Thursday, November 11, 2010

Pakistan – Is there any hope ?

I have taken a long break before I pen down anything on the issues of Pakistan at my blog. Having contemplated my thoughts for a few months now from different perspectives I have reached a few conclusions why we can still salvage the Pakistan our ancestors got into as an independent state in 1947 .

This above question is being asked by all Pakistani’s as of now . Rich or Poor . Young or Old or any other classification which might exist.

I feel strongly that we are being pushed as a nation into a corner where people expect us to go for the ultimate decision for our country. All of us play in the hands of these conspirators to allow our country being pushed into a corner. Have we ever thought that whilst the bad news about the country is a News whilst our success stories are no where to exist. Though the same happens as of now for countries like Nigeria, Sierra Leone and even Rwanda who the west might like to portray as a ray of hope for humanity. The massacres in thousands in the 90’s looks like champions of today and we the Pakistani’s with even minor mistakes are never forgiven for lesser crimes . Anyways that’s a long debate for which I might write something else in the near future hopefully.

Well remember Pakistan came into existence at the time where the global powers were shifting hands . UK, Japan and Germany were out and US and USSR were in. The short term goals did not have much focus on a few regions of importance in the future rather just a thoughtful eye . These regions were just seen as pawns in the big game of chess called Cold War.

Now the global dominion has shifted . Resource requirements are shifted and hence forth Pakistan becomes a commodity which was left in the closet to mature and cash in the future. By whom ? It is anyone’s guess . But I am sure the traders are not external but internal selfish money centric despots who are in the face of landlords, feudal and their associated cronies.

Pakistan a nation with a population of 170 Million. A Nuclear Power. Proven having one of the largest Coal and Gold Reserves. Cheaper real estate. Excellent climate to operate 24X7 / 365 a year. Strategically located. Having agricultural land. Gas and Oil reserves which are there untouched etc. etc.

I am sure our enemies who might want to destroy our country do not want to invade and dismember but do it by developing these Merchant’s of Doom within Pakistan so that we ourselves push towards the in-evitable without any one’s hands getting dirty.

Our politicians some of whom might be real patriots become all part of the broth of anarchy. The illiterate class rudderless and the masses all just a herd without a shepherd. Long Shanks King of England once said . Kill the Shepherd and you disperse the herd. They have all ensured that there is no Shepherd (Leader) for us . We look as our leaders not as Heroes but as Villains. Thus putting us all in a self destructive cycle.
Its time we stop looking outwards for excuses but look inwards for solutions. A few days ago I traveled in a cab and was thrown into a thought process by the driver a Pakistani originating from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He was clear in laying the blame on the educated like including myself for not providing the leadership and blame the poor of the country for being un-controllable mass.

Kind of right . If you tell some one today that I am an MBA . Working in a corporate culture. Have a political affinity to an XYZ party irrespective which ever it is. I am looked at as a Villain. The only answer comes that politics gives nothing but pain and sacrifice or the best part that you will be killed.

Well I sometimes think if Quaid -e-Azam thought the same in the last century that he has a good career as an advocate. Earning good money and why should he just waste his life standing in front of the British than we would not have had any Pakistan.

We can all contribute to Salvage the situation by stepping out into politics and canvassing for which ever candidate we want to support on the basis of the issues of Pakistan rather personal monetary gains and holding the same accountable for the deliverables.

Once an elected official told me that if there is no rigging in Pakistani elections than the real turn out could be much lesser than the reported 30 or 40% but would be around 10-15% . Now I do not want to debate rigging or justify it . But the apathy that only 10-15% Pakistanis vote and I am sure most them vote to cover the rigging as such. It’s a pity that we do not have the sense of responsibility towards Pakistan. However, I am sure when it comes to criticize on media or any where. Burning of tires or chanting slogans . 80% of us would be turning out.

Remember country men . If any one can change the fate of this nation is You and only You. One should not wait for miracles or your neighbors to initiate . But as individuals we can all contribute to change. How little it might be. It might add to turn the tide against time and circumstances.

Thus Pakistan will have Hope. I belief so ………

Friday, December 4, 2009

Young Martyrs of Pakistan- Is our government too helpless?

I write today this thought of mine with a heavy heart in memory of the 17 children who were martyred today in the house of God.

Casualties of war or Collateral damage . We hear these terms more often . Yes! in open conflicts this is quiet common . But the amazing part is that in a Muslim country , Muslims while praying are killed by Muslims in the name of a so called War for Islam of Talibans.

Today , when this news broke to me . Initially I had no idea that children were victims of the carnage too . Not that they were passer by's. Standing at the wrong place at the wrong time . But whilst they were praying to Almighty Allah. They become prey to terrorism.

Some people today still believe in conspiracy theories that XYZ is involved in this. Some neighbour is involved in this or some intelligence agencies are behind this madness. I have only one question from the Government of Pakistan.

Why it is that not a single of these terrorists have been prosecuted publicly and punsihed by death publicly?

When people know that there is no punishment and that there is a chance that the next government would waive off their crimes under the guise of some ordinance. How would they fear the law ? How would they fear the writ of the state? with no accountability . My country men , its soldiers, its women and its children would keep on laying down their lives without an end.

Shame on those politicians who support these extremists and are hiding under the notion of sickness and some other reasons. I am sure that if there is a barometer of a psychological warfare than the terrorists would definitely have an edge. Sitting in board rooms and giving statements would not help.

Punish those who do this . Punish those who support them. Punish those who give material or any logistics . Do not give them life sentences. Pass a leglslation that any one found involved in the same by any form is going to be punished by death.

We should awake out of our silo's and the myths of conspiracy theories . This war could only be won by sheer strength . If no actions taken than the moral of our forces and our people would keep on going down. Either there would be no one be ready to fight for the right side or there would be no one left standing.

These terrorists are reality . What happened in the past is past? Nothing could be changed. Move forward for God's sake. Support our Army. Brigadiers & Colonels should be the last people to be hit by these small teams of hit men. I understand that there is no easy way of stopping these attacks . But the retaliation should be swift. The message clear.

Trust me these terrorists are not God's Soldiers. They are not for Islam. This war they wage on us is not Jihad. They are Murderers , Murderers & only Murderers.

Let them be any Mullah anywhere on either side of the Durand Line. Islam would not spread by violence but only could happen by reason. Unfortunately, most of them could not do that as they are living in ancient times today. I am sure those who are fighting this battle cannot go beyong some holistics view about Islam and are unfortunately miles away from the bigger picture of our religion.

The question is . Are they KHARJITES?

Anyways , unite and pray for all those killed in these terrorist attacks till now. Not only in Pakistan but anywhere in the world. Especially for those children who laid their lives while praying to God. I am sure god would listen to the prayers of their loved ones. I am sure the reddining of the mud of my mother land with their blood would not go in vain. But would add fuel to fire in our war towards victory. Inshallah!

Pakistan Zindabad!!!!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Pakistan- Is provincial autonomy better for our federation or not?

The last few days of mine has passed through extensive traveling and commitments in GCC where I met a lot of Pakistanis of different demographics and back grounds . Let it be a cab driver , an engineer , a businessman or a laborer . Each has a single question on their minds. What will happen to Pakistan? Is there a solution?

My last few days have passed through a lot of contemplation in this regard . Where lays the core of the problem. Many thoughts came across my mind both sane and insane . But this is what happens in a thought process ; you view the problem from different angles . Sometimes it could be to your liking or otherwise .

I personally believe that if we identify the problem and accept than only we could solve the same. I am sure that I must have mentioned the following earlier as well . If I have ; than my words prove right as per the order of the day. Pakistan was created for the muslims of the country and the minorities who wish to stay here . I am sure our founders did not define the word Muslim by any specific cast , creed , ethinicity , sect or any type of differential what so ever. They won their independence on the basis of the word Muslim.

A day or two ago there was talk of giving certain autonomy to the province of Baluchistan. This as per many politicians is the way forward . What would this bring to Baluchistan ? Sense of lesser reliance on the center , better ownership of their issues and no excuse for not developing their province . Honestly , as I have traveled through Baluchistan many times . I felt that at every juncture they did not need the government to do something for solving their issues ; these could have been solved on the self help basis especially when we talk about the royalties their Sardars have been getting for some time. Though I agree that the government should play a larger role in solving their issues . Maybe the payout of royalties could have been higher . But still I do have a feeling that poor Baluchs would struggle to make their ends meet as have been the case in the past and very much well into the future ; as having more reliance on these Sardars who are just not masters of their fate but unfortunately are the only political referance of the province . Anyways , Baluchistan would soon be out of gas . And unless they have undeclared reserves which I feel is very much the case and the yet to developed mines of Gold, Zinc , Iron and Gawadar etc. It could be a late awakening . Anyways , better late than never.

This brings us to the question that if we give autonomy to Baluchs so that to live as per their traditions and requirements with more power and money . Than what is wrong in doing so across the country. If the Pashtun brothers in NWFP want to live in a certain manner like by Nizam-e-Shariah ; then why don't we do an honest referendum and if the majority votes for the same then implement the same alongwith giving autonomy to these regions for the reasons as explained earlier . This way their reliance on the rest of the country would go down and also they would learn to live by the resources they have and I am sure this province has a lot to offer . Like minerals , surely gas and oil and more importantly the water . With the sense of ownership we could calm a lot of nerves down. I can assure that almost 80% of the Pashtuns I talk to here in GCC supports the same.

So we give autonomy to Baluchs and Pashtuns . Who is left then ? Sind and Punjab obviously. I was listening to the speech of Mr. Zardari earlier in the day and I could smell that he is under pressure from the people of the province of Sind to get autonomy as well like tha talks are going on for the other two provinces . The nationalistic rehotric in his speech clearly indicates the same as this is the vote bank which gets PPP over 60% of their seats in the parliament . With Sind having gas , oil and the one of the largest coal reserves in the world under their belt apart from ports and the city of Karachi . Their demand also seems appealing . During my stay in the interior of Sind ; the sense of deprivation is at alarming levels which is not good for the federation and we saw the reprecussions at the time of Shaheed Benazir's death . The other day I watched this melodramatic speech full of emotions and expressions (hillarious) by the Chairman of PPP . But on a serious note ; he also spelt frustration though they are very much in the government.

Let us do the maths now 3 out of 4 provinces want autonomy at this point in time. Let us assume, they even get it. What do we gain or loose out of it ? We gain fulfillment of the original vision of the republic as per 1940 resolution, we gain trust of the people , we get ownership from them and less blame for their problems on the state , decentralization of power corridors with better infrastructure , scope of foreign investments with a promise of security from the locals, jobs and mainly development . So what we loose ? We loose in my opinion NOTHING.

Pakistan today needs patriotism to survive. It is unfortunate that we all are thinking inward but maybe that is the solution as things have changed much since 1947 . At that time people compromised in my opinion out of love for the state of newly independent Pakistan . But in the current world of capitalistic society where every one wants their share I am sure there are other interests supreme . Let us not give autonomy only to the above 3 . If more want it . Give it to them. In this way , we shall know . Exactly as to who really contributes to the nation .

I hope that certain checks are put in place to monitor the same and apprise the people on the performance of their local leaders . And if the solution is viable than no harm is done.

Today , unfortunately every Pakistani is embroiled in petty issues without looking at the bigger role they could play in the world . We are worried about food, sugar , flour, electricity, education, health care , security and the list goes on . I think that we offload as many problems as possible in a transparent manner and trust that the federation would become stronger rather than on the contrary.

I would not like to mention what we have already lost by not doing the above much earlier . As we could not change anything . But let us look into the future not as Sindhis, Punjabis, Baluchs, Pashtuns or Mohajirs , not as Sunnis or Shia's , not as rich or poor and even not as educated or otherwise . Let us look to the future as Pakistanis. With every moment passing by ; we loose the race of survival . Let us take decisions in the interest of the federation and only for it.

Pakistan Zindabad!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Daastan-e-Nawaz

Nawaz Sharif ke naam ek Paigham

Model Town ke aage Jahan aur bhi hain
Wazeer-e-Azam banu tou khan eke ilawa kaam aur bhi hain

Hamein pata hai ke Motorway kyon Banwaya tha
Sunday ke Sunday Phajje ne jo bullaya tha

Aankh kholi to sar par bal the itne ; Sazishi Mushi thaa
Thaa mein jab ganja kasam se tou bahut kamaya tha

Rota nahin hoon, Darta nahin hoon . Manoo ke shaer hoo mein,
Magar yad hai ke Attock jail mein; khana ne de ke mushi ne bahut rulaya tha

Mera ek chota bhai bhi hai , karta kabhi kabhi shaieri who
Yaad hai ek din , ek jalse mein sab ko adha ghante rulaya tha

Bahut masoom hoon main, kar ke sub kuch mukarta hoon
Phajje ke kasam har daur mein kisi na kisi ne mujhey phasaya tha

Monday, July 27, 2009

Leaders of Pakistan. Stop Slogans. Show Actions.

First of all please accept my apologies for being away or rather staying away from this platform. But since then much has happened. Pakistan won the ICC T2o , we have almost reached the median of the conflict in Swat , our financial woes remain the same, electricity is still a luxury and the dear country is finding hard to be stable.
The government has banned mud sligging at them in a democratic Pakistan and last but not the least the tyrst agains't Musharraf starts . Wow! so much happening at the same time. For every issue and the list goes on our government comes out with one excuse after another.
Let me give our dear government an advice and I hope that I am not jailed for the same; "Win through your actions, Never through arguments". All I can see is that our government is being defensive and only two organs of our establishment are working; either the President House or the Supreme Court and the rest of the concerned departments and easily laid their hands off their responsibilities and rested the fate with the above. The National Assembly and the Senate are nothing more than debating clubs and a source of revenue for our hordes of members and ministers .
The people of Pakistan who voted this democratic government into power are now awaiting actions . Enough is enough on the verbal front. The government and its spokemen should rest their vocal cords and rather roll-up their sleeves. The question where the problem lies. Is it the executioners of the strategy or the will? I feel the both . Neither the state beaurucracy seems capable and at the same time the machinery lacks the will or motivation .
I belief that we Pakistanis can deliver. Just look at the fact that the moment Pakistan Army got the full political backing . They did not desist and laid down their lives for the people of Pakistan. Clear sign of both professionalism and the will. The rest of the arms of the government I am sure lacks the both. Maybe the best of Pakistanis prefer staying away from these roles or could not afford to bribe their way in the system . Our talented Pakistanis have performed well in the corporate and private sector both foreign and domestic . So the conclusion is not the talent pool availability nor the fact that we are not patriots enough. Maybe the problem lies somewhere else. The accesibility or the recruitment of the right people . May the word is hiring them on "Merit".
Well enough of my rumbling and coming to solutions (suggested). After all I made this blog to present the same.
I feel strongly it is time we purge our system of rotten officers, judges, policemen or any other person responsible of creating this mess. Stop political hirings in these sections as maybe your Jiyala or Loyal Party worker is not as talented . Stop hiring through corruptions and bribes. Stop hirings on the basis of quota system. Revamp the whole system . I am sure there are many more talented Pakistanis ready to take up the task and I am sure would deliver better. Fire these nincompoops or retire them and build a whole team again honestly without any wrong political intent . Also it would be the responsibility of all the political parties to accept the same and form a forum to find common grounds . The monitoring could be done by an inspired judicial commission. I fear that this could happen as they could not find a common ground till date on our constitution at the least.
We need to identify the problem and rectify rather than bringing in political changes to woo your comrades in arms . Like we are planning to do away the local bodies system and handing it over to the same old group of arrogant and good for nothing commissioners. Wow! we are introducing a dictator style system in a democratic government. The top leaders should understand that democracy does not mean that you the selected few are present in the National/ Provincial Assemblies or Senate. Democracy has to be at the grass root level as well where people or masses are represented. Why are you afraid of going into elections? Maybe you are not sure of the results . Let this acid test prove your so called popularity amongst the masses and as it is quiet visible that you the popular rulers of our country have stopped public meetings out of fear of low turnout and have successfully blamed it on the law and order. Maybe as you are ready to martyr our soldiers or civilians . You are afraid to follow the same route.
It is time to realize and accept the fact "WIN THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS, NEVER THROUGH YOUR ARGUMENTS".
For my dear Pakistanis . For god sake . Please elect the right people as your representatives rather than those who you have tried and failed us as a Nation. Do not fall into rehotrics of cast, creed, ethnicity or religion. Vote for Pakistan.
Long Live Pakistan!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Pak Vs Eng : Next stop of Pak Cricket Team “IDP camps in Swat”

Let me start this particular view point with the statement of our dear Captain after losing the T20 match against England yesterday :

"It won't be a disaster even if we exit before the Super Eights," said Younis. "It would be sad if we don't make it, but I have never attached too much importance to Twenty20 cricket, as it is fun cricket. I mean it is more for entertainment, even if it is international cricket. It is all for the crowd. Twenty20 is all about fun. Everybody expects players to come out and entertain."

Trust me , I am controlling my emotions when I write the next few lines . This is our Captain speaking . The nation of Pakistan must have spent quiet a good load of money on this excursion trip of our team so that they could go and have fun .

Would someone please remind them that we have not sent them to participate in a Circus where they could have fun.

My dear Captain . Especially now-a-days even a small achievement would make a big difference for our country struggling in our War against Terrorism . Cricket is maybe the only forte left for us to prove and achieve in sports . I am not an expert at cricket but one thing really bewildered me was that whilst even minnows of cricket like Netherland and even Bangladesh could hit a few sixes . Our team tried their best not to hit one . The boundaries were just too far away for them .
Did we have a strategy when we went out to play ? Initially I thought we were just incompetent because there was no planning visible . But during the match I could have a feeling that our dear captain was enjoying the defeat . When at the end of each over they used to touch gloves as if they are well on target . But after reading this statement from our captain it seems that we are not only incompetent but fools as well.

Is there any one out there who could talk sense into these people to take each opportunity seriously as they should not forget that in other forms of cricket ; they are no champions as well.
I would conclude maybe this guy is not a smart talker or has an attitude . Both the ways if the people at PCB high command ; if bother should look into it as maybe they do not have any other choice by either training him in public speaking ( by remembering that he is in a responsible position representing a nation of 160 million fans) or sending him to attitude management classes .

The problem is simple in our cricket . If we all today keep this in our mind that as in our regular lives “No one is above the law” ; I would recommend that we should put forth in this case “No one is above the game” . Discipline is a major issue with our team and we bite the dust again and again because of which . I wish some one would step up and take some bold decisions backed by positive actions as suspending players is giving them an easy way out . One suggestion is have a strong back-up pool so that no one should have a feeling that they are not expandable.

I wish Pak Team luck for their future matches and believe me unless they would not target they would not achieve . But if next time , any time soon our dear captain or any one in the team have a feeling of fun at the cost of our nation. Like so many of my friends mentioned in their view points at different forums . Send these fun lovers on volunteer service for 30 days at least to the camps of our beloved IDP’s so that they realize why it is so important for them to win for our nation and understand the difference when to have fun and when to go for it.

Pak Zindabad!.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Wanted : A Volunteer Politician to take the plunge for righteousness

First of all . Let me congratulate the men of Pak Army for such a calculative action against Taliban in Swat . The least number of civilian casualties proves the point. Infact the only casualties are from the Taliban side as they explode bombs in city centers to kill and maim innocent civilians . So it is easy to guess who is more concerned about the people of Pakistan . I am sure Pak Army could have gone for an all out attack but then we would have lost a lot of innocent Pakistani civilians in the process. This shows that Pak Army is probably the only patriotic organization in our country.

Also , let me correct myself ; as per one of my earlier blogs . I praised the Sri Lankan Army for their operation against LTTE for their care of the civilian population . But I now feel the end game could have been much better . But then again you only would know it whilst you are in the middle of it.

I planned to wait for a while before I post some thing at this blog site. But could not resist after reading a particular news section and as the motto of mine behind this blog is to bring a change by encouraging and awaking patriotism . I feel I should comment on this especially.

Former South Korean president Roh Moo-Hyun committed suicide. As per the suicide note ; he was ashamed or upset on the corruption charges leveled against him. He was having sleepless nights plus he was inept to face his supporters in this scenario. So he took a walk one fine day and jumped . Ending the misery for himself and for those who followed. Now as per our religion this is unacceptable . But the crux of the matter is that what this gentleman showed that he had still the honesty left in him to at least feel the shame. Now I frankly don’t know whether he was guilty or not but the fact remains his people made him realized in a hard manner the mistakes he did and he also had the shame in him to feel it ; not just denying it for ever.

Okay! There would be conspiracy theories behind it like maybe some hidden hand has pushed him of the cliff . But at the end there was some repentance self inflicted or otherwise.

Coming to our motherland Pakistan . I hope our patriotic curroptomaniac leaders have read this news and taken a note from it . I am not suggesting that any one go and suicide themselves but at least feel the shame and stop from tricking the people of Pakistan again and again as we know that thanks to the hard work of the people of Pakistan you guys are becoming rich by the second and the poor of the country becomes poorer. I am sure if Roh Moo was some Rahim Chaudhary/Khan/Soomro etc. ( Disclaimer : this name is just for giving an example . Any resemblance to any one is just a co-incidence and should not be taken legally) of Pakistan he would not have gone to those extents . Rather would have come out of jail after being accused or ripping of Pakistan for Billions and would have gotten elected with an overwhelming majority in the next elections. The villlian would have easily become a victim in Pakistan and the victim could be the next President or Prime Minister or Chief Minister or so on……

The question is that we should learn closely from this example what is the motivation behind. Was the civil society ultra active in South Korea? Was it the judiciary or the establishment ? or Was it the ethics in the heart of this politician? I am sure the resultant was not an isolated effort but a combined sense of responsibility on part of each member of the South Korean society.

I wish that our leaders take a leaf from the other democracies of the world whom they cherish so much and exemplify and some one step forward and say that I made a mistake and not only that I am sorry for it but I do not deserve this responsibility as well and fade away quietly to his drawing room . I am sure with a population of 160 million and a lot of brains around us . If one withdraws with courage ; there would be others to replace him.

Maybe one day we as a nation realize that the choice is not what you have but what you make.

Long Live Pakistan