A
OPINION
Page 4
Wednesday, February 17, 1982-
The Michigan Daily
'The Pakistanis
are not that
The first part of this interview appeared
yesterday.
Manzer Durrani is an American citizen now
because he loves this country and sees in it the
power to make the world a better place.
"As an American, I can talk to you one on one
and you'll understand that I'm not trying to ad-
vocate another country," he explains.
Howard
XXitt,
Which is not to say that the 37-year-old
University PhD candidate no longer loves his
native country of Pakistan. He weeps for it,
aqonizes -over it, and earnestly wants
Aiericans to see beyond the media images of
it
Yes, Pakistan's President Zia'is a military
dictator. Yes, he may have committed human
rights violations. Yes, Pakistan has refused to
si tthe Nuclear Non-Proliferation Agreement
and yes, it might be developing nuclear
weapons. But it's not quite that simple.
"WE ARE ABOUT the size of Michigan,
Ohio, and Kentucky combined. And we have 80
million people. On top of that we have 2 million
Afghan refugees. You got a hundred thousand
Cubans and you worry how to make them sur-
vive. Imagine us-we have two million in a
country whose budget is not equal to that of
New York City.,
"And we have Soviet forces sitting right on
our borders. And you don't hear of this, but
every day the Soviet helicopters come down
and strafe the refugee camps. You want us to be
sympathetic about Poland. Look at our
predicament. Poland is ,still surviving as a
nation; we have human beings living in tents,
in subzero weather in the mountains. And on
top of that armed helicopters come and strafe
them.
"It is very easy to log someone else's human
rights violations. Those people living in the
South Bronx, do you think they have all their
human rights?
"IF HUMAN rights are too much suppressed
in our countries, too, our people come out in the
streets. (Former President) Bhutto was over-
thrown not by the military but by the people.
The military had to step in to save the country.
The unfortunate thing is, whoever we get as a
leader turns around and starts thinking of him-
self as the overall and the all-in-all, instead of
being a man of the people. We know how to take
care of human rights-our people are not that
dumb.
"The important thing we are forgetting is
food, housing, clothing, education. First let's
get that, and with that will come the respect for
every right. Now we are too poor really to think
about any kind of right. -
"You ask about whether Pakistan has
nuclear bombs. I don't know, nobody knows.
And that's exactly the way we want it. We have
fought three wars with India-India has the
bomb. We would rather that they keep on
guessing whether we have it too. That's why we
won't sign any non-proliferation agreements.
When our enemies open up their nuclear
programs to inspection, when the U.S. and the
Soviet Union do, then we will. Right now, we
can't.
"... YOU KNOW why people get mad at
America more than at the Soviet Union? Have
you ever wondered why? Because America is
the ideal every nation hoped to become. And
when they see that sometimes America misun-
derstands them, they get upset.
"Somehow America gets identified with the
rich of the countries. Don't be of the right or the
left, forget this distinction. Use your
pragmatism-the biggest strength man
has-pragmatism. Use the power of your in-
telligence to identify the leaders of any mass
movement. Support them fully, even if it comes
to giving them arms. Then, when they become
a power, they won't turn to the Soviet Union.
"The Shah-of all people, you supported the
Shah in Iran. So what happened? Khomeini
comes in, another dictator as bad as the Shah.
But there were people there-and don't think
there weren't people there-who could have
been supported, even at the time of the Shah.
Bazargan, Bani-Sadr-they were intellectuals,
they were not right or left. But when they got to
power, they had nobody's support.
"AMERICA SHOULD take up as human
rights food, clothing, hygiene. America has
stood for this. You are being misunderstood,
and if this misunderstanding continues, I don't
know what terrible things will happen.
". ..We've got to forget about political dif-
ferences. Things have gone way past politics in
the world. Now we've got to worry about
human beings.
"... Jewish people and Islamic people and
Christian people have something they share in
common. To me it breaks my heart to see them
kill each other. Look at the unfortunate
thing-people who have suffered through concen-
tration camps and the most inhuman suffering in
.umb'
the history of mankind, their airplanes can bomb
hundreds of innocent people.
"We have to stop saying 'this is our friend'
and 'this is our foe' and never talk with the
damn foe and never try to understand whether
he is a human being, whether he lives like us,
whether he cries like us, whether he bleeds
when he gets hurt.
"My country has fought three .wars with In-
dia. I don't hate the Indians. Why should I?
Because political circumstances created a
situation in which we fought? Shall I then leave
a heritage to my children, to my nation to hate
the Indians? I can't do that. The next hatred
situation is developing in the Mideast. Let's not
create a hatred that will last for centuries bet-
ween Jews and Muslims.
"I think the younger generation here should
understand that there is more than beer and
parties in life. We come inito this world not to
get married and get a job and live happily ever
after. We are our brothers' keepers. We have to
be concerned with what our fellow human
beings are. Because we are the only nation in
the world which has the power to change the
destinies of mankind for the better. Otherwise
the Soviets will, and when that-happens, forget
it."
Witt's column normally appears every
Tuesday.
k6
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4.
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Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Wasserman
Vol. XCII, No. 114
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
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Toward a b
L AST WEEK state Sen. Jack
Welborn (R-Kalamazoo)
introduced a bill to Congress asking for
tis withdrawal of Gov. Milliken's 1982-
83,budget and the removal of Gerald
Aller from his position as director of
management and the budget.
elborn's suggestiohs may be a'
touch too extreme to actually be enac-
ted, but his reasons for presenting the
bill deserve some attention.
Welborn claims that Milliken's new
buiget proposal for the 1982-83 fiscal
yetr will send the state into bankrup-
tc'. Welborn says that paying for the
state's budget deficit by deferring
payments and borrowing funds-which
is what Milliken's plan calls for-will
eventually leave Michigan without any
money. Welborn also claims, that the
governor's revenue intake projections
for the end of this year are wildly op-
tiinistic, and will never come to pass.
The senator may have a point.
Because it is unconstitutional for
Michigan to run a fiscal deficit, the
yearly budget must always balance. In
light of this law, Milliken.has come up
with a budgetary loophole that allows a
short-term deficit. Milliken's budget
proposal calls for the state to hold off
on its summer payments to various
state services-including higher
education-until the winter, when the
economy will supposedly take an up-
ward turn.
There is a tremendous risk involved
with this proposal. If the economy does
not improve, then Michigan runs the
etter budget
risk of going bankrupt-a situation
which carries disastrous consequen-
ces.
Welborn's claim that Milliken's
revenue estimates are overly. op-
timistic may be on the mark. Milliken
predicts that the state will receive'
higher revenues than it has for the past
few years. Chances are he has
overestimated once again. Some ac-
counting firms have already said
revenue levels will be way below those
Milliken suggested. If Milliken is
wrong, Michigan will end this year, as
Welborn has predicted, with a $600
million cash deficit.
That number is staggering. It makes
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Billy Frye's $20 million cuts over five
years seem miniscule in comparison.
Losing $600 million in one year would
be a prelude to devastating cutbacks in
the state's social services-cutbacks to
the point of governmental negligence.
So what should be done? Gerald
Miller has done nothing improper, and
obviously should not be removed from
office. The state would be hard-pressed
to come up with an alternative budget
proposal given the current legal and
financial restraints. Maybe what is
needed most is a set of sound and
responsible financial predictions from
the governor's office, as well as a true
commitment to keeping Michigan
afloat beyond Milliken's term of office.
Intelligent budget planning, along with
realistic financial austerity, is the only,
way to keep this sagging state on its
feet.
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LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
Ushers work with concerted
To the Daily:
In response to comments
regarding "obnoxious ushers"
(Daily, Feb. 10) =who harass
paying customers, ticket holders
should understand that the
ushers are acting on behalf of the
paying customers. Their duties
are not only to seat patrons, but
also to maintain a safe and con-
trolled atmosphere so that
everybody may enjoy the con-
cert.
Too many concertgoers hold
the unrealistic notion that their
tickets allow them unrestrained
movement. A ticket entitles an
individual to a seat from which to
enjoy the concert; it does not
allow patrons to dance in the
aisles (which violates state fire
codes), or to run up to the front of
the stage, or to have access to all
areas within an auditorium.
Moreover, most problems are
caused by a minority of concer-
tgoers who endanger or annoy the
majority of paying customers.
The interior of Hill Auditorium,
like the old Economics Building,
is constructed of wood. In order
to hold events in one of the
world's finest concert halls, strict
policies prohibiting smoking,
drinking, and vandalism must be
enforced. Fire marshals make
unannounced inspections during
concerts to check for violatons. If
effort
paying customers be incon-
venienced 6r annoyed.
Major Event ushers are volun-
teers. who help maintain a safe
and comfortable atmosphere at
concerts. Until all concertgoers
abide by a few simple rules,
ushers will continue to act on.
behalf of the audience in general
and deal with those who distract.
and threaten the safety of
everyone.
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F .M,
Looking for utopia
individuals who wish
would simply excuse
to the lobby, they w
"harassed," nor we
To the Daily:
In response to Mark Gindin's
article (Daily, Feb. 5); I suggest
that he, along with former movie
star Ronald Reagan, accept their
responsibilities as human beings;
When Gindin suggests that
America is the land of oppor-
tunity because one black from the
ghetto can make a million dollars
as a basketball player, I feel like
throwing up. The liberals you
mention don't try to run other,
people's lives, they try to help
people who are suffering.
Unlike Gindin, I don't pity the
people who search for'utopia. I
admire their spirit and know that
they providehope for humanity.
-Stephen Sorscher
February 9
Letters
typed, tri
margins.1
"igned by
to smoke -David Stone
themselves Bruce Moyer
ould not be Gayle Shore
uld other Major Events Ushers
February 15
b
to the Daily should beA
gle-spaced, with inch
411 submissions must be
the individual author(s).:
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