PILER envisions a just and equitable society: Zulfiqar Ali Shah

PILER envisions a just and equitable society: Zulfiqar Ali Shah

By Shahzad Ali Shah

Zulfiqar Ali Shah, born on 20th July, 1969 at village Wanjheri Sharif, Matiari. He is currently working as Joint Director with Pakistan Institute of Labor Education and Research (PILER).

“Long behind Schedule” is his latest research report (2007) which highlighted the plight of scheduled caste Hindus in Pakistan.

Prior to joining PILER in 2005, Mr Shah worked with The News International, a leading English daily of Pakistan.

In January 2005, he was awarded “Loenzo Natali Prize” by European Commission for writing on human rights and democracy.

Mr Shah holds a Masters degree in International Relations. He is a researcher and activist.

Q: NGOs claim to root out social evils, how do you view it?

A: NGOs are playing very important role in highlighting the issues which used to be hidden, particularly issues related to human rights violations. Different sections of the society should come forward and work together.

Q: What is difference in education system of Sindh and Punjab?

A: I don't think that there is big difference in education systems in Punjab and Sindh. Generally situation in Pakistan is bad and it get worse in rural Pakistan be it Punjab or Sindh. Other issue is that education has become a commodity so those who can afford can buy it and those who can't are let behind. If you evaluate then you will see that 50% of Pakistan's population is illiterate even in this 21st century. Poor people are more illiterate than well off.

Q: What's your NGO doing?

A: Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER), established in 1982, is a not-for-profit, non-government, citizen sector organization engaged in research, training and advocacy in the areas of labor rights and labor legislation, social justice and human development, and regional solidarity and peace.

PILER envisions a just and equitable society where fundamental rights of people are respected, ensured and guaranteed. In line with achieving its mission, PILER aims to promote a democratic and effective labor movement enabling people to exercise their core rights. We focus on strengthening people's organizations at the workplace and in their communities in their struggles to push market, society and state towards the economic justice of realizing secure and prosperous livelihoods.

Q: How do you see media role in development?

A: Media has very important role in development. It can influence the policy makers for a development which is sustainable and pro people. It can also play a role of watchdog and monitor the progress and performance.

Q: What is difference between media and NGO?

A: Media is a medium where as NGOs are non governmental organizations. Many NGOs depend on media for the implementation of their agenda. This way there is close relation between two but no comparison can be made. Both have different role to play. I think there is need for more cooperation and liaison between NGOs and media so that they can take up some joint initiatives for the uplift of common people.
Weekly Roshni -- Also visit www.weeklyroshni.com

Life is all about struggle

Life is all about struggle

Profile of Prof Dr Hafeez ur Rehman Memon

By Salman Lodhi

“Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob and to stand and fight if he thinks he's right. Treat him gently, but do not cuddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel”, these unparalleled words were rolled down in the streams of history by Abraham Lincoln. He asked the teacher of his son to teach him the elegant way of living.

Ages passed on and people kept on coming and going on pages of world. But only few projected the essence of these tremendous words.

Today, few stand apart from this world and posses their own identity. One such person is Professor Doctor Hafeez ur Rehman Memon.

He was born on February 1, 1958 in Diplo district of Tharparkar. It is a vague perception in our country that people living in urban areas can make distinctions in the world but Dr Hafeez proved it and set an example that achievers do not need conditions, they are born to live a life of prominence.

His primary and higher education was from schools of Diplo and Tando Adam respectively. To excel his education for professional career, he opted to do bachelors in Chemical Engineering from Dawood College of Engineering and Technology Karachi.

After completing his formal education up to graduate level, he performed his duties as Apprentice Chemical Engineer, Mehran Sugar Mills Tando Allahyar to earn his living.

Later, he switched his profession to teaching and was appointed as lecturer in Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro.

Though he switched his profession to teaching but being a teacher, his thirst for knowledge never ended.

Therefore, he intended to do Ph.D and did it successfully from University of Leeds, UK in 1996.He also posses additional qualification of Post Doctoral fellowship which he did from University of Leeds, UK in 2002-2003. He offered his duties as visiting professor at Napier University, Edenburough UK.

Today he is serving as Director, Petroleum Engineering at Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro.

Having an experience of 25 years in the field of teaching, research, administration and industry, Dr Hafeez has proved himself as one of the successful persons of world.

He is currently affiliated with Pakistan Engineering Council, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health of UK and Institute of Engineering Pakistan.

Dr Hafeez believes in healthy body along with healthy mind. He is fond of badminton and table tennis. In his school days, he used to play football.

He plays chess for mind exercise and walks to keep him hale and hearty. He is gentle and polite in nature.

He opines that it is far honorable to fail than to cheat. He has faith in his own ideas.

He helps students to get internships in industries. He is supervising five PhD students as he is a recognized supervisor by Higher Education Commission.

His recognitions tell the story of his hard work, determination, struggle and finally a triumph life.

He is a symbol of hope for those who believe that we have expertises who are not only expert in their fields of life but are also men of immense rectitude. Weekly Roshni

Thar means living nearer to nature

Thar means living nearer to nature

By Fareeha Ali

I had no idea that my visit to Mithi would be so enjoyable and memorable as it turned out to be. The road was passing through the desert, it was calm, quite, peaceful, and beautiful with lush green bushes, the desert wondered itself.

Whenever it rains the desert becomes more beautiful and road to Mithi becomes adorable. We entered Mithi through Benazir Gate, found huts deep inside the desert and stopped to have lassi and tea at Malanhore Veena village.

It is an ideal spot for tourists. You come close to nature by hearing the sounds of birds and wild animals.

we talk about people of Mithi, they are lovable, hospitable and polite. Once you are here you will forget the rest of the world.

Nothing has diverted the people of Mithi from their culture. Village life of these people is very natural, pure and interesting.

They face every problem of life collectively. Having a look at the life of people here we found most of them laborer and very few having government jobs like school teacher.

In this advanced era, this area lacks basic amenities of life like electricity, gas, water, school, hospital at most of the villages of Tharparkar, but in Mithi these basic needs are available to some extent.

I think for a while that every human being has a right to live and survive on earth with basic necessities.

After having a look of village life we went to visit main bazaar of Mithi from where I bought a hand made shawl, shirt, Ajrak, at low price.

Mithi is like a small bowl, we can see the beautiful view from top of the mount resort and it’s under construction place is named after former prime minister. Its view is same as that of Damn-e-Koh in Islamabad.

During this trip, I finally got a chance to visit Naukot Fort. I explored historical and cultural heritage which is fascinating and vibrant.

Naukot Fort, a fortified strong hold of Talpur period is situated three Kilometers North West of Naukot town at the edge of Thar Desert.

It was built by Mir Karam Ali Khan Talpur in 1814 A.D. The fort is divided into two portions, barracks and residential area. The main fort is 366ft in length and 318ft in breadth.

At main gate of fort, there is Small Square facing towards Thar Desert. The fort is made with burnt bricks laid with mud mortar and lime plaster.

The tapered fortification walls of fort are 4'.6" to 9'ft thick and roof is domed flat and vaulted at different places. The grandeur facade of fort makes it distinct from other fort.

The fort is now a perfect place for picnic. I hope that this special fort can be saved before it gets too late.

As our tour came to an end, we were on our way back, there were the magical scenes of Mithi in our minds and it was indeed a trip to remember. --- Wekly Roshni

Private Institutions, Shopping Malls of Education

Private Institutions, Shopping Malls of Education

By Ghulam Mustafa Shah

Now days, education has become one of the fastest growing business in the world. The educational institutions of public sector are collapsing while the private sector has made it a sellable commodity and earn unimaginable profits in the name of quality education.

It's been 64 years and we Pakistanis are still deprived of the basic amenities of life. Education plays a vital role in progress of any country.

It is education that has changed the fate of many countries and they have secured progressive positions in the race of global developments.

It does not mean that the people of such countries were aliens or they possessed some extra-ordinary intelligence or talent, but they focused upon their education. They utilized the talents of their people and produced professional expertise in every walk of life like politics, arts, medical, architecture, science etc.

Unfortunately, the education standard in our country could not be raised up to that level which could produce such professional specialists who can cope up with the swift pace of the era.

Our public sector educational institutions have failed to provide quality education. They are doomed in the darkness of corruption from primary to university level.

Where as, the breeding private sector educational institutions are just like a shopping mall, which offer degrees of different quality brands and those who can afford, they purchase those degrees.

The motive of such institutions should be promotion of education, but unfortunately, its not. Such people have tagged education as the best profitable business.

They earn huge amounts in the name of costly fee structures, stationary shops and canteens inside the campuses of schools, colleges and universities.

If we analyze the standard of education and social environment of these institutions, we come to know that these are similar to western culture in context of attitude and students behavior, but not in education.

They are eager to follow west by all regards, except standard of education. Perhaps it raises a question here that do they even know what education is?

Martin Luther king says: "Intelligence and attitude are the true Goals of

Education", but it is very sad to see that pupils of private educational institutions are unaware of positive attitudes.

They lack the basic morals of our society like respecting parents, teachers, elders and showing affection to younger.

On the contrary, if you observe illiterate and uneducated people of rural areas, you will be amazed to see that they posses good character and solid behavior.

They are much better then those so called literate and educated people of private educational institutions. At least they know the fundamental morals and rituals of mankind.

If education of private sector turns a man to a misbehaving person then it is better to lead an ignorant life.

Such education sector which is a threat to our moral values must be dealt with positive and constructive approach, so that we may be able to convert that system into real

education breeding industry.

The government should take measures to improve the educational as well as moral standards of both private and public sector educational institutions.

It is the responsibility of every member of a society to think about education and its system. If today we would continue living in slumber of ignorance then our tomorrow would be a path of darkness for coming generations. -- Weekly Roshni

Revival of Pakistani Dramas

Revival of Pakistani Dramas

By Ghulam Mustafa Shah

Now days, Pakistani drama has given a setback to the dramas of Star plus. With powerful script, limited episodes, soulful stories and the efforts of drama makers, Pakistani drama has once again reached at the peaks of glory.

This credit goes to the story writers who focused many issues of society and these stories touch the heart of many people all over the country.

In the very early days of television in Pakistan, there was only one TV channel, Pakistan Television Network (PTV) which telecasted many popular dramas like Dhuwan, Dhoop Kinaray, Zeest etc.

City and village markets used to get empty when these dramas were telecasted because these dramas were purely based on fine stories with powerful script and no glamour was shown in these dramas. Such popularity leads them to achieve many awards at national as well as international level. This was the glorious period of Pakistani drama.

After 2003, our drama copied the culture of Star plus and our drama badly lost their original position.

But few years back, most of Pakistani people especially females were crazy about star plus drama and they adopted the whole culture of star plus in their personal lives. Their living styles also became much like Indian culture which is not acceptable in our society.

Consequently, the Pakistani drama makers were compelled to make such drama, which projected Indian culture.

These dramas badly affected every aspect of our life and created various problems in our families so it bored audience of watching these endless dramas.

Soon drama makers and audience realized that such kind of dramas violates our culture and cross values of our society.

After Mumbai attacks, India started a media war against Pakistan. Even our stars which were performing there were treated hatefully which caused a wave of hatred in the minds of Pakistani public. Thus this event also changed the media policies even in drama making.

Pakistani drama makers realized that our drama should be free of Indian cultural elements which are not acceptable in our society so they started the old way of drama making which was based upon limited episodes and fine stories with powerful scripts.

Many old and new writers again wrote new stories of our modern society. They criticized and focused over different social issues. Among those dramas Meri An Suni Kahani of Hum TV and Meri Zaat Zara-e- Benishan of GEO TV were very much popular.

Now days, Pakistani youth, especially girls gossip about the social issues of our own society instead of discussing Saas bhi kabhi Bahu thi and Kum kum.

Private media channels like GEO, ARY Digital, HUM TV, TVONE etc are making good serials which include our own cultural elements rather than Indian culture. Because of these changes Pakistani people appreciate these dramas very much.

Same glory of Pakistani drama is being revived and now many popular dramas are being telecasted. Those dramas have earned soul popularity among audience at national and international level. Weekly Roshni

Life of flat dweller, a curse

Life of flat dweller, a curse

By Mehwish Rehman

I was moving towards my destination after hard and tiring routine of everyday's work. I had hardly reached at the centre portion of my plaza, suddenly I was welcomed by a packet of garbage. Somehow I managed to keep my self safe from becoming target of that troublful moment. After that when I entered in my flat and was just taking a sigh of relief in my room, a voice struck my ears, “pani tapak raha ha”. That was my neighbor living from a flat beneath my flat, who was getting bothered by the water drops falling from wet clothes which were hung so that they could be dried.

After all this, my mind said to me that it is a hard fact of life that life in flats is not less then a curse.

It's a universal truth that flowers are always accompanied with thorns. So where there are some advantages, there lay some disadvantages as well.

One family living in flat expressed their thought that among all problems, disturbance of privacy is the major issue.

Due to closely packed rooms, privacy of family matters becomes an open matter which is very unbearable.

Some flats are designed very well and lots of facilities are also available but due to bad response of different communities, the equilibrium is disturbed.

Females living in flats say that another problem is congested kitchens which affects health as smoke and steam of cooking mixes with the air and creates inhalation problem.

Due to congested area, air and noise pollution also becomes an obstacle in the path of smooth life. The availability of low space, even does not allow the rays of sun to enter in rooms. In winters, people face lot of difficulty due to no access of sunlight.

A bachelor, Dr Qamar Shahbaz who has experience of flat life style, share his opinion that he has lived in flats throughout his life and mostly he faced problem of water.

Sometimes he has to go hospital without taking a bath and often leakage of water in bath room teased him a lot.

Then finally he decided to leave this cursed life and went to another place. Every person in this global village wants to take a breath in an open area, not in a congested place like flat.

Now days, flats and apartments have become a symbol of developed countries. Citizens of any country are not up to equal status and all of them can not afford to live in palaces. Therefore, flats do have an important position in the global eye.

But the worst conditions of infrastructure in our flats degrade its importance. A stern action and measure should be taken to save this global need from becoming the victim of bad management.

Hopefully, life in flat would not be a curse then. Weekly Roshni

An Aggravating Mill

An Aggravating Mill
Mehran SUgar Mill and People of Tando Allahyar
By Iqbal Jarwar

Robert Orben said that there is so much pollution in the air that if it was not for our lungs there would be no place to put it all.

We can say that sugar industries of our country can be considered as a backbone of agriculture despite the dearth of sugarcane due to the scarcity of water for cultivation.

At one hand, these industries are source of economic stability for our country, while on the other hand, their chimneys throw a high volume of chemical pollutants which deteriorate our natural environment and create trouble for people.

Mehran Sugar Mill Tandoallahyar also depicts such a plight. It is situated at two to three kilometers away from south of Tandoallahyar at Tandoadam road and it is adding to the miseries of residents due to chemicals thrown from chimneys.

The sugar industry is basically seasonal in nature and operates only for one hundred twenty to two hundred days of year. Significantly, a large volume of waste generated during the manufacturing process of sugar contains a high amount of suspended solids, organic matter, biogases, press mud etc. The inhabitants of the area are specially facing the problem of press mud which not only creates suffocation but also pose hygienic threats. The women get tired of cleaning their houses because they clean their houses once but same situation turns out after few minutes.

It means that situation never changes and residents feel helpless to overcome this type of prolonged trauma.This whole situation turned into furious and rage reaction of city dwellers against sugar mill administration and owners. They held protest demonstrations as they felt that there in no other way out.

This protest finally forced the sugar mill administration to launch pollution prevention technology known as designation plant.

Unfortunately, this plant had not been installed as yet and residents are facing prolonged problem of pollution.

However, this initiative taken by Ibrahim Memon, the owner of Mehran Sugar Mill, gave a hope to the residents. They eulogized this decision and hoped a better future. Apparently, it seems that the dreams of the people would come true but still some questions arise in their minds that would sugar mill administration translate its initiative into action or would it be a consolation to make the people feel happy and comfortable? Would problem of pollution virtually be eliminated after launching the designation plant?

Mr Kafeel, Technical Officer at Mehran sugar mill stated that after launching this plant, all complaints of the residents would be resolved.

People of Tandoallahyar want this decision to be implemented in letter and spirit. Change is a buzz word as according to John F Kennedy “change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to lose future”. Same situation stands for the people of Tando Allahyar as they also want to change their circumstances.

Their hue and cry is justified because industries are meant to provide better infrastructure to a state but when that very source of prosperity becomes a cause of suffering then people agitate and demand for their basic rights.

The government should take stern action to provide relief and should take prevention measures to avoid such kind of problems because its not only case of Tandoallahyar but similar cases lay down in various other parts of country as well where people are deprived of their fundamental amenities of life.-- Weekly Roshni