[javed]

A coloured photograph appearing in a Karachi daily on 19 January 2008 is before me which has further aggravated my already deep depression. Someone rightly said that these are the stupid ordinary citizens who burn and in fact should burn uselessly their hearts seeing the national affairs while we the “concerned” should keep carrying own our “business”. The photograph is of a so called Special Coach plying on a Karachi road. The daily has snapped wasting its time and print space by showing that the passengers were dangerously traveling hanging on the doors as well as standing on window grills which is a daily event for we the citizens. The reason for my increasing foolish heart burning was seeing the route displayed at the front screen as “Abdullah Ghazi” Coach.

Four years back one evening just about half an hour before sun down I was at the main Clifton bus stop. I wished to take some Coach for Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Dozens of Coaches passed by but I could not know which one was heading to Gulshan as on all those route numbers or identifications were as Sher Dil Coach, Niazi Coach, Abdulla Ghazi Coach etc giving no indication which one was heading to where. I enquired from many standing like me there but no one could give me any help. Even I consulted a traffic constable but he too was helpless. I kept running to every stopping coach. Anyhow one young conductor guided me that the coach coming behind his was to take me to my destination.

Internationally public transport has routes numbers in numerical manner sometime combined with alphabetic. The specific first digits give some identification as to which way the bus or coach was to head. For example in Karachi yellow coaches have route numbers like W1, W18, A1. U4. X20 etc. People know well W series touches mostly Landhi/New Karachi via different areas. U route touches Saddar, New Karachi etc. Buses eg route 6 is from Tower to Dastgir. All route 8 with alphabetic combination go to Pir Elahi Bakhsh Colony. But these so called special coaches have identification only of their owners which only those recognize who travel daily on that specific route. An occasional traveler can hardly know. Since buses and yellow coaches have fixed numbers hence despite traveling once or twice in two three years to some areas, I can easily find concerned bus.

I raised the issue three years with Sindh Ombudsman in 2003 that there should be proper route numbers for these so-called special coaches. Unexpectedly the Road Transport without raising any bureaucratic object which is a usual agreed to it that. When the Road Transport Department had already agreed to do the needful, I could not believe when the Sindh Ombudsman Office after about a year of RTA consent called me for a joint hearing. What was the need of a haring at that stage at least being a commoner I could not understand. At that time I was living abroad. Arriving for a hearing from abroad on expense of more than Rs. 50,000 minimum was entirely not wise. This reminded me about good old days, now having gone for ever, when 10 years back over a cup of tea the then Sindh Ombudsman told me in his chamber that knowing well what the fare was he does not call a complainant even from Islamabad for Hearing let alone from abroad. This hearing call was to me nothing but a bureaucratic discouragement attempt to discourage conscientious citizen from keep opening mouth in community interest. It was also against the spirit of the then Chief Justices of Supreme Court and all High Courts who jointly in Quetta appealed the educated citizens to come forward and brining public interest issues.

Now October 2007 the Sindh Ombudsman Office sent me a copy of its December 2005 decision which reads with satisfaction that the “route permits on buses and coaches have been implemented”. In simple words both the RTA and Sindh Ombudsman were happy that the Decision has been “implemented” This January 2008 photograph displaying “Abdulla Ghazi” 2008 as route number and a “having been implemented” disposal of two years back well explains what is the reason why there is no end to our national ills which in fact are keep increasing. May 2007 standing at Hassan Square chowarangi it took me more than 40-45 minutes to find if Abdulla Niazi, Shaboo Khan, Udhar Khan or Lucky Marwat named plate special coach will take me to my destination. The Decision says RTA has directed buses and coaches to write down their Route number. How sweet it is our authorities working inside offices traveling spending government fuel and on which mostly to be taken home later by seniors as “staff cars” do not know local buses plying within city already have route numbers. It is not any surprising gof course that when these “shahzadys” do not travel on buses and coaches how can they know what was the condition of busses or public transport. Yellow coaches already since their introduction mid 1970 have route numbers. Every one feels his duty finished after issuing an order, may he be a minister, a bureaucrat, a judge or an ombudsman. The decision was implemented or not it is not his duty in our beloved country. About 5-6 years ago the Supreme Court or perhaps Sindh High Court directed to take off from the Karachi roads all smoke omitting rickshaws. Traveling in a rickshaw I talked with the old illiterate driver that what would he do now. I never forget his reply which was full of wisdom and spoke of his life experience in addition to speaking many other things. His words were “Babu, the Judge who gave this order must have by now forgotten his own order. Now sitting in his air conditioned car going to High Court building passing through Burns Road and reading newspaper his eyes would never catch the smoke on Burns road”. The Sindh Ombudsman earlier issued an order that there would be separate portions in buses and coaches for ladies in which gents would not be allowed to sit. Every day we see gents traveling in ladies sections and ladies miserably and helplessly standing and continue standing on stops for the next coach to come. We the ordinary masses see this with our naked eyes but the eye vision of Sindh Ombudsman officials does not catch this. The biggest proof if it is one such helpless lady Sidra Akhtar from Karachi who keeps crying almost every month through newspapers. I salute her for her continued struggle more particularly for her sparing time to fight for justice and for her right despite living in this generally lethargic society.

General Musharraf recently rightly stated that West should not see the democracy in Pakistan from Western eyes. Though there can be and in fact are many arguments over his this statement nevertheless the point is that it is not necessary a pain killer which relieves my pain may have same affect on the other body. Panadol Eextra increases my headache. The simple Panadol gives me relief. Same Extra Panadol gives immediate relief to my wife. Remedies proved on others can not invariably have same effects on us. It is what the learned Ibn-e-Khaldoon some 500-600 years back in his Muqadma Ibn-e-Khaldoon stated that God have created different atmospheres, different colour physique structure of people in different areas etc. As stated above the Sindh Ombudsman directed ease for lady passengers but felt his duty finished after once giving his order. Never later any of the Sindh Ombudsman Office “saw” male traveling in ladies compartment. The then Sindh Transport Minister who had till recently been adviser on security to the Sindh Government Likewise one day stopped a Coach on on Shahrah-e-Faisal and slapped the coach driver for accommodating males in ladies compartment. After getting his photograph and news published on his this “marvelous” job never later he saw any gent traveling in ladies compartment. The newspaper editors after writing praising editorial for his this noble work as usual described now onward the menace of gents on ladies seats will ever go in thin air. The publicity extent ministers, editors etc forget that remedies proved elsewhere do not affect here. We have to use the indigenous remedies only not merely for gents traveling in ladies compartments but for all our national ills. For example for this particular disease slapping once in ten years a driver is not the remedy. The remedy lies in “allowing verbally” the policemen to stop such a coach, bring down each male sitting in ladies compartment, make him “murgha” on the road for 30 minutes and then charge each one “without any receipt or documentation” Rs. 100/- which directly goes to the pocket of concerned policeman as “welfare bonus”. See how effective the remedy would be in as much as that even on driver’s crying for free ride no one will dare sit.