The Plan To Topple Pakistan Military
Ahmed Quraishi's ''enlightening' ' articles have been doing the rounds on the net of late. One can only describe him as Pakistan's very own Bill O' Reilly (with just as much credibility! ). And like O' Reilly, his most used weapon of choice is the tag of 'traitor' and 'unpatriotic' for anyone who criticizes the government (or perhaps just el presidente, the now retired generalisimo) , be they politicians, journalists, lawyers, academics, human rights activists, former army officers et al. It seems Mr. Quraishi gets his inspiration (along with his fake American accent) from Fox News.
Even a cursory look at his website might help one understand Mr. Quraishi's "unbiased, journalistic, analytical, and professional " approach to issues he so passionately addresses in his articles. Mr. Quraishi's website is studded with countless gems that reflect the luminosity of his brilliance, breadth of vision, and intellectual maturity.
For instance, in the 'biography' section of ahmedquraishi. com, (also known as the ''tooting one's own horn' section) we are informed that "Starting in the year 2003, Mr. Quraishi has lent his expertise to FurmaanRealpolitik www.furmaanrealpoli tik.com.pk), a political consulting firm originally based in Dubai."
A look at the website of furmaanrealpolitik. com.pk . (who came up with this subtle name, one wonders?) helps answer questions people might entertain regarding Mr. Quraishi's credibilty, motives and unique understanding of national and international affairs.
The 'services' offered by furmaanrealpolitik include "Intelligence, Research & Analysis;" "Surveillance & Confidential Investigations; " "Mobilization & Campaign Development; " and (my personal favourite) "Immaculate Deception Creations Tailored to Your Senses."
This 'service' is not only my favourite for the brilliant title it boasts but also for its content:
'Immaculate Deception Creations Tailored to Your Senses'? Immaculate Deception... Are we talking about peddling untruths in order to deceive? Oh dear! So how do Mr. Quraishi and the boys at furmaanrealpolitik serve their clients? The website says: "Anyone can do TV. But we go a step further -- we create...Our production can be tailored to business, political and military requirements. "
So whether it is Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif or Pervez Musharaf or the ISI or Coca Cola or Tapal Danedar Chai, the ''passionate' ' team at furmaanrealpolitik will sell its services to the highest bidder and come up with ''immaculately deceptive'' techniques ''tailored'' to their respective ''senses'' (and by senses I am guessing Mr. Quraishi is not talking about a sense of decency here!).
Is Mr. Quraishi telling us that as part of a political consulting/lobbying firm that proudly lists on its website its expertise in conjuring up lies and deceptions, that he actually makes his living by peddling lies and untruths? Or as he calls them "immaculate deceptions?"
As an analyst and a journalist, what does this say about his work, his credibility?
Are we to understand that every word Mr.Quraishi pens is written on the behest of a client? Could it be that Mr. Quraishi's 'insightful and unique take on national and international affairs is as faux as his American accent and can vary depending on who bids the highest for his immaculately deceptive words?
In case Mr. Quraishi has misunderstood the meaning of the word deception and used it by mistake (and with the same casual attitude and effort with which he throws conspiracy theories and allegations about in his articles), let me offer the servies of my humble thesauraus. Alternatives for the word deception are listed as: dishonesty, trickery, fraud, con, sham, trick, ruse, cheating... etc.
Forget about out the rest of the world, I wonder how seriously his own son, little Al Waleed, would take daddy dearest the next time he is instructed not to lie and to always tell the truth!
Posted by
nature_lover
Dec 12, 2007 11:56 am
Following is the e-mail received about the author, Mr Ahmed Quraishi.Ahmed Quraishi's ''enlightening' ' articles have been doing the rounds on the net of late. One can only describe him as Pakistan's very own Bill O' Reilly (with just as much credibility! ). And like O' Reilly, his most used weapon of choice is the tag of 'traitor' and 'unpatriotic' for anyone who criticizes the government (or perhaps just el presidente, the now retired generalisimo) , be they politicians, journalists, lawyers, academics, human rights activists, former army officers et al. It seems Mr. Quraishi gets his inspiration (along with his fake American accent) from Fox News.
Even a cursory look at his website might help one understand Mr. Quraishi's "unbiased, journalistic, analytical, and professional " approach to issues he so passionately addresses in his articles. Mr. Quraishi's website is studded with countless gems that reflect the luminosity of his brilliance, breadth of vision, and intellectual maturity.
For instance, in the 'biography' section of ahmedquraishi. com, (also known as the ''tooting one's own horn' section) we are informed that "Starting in the year 2003, Mr. Quraishi has lent his expertise to FurmaanRealpolitik www.furmaanrealpoli tik.com.pk), a political consulting firm originally based in Dubai."
A look at the website of furmaanrealpolitik. com.pk . (who came up with this subtle name, one wonders?) helps answer questions people might entertain regarding Mr. Quraishi's credibilty, motives and unique understanding of national and international affairs.
The 'services' offered by furmaanrealpolitik include "Intelligence, Research & Analysis;" "Surveillance & Confidential Investigations; " "Mobilization & Campaign Development; " and (my personal favourite) "Immaculate Deception Creations Tailored to Your Senses."
This 'service' is not only my favourite for the brilliant title it boasts but also for its content:
'Immaculate Deception Creations Tailored to Your Senses'? Immaculate Deception... Are we talking about peddling untruths in order to deceive? Oh dear! So how do Mr. Quraishi and the boys at furmaanrealpolitik serve their clients? The website says: "Anyone can do TV. But we go a step further -- we create...Our production can be tailored to business, political and military requirements. "
So whether it is Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif or Pervez Musharaf or the ISI or Coca Cola or Tapal Danedar Chai, the ''passionate' ' team at furmaanrealpolitik will sell its services to the highest bidder and come up with ''immaculately deceptive'' techniques ''tailored'' to their respective ''senses'' (and by senses I am guessing Mr. Quraishi is not talking about a sense of decency here!).
Is Mr. Quraishi telling us that as part of a political consulting/lobbying firm that proudly lists on its website its expertise in conjuring up lies and deceptions, that he actually makes his living by peddling lies and untruths? Or as he calls them "immaculate deceptions?"
As an analyst and a journalist, what does this say about his work, his credibility?
Are we to understand that every word Mr.Quraishi pens is written on the behest of a client? Could it be that Mr. Quraishi's 'insightful and unique take on national and international affairs is as faux as his American accent and can vary depending on who bids the highest for his immaculately deceptive words?
In case Mr. Quraishi has misunderstood the meaning of the word deception and used it by mistake (and with the same casual attitude and effort with which he throws conspiracy theories and allegations about in his articles), let me offer the servies of my humble thesauraus. Alternatives for the word deception are listed as: dishonesty, trickery, fraud, con, sham, trick, ruse, cheating... etc.
Forget about out the rest of the world, I wonder how seriously his own son, little Al Waleed, would take daddy dearest the next time he is instructed not to lie and to always tell the truth!
And Now, The Charter of Demands—The Comedy Continues!
Ahmed Quraishi's ''enlightening' ' articles have been doing the rounds on the net of late. One can only describe him as Pakistan's very own Bill O' Reilly (with just as much credibility! ). And like O' Reilly, his most used weapon of choice is the tag of 'traitor' and 'unpatriotic' for anyone who criticizes the government (or perhaps just el presidente, the now retired generalisimo) , be they politicians, journalists, lawyers, academics, human rights activists, former army officers et al. It seems Mr. Quraishi gets his inspiration (along with his fake American accent) from Fox News.
Even a cursory look at his website might help one understand Mr. Quraishi's "unbiased, journalistic, analytical, and professional " approach to issues he so passionately addresses in his articles. Mr. Quraishi's website is studded with countless gems that reflect the luminosity of his brilliance, breadth of vision, and intellectual maturity.
For instance, in the 'biography' section of ahmedquraishi. com, (also known as the ''tooting one's own horn' section) we are informed that "Starting in the year 2003, Mr. Quraishi has lent his expertise to FurmaanRealpolitik www.furmaanrealpoli tik.com.pk), a political consulting firm originally based in Dubai."
A look at the website of furmaanrealpolitik. com.pk . (who came up with this subtle name, one wonders?) helps answer questions people might entertain regarding Mr. Quraishi's credibilty, motives and unique understanding of national and international affairs.
The 'services' offered by furmaanrealpolitik include "Intelligence, Research & Analysis;" "Surveillance & Confidential Investigations; " "Mobilization & Campaign Development; " and (my personal favourite) "Immaculate Deception Creations Tailored to Your Senses."
This 'service' is not only my favourite for the brilliant title it boasts but also for its content:
'Immaculate Deception Creations Tailored to Your Senses'? Immaculate Deception... Are we talking about peddling untruths in order to deceive? Oh dear! So how do Mr. Quraishi and the boys at furmaanrealpolitik serve their clients? The website says: "Anyone can do TV. But we go a step further -- we create...Our production can be tailored to business, political and military requirements. "
So whether it is Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif or Pervez Musharaf or the ISI or Coca Cola or Tapal Danedar Chai, the ''passionate' ' team at furmaanrealpolitik will sell its services to the highest bidder and come up with ''immaculately deceptive'' techniques ''tailored'' to their respective ''senses'' (and by senses I am guessing Mr. Quraishi is not talking about a sense of decency here!).
Is Mr. Quraishi telling us that as part of a political consulting/lobbying firm that proudly lists on its website its expertise in conjuring up lies and deceptions, that he actually makes his living by peddling lies and untruths? Or as he calls them "immaculate deceptions?"
As an analyst and a journalist, what does this say about his work, his credibility?
Are we to understand that every word Mr.Quraishi pens is written on the behest of a client? Could it be that Mr. Quraishi's 'insightful and unique take on national and international affairs is as faux as his American accent and can vary depending on who bids the highest for his immaculately deceptive words?
In case Mr. Quraishi has misunderstood the meaning of the word deception and used it by mistake (and with the same casual attitude and effort with which he throws conspiracy theories and allegations about in his articles), let me offer the servies of my humble thesauraus. Alternatives for the word deception are listed as: dishonesty, trickery, fraud, con, sham, trick, ruse, cheating... etc.
Forget about out the rest of the world, I wonder how seriously his own son, little Al Waleed, would take daddy dearest the next time he is instructed not to lie and to always tell the truth!
Posted by
nature_lover
Dec 12, 2007 11:54 am
Following is the e-mail received about the author, Mr Ahmed Quraishi.Ahmed Quraishi's ''enlightening' ' articles have been doing the rounds on the net of late. One can only describe him as Pakistan's very own Bill O' Reilly (with just as much credibility! ). And like O' Reilly, his most used weapon of choice is the tag of 'traitor' and 'unpatriotic' for anyone who criticizes the government (or perhaps just el presidente, the now retired generalisimo) , be they politicians, journalists, lawyers, academics, human rights activists, former army officers et al. It seems Mr. Quraishi gets his inspiration (along with his fake American accent) from Fox News.
Even a cursory look at his website might help one understand Mr. Quraishi's "unbiased, journalistic, analytical, and professional " approach to issues he so passionately addresses in his articles. Mr. Quraishi's website is studded with countless gems that reflect the luminosity of his brilliance, breadth of vision, and intellectual maturity.
For instance, in the 'biography' section of ahmedquraishi. com, (also known as the ''tooting one's own horn' section) we are informed that "Starting in the year 2003, Mr. Quraishi has lent his expertise to FurmaanRealpolitik www.furmaanrealpoli tik.com.pk), a political consulting firm originally based in Dubai."
A look at the website of furmaanrealpolitik. com.pk . (who came up with this subtle name, one wonders?) helps answer questions people might entertain regarding Mr. Quraishi's credibilty, motives and unique understanding of national and international affairs.
The 'services' offered by furmaanrealpolitik include "Intelligence, Research & Analysis;" "Surveillance & Confidential Investigations; " "Mobilization & Campaign Development; " and (my personal favourite) "Immaculate Deception Creations Tailored to Your Senses."
This 'service' is not only my favourite for the brilliant title it boasts but also for its content:
'Immaculate Deception Creations Tailored to Your Senses'? Immaculate Deception... Are we talking about peddling untruths in order to deceive? Oh dear! So how do Mr. Quraishi and the boys at furmaanrealpolitik serve their clients? The website says: "Anyone can do TV. But we go a step further -- we create...Our production can be tailored to business, political and military requirements. "
So whether it is Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif or Pervez Musharaf or the ISI or Coca Cola or Tapal Danedar Chai, the ''passionate' ' team at furmaanrealpolitik will sell its services to the highest bidder and come up with ''immaculately deceptive'' techniques ''tailored'' to their respective ''senses'' (and by senses I am guessing Mr. Quraishi is not talking about a sense of decency here!).
Is Mr. Quraishi telling us that as part of a political consulting/lobbying firm that proudly lists on its website its expertise in conjuring up lies and deceptions, that he actually makes his living by peddling lies and untruths? Or as he calls them "immaculate deceptions?"
As an analyst and a journalist, what does this say about his work, his credibility?
Are we to understand that every word Mr.Quraishi pens is written on the behest of a client? Could it be that Mr. Quraishi's 'insightful and unique take on national and international affairs is as faux as his American accent and can vary depending on who bids the highest for his immaculately deceptive words?
In case Mr. Quraishi has misunderstood the meaning of the word deception and used it by mistake (and with the same casual attitude and effort with which he throws conspiracy theories and allegations about in his articles), let me offer the servies of my humble thesauraus. Alternatives for the word deception are listed as: dishonesty, trickery, fraud, con, sham, trick, ruse, cheating... etc.
Forget about out the rest of the world, I wonder how seriously his own son, little Al Waleed, would take daddy dearest the next time he is instructed not to lie and to always tell the truth!
Search for Origins of Mahayana Buddhism
To me Buddhism is the most evolved and most mature of all the Philosophies, which human minds could create in the realms of religions and ideologies.
It talks about self analysis, self responsibility and self discovery rather than "pretending" to be doing good things in order to please God or "hypocritically" not hurting others due to fear of police or hell fire.
Posted by
nature_lover
Dec 10, 2007 02:28 pm
Thank you very much author for this wonderful article and excellent historical photographs.To me Buddhism is the most evolved and most mature of all the Philosophies, which human minds could create in the realms of religions and ideologies.
It talks about self analysis, self responsibility and self discovery rather than "pretending" to be doing good things in order to please God or "hypocritically" not hurting others due to fear of police or hell fire.
Fundamentalism and Violence
To me you are like a prophet of the modern age.
We do need psychologists, sociologists and therapists like you.
How can we wake up "gharibs" , oppressed ones of Pakistan...?? that is the main challenge.
Please write about some techniques / approaches which you may suggest to break this deadly and vicious cycle.
My kindest regards,
Posted by
nature_lover
Dec 10, 2007 02:10 pm
Dr Sohail,To me you are like a prophet of the modern age.
We do need psychologists, sociologists and therapists like you.
How can we wake up "gharibs" , oppressed ones of Pakistan...?? that is the main challenge.
Please write about some techniques / approaches which you may suggest to break this deadly and vicious cycle.
My kindest regards,
The Plan To Topple Pakistan Military
By Farhatullah Babar
If the prime minister's finance adviser thought that by living in denial he could allay the widespread concerns about the army's growing involvement in the corporate sector he was gravely mistaken. In saying this, I am referring to a report in your newspaper titled 'Salman denies army role in corporate sector', and published on April 28.
If he did not know it, here is a partial list of the military's corporate enterprises as recently placed before the Parliament in reply to a question besides the several dozen similar enterprises run by Shaheen Foundation and Bahria Foundation of the Air Force and the Navy respectively.
Fauji Foundation : Fauji Sugar Mills, (more than one), Fauji Cereal, Fauji Corn Complex, FONGAS (Natural gas supply company), Fauji Poly Propylene Products, Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC), Fauji Jordan Company, Fauji Cement, Fauji Oil Terminal Company Project (FOTCO), Fauji Kabirwala Power Company Limited.
Army Welfare Trust: Askari Stud Farms, Askari Farms, Askari Welfare Rice Mill, Askari Welfare Sugar Mill, Askari Fish Farm, Askari Cement (more than one plant), Askari Welfare Pharmaceutical Project, Magnesite Refineries Limited, Army Welfare Shoe Project, Army Welfare Woollen Mill, Army Welfare Hosiery Unit, Travel Agencies, AWT Commercial Plazas, Army Welfare Shops, Army Welfare Commercial Project, Askari Commercial Bank, Askari Leasing Limited, Askari General Insurance Company, Askari Welfare Saving Scheme, Askari Associate Limited, Askari Information Service, Askari Guards Limited, Askari Power Limited, Askari Commercial Enterprises, Askari Aviation, Askari Housing Schemes (at several locations)
The adviser claimed that retired military officers were involved in private businesses and that too for welfare purposes but is the Fauji Foundation really a private concern like any other.
Under its Scheme of Administration the Fauji Foundation is allowed "to receive from government or other bodies or person any contribution to the Foundation". Which other private enterprise gets contributions from the government also?
The Fauji Foundation is administered by a committee whose chairman is the defense secretary and its members include four principal staff officers of the GHQ and two senior officers of the Pakistan Navy and the Air Force, all paid out of the public funds. A three star serving general was appointed in 2002 as its chief. What a fine example of a private enterprise run by serving military officers and defense secretary.
During question hour in the Senate last year it transpired that the finance ministry accepted loan liabilities of 9 billion rupees of the Foundation. Which other private concern had been provided such a preferential treatment?
Worse still, after being declared 'private' they are declared as unaccountable too. In reply to a question in the National Assembly in 2005 it transpired that the Khoski Sugar Mills belonging to the Foundation had been sold at 300 million to an entity that had not even participated in the bidding process. The highest bid of 387 million was ignored. When the Senate Defence Committee asked the head of the Fauji Foundation, himself a former chairman of NAB, to appear before it he refused and chose to refute the allegations through newspaper ads. We were told to shut up.
If the FF and AWT are claimed to be private entities what are other entities like the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) and the NLC doing in the private commercial sector in a playing field that too is tilted in their favour? According to information placed before the Senate on December 30, 2005 the National Highway Authority (NHA) alone awarded twelve contracts costing over 18 billion to the FWO without bids between 2001 and 2005.
Further, not only the contract of collecting toll tax on toll plazas have been given to FWO and NLC without bids but contracts already given to private parties were cancelled and given to it according to information placed before the Senate.
The military's growing interests in corporate businesses and land has now begun to attract national and international attention and criticism but we are living in self-denial.
That was why the former British High Commissioner in Pakistan Mark Lyall Grant publicly stated about two years ago in Islamabad that the military's corporate business interests had increased manifold. He also said that it was hampering poverty reduction efforts and effectiveness of the bureaucracy and judiciary in the country. An un-named senior official of the Foreign Office promptly announced that a demarche had been served on the high commissioner for his critical remarks as 'unwarranted and inaccurate besides being an infringement of diplomatic norms'. But that did not change the reality.
Are the defence housing authorities also really private bodies competing with other private entities in a level playing filed? Is there any other private housing society that is headed by a serving corps commander and whose executive functionaries such as the Administrator are serving senior army officers drawing salary from public exchequer? Is there any other private housing authority that can get land at a price as the DHA Karachi got sometime back and against which the provincial government even moved the court?
During question hour in Parliament it has transpired that military officers get one after 15 years of service, a second one after 25, a third one after 28 years and a fourth one after 33 years of service each worth more than 15 million rupees in the open market. To call it a welfare activity is stretching the meaning of the word a bit too far.
The un-level playing field to the military's industrial and commercial enterprises, the dispossession of tenants from farmlands in Okara belonging to the Punjab government, the acquisition of additional 870 acres of prime land in sector E-10 at dirt cheap price of Rs 200 per acre for the new GHQ (in addition to the 1470 acres already earmarked), the setting up of strings of defense housing authorities, first in Karachi and Lahore and lately in Islamabad, and converting state lands meant specifically for defense purposes into golf courses and housing colonies as disclosed in the Parliament are clear manifestations of military's growing corporate and real estate business. The issue will not disappear merely be denying it.
Come on Mr Adviser! Instead of living in a state of denial let us address the issue and do something about it.
The writer is a former PPP senator and a member of the Senate's human rights committee. Email: drkhshan@isb.comsats.net.pk
------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------
MPs assets
Last week the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development (PILDAT) released a study of the assets of members of parliament. It analyzed who was the richest MP, who among the women members was the richest and which party had the richest MPs in its ranks. The source of the study was the declaration of assets by MPs and published in the official gazette as public document. The study made an interesting reading and PILDAT also praised the MNAs for "setting a good example of transparency by declaring their assets".
The MPs are required to annually declare their assets that are also made public. Civilian officers in pay scales 17 and above also submit every year declarations of assets to their respective departments. Their declarations, however, are confidential that are not made public. The presumption is that these are scrutinized somewhere and notice is taken of any unusual increase in the assets of a government servant. On September 19, 2003, I asked a question in the Senate, "Whether the practice of assets declaration by army officers before the Central Officers Record Office is still being continued or has been discontinued; and if discontinued, why". On Dec 19, the question was disallowed through a curt reply; "The chairman Senate has been pleased to hold the question to be inadmissible under rule 47(xvii) (d) and 47(xvii) (a) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 1988".
A month later on October 17, 2003, I moved a resolution, "This house resolves that as in the case of legislators all the judges of the superior courts, the one, two, three and four star generals, and members of civil bureaucracy in BS-21 and above should also be required to annually submit a statement of their assets and liabilities and such statements should be made public." Again a curt reply said that the resolution "does not deal with one definite issue" and declared "inadmissible under rule 121(3) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 1988". The resolution was resubmitted on May 6, 2004. It was again disallowed on the ground that since it had previously been rejected therefore it had now become inadmissible under another rule 121(3).
PILDAT analysis merely answers the question as to who among the MPs is the richest. It does not answer which class in the country is the richest. To find an answer to this question it has to dig deep and carry out an analysis of why some critical questions, motions and resolutions were killed in the chamber and not allowed to come up before the house.
Senator (r) Farhatullah Babar
Posted by
nature_lover
Nov 30, 2007 02:43 pm
The armed forces and the corporate sector By Farhatullah Babar
If the prime minister's finance adviser thought that by living in denial he could allay the widespread concerns about the army's growing involvement in the corporate sector he was gravely mistaken. In saying this, I am referring to a report in your newspaper titled 'Salman denies army role in corporate sector', and published on April 28.
If he did not know it, here is a partial list of the military's corporate enterprises as recently placed before the Parliament in reply to a question besides the several dozen similar enterprises run by Shaheen Foundation and Bahria Foundation of the Air Force and the Navy respectively.
Fauji Foundation : Fauji Sugar Mills, (more than one), Fauji Cereal, Fauji Corn Complex, FONGAS (Natural gas supply company), Fauji Poly Propylene Products, Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC), Fauji Jordan Company, Fauji Cement, Fauji Oil Terminal Company Project (FOTCO), Fauji Kabirwala Power Company Limited.
Army Welfare Trust: Askari Stud Farms, Askari Farms, Askari Welfare Rice Mill, Askari Welfare Sugar Mill, Askari Fish Farm, Askari Cement (more than one plant), Askari Welfare Pharmaceutical Project, Magnesite Refineries Limited, Army Welfare Shoe Project, Army Welfare Woollen Mill, Army Welfare Hosiery Unit, Travel Agencies, AWT Commercial Plazas, Army Welfare Shops, Army Welfare Commercial Project, Askari Commercial Bank, Askari Leasing Limited, Askari General Insurance Company, Askari Welfare Saving Scheme, Askari Associate Limited, Askari Information Service, Askari Guards Limited, Askari Power Limited, Askari Commercial Enterprises, Askari Aviation, Askari Housing Schemes (at several locations)
The adviser claimed that retired military officers were involved in private businesses and that too for welfare purposes but is the Fauji Foundation really a private concern like any other.
Under its Scheme of Administration the Fauji Foundation is allowed "to receive from government or other bodies or person any contribution to the Foundation". Which other private enterprise gets contributions from the government also?
The Fauji Foundation is administered by a committee whose chairman is the defense secretary and its members include four principal staff officers of the GHQ and two senior officers of the Pakistan Navy and the Air Force, all paid out of the public funds. A three star serving general was appointed in 2002 as its chief. What a fine example of a private enterprise run by serving military officers and defense secretary.
During question hour in the Senate last year it transpired that the finance ministry accepted loan liabilities of 9 billion rupees of the Foundation. Which other private concern had been provided such a preferential treatment?
Worse still, after being declared 'private' they are declared as unaccountable too. In reply to a question in the National Assembly in 2005 it transpired that the Khoski Sugar Mills belonging to the Foundation had been sold at 300 million to an entity that had not even participated in the bidding process. The highest bid of 387 million was ignored. When the Senate Defence Committee asked the head of the Fauji Foundation, himself a former chairman of NAB, to appear before it he refused and chose to refute the allegations through newspaper ads. We were told to shut up.
If the FF and AWT are claimed to be private entities what are other entities like the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) and the NLC doing in the private commercial sector in a playing field that too is tilted in their favour? According to information placed before the Senate on December 30, 2005 the National Highway Authority (NHA) alone awarded twelve contracts costing over 18 billion to the FWO without bids between 2001 and 2005.
Further, not only the contract of collecting toll tax on toll plazas have been given to FWO and NLC without bids but contracts already given to private parties were cancelled and given to it according to information placed before the Senate.
The military's growing interests in corporate businesses and land has now begun to attract national and international attention and criticism but we are living in self-denial.
That was why the former British High Commissioner in Pakistan Mark Lyall Grant publicly stated about two years ago in Islamabad that the military's corporate business interests had increased manifold. He also said that it was hampering poverty reduction efforts and effectiveness of the bureaucracy and judiciary in the country. An un-named senior official of the Foreign Office promptly announced that a demarche had been served on the high commissioner for his critical remarks as 'unwarranted and inaccurate besides being an infringement of diplomatic norms'. But that did not change the reality.
Are the defence housing authorities also really private bodies competing with other private entities in a level playing filed? Is there any other private housing society that is headed by a serving corps commander and whose executive functionaries such as the Administrator are serving senior army officers drawing salary from public exchequer? Is there any other private housing authority that can get land at a price as the DHA Karachi got sometime back and against which the provincial government even moved the court?
During question hour in Parliament it has transpired that military officers get one after 15 years of service, a second one after 25, a third one after 28 years and a fourth one after 33 years of service each worth more than 15 million rupees in the open market. To call it a welfare activity is stretching the meaning of the word a bit too far.
The un-level playing field to the military's industrial and commercial enterprises, the dispossession of tenants from farmlands in Okara belonging to the Punjab government, the acquisition of additional 870 acres of prime land in sector E-10 at dirt cheap price of Rs 200 per acre for the new GHQ (in addition to the 1470 acres already earmarked), the setting up of strings of defense housing authorities, first in Karachi and Lahore and lately in Islamabad, and converting state lands meant specifically for defense purposes into golf courses and housing colonies as disclosed in the Parliament are clear manifestations of military's growing corporate and real estate business. The issue will not disappear merely be denying it.
Come on Mr Adviser! Instead of living in a state of denial let us address the issue and do something about it.
The writer is a former PPP senator and a member of the Senate's human rights committee. Email: drkhshan@isb.comsats.net.pk
------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------
MPs assets
Last week the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development (PILDAT) released a study of the assets of members of parliament. It analyzed who was the richest MP, who among the women members was the richest and which party had the richest MPs in its ranks. The source of the study was the declaration of assets by MPs and published in the official gazette as public document. The study made an interesting reading and PILDAT also praised the MNAs for "setting a good example of transparency by declaring their assets".
The MPs are required to annually declare their assets that are also made public. Civilian officers in pay scales 17 and above also submit every year declarations of assets to their respective departments. Their declarations, however, are confidential that are not made public. The presumption is that these are scrutinized somewhere and notice is taken of any unusual increase in the assets of a government servant. On September 19, 2003, I asked a question in the Senate, "Whether the practice of assets declaration by army officers before the Central Officers Record Office is still being continued or has been discontinued; and if discontinued, why". On Dec 19, the question was disallowed through a curt reply; "The chairman Senate has been pleased to hold the question to be inadmissible under rule 47(xvii) (d) and 47(xvii) (a) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 1988".
A month later on October 17, 2003, I moved a resolution, "This house resolves that as in the case of legislators all the judges of the superior courts, the one, two, three and four star generals, and members of civil bureaucracy in BS-21 and above should also be required to annually submit a statement of their assets and liabilities and such statements should be made public." Again a curt reply said that the resolution "does not deal with one definite issue" and declared "inadmissible under rule 121(3) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 1988". The resolution was resubmitted on May 6, 2004. It was again disallowed on the ground that since it had previously been rejected therefore it had now become inadmissible under another rule 121(3).
PILDAT analysis merely answers the question as to who among the MPs is the richest. It does not answer which class in the country is the richest. To find an answer to this question it has to dig deep and carry out an analysis of why some critical questions, motions and resolutions were killed in the chamber and not allowed to come up before the house.
Senator (r) Farhatullah Babar
The Plan To Topple Pakistan Military
By Farhatullah Babar
The News deserves to be complimented for calling into question the military's growing involvement in the real estate business (re: its editorial, 'No to real estate', published on November 26). The editorial was in response to General Musharraf's remarks a day before in Lahore claiming that the military was not involved in property business and that it was the biggest tax payers' institution of the country.
Over two years ago in August 2004 while speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of a power and desalination plant for the Defence Housing Authority Karachi, General Musharraf had lashed out at the critics as being 'pseudo-intellectuals' who were 'jealous of the good work' being done by the DHAs. In Lahore now he rejected the apprehensions but refrained from denouncing harshly the critics. There is hope.
To give plots to military officers for building their own houses is a genuine welfare activity and no one would grudge it. But is the building of multi-billion integrated luxury homes with golf course townships in a posh locality in Lahore or the multi-billion dollar development of Karachi beach in association with foreign partnership also a legitimate welfare activity that should be undertaken by the military?
It is claimed that the DHAs are private bodies and they purchase land in the open market and after development sell them to all. But are the DHAs really private bodies competing with other private bodies in a level playing field? Is there any other private housing society that is headed by a serving corps commander and whose executive functionaries such as the administrator are serving senior army officers drawing salaries from the public exchequer?
During question hour in the parliament it has transpired that military officers get one after 15 years of service, a second one after 25, a third one after 28 years and a fourth one after 33 years of service each worth more than 15 million rupees in the open market. To call it welfare is stretching the meaning of the word a bit too far.
It is also said that both military officers and civilians benefit from these schemes. In reply to a Senate question on September 16, 2005 about the quota in DHA Islamabad it transpired that serving army officers with over 15 years of service had 52 per cent quota and another 10 per cent reserved for retired army officers. Serving PAF and Naval officers had 5 per cent. Civilian employees of all grades, members of parliament and the journalists were allotted 5 per cent. But the ads inviting applications do not disclose the quota of each category of applicants so everyone is lured to apply and pay a sum of five thousand rupees as 'processing fee' that is eventually forfeited to the DHA.
Welfare activity should also not be undertaken in a manner that raises questions of legality and propriety. During question hour in the Senate we learnt that the military had transformed six agricultural and dairy farms spread over several hundred acres of land into golf courses and army housing schemes thus raising many questions.
The inability to address issues of propriety unfortunately has attracted widespread criticism even from eminent international figures. In an article with reference to Pakistan in the Wall Street Journal recently, Lord Patten, former EU Commissioner for external relations made some very hurting comments. "Pro-dictatorship voices regularly argue that those parties were highly corrupt.
But they refuse to condemn or even acknowledge the military's large-scale, institutionalised corruption. So much has been grabbed by the military that it will take years just to catalogue it. The military has acquired vast tracts of state-owned land at nominal rates; its leaders dominate businesses and industries, ranging from banking to cereal factories".
On the eve of launching of the Country Assistance Plan (CAP) of UK's Department for International Development (DFID) in March last year the British High Commissioner Lyall Grant remarked that during the last 28 years the military's corporate business interests had increased manifold. It was hampering poverty reduction efforts and the effectiveness of the bureaucracy and judiciary in the country, the CAP report had said.
The military may be the largest taxpayer as is claimed but what we know from the proceedings in the parliament is that its business and commercial activities have received the largest preferential treatment. On December 30 last year the Senate was informed that out of a total of 94 contracts awarded to the FWO (another military outfit in the business of roads and infrastructure building) 57 projects costing over 25 billion had been awarded without bids. In some cases the private toll collectors' contracts were cancelled and given to the FWO and the NLC.
In February this year the Senate was informed that by November 30, 2001 over 13 billion rupees of loans owed by the Fauji Fertilizer Company Jordan had been paid by the government of Pakistan - out of taxpayers' money.
"Yes. The outstanding non-official development assistance loan in respect of the FFC, rescheduled under the Paris Club Agreement, was accepted by the government of Pakistan in December 2001. The total liability of US dollars 221.96 million as of November 30, 2001 was picked up by the government of Pakistan", said minister of state for finance Omar Ayub in reply to the question.
Welfare of some must not be seen as dispossession of others. In a December 2003 case titled Brigadier Bashir versus Abdul Karim, the Supreme Court while declaring the allotment and lease of the state's agricultural lands as illegal also quoted a paragraph from John Steinbeck's novel Grapes of Wrath that aptly put matters in perspective.
"The great owners (of land) with access to history must know: when property accumulates in too few hands it is taken away. When a majority of the people is hungry they will take away by force what they need. Repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed. The great owners ignored three cries of history.
The land fell in few hands, the number of dispossessed increased and every effort of great owners was directed at repression. Means to destroy revolt were considered while the causes of revolt went on".
The apex court then went on to give a chilling advice to the appellant asking him to be satisfied with a "few hundred acres of land allotted to him" and spare the few acres allotted to a landless tenant.
Faiz once lamented:
"Baney hain ahlehawas mudai bhi aur munsif bhi
Kisey wakil karein kis sey munsifi chahein".
When greed becomes the prosecutor and also the judge,
Where to find the pleader and from whom to seek justice?
Posted by
nature_lover
Nov 30, 2007 02:42 pm
No to real estateBy Farhatullah Babar
The News deserves to be complimented for calling into question the military's growing involvement in the real estate business (re: its editorial, 'No to real estate', published on November 26). The editorial was in response to General Musharraf's remarks a day before in Lahore claiming that the military was not involved in property business and that it was the biggest tax payers' institution of the country.
Over two years ago in August 2004 while speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of a power and desalination plant for the Defence Housing Authority Karachi, General Musharraf had lashed out at the critics as being 'pseudo-intellectuals' who were 'jealous of the good work' being done by the DHAs. In Lahore now he rejected the apprehensions but refrained from denouncing harshly the critics. There is hope.
To give plots to military officers for building their own houses is a genuine welfare activity and no one would grudge it. But is the building of multi-billion integrated luxury homes with golf course townships in a posh locality in Lahore or the multi-billion dollar development of Karachi beach in association with foreign partnership also a legitimate welfare activity that should be undertaken by the military?
It is claimed that the DHAs are private bodies and they purchase land in the open market and after development sell them to all. But are the DHAs really private bodies competing with other private bodies in a level playing field? Is there any other private housing society that is headed by a serving corps commander and whose executive functionaries such as the administrator are serving senior army officers drawing salaries from the public exchequer?
During question hour in the parliament it has transpired that military officers get one after 15 years of service, a second one after 25, a third one after 28 years and a fourth one after 33 years of service each worth more than 15 million rupees in the open market. To call it welfare is stretching the meaning of the word a bit too far.
It is also said that both military officers and civilians benefit from these schemes. In reply to a Senate question on September 16, 2005 about the quota in DHA Islamabad it transpired that serving army officers with over 15 years of service had 52 per cent quota and another 10 per cent reserved for retired army officers. Serving PAF and Naval officers had 5 per cent. Civilian employees of all grades, members of parliament and the journalists were allotted 5 per cent. But the ads inviting applications do not disclose the quota of each category of applicants so everyone is lured to apply and pay a sum of five thousand rupees as 'processing fee' that is eventually forfeited to the DHA.
Welfare activity should also not be undertaken in a manner that raises questions of legality and propriety. During question hour in the Senate we learnt that the military had transformed six agricultural and dairy farms spread over several hundred acres of land into golf courses and army housing schemes thus raising many questions.
The inability to address issues of propriety unfortunately has attracted widespread criticism even from eminent international figures. In an article with reference to Pakistan in the Wall Street Journal recently, Lord Patten, former EU Commissioner for external relations made some very hurting comments. "Pro-dictatorship voices regularly argue that those parties were highly corrupt.
But they refuse to condemn or even acknowledge the military's large-scale, institutionalised corruption. So much has been grabbed by the military that it will take years just to catalogue it. The military has acquired vast tracts of state-owned land at nominal rates; its leaders dominate businesses and industries, ranging from banking to cereal factories".
On the eve of launching of the Country Assistance Plan (CAP) of UK's Department for International Development (DFID) in March last year the British High Commissioner Lyall Grant remarked that during the last 28 years the military's corporate business interests had increased manifold. It was hampering poverty reduction efforts and the effectiveness of the bureaucracy and judiciary in the country, the CAP report had said.
The military may be the largest taxpayer as is claimed but what we know from the proceedings in the parliament is that its business and commercial activities have received the largest preferential treatment. On December 30 last year the Senate was informed that out of a total of 94 contracts awarded to the FWO (another military outfit in the business of roads and infrastructure building) 57 projects costing over 25 billion had been awarded without bids. In some cases the private toll collectors' contracts were cancelled and given to the FWO and the NLC.
In February this year the Senate was informed that by November 30, 2001 over 13 billion rupees of loans owed by the Fauji Fertilizer Company Jordan had been paid by the government of Pakistan - out of taxpayers' money.
"Yes. The outstanding non-official development assistance loan in respect of the FFC, rescheduled under the Paris Club Agreement, was accepted by the government of Pakistan in December 2001. The total liability of US dollars 221.96 million as of November 30, 2001 was picked up by the government of Pakistan", said minister of state for finance Omar Ayub in reply to the question.
Welfare of some must not be seen as dispossession of others. In a December 2003 case titled Brigadier Bashir versus Abdul Karim, the Supreme Court while declaring the allotment and lease of the state's agricultural lands as illegal also quoted a paragraph from John Steinbeck's novel Grapes of Wrath that aptly put matters in perspective.
"The great owners (of land) with access to history must know: when property accumulates in too few hands it is taken away. When a majority of the people is hungry they will take away by force what they need. Repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed. The great owners ignored three cries of history.
The land fell in few hands, the number of dispossessed increased and every effort of great owners was directed at repression. Means to destroy revolt were considered while the causes of revolt went on".
The apex court then went on to give a chilling advice to the appellant asking him to be satisfied with a "few hundred acres of land allotted to him" and spare the few acres allotted to a landless tenant.
Faiz once lamented:
"Baney hain ahlehawas mudai bhi aur munsif bhi
Kisey wakil karein kis sey munsifi chahein".
When greed becomes the prosecutor and also the judge,
Where to find the pleader and from whom to seek justice?
Overcoming Learned Helplessness and Apathy
Very profound, to the point diagnosis of complex social and political ailments of Pakistani society.
Questions which come to my mind are..
How can we build self esteem of masses..and how can we educate them about their rights and power of collective and informed actions ...??
How can we produce some empathy and sense of social justice and collective national honor in our ruling elite...??
Which kind of electric or literary shocks are required to break such emotional and intellectual jams of society...??
We hope that esteemed writers of this wonderful piece of literature will keep on sharing with us such enlightening articles in future as well.
Many thanks and regards,
Posted by
nature_lover
Nov 16, 2007 12:29 am
This is one of the best article, I ever read on chowk.comVery profound, to the point diagnosis of complex social and political ailments of Pakistani society.
Questions which come to my mind are..
How can we build self esteem of masses..and how can we educate them about their rights and power of collective and informed actions ...??
How can we produce some empathy and sense of social justice and collective national honor in our ruling elite...??
Which kind of electric or literary shocks are required to break such emotional and intellectual jams of society...??
We hope that esteemed writers of this wonderful piece of literature will keep on sharing with us such enlightening articles in future as well.
Many thanks and regards,
Cholesterol Say Paak
No Democracy with a destroyed judiciary,..golden words of Ms Nasim Zahra...
The News international...
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Nasim Zehra
Islamabad: The Musharraf government's reported attempt to forcibly flown off the legitimate Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudary , along with his family to Quetta did not succeed because of resistance by the Chief Justice and his family. Most of the deposed judges are under house arrest. The government hopes, and very erroneously, to gag these honorable men in the hope that the public too will forget these men and what they have stood for. The battle to roll back the serving army Chief's orders to trash the Constitution of Pakistan will indeed be centered around the national demand to restore these honorable judges. No matter how many thousands the government imprisons, the demand to r5estore the judges will spread.
There can be no genuine democracy with a destroyed judiciary. Therefore the twining of two demands is essential: the revival of the Constitution, the restoration nation-wide of the pre-PCO independent judiciary and the holding of fair and free elections under a credible care-taker set up. This crucial twining cannot be overlooked by any of the forces that have joined the debate on Pakistan's current crisis; whether the lawyers, the politicians, the media and Pakistan's friends abroad. Yet those who seem to understate or miss this point include some of Pakistan's political parties, the present government, general Parvez Musharraf and no less the United States government.
If we do not sufficiently focus on this issues, the fear is that in a couple of weeks after the weak PCO -accepting judiciary will rule general Musharraf's presidential election Constitutionally valid he will be willing to give up his army chief position and announce the holding of elections. This would satisfy Washington as it has not concerned itself with the question of the judiciary's restoration. It may have been convinced by genearl Musharraf that the judiciary has 'hindered' Pakistan's participation in the war on terrorism. Washington and London may then conclude that it is time to rejoice the return of democracy sans an independent judiciary.
Meanwhile the overwhelming majority within the PML-Q barring Mushahid Hussain, S.M Zafar and Wattoo do not care how independent or pliant is the judiciary. Finally as far as the Opposition is concerned it remains unclear how far the Opposition parties will then, after the election announcement mobilize the public to demand restoration of the judiciary. Other than sporadic statements on the need to restore the judiciary there has been no passionate and united demand by mainstream political parties, except Imran Khan demanding the restoration of the pre-PCO judiciary.
But in fact after having mutilated the independent judiciary, from which at least 55-60 judges refused to take oath and are thrown out, we will have been presented with only more of a khaki-engineered and Washington-underwritten democracy. A docile and pliable judiciary will be 'legal guarantor' of just a mutilated democracy.
Unless the destruction of the judiciary is reversed, for the next 20 years no judge will ever speak up for Constitutional rule in Pakistan. The ones who paid a price of standing up and performing their Constitutional duty must be owned and honored by the people of Pakistan. Pakistan's present and future will then hang in a limbo while the country will be ruled according to the wisdom of individuals functioning outside the discipline of the Constitution.
Meanwhile general Musharraf will have effectively destroyed the only real attempt at institutional balancing...attempt to hold State power accountable. Once Musharraf doffs his uniform the Bush government will happily accept him as a democrat..
We must continue to focus even more sharply on how the independent judiciary was ransacked and demand the restoration of the judiciary. We need to get all the political parties to clearly state their stance on general Musharraf's dismantling of the judiciary.
Our heroes, if at all we are to have any, have to be the deposed judges, the ones under house arrest, the ones who refused to take oath under the PCO, the ones who were trying desperately even if at times somewhat flamboyantly, but never unconstitutionally, to enforce rule of law in the country.
We need to popularize the phrase no democracy with a destroyed judiciary… pre-November 3 judiciary must be restored.
Posted by
nature_lover
Nov 10, 2007 02:03 am
No Democracy with a destroyed judiciary,..golden words of Ms Nasim Zahra...
The News international...
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Nasim Zehra
Islamabad: The Musharraf government's reported attempt to forcibly flown off the legitimate Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudary , along with his family to Quetta did not succeed because of resistance by the Chief Justice and his family. Most of the deposed judges are under house arrest. The government hopes, and very erroneously, to gag these honorable men in the hope that the public too will forget these men and what they have stood for. The battle to roll back the serving army Chief's orders to trash the Constitution of Pakistan will indeed be centered around the national demand to restore these honorable judges. No matter how many thousands the government imprisons, the demand to r5estore the judges will spread.
There can be no genuine democracy with a destroyed judiciary. Therefore the twining of two demands is essential: the revival of the Constitution, the restoration nation-wide of the pre-PCO independent judiciary and the holding of fair and free elections under a credible care-taker set up. This crucial twining cannot be overlooked by any of the forces that have joined the debate on Pakistan's current crisis; whether the lawyers, the politicians, the media and Pakistan's friends abroad. Yet those who seem to understate or miss this point include some of Pakistan's political parties, the present government, general Parvez Musharraf and no less the United States government.
If we do not sufficiently focus on this issues, the fear is that in a couple of weeks after the weak PCO -accepting judiciary will rule general Musharraf's presidential election Constitutionally valid he will be willing to give up his army chief position and announce the holding of elections. This would satisfy Washington as it has not concerned itself with the question of the judiciary's restoration. It may have been convinced by genearl Musharraf that the judiciary has 'hindered' Pakistan's participation in the war on terrorism. Washington and London may then conclude that it is time to rejoice the return of democracy sans an independent judiciary.
Meanwhile the overwhelming majority within the PML-Q barring Mushahid Hussain, S.M Zafar and Wattoo do not care how independent or pliant is the judiciary. Finally as far as the Opposition is concerned it remains unclear how far the Opposition parties will then, after the election announcement mobilize the public to demand restoration of the judiciary. Other than sporadic statements on the need to restore the judiciary there has been no passionate and united demand by mainstream political parties, except Imran Khan demanding the restoration of the pre-PCO judiciary.
But in fact after having mutilated the independent judiciary, from which at least 55-60 judges refused to take oath and are thrown out, we will have been presented with only more of a khaki-engineered and Washington-underwritten democracy. A docile and pliable judiciary will be 'legal guarantor' of just a mutilated democracy.
Unless the destruction of the judiciary is reversed, for the next 20 years no judge will ever speak up for Constitutional rule in Pakistan. The ones who paid a price of standing up and performing their Constitutional duty must be owned and honored by the people of Pakistan. Pakistan's present and future will then hang in a limbo while the country will be ruled according to the wisdom of individuals functioning outside the discipline of the Constitution.
Meanwhile general Musharraf will have effectively destroyed the only real attempt at institutional balancing...attempt to hold State power accountable. Once Musharraf doffs his uniform the Bush government will happily accept him as a democrat..
We must continue to focus even more sharply on how the independent judiciary was ransacked and demand the restoration of the judiciary. We need to get all the political parties to clearly state their stance on general Musharraf's dismantling of the judiciary.
Our heroes, if at all we are to have any, have to be the deposed judges, the ones under house arrest, the ones who refused to take oath under the PCO, the ones who were trying desperately even if at times somewhat flamboyantly, but never unconstitutionally, to enforce rule of law in the country.
We need to popularize the phrase no democracy with a destroyed judiciary… pre-November 3 judiciary must be restored.
Where\'s the news?
People of Pakistan are not organized..privileged ruling class and establishment has divided them to the core...there is no middle class to bring or sustain any revolution...majority of masses stays busy in dollar a day survival struggle and those who have some ability to do some thing for the country..their teeth are sunk in newly found chicken roasts...so night will get even more darker..and plunderers will find it more easy to plunder in the dark hours of night...and this engineered chaos will entangle confused masses further in its web..
Mr Paracha is right in saying that "thundering clouds" of TV shows don't have ability to do any thing practical or sincere for the country..
Posted by
nature_lover
Oct 17, 2007 12:51 am
Most of the people go to political gatherings and receptions for "tamasha" or for fun only ( like the same tamasha which is again being repeated on the arrival of the saviour Benazir)..People of Pakistan are not organized..privileged ruling class and establishment has divided them to the core...there is no middle class to bring or sustain any revolution...majority of masses stays busy in dollar a day survival struggle and those who have some ability to do some thing for the country..their teeth are sunk in newly found chicken roasts...so night will get even more darker..and plunderers will find it more easy to plunder in the dark hours of night...and this engineered chaos will entangle confused masses further in its web..
Mr Paracha is right in saying that "thundering clouds" of TV shows don't have ability to do any thing practical or sincere for the country..
Back To Idol Worship
Posted by
nature_lover
Oct 16, 2007 11:31 pm
Alas!!! our beloved Pakistan is dying in front of our eyes and last drops of blood are being sucked from its veins ..majority of the crowd is busy looting it and very few are sincere to it...it seems that this crowd is sick and their brains have been poisoned and they have been made hypocrits...they don't do what they preach and ugly egos will further destroy its innocent face, its assets, its few leftover trees, few green patches, few public service places for their selfish, greedy and never ending hungers..this crowd suffer from low self esteem and they have lost concept of honour and dignified survival among league of nations....deceivers cannot be sincere with any thing sublime, dignified and truthful on this earth..
Shattered by the Status Quo
Legal eye
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Babar Sattar
The writer is a lawyer based in Islamabad. He is a Rhodes Scholar and has an LLM from Harvard Law School
After his coup General Pervez Musharraf declared that Pakistan had hit "rock bottom" and "rise it must." He condemned the-then prevailing culture of corruption and collusion and assured the nation that Pakistan would be cleansed of degenerate political elites and that "true democracy" would be ushered in. The argument seemed logical and encouraging to those incensed by a decade of loot and "dysfunctional democracy." At the time it seemed incomprehensible how our already depleted fortunes could be diminished any further. But the general has really put to the test this nation's faith in its own resilience. Every time there is a near consensus that we have finally hit rock bottom, the rulers show more imagination.
As if the general's re-selection as president for another five-year term from his minions was not enough of an Eid package, we have also been blessed with the National Reconciliation Ordinance, 2007. This would definitely compete for the title of the most sinister law ever introduced in Pakistan. It is conceptually malicious and substantively flawed. While it claims to promote "national reconciliation, foster mutual trust and confidence amongst holders of public office and remove the vestiges of political vendetta and victimisation," it does none of that. By using the concept of reconciliation that was being advocated in the media as the need of the hour to give this nation a healing touch (especially after the Lal Masjid debacle), the spin-doctors of the ruling regime have discredited the concept itself.
What Pakistan needs to reconcile is divergent views on two issues: how to fix the civil-military imbalance and what role should religion be attributed in matters of state. A pluralist, tolerant and inclusive approach to politics was being conceived as the process that would enable competing views on these issues to be amicably exchanged and help leading political actors to agree on certain rules of the game to get Pakistan out of the morass in which it is caught. Who could have imagined that condoning corruption would be the general's preferred approach to reconciliation? If one of Pakistan's foremost problems has been the abuse of state authority by holders of public offices to amass illegitimate wealth, how will allowing the corrupt go scot-free without affixing responsibility for their past deeds and facilitating their return to power help the country?
As a conceptual matter, reconciliation is not an alternative to justice. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, where concepts of reconciliation and amnesty were used together, is often cited as a success story where concepts of reconciliation and amnesty were used together. The paramount objective there was to uncover truth about human-rights abuses during apartheid, and for that purpose grant of amnesty was used as a mechanism to encourage disclosure. First of all, it is debatable whether grant of amnesty is justifiable at all in the context of Pakistan, where the twin problem during the 1990s was that the ruling regimes abused state authority with impunity and the opposition continued to encourage the military to interfere with the political process.
In this backdrop, we don't need to uncover any hidden facts. All we require is an unequivocal resolve by politicians to build representative democracy, strengthen civilian control of the military and not rock the boat when they are in opposition. And, further, an enabling environment for the courts to determine the merits of corruption and other criminal charges against politicians in a non-partisan manner. Even if there is any conceivable rationale for amnesty, such a pardon must be contingent on disclosure and acceptance of wrongdoing. That Pakistan is plagued by one of the highest levels of corruption in the world is an undisputed fact. If the logic of the National Reconciliation Ordinance is to be accepted and corruption cases against all holders of public office pending before the courts are to be quashed for being politically motivated, who has been plundering our national wealth?
The reconciliation law also falls foul of Article 25 of our Constitution. This article promises all citizens equal protection of the law, subject to reasonable distinctions. Holders of public office do not constitute a vulnerable class that needs special protection of the law over and above that afforded to ordinary citizens. The reconciliation law has amended the National Accountability Ordinance in order to terminate all proceedings against holders of public office initiated prior to October 12, 1999, and to declare void any orders of the courts passed in absentia. It also amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to create a review board that can withdraw cases initiated between Jan. 1, 1986, and October 12, 1999, against any accused found by such board "to be falsely involved for political reasons or through political victimisation."
The reconciliation law thus creates whimsical distinctions and arbitrary cuts off dates and is a tailor-made cover for the misdeeds of the PPP and the MQM. Equally importantly, it launches an insidious attack on the jurisdiction of the judicature. Within our constitutional design, determination of the culpability of any accused falls within the judiciary's domain. While the president has been given the extraordinary constitutional power to grant a pardon or remit the sentence of a convict, the distinction between pardon and acquittal is vital. The Constitution allows the president to pardon a convict, but it does not endow him with the ability to erase someone's guilt. Through this unique law, the general has attempted to usurp such authority for the executive to whitewash the past record of a politician willing to play ball.
The Musharraf regime's method of accountability and its approach to reconciliation are, in fact, two sides of the same coin. In the aftermath of his coup, and especially prior to the national election of 2002, the general used the NAB process as a stick to bring politicians with a questionable past within the fold of the King's' party. Now, during the run-up to the 2008 national election, the National Reconciliation Ordinance has been brought in as a carrot to cast a wider net and cobble together another illicit coalition of the susceptible. The casualty in all this is justice and accountability. After all, there are only two fundamental approaches to accountability: political and legal. Lack of a fair electoral process or meaningful self-governance renders accountability through the polls largely ineffectual. And the National Reconciliation Ordinance has attempted to neuter the legal resource to holding the corrupt accountable.
If someone were to script a strategy on how a government can break the spirit of a nation, Pakistan in 2007 would be one useful illustration. Listing a few watershed events is probably explanation enough: dismissal of the chief justice, the massacre of May 12, the tragedy of Lal Masjid, the insurgency in FATA, the suicide bombings, the forced deportation of Nawaz Sharif in which the related Supreme Court ruling was flouted, the general's re-selection as president in uniform and now the reconciliation law.
But more importantly, 2007 has also been a year of missed opportunities. The general could have decided to hold free and fair elections, return the country to its people and walk into the sunset, but he didn't. The nation was up in arms fighting for the independence of judiciary and restoration of the chief justice, but the rewards of that poignant success have been fleeting, at best. The opposition parties could have harnessed the energy of the lawyers' struggle and transformed it into a political movement for restoration of democracy, but it neither had the credibility nor the charisma for that, nor did it exhibit the selflessness needed to fight for something larger than parochial interests. And then the second line of leadership within the PPP, the ruling PML-Q and even the JUI-F could have shown the courage to break ranks and prefer personal integrity over the diktat of expediency and depraved political cunning, but they didn't.
The most promising claim any available candidate for power in Pakistan today can make is that he or she is the lesser evil. And that in a nutshell explains the source of despondency as well as the country's tragedy.
Email: sattar@post.harvard.edu
Posted by
nature_lover
Oct 12, 2007 05:07 pm
Triumph of corruptocracy Legal eye
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Babar Sattar
The writer is a lawyer based in Islamabad. He is a Rhodes Scholar and has an LLM from Harvard Law School
After his coup General Pervez Musharraf declared that Pakistan had hit "rock bottom" and "rise it must." He condemned the-then prevailing culture of corruption and collusion and assured the nation that Pakistan would be cleansed of degenerate political elites and that "true democracy" would be ushered in. The argument seemed logical and encouraging to those incensed by a decade of loot and "dysfunctional democracy." At the time it seemed incomprehensible how our already depleted fortunes could be diminished any further. But the general has really put to the test this nation's faith in its own resilience. Every time there is a near consensus that we have finally hit rock bottom, the rulers show more imagination.
As if the general's re-selection as president for another five-year term from his minions was not enough of an Eid package, we have also been blessed with the National Reconciliation Ordinance, 2007. This would definitely compete for the title of the most sinister law ever introduced in Pakistan. It is conceptually malicious and substantively flawed. While it claims to promote "national reconciliation, foster mutual trust and confidence amongst holders of public office and remove the vestiges of political vendetta and victimisation," it does none of that. By using the concept of reconciliation that was being advocated in the media as the need of the hour to give this nation a healing touch (especially after the Lal Masjid debacle), the spin-doctors of the ruling regime have discredited the concept itself.
What Pakistan needs to reconcile is divergent views on two issues: how to fix the civil-military imbalance and what role should religion be attributed in matters of state. A pluralist, tolerant and inclusive approach to politics was being conceived as the process that would enable competing views on these issues to be amicably exchanged and help leading political actors to agree on certain rules of the game to get Pakistan out of the morass in which it is caught. Who could have imagined that condoning corruption would be the general's preferred approach to reconciliation? If one of Pakistan's foremost problems has been the abuse of state authority by holders of public offices to amass illegitimate wealth, how will allowing the corrupt go scot-free without affixing responsibility for their past deeds and facilitating their return to power help the country?
As a conceptual matter, reconciliation is not an alternative to justice. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, where concepts of reconciliation and amnesty were used together, is often cited as a success story where concepts of reconciliation and amnesty were used together. The paramount objective there was to uncover truth about human-rights abuses during apartheid, and for that purpose grant of amnesty was used as a mechanism to encourage disclosure. First of all, it is debatable whether grant of amnesty is justifiable at all in the context of Pakistan, where the twin problem during the 1990s was that the ruling regimes abused state authority with impunity and the opposition continued to encourage the military to interfere with the political process.
In this backdrop, we don't need to uncover any hidden facts. All we require is an unequivocal resolve by politicians to build representative democracy, strengthen civilian control of the military and not rock the boat when they are in opposition. And, further, an enabling environment for the courts to determine the merits of corruption and other criminal charges against politicians in a non-partisan manner. Even if there is any conceivable rationale for amnesty, such a pardon must be contingent on disclosure and acceptance of wrongdoing. That Pakistan is plagued by one of the highest levels of corruption in the world is an undisputed fact. If the logic of the National Reconciliation Ordinance is to be accepted and corruption cases against all holders of public office pending before the courts are to be quashed for being politically motivated, who has been plundering our national wealth?
The reconciliation law also falls foul of Article 25 of our Constitution. This article promises all citizens equal protection of the law, subject to reasonable distinctions. Holders of public office do not constitute a vulnerable class that needs special protection of the law over and above that afforded to ordinary citizens. The reconciliation law has amended the National Accountability Ordinance in order to terminate all proceedings against holders of public office initiated prior to October 12, 1999, and to declare void any orders of the courts passed in absentia. It also amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to create a review board that can withdraw cases initiated between Jan. 1, 1986, and October 12, 1999, against any accused found by such board "to be falsely involved for political reasons or through political victimisation."
The reconciliation law thus creates whimsical distinctions and arbitrary cuts off dates and is a tailor-made cover for the misdeeds of the PPP and the MQM. Equally importantly, it launches an insidious attack on the jurisdiction of the judicature. Within our constitutional design, determination of the culpability of any accused falls within the judiciary's domain. While the president has been given the extraordinary constitutional power to grant a pardon or remit the sentence of a convict, the distinction between pardon and acquittal is vital. The Constitution allows the president to pardon a convict, but it does not endow him with the ability to erase someone's guilt. Through this unique law, the general has attempted to usurp such authority for the executive to whitewash the past record of a politician willing to play ball.
The Musharraf regime's method of accountability and its approach to reconciliation are, in fact, two sides of the same coin. In the aftermath of his coup, and especially prior to the national election of 2002, the general used the NAB process as a stick to bring politicians with a questionable past within the fold of the King's' party. Now, during the run-up to the 2008 national election, the National Reconciliation Ordinance has been brought in as a carrot to cast a wider net and cobble together another illicit coalition of the susceptible. The casualty in all this is justice and accountability. After all, there are only two fundamental approaches to accountability: political and legal. Lack of a fair electoral process or meaningful self-governance renders accountability through the polls largely ineffectual. And the National Reconciliation Ordinance has attempted to neuter the legal resource to holding the corrupt accountable.
If someone were to script a strategy on how a government can break the spirit of a nation, Pakistan in 2007 would be one useful illustration. Listing a few watershed events is probably explanation enough: dismissal of the chief justice, the massacre of May 12, the tragedy of Lal Masjid, the insurgency in FATA, the suicide bombings, the forced deportation of Nawaz Sharif in which the related Supreme Court ruling was flouted, the general's re-selection as president in uniform and now the reconciliation law.
But more importantly, 2007 has also been a year of missed opportunities. The general could have decided to hold free and fair elections, return the country to its people and walk into the sunset, but he didn't. The nation was up in arms fighting for the independence of judiciary and restoration of the chief justice, but the rewards of that poignant success have been fleeting, at best. The opposition parties could have harnessed the energy of the lawyers' struggle and transformed it into a political movement for restoration of democracy, but it neither had the credibility nor the charisma for that, nor did it exhibit the selflessness needed to fight for something larger than parochial interests. And then the second line of leadership within the PPP, the ruling PML-Q and even the JUI-F could have shown the courage to break ranks and prefer personal integrity over the diktat of expediency and depraved political cunning, but they didn't.
The most promising claim any available candidate for power in Pakistan today can make is that he or she is the lesser evil. And that in a nutshell explains the source of despondency as well as the country's tragedy.
Email: sattar@post.harvard.edu
Shattered by the Status Quo
An eye opening article which got published in the News international of Oct 13, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Chris Cork
Getting unstuck
Psychologists and psychiatrists when they are describing a person who is in a cycle of behaviour which is either self-destructive or simply futile; say that they are 'stuck'. The individual has neither the means not the will to escape from whatever trap they are in, and revolve -- endlessly 'stuck.' Those who treat them look for strategies to unstick the stalled personality. Thus it is with some countries and few more so than Pakistan. Pakistan has been 'stuck' for a very long time; perhaps for most of its life as a nation, in a grinding cycle of regimes that shuttle between military and civilian -- although even in civilian phases with a strong military hand on the rudder of state.
Getting Pakistan unstuck is never going to be easy. It is also never going to be a process which is transparent, pretty, clean, tidy, ethical or popular with everybody. It will require guile, low cunning, the ruthless wielding of assorted powers, the bending of the law and probably a trample through the field of human rights, shameless compromise and a complete disregard for any model even vaguely resembling democracy. It will be accomplished, if at all, by self-serving and power-hungry individuals and political entities who are determined to protect their own interests and come out of the deal with a profit -- be it kudos, fame, money in the bank or plain old 'respect'. Most of these national saviours (but not all) are tainted with every stain the Global Catalogue of Corruption can identify and a few that it can't. Several have recently been decoupled from criminal cases that would have seen them long-time-dark-hole had they ever been brought to court and proved.
None of which sounds like a recipe for success; but maybe, just maybe, a conjunction of events and individuals have created an environment which could allow the un-sticking of the mess that Pakistan has become. There are no new players on the stage, it is the same old repertory troupe that has toured for a couple of generations, but they are now mulling the possibility of playing to a new script. Rehearsals have been going on since late spring with much backstage squabbling among the cast but at last they are -- mostly -- reading from the same page together even if not yet reading their lines sequentially.
Out there in the darkness beyond the footlights there are The Masses, currently comatose at the thought of elections to the National Assembly. They know that the upcoming election in which they are invited to participate so long as they can be found on the voters list, is unlikely to be any more 'free and fair' than any other election which has preceded it. There is no history of wholly free or fair elections in Pakistan and no reason to believe that the next one will be much different. It may, it is true, be free-er and fair-er, and there will be heightened scrutiny; but the reality is that ballot boxes will be stuffed, voters bought or intimidated and the results massaged to within an inch of their lives.
Nor is the outcome of all this rigging going to be any more democratic than the elections are truly free and fair. Yes, there are going to be shifts in the balance of power in the alphabet soup of Pakistani politics, and some of the current alliances are going to crumble and fall and there will be winners and losers -- though all will claim they have won no matter how big their margin of loss. There will be floor-crossing and horse trading in the jockeying for position and the race to obtain the keys to one of those rather handy apartments in the MNA hostel in Islamabad-- and what is going to emerge after the dust has settled is a creature quite unlike any other to take the stage -- a Democradictacy. It may be something of a Frankensteinian creation, but this hybrid of military and civilian may be the beast that leads Pakistan out of the Circle of Stuckness.
There are a few other things that are not going to change either. Calls on all sides for the military to leave the political arena -- coupled with a naïveté which says they actually will -- have no foundation in the real world. Ideally yes, the soldiers should be back in their barracks. They should also, ideally, leave the banking business, housing and real-estate dealing, cement making and a host of other economic activities and partnerships. It that going to happen? Of course not. You do not switch Military Inc off and on like a light bulb. They are partners in the brokerage business that hatched Democradictacy; they occupy core and key positions in the economic life of the nation and fatuous calls for their summary retreat are just that -- fatuous. They may be forced into a fighting retreat at some far time in the future, but in the here and now they are part-and-parcel of governance and its institutions.
The principal players of this drama are not about to fall in love either. There will be no happy-ever-after, and this pair gritted their teeth as they gingerly sat on a wide sofa. The bride and groom, soon- to-be parents of the fledgling Democradictacy, cordially loathe one another, have done for donkeys years and will continue to do so no matter what their unctuous spokespeople may say to the contrary. Despite which, this mismatched pair is perhaps the best chance that there is for bringing about real change, change that is lasting and for the benefit, at last, of The Masses.
All the other players are now relegated to bit-parts (with an understudy for one of the principals enjoying a period of Arab hospitality but available for a swift return in the event of indisposition or assassination). Beards and aging cricketers will come and go in the background, and the Greek chorus of legal eagles will squawk and beat torts from the wings, but it will be Him and Her, front and centre, for the next couple of years.
A couple of years? Yes…three, perhaps. Because the new production is not going to run forever. Both the principals are essentially transitional figures, neither of them a fixture. Their job, as has doubtless been spelled out to them by angels of an American persuasion, is to manage the space between the mess that is now and the less-of-a-mess there will be later. The mess will be further reduced by their own exit, one to a charming pied-a-terre in Turkey and the other to a lifetime of modeling tasteless diamante spectacle frames.
The space that they will manage is the space that Pakistan has got in which to unstick itself. They do not have long to do the job, and it will be a bloody affair indeed. The best they will be able to accomplish is to damp the fires of extremism (they will not put them out) and consolidate the clear economic gains of the last eight years. Will they reduce poverty? Probably not. Corruption? Perhaps, a little. Bring new faces to the stage? One hopes. It is this last that will mark whether the un-sticking has been successful and there will be a handing of the torch to a new (er) generation; another transition, not an ending of the process.
Why might it work? For no other reason than that there will have never been a dispensation like it before. This really is an opportunity to break the Circle of Stuckness and move into new territory. Nobody is going to like it much, and there will be yet more pain and bloodshed and deception along the way, more nameless graves. Unsticking Pakistan is a job like no other in the world and it behooves all with a stake in the national future to recognise the window of opportunity -- and then use 160 million pairs of hands to turn the latch, open the window and breathe the winds of change as they blow through. The price of failure? Will the last person to leave turn out the lights -- assuming, of course, that there is any power to turn the lights on in the first place.
The writer is a British social worker settled in Pakistan. Email:manticore73@gmail.com
Posted by
nature_lover
Oct 12, 2007 05:05 pm
An eye opening article which got published in the News international of Oct 13, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Chris Cork
Getting unstuck
Psychologists and psychiatrists when they are describing a person who is in a cycle of behaviour which is either self-destructive or simply futile; say that they are 'stuck'. The individual has neither the means not the will to escape from whatever trap they are in, and revolve -- endlessly 'stuck.' Those who treat them look for strategies to unstick the stalled personality. Thus it is with some countries and few more so than Pakistan. Pakistan has been 'stuck' for a very long time; perhaps for most of its life as a nation, in a grinding cycle of regimes that shuttle between military and civilian -- although even in civilian phases with a strong military hand on the rudder of state.
Getting Pakistan unstuck is never going to be easy. It is also never going to be a process which is transparent, pretty, clean, tidy, ethical or popular with everybody. It will require guile, low cunning, the ruthless wielding of assorted powers, the bending of the law and probably a trample through the field of human rights, shameless compromise and a complete disregard for any model even vaguely resembling democracy. It will be accomplished, if at all, by self-serving and power-hungry individuals and political entities who are determined to protect their own interests and come out of the deal with a profit -- be it kudos, fame, money in the bank or plain old 'respect'. Most of these national saviours (but not all) are tainted with every stain the Global Catalogue of Corruption can identify and a few that it can't. Several have recently been decoupled from criminal cases that would have seen them long-time-dark-hole had they ever been brought to court and proved.
None of which sounds like a recipe for success; but maybe, just maybe, a conjunction of events and individuals have created an environment which could allow the un-sticking of the mess that Pakistan has become. There are no new players on the stage, it is the same old repertory troupe that has toured for a couple of generations, but they are now mulling the possibility of playing to a new script. Rehearsals have been going on since late spring with much backstage squabbling among the cast but at last they are -- mostly -- reading from the same page together even if not yet reading their lines sequentially.
Out there in the darkness beyond the footlights there are The Masses, currently comatose at the thought of elections to the National Assembly. They know that the upcoming election in which they are invited to participate so long as they can be found on the voters list, is unlikely to be any more 'free and fair' than any other election which has preceded it. There is no history of wholly free or fair elections in Pakistan and no reason to believe that the next one will be much different. It may, it is true, be free-er and fair-er, and there will be heightened scrutiny; but the reality is that ballot boxes will be stuffed, voters bought or intimidated and the results massaged to within an inch of their lives.
Nor is the outcome of all this rigging going to be any more democratic than the elections are truly free and fair. Yes, there are going to be shifts in the balance of power in the alphabet soup of Pakistani politics, and some of the current alliances are going to crumble and fall and there will be winners and losers -- though all will claim they have won no matter how big their margin of loss. There will be floor-crossing and horse trading in the jockeying for position and the race to obtain the keys to one of those rather handy apartments in the MNA hostel in Islamabad-- and what is going to emerge after the dust has settled is a creature quite unlike any other to take the stage -- a Democradictacy. It may be something of a Frankensteinian creation, but this hybrid of military and civilian may be the beast that leads Pakistan out of the Circle of Stuckness.
There are a few other things that are not going to change either. Calls on all sides for the military to leave the political arena -- coupled with a naïveté which says they actually will -- have no foundation in the real world. Ideally yes, the soldiers should be back in their barracks. They should also, ideally, leave the banking business, housing and real-estate dealing, cement making and a host of other economic activities and partnerships. It that going to happen? Of course not. You do not switch Military Inc off and on like a light bulb. They are partners in the brokerage business that hatched Democradictacy; they occupy core and key positions in the economic life of the nation and fatuous calls for their summary retreat are just that -- fatuous. They may be forced into a fighting retreat at some far time in the future, but in the here and now they are part-and-parcel of governance and its institutions.
The principal players of this drama are not about to fall in love either. There will be no happy-ever-after, and this pair gritted their teeth as they gingerly sat on a wide sofa. The bride and groom, soon- to-be parents of the fledgling Democradictacy, cordially loathe one another, have done for donkeys years and will continue to do so no matter what their unctuous spokespeople may say to the contrary. Despite which, this mismatched pair is perhaps the best chance that there is for bringing about real change, change that is lasting and for the benefit, at last, of The Masses.
All the other players are now relegated to bit-parts (with an understudy for one of the principals enjoying a period of Arab hospitality but available for a swift return in the event of indisposition or assassination). Beards and aging cricketers will come and go in the background, and the Greek chorus of legal eagles will squawk and beat torts from the wings, but it will be Him and Her, front and centre, for the next couple of years.
A couple of years? Yes…three, perhaps. Because the new production is not going to run forever. Both the principals are essentially transitional figures, neither of them a fixture. Their job, as has doubtless been spelled out to them by angels of an American persuasion, is to manage the space between the mess that is now and the less-of-a-mess there will be later. The mess will be further reduced by their own exit, one to a charming pied-a-terre in Turkey and the other to a lifetime of modeling tasteless diamante spectacle frames.
The space that they will manage is the space that Pakistan has got in which to unstick itself. They do not have long to do the job, and it will be a bloody affair indeed. The best they will be able to accomplish is to damp the fires of extremism (they will not put them out) and consolidate the clear economic gains of the last eight years. Will they reduce poverty? Probably not. Corruption? Perhaps, a little. Bring new faces to the stage? One hopes. It is this last that will mark whether the un-sticking has been successful and there will be a handing of the torch to a new (er) generation; another transition, not an ending of the process.
Why might it work? For no other reason than that there will have never been a dispensation like it before. This really is an opportunity to break the Circle of Stuckness and move into new territory. Nobody is going to like it much, and there will be yet more pain and bloodshed and deception along the way, more nameless graves. Unsticking Pakistan is a job like no other in the world and it behooves all with a stake in the national future to recognise the window of opportunity -- and then use 160 million pairs of hands to turn the latch, open the window and breathe the winds of change as they blow through. The price of failure? Will the last person to leave turn out the lights -- assuming, of course, that there is any power to turn the lights on in the first place.
The writer is a British social worker settled in Pakistan. Email:manticore73@gmail.com
An Empowering Verdict!
http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/jul2007-daily/22-07-2007/col1.htm
Posted by
nature_lover
Jul 25, 2007 03:25 pm
In order to read "Jotay Khawaab" by Nazir Naji please copy and paste following link in the address bar of your computer:http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/jul2007-daily/22-07-2007/col1.htm
An Empowering Verdict!
http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/jul2007-daily/22-07-2007/editorial/ col1.gif
Posted by
nature_lover
Jul 25, 2007 02:07 pm
Article of Nazir Naji "jotay khawaab"http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/jul2007-daily/22-07-2007/editorial/ col1.gif
Rawalakot: Rediscovered
I would have been much better if such articles contain few photographs also...photo speaks...
Thanks once again and please keep on writing.
Posted by
nature_lover
Sep 29, 2006 12:57 pm
Thank you Nadeem Akram for sharing such a wonderful and useful article with us.I would have been much better if such articles contain few photographs also...photo speaks...
Thanks once again and please keep on writing.
Has Hinduism had the Longest Tradition of Continuous Religion?
dear Ranjit,
I again try to elaborate my point of view.
I was trying to make a point that skilled workers or tradesmen enjoy high prestige in the science based real world where as they are considered ``kamis`` or low caste in India and Pakistan.
In the scientific and real world, ``unlicensed`` and `` unqualified`` tradesmen with no apprenticeship or hands on experience are not allowed to spoil the materials or to claim as a professional electrician or professional carpenter.
unskilled Labour is a different issue ...
The people who illegaly enter USA from Mexico side, usually work underground and they do simple labour like lifting boxes etc. and they make 3-5 dollars an hour wage.
There are millions of unskilled legalized workers in USA and Canada and they make 6-8 dollars an hour wage which comes to approx Rs 4000 a day.
I was talking about licensed and qualified plumbers, carpenters and electricians and no slave labour or illegal workers can work in their place.
It is about ``Standardization`` and quality control and governments make sure that people and workers are classified and specialized and they don`t want ``bad workmen quarrel with their tools`` kind of examples and to ruin materials also.
Workers who work on construction sites make approx 18-20 dollars an hour wage and they are required to elaborate on their resumes ,their previous experience, references and ability to read building blue prints, drawings and operate machinery, and to ensure quality etc..
During British Raj in India, students of Engineering universities were required to go to brick kilns and learn to make and bake bricks, then they were learning hands on experience about brick laying, pointing and importance of codes and neat workmanship etc.
They wanted to make sure that each and every ``brick`` of empire was well trained and well baked.
Leaders like Winston Churchill belonged to royal family but still he took courses in Masonry and brick laying in order to give dignity and show importance of tradesmen and builders of the empire.
As a role model for ordinary citizens, his photos while he was building walls were widely circulated, so that people could feel good to work with their hands and people could have pride in learning hands on skills.
In our countries we have useless and talktive story tellers, mahapandits, mullahs , chaudries, khans , wadairas and Rajpoots and we have hired prime ministers who being a role model cover their inferiority complexes and low self esteems through ``armani`` clothes and spend millions on their kitchens and then show their fat faces on TV.
Rest of the white shirts wearing government babus or divisional forest officers and Executive engineers follow him and they feel insulted if they are asked to repair heritage building of their office or to plant a sapling or touch a brick with their delicate and holy hands.
Results are in front of us ...we find honor , dignity and quality buildings and products in London and in Pakistan and India we find junk buildings , shoddy products and stiff necks in uniforms with iron rods in them....
Posted by
nature_lover
Sep 18, 2006 02:19 pm
Reply # 342dear Ranjit,
I again try to elaborate my point of view.
I was trying to make a point that skilled workers or tradesmen enjoy high prestige in the science based real world where as they are considered ``kamis`` or low caste in India and Pakistan.
In the scientific and real world, ``unlicensed`` and `` unqualified`` tradesmen with no apprenticeship or hands on experience are not allowed to spoil the materials or to claim as a professional electrician or professional carpenter.
unskilled Labour is a different issue ...
The people who illegaly enter USA from Mexico side, usually work underground and they do simple labour like lifting boxes etc. and they make 3-5 dollars an hour wage.
There are millions of unskilled legalized workers in USA and Canada and they make 6-8 dollars an hour wage which comes to approx Rs 4000 a day.
I was talking about licensed and qualified plumbers, carpenters and electricians and no slave labour or illegal workers can work in their place.
It is about ``Standardization`` and quality control and governments make sure that people and workers are classified and specialized and they don`t want ``bad workmen quarrel with their tools`` kind of examples and to ruin materials also.
Workers who work on construction sites make approx 18-20 dollars an hour wage and they are required to elaborate on their resumes ,their previous experience, references and ability to read building blue prints, drawings and operate machinery, and to ensure quality etc..
During British Raj in India, students of Engineering universities were required to go to brick kilns and learn to make and bake bricks, then they were learning hands on experience about brick laying, pointing and importance of codes and neat workmanship etc.
They wanted to make sure that each and every ``brick`` of empire was well trained and well baked.
Leaders like Winston Churchill belonged to royal family but still he took courses in Masonry and brick laying in order to give dignity and show importance of tradesmen and builders of the empire.
As a role model for ordinary citizens, his photos while he was building walls were widely circulated, so that people could feel good to work with their hands and people could have pride in learning hands on skills.
In our countries we have useless and talktive story tellers, mahapandits, mullahs , chaudries, khans , wadairas and Rajpoots and we have hired prime ministers who being a role model cover their inferiority complexes and low self esteems through ``armani`` clothes and spend millions on their kitchens and then show their fat faces on TV.
Rest of the white shirts wearing government babus or divisional forest officers and Executive engineers follow him and they feel insulted if they are asked to repair heritage building of their office or to plant a sapling or touch a brick with their delicate and holy hands.
Results are in front of us ...we find honor , dignity and quality buildings and products in London and in Pakistan and India we find junk buildings , shoddy products and stiff necks in uniforms with iron rods in them....
- nature_lover
- Interacts: 80
- iLogs: 76
- Gallery: 1
- Page views: 17174
- Last visitor: guest
- Member since: Jul 3 2006
- Last signin: Aug 28 2008
- Send a message
- Add as friend
- Add to ignore list
- Add to block list
