Who authored this letter?
By Zulfiqar Ahmad
ISLAMABAD, July 15: One of the six papers which former principal Langlands School and College Major GD Langlands said he was made to sign makes an interesting grammatical read.
The letter written in an American format is signed by Langlands shows that he was forced to put his signature on it.
At a meeting with Javed Majeed, the founder of the school, Major Langlands had admitted that deputy commissioner Chitral Aminul Haq and the sacked vice-principal Abdullah put his signatures on six documents.
Interestingly, Langlands, who never studied in any US university preferred to write his name in American style with big comas between his name’s abbreviations ie G.D Langlands.
The form of English used in the United Kingdom is called British English, and the form of English used in the United States is called American English but the Englishman opted for American style without giving importance to his native language.
He has also completely forgotten the differences between the two forms, including spelling, punctuations and formatting of dates and numbers.
Above all he has also misspelled his name such as “Langland” instead of Langlands. The broken English with numerous mistakes both grammatical, spelling and format shows it was written by a kindergarten kid. Or, this must have been drafted by a so-called Pakistani English expert.
In the second paragraph, the letter reads: “I hereby take over the charge of the principal”. The correct English is: “I take charge of the principal” but the author (let’s say Langlands writes, “I TAKE OVER the charge of the principal”, which makes it crystal clear who had drafted the letter.
In the same sentence, there is another mistake as the hyphen between “patron-in-chief” is missing which is mandatory in British English. The author further writes, “Today on 13th June 2015”. “The word ‘on’ with 13th June shows how good he is at writing?
Major Langlands misspelled his name twice in the letter but he has also misspelled the name of Carey as “Carry”. The school which bears his name now was also wrong as he had written “Langland School” instead of Langlands School – a typical Chitrali style where people often pronounce Langlands as “Langland”.
After writing CC with big full stops, which is again not allowed in British English, the former British major has written, “Copy forwarded for information and necessary action to the…at the end they have put a big sign of :-
The unnecessary usage of comas in the letter also reflects that it is not written by a Briton. Peshawar was spelled as “Peshwar” again and again. The author of the letter has also written Scouts as “Scout”.
Bhut he afsos ki baat hay k hamaray chitral k ooper Allah ka itna bara azmaish aya hay aur @m.khan aur dosray log kis issue ko itna importance dai rahay hain.. Baat kisi nay khob ki hay k ghulam qoom ka mayar b ajeeb hota hay. Woh ameer ko bara admi , english bolnay walay ko taleem yafta, aur clever logon ko aqalmand jantay hain. Iss may koi burai ki baat nahe ju ik admi tumhain journalisim k baray ma smaji even woh copy paste he q na ho. Jub angraiz hamaray libaray o sain books churakay lay ja saktay hain spain k periode ma tu copy paste ma kia borai hay. Very shame and very disgrace attitude done by @m.khan. Hope k tum batain bhut kertay ho shayd batain samjnay ma b utna he taiz hon gay…
@ Muhammad khan.
I think k tum nay pora sentence nahe paala hay aur contxt nahe clear kia hay. Ik martaba phir usi sentnce ko ghor say palay tab aqal aur naqal ki batain karain gay. Copy paste shayd computer termenolgy hay jub k may journalisim ma bolta hon aur han isi union ka journalisim say kia talooq hay zara apna elam may izafa karain .. Pehlay woh palain baad ma mai ap ko samjata hon k copy aur paste ma kia faraq hay.
i read full sentence and full comment but you still do not know what blunder you made. I am sure you have not read the sentences on journalism which you have pasted here bcoz you have copied and pasted it here without even reading. I request readers to open this link: http://www.rjionline.org/MAS-Codes-Iceland-Rules you have copied from there and pasted here with your name without even reading it. this is unethical. before lecturing us on journalism ethics you should stop such practice bcos this is plagiarism. you cannot copy any published material and publish it with your name without giving reference. my advice to you is write your own thoughts and do not copy others work. no offence my dear.
by sajid anwer
@ wasim Iqbal……
In their work, journalists of all media must constantly bear in mind the basic rules of human relations, and the public’s right to information, freedom of expression and criticism. But unfortunately your behavior and way of talking and abusing people and show your English capabilities and imposing your knowledge on others is like
Come uptill the skies/heavens with me
Come uptill the skies/heavans lets go together
These sheets of clouds
These borders of stars
Let us hide/rest in them for a moment or two.
Study the following ,will cool your brain.
A journalist aims to do nothing which may bring his profession or professional organization, newspaper or newsroom into disrepute. He must avoid anything which may be deleterious to public opinion of the journalist’s work or damage the interests of the profession. A journalist must always be honourable in his dealings with colleagues.
A journalist is aware of his personal responsibility for all that he writes. He bears in mind that he is generally perceived as a journalist, even when not expressing himself as such, in writing or the spoken word. A journalist respects the necessary confidentiality of his sources.
A journalist observes the highest possible standards in gathering information, processing this information, and in presentation, and shows the utmost tact in sensitive cases. He avoids all that may cause unnecessary pain or humiliation to the innocent, or those who have suffered. Should a journalist accept a bribe or use threats in connection with publication of material, this is counted a very serious violation. Journalists must always be conscious of when names should be published for the sake of public safety, or in the public interest. In accounts of legal and criminal cases, journalists must observe the general rule that every person is innocent until proven guilty.
A journalist must do his best to avoid conflicts of interest, for instance by reporting on companies or interest groups in which he himself is involved. He must primarily serve the interests of the readers, and the honour of the journalistic profession in all that he undertakes in the course of his work.
A journalist writes always on the basis of his convictions. He makes sure not to confuse editorial material of clear informative and educational value with advertising in pictorial and / or written form.
This code of ethics does not limit the freedom of expression of journalists who write under their full name clearly defined items in newspapers, e.g. criticism, where the writer’s personal views are of the essence.
Any person who believes that a journalist has offended against the above code, and whose interests are at stake, can make a complaint to the Ethics Committee of the Icelandic Union of Journalists within two months of publication, provided the item published is not the subject of court action at the same time.
please Mr.editor don’t allow such glorified nonsense for their very poor comentory.
wah bhai kia khub lecture dia hai journalism pe. i am surprised. but naqal k liey aqal ki bi zarurat hoti hai copy paste karne se pehle dek to lete. yaqeen nahi to second paragraph mulahiza kijea. iceland union of journalist se pata chal gia k ethics aur journalism ka kitna elm hai.
Langland SAGA: An anecdote full of illusion and miss-interpretation. It seems that the top brass of the institution and the district administrator are going to create chaos and turmoil while adressing and using the seat of learning. It is requested to the concerned departments that please kindly go through the matter and take stern action against the culprits behind the scene.
The President,
Bank al-Falah, Pakistan
Dear Sir,
Through this esteemed paper I would like to draw your kind attention towards a matter of public importance that directly relates to your bank in Chitral.
Bank al-Falah under your kind leadership in the mountains of Chitral has turned into camp office of some political party rather than facilitating the people of the area due to lack of a competent branch manager.
The current general manager is giving undue favours to the management of a private school namely Langland School and College. The said manager used to transfer the salaries of the school staff without getting the cheques signed by the principal who is a British citizen.
Your branch manager got her signatures after she returned home from UK for the last about two years during winter and summer vacations. This illegal practice was stopped only recently when the management came to know about it. After the management sprung into action and tightened the noise around the very (in)efficient branch manager, the salaries to the staff were transferred after a delay of about 15 days and reason for that was the cheques were sent by the lady principal who is currently in UK.
It is therefore requested that a thorough probe should be ordered against the branch manager Bank al-Falah Chitral or else the image of the whole organization will be tarnished not only in Chitral but throughout the country as the management has no control over its employees like branch managers in areas like Chitral.
A concerned Chitrali citizen
@Shazaib
Wish if you could know even the ABC of English, I would have responded to you in more detail. But talking to you is like explaining to a kindergarten kid. Get edhi from papa and enjoy ur eid.
By Shazaib
Mr. Kangroo and writer. In other words @ waseem iqbal, a kangroo ! Its very funny that a man living in islamic state befool the people by nominating himself an animal of the Australian kingdom. Journalism in your green glass means openly pressurizing and threatening the people and the then stop them from expressing their opinions. No kangroo dnt realizes the other to show your knowledge and information what you have. I challenged you at any forum to come and bring your information about journalism and your behaviours. Remember my challenge, if not then apologize from the person moraly otherwise your whole chapter will be opened in this journalism that who you are and how you read the journalism. Remember me in your prayers.
@Hayat Khan:
It will take time for you to understand journalism. Better concentrate on what you are doing there with Kangaroos.
Once it is confirmed from javeed Majid interview about the authenticity of the fake letter/notifications , i think it’s no necessary to highlight it again here. Find another news type, to work on it Mr. Zulfiqar. Now the issue is solved every thing is clear, but why you again and again make it political issue than an administrative issue. Why do you like make every thing media-politised. Please stop your sensational journalism. You are making and breaking the news stories by making them crispy- try always to present factual and rational news stories. Every one knows well those who have understanding of basic english about the difference between british and american english.Stop please being english teacher from the profession of journalist.
It’s matter of our future generations, the students. So, it’s better the issue shouldn’t be politicised and Cary granted visa to resume her duties.
It is an admitted fact that Major Langlands is not the owner of the Langlands School and College. The college was named after him in recognition of his services for education in Chitral. He called it a day when he was no more in a position to run the affairs of the institution. The lady made untiring efforts for the improvement of quality education and terminated the services of those teachers who had become a liability for the institution. All private institutions in Pakistan appoint teachers purely on temporary basis and terminate their services at anytime if the management thinks that their performance is not up to the mark.
Teaching is a demanding profession. Major langlands was always kept in the dark by his so called faculty members. He never bothered to to oversee how his teachers delivered inside the classrooms. The teachers hoodwinked the principal with the catchword “all is well”. In reality the institution had turned into a den of narcotics. How can you expect improvement of education when some teachers reek of intoxicants while taking classes. The institution was purged of these elements by the British lady in public interest.