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	M A I L B A G	Tuesday, October 26, 1999
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Sharif doesn't deserve sympathy

THE people of Jatti Umra, the native village of Mr Nawaz Sharif, in Amritsar district, are reportedly worried about the safety of the ousted Pakistan Premier, saying that he was the one who avoided another war and saved his country and India from destruction by withdrawing troops from Kargil. They recite “ardas” (invocatory prayer) daily for his wellbeing ("Jatti Umra prays for Sharif", October 21).

Perhaps these simple-hearted people do not know that the "son" of their village not only openly declared his sympathy with the militants operating in Kashmir but also encouraged them. He never condemned the heart-rending massacres of innocent people by Pakistan-trained terrorists.

He gave a false appearance of reliability on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's visit to Lahore, in as much as on the one hand he gave him a rousing reception and on the other Pakistani troops made armed intrusion in Kargil with his assent. He withdrew troops only when Pakistan stood isolated at the international level, failed to enlist China's support, and US President Bill Clinton exhorted him to do so and resume diplomatic talks set in motion by Mr Vajpayee during his historic Delhi-Lahore bus ride. Instead of learning a lesson from the fate of Pakistan's misadventure, he threatened to create many Kargil-like situations.

He allegedly conspired to physically eliminate Gen Parvez Musharraf. His government tried to prevent the aircraft carrying the Army Chief from Colombo from landing at Karachi airport while it was running short of fuel. He might have some grudge against the General, but what was the fault of other 200 passengers aboard the plane. One shudders at the very thought of the tragic fate they would have met, had the aircraft not landed at Karachi.

Mr Sharif has been accused of money-laundering, tax evasion, bank frauds and forgery, involving several crores of dollars. Even some of his party colleagues demand his trial for treason and using the constitution for his personal gains. He is now stewing in his own juice.

BHAGWAN SINGH
Qadian

Decline of varsities

This refers to the article “Haryana's troubled varsities” by Mr D.R. Chaudhry (The Tribune, Oct 21). There is no denying the fact that over the last one decade the quality of almost all the universities of Haryana have gone down considerably, both academically and administratively. The reason for this over-all deterioration is obvious as the vice-chancellors are being appointed not only on purely political considerations but also on extraneous grounds of caste, creed and sycophancy.

Another foremost reason in this regard is the undue bureaucratic interference in the "affairs" of the universities. Since the state government totally finances its universities, the control of the government is deep and pervasive. But it does not mean that the state government should ignore the autonomy of a university, at least in academic matters for achieving excellence in the field of higher education and research.

ANIL BHATIA
HISAR

Corporate performance

Market capitalisation as a measure of corporate performance is the buzzword today. As a recognition of entrepreneurial achievements and the enhancement of shareholder worth, the measuring stick of market capitalisation is to be appreciated. However, it is not enough.

Total corporate performance has to take into account parameters like global competitiveness, consumer delight, employee care and reward, environmental protection, participation in community welfare activities, faithful discharge of obligations to governments at various levels and, above all, ethical values in running business.

Ignoring these overall parameters to concentrate only on market capitalisation may wreck the fortunes of small investors in enterprises like intellectual capital-based information technology. First, if there is migration of a few key persons from such companies, they will face a crisis. Second, considerable investment in research and development, and continuous educational and training programmes to upgrade knowledge and skill are a sine quo non of intellectual capital-based industries.

Many of these information technology companies have yet to develop capabilities in these crucial areas, and may suddenly find themselves becoming obsolescent. Unless new high-technology areas are explored successfully, the flood water prosperity of Y2K will disappear shortly and share values will collapse. When such a collapse occurs, insiders in the companies will get out fast by selling their shares at the prevailing higher prices.

Foreign financial institutional investors and domestic large investors like mutual funds, who use these shares more for parking funds or short-term gains, will also quickly shift their investments as they keep a close track of such companies' performance as also global trends. It is only the small investors, who have blindly rushed into such investments at fancy prices in the hope of a bonanza, who will be left high and dry. We will witness a repetition of the cotton boom disaster of last century or the bank scam a few years ago.

M.R. PAI
Mumbai