, the
concern of the Pakistan government over which Mian Nawaz Sharif is now
presiding. Pakistans economy is technologically, and consequently,
economically poor. Absolute primacy goes to developing it with a view to
improving the living conditions of common Pakistanis, all of them, and
preserving the national independence, particularly freedom of economic
decision-making.
It is in this light and against this general purpose that the present
crises and their resolution is to be approached and objective fixed.
It would be useful to consider the present situation under seven heads and
approaches to resolving the crisis in each of these spheres would
automatically follow.
The first category covers the whole field that comprises macro-economic
indicators sought to be structurally adjusted by the IMF. It includes
within it (i) inflation rate (ii) national budget deficit (iii) new money
creation rate, (iv) managing the Balance of Payments deficits and bringing
it into equilibrium. Other elements are (v) keeping bank credit within
manageable limits; (vi) currencys exchange is to be kept realistic, and
(vii) the economy remains committed to the goals of globalisation, free
trade, and the privatisation paradigm.
How that is to be done without meeting catastrophe is a subject on which
one has copiously written in this space. One must mention the normal
requirements of the IMF: increase taxes and reduce expenditures while
keeping money creation and credit expansion strictly under check. One may
also mention the equally necessary requirement for correcting BoP deficits
and achieving an equilibrium: increase exports and reduce imports through
more devaluations but not by restricting the globalisation of Pakistan
economy. One has amply discussed the point and has argued that this
strategy has not worked because of the overly simplistic objectives
suggested by IMF.
Diminishing returns
As an example, we have found that increasing taxes has not only reached a
saturation point but has started yielding diminishing returns. The general
need for cutting back on expenditures has led to Islamabad keeping in tact
the really non- productive expenditures but cutting all the socially-useful
activities instead. Similarly the BoP (Balance of Payments) distortions
have not been corrected by the method suggested because of the inadequacy
of the suggested inflation fighting strategy of merely increasing taxes and
reducing expenditures. Balance of Payments, is, however, the immediate
worry and it has gone on worsening rather than being improved by several
half- completed Structural Adjustment Programmes.
Futile Devaluations
Unless the BoP crisis is attacked in a a more rational and radical manner
by pushing up the tempo of economic activity (i.e. increasing growth rate),
there will be no export surplus to push up the exports. Moreover, an export
surplus has also to be built up with goods that are competitive in quality,
marketing practices and prices. Insofar as limiting imports through pushing
prices higher through devaluation is concerned, it has not worked in
Pakistan despite umpteen devaluations.
This is because of the peculiar distribution of the national income, on the
one hand, and the kind of ad hoc industrialisation that has made Pakistan
more import - dependent, on the other. The budget structure does not leave
enough resources to remove the bottlenecks from the commodity-producing
sectors or improving social infrastructure to build up a solid base for
services sector.
The new government has to start with this initial analysis of why this
methodology has failed to yield the desired results. More devaluation is
likely to cause more inflation, while the idea of reducing inflation rates
by limiting budget deficit has also not worked. Pakistans economy is
losing on the both swings and on the roundabouts which means that Islamabad
has to move out of the narrow groove in which its policy-making has moved
so far in this general field.
Secondly, the specific task, despite inflation and BoP deficit-indeed to
correct these-the tempo of economic activity, or growth rate, needs to be
increased if the economy has to stay afloat. It may be said that many large
economies have made combating inflation their top aim after the end of
1970s and underwent much unemployment because of big priority to the
antiinflationary goal. Many of them have succeeded, though employment
levels have not really returned to previous levels.
If this is what is in store for Pakistan, as was the case in the developed
states, there is simply no reason to follow the beaten track. Let us find
our salvation in other policies and strategies. A few approached have
already been suggested in this space. However, it is only common sense that
the commodity producing sectors require ample availability of imported raw
materials in order to build up an export surplus in present conditions-the
vital prerequisite to any export drive without which Bop disequilibrium
cannot be created. Similarly either imported or locally-produced modern
inputs are to be freely made available to agriculturists in order hopefully
to have agricultural surpluses or to have a sufficiency of agricultural
products in order to pay for imported food if ul self-reliance is not
achieved in any particular crop. The kind of anti-inflationary fight that
was conducted by Anglo-American countries after 1970s will push the
Pakistan economy down the precipice. Pakistan does not have the kind of
economic depth or social cohesiveness to absorb such huge shocks as may be
involved.
Thirdly, building up of surpluses of agricultural commodities as well as
industrial goods for exports is an independent priority objective. This
cannot be subordinated to other objectives to be achieved as a bye-product
of something else. This has to be aimed at specifically as a priority.
Fourthly, in order to develop the economy, for the ampler achievement of
the third prerequisite, Islamabad has to find ways of increasing various
saving rates by inculcating saving habits on all segments of the society
and creating a culture of tax-paying as well as of increasing household
savings. This is meant to improve the investment climate.
Fifthly, a culture of quality consciousness is to be created in the
industrial sector especially and in all the activities in general,
including agriculture. What will be of immense value will be the promotion
of R and D in all major enterprises and in all sectors. Export promotion
can only pick up if the producers are made quality conscious and motivated
to produce higher quality goods and the managements are modern enough to be
able to succeed through better marketing and other desired economic
practices. Export promotion is also one of those goals that cannot be
subordinated to others or to hope for it as a bye-product for other
improvements.
Sixthly, the question of the par value of Pakistan rupee is very important.
While no particular rate is sacrosanct, the kind of realistic policies
that has been followed under wrong advice has only increased expectations
of imminent new devaluations and has increased volatility. Indeed this is
no way to hope for any stable exchange rate. The experience has taught that
stability in exchange rate is important and indeed far more so for
developing countries like Pakistan. If we ever achieve a stable BoP
situation (equilibrium) the Rupees value will have to be held steady.
Seventhly, the goal of economic development is an equally independendent
priority. We have far too much of poverty. It is nonsense to say that India
or so and so countries have more poverty than we have, or that their
poverty is more dire than ours. Whether we have 20 per cent people living
below the poverty line or their number is 30 or 35 per cent is not too
material. They are far too many.
Poverty removal should be the aim and an overriding one. This cannot be
subordinated to any other purpose. All development is to be judged by the
successes it achieves in increasing wealth as well as its equitable
distribution in a way that pockets of poverty are not allowed to remain.
The trickle down theory has proved to be false. There is no meaning in any
development unless it increases employment, improve conditions of work and
better the quality of life of the largest number of people.
All this might sound academic in a situation where the country is seen to
be tottering on the verge of default in external payments and is otherwise
bankrupt.
All these conditions are not fated; they are the creation of wrong policies
pursued by Islamabad over long periods. Now the realisation has to dawn
after so much has been written on the subject that it is to be hoped that
the new government will spend sometime over analysing the inadequacy of the
past policies and will have the courage that to break new ground because
old policies have proved to be inadequate.
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970324
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How a census could hit at vested interests
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Sultan Ahmed
TOO MANY factors have been made dependent on the census. The possible
gainers and losers have a vested interest in either backing or blocking it.
And today, more groups are perceiving themselves as losers by an accurate
head count.
The federal cabinet decided in principle on Wednesday with the full
participation of the provincial chief ministers that the census should be
conducted soon, but when exactly would that happen would depend on the
proposals of the chief ministers sought by prime minister Nawaz Sharif who
had promised to hold the census this year.
If the long-delayed fifth census of Pakistan is not held soon the sixth
will be due in less than four years from now, in 2001 and the country has
the option of holding that census soon after the fifth census.
Meanwhile, the country is forced to do without the most basic of the basic
economic figures with which it all begins. Meanwhile, the Ninth Five-Year
Plan (1998-2003) is on the anvil on the basis of the 1981 figures which are
too out-of-date by now. the ninth plan with No wonder planning in Pakistan
has a sad history. Only the Second Plan (1960-65) was a spectacular
success.
Population is the basis for distributing the share of the four provinces
from the divisible pool of federally collected taxes, which this year will
be Rs. 113 billion. Punjab has a share of 58.88 per cent of the divisible
pool; Sindh, 23.28 per cent; The NWFP, 13.54 13.54 per cent; and
Balochistan, 5.30 per cent. Sindh has, over the years, been protesting that
its population has been increasing rapidly as a result of inflow of people
from Punjab, The NWFP, Azad Kashmir, and the tribal areas to seek
employment or do business, legal or otherwise. And Karachites have been
arguing that their population has been rising by 6 per cent while the
national average is 3 per cent and hence the money allocated to it by the
Centre and Sindh should be on that basis.
In fact, when the population of Karachi was counted at 5.437 million in
1981 there were strong protests in the city and a recount was agreed upon
at the prompting of Lt.-Gen. Abbasi who was then the Governor, but later it
was held that a recount would upset the Sindhis whose share in the services
might be reduced if the population of Karachi was shown larger as a result
of the recount. Karachi has stayed since the with the 16-year old figure
while most of the officials and non-officials now estimate it at 12
million, or more than double the 1981 figure.
The population figure is also the base for quota system in the federal
services and in Sindh for sharing the 60; 40 ratio in the jobs So changes
in the population ratios can affect the number of jobs available to each
province and to the two major enthic groups in Sindh.
The population is also the basis on which the share of each province in the
National Assembly is determined and then the share of each region in the
provincial assemblies or in large municipal corporations like Karachi, is
settled. The Punjab fears that it may lose quite a few seats in the
National Assembly as a result of a new census as well as lose its share of
jobs in the federal services and federally collected taxes and has hence
tried to delay the census.
But, now there is talk by the Prime Minister of doing away with the quota
system in the services and Mr. Abdullah Shah, former chief minister, Sindh,
had agreed in principle to do away with quota system within Sindh. He was,
perhaps certain, that as a result of the poor educational standards in
Karachi and Hyderabad, applicants for jobs from these cities may not pose
tough competition to the applicants from the rural areas. Delinking federal
and provincial jobs from the population ratios could act as major brake on
the population census and make it more regular. This, though, is easier
said than done because of the political dimension of the issue and powerful
interests wanting to preserve the quota system which cuts across merit.
The passion for distorting the enumeration process seen at its worst in
1991 in Sindh when it was about to take place between March 1 and 10. The
housing survey ordered prior to that showed the population in Sindh had
risen by as much as 770 per cent in some places. Population of the rural
areas was shown to have risen by 300 per cent in ten years, while the
population of urban areas was shown to have risen by 112 per cent, and the
population of Sindh as a whole to 51.6 million from 19 million ten years
ago.
As the enumeration exercise produced intense heat between various ethnic
groups it had to be abandoned although the Census Bureau had imported some
of the latest technology to complete the work early and accurately.
Another housing survey was initiated in 1994 and the results surprised
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and caused considerable anguish to her as
that showed the annual population growth at 4 per cent per year instead of
the accepted 3 per cent. That meant the family planning drive was a gross
failure and the large sums spent on it including a great deal of external
aid, was useless. she did not seek to go ahead with the census.
In August 1995,Interior Minister Gen. Naseerullah Babar listed Punjab,
Balochistan, and Sindh as responsible for delaying the census. As the
minister responsible for holding the census, he said that the Punjab wanted
to avoid it as that might result in getting less funds through the NFC
award. Balochistan had reservations in this regard because of the Baloch-
Pakhtoon divide there, and he spoke of the Urban-rural divide which delayed
the census in Sindh. Abdullah Shah, however,said there was no problem of
that kind now in Sindh. He wanted the census as early as possible. His
interest in an early census also showed his confidence that after the
census Sindhs share of the federal revenues and federal jobs would
increase considerably.
The only province, interested in the census despite the presence of large
number of Afghan refugees was the NWFP, said Gen. Babar. But that is not
strong enough to mobilise all others for early census. But now Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif is committed to holding the census this year along
with local bodies elections.
While the census operation has been delayed in Pakistan for one reason or
another, its importance in the economic and social spheres has increased a
great deal. A comprehensive census data can provide reliable information
about population growth, educational levels, employment, health conditions
etc., on the basis of which economic planning and social reforms could be
undertaken.
In spite of the pressures to distort the census in Pakistan reliable data
could be obtained if the assistance of the armed forces is secured and
curfew is imposed for a day and enumeration completed the same day.
Evidently some such drastic initiative is imperative instead of postponing
the fifth national census now and then groping in the dark while doing the
economic planning and devising social welfare measures.
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970324
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Motivating expatriates for investment
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Javed Bashir
AMONG THE millions being contributed towards the Prime Ministers debt
retirement scheme are the savings of the expatriate Pakistanis who have
responded generously to the initiatives. Although there has been a decline
in remittances after the 70s, overseas Pakistanis still represent a major
source of earnings from abroad.
According to one estimate, they earn about $30 billion a year and save at
least half the amount. A major contribution from this reserve towards Qarz-
i-Hasna, donations of interest-based deposits can become a vehicle bridging
the deficit and tackling the balance of payments problem. However, apart
from motivating the expatriates to invest in Pakistan, what has to be
addressed on a priority basis is the all- important task of managing the
deposits and enabling the expatriates to take advantage of investment plans
in the country.
The task is enormous in view of the poor health of the economy which
recorded some of the lowest industrial output in recent years and even the
massive devaluation of the rupee could not promote exports for a turn-
around.
The trade deficit remains at $3 billion and the balance of payments deficit
is of the order of $4.4 billion . To fill the gap would not be easy without
structural improvement encouraging direct foreign investment and improving
the value-added sector. Low rate of savings, poor state of public services,
shortage of infrastructure, anomalies in the tax system, and the slow
deregulation process are hurdles in spite of the current favourable
economic climate and regulatory environment.
In this context, the government is faced with the challenge of promoting
investment by expatriates not only in projects of their choice, but also
those of national priority. The nearly 5 million Pakistanis working abroad
are willing to deposit billions of dollars if appropriate plans for
investment are available for the purpose. In the absence of a coherent
long-term policy to utilise this resource, vast chunks of repatriated
amounts in the past were wasted, besides encouraging spending on consumer
items.
Lack of cooperation from the mandarins of different ministries also turned
away investment by overseas Pakistanis. In this context, the recent
proposals put forward for setting up an overseas Pakistanis trust for
tapping the resources of expatriates shows the governments keenness to
exploit the potential available.
The trust, it is said, could help those who want to return home and benefit
from the investment plans. In this connection, a number of investment
conferences have also been held in various Middle East cities, attended by
bankers, businessmen, and government officials.
Envisaged is a pooling of savings of Pakistanis abroad for production
purposes against maximum return in the currency of their choice. It seeks
in-depth appraisal of finances from overseas Pakistanis and their plans for
investment and promotion of growth.
Arrangement of feasibility reports and take-over of management of sick
units to generate reasonable employment opportunities leading to payment of
stuck-up loans worth millions and reducing deficit have been proposed.
Setting up investment and trade centres abroad and provision of one-window
facility form part of the package of measures proposed to encourage
investment by overseas Pakistanis. Proper management of the dollars sent
from abroad becomes even more important on account of the massive
corruption emerging as a major constraint in investment promotion.
Corruption
The rate of corruption and misappropriation of public funds has escalated
alarmingly over the past two decades from 25 to 75 per cent. Adequate
safeguards for ensuring provision of promised rate of return to the
expatriates and effective utilisation of their hard-earned money is an
imperative need.
The experience of overseas Pakistanis with the investment companies
established under the Cooperative Societies Act is far from encouraging. It
has been proposed that full disclosure of the Trusts financial and other
activities should be required to check malpractices, even though the Trust
would be owned and managed by overseas Pakistanis.
Concerns over misuse and under-utilisation of expatriate savings remain. On
the other hand, expectation from the Prime Ministers initiative are high
and the potential of expatriate wealth for economic development
considerable. Billions earned by expatriates from India, China, and the
Latin American countries are being diverted to good projects and
contributing to the overall economic development of these countries.
It is necessary to take steps for generating the confidence of overseas
Pakistanis for investing in their country and providing them with a
conducive environment for the purpose. Performance of key related sectors
in this context has to be improved, especially the industrial sector
currently lacks dynamism with exports focused on a small number of
commodities. Activities in sectors like agriculture, services, and
transport should be identified for the benefit of overseas Pakistanis and
steps be taken to remove bottlenecks in the revival of the sick units and
exports. Opportunities in the fields of construction, electronics, agro-
based industries, and chemicals as well as non-traditional areas be
explored together with efforts to fill the skill gap and provision of
requisite infrastructure.
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970329
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Incentive package fails to sustain stocks early run-up
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, March 28: Stocks on Friday failed to sustain the early run-up as
investors seemed to have some rethinking on the incentive package announced
by the finance minister and took profits at the initial rise.
The 100-share index breached the barrier of 1,600 points at 1,598.94 on
late weekend selling, showing a fall of 17.50 points over the day.
However, the underlying sentiment remained uppishly inclined thanks to the
presence of strong buying at the dips on the perception that the opening
next week could be on an optimistic note.
The slugishness in part was also attributed to the weekend session as
leading investors were not inclined to take risks owing to two closures
ahead as the market will remain closed officially on Saturday and Sunday.
In the morning session, the index was last quoted at 1,616.49,showing a
gain of 3.11 but it was well below the mid-session rise of 13 points.
But in the post-package dealings, it fluctuated narrowly, finally finishing
further shaded on late selling by some of the leading investors.
It was last quoted at 1,598.98 points, a loss of 17.50 points over the day
or one per cent fall.
Analysts said the relief package would certainly boost trading in stocks as
it would finally be the chief beneficiary of the push in the industrial
production. Even the expected boost in export as a result of tax cuts and
investment allowances will also provide the much needed push to share
values, they added.
They said the new package could bring a fundamental change in the market
psychology as it had all plus points and few negative ones.
Investment shares, notably leasing and bank shares responded favourably to
the relief but rose fractionally barring some leading shares, which rose
sharply under the lead of Atlas Lease, rising by Rs 3.25.
Standard Chartered Leasing, which rose by Rs.1.75 followed it and so did
some others in the other sectors including textiles.
But bulk of the trading was centred around textile and synthetic shares,
which will be, in the final analysis chief beneficiary of the tax
incentives.
However, the weakness of the leading base shares caused a decline in the
index but it was not fully reflective of the actual trading. Both Hub-
Power and PTC vouchers followed by Dewan Salman and ICI Pakistan owing to
their weightage in the index could take it where they want it too, said an
analyst. That was what actually happened during the post-package trading
despite the fact that the performance of the broader market was not that
bad. Trading volume in both the sessions rose to about 53m shares, bulk of
which went to the credit of the current favourites, notably ICI Pakistan
and Hub-Power. There were 292 actives in the morning session, out of which
114 shares showed good gains, while 105 fell fractionally, with 73 shares
holding on to the last levels.
The most active list was topped by ICI Pakistan, on 10.200m shares followed
by Hub-Power, on 6.500m, PTC vouchers on 5.500m, Dewan Salman on 3.200m and
FFC-Jordan Fertilizer on 1.500m shares.
Askari Bank, up five paisa on 0.223m shares followed by Faysal Bank, higher
40 paisa on 0.189m shares, and some others were also actively traded.
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970323
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Following on from Anushirwan Adil
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ardeshir Cowasjee
ONE of the first recorded Zoroastrian law giver was Anushirwan the Just,
the reformer, the greatest of the Sassanian monarchs, also known as Khosrow
I, or Chosroes I.
Anushirwan ruled the Persian empire from 531 to 579 AD during which time he
instituted a series of law reforms, and enforced a rational system of
taxation designed to increase not only the revenues but also the welfare of
his empire. He had inner strength and allowed himself to be guided by his
wise and able prime minister, the liberal Bozorgmehr. In the history of
Zoroastrian monarchs, humanitarian Anushirwan takes pride of place.
Anushirwan well knew the difference between religion and religiosity and
realized that if Zoroastrianism was to survive it must not be imposed by
force and it would have to compete intellectually with the prevailing
philosophy.
He, therefore, took a personal interest in Greek philosophy, granting
asylum in his court to many philosophers from Greece who had fled the
Byzantine empire when the ancient Academy of Athens was closed.
Zoroastrianism was indeed the national religion to which Persia owed its
greatness, but Anushirwan saw to it that it was no longer to be a religion
that was not prepared to learn from others. While he insisted on doctrinal
uniformity, he encouraged a rational approach to religion as such.
Thirteen hundred years later followed the humanitarians, law givers and
jurists, the descendants of the Zoroastrians who had fled from Persia and
settled in India, starting with Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917), Sir
Pherozeshan Mehta (1845-1915), and Sir Dinshaw Wacha, PC (1844-1936),
giants in their own right. Volumes have been written about each one.
Then came Sir Dinshaw Fardoonji Cowasjee Mulla (1868-1934), a Parsi jurist
of Bombay, whose classic work (later to be one of the mainstays of the
Pakistani legal profession) Principles of Mohammadan Law, was published in
1906.
He was followed by Sir Jamshedji Kanga (1875-1969), a recognized
humanitarian and the first Indian to be appointed permanent advocate-
general of Bombay (1923), and Sir Noshirwan Engineer (1884-1970),
barrister, judge of the Bombay High Court, advocate-general of Bombay, and
advocate-general of Maharashtra. Hormusji Maneckji Seervai (1906-1996),
also advocate-general of Bombay and of Maharashtra, wrote his magnum opus,
Constitutional Law of India, which is rated by some as the most thorough
and knowledgeable dissertation on any constitution by any commentator.
Nani Palkhivala (b.1920) of Bombay, is a former professor of law, and
former ambassador of India. Defender of constitutional liberties, champion
of human rights, teacher, author and economic developer was how he was
described when in 1978 Princeton University conferred on him the Honorary
Degree of Doctor of Laws.
Fali Nariman (b.1929), advocate of the Bombay High Court and of the Supreme
Court of India, is a former Additional Solicitor-General of India. When he
felt that he could not defend the people as his office obliged him to do,
shortly before Indira declared her Emergency he asked to be relieved. He
is now President of the Bar Association of India. Soli Sorabjee (b.1930),
senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India, former Additional Solicitor-
General of India, is now one of his countrys foremost defenders of civil
liberties and fundamental rights.
Over the border to Pakistan and Karachi, we had our own liberal
Zarathustrian of the law, our fighter for human rights, Dorab Patel. Born
in Quetta in 1924, he died in Karachi on March 15 this year.
I first met Dorab at the Cantonment Railway Station in 1947 when I was
deputed by my father to receive him on his arrival by the Quetta Mail. His
father, Framroze Patel, had asked my father, Rustsom Cowasjee, to take care
of his son who was on his way to England to finish his education at the
London School of Economics and then do his Bar examinations. How will I
recognize the man? I asked my father.
There will be only one Parsi getting off that train, I was told, You
cant miss him. I couldnt. In his three-piece suit with watch and chain,
he stood out like a sore thumb. I introduced myself, brought him home, and
he stayed with us until he took off from Korangi Creek in a BOAC flying
boat.
Even then he was a man of few words, so deeply serious that it seemed that
he bore many of the woes of the world on his frail shoulders. A young man
who seldom smiled, he saw and heard far more than he spoke. We saw no more
of him until he had graduated from the LSE, was called to the Bar at the
Inner Temple, and returned in 1954 to Karachi to practise law. One of the
first cases he handled was that of our shipping company, which brought him
more shipping cases until he soon came to be recognized as an authority on
shipping law.
In 1966, he was elevated to the Bench of the West Pakistan High Court.
Appointed in 1976 to the Supreme Court, he was senior to all but the Chief
Justice of Pakistan when in 1981 he famously resigned, refusing to take the
oath under Zias Provisional Constitutional Order declaring that he was
bound by the dictates of his conscience.
He became a member of the Asian Human Rights Commission in 1984, and in
1987 a member of the International Commission of Jurists. Also in 1987 he
was appointed and remained Founder Chairman of the Human Rights Commission
of Pakistan until 1993 when he became its Emeritus. In 1990, he was made a
Fellow of the LSE, and led our delegation to the United Nations Commission
on Human Rights at Geneva.
We all know so well how deeply involved he was in upholding and fighting
for the rights of the deprived and downtrodden, for women, for the
minorities, for the freedom of worship, for the freedom of expression and
of information.
He stood firmly against what he, and many of us, considered to be unethical
behaviour by both serving and retired members of the judiciary. During his
years with the HRCP, this organization was responsible for abolishing more
private jails than had all our governments over a period of fifty years.
Dorab was a man of great conviction, one conviction being his determination
to remain a bachelor. I had been trying since 1954 to matchmake for him and
I thought once that I had succeeded. We found the perfect Parsi girl for
him, a green-eyed beauty, a poet, a match in size, a match in intellect and
in integrity. But Dorab, apart from speaking and walking in a rather
ponderous and slow manner, was also a slow mover, and before he could work
up courage and enthusiasm to take the plunge and pop the final and most
vital question, along came a young bright Mussalman pundit, our mutual
friend, also of equal size, intellect and integrity, and swept her away.
Much to my regret all three are now gone. (The pundit always used to insist
that one could never count a politician or a bureaucrat of Pakistan as
being really dead unti his Chehlum had been held).
Dorabs good old friend, advocate Aziz Munshi and I tried again with a prim
and proper Parsi friend of ours who lives in London, who shared Dorabs
intent on remaining single.
Dorab used to visit London every year, and one year we armed him with her
address and her telephone numbers, clearly indicating which was home and
which was office. we called our friend several times while Dorab was there
to find out if he had rung her up, if they had met, if they had gone out,
but each time he drew a blank.
On Dorabs return we asked him why he had not contacted her. Obviously his
subconscious had been at work, resisting all attempts to transform his
life, as it transpired that during the daytime he had been ringing her home
number, and at nights her office number.
My friend Dorab and I shared a common scorn for the string of dishonest,
inept, authoritarian, hypocritical leaders with which this country has been
blighted for so many years.
We also shared a contempt for those citizens sufficiently endowed and
independent to be able to speak up and protest but who are too cowardly to
so do. As has been quoted before, I also quote one of his frequent sayings:
There is no choice between good and evil, right and wrong. When it is your
duty to protest, those who remain silent are guilty.
His book, Testament of a Liberal, is now being published by the Oxford
University Press in Karachi. He has willed that the royalties be equally
divided between the HRCP and the Kidney Centre.
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970329
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I want it now!
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Mazdak
ASK the average young man or woman what he or she would like in life, and
chances are that the answer will be: A big house, a brand new car and a
comfortable, attractive, albeit boring, spouse.
Nothing wrong with these priorities, I suppose, excepting that they reflect
not an iota of social conscience or even a sense of adventure. This single-
minded emphasis on the good life and material comfort leaves no room for
idealism, risk or contemplation. Forget ideas, how many members of the
yuppie generation have time even for the simple pleasure of reading a good
book?
I know that since time immemorial, successive generations have bemoaned the
passing of values and the death of civilisation as they knew it.
Invariably, parents have found fault with everything their children and
their friends do. But what has been happening in the post-Second World War
period is a systematic assault on the world of abstract ideas and
philosophical models, and their replacement with shiny objects of ever-
diminishing utility and ever-increasing desire. When Thorstein Veblen, the
maverick American economist, said Invention is the mother of necessity
earlier this century, he could not have known how prophetic his little
epigram would prove to be.
Change is no longer a slow, generation-to-generation process, but an
accelerating juggernaut: you either jump on board, or get crushed under its
wheels. And the engine driving this restless, non-stop motion is
capitalism, fuelled by high-octane innovation. Even in a sleepy backwater
like Pakistan, we are not immune to this unrelenting progress: satellite
dishes and computers dominate our lives to an extent unthinkable even five
years ago.
Unfortunately, this spurious facade of modernity has had no impact on the
lives of the vast majority of our people who remain as poor, as illiterate
and as prone to disease as their forefathers were centuries ago. What has
changed for them is that they now glimpse the possibilities of a better
life, thanks to the communications revolution. However for most of them,
the good life is as elusive as ever.
But the younger generation of haves and wanna-haves want it all, and they
want it now. I have no quarrel with this attitude because my generation has
more than its share of materialists, but at least most of them made the
effort to pretend they were interested in ideas as well as a quick buck.
But now this has been reversed: if you arent hooked to money, you probably
have to hide this shameful blemish. As a broker friend put it at the height
of the stock market boom three years ago, If you are in your early
twenties and have been trading for a couple of years, and you arent
netting a hundred thou a month, youre a failure.
more than ever before, success and failure are now purely functions of how
much money youve made, irrespective of how you made it. Never mind the
corners you cut, the toes you stepped on, the laws you broke: the bottom
line is how much you are worth. In both quantitative and qualitative terms,
the bottom line has never fallen as low.
Malcolm Muggeridge was an iconoclast I had long admired, so it was with
great pleasure that I renewed my acquaintance with his acerbic ideas on the
pages of Akhtar Hameed Khans recent collection of essays and speeches.
Quoted in the chapter The Pursuit of Happiness, Muggeridge observes:
This increasing uniformity of the world, brought about by the uniformity
of desire, is obscured by seemingly contrary tendencies. Thus Russians and
their satellites and the Chinese are supposed to want communism; Americans
and their satellites are supposed to want freedom. We Western Europeans are
supposed to prize our Christian civilization... Very few Russians, Chinese
and satellite peoples really want Communism; very few Americans really want
freedom; very few Western Europeans really care much about Christian or any
other civilization... What they all want, and what practically everyone
else wants, is what the Americans have got six lanes of large motor cars
streaming powerfully into and out of gleaming cities; neon lights flashing
and juke boxes sounding, and skyscrapers rising, storey upon storey, into
the sky...
Driving at night into the town of Athens, Ohio (pop. 3,450), four bright
coloured signs stood out in the darkness gas, drugs, beauty,
food. Here, I thought is the ultimate, the logos of our time, presented
in sublime simplicity... There are, properly speaking, no Communists, no
Capitalists, no Catholics, no Protestants, no black men, no Asians, no
Europeans, no right, no Left and no Centre... There is only a vast and
omnipresent longing for Gas, for beauty, for Drugs and for Food.
These words were written in 1958, and since then, the triumph of MacDonald,
of Levis and of Coca Cola is complete. So much so that people in Karachi
drive for miles and then queue for ever for a piece of Kentucky Fried
Chicken (Finger Lickin Good). Never mind that it tastes of soggy cardboard
and doesnt hold a candle to a good chicken tikka; the important thing is
that the stuff is being sold from Maine to Manila.
Ideologies and religions are being rapidly elbowed out by a consumerism
gone mad. One product is replaced with a newer, better model almost
before it has reached the showrooms. My favourite example of this mad
acquisitive drive is the recent Japanese fad of keeping electronic
virtual chickens in small egg-shaped boxes. These birds have to be fed
and cleaned regularly by pressing buttons through their life cycles of a
few days, or they sicken and die. When content, they cheep and look happy;
when neglected, they look miserable. The owners of these demanding toys get
upset and guilty if their electronic pets die from neglect.
Perhaps this is the way the world is heading: towards virtual pleasures,
virtual emotions and virtual lives. Maybe even Muggeridges Gas, Beauty,
Drugs and Food are being left behind in the rising need for passive,
painless entertainment. Whatever the shape of things to come, the enduring
slogan will be: I want it now!
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970324
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It takes two to tango
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Omar Kureishi
WHEN Transparency International declared Pakistan to be the second most
corrupt country in the world, the news was greeted by many people with
enthusiasm as if Pakistan had been awarded a pride of performance medal or
a good housekeeping seal.
Rather than be filled with shame, we celebrated because a gora organisation
(and, therefore, like Ceasars wife beyond reproach) had confirmed, not our
worst fears but our best expectations. The I-told-you-so were able to sit
back and say: I told-you-so. Q.E.D. So bitterly polarised had we become
that Transparency Internationals ex-cathedra pronouncement became the
smoking gun or to change metaphors, the icing on the cake on the charge-
sheet of the government of the day. Opponents of that regime had a field
day and media made no attempt to check the bona fides of Transparency
International nor question the methodology employed to reach such a harsh
but precise conclusion. Cartoonists showed Pakistan on a victory stand as a
runner-up in a corruption competition. I was not among the revellers
because some basic questions remained unanswered. In all the helter-
skelter, the point had been missed that Transparency International had
declared Pakistan as the second most corrupt country in the world and not
the government of the day. The slur was on Pakistan and international
public opinion was hardly likely to make the distinction. Those who cheered
did not realise that this was character-assassination of an entire people
rather than just a small segment of it. Most of all, there was one fact
staring us in the face and it was that there are nearly 200 countries in
the world and it seemed highly improbable that all these countries had been
examined and their business practices put under a microscope. This meant
that a certain selectivity had been applied. What factors influenced the
selectivity? Was there an element of pre-judgment? Even more crucial was
the fact that corruption had not been defined. Was it to be confined only
to those who took kickbacks and bribes or was it also to include those who
gave kick-backs and bribes to secure huge contracts? In my estimation both
were culpable and it would have been interesting to know which country was
the most corrupt when it came to giving kickbacks and bribes. It may well
have been one of the those holier-than-thou countries who periodically
lecture the Third World on ethics and morality.
Some of the points I have raised have been clarified to some extent and not
my best expectations but my worst fears have been confirmed. Dr. Peter
Eigen, the chairman of Transparency International has said that its survey
was highly subjective and only 54 countries had been surveyed. He admitted
that the way the ranking uses the input of business people was skewed in
favour of what he called passive corruption which is what an entrepreneur
entering a new market has to encounter. He said active corruption i.e.
the corruption indulged in by these business corporations themselves was
obviously not counted in the survey and that was one of the reasons for it
being a little imbalanced and being a bit subjective. It is not at all
obvious to me why business corporations which indulged in active
corruption were not included and the admission of subjectivity amounts to
pre-judgment. If only 54 countries were surveyed out of a possible 200, how
could it be claimed that Pakistan was the second most corrupt country in
the world? Honesty demanded that it should have been made clear that the
survey involved less than 30% of the world and that it was one-sided.
I do not wish to cast any aspersions on Transparency International nor
question their motives but as a research organisation they appear to be
slipshod. Had a consumer goods manufacturer commissioned them to do market
research for them, it would have been extremely dissatisfied with their
mode of operation. And even more dissatisfied with their findings.
Not for a moment am I suggesting that there is no widespread corruption in
the country. Indeed I have been writing about corruption since the early
fifties. It was widespread then as it is now. The difference is that in the
fifties a certain stigma was attached to being corrupt. Now there is no
stigma. Only envy for those who have got rich beyond their wildest dreams.
But I take objection that the entire country should be slandered. The same
is true of the drug trade. Pakistan is known as the largest exporter of
heroin. It may well be but that only represents the supply side. What about
the demand side? Can this trade flourish without the complicity of
officials in countries to which the heroin is smuggled? Besides there is
much more involved in the drugs business than just making money. It is an
open secret that the Vietnam War saw the emergence of the Golden Triangle.
Drug barons were created because their support was needed to fight the war.
That there should be so many addicts, so many twisted and broken lives
because of drug addiction can be attributed to covert and not so covert
backing that was given. The same applies to the war in Afghanistan. Is it
just a coincidence that so much heroin is being produced in the tribal
areas? Why should Pakistan be defamed when it has not set the agenda?
We are observing our Golden Anniversary this year. It should be an occasion
of pride in ourselves. Despite all the forebodings and confident
predictions that we would collapse, Pakistan is still there and on the map.
We have had our share of difficulties and gone from one crisis to another
but we have bungled through. As I have written before, the leadership may
have failed but the people have not. The people, on the contrary have faced
every manner of adversity bravely. The Golden Anniversary can be seen as a
triumph of the people over the leadership. And let us not rejoice that we
have been judged as the second most corrupt country in the world. The
research done was half-baked and one-sided.
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970326
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The imperishable cliche
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Hafizur Rahman
NO one can say that we are not innovative, and even inventive, where the
English language is concerned. It does not matter if, as a nation, we dont
have any great scientific or technological ingenuity to show. Those of us
who write for the English newspapers make up that lapse by forging new
idioms, new expressions, and even coining new words for our adopted medium.
I shall not try to recount our achievements in this field for they are
indeed many. And I do not want the English-speaking community in Pakistan
to feel small if they have had no contribution to make in that line. The
trouble is that the really well-educated British are taught to be wary of
clichis, while our inventiveness has mostly been in this genre.
They the British in Pakistan may not be able to appreciate the subtlety
of the situation because they are not driven by the desire to add to the
existing storehouse of clichis, and may even be chary of using those that
are already part of their language. On the other hand, we go on designing
new ones, and we then see to it that they dont die off.
Perhaps one of the greatest of our home-made clichis launched and kept
afloat by journalists is the set of seven words, and remained with him
for some time. This is invariably used when a prominent personality from
abroad calls on the President or the Prime Minister. Some irreverent
reporters also employ it when these personalities call on lesser
personages, but I am sure the inventor would frown on such liberty being
taken with his product by this indiscriminate use.
I have questioned many journalists who use this set of words every day.
They are basically from the two news agencies and the official publicity
departments. I wanted to find out why they do so; why do they have to say
that the visiting VIP was with the President or the Prime Minister for
some time.
Their explanation is very valid and throws new light on some hitherto
unexplored avenues of journalism. They contend that unless these words are
used the impression might be created that, after making the formal call,
the distinguished visitor did not come back at all but stayed on.
I had to agree that such an impression would not do. Apart from causing
worry to the friendly foreign governments involved, the public would be
well within its rights to ask what had happened to the visiting VIP, and
what he was doing in the Presidents or the PMs office all that time.
The situation would become all the more mystifying the next day when the
VIP would be found making more calls, on the Senate Chairman or the
National Assembly Speaker, without having come back from his visit to the
head of state or the chief executive.
There is another cliche attached to these stories of call-on as they are
referred to in official protocol circles. And that is: They discussed
matters of mutual interest. Again when I asked the reporters concerned why
they have to use this phrase half a dozen times every day, they put me a
counter-question. Then what shall we say they discussed? they asked me.
They surely caught me on the wrong foot with that one.
There is a story behind the set of words and remained with him for some
time. Long ago, somewhere in the mid-sixties, Qazi Ahmed Saeed, who
retired some twelve years ago as Director General of Radio Pakistan, was
Press Officer to President Ayub. On a visit to Lahore the President found
time to meet a local politician of some importance.
Next day, at the airport, when the President was flying back to Islamabad,
the Pressmen got after Qazi Sahib to give them some details of the meeting.
This he was unable to do since he didnt know anything himself.
So they asked him to at least tell them how long the confabulations had
lasted. This information is considered vital in political reporting because
it gives some idea about the significance of such a meeting. Cornered by
the reporters, Qazi Saeed had a brain wave and said. You can say he
remained with the President for some time.
This was the beginning of this historic phrase. Nearly thirty-five years
have elapsed but it has not lost its shine and usefulness. Day in and day
out it is rubbed in by the media without even senior top-of-the-drawer
journalists pausing to give thought to what they are saying when they
employ it.
This hardy perennial, though meaningless phrase, is copied in the news
bulletins by radio and television, in English as well as Urdu and the
regional languages, unquestioningly. Grim looking deskmen in newspaper
offices who can otherwise shatter the ego of ace reporters by making
mincemeat of their scoops, accept it without a murmur.
This set of seven words is now an integral part of English journalism in
Pakistan. And if Guinness were to pay attention it might make the Book of
Records as the longest-running cliche in history. Its a wonder, and a
cause of constant surprise to me, how British newspapers manage to live
without it.
I am sure this piece you are reading today is not going to make any
difference to the ability of this masterpiece to survive. At least another
twenty-five years is the minimum that I give it. By that time the English
used in our newspapers will have anyway lost its resemblance to the Queens
English.
Also, by that time, the unwary new journalist fed on London newspapers,
refusing to use the words and he remained with him for some time will
probably lose his job for not following the traditional rules of writing
English in the Pakistani Press.
Meantime, unperturbed by the monstrosity that he has unwittingly inflicted
on English journalism in this country, Qazi Ahmed Saeed blithely dispenses
free homeopathic advice and medicines to the citizens of Islamabad. It is
said that homeopathy can cure anything. Let him find a cure for this
malady. After all he invented it.
===================================================================
970324
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Crowd behaviour in cricket
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Qamar Ahmed
Crowd behaviour at sports events and in political rallies have long been a
matter of debate for psychologists and administrators who take the
responsibility of the security and safety of the players and the crowd.
The administrators are indeed the first to get the flak and suffer the
wrath of the members of the public and that of the media as there is a lot
to be answered if disaster strikes and there is a loss of life or injury.
Football is one game which is generally associated with rowdiness, violence
and hooliganism. European countries like England, Holland, Germany, Belgium
and France have a history of their own in this regard. South American
countries are even worse in that respect. Louts abound in soccer matches
but there is always a small minority that gets involved, the majority in
fact are the ones who come to watch the game and enjoy.
Thankfully the game of cricket has not come to that yet, although
occasionally crowd invasion, skirmishes in the stands and racists taunts
make disturbing reading. Much of it is though exaggerated, especially when
it comes to crowd behaviour in the sub-continent.
Tempers flare and emotions sway with fortunes of the teams fluctuating that
people come to back, as we now experience in the limited over games, most
of which lack in excitement and in value because of being one-sided in
majority of cases.
At the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), in the World Series matches against
West Indies and against Australia on the New Years day the behaviour of
the crowd was embarrassing to say the least. There were seven intrusions
including one by a fully grown streaker. Showmanship and drunkenness being
the major cause for this in Australian sports and the boredom of a
lacklustre limited over match.
Chanting insults at opposition is one thing and racists taunts by the
English and Australian crowd is another which could one day lead to a major
riot.
At Edgbaston in 1992 racists abuse nearly cost a life when an English
supporter pushed a broken bottle in the neck of a Pakistani fan. A major
riot was averted. In the same series at Headingley, a bleeding pigs head
was lobbed in the stands where the Pakistani supporters were seated. Before
things went out of hand the situation was quelled by the police.
In Australia crowd trouble has a century old history perhaps even longer in
England where the game evolved. In the late 19th century at Lords and at
SCG ugly incidents incited by the bookies is well documented. In 1878-79
when in a match between an England XI led by Lord Harris and NSW team, the
local captain Billy Murdoch was given run out, the crowd rioted and many
were injured. The presence of bookmakers was cited by the Judge who fined
the offenders. The sub-continent has its own history of crowd trouble. At
the Eden Garden Calcutta, tragedy was averted after a group of people had
set the stands on fire during the World Cup game in which India chasing a
marginal score was on the verge of defeat against Sri Lanka in the quarter-
finals. The bookies were blamed for it.
The politically motivated crowd hurled rubbish at Pakistan players in the
field as India headed towards a win in the World Cup game against their
arch rivals. Recently in a one-day game when Mohammad Azharuddin was given
out against Australia at Bangalore, the agitating crowd nearly got out of
hand till Azhar himself was back in the ground to beg for the umpires
safety.
I remember a Test at Ahmedabad in India in 1987 when Imran Khan, the
Pakistan captain had to walk his team out after the fielders were pelted
with stones when a confident appeal was rejected. Sunil Gavaskar in that
Test had become the first man to reach 10,000 runs in tests. When calm was
restored Imran led his side back in the field with all his players wearing
a helmet.
Kanpur, Delhi and Bombay have a history of their own of crowd trouble as is
Peshawar, Lahore, and Karachi. In 1969 when Colin Cowdrey led England to
Pakistan the final Test had to be abandoned on the third day at Karachi
after the crowd set the stands on fire and rioted, protesting at the
appointment of Saeed Ahmed as the captain instead of Hanif Mohammad, the
local hero.
Allan Knott in his nineties had to miss his first ever Test century.
In a Test against India at Karachi in 1989-90 one angry man jumped over the
fence to assault Kapil Dev and Srikkanth in protest of the desecration of
the 400-year old Babri Mosque at Ayodhya in India. Luckily both of them
escaped injury. In 1979 when the Packer players visited West Indies, riot
broke out at Guyana, Trinidad and Barbados at the dismissal of certain
players. Players also incite trouble. Sylvester Clarke was lucky in a Test
at Multan in Pakistan that he was not lynched by the angry mob after he had
thrown a block of brick in the stands in retaliation of fruits being pelted
at him.
The brick hit a medical student and he had to be operated to save his life.
Luckily for all of us that there has been no loss of life in cricket
because of crowd trouble but the possibility is always there if things go
out of hand. The scene after the Wills Cup final at Lahore needed only a
little spark.
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970324
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Jansher Khan up against a formidable challenge
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Lateef Jafri
AS the premier squash championship, the British Open, is due to open on the
last dates of this month in Cardiff, Wales, where it has been shifted from
the busy surroundings of London, Pakistans Jansher Khan, world No. 1,
started his buildup for what is to be his major competition in the early
part of the year.
London had a symbolic significance as the tournament was launched 67 years
ago at the Queens Club where two years later the Egyptians took it and
their inimitable stroke-maker, Amr Bey, dominated the contest for six
years. The game crossed the Mediterranean for the Egyptians to play at
their Gazeira Club and from there crossed the Arabian Sea to be played and
enjoyed in the elitist clubs of the subcontinent.
Just after Pakistans birth Hashim Khan surprised the squash fans at the
new venue of the British Open, the Lansdowne Club, by throwing out Mehmoud
Karim of Egypt with a scoreline of 9-5, 9-0, 9-0 that amazed the onlookers.
It was the start of the Khan era in global squash. Hashim had facile and
versatile strokes and showed unflinching commitment to the combats,
especially as the season of British Open heralded. He strenuously explored
sharp angles, yet his major weapon had been the fierce drives, both
backhand and forehand.
Later the crescendo that followed had the confident authority of Roshan
Khan, the deft volleys of Azam Khan and the adventure and agility of
Mohibullah, the senior.
Jonnah Barrington of the British Isles relied on timing and accuracy to win
laurels at the Lansdowne Club but the Australian Geoff Hunt, who followed
Barrington as a champion, had explosive drives and an imagination and touch
that few had in squash. He set a record of wins that were eclipsed by
another Pakistani Khan, Jahangir, one of the most accomplished racket-
wielders yet to play in the squash circuits. He had an attacking flair and
yet there were the tidy and disguised drops that were unreturnable. His
serving, volleying and smashing were admirable. Jahangirs ultimate
accolade during his long reign 10 successive titles at the British Open
cannot be emulated during this century. He was the supreme master while
fully fit.
Energetic Jansher Khan, with variety and confidence, stepped in the shoes
of Jahangir as British Open champion. His strokes, tidily executed, show
him to be a genuine craftsman. He plays delectable and enchanting squash
for the connoisseurs to admire, be it his home courts or the courts of
Europe, especially Wales, where the British Open gets going on the last day
of this month. His drops and angles are the most delightful, which give him
the needed points.
In a test of will and determination before the British Open, Jansher Khan
wore down Dan Jenson of Australia in a display of smart, well-organised
squash in the Austrian Open at Linz. The Australian took the second game
but Jansher was unruffled and struck blows on Jenson. His tactical and
technical discipline did not falter and his Australian rival was under
considerable stress. Jansher, with variations in shots, ran out a winner in
62 minutes.
Janson, who is rated No. 19 in the world, had brought down Rodney Eyles in
the semi-finals, which showed his progress in global squash. Eyles, No. 2
in international ranking, could hardly settle down to the austute and
flawless shots by his unseeded compatriot from Adelaide. The semi-final
went to full distance, yet it was the underdog, who was usually the front-
runner. Eyles fought upto the end but Janson, with more quickness on the
court, took the initiatives to harass a known counter-puncher like Eyles.
Jansher too was stretched by Julien Bonetat of France, a resilient
challenger and placed 13th on the world list. But after losing the second
game Jansher gave up casualness, came into his own and hit the black ball
more crisply and cleanly to take command of the match. The tough battle in
the semifinal must have done some good to the Khan who needed a hard
practice. The triumph in the Austrian Open must have enhanced his assurance
for the upcoming battles in the British Open.
Jansher, while proceeding to Wales has said that he is in top physical
shape which would enable him to sweep the opponents off the court.
The resistance and competition in Cardiff may be difficult but Jansher has
the habit of putting out the challenge with a stream of dazzling shots and
a confidence and planned tactics that only the world champion can betray.
His entire game flowers while the rivals throw down the gauntlet.
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970324
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Style semantics mask the reality in modern hockey
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A. Majid Khan
It is a mistaken notion and wrong assumption that Pakistan plays the Asian
style of hockey. In fact there is nothing like that in the game, but of
course no one can stop the commentators, writers, officials, TV experts and
others calling our style of play as the Asian hockey.
The subcontinent under the British rule adopted the 5321 formation
(comprising five forwards, three halves, two defenders plus the goalkeeper.
This was then the standard system when the new state of Pakistan was carved
out on the world map on August 14, 1947. This formation was also prevalent
in football almost throughout the world. But things changed during the past
50 years.
The hockey rules, framed by International Hockey Federation, the governing
body of the world hockey, had undergone countless changes and Pakistan had
to follow them. Even today the no-off side rule is being implemented. It is
mandatory and it is only a matter of time before it becomes part of the
international hockey rules.
Pakistan won the Olympics, the World Cup, the Asian Games and the Asia Cup
by strictly adhering to the traditional formation of 5321 which we call
the Asian style. Subsequently was coined a new term the European Style when
they adopted the new formation of 3341 or 4331, more or less akin to
todays world football pattern.
We are not prepared to discard our traditional system of hockey simply
because it requires changes in the pattern of play from club levels to the
national level. It requires a lot of hard-work and commitment to change the
old system.
A system is not imposed from the top. A few years ago India adopted the new
formation in the name of total hockey and failed. Now India too has
reverted to the traditional hockey system.
Pakistan and India both had been super hockey powers and still Pakistan
enjoys the great honour of being the holders of the World Cup. But at the
same time. In the Asian continent, South Korea, winners of the Asian Games
and Asia Cup, follow the modern formation, which needs extraordinary
fitness.
Therefore it seems rather misleading to say that what we are projecting is
Asian Style when other Asians such as Japan, Korea, Malaysia play under
modern system. It appears also irrelevant for it is the goal which counts,
no matter what system one adopts. It does not mean that we should discard
the traditional system but certainly our system is based on positional
play. We should avoid aping the European system by fielding a player on a
position he is hardly fit for. In our traditional system we need high
calibre wingers but ironically Pakistan could not produce world class
wingers for well over a decade. The mediocre ones turns out to be a great
liability in world class hockey as the innersjob became more taxing and
demanding. We have to pick wingers having control over the ball to split
the rival defensive network by sending goal labelled crosses. It is not an
easy job for it needs tremendous hard training throughout the year and not
a months camp training.
Similarly the centre-half in our system of play enjoys a position of field
marshal and on his reliability and intelligence depends the teamss
movement. We do not need only an attacking centre-half, for he has to fall
back along with other halves to come to the assistance of the deep
defenders in the wake of their opponents onslaught.
Goalkeeping is another specialised job and now under the no off side rule
he is exposed to greater threats. He should as such be a man of strong
nerves and quick reflexes to face the new challenges. But no goalkeeper in
the world can all by himself save the team from defeat if other players are
run over by the opponents.
The new challenges in international hockey require more imaginative
approach and scientific analysis as there seems to be no place for outdated
thinking. Just blaming others for body play or criticising the newly
introduced rules would lead us nowhere.
The rules are framed by the FIH rules board after undertaking experiments.
Raising objection is ones right but dictating terms to the FIH seems
hardly warranted. We should be more realistic in our approach in adjusting
to the new rules for acquiring high proficiency to regain domination in
world hockey.
We have to set our house first in order by making hockey a truly national
game, it, base needs broadening. It should not remain confined to a few
known places. Pakistan possesses enormous talent in a very part of the
country. It needs tapping and grooming. Merit alone should be the
criterion. We have to take into account the ground realities.
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970324
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Germany bag laurels; Pakistan get bronze
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A. Majid Khan
KARACHI March 23: Pakistan, World Cup champions, today displayed mental
toughness with quick passes to demolish the Australian resistance for a
comprehensive 7-4 success for the bronze medal and Germany lifted the
glittering trophy by registering a surprise 3-1 victory over title
favourites, the Netherlands, the Atlanta Olympic and Champions Trophy
winners. Thus the L.G. five-nation Golden Jubilee Hockey Tournament ended
here on Sunday at the HCP Stadium.
Former Olympic champions Germany, a new-look side with an eye on next
years World Cup, were awarded the Fair Play Trophy and Englands captain
Russell Garcia was adjudged Player of the Tournament which ended in success
on the Pakistan Day celebrations.
Pakistan, who three months back performed well enough to take the silver at
the Madras Champions Trophy after the team debacle in the Atlanta Olympics,
have the consolation on Pakistan Day celebrations to be on the victory
podium.
The green-shirted Pakistanis, who surprisingly were concerned in drawn
games in four league matches, today, unquestionably, gave a planned
performance to finish third behind Germany, the Netherlands (silver medal).
Australia were fourth and England were at the bottom.
Let-Gen (Retd) Moinuddin Haider, Sindh Governor, who was to be todays
chief guest, could not grace the occasion as he flew off to Islamabad for
the Organisation of Islamic summit. Mr Mohammad Nawaz Tiwana, President of
the Pakistan Hockey Federation, instead was the chief guest and gave away
the cup to the German skipper Blunck and put the gold medals around the
necks of the team members on the victory stand. England hockey chief Robin
Elliot and Australian Hockey Association President Alen Berry also put the
silver and bronze medals around the necks of the members of the Netherlands
and Pakistan teams respectively admists thunderous applause and cheers of
over 8,000 spectators.
The PHF had allowed free entry to the fans during the tournament lasting a
week.
Today Pakistan played brilliantly, launching their onslaughts with elan and
zip to overcome Australia against whom on Saturday they played 3-3 fourth
consecutive drawn games with no victory in the league matches.
They displayed a more cohesive and coordinated game, avoiding unnecessary
dribbling and hanging on to the ball to mount constant assault on their
rivals.
Olympian insideleft Mohammad Shahbaz and Tahir Zaman, inside-right looked
to be at their brilliant best and turned out to be the most feared
attackers for the Australians.
Dutch defeat: Germany inflicted a surprise 3-1 defeat on the 1996 Atlanta
Olympic winners, the Netherlands, in the title fight. It was the second
successive defeat in a row for the Dutch as yesterday they had suffered the
humiliating defeat also by an identical margin in the last league match.
The Germans deserved to win as they were a better side. The Netherlands
showed early promise but later failed to match the brilliance of the
fighting Germans, who after trailing 0-1 , evened the scores 1-1 at half
time. The Germans dictated terms during the second session, scoring two
more goals with the Dutch keeper Jansen bringing off a good number of
saves.
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970325
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National Games to be held from June 8
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A. Majid Khan
KARACHI, March 24: Dr Nishat Mallick, Patron of the Organising Committee of
the 26th National Games, stated here today that on the suggestion of the
POA and the national federations the Games scheduled in the city from April
28, have been postponed and the new dates set are June 8-13.
Dr Nishat Mallick said we would include only the Olympic sports in the June
National Games, adding that the organising committee has received Rs three
lakhs out of Rs 15 lakhs grant of the PSB routed through POA. He looked
confident in saying that the remaining amount would be received in due
course of time.
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970329
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More severe action likely against Aamir
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Samiul Hasan
KARACHI, March 28: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is likely to take
further disciplinary action against Aamir Sohail for his recent allegations
against some of his colleagues in the Pakistan team and their alleged
involvement in betting and match-fixing.
The PCB is expected to prepare a disciplinary case on Saturday before
issuing the explosive opener, another show cause notice.
We will study the Code of Conduct on Saturday before we take disciplinary
action against Aamir Sohail, PCB Chief Executive, Majid Khan, confirmed
from Lahore.
Majid was unclear what disciplinary action can be taken against Aamir
Sohail but it is being anticipated that the openers fate may be similar to
that of Qasim Omer who was banned for seven years after making unfounded
allegations against Imran Khan in 1986-97.
Majid Khan, who returned the other day after attending the ICC meeting at
Kuala Lumpur, said similar allegations have been levelled earlier but never
any proof has been offered.
If Aamir Sohail has any document that reveals players involvement in match
fixing, we invite him to come forward, Majid, who sounded disturbed and
upset, said from his residence in Lahore.
Majid Khan questioned why Aamir Sohail didnt make these allegations
before. A judicial inquiry took place (under Justice Fakhruddin G
Ebraheem) in 1995 but Aamir Sohail never made these remarks then.
Aamir Sohail is maligning the country. He has been suspended on
indiscipline and now he is trying to divert the attention by making these
scandalising allegations which is only bringing bad name to the country and
its leading players.
Majid said Aamir Sohail was a member of the Pakistan team when he was the
manager. I was never informed by him (Aamir Sohail) or by any other member
that any match was fixed or bribe had been offered to some players.
Aamir Sohail, in an interview, had alleged that on the tour of New Zealand
in 1994-95, a match was fixed. Interestingly, Majid Khan was the manager of
that side.
ICC MEETING: Majid Khan said two issues were discussed at the ICC meeting
in Kuala Lumpur.
The ICC has been made a corporation. Various committees will be formed
that will work according to the constitution of the ICC. It is going to be
the sport which will get a boost from it. More money will come in and
cricket will flourish, said Majid.
The second major issue, Majid said, was the finalisation of rotation on the
appointment of ICC President. From now, it will be ICC President instead
of ICC Chairman.
India will have the first ICC President and Australia will follow India,
said Majid.
The former Pakistan captain stated that in an effort to maintain
continuity, the Vice President will be the next ICC President. The Vice
President of the ICC when there will be an Indian President, will take over
the chiefs charge after the completion of a three-year term by Jaghmohan
Dalmiya.
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