Distorting facts & irreparable loss

By,

Muhammad Kashif khan,

Mphill scholar at Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad,

Deliberate distortion of facts and intentional suppression of relevant and important material always lead to the loss that cannot be repaired.  It misleads the decisions making body into making inappropriate decisions. Any decision based on false information has dire consequences which would be borne by the relevant groups.  People who have vested interests always present misinformation in the system to turn final decision in their favor. They blur other viable alternatives and leave the Authority with the single option, which they want by molding information. The outcomes of these wrong decisions are felt for a long time, particularly when it comes to the issue related to the care of future generation and environment.

In the Land of the pure everything wrong can be justified by saying that it is in the public interest or in the larger interest of state. Nothing other than care for future generation and environmental protection can be the greater interests of a state.  CDA, the authority responsible for the development of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, has not only seized the land of the country’s premier public research institute, Quaid-I-Azam University, but has also teared down the carefully nurtured trees to make way for an unnecessary bypass.  The aim is to construct an eight lane expressway that will allow the heavy traffic to bisect the campus. The project was inaugurated by the prime minister and is bound to complete in just three month so that it may be used for political scoring in the next election. The projected was launched in so much haste that neither environmental impact assessment was done nor the legal procedure followed. The Authority bulldozed the wall of the sacred place in the dark of night, where one learns wisdom and knowledge, and when questioned about the legality, the CDA chairman, in his tweet cited vice chancellor’s “Tacit approval”.  This is insane that a multi-billion project was started without fulfilling legal requirement and assessing its environmental impact. When faculty of QAU moved the court and students raised voices against it,CDA and its mouth pieces were constantly telling lie to make the project implementable. The other technically viable and cheap alternatives are presented impossible and the report, CDA prepared, on environmental impact assessment is full of lie and distortion of facts.  Lie and molding facts have been overshadow by declaring it the public interest project.

In 2015, instead of this express way, an elevated road was proposed in Bhara Kahu over Murree road to avoid traffic jam. Once the illegal occupants around Murree Road resisted, the capital Administration turned the Project toward QAU, the only public sector university, which has made its place among world’s best universities. The land of QAU is reserved for future expansion of Educational and research purposes and should not be used for other than academic and learning activities.

Apart from bisecting the campus and disrupting the education and research activities, it will devastate the ecosystem to an unimaginable degree at a time when the country’s premier is begging for help in climate change related losses at COP in Sharm El Sheikh. To present the project eco-friendly, an environmental impact assessment report has been prepared to get it approved from Pakistan Environmental Protection agency. The report ignores the possible threats to QAU Botanical Garden, which will be sandwiched between proposed Expressway and Murree road. The garden is dedicated to the collection, cultivation, preservation, display and experimentation of an especially wide range of plants, which are typically labelled with their botanical names. Botanical Gardens play an important role in collection of living plants grown for educational, recreational, economic, medicinal and scientific purposes. The Pollution, dust, fog and smog in gardens will badly affect QAU botanical garden and its plants. Road dust will not only affect plants’ aesthetic values but also affects its other biological processes. The garden, a source of experimentation and research that contributes in country economy, agriculture, forestry, ornamental plants around the world, will be the first victim of a major artery of heavy tariff.

It is up to the judiciary and higher authorities and if we fail to act upon the right and factual realities, the present and future generation will curse on us. Right of nature and environmental jurisprudence as well as care for coming generation must be kept in mind while defining public interest.