Forlorn in a hospital
Naimat Bibi is a cancer patient in the ENT-I ward of Jinnah Hospital. A widow who came along with her mother-in-law from a village near Rahimyar Khan a month and a half back, has no attendant. The women in the ward bring food for her and what does she take - only liquids through tube attached to her nose. On Wednesday this week she had not taken any food till 3pm. This was revealed when the nurse on duty asked her if she had had food. And how does she take that on her own? One wonders. How does she put her food in the tube all by herself.

Lahore characters
Time to celebrate a marriage
By Asha'ar Rehman
In Kuwait, as I presume in other countries of the Gulf, the expatriates do not celebrate the purchase of a car. The celebrations precede or follow, as the case may be, the purchase of the car be it a Chevrolet or a Merc. It is the acquisition of a driving licence that brings real joy to the people. From my days there in the 1990s, I remember a gentleman blushing with genuine pride as he distributed sweets in the office to mark the big day. It had taken him full five years to get hold of the small document. For some time now, I have been wondering whether it will be feasible to apply the same formula to how and even more so when we celebrate marriages in Pakistan.

The fast increasing incidents of car/motorbike snatching and thefts in the city are a matter of great concern for the law enforcement authorities and the victims of such incidents. Though the incidents have become a matter of routine for the authorities, the direct victims in such cases find it hard to come over the trauma. They cannot forget, for years, the dreadful sight of snatchers pointing lethal weapons at them and later on running away with their costly possessions.

As most of the new cars and motorbikes seen on the city roads are financed by banks and leasing companies, they automatically come with a comprehensive insurance cover. This means that in case these vehicles are damaged, destroyed or even lost/snatched, the insurance company would pay for the loss faced by the owner of the vehicle. But in practice, it is not as simple as it appears on paper.

On approaching the insurance company for claim, the victim realises that his worries are far from over. He is asked to produce a number of documents and go through endless formalities that are enough to break his back.

The ordeal of Mukhtar Ahmed of Baghbanpura is one case in point. He runs rent-a-car business in the area and has got three cars leased from different banks. In January this year, one of his cars was stolen while it was in possession of his client. Mukhtar immediately informed his bank about the incident and filed an application for the settlement of the claim. What he wanted was that the insurance company should pay the amount as early as possible so that he could get another car leased. This he wanted to keep his business running. But soon he came to know that there was a long wait in store for him and lots of formalities to be fulfilled.

"My first confrontation was with the concerned police station staff. They were least willing to register an FIR. Every time I went there, they asked me to come again. This was very difficult for me as I had to take my client with me every time I went to the police station," Mukhtar says while talking to The News on Sunday. At last, he had to appear before the concerned Superintendent of Police (SP) who ordered the police station to register the FIR.

After that Mukhtar had to inform the motor vehicle registration authority about the theft, file an application with the anti-car lifting squad, produce ownership certificate and follow several other requirements. And it took many days and more than one visit to all these places. On the whole, it took Mukhtar around five months to get his claim settled. Mukhtar claims that the amount paid by the insurance company to the bank was much less than the market price of the stolen vehicle. The plea that the insurance company had taken was that the value of the stolen vehicle had depreciated with the passage of time.

On behalf of insurance companies, Haroon Bukhari of New Jubilee Insurance (NJI) tells TNS that not all the insurance companies create problems for their clients. Most of the companies have no problem in settling the claims as it is the very purpose they are there for. He says the aim of insurance is to compensate the owner against loss arising from a variety of risks, which he anticipates, to his life, property and business. To provide this cover, the insurance companies charge a regular premium from its clients and invest it in businesses to earn profits.

"This means the insurance companies are not paying from their own pockets. Instead, they are paying from what they have earned from their investments and the premium collected from their clients. So, there is no question of being unwilling to pay genuine claims," he adds.

The hassles if any, Haroon says, are for the reason to ensure that people are making genuine claims. There have been cases that people who could not pay regular installments sold their cars and told their banks that they had been stolen. That's why surveyors appointed by insurance companies question and cross-question their clients to ensure that what they are saying is 100 per cent true.

He goes on to say that there are complaints that insurance companies are charging high premiums from clients in collusion with banks. This is not true, the premium is high only for those car models that are the most vulnerable to theft, he says. For example, the comprehensive insurance cost for Suzuki Mehran is between 7 to 8 per cent as compared to 4 to 5 per cent for the others like Hyundai and Honda.

This is because of the reason that Mehran is highly vulnerable to theft. "As Mehran's model has not been changed for more than a decade, its parts as well as engine are highly in demand. Whereas, Honda changes its model every three years and is less prone to theft. The more rigid a company is in changing its model, the more vulnerable it is to theft," he says.

A moharrar at Misri Shah police station tells TNS that the police deals with all cases of vehicle theft in a similar fashion, whether they be about insured vehicles or not. He denies claim that police avoids registering FIRs against thefts and says, "we do sometimes take time as we are not sure whether the vehicle has been stolen/snatched or hidden by the applicant himself. And we are justified in taking our time. While the owner of an insured car gets money from the insurance company, we have to recover it to avoid the wrath of our seniors."

The murder of three children by their father on June 20 in Lahore draws attention to the issue of untreated psychotic patients in the society. The accused father, Ashraf Butt, 42, was himself shot dead in police custody thus making the motives of the infanticides uncertain. However, the father's initial statements before the police and his relatives' accounts of his personality point to the possibility that he was suffering from some psychosis which might have led to the killings.

In the initial police questioning, Ashraf Butt told the police that he was dying every moment and thought as to what would happen to his three daughters after his death. So, according to his reported statement, he decided to kill his three daughters. Iqra was nine years old, Samra five and Isha three. He cut their throats turn by turn when they were asleep and muzzled their voices with his hand. After this, he took bath, changed his clothes, told his wife about this and voluntarily appeared before the police.

Ashraf's wife, Sughra, says his husband was a good man and a loving father. She says he used to take drugs but had given up for some time. His young brother, Arshad, says one year ago Ashraf had fallen mentally ill and was treated in the General Hospital Lahore. The residents of the locality say that lately he was keeping company with black magic practitioners. No one says Ashraf was suffering from any economic hardship. He was a tailor employed in a garments factory. However, the policemen initially investigating his case say he had left a written statement in which he talked about the guilt of indulging in homosexuality.

From the reported statements of Ashraf Butt to the police and the circumstances pointed out by his close relatives, psychiatrists say a complex picture emerges of his personality with variations. Dr Sumaira, a consultant psychiatrist at Bismillah Hospital, Lahore, says the exact motive behind killing the girls could only be known after talking to him and seeing what was in his mind and what was his psycho pathology. She says now we can only make guesses.

Psychologist Sumaira says that there is a possibility that Ashraf might have taken the lives of his daughters under the influence of drugs as he is said to have history of using drugs. Dr Nasir Saeed, associate professor of Psychiatry at the Services Hospital Lahore, also says that the use of drugs is an important point, but the account attributed to him has variations and also point to the symptoms of delusional disorder, a type of psychosis in which one person starts believing in some idea that may seem abnormal to others. Sumaira says sometime depressed patients may also kill their near and dear ones to save them from some hardship in their view.

Mujtaba Riaz, a young doctor of psychiatry, narrates his recent experience of a patient of delusional disorder at Kot Lakhpat Jail who had murdered his son because of his belief that he was ordered by God to do so like Prophet Ibrahim was ordered to slaughter his son Ismail. He says 95 percent patients of psychosis suffer from delusional disorder. A small percentage of psychotic patients start believing in more than one idea of their own making and they are categorised as schizophrenic.

Dr Sumaira says a delusional disorder only affects one part of the patient's personality and the remaining personality remains intact, that is why he looks normal and may suddenly do something abnormal. She says sometimes such patients do show symptoms of depression. The doctor says delusional disorder could be an inherited disease or it may be the result of malfunctioning of brain's neuro-transmitters.

Psychiatrists say that depression, delusional disorder or other psychological diseases can be treated but the problem is in our culture -- psychological diseases are not recognised as diseases. Dr Nasir Saeed says people shy away from psychological treatment to avoid stigma as the society would label them as mentally ill. He says people consider depression is caused due to bad circumstances and would go away with them and do not go to doctors.

Nasir Saeed says studies in Pakistan have shown that 14 to 20 percent of the population or nearly 30 million people are suffering from depression but only five percent out of them or 1.5 million consult psychologists or doctors. Even out of this number only 20 percent patients or 300,000 get full treatment while others leave half way.

Psychiatrists say one per cent population in every society suffers from schizophrenia and in our country there could be 1.6 million patients of this disease, but only a few hundred patients of schizophrenia consult doctors. Dr Nasir says there are only about 400 psychiatrists in a country of 160 million people because most trained doctors have left the country due to unemployment.

Dr Sumaira says that not only the father who killed his three young daughters but the policeman who shot him dead in custody could be suffering from some psychological disorder because he showed an emotionally unstable mind. The gory incident caused grief and sorrow in the city, but more than that it highlights the issue of untreated psychopaths among us who may cause much more serious damage than this one if a majority of them remain untreated as is the situation at the moment.

The traffic flow has increased immensely over the last six-seven years in the city which has exacerbated the already existing traffic problems in the metropolis. Government is spending billions of rupees on roads projects undertaken by National Highway Authority (NHA) and Communication and Works (C&W) department across the province. Among them the work on Ring Road is going on since 2005 while the project of the expansion of Canal Road is under consideration to ease the flow of traffic.

For those entering or leaving the city from GT Road there is a lot of suffering. Railway Phatak I-1 is used for entering Lahore and I-1A for leaving it. They remain closed for 10-15 minutes on average but sometimes it takes more then 20 minutes for a goods train to pass through this phatak. The traffic here is huge and there is no alternate route one can take. This causes time loss in the first place other than great irritation to those waiting for the pathaks to open. Mornings and evenings particularly try the commuters' patience here because that is the time when they are moving towards their work places or homes.

Imagine an emergency patient getting trapped here. The traffic jam is a regular feature which is there round the clock throughout the year. Everybody from the residential areas close to this place and the daily users of this road are complaining about this problem.

Twenty-two trains pass through this phatak daily from 4:30am to 10:00pm, so a train passes approximately after every 45 minutes and everytime it passes through this passage it takes 10-20 minute. The trains which come to Lahore take much more time than those which depart from here. Various surveys have been conducted by government to build a flyover over this phatak in the last many years but the project could not materialise. Until now work on this project has not started. The problem would remain there till the construction of overhead bridge.

A gate keeper at Imamia Colony phatak says, "People always quarrel with us about this blockade. But we can't change it by ourselves. There is no 'tradle bell' and 'down signal' for the last two years. Tradle bells are installed to forewarn the gatekeeper of the arrival of a train while it is three kilometres away from the phatak. In its absence the station master at the previous station makes a phone call to the gate keeper to inform him about the arrival of the train. We close phatak over his confirmation but sometimes a train takes more time than expected. This is the busiest road so a huge traffic rush gathers here which irritates people and they exchange harsh word with us. But people know us so they do not cross finger with us."

The concerned authorities are least bothered about this problem. Niether the Pakistan Railway nor the NHA under whose supervision it falls, tried to solve this problem. Niether Pakistan Railway gave any advanced system to their employees to minimise the blockade at the phatak nor NHA built any flyover to ease the traffic flow without any hurdle.

TNS talked to various people from all walks of life including the travelers, transporters, NHA and chief engineers of Pakistan Railway.

Mrs. Farhat, a banker who travels daily on this road from Kamoki to Lahore says, "I get trapped in this traffic blockade twice a day -- in the morning when I travel to Lahore and then in the evening when I return home. It is rare that I pass through this place smoothly. I have complained against this to the higher authorities several times but to no avail. Actually, phatak shouldn't be closed for more than eight minutes because this road has bumper to bumper traffic. Sometimes it takes more then twenty minutes for the phatak to open. Once when I complained to phatak master he said he closed the gate only when he got the signal from the previous station master. The phatak blockade takes more time when the train enters Lahore. The NHA must build a flyover to facilitate commuters on this road," she says.

Raja Khalil Afzal, a regular user of this raod, says government has started many new projects in the city but it never tried to execute this one. Pakistan Railways officials say that the problem can't be solved until a bridge is constructed on this road, while the NHA blames Pakistan Railways for not handling the situation according to set rules. The commuters do not know whom to complain about this problem. "Actually nobody knows in this country about his duties and rights. I have been using this road since last eight years. The problem of traffic jam is increasing with every passing day. There must be a flyover to reduce people's sufferings here. Now, I mostly take long route to avoid this blockade. I spend more fuel but I get mental comfort at least."

Chief Engineer Pakistan Railways, Ali Hassan Toori defends himself saying, "we solve such complaints on daily basis. It is impossible that there is any problem in 'bells' and 'signals'. There is no such complaint in my knowledge. I think if there is any problem then the divisional superintendent must have solved all the complaints himself." He totally denied the facts collected from various sources. He says the traffic jam will remain there till the construction of a bridge over the phatak.

Chaudhry Khalid Naeem, Director General of NHA says various surveys have been conducted by NHA here. "This project will start within two to three months. An agreement has been signed between NHA and a Malaysian firm to make this flyover. The bridge will cost 4.5 billion rupees. Pakistan Railways should manage the traffic till that time. They should reduce the timing of gate closure from twenty to seven minutes. Then there will be less problems for the road users," he says.

While the conservationists and people representing the minorities criticise the demolition of another building of historical importance in the walled city due to excessive commercialisation, the authorities deny it was a building of historical or religious significance. Widely referred to in the media as Krishna Mandir, the old building has given way to a multi story plaza being constructed by one of the jewelers in the Wacchhoowali bazaar in the walled city. That the building was a Hindu temple is being contested by the Evacuee Property Trust Board (EPTB) officials who say that the site was not a Hindu temple and that the building has been misquoted in the press as Krishna Mandir which is actually located at Ravi Road.

The people in possession of the place say that they have violated no rules. "The area which is about four marlas had been leased out to us by the EPTB this year for a period of thirty years," informs Khwaja Sohail Naseem, tenant of the place. "There were twelve families living at the place. The building was in such a bad state that it could come down any moment. In the year 2001 the Ravi Town administration had issued notice for its demolition. We have followed the rules and have been paying the rent to the government regularly."

Khwaja says the residents living at the place have made a good deal out of it. "We have paid each family three to five lakh rupees so that they could go to a better place. We had to demolish the building ourselves to avoid accident," he says.

Wachhoowali, a commercial and residential area in the walled city can be accessed through Suha Bazar and Chhata Bazar. It has several Hindu temples. The temples in Lahore and other parts of Pakistan are managed and maintained by the EPTB. Each temple is rented out by the EPTB to tenants for commercial or residential purposes.

Haji Khwaja Naseem, patron Naseem Jewelers denies that the building was a Hindu temple. "I'm living in the walled city for the last many decades. I know for a fact that there was no Hindu temple at the place and nobody ever came to offer their prayers there. There are other Hindu temples in the area that are well protected and where Hindus go to offer prayers. Nobody spoke up when the building was in tatters. The whole story has been fabricated," he says.

The EPTB Scheme for Management and Disposal of Urban Evacuee Trust Properties categorically prohibits the sale or demolition of an evacuee trust property that is part of a shrine, a religious place or a building of historical or architectural importance.

The Evacuee Property Trust Board (EPTB) officials deny that any facts have been concealed to obtain approval to allow a private developer to demolish the building at Wachhoowali, Rang Mahal and raise a commercial building in its place. They say no rules of EPTB's scheme for management and disposal of the urban evacuee trust properties have been violated. "Our point of view is very clear on the issue. The actual Krishna Mandir is situated at Ravi Road," says Ghulam Sarwar, deputy secretary, EPTB. "Ijaz-ul-Haq, Minister for religious affairs has categorically stated that and has invited L K Advani, the Indian politician, to come over and see for himself." Sarwar does not comment on the matter further. "In fact the matter has been referred to the court by somebody in Rawalpindi. Since the court has taken up the issue we cannot give a detailed version on that," he says.

Ravi Town officials say the building had been issued notice because it was in a very bad state. "We issue notices to residents of dilapidated buildings before the monsoon on a regular basis. Notice to the building in question was issued under the same programme," says Ahmed Husnain, town officer regulations (TOR). Husnain does not think it shows lack of coordination between Ravi Town and EPTB. "Our notice says two things. The owners of a dilapidated building have either to get the building repaired or vacate it. The notice is also meant for the concerned departments of the government to repair the building or vacate it to be demolished." Husnain says the plaza being constructed is illegal. "As we know the building plan of the plaza has not been approved by the town administration which is illegal," he says.

Ajaz Anwer, a prominent conservationist does not believe in what the EPTB and the Ravi Town officials say. He rejects claims of both the departments. "We all know that there is a big land mafia operating in Lahore that wants to grab all the land. They include both the government officials and other people. They are trying to divert people's attention from this issue by saying that it was not a holy site. It seems that all the rules pertaining to the protection and conservation of historical and religious buildings have been violated. We as Muslims are custodians of places which are sacred to other religions," he says.

Some members of the National Assembly belonging to the Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Muslim League-N and other parties have moved a motion against the demolition of the temple, saying such an act could affect Pakistan's relations with India. "I don't have the exact facts before me right now. But I would say that protection of religious sites and buildings is the responsibility of the government of Pakistan as the constitution is quite clear on that," says Farid Ahmed Piracha, a politician from Jamat-e-Islami. "Secondly, the issue highlights how powerful the land mafia is in our country. The site may not be a holy temple but it may be a holy site nonetheless. As a representative of the MMA I would suggest that a proper inquiry should be held on the issue and the culprits should be brought to book."

The trouble erupted in the last days of July 2005 and the students had an idea of it, but they very innocently believed that the people who were at the helm of affairs would redress their grievance. The Paper IV of Literary Criticism of M.A English Part-II on July 31 had put the candidates at the examination centres into a complete disarray when they received a question paper which was out of course; two new writers Raymond Williams and Catherine Belsey had been included 'secretly' in the syllabus just two months back with their books Modern Tragedy and Critical Practice, respectively.

Earlier, the inclusion of the two new writers was just a rumour, that was believed by some and rejected by the others. "I could not believe that the syllabus could be changed just two months back," a lecturer said adding that he did not teach the new writers. While the teachers were themselves completely at a loss as to how they could deliver lectures on the new books and the writers, a student told The News on Sunday that the grossness of the situation was further compounded by the fact that the books by the new writers on critical appreciation were not available in the market.

A student Saima, who is herself a victim to the university's 'innovation', told TNS that the students at the examination centre at Government Fatima Jinnah College, Chuna Mandi, were baffled by the question paper that included two questions on the new writers. "On seeing reaction of the students, the superintendent assured us of requesting the university to grant 25 grace marks to compensate for the two out of course questions," she said.

In mid August that year, the students passed their one examination comprising five papers, by then their other examination had started. Their fate was hanging in balance and they were put in a position of 'wait and see'. They could do nothing except pray to God for kind heartedness of the authorities. But there was nothing like this. The result that was declared on May 26 dampened all hopes of leniency, and a number of students were declared fail just because of that one paper.

When the affected students called on Controller Examinations Taqi Butt to press for their demand of grace marks on the plea that the inclusion of the two writers was sudden and untimely, the controller said the case had already been discussed for a period of one month that delayed announcement of the result, but grace marks were denied on the plea that it will become a precedence.

A candidate, requesting not to be named, told TNS that when the controller was asked to grant the favour, he contended it was a result of selective study not that of out-of-course paper. Another student said the vice-chancellor was willing to consider the case but the rudeness of protesting male candidates forced him to take his decision back.

When contacted, Punjab University Public Relations Officer Karamat Cheema told TNS that the case was still on table. He said Vice-Chancellor Lt-Gen (Retd) Arshad Mahmood was kind enough to grant grace marks but the rowdy behaviour of students during a protest outside the VC office, deteriorated the case, forcing the vice-chancellor to deny any such favour to the students. He, however, clarified that efforts were under way to convince the VC to grant the required grace marks.

Naimat Bibi is a cancer patient in the ENT-I ward of Jinnah Hospital. A widow who came along with her mother-in-law from a village near Rahimyar Khan a month and a half back, has no attendant. The women in the ward bring food for her and what does she take - only liquids through tube attached to her nose. On Wednesday this week she had not taken any food till 3pm. This was revealed when the nurse on duty asked her if she had had food. And how does she take that on her own? One wonders. How does she put her food in the tube all by herself.

She is frail like a leaf. She was hopeful that all will be well once she is exposed to radiation but she felt terrible after that. She has been marked for eighteen such exposures and has no attendant. Her sister-in-law, her husband's elder brother's wife, had been attending to her but has stopped coming now. First, her radiation was delayed and only after the first day of her exposure to radiation the machine at the hospital went out of order. However, the machine was luckily repaired after two days. It could have been five days as well because Saturdays and Sundays are off days of the radiation machine.

Her case was shown to Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital (SKCH) and the doctor rejected it saying radiation is the only treatment she can get and that she is getting at Jinnah Hospital. As a matter of policy, SKCH also does not take patients already being treated in another hospital.

The doctors and the other hospital staff is kind to her. She is getting free treatment there. But you meet her and say few kind words to her and you will feel her eyes following you everywhere, imploring to stay there, with her. "I am alone. I have no attendant. I need one. I feel extremely weak," she will say and show you her hands which seem to have no blood in them. Her eyes well with tears at the slightest enquiry. She does not get news of her three children who are staying with her sister in her village near Rahimyar Khan. Her eldest child is 11 and youngest two and a half years old. Her parents have died. After four days of staying with Naimat Bibi, her mother-in-law asked for leave from the doctors and when they refused to allow Naimat Bibi to go back, her mother-in-law left her. The nurse on duty says Naimat's sister-in-law has been good to her but perhaps she has also given up. Nobody enquires about her or visits her anymore.

Naimat Bibi and people like her need an attendant in the first place, somebody who would stay with them part of the day, feed them and help them with whatever is necessary and be kind with words. Hope she finds one.

"To mercy, pity, peace and love

All pray in their distress

And to these virtues of delight

Return their thankfulness."

-- By Saadia Salahuddin

In Kuwait, as I presume in other countries of the Gulf, the expatriates do not celebrate the purchase of a car. The celebrations precede or follow, as the case may be, the purchase of the car be it a Chevrolet or a Merc. It is the acquisition of a driving licence that brings real joy to the people. From my days there in the 1990s, I remember a gentleman blushing with genuine pride as he distributed sweets in the office to mark the big day. It had taken him full five years to get hold of the small document. For some time now, I have been wondering whether it will be feasible to apply the same formula to how and even more so when we celebrate marriages in Pakistan.

Evidence -- and not from the recent past alone -- suggests that it is quite hazardous to celebrate a marriage at the time the knot is tied. Before you dig your teeth into the sumptuous meat and before you roll your tongues over the show of wealth, spare a moment to think about the consequences of the union. Going by the horrendous part that could follow next, the joyous scenes involving the immaculately-dressed gents and ladies may look a bit out of place to say the least. Sombre robes typifying the suspicion and the hope that prevails at such times would be in order.

It could well be the start of a disaster for one or both partners in the agreement. With such uncertainty in the air wouldn't it be wise to postpone the ceremonies until such time when both partners can vouch for the success of their marriage? Leave out everything else, the arrangement would take care of the children's old desire to be a part of their parents' wedding party.

There cannot be a timeframe in which to judge just how successful or not a marriage has been. In some cases, I know the couples would be tempted to put the successful tag on their marriage a week into it. They could be advised to be a little more cautious about their judgement since the headiness of the initial period can often camouflage the real currents inherent in a relationship as tricky as this one.

This initial period could in many cases be spread over many years. Could it then be a decade of marriage? Is ten years sufficient period to be sure that you two are happy and more importantly, will be happy? It could be a celebration of resolve alright, but in this fickle, ever beckoning world, you never know. The decade-wise reflections may provide with more reasons to try and seek a way out than to remain loyal to your immature vows.

The number of children could have been a yardstick. For the sake of clarity, we could have fixed the birth of the first or second or third child as sufficient proof of a successful marriage. But I tend to disfavour the proposal simply because I am appalled at the exploitation of children as the sole saviours of all marriages in our literature, in our films and indeed in our life.

Since my chagrin against what is the norm is not limited to children as guarantors of long, even if often joyless, marriages, I will love to see all these makers of brides young and beautiful who occupy the television screens these days as the maulvis did back in Zia's time given a run for their money.