Opinion Friends again
A register of reports and views from the Pakistan press
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Friends again
Last year,when Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar visited India,she was promised by her Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna of a return visit in the near future. When he fulfilled that promise last week,the Pakistani press gave the trip positive coverage. Daily Times said in an editorial on September 10: Relations between the old foes linked by ties of geography,history,culture and many other shared values can be looked at in one of two ways: whether glass half-full or half-empty. Both descriptions carry a grain of truth,but neither is complete on its own. The progress made so far can be built upon to nudge both countries to a realisation of the dividends nestling in the lap of improved,if not friendly relations.
Noted Indo-Pak peace activist and journalist Imtiaz Alam wrote a front-page article in The News on September 10,calling the movement in bilateral ties slow but steady. More than for tactical reasons… as rightly claimed and professed by… Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar that change of policy in allowing trade with India opens new opportunities and moving forward on concurrences rather than being bogged down by divergences. India,on the other hand,should strengthen this new strategic shift in Pakistans India policy,if not a paradigm change,rather than exploiting the heightening pressures on Pakistan that will be tantamount to playing into the hands of extremists. While keeping the big picture in mind and taking a positive note of the civil-military consensus for peace with India,New Delhi must not haggle on Prime Minister [Manmohan Singhs visit to Islamabad.
Dawn,on September 10,reported an event with symbolic importance. For an Indian political leader to visit the symbol of Pakistans inception is no ordinary event. In scenes reminiscent of the day in 1999 when former Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee set foot on Minar-i-Pakistan and said his initiative was aimed at removing Pakistans misgivings that India had not accepted,at heart,the creation of this country,Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna visited on Sunday the monument to the 1940 Pakistan Resolution.
Up in flames
SEVERAL fires gutted industrial complexes across major cities in Pakistan this week. Calling it the countrys worst industrial disaster,The Express Tribune reported on a factory fire in Karachi on September 13: Around 259 people have died because of the fire… Up to 600 people were working inside at the time,in a building that officials said was in poor condition without emergency exits,forcing dozens to jump from upper storeys to escape the flames,but trapping dozens in the basement where they perished. Sindhs Minister for Industry and Commerce Rauf Siddiqui resigned over the tragedy on Friday.
Another factory in Lahore also went up in smoke. Dawn reported on September 12: Twenty-one people burned to death and 14 others suffered multiple injuries after a fire broke out in a shoe-manufacturing unit in Shafeeqabad… Most of the dead… were trapped inside the 10-marla factory because there was only one entry-exit point. The Express Tribunes website reported on September 14 that a fire had broken out in a commercial building in Islamabads Blue Area.
Archaic penalty
AN EDITORIAL in The Express Tribune on September 13 stated that the reason for industrial fire disasters fire in Pakistan was the obsolete electric wiring,made worse by the lack of separate entry and exit points in old industrial buildings. A report on the website of The News on September 14 explained the industrial negligence towards fire laws: Under [the Factory Act 1934,the owner will have to pay only Rs 500 in penalty over negligence in the protection of workers… Changes had been made in the Factory Act,promulgated [during British rule but it was not completely changed. The act further says that if the factory owner commits negligence a second time,the penalty will be Rs 750 and the penalty will be increased to Rs 1,000 the third time.
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