From the BlogSubscribe Now

Here comes the change?

Posted on November 18, 2011 // 1 Comment

There is a strange feeling in the air these days. No its not the smell of rotting blood from the carcasses strew about after Eid ul adha but something a little more unfamiliar. Everywhere I go and whoever I meet talks about one subject alone, what should we make of “Imran Khan” Previously the same drawing rooms were full of talk about an exit strategy and plan b but it seems that after the mammoth PTI jalsa in Lahore the sentiment has changed towards that of hope rather than dismay for Pakistan.

 

So you would ask dear reader, what the heck is wrong with that? Well let me clue you in, false hope my friends is a far far more damaging thing then dismay. Where dismay keeps you completely grounded in reality and what is actually happening, hope gives your imagination flight and there is no greater damage to a human being then when that dream shatters.

 

I may not be an analyst but I have learnt one thing in my life and that is to smell B.S from far far away. A Party which has not fought the last election, has no political track record to speak off and is now boasting of a clean sweep without as much as a one seat guarantee is definitely a party which knows something that the rest of us don’t. Either that or they are so naive that they do not deserve to be a party and this notion at least in my view does not hold true after Lahore.

 

So what is the one thing that they do know? Does it have something to do with the fact that right now the people of Pakistan are so tired of their current governance that they would prefer anyone over them? Or is it that somewhere somehow this party has gotten a nod or some special leverage to play a role in the change that is about to come in Pakistan.

 

Oh yes I do believe that change is going to happen. However if people think that PTI will somehow gain an electoral majority in Punjab and come into government and then fix everything, they are living in a fool’s paradise. The most that may be achieved is an entry into the halls of power of this country. However what will really be the key is what PTI does after gaining some seats. Yes I know they have been promising the sky and the moon but to me that is perhaps the biggest failing of this party, the bubble of hope that they are blowing up much like the obama campaign which I may add has striking similarities to PTI’s current campaign, rock bands at rallies et all. Once obama got elected into power he went downhill every time he could not deliver on the lofty ideals he had promised his voters and so I fear will PTI and Imran.

 

Not to mention the fact that taking in all sorts of people from other parties in the guise of “electables” isn’t going to be adding stars to their image later on. Yes these career politicians can win you seats but then they want something in return and that is where the litmus test of PTI will happen. To date every party in Pakistani politics has failed this litmus test and have had to make compromises to keep seats within their fold, I think PTI will end up the same way, much more powerful then it is today but a behemoth which loses its direction and ends up much like the other political parties of Pakistan, disillusioned and detached from their voters.

 

So should we stop hoping? Should we give up on this country? No we should not. Frankly this party does have quite a few honest individuals in it working behind the scenes but the over whelming proclamations of “here comes the messiah” should be taken with quite a large pinch of salt. As it is I do not think any political party will shape the future of this country,. To me the future will be shaped by our youth in their overwhelming majority who will one day rise and do away with this bastion of beuracracy & dynastical politics. They will not follow a single party to do this because they will not need to, they will elect people from amongst their ownselves to rule and that will be the clean sweep I will wait for and support.

Filed Under: Current Affairs, Politics in pakistan // Tagged: , , ,

A strange silence

Posted on February 21, 2010 //

In 2006 as the story goes the CJP saw it fit to take up the missing persons case in his august court. his was a brave and noble endeavor as in the last 4 years more than a 1000 people have gone missing from Pakistan, one of them was Aafia siddiqui..just one person, who’s tale came out in the limelight to much haw hai and brouhaha, even now the chants of watan ki beti etc etc ring on at opportune times.

Obviously this led to a conflict of interest with the Great leader and he summarily did what he did and we all know what happened after. A movement was created and was aided and facilitated by not just the black coats but the right wing parties of JI and PTI. For once the public wave of sympathy was totally behind them and all of us including me thought they were going to bring about  real revolution in the annals of power.

However “The Great Leader” stomped and raved on them with his iron boots and did not budge an inch till the peoples govt came into power in the last elections. Having been democratically elected it was a bit hard for “Slicktop” to ignore the march of emotion coming in his direction, not to mention the various visits by “Ganja” to his quarters late in the night and hence the CJP was restored to much fanfare, fireworks and what not.

Since then we have seen a new tussle of sorts emerge over the NRO and other such matters of which the government tries and does manage reconciliation now and then. So the confusion continues without any end in sight, not to mention the fact that the right wing parties spoken of earlier now stand completely marginalized.

However this recent news of the Supreme court deciding not to examine evidence against our agencies in the missing persons case has kind of  slipped past amongst the usual swiss cases NRO hangama. To me as a student of politics and the various forms it takes in our land this presents a unique opportunity for the right wing forces who were stopped outside the capital on the note of bald err sorry bold reconciliation.

The Supreme court order states that evidence and allegations of involvement of intelligence agencies in abducting people will be examined by an ‘appropriate forum at the relevant time.’  This calls for total mayhem by the political parties which supported the justice movement on the very basis of this case, as well as the watan ke tipu sultans who come on the air waves daily to proclaim their right and pious jihad against tyranny.

Why and when is this mayhem going to begin then? When will the righteous ones come out onto the battlefield and protest this decision. Yes, it is a unique opportunity, basically a backdoor into mainstream hearts nationwide for these individuals. Strange is it not that instead of cries of  “Go Go Go” all we hear is silence?

Silence is sometimes interpreted as assent also, it would be better if the Khans and the Ahmeds stood up for a cause which hit a nerve that galvanized our nation. “At a relevant time” is not going to hold ground for too long.

Filed Under: Current Affairs, Politics in pakistan // Tagged: , , , ,

Legal coup?

Posted on December 17, 2009 //

At about 8pm yesterday people started closing down their shops and running helter skelter as if some kind of godzilla was approaching. Being at risk myself I had to do the needful and as I stepped out into my car and started driving home I could feel nothing but total disgust at how people were behaving.

Strangely the white wardi ones had all dissipated and traffic was utter chaos as everyone tried to get home before the landmark decision took place. Which was about 5.6 hrs late but right on pakistan standard time for aren’t we used to waiting for everything? From Vip blocks to justice to KESC. We wait so much that I think we should be called the masses in waiting instead of the teeming masses.

As colleagues and friends rang each other up and vicious rumors circulated of a coup, people had to cancel all sorts of plans amidst tension as it gripped Karachi. There were reports of firing in different areas of the city (perhaps a pressure tactic) and people were frightened out of their wits on the memory of another December not so long ago.

The judgment which declared the NRO null and void and opened up all the defunct cases (about 8000 of them) on all the political bigwigs is being called a historic one.  I agree on the fact that there is no precedence of this in legislative history. However there are some points which trouble me in the extreme regarding this judgment. These will not include the behavior of the media as was exhibited last night, it seemed as if they were within sight of Valhalla complete with war drums, anyways..

a) The legislative branch of our government has right now with this judgment directed the executive branch to prosecute itself. How is this going to be implemented? I know the courts will be fair but how will the executive survive this open all organs surgical strike?

b) Let us for a moment assume that even half the cases are based on solid evidence and the absconders and the corrupt will be convicted. Do we realize that when this happens we will lose about the entire power structure of the current serving democratic government? I am not against trying corrupt people but where will this leave the democracy in this country. Yes it could lead to something positive like the better and cleaner individuals rising up through party cadres to lead us forward but that would happen in an ideal world only, the options here would be mid term or coup.

c) If mid term elections happen, the rumors say somewhere around march we will definitely see a return of PML N to power. Now do we want a prime minister who we have tried twice in the past and who is not even capable of exhibiting enough leadership to stay in the bloody country when this  landmark judgment was taking place? He left for London days ago, so is this guy going to lead us into the future?

d) Let us also not ignore the fact that with 8000 cases opened up the legislative is going to have a field day in legal fees and what not. Yes the “what not” does exist in the legislative branch also and they will now plunder with impunity. Every citizen of Pakistan is aware of the fixers/penguins who roam our city courts, who can get you a judgment on the passing of a few  qaid azams quicker then the law firms sometimes. So we are now penalizing one branch of the government for corruption and the branch judging it is now going to indulge in the same to get us justice? What kind of process is this. Please note I am not referring to the SC judges we see on TV, but there are many many black sheep in the judicial fraternity and our erstwhile judges have spoken and admitted to them often.

After all is said and done and we have torn apart this government, gone to mid term elections and arrived at the same cross roads in say another year or two at most, we must ask ourselves is democracy the best system for Pakistan?

If it is then why does it never work for us?

Filed Under: Politics in pakistan // Tagged: , , , ,

A silver lining?

Posted on November 17, 2009 //

The whole world seemed to believe for the last year or so that the Pakistani government was about to fall down in face of the incoming hordes.  By hordes I refer to the militants  which are battling our army these days in south waziristan and as reports filter in are proving to be a tough cookie to chew for the khakis right now. The Pak army has up to last weeks count around 31000 troops as well as 500 sgs commandos and gunships & fighter jets while the Taliban have 15000 men and more than 3000 foreign warriors in the form of uzbek, chechen and tajik jihadis battling it out with one another.

Our  mainstream media is still half apologetic, half mumbling its familiar drone of foreign hands and Indian/Israeli nexuses. Even now many of our religious leaders do not dare openly condemn the Taliban as it goes against their very ideology to do so.  Even now many talk show hosts are rambling on about how this is not “our war” and how we are being led by the scruff of our necks by amreekis to do as they please. They support this with various cockeyed theories about black water and so called secret bases as well as the main anti christ “The Kerry Luger Bill” Obviously a bill for non military economic aid to help the people of pakistan has to be the main culprit in the whole equation. Nothing exposed our own insecurities as much in this regard as that now famous panel discussion with the visiting secretary of state Ms Clinton and many of our media super stars. Where she was calm and engaging they chose to act like she had intruded upon a vipers nest and in the end were pretty much humiliated by her proposal for us to “not take the aid, if it upset us so much”

Nothing is new about any of this to a Pakistani. We have never had honesty from our media, where lifafa journalism rules rather than investigation based reporting. Rumors are circulated daily and when there is no news, channels make up news and report it as breaking to  set off chain reactions among the other channels waiting to dig up more angles, more breaking news and rehash the whole sodding thing down our throats in an information overload. Supposed to be the voice of Pakistan, when it counts playing to the galleries and acting like medieval gladiators is more important. Ratings matter more than lives. When questioned they often retort with “we have to live also”

However amongst all of this something important has changed.  This is the public opinion of Pakistan.  From a mixed up bag of “do we or do we not support the Taliban” to a “will they bring an Islamic system which could be good” to “oh my god they are monsters” after the recent long string of deadly suicide attacks all over Pakistan. We have all come to realize that sadly those painted as our possible saviors are the most deadliest threat we have faced in our 62 year existence.  More so than the not so friendly neighbors or the economic ills that continuously plague us as a nation. This perception shift in my opinion is where the Taliban have really and totally lost their war for Pakistan. Mind my words this is a war for the control of this country, whether anyone chooses to admit it or not, the militants will not stop at anything less than total annexation.  However at least I am certain now that this cannot happen!

To come to this conclusion one needs to first realize the basic premise that even though the khakis are having a tough time, 15000 men and a ragtag bunch of ex secret service from the Russian states are not going to lay siege and destroy a 700,000 man strong army in the long run. So the only way they can really cause damage to the state of Pakistan is through what they have been doing which is guerrilla warfare. Basically hit and run tactics which can let them use their strength in pin point suicide attacks and ambushes all over the nation. However to win a gurrilla war the militants must have the support of the local indigenous population which they had up till now. In fact I would venture so far as to say that they really lost the fight when the bomb attack happened in Peshawar’s meena bazaar last month.

When that blast happened and scores of women and children died the national effect was quite obvious, people suddenly had their eyes torn open from the quasi religious, shariat enforced dreams they were living in. They now realize that in order for Pakistan to remain and for all of us to survive we have to exterminate these militants once and for all. Upon this realization we suddenly woke up to shut down our schools and put barbed wire around them. “Not even our children are safe now” stays at the back of our minds these days as the noise against the drone attacks has now lulled to a distant murmur where at first there was a torrent of outrage.

The fact is that an average Pakistani will now do anything, to keep his or her family safe and if that means  collateral damage endured to get rid of this menace we are even ready for that. In fact I have come across many an educated individual talking about napalm strikes and smart nuclear bombs as a solution, which is I daresay pure lunacy to say the least. About 600,000 Pakistanis live in the area where the war is going on and even though rural, their destruction is not an option for our security.

That being said the national perception having turned the corner should ensure that the militants grand plan will never succeed now.  For even if somehow they manage to hold up against the army  they still have to face opposition by locals in the very areas they are based in and there is no way that they can run a quasi government while carrying on a war with our army. Consider Sri lanka or any place in the world where militancy has waged war for a long time. Once the locals united with the forces battling it, the militancy had to run for the hills.

Now if only our political leadership can cross the differences they have and unite to understand that we are all behind them, if they want to take us out of this mess once and for all. The corner has been turned and now we need leadership to guide us on the road to survival.

War will stop in time, right now Pakistan needs a champion.

Filed Under: Current Affairs, Day To Day, Politics in pakistan // Tagged: , ,

Opinion flaws

Posted on October 21, 2009 //

The talk of the town these days is suicide bombings being undertaken by what the media claims are Islamic Zealots and Fanatics. What is perhaps very interesting to note is that the garb of Islamism over the past few decades of our country’s existence has been worn by all sorts of people ranging from fundos to pirs masquerading as healers via faith to ordinary stick wielding men in colleges shouting slogans against musical programs to numerous parliamentarians in our coveted assemblies. The underlying constant in all these various so-called Islamists actions has been that they have used and abused religion to suit their needs. The oft repeated dictate of Karl Marx that Religion is the opium of the masses has been depicted blatantly in all these religious and pseudo moralistic actions of various individuals over the past few decades. The support garnered in the name of religion has sometimes been astounding and at other times abysmal but this pendulum effect in terms of support has not dissuaded numerous new comers to avoid usage of religion as a tool to generate support for their cause.

The interesting part to note is that this trend of moulding religion to suit one’s needs instead of amending ones own behavior to suit the needs of religion is a symptom prevalent even amongst the so called liberal and educated classes of our country. Therefore we have various forms of un-informed liberals and intelligentsia declaring their own limits  in terms of what is allowed by Islam and what is not and whatever suits their methods and actions is often justified in the name of a liberal version of Islam and whoever goes against their declaration is termed to be a fundo. The interesting bit to note is that these pseudo religious- liberals have not gone into the depth of what the Quran says and what are the dictates of Islam. Instead their version of liberal Islam is based on an antipathy of what the other side of the divide is proclaiming. For example, if the so called fundos are blatantly against photography, the liberals will proclaim that photography is allowed and disallowing it is just a case of taking a rigid view of islam in which photography is not allowed. This just being an example, my point is that if u were to ask either side of the divide I.e the fundos as well as the liberals to explain their position in light of the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet(PBUH), none would be able to justify their stance.

The underlying thought in all I have written above is that if one were to start a discussion on religion, 90% of the people would have an opinion on it but only 2% of them would be able to back up their opinion in light of what is revealed in the Holy Book. Why is it then that we seek to impose our own humanitarian version of what religious inductions are when actually these inductions have been revealed by the Almighty whose knowledge supersedes that of all humans combined. Psychological studies indicate that the answer to this lies in human tendency to alter things to satisfy their own needs. However, are we apt enough to alter the commands of a religion to suit our needs???… and if we are moulding religion based on our opinion, then what is the difference between a so called liberal and a fundo when essentially both are toying with their own interpretation of religion and acting accordingly? Are we then not essentially talking about two sides of the same coin??.. and are we not degrading our religion by casting our own opinions onto others without going into an in depth analysis of what the finer points of the religion actually are and what they mean??

The underlying premise in all the ramblings above is that its high time that we, as Pakistanis and Muslims realize that the tendency to have an opinion on everything whether it be sports, religion, politics etc is a flaw and not a treasured part of our respective personalities. The opinion that really counts is one that is backed up by a proper study of the subject and one that can be classified as solid. For this purpose, the first step to take is to do an introspection of our own selves. It is very easy to cast fingers at others but have we ever looked at our own faults and follies. The flaws we find in others are perhaps symptomatic of the flaws of our general society which has a tendency to undertake character assassinations and fault finding missions instead of drafting solutions. Successful nations and people are those who have amended their faults before pointing fingers at others. Whether we have the wherewithal to undergo this transformation is a 1.5 billion dollar question…. And alas if we fail there is still hope as we can always become beggars and ask uncle Kerry and lugar for aid!!!

Filed Under: News Views, Politics in pakistan // Tagged: , ,

Imran Khan’s political descent

Posted on September 3, 2009 //

topbanner

Imran Khan has been a political mystery I have been following for some time now. When he entered into politics at the end of his cricketing/social work career many people from all walks of life looked upon him as a symbol of hope. The reason for doing so lies in the fact that as a cricketer and a philonthrophist imrans record was par excellence. He was a man who had seen the world and was still honest enough for his word to be trusted, or so it seemed.

However his Tehreek E Insaf, has from its inception taking contradictory stand after stand to no avail. Initially their decision not to contest in the last elections was baffling in itself but their recent stands, first with the Taliban of Pakistan and then against whomever they could find in their heads that particular day are mind boggling to say the least.

To date Imran Khan and his party have, sided with Musharraf when he came into power then asked for his ouster and now rant against the NRO. Pleaded and fought on the street for the restoration of the judiciary but backed off in the end and claimed the movement was sold out. Sought evidence and vilified the MQM for its one man rule and every crime under the book but now call the 92 operation against it a cruelty.

I say Imran Khan and Tehreek E Insaf because the two cannot be seperated, even though there have been reports of clamor within the party ranks for a long promised internal election in may of 2009 according to reports. There is no election within PTI forthcoming as Imran says the party does not have enough political acumen himself. He also cites the same cause for them not contesting in the elections. In his words they are not ready.

So what exactly is Mr Khans agenda? Is he victim of the same “brown sahabiness” he has often quoted in his addresses on media by refusing to relinquish command. Or is he caught in the muck of politics without a port in sight, because his statements are getting more and more confusing by the day.

Some of you, dear readers might be by now thinking I have gone on some kind of crusade against Mr Khan. This I assure you is not the case at all, I am just thinking aloud as to what he means when he says the things he does. For by entering the life of  public service he is open to fair criticism right? Ok,  forget all the past examples of madness for a minute. PTI has a couple of days ago also threatened to act as the real opposition if the friendly opposition tactics of PML (N) with PPP continue. Someone please tell me how does the PTI plan to do this as they do not have a single seat in any house or august assembly in this land?

To me there is no use of sitting on media talk shows and ranting about this and that when you do not have the political nerve to enter the fray. What point is there of a party who has no office bearer in power in this land? I today ask the intellectuals who joined this party on the grand aim of bringing reform to Pakistan, what kind of reform can you bring in a system you are not even part off?

I think this is the beginning of the end of the PTI in Pakistani politics, not that they had much of a beginning anyway, unless the people within the party bring change in how it does its politics.

Pic credits

PTI website

Filed Under: Politics in pakistan // Tagged: , ,

92 operation against MQM, truth revealed

Posted on August 25, 2009 //

In 1992 the Army and rangers of Pakistan began a massive operation against the  MQM in Karachi. Those of us who were old enough at that time all know what took place next. Everyday on TV there were pictures of a supposed map of “jinnahpur” an alleged plan of MQM to separate Karachi from the rest of Pakistan. This map, claimed the forces conducting the operation had been found from various sector offices of MQM. In addition to this there was wide spread fanfare about 100′s of torture cells of this party found and destroyed in Karachi. Since the last 17 years MQM has been branded as a thug party, a party of traitors and those who want to use violence to break this nation apart due to the information presented in this “92 operation”. This operation and the information I have described above was also used to “justify” the hunting and slaughter of more than 15,000 MQM activists across Pakistan. Those who could get away did by any means necessary because the entire security apparatus of this nation was being used to hunt them down and exterminate them.

A few days ago, many of us watching ARY TV were shocked to hear the words of a Brig imtiaz (former chief of IB & Incharge Int Wing of ISI during 1992 Karachi Ops) that this “92 operation” was carried out on false and entirely made up information presented to the rest of us as facts. I repeat there was “no jinnahpur map” & “no torture cells” and according to him the operation was carried out to get rid of a criminal element. Geo news anchor and respected journalist Kamran Khan had the following to say on this.

I find it no laughing matter that Brig Imtiaz chooses to divulge “the truth” on this matter now when everyone in the MQM has been screaming their heads off on this for the last 17 years. The government in power at that time is now claiming they had no knowledge of this operation…Really? 15000 men women and children slaughtered, the entire city of Karachi under siege by the forces, door to door murder and no one had knowledge this was going on?

Since the CJP has taken it upon himself to right the wrongs of the past, will he under the light of this current revelation conduct an enquiry into why this operation was actually carried out and how many people died as a result of it? Will he put on trial the men responsible for so many deaths, tragedy and the vilification of an entire political party?

Dr Farooq Sattar had the following comments on this revelation.

Sadly enough, those who have been on the forefront of maligning the image of MQM for the last few years are now quiet. When will they now explain why is it that they indulged in false accusations? When will we hear Imran Khan speak on this matter?

I urge the people of Pakistan to open their ears up and hear the truth. We have been misled, duped and fooled into believing what the powers to be want us to believe! When are we going to see things as they really are? When are we going to be able to discern fact from fiction?

As for the residents of this city, most of us are now fully aware of the truth, those who are not will see it in the days to come. The truth is supreme and will always surpass lies, even if they are 17 years long.

______________________

Footage and breaking news credit to ARY and Geo, video by youtube

Filed Under: News Views, Politics in pakistan // Tagged: , , , ,

Mushing our luck?

Posted on August 23, 2009 //

Pakistan to me seems to have some sort of fixation with its past. We are always reliving past glories or talking about how great we were, and how things used to happen so many years ago etc etc. Till recent form in the T 20 version of the game, our only retorts to people inquiring of our poor state in cricket was to remind them of 92 and how we can come out like cornered tigers. The current move by a sher squadern senator to move the SC for a directive from the Feds to start “criminal proceedings” on the good general seems to be more symptoms of this age old virus in our country.

It seems we have learned nothing at all in our 62 years of existence. We are even now, trying to solve what has happened in the past rather than what is happening in the present. Today is the 1st of Ramzan and if you go to the closest utility store, you can see lines of people outside while fasting in this heat to get cheaper flour or sugar or any edibles for themselves. However we do not care about trivial problems like this, but what happened on Nov 3 2007 and the coup much before that is what is stopping us from going forward(allah ke fazlu karam se). That is the crux of all our problems. We have restored the angel of justice to his pulpit and now all we have to do is crucify the demon in khaki and we will live happily ever after!!

Lets be honest with each other. The good general as we all know courtesy our media today, did not actually resign because he wanted to. It was part of a deal between him and the current government and the establishment with two foreign dignitaries to seal the promise. Thus when the government says there is no love lost between them and the good general, exactly who do they think they are making a fool out off?

To top it all off, if they really want to and believe in putting things in the past right by bringing culprits before the law, why don’t we start with the first waxed mustache rather than try to clip the most recent one? What’s stopping us from holding a Yahya Khan responsible? So what if he is dead? Since when has the august court of Pakistan cared about trivialities such as death or uniform or the need of the hour?

Funnily enough, the lawyers have suddenly seemed to decide that they are above the law in Pakistan, as clearly witnessed by their violent behavior with police and journalists. Thus they and the political mechanisms that have empowered them have now decided to take revenge for everything that was ever done to them as they are off course such puritan and spotless individuals themselves. However if I stand corrected and they are doing this for the good of our country, may I in my esteemed foolishness try to turn their cannons towards the rising level of prices and the non availability of things like “food” and “electricity” in the month of Ramzan? Here is a wild idea? Why not make all the judges we have fired food inspectors and let them take out their anger on the errant shopkeeper! I am speaking of the PCO 2 judges, fired by the PCO 1 judges, god even typing this makes my head spin.

If nothing else works, we can all fly off to China as our current “great leader” seems to enjoy doing every other month or so. To further the cause of his country off course. Better yet, we can all say we have back problems and somehow end up In a cushy flat in mayfair in London town. I have heard the pakoras of south hall are particularly fresh in Ramzan.

Or we could wake up, look in the mirror cracked by now and realize that the people of this country, the Aam junta need help, alleviation from poverty and education to make a future for themselves. They also need justice for the thousands of cases pending in the dockets related to the present, which is the responsibility of those with the suo motto fever. All in good time though, we must try for treason one of our bravest and most decorated soldiers first.

_________________________________

Pic credits Neeshu

The word count of this piece is 666, I wonder why :D

Filed Under: Politics in pakistan // Tagged: ,

Local government suits locals

Posted on August 10, 2009 //

A few days ago, as I was leaving for work in the morning, my guard handed me a small piece of paper saying government officials had driven by and         handed this to him saying it was a ticket. I unfolded it and saw that the ticket was for the excess water flowing out of my storm drain and onto the road. it said that if I kept on expunging water out onto the road the local government authorities at the naib nazims office would clean up the street and charge me for it. It also gave me the choice of taking care of the issue myself in 24 hours after which they would make another spot check.

The purpose of telling you the above story is not because I have complaints at this treatment or that I feel wronged by this act. It is to illustrate to you what happens when a system in Karachi works and as far as my own neighborhood is concerned works daily. I actually felt proud that day as me and my father drove past the newly constructed jail road flyover on our way. Proud in the local government and their efficiency in maintaining a clean street in front of my house, proud that we finally have a system which is actually performing. This is just a teeny tiny example of the work that the CDGK has been doing over the last 8 years. True Naimatullah was a great visionary and he left a great many plans started for the CDGK when Mustufa Kamal came in but to take each and every one of those plans,  complete them and then go on to do tons more  almost superhuman work, demands not just dedication and party loyalty it demands self sacrifice. Sacrifice for public office, something we quite routinely crib about to our hearts content about our government lacking.

In a city of millions of people, 95% of whom “DO NOT” respect the law and ply roads daily with the most haphazard of driving techniques, policed by a force which is both foreign to the city and corrupt and unresponsive to the core. Divided in its land rights among 13 agencies and all this given to a young man with no prior experience of heading such an undertaking. This is not the most astonishing part, the astonishing part is that this man Mustufa kamal came through. He might have stumbled a bit in the monsoon, but hey I saw many a orange clad CDGK worker the next day draining and pumping water or moving it to the side. I even saw our mayor till 2am at night on tv channels roaming the city trying to solve its problems. So how and why did he achieve all of this?? To me the first step which seriously empowered our local government was the devolution of powers in the Musharraf era, which meant that now every areas  naib nazim got a budget and control and didn’t have to go running to the provincial ministry with his hands spread at every undertaking.  It also enabled the strategic planning which is on display to happen.

This also meant that the people of X area elected a person from X area who lived amongst them knew most of them by name and “responded” to them. If I I had to choose which category to give credit to this CDGK authority it would be on their response!! fly overs and underpasses aside they really were there when the people called. That is what matters anyways in Pakistan, the aam junta want “sunwai” first, as before this no one gave a damn.

If you do not believe me call up their response number 1339 right now and you will get someone on the other end who notes your complaint gives you a  queue number like a professional and the team arrives at the destination to sort out the problem within that working day. Yes I know this happens abroad in a matter of hours but we are talking about a city in which previously we  kept knocking on government doors but no one arrived for months. We are talking about a City government which had to impose taxes on us just to keep their machinery running as the provincial governments funding dried up suddenly.

Right now every one of us has been informed that the local system of government is a failure and things will go back to as they were before this working structure came into being soon. This, without even taking the people who live here in confidence? Has anyone asked us what system of government we want in our areas?? Does anyone care?? If this is how the new system is beginning I think the time is not far away when we will be all back to square 1. Is that what Karachiites want?

In his last interview to dawn Mustufa says his family does not even include him in their plans anymore as he is never there. What more do the citizens of Karachi want from their mayor?

Pic credit :

Karachi online

Filed Under: F.K's Life, Politics in pakistan // Tagged: , , ,

Launch of pictorial biography of Altaf Hussain

Posted on July 28, 2009 //

5660_115591177060_535907060_2811894_6907162_n

I had the pleasure of attending a very interesting event today, which was the launch of a pictorial biography by Rasheed Jamal on the leader of the MQM “Altaf Hussain”

Born in Sept of 1953 this student leader has not only galvanized the middle class immigrant minority of Karachi into becoming its strongest party in his tenure, but has also seemed to foretell what turn future events would take in the hotch potch of our countries politics. Perhaps this is why his party always seems to end up on the right side of the book when the pages of politics turn. Surprisingly enough for some people who still think of MQM as a party based on sectarian politics  it has emerged as a secular force not only in this city but across Pakistan as its cadres include the most educated and literate people in this country. It is the only party in my knowledge who takes people up from the grass roots level of community and sits them in the halls of power.

The proceedings for the launch were quite well organized and started off at around 7pm today at the Karachi Marriot hotel, which was heavily secured obviously as a number of leaders from MQM and other parties as well as Governer Isratul Ibad who was the chief guest & some counselor generals were in attendance. Upon being seated just a cursory glance was enough to tell one that the who’s who of Karachi’s educational as well as urdu literati were present for this occasion along with every media channel in the book. One thing I absorbed today was that the english journalists of our country, do not have 1/ 3rd the aura of our urdu press and its zauq.  Rather than go into the details of the ceremony, I would choose this moment to try to explain what people do not understand about the  absolute worship which Mr Altaf Hussain gets from his followers. Its not fake or made up, you can literally see it in their faces right from the party worker to the MNA’s who were literally helping people sit in their places.  I do not know about you but I have yet to see a party where its most powerful representatives work side by side with party workers except for MQM.

5660_115591137060_535907060_2811886_739851_nToday people questioned me as to why  someone  would buy this book. Well for that answer you have to see it, firstly it has some 2000 pictures of the entire movement and its leader in small and large formats. However where it is totally apart to this scribe from the other autobiographies he has collected over the years is in the pictures itself. Where you will find other leaders autobiographies showing pictures of them  standing with party posters, here you will find a young Altaf Hussain tying posters of his party to the telephone poles himself. Where in other autobiographies you will see leaders tucking into enormous feasts, here you will see a young man with his friends as a student leader sitting on the ground and having samosas in torn newspapers like anyone else in this cities masses. This is the difference in this man and the rest of our leaders to me, he is one with his people, one with those that follow him. They do not worship him because of what he is, but what he represents in his party which is equality.

In any case I would recommend all of my readers to buy this book, its an experience going through it and should be a welcome addition to any collectors shelf. Perhaps it can even go some way in explaining what it is that makes Altaf Hussain what he is.

I would like to leave you with a few shairs some members of our glittering urdu press whom I had the honor of sitting with imparted to me, as they curiously peeked over my shoulder at me twittering.

“gham duniya me bhi gham yar ko shamil karlo

nasha barhta hay us sharab se jo sharabon me mile,

tu khuda hay na

mera ishq farishton jaisa

donu insan hi to hain kyun itne hijabon me mile”

Pretty much sums it up for me.

Photo credits:

Raja Islam, the photo blogger extraordinaire

Filed Under: Announcement, F.K's Life, Politics in pakistan // Tagged: , , ,
«Older Posts

With Google+ plugin by Geoff Janes

Switch to our mobile site