Both shades of doctor’s story

Both shades of doctor’s story

By Falak Sher Khan

The profession of a Doctor is quiet respectful if one sees it in that perspective. Doctors in Pakistan are respected highly for their humanitarian profession. Lately this well respected profession has come under harsh criticism due to the occurrence of different mishaps. One after another report has defamed the whole organization. Doctors who were once seen as life-saving paragons are now deemed incapable of any humanity. We’re all quite aware that this sudden swing in attitude is entirely wrong and we’re conveying a very damaging visage about our nation being one that is biased & one which has an unstable attitude toward matters. The media is playing a major negative role as well by accepting & not trying to dismantle both accounts of a very complex story. Doctors from our country have served not only our community but they perform their duties world over. There’s no doubt that there are medical practitioners in the community who have changed their priorities of serving humanity towards serving their own desires. They can be blamed and even condemned but not all doctors are the same. Complaints by patients of irresponsible attitude from doctors carry weight & the medical community should take notice of the elements behind it. But being a doctor in the Government or Private sector is no pleasant walk in the park. So, let’s analyze some of the major variables that come into play during a doctor-patient relation.

Let’s shed some light on the immensely infamous Govt sector first. A good friend of mine is a District Management Officer, an official concerned with health & education related issues. According to him, there are rarely any serious charges against private practicing doctors. The reason behind this is that they are not supervised at all by any Government dept, whatsoever, and even the EDO (Executive District Officer) is only limited to Government hospitals. Doctors serving at Govt hospitals face serious consequences on even minor mistakes. But Govt hospitals are short of facilitation which can be given to patients. To be a little more specific, Govt hospitals in Pakistan are not providing the basic health facilities & responsibilities mentioned in the “Devolved Health Services Practitioners” Manual both Vol. 1 & 2. The Minimum Services Delivery Standards (MSDS) have two principal objectives, first they provide a common set of requirements applicable to whole health care system & second, they provide a framework for continuous improvement in overall quality of health. It seems that both of these objectives are waiting to be applied.

Facts & figures to be kept by the Health Dept have been distorted to such an extent that they are unable to even provide the Mortality rate. It saddens my heart to reveal that in our country, the maternal mortality rate (MMR) is approximately 500 deaths per 100,000 births, while it is highest in Balochistan at 673. One of the major reasons for this high maternal mortality rate is malnutrition, which affects 34% of all pregnant women in Pakistan. Around 48% of lactating mothers living in rural areas have a calorie intake of 70% less than the recommended level.

The standard list of medical equipment given by the Govt for RHC (Rural Health Centre) states that a total of 212 equipments & 93 medicines need to be available at all times. It also renders compulsory the use of gloves & round-the-clock availability of oxygen cylinder. Both are usually unavailable. The official human resource (staff) of DHQ Hospital for the 250-400 beds hospital is 20 specialists, 84 Medical officers (General Physicians), 2 dental surgeons, a nursing staff of 86, 52 paramedics & 201 other hospital related staff. Still, patients are unable to get proper treatment from our Govt hospitals, there are persistent complaints by patients about Govt doctors that they do not diagnose them properly or advice them to come to their private clinics in the evening. Registrars who set appointment for patients or commonly known as ‘Parchi givers’ humiliate patients in rural areas. Another depressing situation takes birth from the outpour of amateur and reckless medical interns, who usually learn by continuously practicing on our deprived class which leads to the ubiquitous cases the likes of which we read in newspapers of surgical instruments or towels left in the abdomens of the patient after the surgery. Drug inspectors are another cause of dysfunction. According to pharmacy owners, out of the100 medicines taken by drug inspectors, a measly 10 makes it to the laboratory for quality check & assurance. Usually they either sell them to another medical store at a lesser price or exchange them for some vitamins or supplements.

Internationally medicines are recognized by their Generic name, which is a medical term described in brackets under the medicine name or at the back of the pack. In Pakistan, medicines constituting of identical ingredients are sold at varying prices. Another dilemma is that Multinational companies are giving medicine at wholesale rate to our neighboring country, India, whereas the same medicines are almost 300% pricier for us. This is solely due to the sky-high Govt taxes & duties.

Govt doctors express their grief related to lack of funds and facilities and being over-worked. They are under incessant pressure from political workers to register false cases & prioritize their patients. If they don’t succumb, they are usually posted to a far away district or get suspended in a false inquiry. I think the Govt should at least ensure that doctors are not politicized in any way.   

There was a time when Private hospitals were preferred by the common man because of their undivided attention & sincerity towards their patients but it’s a fact that this reputation is long lost. There are two main categories of private hospitals. First are the common hospitals that are supervised by two or three doctors & which usually provide ample services at a reasonable fee. The second type is the private hospitals that are run by senior doctors, surgeons or specialists who have established a monopoly of sorts in this profession over time. PMDC, whose main objective is to keep check & balance over doctors, is also under their influence because most of the PMDC office bearers are supervising these multi-operation hospitals. Worldwide it is observed that senior doctors are more concerning toward their patients while in Pakistan, the phenomena is reversed, patients have to get appointments in months advance for checkup from senior doctors, surgeons or specialists. Their fee ranges from some Rs.1000 to Rs. 2500. To have to pay such high price for receiving medical facility that is every individual’s basic right is utterly unacceptable. The common Public has the view that doctors rob them in such a tactful way that they cannot grasp or question them because they are not familiar with the medical terms that they use. So, virtually, we have no idea what’s happening around us or what sort of treatment we’re being subjected to. Subsequently, there’s the role of medical firms & their hired medical representatives (reps). They are the one pulling the strings. When we see some young white collared individual carrying an ordinary bag, we can’t even fathom that almost every bag has an offer so highly tempting that it’s truly hard to refuse. This white collar bribe is presented to the doctors who recommend the firm’s medicine. Two forms of bribe are the most common. First, all expense paid international tours with the family, and second, fixed commission per pack of the approved medicine that the company will sell to the patients.

Another point that worries me is the unregistered labs operating in the country. Patients have to take multiple medical tests from numerous labs, just to verify results because often, the same tests procure different results. Govt should see into this problem & register all labs which are operating independently or are affiliated with a hospital. Private hospitals should also be compelled to register so that people can be assured of the degrees & experience of the doctors on duty. Registering private hospitals will definitely pose a positive impact, the fear of check & balance will improve the conditions & attitudes of doctors toward their patients.

Another predicament is that of DHMS (Diploma in Homeo medicines) & Hakeems. They may or may not be diploma holders who practice medical treatment from medicines claimed to be made usually in Germany. But amazingly, Germany has dropped this practice of HMS long ago. They come with the label of Dr. ‘initial’ and are found in large quantities in remote areas of Pakistan. About ninety percent of these medicines consist of steroids that give temporary relief but leave extensive effects on liver, kidney and even blood. Locals have no alternatives, because they offer cheap medicines at hardly 50 or 80 rupee which includes the fees. There is no supervision on these often harmful practitioners. This practice leads to diseases on the scale of minor epidemics. HIV & Cancer are the most common & vital diseases that have spread due to home based private operation theaters built by these people. Re-use of the injections, gloves, cutting equipment & especially dental equipment has caused devastating effects but still PMDC or Govt is doing nothing because their families gets the best treatment in Pakistan and abroad.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that all doctors should be sent to the gallows. There are good people too serving as doctors, who operate with the sole purpose of serving humanity. They are respected & honored on all forums. My colleague & fellow journalist, who is a very well known & senior producer in a national TV channel, mentioned a very interesting bit. He said that every parent has a priority that his son or daughter becomes a doctor or an engineer but the consequence of this priority have emerged as the drawback that there is now a surplus of doctors in our country. While it costs about 12 to 14 lakh for a simple MBBS, further specialization requires a hefty amount. Consequently, problems occur when these fresh doctors are pressurized by the social taboos or norms of our society that dictate that it is absolutely mandatory that they acquire the three ‘B’s that have become the merits of respect in our lop-sided society. Big car, big house & big bank balance. To fulfill these corrupting aspirations, doctors, like any other person, take inappropriate steps, resulting in utter degradation of this respectable job. Another point my friend mentioned was that Govt is not taking any steps to sponsor medical education. Students belonging to average families who get high grades in medical studies usually borrow money from banks which they have to repay right after completion of house job. Thus, the fear of a recovery team coming & knocking at their door makes them lean towards unconventional means, or the alternative is to apply for a job abroad rather than working for their own country. Doctors are humans too.

While discussing my concern over the topic, I asked the opinion of two students of a prestigious university. The replies were, “Doctors have formulated this profession into a money making mill” and “Actually the main problem lies with the prayer said by the doctors. Whenever they pray for the improvement of their clinics or hospitals, more people fall sick. It’s really simple, if you get what I’m saying!!”

Every profession has a moral duty to abide by; such is the case of a doctor who takes oath to protect life by all means. To tell you the truth, we expect doctors to be no less than angels because of their profession, & as patients when we go to them, we trust them with the most precious thing given to us in this world, our Life, & in return we expect only one thing….a promise not to break this trust.

 The writer is Chief Editor in Voice of Energy Magazine. He can be reached at falaksherkhan@ymail.com

The Darkness Within

The Darkness Within

By Falak Sher Khan

A few days back, there were bundle of articles on conditions of jails and the mistreatment done with the inmates in jails. During that particular period, I took interest in the issue and went to jail for a better understanding of the whole issue but to my amazement, the situation there was not as dire as I was expecting. The inmates were not being tortured or miss treated in any way. Neither the prisoners portrayed any of the conditions in some of the articles that I went through earlier. After being granted permission to observe 302 Murder (Death Sentenced) convicts, 2 experienced officials briefed me thoroughly about the system and structure of jail and afterward guided to me to the death cells. The inmates were getting ready to say their prayers and we waited for them to get free.

After about fifteen minutes, I started my interview from them one by one regarding the behavior of the administration. They expressed briefly that administration is very cooperative and no one mistreat us but our captivity place is too crammed to lie down easily. One of the prisoners was very young and really good looking with gleaming blue eyes, I asked for his act of penalty, he replied that a friend of his abused him verbally and, getting provoked, he fired three shots on him, thus ending up in death cell. He further revealed that he was merely seventeen years old when he committed the crime and now after 7 years, he is 23 years old. Another shocking case was about a young boy about 22 years of age who killed his own father with a dagger and it was about a week or so that he had been in custody, yet he had not changed the Kurta (Shirt) that had the blood stains of his father all over it.

 These incidents of very young individuals taking such drastic steps were beyond me. Subsequently, it raised a query in my mind that what could be going on in the mind of an individual or culprit that he takes such dire steps. It is difficult for a normal person even to see someone getting hurt rather than actually killing someone and to be able to live with the burden of a guilty conscience is a perpetual torture in itself. What can be the reason of one man killing another man was a question revolving in my sub conscious endlessly. A close friend of mine advised me to study the subject of Criminology, which defined as the scientific study of crime and criminal behavior. Criminology is an advanced, theoretical field of study. It is the study of crime, the cause of crime (Etiology), the meaning of crime in terms of law and community and the reaction to crime. Theory is a complex subject in its own right and criminological theory is no exception.

Criminals do not just take any step or decision. They are individuals like us affected, directly or indirectly, by their surroundings in one way or the other, mostly facing negative scenarios. According to research on criminal behavior, there are varieties of rational decisions that a criminal would make in the process of committing a crime. In criminology, criminologists keep in mind the factor that is free will but they eliminate some aspects such as background and situational factors that might incline someone towards committing a crime. In 18th century, criminology arose as social philosophers gave thought to crime and concepts of law. Over time, several schools of thought have developed.

Two prominent schools were Classical & Positivist. In the Classical school, philosophers argued that people have the free will to choose how to act, all behavior is guided by hedonism (pleasure/pain calculation), all crime is the result of free will and hedonism, all punishment should fit the offense (equal treatment under law) and bad people are nothing more that the result of bad laws. It is important to note that the classical school was not very much concerned with criminals. They rejected retribution-based punishment because it focused too much on individual criminals than crime, crime control, and the reform of the criminal justice system and the making of good laws.

Second was Positivist School, Positivist school of thought assumes that criminal behavior is the result of internal and external factors outside of the individual’s control. The part of Positivism that referred to as “positive” was the forward-looking attitude toward social and personal betterment (the perfectibility of both society and human nature); Positivism is the search for other, multiple factors as the cause of human behavior. It represents a distinct shift from a focus on law and crime control to the inner workings of the criminal mind, and what makes it tick. Positivism can be broken up into three segments mainly biological, psychological and social positivism. Biological theory treats the defects and protects society from the untreatable. Psychological theory, predicts, prevents and therapeutically intervenes. Intervention therapies include psychoanalysis, group therapy, counseling, family therapy, drug treatment, and reconditioning. Psychoanalysis involves correcting childhood problems. Cognitive therapy involves learning new ways to think, tendency to do better with sexual and violent crimes, but ignores situational factors and has some untreatable assumptions. Sociological positivism claims that societal factors such as poverty, membership of subcultures, or low levels of education can incline people to crime.

There is a term in psychology namely “Motive”. Motive is the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action towards a desired goal, the reason for the action that which gives purpose and direction to behavior. Criminology covers the concepts of motive to a vast extend. Criminology studies the motives behind any crime that takes place but motives alone is usually not sufficient explanations by themselves. There may be facilitating or triggering factors like presence of a gun and victim provocation. There are mainly to date 67 motives and to understand these motives same number of theories are developed. Some of them are mostly common in people of Pakistan, briefly written here are some of them to understand the reason behind crimes. Anti Social Personality disorder are one of the main factors behind crime and is very common problem in Pakistani society, it includes individuals who cannot contain their urges to harm people physically or mentally, repeatedly for no apparent reason are  to suffer from some mental illness. They may be choosing not to control their urges, they know right from wrong. Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) main traits are that they are impenitent, Apathetic to others, blameful of others, Manipulative and conning, affectively cold, socially irresponsible, disregardful of obligations, nonconforming to norms, Irresponsible. The occurrence of APD is twice as high for inner-city residents as compared to people of rural & five times higher in males than in females. It affects people in all social classes, but if someone with APD is born into a family of wealth and privilege, they will usually manage to seek out a successful business or political career.

 They further fall into one of two types that are sociopath or psychopath. Sociopath is a person who has something wrong with his or her conscience. Sociopaths only care about fulfilling their own needs and desires. Their selfishness and egocentricity know no bounds. Everything and everybody else around them are just objects used as footholds to fulfill their own needs and desires. They often believe they are doing something good for society or at least nothing that bad. Psychologists and sociologists frequently use the term “sociopath” alike in referring to persons whose character is due primarily to parental failures (usually fatherlessness) rather than an inherent feature of temperament. Common Sociopaths are the largest subtype and have a weak or unelaborated conscience. They are not ashamed by the same things as you or I would be. Common sociopaths would be like undomesticated children growing up, taking pleasures and gratifying impulses at every opportunity or temptation. As teenagers, they are often runaways. As adults, they are often geographically mobile, living in shelters, or taking advantage of welfare systems. They are experienced shoplifters. Nevertheless, they seem genuinely happy with their lives, unburdened by any sense of negative self-worth or the fact that they have not been a functional, contributing member of society.

Alienated Sociopaths never develop the ability to love, empathizes or socialize with individuals. They will show more emotion toward their pet or a personal artifact than toward a person or they may hate animals and live out their emotional life by watching TV. They will not get along with the neighbors or colleagues. They have a cold, callous attitude toward human suffering or any social problem in the society they live in. Most of them believe their behavior is justified because they feel betrayed in one way or the other by society.  Most of them will be more than happy to rant and rave about it to anyone who listens. They are chronic complainers. Aggressive Sociopaths derive strong, yet non-perverse satisfaction from traumatizing others. They like to hurt, frighten, tyrannize, bully, and manipulate, they do this for the sense of power and control. They polish their aggressive, domineering manner in such a way to disguise any intimidation others might feel. They seek out positions of power such as bureaucrat, supervisor or police officer. Control theories take the opposite approach from other theories in criminology. Instead of asking what drives people to commit crime they ask why, do most people not commit crime? Control theorists generally argue that there is no problem explaining why people commit crime since all human beings suffer from inborn human weaknesses that make them unable to resist temptation and this theory focus on restraining or controlling factors that are broken or missing inside the personalities of criminals.

Inequality & unemployment are also among factors that cause individuals to take drastic action resulting in a dire consequence, unemployment & inequality does cause crime among people. One of the things about the Pakistan economy is the constant widening of the gap between rich and poor, thus also creating a negative psychological gap among the informal & formal groups.

One of the theories that revealed a true form of our society was the Labeling theory, it dictates that labeling and reacting to offenders as “criminals” or “worthless” has unexpected negative consequences, deepening the individual behavior and making the situation worse.  Labeling theorists believe that the criminal justice system is dangerous in the sense that it is “casting the net” of social control too widely. We will often observe in our surroundings that unemployed youngsters face humiliation by their parents on day-to-day basis sometimes. The process of tagging, defining, identifying, segregating, describing, and emphasizing any individual out for special treatment becomes a way of stimulating, suggesting, and evoking the very traits that are complained of.  A person becomes the thing rather than a human being. Being useless or a criminal becomes a person’s status.  It controls the way they identify or what they think of them self.  Others do not consider their other statuses — that of spouse, parent, or worker — only that they are superficially a useless thing or a criminal.  Sometimes this public scrutiny might scare or shame a person into conformity, but most likely, it has the effect of pushing the person to the point where they forfeit all further attempts at conformity.

 An identity change takes place where the person’s self-concept loses any further stake in conformity, and because a deviant self-image is now in place, there is pressure to behave consistently as nonstandard.  Furthermore, people who labeled as nonstandard tend to lose contact with their conformist friends and start associating with similarly labeled nonstandard deviants. There are also theories in criminology that believe that criminality is a function of individual socialization, how individuals have been influenced by their experiences or relationships with family relationships, peer groups, teachers, church, authority figures, and other agents of socialization.  These are learning theories, and specifically social learning theories, because criminology never really embraced the psychological determinism inherent in most learning psychologies. There are plenty of negative test cases showing that not everyone who associates with criminals becomes a criminal. Biological conditions or Hormones also have an enormous impact on criminology.

One of the first things you will notice about psychobiological criminology a branch of criminology that deals with psychological problems relating biology of human, is its inordinate concern for violent, aggressive crime. Not only are there certain organs inside the body that produce aggression, but aggressive stimuli outside the body will trigger bodily reactions producing a hefty amount of neurologically high hormones. Hormones are chemical messengers produced by the endocrine glands, the brain, gastrointestinal organs, sex organs, the kidney, the heart, the pineal gland, the skin and the hair.  They exert a strong influence on behavior, principally by inducing brain events that prompt people to behave in certain ways to environmental stimuli.  Hormones not only influence reactive or conscious behavior after environmental cues, but they also influence anticipatory or unconscious behavior by knowing what the body needs beforehand, hormones make a person think they want something before they see it.

Criminology has many other theories and sub branches that need to examined thoroughly if we want to understand the increasing ratio of crime and frustration in our society, one or two pages would not even be enough to write all the names of the sixty-seven contemporary theories. Government is not doing any serious efforts to improve the current conditions of our jails or society. One would be amazed to know that the government of Pakistan does not offer any psychiatrist services to the inmates in jails. There is only one officially hired psychologist in Punjab that resides in DIG office Lahore, I cannot understand the reason behind it but it seems that stress of work in DIG office would be more as compared to work in jails of Pakistan. Criminology is yet to given any proper status as a subject of interest in our society.

 Improving police and jail conditions can be temporary measures to suppress criminals but we should understand the reason that why ordinary individuals become criminals. Why does a father cut the throats of his own daughters? Why would a man molest an innocent child and cruelly incinerate the body in acid? Why would a person rape a six-year-old when he has daughters of the same age? Why would a pregnant woman thrown in front of a pack of hungry dogs? Why justice does has to wait years, rotting in files?  These “Whys” remain and will remain if we are not ready to question ourselves that how much are we a part of this “Why”. Maybe Criminology can help us in understanding the criminal concealed in us.

The article was first published in weekly “The Friday Times” of “December 11, 2009” Issue.

Begging an organized profession

Begging an organized profession

By Falak Sher Khan

Requesting a donation in a supplicating manner is called begging. From public place to posh areas, beggars are a common sight. Similar to prostitution, begging is one of the oldest professions on Earth. In our society begging has traditionally been tolerated and even encouraged because we have been taught that the person who gives alms to the destitute gain religious merits but what we have forgotten is that these people are professionals and living idly on easy bread is the sole purpose of their lives. Beggars are not confined to the sect. we on the street clad in torn clothes with filthy hair they can be in many states or forms. Sometimes just noticing one’s surroundings, one can see that begging is not just about having a fortune it also has something to do with being cursed with the endless desire for having more.

From vagabonds to highly protocol elected Ministers, they are to some extent same inside out. The techniques may differ, the attire may perhaps be dissimilar but the objectives are almost the same. In our society most people give to beggars more to earn Sawab (divine credits) rather than out of feelings for the beggar. It is not uncommon to see a housewife give Sadka (Charity) through a car window to the beggar after the husband has chased him away. As long as we do not shun this easy track to heaven, no law or reform can stop the profession of begging. Beggars chose different attires and locations to perform their activities. According to figures received from a police station, 8 out of every 10 kidnapped children who were recovered told that an elderly woman abducted them, usually by offering sweets. Surprisingly enough beggars have their own specific territories which they protect. The beggar who begs in some posh market area would not allow anyone to come and plead in that area until and unless members from beggars union allow it. Beggars are trained in such a professional way or tortured to such inhuman limits that they are scared to death if one asks about their networks or masters who give them protection and bail them from jails. These God fathers are their Gods whom the beggars simultaneously respect and fear both. It was also told to me by a beggar who took oath from me to keep his name secret that often these people are well known and influential in our so called sober and High Class societies. The doyens who have underhand links with the law enforcement agencies book time and spaces in different parts of a busy city and decide which beggar is to be deployed when and where. Different points have different rates, the stations with heavy traffic have more income and its booking price is also high.

 I interviewed a beggar on Margalla road Islamabad. At first he refused to give me any information but due to my constant request and promising 500 Rs, he changed his mood. After sitting with me in my car we went for a short drive. I wanted to gain his trust so that he can feel easy to share info with me. The beggar was a 28 year old man with a light beard and one arm missing from his body, his ID card had permanent address of Sialkot and temporary address was of Rawalpindi. On asking about his life pattern he said that he is a Hafiz Quran and he can easily make 400 Rs (5 Dollar) on daily basis within 3 to 4 hours. “I don’t stay at one Chowk (traffic point) for more than 4 hours because timing is decided and we don’t break rules”.  He further told that “After spending time in ISB, I leave for Rawalpindi in the evening where I spent four more hours on Murree road making some 400 Rs to 450 Rs (about $6 dollar)”. Earning a total monthly of 875 Rs ($11) per day and almost 25500 Rs ($330) per month. Far much more than any regular 16th grader Government officer in Pakistan, who hardly have a pay of 15 thousand per month but his duties far hectic than one can assume. When I questioned him about the amount that he gave to get a virtual permit for this station he replied that there is no fix amount in Islamabad but he has to pay 25 percent from the total of his earnings when working in any point of Rawalpindi. Reports are that there are some beggars in metropolitans such as Lahore and Karachi who even make income up to 80,000 Rs ($1000) per month.

There are two major castes (Race) that dominate in the field of begging namely Kingary and Patto. Individuals belonging to Patto caste are usually the people who go to any level to get wealthy. Prostitution is common amongst their women and their women often sell their own children to beggars unions or mafias. Their children are sold between 20,000 Rs ($250) to 50,000 Rs ($625). Another thing worth mentioning is that in both of these castes (Patto & Kingary) a groom pay a token money for his bride which starts from 50 thousand and goes to 1 lakh ($1250). This amount can be paid in advance or the groom has to swear on his bride head that he will beg for money until the debt is cleared. While on the other hand each year different unions buy and sell beggars according to their begging performances. Every year unions from metropolitans such as Karachi come to Lahore to buy beggars. One of the well known mandi (market) is in Shahjamal Chowk where Urss (special ritual) of Baba Shah Jamal takes place from 12am night till 4 am in the morning. Another renowned mandi of beggars is near Bhatti Gate or Bilalganj Lahore. A similar market is operating in Karachi. According to the beggar of whom I have mentioned earlier had told me that there is a drifter who had removed his feet and one arm just for the sake of begging, each year unions make deal with him and pay him an advance of fifty thousand rupees, to take him for begging. He further told me that there are markets of beggars in Islamabad too.

 Round the year scavengers from Lahore and Karachi gather to attend the Mela (fair) in Golra Shariff and Bari Imam, where the trade also takes place in complete secrecy. All of these markets are present near shrines that have high values and respect in everyone heart, giving them an edge of protection from law agencies. According to “The Punjab Vagrancy Ordinance, 1958 (XX of 1958)” page 1259 Section2. Definitions (g) “Vagrant” means a person who: (I) solicits or receives alms in a public place (ii) exposes or exhibits any sore, wound, injury, deformity or disease in a public place for the purpose of soliciting or receiving alms (iii) allows himself to be as an exhibit for the purpose of soliciting or receiving alms (iv) enters on any private premises without the invitation of the occupier for the purpose of soliciting or receiving alms, but does not include a person who solicits or receives money, or gift  for a purpose authorized by duels under a prescribed certificate. Section7. “Any police officer may without an order from a Magistrate and without a warrant, arrest and search any person who appears to him to be a vagrant and may seize anything found on or about such person which he has reason to believe to be liable to confiscation under this Ordinance” Now, Section9. “If the Magistrate finds that a person is a vagrant such person shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a period not exceeding three years”.

There are total 26 section of Vagrancy Ordinance, 1958 but none show any harsh law against vagrancy. On the contrary it protects beggars to some extent especially Section2 (g) sub section (IV). Police put hands on beggars when they are given special orders or pressurized by higher authorities otherwise beggars are not touched or questioned. Beggars after detaining are sent to Edhi house that is present in all major cities of Pakistan. From there they are bailed on simple black & white paper proceedings mostly signed by our bureaucrats. Beggars not only depend on begging for income, they are also the most suitable and reliable free lance criminals. There are groups of dacoits and criminals dressed like beggars. They not only use drugs like Bond, cocaine, coke, marijuana etc but they are the biggest group of buyers of these drugs. Selling lungs and kidney for money is also part of their lives. For this, they can easily find doctors who would even take life for money and are present in anonymous hospitals and clinics. Begging from house to house and giving information about the residents and structure to professional dacoits also goes in their line of work. They are more mysteries in the life of a beggar than one can assume. Government should take bold and serious steps. Not only to control them but to eradicate their communities and mafias from our society. 

This article was first published in “Weekly Pulse Magazine” of “June 12, 2009” Issue

Need for uniform pay structure for cops

Need for uniform pay structure for cops

By Falak Sher Khan

In any country rules and regulations are the very pillars on which a country stands. There are different law enforcing organizations, one of such is police. Police is an organization that enforces the law and ensures public and social order through the legitimized use of force or a civil force responsible for maintaining public order. This department is always strong and must be given proper facilities so that the employees could work properly and efficiently. In underdeveloped countries such as India, Nepal, and Pakistan the police are to some level neglected and there is political pressure on them, they are not given proper amenities which would enable them to perform better and more professionally.

 There are different departments of the police force, each having its own specific function such as FIA (Federal Investigation Agency), ICT (Islamabad Capital Territory), Punjab police, motorway and national highway police, ITP (Islamabad Traffic Police) and Sindh, Baluchistan, NWFP police departments respectively. On the other hand there are sub-departments as the Allied, Muhafiz, Capital watch etc. Every department has a number of different duties. From maintaining law and order, commencing inquiries on countless cases, to protection of VIPs, the tremendous burden always falls on the police department.

 Punjab police has the sanctioned strength of 166,944 employees, Karachi 28964, Hyderabad 16220 and Sukhar region runs with workforce of 21923. With the population of 180 million people, this strength of police employees is not enough to carry out proper duties. In 2006 cases registered in Punjab were 345286 and 344925 in the year 2007. In Baluchistan 8145 crime cases were registered in 2006. The ratio is high in Sindh, 34280 crime cases were registered in 2007 and 44287 crime cases last year in 2008. The crime cases registered in Capital city Islamabad stand are 4487 in 2007. The crime ratios in metropolitan cities of all the Provinces are different. In Rawalpindi 1486 cases were registered including 380 gangs in 2007. At the end of 2007, 70805 cases were registered in Lahore including 3744 different gangs involved in criminal activities. Karachi had 30246 cases registered in 2007. These figures are not minute enough to be left unnoticed. Government should take proper notice against these rising figures. Police departments should be facilitated and improved in order to get better outcome.

 When asked by a constable about his profession related problems, he became silent and depressed. The answer from him was “The pay we get is hardly enough to pay the bills and fees of children. We try to make both ends meet. Our duty is about 10 to 15 hours and still no exceptional allowance is given to us. Some of us are from different cities and we have to pay for the rent from our pocket which is also a burden”. He asked that we are government employees to, then why are we neglected like this. Another point worth mentioning is that there are cases in which families of martyred constables of suicide attacks are asked to return the pistol issued to them by government if the family failed to do so, they are not issued the pension of the deceased. Most the weapons are either melted or broken into pieces other than that how anyone from the deceased family is in the position to gather the weapon from the spot that lost someone tragically like this. 

 In our country government departments are not given proper attention and general public try to avoid any kind of work that involves more than one visit to government departments due to red tape rules and regulations. Other than that there is a general view that without bribe or some influence work getting done is either not possible or it will take thrice the time. The Police department in Pakistan also faces such kind of allegations. There is no doubt that police in our country has been charged with taking bribes but we should also keep in mind the background of these occurrences. The way their services are being utilized, the pay chosen for them is not as much as it should be. Basic pay of a constable from Punjab police is 8,934 in Rs (113 $) per month and Islamabad Capital Police (ICT) constable pay is only 4,154 Rs (53 $) per month. Islamabad Capital Police ICT has the lowest allowances as compared to all other police departments. Any special allowances, Technical allowance nor any kind of relief allowance for uniform or rent etc is given to Islamabad Capital Police. ICT and Punjab police has far less allowances as compared to Islamabad Traffic police and motorway police which have a bit better allowances. The two posts of Inspector and Sub-Inspector in every police department is one of the most burdened and busy post. The pay of an Inspector in Islamabad Traffic police ITP is 36,850 Rs, where as Islamabad Capital Police ICT inspector is 13,172. Both are working in same city under the same governance. This disturbing difference not only dents their morale but contributes towards psychological effects such as inferiority complex and depression that directly puts negative influence on their performance. Lack of proper transport facility is also an immense problem for ICT police. Uniformed constables are usually seen standing at Kashmir Highway and Police line Moor waiting for lift. Federal Government should start regular bus service on these routes for the betterment of this important department.

 There is a High Court in each of the four provinces. The Islamabad Capital territory falls within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Punjab. A case was taken up on the orders of the High Court of Pakistan to improve the pay package of ICT police. The case by ICT police employees is still pending for a notification by the Finance division on the subject. If this case is cleared it will give an immediate boost to the morale of the extremely tired force, which is already pushed to the wall with present inflation position. Punjab Government should also consider raising salaries and giving better equipment to Punjab Police. Punjab Police also face problems of dissimilar types. 166,944 number of employees have no proper facilities or proper equipment to carry out the kind of assignments they are given. Weapons are of orthodox style and are far much slower than they face in encounters with dacoits or other criminals. In 2007 Punjab police arrested 76545 individuals with illegal arms. The arms consisted of modern rifles and pistols.  A method could be work out through which these illegal weapons can be reissued to police. This will surely remove economical burden from government to some extent. Other than that they have duties with VIPs which carry on 10 to 15 hours or more. These special duties not only bound a large strength of police but their specific duties are also neglected.

Recently Chief Minister of Punjab has announced to give privileges and incentives to Punjab police and other police departments if they change their attitude and show better work performance. This could be the time for the senior rank police officers to improve the performance of their sub coordinate officers for better routine work and duty. We should also keep in mind that as good citizens we should give as much respect as possible to our police whether dealing with a police constable or some senior officer. Police employees should also change their attitude and they should show more humbleness while dealing with public. By taking some steps police can improve their image.

 We must think upon the fact that by not giving proper salaries and conveniences we are forcing them to take bribe and go forth towards wrong or negative paths. With the wave of recent suicide bombings police employees are left with a feeling of insecurity and they are worried about their families more than their duties. To survive in this period of inflation with pay and limited facilities like these, it is not only difficult but impossible for them to survive. They can very well raise a question to our leaders that what their stance is towards this dilemma.

 This article was first published in “Weekly Pulse” of “January 30, 2009” Issue

The rising specter of unemployment

The rising specter of unemployment

By Falak Sher Khan

 

As defined by the International Labor Organization, “unemployed workers” are those who are currently not working but are willing and able to work for pay, currently available to work, and have actively searched for work. The prevalence of unemployment is usually measured using the unemployment rate, which is defined as the percentage of those in the labor force who are unemployed.

No Census has ever been taken in any country of those of the whole population who were employed and unemployed on any particular day so no accurate ratio can be finalized while some predictions can be made. The image of unemployment is the one which we receive from our newspapers or televisions. We hear our politicians explaining that the latest figures show that unemployment is decreasing while opposite party would be much more cynical. These different proclamations insulate us from the human realities behind the statistics.    

There are various reasons of unemployment present in our society. Different economic schools of thought suggest different policies to tackle unemployment. Several types of unemployment causes are given different names by economic experts. Unemployment observed in Pakistan is mainly Structural, Seasonal and Cyclical. There are other factors too but these three particular factors largely impact unemployment rate. Structural unemployment is caused by a mismatch between jobs offered by employers and potential workers.  This may pertain to geographical location, skills, and many other factors. For example, in the period between 1996 and 1999s students preferred medical field but with time, this trend changed and during the period of 2000-2004, a tech bubble emerged, creating a demand for technical specialists. The second type of unemployment known as seasonal unemployment occurs when an occupation is not in demand at a certain time of year. The third type is cyclical unemployment that is observed when there is not sufficient aggregate demand or job opportunities in the economy.

Another reason for unemployment is voluntary and involuntary unemployment. Though there have been several definitions of voluntary and involuntary unemployment in the economics writing, a simple division is often applied. Voluntary unemployment is attributed to the individual’s decisions, whereas involuntary unemployment exists because of the socio-economic environment including the market structure, government intervention and the level of aggregate demand in which individuals operate. However, the existence of voluntary unemployment may reflect choices made by the unemployed in the past ex preferring any white collar job and to wait for such opportunity. While the clearest cases of involuntary unemployment are those where there are fewer job vacancies than unemployed workers even when wages are allowed to adjust, so that even if all vacancies were to be filled, there would be unemployed workers. So in practice, the distinction between voluntary and involuntary unemployment is hard to draw but they impact directly on being employed or unemployed.

There are two different terms used for economic income or production namely, gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national product (GNP). GDP is concerned with the region in which income is generated. It is the market value of all the output produced in a nation in one year. GDP focuses on where the output is produced rather than who produced it. In contrast, GNP is a measure of the value of the output produced by the “nationals” of a region. GNP focuses on who owns the production. For example, in the United States, GNP measures the value of output produced by American firms, regardless of where the firms are located. In Pakistan economy depends primarily on GDP system which to some extent is not suitable for a country such as ours, lacking in proper management and infrastructure of check and balance. GDP directly influence the region, if not handled properly regional differences can take place. An example of this can be observed in three out of four provinces of Pakistan. All these factors impact economy and the circle of employment or unemployment one way or the other.

According to the Federal Bureau of Statistics, Pakistan’s weekly inflation went up to 23.11% on weekend of February 4^th, 2009 over the same period of last year. In 2008 this figure of 23.11% was only 7.40%. According to the Federal Bureau of Statistics, the inflation was 22.56% on the last week of January, 2009 but showed that it had increased 0.55% during the week. Countries such as U.S has unemployment rate of about 8.10, U.K has 5.50 and Afghanistan has about 40%. The unemployment rate in our country shows that inflation and unemployment is rising at an alarming rate.

There are currently 231,289 educational institutions in the country. Their overall enrolment is recorded 34.84 million with teaching staff of 1.37 million. Pakistan’s current population is 160.9 million with a growth rate of 1.80 percent. 160.9 million Population out of which enrolment of students is just 34.84 million! Police experts say that the combination of poverty and unemployment has allowed gangs and organizations to target young people and steer them towards a path of criminal activity. A student of MBA said that where you went to school counts as much as having the right contacts: “These labels on your CV count. In such cases we are rejected even before we apply”. “Those with connections get the job even before our CVs are looked at!” He said that this continual rejection often forces graduates to turn to crime.

 In European and Western countries government is bounded to give about 10 million worth financial support to individuals doing PHD. According to an study, universities in Washington and Tokyo only, pass out more PHD Doctors annually then the entire Islamic countries can in more than two or three years. Improper availability for education also creates unemployment eventually causing psychological disorders.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Unemployed individuals are unable to earn money to meet financial obligations. Failure to pay mortgage payments or to pay rent may lead to homelessness through foreclosure or eviction. Unemployment increases susceptibility to malnutrition, illness, mental stress, and loss of self-esteem, leading to depression. According to a study published a few years back, stated that even those who tend to be optimistic find it difficult to look on the bright side of things when unemployed. While a study on the Influence of the Social Environment on Psychology by Brenner found that for every 10% increase in the number of unemployed there is a 1.2% in total mortality, a 1.7% increase in cardiovascular disease, 1.3% more cirrhosis cases, 1.7% more suicides, 0.4% more arrests, and 0.8% more assaults reported to the police. During a long period of unemployment workers can lose their skills, causing a loss of human capital. Being unemployed can also reduce the life expectancy of workers by about 7 years. High unemployment can encourage racism as workers fear that outsiders are stealing their jobs. Unemployment also encourages use of drugs by individuals. Official figures suggest that just three percent of Pakistan’s four million drug addicts are women. However many believe the actual figure is much higher. Economist Kaiser Bengali attributes the rise in crime and drug use to the extreme “wealth gap” found in Pakistan’s larger cities, “When the level of economic activity is insufficient, it can lead to unemployment and naturally inequality”. There is another psychological dilemma in Pakistan about the male feeling ashamed of working under a woman. Lack of women development is also a reason in the barrier of progress of our country. According to United Nation Population Fund (UNPF) report there are 53 Islamic countries in which women don’t participate in any kind of job for income. On the other hand a survey of 189 countries has shown that the mate is selected only on the base of his or her being employed.

There are communities such as preliterate communities who treat their members as parts of an extended family and thus do not allow unemployment or try to control unemployment. In Precapitalist societies such as feudal lords individuals were never “unemployed” because they had direct access to the land, and the needed tools, and could thus work to produce crops. Another policy to control unemployment is to introduce more Public-Private partnership programmes in which government and public investor work together and form a working relation a simple example can be a school built on government ground but the funding would be done by public investor.

We need to keep in mind that unemployment also create crisis in country economy. External debt at the end of March 2008 was US$ 45.9 billion. Overall Foreign Investment during the first ten months (July-April) of the current fiscal year has declined by 32.2 percent and stood at $ 3.6 billion as against $5.3 billion in the comparable period of last year. The ILO report’s scenario also suggests that some 200 million workers, mostly in developing economies, could be pushed into extreme poverty (an income of below US$1.25 per person per day). Of these, more than 140 million would be in Asia. The same scenario suggests that those in working poverty (below US$2 per person per day) could rise by 176 million, of whom 119 million would be in Asia Pacific.

With all these circumstances at hand not only our government but we as citizens of Pakistan should also take bold steps to cover and control unemployment. An idea came from economist and philosopher Andre Gorz, he argues that the idea of working less so everyone can work and that a basic income for all can be the solution. Problems and solutions are placed side by side all we need to do is be sincere with any work that we do.

 The article was first published in “Weekly Pulse Magazine” of April 3, 2009” Issue

GT road the river of life

GT road the river of life

By Falak Sher Khan

Overview

The Grand Trunk Road starts from Bangladesh passing through India and ending in Pakistan. GT road starts from Wagha Border Lahore and leads to Peshawar. Build at order of Afghan Warrior King Sher Shah Suri to connect remote provinces of India with several parts of western Asia. British rulers later improved GT road and they gave it label “Long Walk”. GT road in Pakistan is one of the major roads for the means of transportation. About 95 percent of inland cargo movement within Pakistan is by road and more than 90 percent of the public movements within the country are by the road transport. As with time more and more motorcars got on to road, there was need of improvement and maintenance. In the 1997 a new project was introduced which was restricted to fast four-wheel vehicles known as Motorway. This was first motorway project in South Asia at that time.

 Departments relating to GT road

Bank leasing is one of the major factors in the increase of cars on road. 85 % of traffic flow is on GT road N-5. N-5 is a combination of routes that include Karachi, Thatta, Hyderabad, Multan, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Torkham having a length of about 1819 Km. 8 types of vehicle license plates are used in Pakistan. Each province and territory issues its own number plate. Punjab registration authority registered more than 65 vehicles per day in Islamabad in 2005. This ratio has gone up to estimate of 95 vehicles per day in Islamabad and round about 200 in present day Lahore. The figure goes to round about 4,750 every two months in Islamabad and 10,000 in Lahore. Keeping in mind the increasing rate of vehicles on road Government of Pakistan established a department regarding maintenance and improvement of GT road namely National Highway Authority NHA. NHA is the main department relating to conditions of GT road and Motorway. Furthermore, there are sub departments such as Motorway police, Highway police, Traffic police, Motor Vehicle Registration Authority (MVEs) etc who some or the other way deal with traffic and vehicles on roads.

 Funds and earnings

Main NHA incomers are government and to some extent toll plazas. According to data provided to me by NHA Head office and National Highway and Motorway police total numbers of toll plazas are 98 from which 84 are operational. 53 are on GT road National Highway and 31 on Motorway. There are more than 21 toll plazas along N-5. In September of 2007, round about 337,039 vehicles travelled on Karachi to Peshawar N-5 road. This year 202,109 vehicles used   N-5 according to facts & figures provided by PRO of Motorway and Highway authority. This traffic includes cars, wagons, busses etc. Toll of car is 15 Rs where as truck; long vehicle toll is Rs 100. If we assume 202,109 cars pay toll of Rs 15 per day on one toll plaza and leave the other heavy vehicles and toll plazas aside then at the end of day they have received a seven-digit figure of Rs 3,031,635 per day from one toll plaza. My calculator does not support enough digits to calculate the yearly income from toll plazas. Other than that fine collected by NH & Motorway police in 2007 was Rs 82,869,950. The amount of income to NHA is in Billions or maybe more. We hope these huge amounts of sums will be used for the improvement of National Highway and no additional burden in the form of funds will be put on Government of Pakistan.

 Statistics of Accidents

There are approximately 44 % of world road deaths in Asia despite having 17% of the vehicle fleet.  

1.4 million Accidents take place worldwide. According to National Transport Research Center (NTRC) Pakistan has one of the highest road accident rates in the world. In 2003 estimated of about 10,000 people dies every year. Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) gave figure of 9593 accidents in 2005 and they not updated this data. According to NH & Motorway Police this figure has arisen to 13,000 in 2007. In which round about 35,000 people get injured ever year. Vehicle accidents on Motorway are 227 in 2005, 164 in 2006 and 170 in 2007 respectively. Pakistan public and government bears a loss of over 1 billion US dollar in these incidents every year. Police under report 18 % or more, of the road fatalities and accidents annually. Crime rate is less as compared to accidents. In 2007, 28 crime reports such as robbery, dacoits etc on N-5 were registered. MAAP is department regarding study and improvement of Motorway and National Highway. They a have marked different locations as black spot. Black spot are marks where more accidents happen as compared to other locations. Black spot include Kalar Kahar on M-2 Motorway, Tarraki Jhelum GT road N-5, Harrow Pull N-5, and Kamoki N-5.In Pakistan there are about 26 deaths from road traffic accidents per 100,000 populations, compared to Europe where the death rate averages is 14.5 per 100,000. According to a study conducted by the Aga Khan University in Karachi, government statistics included only 56% of deaths and more than 4% of serious injuries and concluded that traffic fatalities are a much more serious problem than is reported by the official statistics which show a death rate of 11.2 per 100,000.

 Cause of Accidents

There are more than 50 reasons by which accidents happen. Major causes of accidents on National Highway and Motorway are different. The data that I collected showed dozing at the wheel and Tyre burst as the main cause of accident on Motorway other causes included careless driving or over speeding, Mechanical fault (brake failure, Tie rod, steering problem, wheel un balancing etc) sudden changing of line and many other. On the other hand accidents on GT road are of different manner. Mostly accidents happen on GT road are due to negligence of driver. Economic burden on public transporters urge them to go on driving and taking routes (phairay) they use drugs commonly (charas) and red light in cabin of vans and dumpers that according to driver’s theory, this make them awake and active but there are no medical proof to conform such kind of theory. Road engineering is also a reason that causes accidents. Road engineering is not proper, some patches are more curved and some are plain both are dangerous as the vehicle is not stable on these patches and cause difficulty in turning and handling. GT road is passing through different station and cities which have caused it to be over crowded by free pedestrian movement that lead to accidents mostly. People have made markets on NH side paths that blocks view of driver. Animals, suddenly appearing cycle & motorcycles are also reason of accidents. Lack of road signs and broken down or disabled traffic signals are also cause of catastrophic incidents. Faulty lights, poor visibility, slippery road, under age driving, U-turn without indication or quick turn, sudden lane changing are just the few to name.  

 Psychology of drivers

Mood of driver is also well mentioning point. If the driver is stressed or nervousness he will make any sudden wrong decision, likely if the driver is in good mood or calm phase the driving will be much more pleasant. Females are more careful drivers as compared to male drivers. It is also observed that youngsters tend to be fast drivers, while aged persons are very cautious in driving as they have more sense of responsibilities than early staged youngsters. Family rank also influences driver’s behavior. Married people especially parents tend to drive more carefully. Profession greatly affects the driving speed. Those having no occupation e.g. housewives, and retired people tend to be careful drivers. Those having low level of education are associated with careful driving and high level of education is associated with fast driving. At the same time, un-educated people weave more on road. Conditions of roads also leave deep impact on mood or psyche of driver. Bumpy road or road with accumulated water patch is also a reason that adds frustration. There are some sections of GT road on which the road condition is very dreadful. From Hassanabdal to Sanghjani the road is under construction from last 3 to 4 years. The patch from Tarnol to Sanghjani is constructed 4 to 5 times yet it is still under construction. The Gujranwala to Lahore is also under construction from many years.

 Keeping in mind the history of this remarkable wonder for which we can say such a river of life exists nowhere else in the world. The departments relating to GT road should take care of these problems and restore the dignity of this road.

 This article was first published in “Weekly Pulse Magazine“

Sheesha an emerging trend for teenagers

Sheesha an emerging trend for teenagers. 

By Falak Sher Khan

 

Overview

There was a time when youngsters used to gather around elders and listen to their stories which had wisdom and experience in them. Few days ago I was talking to an elder in my family he said that “Yar these kids have computers in their brains” I just smiled and said nothing in return maybe I was not able to understand his perspective at that time but now when I see our teenagers usually the age group from 18 to 24 they are changing and not only changing they are kind of evolving in a new style.

Social norms have been changed. Outdoor and physical games are now taken over by computer and electronic games and gadgets. Now even football and cricket is played on computer and console devices. These changes are establishing new trends for which maybe, we as elders are not ready for yet.

New Trends

New trends have taken place; the children who used to first take opinion from elders now are making their own decisions without consultation. Last week I was with a family friend. She is a doctor by profession her young daughter who is hardly 12, came to her and said mom I think that boy over there is not a good person. Her mother amazed and so was I, to hear a judgment from a very young kid who has hardly seen outside world, when asked why you are passing such comments on a complete stranger she replied because that boy was gazing at her and giving her a look. Now we both were amazed to hear such thing and just to make it clear the boy was 12 or maybe 13 year old, but this incident or shocking incident made us a bit quiet and we were un comfortable to hear such a thing. This raised a question that whether there is some fault in our teaching and training or this new era of information and liberation has prepared over confident and outspoken youngsters. Such a kind of trend is Sheesha a new kind of Huka which has now become a status symbol in most of the youngsters. This so called Sheesha is somewhat an advance version of the old Huka. Tobacco is used in the old one and the new one but there are varieties available in this new style Huka or Sheesha. I personally went to a restaurant which is established on a road that leads to Damny Kohh. They were serving Sheesha to a group of youngsters and I asked them to join in. The Sheesha over there was for 200 Rs for 45 minutes. Now 200 Rs for 45 minutes of smoke! an average tray of eggs consisting of about two and half dozen (30) eggs cost round about 175 Rs and it lasts about 15 days if consumed by two people each per day. Where were we, yes, well I asked them why do you use it and does your parents know about it? and secondly is it dangerous to inhale the smoke? There were 4 of them from which one was from UK they answered my questions on the condition that I will not reveal their names or their pictures. I agreed each of them had different views they told me that smoking Sheesha is good time pass, it is a group activity friends gather around it and when they inhale smoke from one pipe it increases brotherhood. Believe me for few seconds I didn’t know what to respond, increases brotherhood? This would be the last thing I would go looking for brotherhood and how they do increase brotherhood by inhaling smoke would be difficult to know they were not able to clear my concepts regarding this brotherhood mystery. On my question regarding parent’s knowledge they answered most of the time parents don’t know about it but there are families who come to these points and their children use Sheesha in front of them and they sometimes company them. On this point it came to my mind that why don’t I taste it to analyze it better. Well it was tasteless and felt like thick air going in my throat I didn’t inhale it because it felt a bit irritating. “What do you think is it dangerous?” all of them responded differently “well I think it is very safe as there is no tobacco in it” other replied that “it is dangerous because there is tobacco but it is less very safe” third replied who was a bit elder than others “it is dangerous because there is tobacco which is of same quality only it has more flavor and taste” and the forth who was from UK when I turned to him replied “I don’t care if it is dangerous or not I will still smoke it” he was the most younger looking. I asked his age he said 16. “When did you start smoking Sheesha?” one of them responded “My company was not good, my friends brought me to this place and I started this” I have heard this answer before so asked him “Does any of your friends say prayers regularly?” “Yes” he replied “Did you adapt that?” I am surprised that why do youngsters always adapt only those things that are socially undesirable or shunned. “Do your female friends also come with you?” “Yes occasionally, whenever she is able to bunk college” “isn’t it difficult to get out from college especially in uniform for young girls?” “Well no, not at all there are hundreds of excuses to get a leave she just give a written application and nobody care either where they are going after all they are adult” There were young boys and girls present at that moment on other tables smoking Sheesha and I wanted to interview them to but they apologized to talk so I came back to the group “Where do you go other than this place?” “There are many places in Islamabad especially Hotshots, if you go there between 12 to 1 pm you will observe that most of Sheesha smokers there are in school or college uniform”

Few other concealed activities

After this chit chat I and my friend Vicky who is a senior photographer drove toward Damny Kohh Hills. There are many hiking tracks along the way on one of it I saw a police constable. We stood with him for some time and I asked him what he was doing on the track he said that there are many incidents of young boys and girls doing physical mischief on these tracks. As these tracks are mostly vacant so these track usually become a dating point or even far more. We were not amazed to hear that because on the way to top of Damny Kohh hills one can see a young couple getting out of the forest or parking their car at some corner and going into the thick forest on some especial expedition or mission every now and then. While on the other hand just for awareness of parents, there is a new trend of sending MMS (Multimedia Message Service) just keep an eagle eye on young children because there are anonymous mms being received having nude pictures. While this trend of sending nude pictures is very old but now it is sent at first to develop friendship if the mms is received by opposite sex e.g. male to female or vice versa and then to get mobile cards or balance.  

My Opinion

In my opinion this social acceptance to Sheesha and these trends will result in a new generation having shameless attitude and disrespect for anyone who oppose or stand between their liberties. I am specially aiming toward Sheesha because when you observe a youngster smoking Sheesha you will be surprised to see how much they are involved in it. They go to an imagination world which does not exist. They will make different poses when they exhale the smoke. Noticeably this is increasing at an alarming rate and we are also to be blamed equally because we don’t listen and understand what our new generation expects from us. We only demand them to be right and in this clash between expectation and demanding we waste what we have at hand. If our attitude and these strange trends of youngsters are gone unnoticeable then all these omens are not toward a very bright future.

The Writer is an editor in Online News Agency.