WHERE'S THE DIFFERENCE?

 https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2021/06/20/wheres-the-difference/

The USA now has a new Federal holiday, the 19th of June, known as Juneteenth. It commemorates the day slaves– who were mostly Black African, were told in Texas that they were now free and no longer enslaved. Although slavery had been officially outlawed three years earlier by Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the proclamation had been larger ignored in Texas and some other States.

In Pakistan people have scoffed at this new holiday, and have called it hypocritical, pointing at the many incidences of racism and violence still occurring in the USA even though its Constitution says that all people are equal.

The fact is that much of what happens in the USA should ring a bell with us here; the maudlin leadership, the police brutality against Black Americans, the murders of George Floyd and Arbery, and the January 6th storming of the Capitol.

Pakistan started out as a secular country. Jinnah stated in the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly: “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed — that has nothing to do with the business of the State.”

Later in 1956 Islam was brought in as the official religion of the country, and Islam also proclaims very strictly that there is no difference between people whatever race they may belong to.

Yet all of these things have always been ignored. In Pakistan our minorities are still prosecuted, very much so. Hazaras, Shias, Ahmadis, Christians are all targeted, their colonies are destroyed, their women abducted and forced to convert after being forced into marriage. Asia Bibi has taken refuge in another country, and Malala Yusufzai is condemned by all and sundry in the country of her birth because as a woman she is not supposed to say the things she does. We claim to be devout followers of Islam, a religion that condemns racism, gender bias, discrimination and violence in no uncertain terms, and yet we call people names based on their gender, colour and caste, and in the Punjab marry according to caste as well.

Salman Taseer died ten years ago in January, murdered by his own security guard because he spoke against an unfair law, one that goes against the very religion it claims to stem from. He was murdered because he voiced sympathy for this law’s victims. His bravery was never commemorated, yet the man who murdered him lies buried in a shrine near Islamabad that is daily visited by thousands of admirers that include the son-in-law of a former Prime Minister.

Taseer’s death was a loss for the country, because with him we lost a man who had his heart in the right place. He was also a man who spoke out against a law that goes against the state religion of the country.

SIMS AND SALARIES

 https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2021/06/13/sims-and-salaries/

Ideally of course things should be organised in such a way that people are able to have their legitimate concerns addressed without resorting to crime. But when a crime does occur it requires punishment. The best punishment is that which is just, and acts as a deterrent for any future crime.

So, what is crime?

A crime is an intentional act that is socially harmful.

And what is justice?

In its most basic definition, justice is ‘the principle that people receive that which they deserve.’ And an aspect of justice is the relationship between a crime and its punishment. Every punishment or penalty must fit the transgression or crime for which it is prescribed, otherwise it is unjust. An extension of this is that the punishment should discourage or prevent other similar transgressions or crimes from taking place.

The current government, like previous governments in this country, can claim a handful of achievements. The vaccination drive against covid-19 is one of them. The drive has been well organised, and many people have been vaccinated, but still many more are refusing vaccinations.

Certain penalties seem to have been prescribed for non-compliance just now. Are those penalties just? Do they fit the crime? And will they discourage or prevent other similar transgressions?  This is why this discussion is taking place.

Those refusing vaccinations are in many cases doing so without knowing a thing about the science involved. They imagine they know better than the medical experts.

For others, vaccination figures low on their list of priorities which in many cases concern where the next meal is to come from, which area to use next when nature calls, how to afford a child’s marriage, and so o Given such matters, fending off an invisible bug seems almost a laugh.

Is not being vaccinated a crime? In other words, is non-compliance with the directive to be vaccinated a crime?

It is, indirectly. Covid-19 is a deadly disease. It has killed millions of persons worldwide and it has had untold economic fallout. An unvaccinated person is much more prone to infection, so is much more likely to die from the disease and is likely to pass on the virus to others. Therefore non-compliance with regards to vaccination against covid-19 is tantamount to self-harm and murder, which are both crimes.

In the case of not getting vaccinated because there was not enough information extended in a fashion appropriate to the audience, or if there are matters to do with basic survival that take precedence, the fault lies with the authorities. Do we have any penalties against them?

The government has come up with some penalties against non-compliance.

According to the news ‘an official’ says that ‘the Punjab government decided on Thursday to block the SIM cards of people refusing to get vaccinated against the coronavirus’. Since then a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health Sajid Shah has refuted the report regarding SIMs saying that no such proposals are under consideration. Neither news has been confirmed. It is either yet another U-turn, a hallmark of this government, or the matter is still under consideration, despite the assurance. We will find out.

Meantime in Sindh it seems it has been decided that government servants who do not get vaccinated by July will not be given their salaries.

Should either penalty using SIM or salary be allowed? Are these penalties just or even legal?

The Oxford handbook lists punishments under the following categories: Retribution, Deterrence, Rehabilitation, Incapacitation, and Restoration.

They’re all fairly self-explanatory:

Retribution is the traditional eye for an eye which tends to satisfy the anger that is produced by a crime.  It is open to judgement, to a consideration of what equates what. It is considered to be an effective deterrent – if it is used responsibly, and can be an effective deterrent.

Incapacitation is another traditional penalty which means putting the culprit in a place where no harm can come to others. That means anything from prison to execution, both of which are a huge deterrent to others but like all other punishments, and perhaps more than others, it requires justice and equity.

Deterrence is the knowledge that punishment will occur if a certain crime is committed. It depends on being aware of the consequences of a crime, and like retribution it works if it is used responsibly.

Rehabilitation is not a deterrent. It takes place alongside the punishment and seeks to mitigate the reasons that made that person commit the crime. The reasons may be psychological or financial, or they may be linked to a lack of understanding, in which case education and information are provided. In other words the person committing the crime is helped to find ways of dealing with his or her problems, ways that are legal and not harmful.

Restoration calls for the person committing the crime to see for him or herself the results of his actions, to hear about them from the victims themselves, and then to try and make amends, which may take anything from saying sorry to doing something to resolve the matter if possible, or to at least try and lessen the fallout. It is a positive approach to punishment, and once again, it works only if it is implemented responsibly.

A penalty must have a direct bearing on the crime, and have a relationship to it, and the consequences of the penalty must not worsen the situation.

To return to the matter of SIM or Salary, do either of those penalties bear any relation to the crime. If a man refuses to be vaccinated, do we have a right to starve his family (holding back the salary)? What’s more, since the salary is linked to the performance of a job, if that job has been performed it requires payment. To withhold that payment is morally and legally wrong and also not allowed from the religious point of view.

If people have not been sufficiently educated as to the importance of this vaccination does the fault lie with them?

No.

Will taking away the SIM card on a person’s phone and not allowing him or her to possess another solve this particular problem? Will it force him to be vaccinated if he does not believe vaccination is required? Can he not borrow someone else’s phone? What’s more, in a country where fake documents are the norm rather than the exception, would a fake vaccination document be a surprise?

Will either of these penalties educate people as to the importance of being vaccinated?

The answer is no to all of those.

These measures could have been classified as a deterrent for non-compliance that’s the only one, and once again, in Pakistan there is always a way around.

In a society where punishment is reserved for the certain few, where a certain set of persons escape punishment every time because they happen to have the right contacts, a healthy bank balance and position, can this and other punishments ever be a deterrent, or will it simply produce more resentment, more resistance to what is right?

There are intelligent minds in this country which disappear at crucial moments. You wonder if this is because they are not where they should be, or if they are not permitted to function.

OF A LIMITED UNDERSTANDING AND ITS HARMFUL EFFECTS

 https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2021/06/06/of-a-limited-understanding/

It appears that Pakistan’s Punjab is likely to miss the Covid-19 vaccination target, which hardly comes as a surprise.

Arrangements at vaccination centres appear to be more or less satisfactory, although there are cases of overcrowding which are likely to cause a few outbreaks of infection by themselves. There are fewer glitches than anticipated, and those that exist involve mostly the less well heeled segment of society, which again comes as no surprise.

Some of those ‘less well heeled’ people were turned back for the first jab because ‘the due date wasn’t there yet.’ There is no reason for not vaccinating any person when he or she arrives without a date, if, under the rules such a person is legitimately allowed to be vaccinated, that is, if he or she fits the age currently being vaccinated, and is Pakistani. The first dose does not require a specific date, it’s the second one that needs to be three weeks away from the first, with the Chinese vaccine. The authorities should welcome all comers with open arms, whenever they turn up.

The registration website is well designed and easy to use. The CNIC issue date field on the website was a bit fiddly but someone seems to have fixed that problem. Well done.

The hardest part to get around as always is the attitude among some segments of society, the know-it-all anti-vaxxers who put both themselves and people around them at risk by refusing to be vaccinated, and little is being done to get such people to change their mind.

In the rural settings of the Punjab– which are probably no different to rural settings anywhere else– people appear to be quite unconcerned about getting vaccinated. It is in fact a subject that does not seem to feature anywhere on their mental horizon. It would be a good idea to take the vaccination drive to such places rather than expect people who live there to lay down their tools and make the long and difficult trek to a vaccination centre, something that is not likely to happen.

As for other nay-sayers their mind is often made up by so-called religious authorities who present one of the most witless arguments by saying that vaccinations represent an attempt to pre-empt the Will of Allah. That if a person gets ill it is Allah’s Will and if he dies or recovers that too is Allah’s Will. It is not up to us to ‘interfere.’

Well, we all know that everything is Allah’s Will, but if that interference logic were sane it would apply equally to the ditches at the Jang-e-Qandaq (Battle of the Ditch) all those years ago, wouldn’t it, when the followers of the Prophet (pbuh) should have simply sat there waiting for Allah’s Will and not lifted a finger to defend themselves then. No trenches, no digging. That is just one of the millions of examples that proves how ill-considered such arguments are, and how much the people of this country have suffered at the hands of people who present them, and how little they are used to reason.

I remember my henna-haired maulvi sahib teaching me to read the Quran when I was a child. He was a good man, very patient with my errors. Yet when we came to a certain verse which is a particularly beautiful one, he told me that if I were to put a stone with a hole in it into my mouth and then read that verse, all my prayers would be granted. Somewhere along the line he also told me that not stopping at a ‘meem’ would land me in hell. He told me nothing about that verse or any other verse, indeed he knew nothing about that verse, or about any other verse of the Quran. My father, hearing his instructions, asked me to simply learn how to read the Arabic from the teacher, and leave the explanations and meanings to my parents.

And yet my teacher’s limited understanding of the scripture was nothing unusual. Most religious figures in this country today are no different, yet they pass on their flawed understanding to all those willing to accept it, and there is no shortage of those willing to accept it. After all, all education is passed on that way here, be it science, history, or another subject, and how can anyone understand anything if all they’re doing is reeling off a list of elements, dates and something else off another list?

Anyway, this was a somewhat belated attempt to celebrate the annual World Parrot Day this past May 31st. May we succeed in protecting all nature as well as those birds, while at the same time remembering just what parrots are: twits, beautiful ones.