Propagation of Urdu

 Published in Morning News on February 6, 1965

Mr. Mubarak Ali Siddiqi, an urdu author, who recently migrated to Pakistan, as per news report dated 20-1-1965, has pointed out that Urdu is being banished from India and it has a dark future over there. I think Mr. Siddiqui should have compared the conditions of Urdu prevailing in India with that in Pakistan before making his statement. I would invite the attention of your readers towards the proceedings of Anjaman-I-Taraqqi-Urdu (Hind) recently held at Jaipur under the Presidentship of a retired Hindu Judge Pandit Anand Narain Mulla Saahib who vehemently took up the case of Urdu with the Indian Government. At the same meeting Mr. Sukhadia, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, declared in clear words that all important laws of his Government will be published in Urdu also and the replies to representations and other communications received in Urdu will be replied to in the same language.

May I give a brief history of the events held in the recent past in Pakistan. Mr. Akhtar Husain, a former Information Minister of Pakistan, speaking on the death anniversary of baba-i-Urdu, declared that the late Molvi Sahib had chosen the advancement of Urdu as his contribution to the struggle for Muslim renaissance, and that, according to Molvi Sahib, Urdu was a foundation on which the CULTURAL EDIFICE of the nation could be built. Our President has also pointed out that Urdu has fully safeguarded so far as our Constitution was concerned, I would also refer to the expression made by Altaf Gauhar, the present Information Secretary, who, while speaking on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of  "Afkhar", was of the firm view that "Urdu was responsible for the establishment of Pakistan and, that all efforts should be made to adopt Urdu in every walk of life."

But it is an irony of fate that Radio Pakistan (working under the Information Secretary himself) is still victimising Urdu to the greatest possible extent. Its stations at Hyderabad, Peshawar and Quetta are allotting the lion's share to the respective regional languages and Urdu has been relegated to an insignificant position. Recently, the last two stations have introduced an extra channel, but there too, the overall planning is in the regional language.

I would appeal to the Information Secretary  to very kindly look into this deplorable state of affairs and at least by fulfilling his own commitment referred to above to ensure that Urdu which has been declared as one of the national languages get the rightful place in radio broadcasting. Will those concerned kindly clarify?

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Prediction with no meaning

Published in The News on November 12, 2005

This is with reference to Ms. Qudsia Parvez's letter 'Predictions with no meaning' (November 9) which is in response to my earlier letter under the same title. The fact is that most people in Pakistan believe in pre-destination, which is one reason why the country has not made much progress. The belief that everything that happens is pre-ordained causes men to continue smoking and die untimely deaths. Unfortunately, ZAB's massive nationalisation of education, followed by emphasis on religion rather than science in the Zia's days, has kept our masses virtually uninformed. One can only hope that the mass availability of news and scientific progarmmes on satellite channels will improve matters.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Offensive Carcass

Published in Morning News on January 3, 1968

Between the localities of Gora Qabrastan and Nursery on the main Drigh Road, is situation a vast depression on either side of the road, which serves the community as a Nullah. 

A few yards away from the road, making a modest contribution to the general stink prevailing in the area, lies the carcass of a horse. It has been there for quite a few days now; and by some mysterious process, has managed to shift itself away from the central region of the Nullah, where it was first spotted, to its present position. I am not quite sure, but if the present state of indifference is maintained by the authorities for a few days, Mr. Ghauri's philosophical horse at Gora Qabrastan might come to hear of it, and decide to choose it for its final resting place. If that happens, it will not be long before the site gets popular with other four legged creatures, and the Nullah becomes a living hell for the residents in the vicinity, and a haven for evolutionists a million years hence.

Not being an evolutionist, but being a resident around the place, and also possessing a tremendous faith in the power of the printed word, I appeal to the proper authorities through your columns to remove the offensive dead animals and earn our deepest gratitude.

SHAKIR LAKHANI,

Karachi.

Iran's victory

Finally, some kind of deal or agreement is being signed by representatives of the US and Iran. From what we know so far, it's a shameful defeat for the sole superpower and a victory for Iran, definitely due to its leadership's courage. The US didn't get anything, while Iran will ultimately get whatever it wanted. The only concrete thing about the deal is that the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened (it was open before the war started). All other demands by Iran and the US will be considered later. Knowing US President Trump, if his party wins the mid-term elections in November, he will make the same mistake and bomb Iran again (for which the US will again pay dearly).

Trump was fooled by the Israelis into bombing Iran, thinking that once the Iranian Supreme Leader was killed, the people of Iran would rise in revolt and a new, pliant government would take over. That did not happen., even though the Supreme Leader was killed on the first day. Moreover, the US spent 100 billion dollars and lost fourteen men, with all their Middle East bases destroyed and many airplanes damaged or destroyed. 

The US should now realize that its ally Israel is not dependable and it should stop giving it the massive amount of aid it has done for the past seven decades.              

Iran, meanwhile, should go ahead and build nuclear weapons. That will deter Israel from routinely bombing neighboring countries and killing Palestinian Muslims and Christians.  

Penalising taxpayers

 Published in The News on June 27, 2006

As if the taxpayers didn't have enough problems, now the sales tax department personnel have been authorised to barge into any premises and seize records and do as they will. This is only going to make the honest taxpayers suffer bouts of insecurity and uncertainty. They will have sleepless nights if an error is detected in their books (even a minor clerical or accounting mistake), they can be fined heavily and even sent to prison. So what is new? The victims have always been those who have paid taxes regularly because they have records to show that they paid.

The department has the nerve to penalise those who refuse to register with the department, they are harassing those who made the mistake of obeying the law and registering voluntarily. And you can bet that nothing will happen to those worthy gentlemen who indulge in massive looting of the exchequer will always be treated like VVIPs, for they have close connections with those who matter in this so-called Islamic republic.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi.

Death Penalty

 Published in Dawn on March 17, 1998

This refers to "Kot Lakhpat Hanging" (Dawn, March 7).

Even in advanced country like the UK,, a Muslim was hanged for a crime he did not commit and thirty-six years after his death, he was declared innocent. So we shouldn't be surprised if this kind of thing happens in Pakistan also. Surely now is the time for the state to abolish the death penalty, before more innocent people are executed.

SHAKIR LAKHANI

Karachi.

Burning our lungs

Published in The News on December 8, 2005

As if the damage caused to our respiratory system by ingesting the dust raised during the never ending construction of the underpass wasn't enough, we unfortunate residents of Clifton's Block 5 now have to breathe pure carbon monoxide from the burning of garbage near the two sword roundabout. And it's no use telling the nazim to do something about it. Knowing how much the quality of education in the country has deteriorated, our elected officials will probably be stunned to hear that the smoke emanating from the burning garbage is bad for health.

As for environmental pollution, that's too technical a subject for most Pakistanis to understand. Maybe things would have been different if our educationists hadn't abandoned science in favour of such abstruse subjects as national ideology. Mind you, this is no ordinary locality. The burning garbage lies only a few feet away from the gate of the Convent school that produced the country's only female prime minister.

And there are many consulates in the vicinity, including that of the country that managed an empire over which the sun never set. Not long ago, the garbage was taken away to be dumped somewhere out of the city. But then, this being Pakistan, someone had the brilliant idea of burning it right where it was while claiming huge sums of money for transporting it fifty kilometres away.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Garbage Burning

Published in the Daily Times December 8, 2005

Sir: As if the damage caused to our respiratory systems by ingesting the dust raised on account of the never ending road and underpass-construction wasn't enough; we, the unfortunate residents of Clifton's Block 5, now have to breathe the carbon monoxide-laden smoke from the burning of garbage near the Two-Swords roundabout. And it's no use asking the nazim to do something about it. Environmental pollution seems to be too technical a subject for most Pakistanis to understand. Mind you, this is no ordinary locality.

The burning garbage lies within feet of the gate of the convent school that produced the country's only female prime minister so far. And there are many candidates in the vicinity. Not long ago, the garbage was taken away from the city to be dumped. But then, someone had the brilliant idea of burning it right where it was and claiming the money spent on transporting it.

SHAKIR LAKHANI

Karachi

Mapping ourselves over

Pulished in Daily Times  

Sir, 

There is talk about a new map showing a truncated Pakistan, which is causing much concern. Whoever made the map has suggested that parts of Iran and Pakistan be united to form a new country. Further, the proposed name of this new country is Balochistan. The northern Pashtun areas of Pakistan should be given to Afghanistan, leaving a truncated and demarked version of what was once though of re-drawing India's boundaries? After all, India is rife with communal and sectarian violence, with many freedom movements in which rebels are demanding independence. In some areas of the northeast, the writ of the state does not exist. 

Obviously, since Pakistan and Iran are Muslim countries, it is acceptable to talk of breaking them up, while a "secular" India, with its huge market remains a sacred cow and no one even dares consider dividing it into smaller units.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Baby ban

Published in The Friday Times on May 20-26, 2005

Sir, 

Sometimes you can't help wondering why government functionaries haven't been con-signed to mental institutions. I refer to the attempt to involve the ulema in the population planning program. Considering that orthodox maulvis have always opposed birth control, isn't it a bit too ambitious to ask them to do an about-turn now? Will their illiterate audiences take them seriously if they're told to limit the number of children they have to two or three? Despite the difficulties the common man faces in making ends meet, city-dwellers continue to have six children or more. The problem is compounded by the belief, common among the masses and reinforced by the ulema, that the non-Muslim world is keen to reduce the world's Muslim population. It will take years of education for the ulema to realise that resources are finite, and the only way for Muslims to prosper is to practice birth control. 

Shakir Lakhani, 

Karachi.