December 2011’s B-side focuses on the rise of a new politics in Pakistan in the form of an article by James Caan on the rise of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). With this in mind, the emergence of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in the PPP is also examined in an article penned by him. The B-side finishes with an article by Christine Fair on Pakistan-US relations after the Mohmand massacre. December 2011’s B-side contents include:

1. Pakistan At Long Last May Have Found The Leader It Needs by JAMES CAAN
2. On The Fourth Death Anniversary of My Mother by BILAWAL BHUTTO ZARDARI
3. Obama Should Apologise by CHRISTINE FAIR

The first article is written by James Caan on the rise and rise of Imran Khan.

Pakistan At Long Last May Have Found The Leader It Needs by James Caan

The article is published in The Independent and can be read here.

WASIM VIEW- James Caan is a well-known British Pakistani and proud Pakistani who cares deeply about Pakistan, so much so that he founded the British Pakistani Foundation. Caan’s article charts the hope of a better tomorrow for Pakistan and he is right to attribute such hope thanks to Imran Khan’s meteoric rise in 2011.

Caan’s article is very pro-PTI and rightly praises Imran Khan for being a true servant of Pakistan. Caan’s article is more than a showering of praise for Imran Khan; rather it seeks to compare and contrast his person with past and present politicians and finds him to be ‘the real deal’.

Although congratulatory in the main, Caan’s article does identify corruption as a menace that has held Pakistan’s back and his use of statistics such as the fact that 24% of Pakistanis live beneath the poverty line are a stark reminder of the problems before Pakistan and her people. Problems that Imran Khan and his team must find credible solutions for.

The second article is written by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, need I say more?

On The Fourth Death Anniversary of My Mother by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

The article is published in The Express Tribune and can be read here.

WASIM VIEW- Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has entered the Pakistani political landscape owing to his father’s ill health. The younger Zardari has made his full-blown entry in Pakistani politics and his op-ed on the death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto is more evidence of his emergence.

In terms of the article, Zardari’s praise for his mother and her track record is understandable and to be expected. Much of the article is congratualtory in tone and dedicated to Benazir Bhutto’s memory and her achievements, many of which are open to debate.

Later on in the article, Zardari blows the trumpet for the present PPP government and rightly praises the PPP for its historic NFC award and the 18th constituitional amendment. As a principled opponent, these are achievements I have openly praised here and here.

However the younger Zardari like the older Zardari is guilty of blowing the trumpet a tad too loudly and is guilty of over-extending himself with his words of self-congratulation in his claim that the PPP government forced the US to vacate Shamsi airbase. Bilawal’s words of ‘it is only under a democratic government that Pakistan finally stood up to demand respect from the United States and to do what the dictator with all his military might could not — evacuate the Shamsi airbase’ are not only laughable but untrue as my post on the Shamsi airbase proved here.

Looking ahead, it appears the younger Zardari like the older one, is too keen to engage in jingoistic cheerleading of the PPP’s achievements both perceived and real. As a man of the future, it is hoped that Zardari can see beyond parochial and party interests and serve Pakistan alone, in that he will always have my best wishes.

The final article is written by Christine Fair in the background of NATO’s Mohmand massacre.

Obama Should Apologise by Christine Fair

The article is published by Foreign Policy and can be read here.

WASIM VIEW- Fair’s article is an interesting read, not least when she notes that ‘Pakistanis, whether civilian or military, whether in the government or on the street, want out of this relationship and deeply believe that Americans do not value Pakistani lives. They may not be wrong’.

Most Pakistanis have never felt the US have appreciated our sacrifices from the so-called Afghan Jihad to the present day and Fair is right to draw attention to this truth. Moreover, such a truth is made more obvious when Fair writes that the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter had urged President Obama to apologize for the Mohmand massacre but was rubbished by some within the U.S. government as “having gone native”. Such is the arrogance of Obama and his administration that the word SORRY cannot be uttered for innocent Pakistani soldiers who were massacred by American gunships in the dead of night.

Fair rightly criticises NATO’s (read US) failure to follow established procedures as ‘indefensible’ and spends much of her article explaining how NATO committed its blunder in Mohmand Agency. However for some reason known to her alone, Fair then goes off on a tangent and engages in some lazy criticism of Pakistan for playing a double-game with the US. It seems Fair is too desperate to appear fair in giving space to all aspects of the Pakistan-US relationship and thus must have felt she needed to overdo her vitriol against Pakistan’s so-called double game having acknowledged as the main tenet of her article that the US cares little about Pakistan and Pakistani lives.

That said, Fair’s call for Obama to apologise to Pakistan is welcome and the minimum Pakistan expects. Fair is brave in calling for action against those US officials who are responsible for the Mohmand massacre, however her suggestion is unrealistic for the US has always done as it pleases and rarely holds to account those who commit blunders in her name. One example will suffice for Pakistanis still await justice from the US Department of Justice as promised by Cameron Munter for the acts of one Raymond Davis, remember!

Today President Zardari will address both houses of Parliament and will hail the 18th constitutional amendment and I hail it too. Credit goes to the PPP government for achieving this milestone in returning power to the parliament and the prime minister. Above all credit goes to the much sneered at committee for constitutional reforms headed by Raza Rabbani.

The consensus achieved by Raza Rabbani’s committee in complex often controversial policy areas such as provincial autonomy, judicial appointments and the role of the executive shows that the political class in Pakistan has matured and can act in the national interest. The 18th amendment will renew the 1973 Constitution and rid it of its anomalies planted by many a khaki king during their evil dictatorships. The key reforms as listed by Dawn include the following:

1. Repeal the Legal Framework Order of 2002, along with its amendments, as having been issued without lawful authority, as well as the 17th Amendment of 2003 based on it.
2. Amend Article 1 to rename the NWFP as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
3. Amend Article 6 to include suspension of the Constitution and putting it in abeyance among acts of high treason which no court will validate.
4. New article 10A to confer right to fair trial.
5. New article 19A to give every citizen the right to access to information in all matters of public importance.
6. Article 25A to make the state provide free and compulsory education to all children aged five to 16 years.
7. President to act on the prime minister’s advice to dissolve the National Assembly, set a date for the general election and appoint a caretaker government.
8. Repeal Article 58(2)B empowering the president to dissolve the National Assembly.
9. Amend Article 59 to increase Senate seats to 104 from the present 100 with one representing non-Muslim minorities from each province.
10. Amend Article 61 to increase working days of Senate in a parliamentary year to 110 from 90.
11. Amend Article 70 and omit Article 71 to do away with provisions for the constitution of a mediation committee in case of difference between the two houses on a bill and revert to calling a joint sitting of parliament in such an event.
12. Amend Article 89 to bar promulgation of an ordinance when either of the two houses is in session, rather than only the National Assembly, and restrict re-promulgation to only one time and that too in compliance with a resolution of either house.
13. New article 90 to substitute previous one to provide for exercise of the executive authority of the federation “in the name of the president by the federal government consisting of the prime minister and federal ministers, which shall act through the prime minister, who shall be the chief executive of the federation”. Abolish the concurrent legislative list and some subjects in the federal list 1 included in federal list.
14. Amend Article 92 to restrict the strength of the federal cabinet, after the next election, to 11 per cent of total members of parliament and of the provincial cabinets to 15 members or 11 per cent of an assembly, whichever is higher, and of advisers of the prime minister or chief minister to a maximum of five.
15. Amend Article 101 to provide for a provincial governor to be the resident and voter of the same province.
16. Amend Article 104 to provide for a speaker of a provincial assembly to be acting governor.
17. Amend Article 127 to increase working days of provincial assemblies to 100 days from 70 days.
18. Amend Articles 153 and 154 to provide for the Council of Common Interests to consist of the prime minister, provincial chief ministers and three members from the federal government to be nominated by the prime minister, have a permanent secretariat and meet at least once in 90 days.
19. Amend Article 157 to bind the federal government to consult a province’s government before deciding on the construction of a hydro-electric power station there.
20. Amend Article 160 to provide for the share of provinces in each NFC award not being less than given them in the previous award.
21. Amend Article 167 to authorise provinces to raise domestic and international loans or give guarantees on the security of the provincial consolidated fund within limits and conditions specified by the National Economic Council.
22. Amend Articles 168 and 171 to set auditor-general’s tenure at four years and to provide that the auditor-general’s reports will come to both houses of parliament.
23. Amend Article 175 to provide that, subject to existing commitments, mineral and oil and natural gas within a province or its adjacent territorial waters “shall vest jointly and equally in that province and the federal government”.
24. New article 175A to provide for the constitution of a seven-member judicial commission — for naming judges for appointment to superior courts to be confirmed by a parliamentary committee — consisting of the chief justice (chairman) and two senior-most judges of the Supreme court, a former chief justice or judge of the same court to be nominated by the chief justice, federal minister for law and justice, the attorney-general and a senior advocate of the Supreme Court to be nominated by the Pakistan Bar Council for two years.
25. Amend Article 213 to provide for the prime minister to send, in consultation with the leader of opposition in the National Assembly, three names to a parliamentary committee for confirmation of one of them as the chief election commissioner and in case of difference, both of them to send separate lists.
26. Amend Article 232 to provide for declaration of emergency after a resolution passed by the assembly of that province and that if the president declares emergency “on his own”, the proclamation to be presented before both houses of parliament for approval within 10 days.
27. Amend Article 242 to provide for appointment of the chairman of the Federal Public Service Commission by the president on the advice of the prime minister and of the chairman of a provincial commission by the governor concerned on chief minister’s advice.
28. New article 243 to provide for appointment of chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee and chiefs of staff of the army, navy and air force by the president on the advice of the prime minister.
29. Repeal Article 268 containing the Sixth Schedule.

The amendments are not all to my pleasing however as a democrat I support the consensus document and praise the Raza Rabbani committee for doing great work in the service of Pakistan.

Indeed I finish by paying tribute to all of the member by their name, the PPP’s Raja Pervez Ashraf, Babar Awan, Haji Lashkari Raeesani and Mian Raza Rabbani, PML-N’s Ishaq Dar, Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan and Hassan Iqbal, PML-Q’s Wasim Sajjad, S.M. Zafar and Humayun Saifullah Khan, Muttahida’s Dr Farooq Sattar and Haider Abbas Rizvi (MQM), Afrasayab Khattak and Haji Muhammad Adeel (ANP), Rehmatullah Kakar (JUI-F), Justice (retd) Abdur Razzaq Thaheem (PML-F), Srarullah Zehri (BNP-A), Prof Khurshid Ahmad (Jamaat-i-Islami), Mir Hasil Bizenjo (NP), Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao (PPP-S), Abdul Rahim Mandokhel (PMAP), Shahid Hasan Bugti (JWP) and Munir Khan Orazkzai (Fata).

The fact that the Balochi, Sindhi, Pukhtun and Punjabi have all worked to achieve consensus bodes well for the future of Pakistan and its federation. Pakistan Zindabad.

Photo: The Nation

The city of Lahore lived up to its big-event billing when the four provinces and the centre agreed upon the seventh edition of the National Finance Commission award here on Friday. The post-agreement press conference, which brought together the four happy-looking chief ministers and a seemingly proud federal minister in a sign that Pakistan’s democracy had come of age, was a rare occurrence in itself.

The above paragraph from Dawn sums up this celebratory post. The photo preceding it shows a portrait of the Quaid almost presiding over the NFC meeting that produced a historic accord that strengthens Pakistan’s provinces and federation.

I will be unapolegetic in this post and write with much happiness in saying that the NFC 7th Award announced yesterday is a historic achievement of the much maligned PPP government and the politicians of Pakistan more widely. History will record that this NFC 7th Award has been agreed at a time of national strife and that the politicians have demonstrated a maturity that many thought was beyond them.

The 7th NFC award is historic for two reasons, firstly in that it was agreed under new multiple indicators with considerable weight given to poverty and  inverse population density which has helped the smaller provinces especially my beloved Balochistan province. Secondly the NFC Award is historic in giving Balochistan and NWFP our two most affected and most neglected provinces their due rights.

The PPP government should be proud of its efforts in ensuring a consensus and historic NFC Award and words of praise are due to the provinces especially Punjab for demonstrating in words and deeds that it is the elder brother and that it will not just help the other provinces even at its own cost. The winner in this is Pakistan and her people and the  lesson for us all is that our politicians and our democracy can deliver 

Courtesy of Associated Press of Pakistan

This post must be read in conjunction with the previous post ‘Ramazan for the Ruled’ shown here. Few words are necessary to explain my key points in this post except to say that the two photos above show how the rulers of Pakistan both civilian and military spent Ramazan.

Luxury for the rulers and loathing for the ruled comes to mind and it is sickening!!!

Photo: Dawn

Ramazan is the month of mercy and blessings. With Ramazan now over and probably forgotten  I wish to pass comment on the mercies that this Ramazan brought to Pakistan as the photo above shows clearly!

Few Pakistanis will disagree that the month passed with few blessings save for the masses suffering rampant inflation. The sugar scandal and the sugar daddies took prominence for all the wrong reasons whilst the flour deaths in Karachi shamed us all.

As a Pakistani I am not shocked at the daily degradation of the ordinary Pakistani, yet this Ramazan in Pakistan really upset me and far more eminent commentators have concurred with my sentiments. An article written by the Human Rights Activist  I.A. Rehman caught my eye and his words are shown below:

Not by Begging Alone by I.A Rehman

THE death of about 20 women in a stampede by fellow supplicants for food rations free of charge may well be taken as the climax of an extremely painful drama about poverty in Pakistan witnessed throughout the month of Ramazan this year.

That the sacred month of fasting should be chosen for setting new records in profiteering and market manipulation by hoarders was not entirely unexpected because the pull of money is often stronger than the call of faith. Nor was one surprised at the frenzied scramble for securing wheat flour or sugar at subsidised rates. Both phenomena are rooted in our culture. What could not easily be swallowed were the fallacious assumptions underlying the official reaction to the plight of the poor.

When the people raised a hue and cry at the spurt in sugar prices the authorities tried price control and only succeeded in exposing their lack of capacity to enforce their writ. Attempts to probe the causes of the problem were at best half-hearted and ultimately a scapegoat was found in the form of the farmer who cultivated less sugarcane than before.

A man died while standing in a queue in front of a subsidised wheat flour counter. The explanation came quickly: the authorities were not to be blamed because the old man had suffered cardiac arrest. The questions as to what had made him stand for so long in the oppressive heat and whether the state was in any way responsible for his poverty were not considered worth addressing. The tendency to offer superficial explanations for complex problems is much in evidence.

The political leaders who have been travelling long distances to inspect sastay bazars or centres for distribution of food items and to console the poor deserve due appreciation for their labour. Sometimes they do win plaudits for suspending officials for failing to help the poor. There is something to be said for unorthodox steps to assuage the people’s anxieties. But it is time the inappropriateness and inadequacy of attempts to deal with poverty through seasonal fits of philanthropy were realised.

For one thing, the scenes of countless hands raised to grab a bag of wheat flour or a pound of sugar cause unbearable anguish for three reasons. First, they provide an index to the extent and pattern of poverty in the land. Second, they show that a large number of people have been reduced to the status of shameless beggars. And, third, they confirm, to a considerable extent, the Pakistani men’s habit of reserving rigorous (especially time-consuming) and humiliating tasks for their womenfolk, even in areas where they are not allowed to appear in public.

Unfortunately the Pakistani elite, especially its part in government, does not realise the demeaning effects of parading dole-receivers before the camera. The need to dispense aid to the poor without hurting their pride or sense of self-respect by disclosing their identity has been growing for many years. Efforts to meet this need must no longer be delayed.

Besides, ad hoc measures to provide relief to the poor by supplying food items and other necessities of life, free or at concessional rates, are good as responses to unforeseen disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, drought or armed conflicts. They cannot be recommended as solutions to afflictions of a permanent nature that poverty is. After all Ramazan is only one of the 12 months. How will the people offered relief during Ramazan fend for themselves during the other 11 months? Thus, even after conceding that the supplies of wheat flour and sugar at subsidised rates have brought some relief to the poor, the urgency of bringing the entire population under poverty-eradication projects cannot be denied.

The cause of the poor has suffered considerably because of the state’s inability to comprehend the implications of its elitist policies. Over the past few years there has been a sharp increase in the gap between the minimum wage and the remuneration allowed to the privileged (parliamentarians, administrators engaged on contract in special grades, media celebrities, executives in the private sector and professionals such as lawyers and doctors).

While the poor have become poorer the beneficiaries of the hugely skewed wage structure are enjoying unprecedented windfalls. Among other things this has deprived the under-privileged of the services of well-wishers in the middle class who used to articulate their concerns. Without a voice of their own the poor have been pushed to the last row in the hall of privileges – an easy prey for the devil.

It should be obvious to the authorities that the problem of poverty cannot be resolved by persuading an increasing number of people to don beggars’ robes. This is much too serious a problem to be overcome through sporadic exercises in philanthropy or grossly inadequate stipends. What is needed is a rights-based drive to enable the poor to have the satisfaction of overcoming the curse of want through their own labour. For this it is necessary for the state to realise that it cannot be absolved of its role in causing and increasing poverty. It must guarantee work to every citizen who is capable of doing anything productive and social security to all those who for one reason or another are unable to earn their living.

This suggestion is no more than what the state has solemnly resolved to do under Article 38 of the constitution, namely to ensure the prevention of concentration of wealth in the hands of a few; equitable adjustment of rights between employers and employees, and landlords and tenants; providing for all citizens facilities for work and adequate livelihood; extension of social security; and provision of the basic necessities of life to the infirm and unemployed.

True, these pledges are subject to the availability of resources but there is no lack of resources to buy arms – why should the plea of shortage of resources be invoked only to deny the poor their rights? Moreover, the state may be unable to redeem all its pledges in one go but it must some day begin to move in the right direction, preferably before Ramazan next year if only to avoid the loss of life in melees such as seen this month.

Published in Dawn

The next post looks at the rulers of Pakistan and their Ramazan. The post shows how the rulers lived during Ramazan and only a few words of explanation will be necessary for that post. ‘Ramazan for the Ruled’ should be read in conjunction with the next post Ramazan for the Rulers  that will be published soon in the coming days.

Praising the PPP government does not come easy to me even though I am a principled opponent. However the government has impresed me in terms of  their dealing with the IDP’s of Swat and Malakand Division.  I recall then that the majority popular opinion and political elites had decided that the IDP’s will be unable to return soon and that the Pakistan Army would fail in Swat. The facts speak for themselves with the Taliban defeated in Swat and the wider Malakand Division and the IDP’s returning to their homes in droves.

Indeed the statistics say it all with 85% IDPs from Swat, 97% from Buner, 94% from Shangla and 92% from Lower Dir having returned to their areas. And so I want to say well done to the PPP government in ensuring the safe return of the IDP’s and for defeating the Taliban in Swat. Let us hope this success is the first of many for the PPP government as it seeks to improve its performance across the board especially in governance.

Rampant Corruption Causing Collapse of Govt Organisations by Kamran Khan

Government decisions, in total disregard to merit, fair play and transparency, based on personal monetary gains for a few individuals in the government have grossly compounded the economic miseries of Pakistan and turned several government organisations into insolvent corporate entities, according to an investigation during which dozens of well-placed and informed sources in the government and corporate sectors were interviewed.

Positioning of several handpicked corrupt and incompetent officials in key appointments at the government-run companies, in many cases without an active approval of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, has left a trail of incredible cases of corruption never witnessed before.

Many policy decisions with financial implications in the government-run corporations routinely carry an imprint of a few individuals, who maintained close personal and business ties with some of the most important people in the government between 1997 and 2008.

One of them, who was probed for his most shady commodity deals struck during the last tenure of the PPP government, now appears to be the main motivating factor behind the loss making ventures of Pakistan Steel and the Trading Corporation of Pakistan. His reach now extends to the National Bank of Pakistan, where his former employee now holds a key position.

The consequences of former President Pervez Musharraf’s National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and an absence of a potent anti-corruption organisation in the country seem to have contributed to this fearless unbridled corruption that now plague Pakistan’s economic and business edifice. Following examples illustrate reasons that require an anti-corruption crackdown before it is too late:

Crash of Pakistan Steel Pakistan Steel, a sheet anchor in Pakistan’s infrastructure development, had a reserve of Rs 11 billion and an inventory of products worth at least Rs 6 billion in June 2008.

By the second week of the current month, in space of only 54 weeks, Pakistan Steel has almost turned into a bankrupt state institution with current liabilities of Rs 21 billion.

Most shockingly, the Pakistan Steel management, which opened new annuls of corruption during this period, has already consumed the entire amount of employees’ gratuity and provident funds besides swallowing the earnest money deposited with the organisation by its contractors and suppliers.

Blast furnace, the backbone of Pakistan Steel, is running at 15 percent capacity in the absence of quality iron ore while its main production units of billet mill and billet caster are standing almost idle delivering a negligible output.

Reams of documents are available with this correspondent that prove how this national treasure was plundered through irrational spot purchases of raw material and equipment, grant of freight contracts at the price 20 times more than the running rate, the sale of Pakistan Steel products at an amazingly lower rate than the cost of production in the past one year.

Such was the invisible control of a crony of a government high and mighty in the affairs of Pakistan Steel that his personal office in Clifton became the place where the suppliers and buyers of Pakistan Steel would queue everyday to negotiate any sale or purchase agreement related to Pakistan Steel.

No wonder that three directors left their jobs as Director Finance of Pakistan Steel during these 54 weeks and the organisation is now being run without a functioning director finance and director commercial.

The quantum of corruption at Pakistan Steel was accidentally revealed last week when a major real estate dealer of Dubai met a senior Pakistani security official during a reception in Islamabad and informed him that a senior Pakistan Steel executive had asked him to invest Rs 60 crore in an apartment complex before Dubai property meltdown began in September last year.

PIA Faces Bankruptcy

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is another example where a prime national institution is facing financial and administrative collapse. PIA suffered a loss of Rs 13 billion in the year 2007 that rose dramatically to Rs 40 billion in the year that ended in December 2008.

A member of the board of directors of PIA, while talking confidentially with this correspondent last week, admitted: “PIA’s balance sheet is a fit case to declare bankruptcy and shut the company down.”

He went on to predict: “With these losses and present number of employees, PIA will not be able to make any profit in the next 50 years at least.”

While the company is struggling to run its day-to-day financial affairs with half-a-dozen of its aircraft grounded just last week, PIA’s Managing Director Captain Ejaz Haroon, another personal friend of government high and mighty, came up with an idea of Rs 160 billion purchase of new aircraft for the airline.

Haroon met the PIA board members in June last to break the news of this mammoth purchase and desired that his early negotiations with the Airbus industry and Boeing to buy 27 narrow body aircraft be kept “secret” from PIA shareholders and, of course, the media.

Ignoring the fact that the airline was not able to foot its most essential bills, Captain Ejaz Haroon revealed that he had an understanding from “someone” in the government that the Government of Pakistan could provide a sovereign guarantee (another US$2 billion in national debt) if the Ex-Imp Bank and a major European bank were ready to lend PIA US$2 billion for this ambitious purchase.

Both Boeing in America and Airbus in France are facing an immense financial crunch and are seeking clients like PIA to keep their operations going.

Although, international prices had some contribution in tripling PIA’s losses for the year 2008, but the situation worsened, as documents available with this correspondent revealed, following a long trail of gross irregularities in purchases such as Rs30 crore worth of Zamzam water for Hajis at the cost of Rs 450 per can, a price around five times more than the previous purchases of Zam Zam water by the PIA.

Manipulations of ticket sales and cargo handling through travel agents in Pakistan and abroad left PIA with more losses that run into tens of crores of rupees.

PIA’s woes are aggravating as the management appointed on political reasons continues to oblige their masters by letting the PIA’s payroll to swell. While facing a record financial crunch and ever rising losses last year, PIA managing director obliged the PPP government by inducting 6,000 workers in the airline, which already had the highest employees per aircraft ratio in the world.

By adding 6,000 persons to its list of permanent employees, the PIA set a unique example in the airline industry worldwide because that was the period when even the most profit making airlines of the world were either laying off their staff or negotiating salary cut agreements with its employees.

“This was the last nail in PIA’s coffin,” said a member of the PIA Board of Directors, who had vigorously opposed the idea of fresh induction into the airline.

Merit has no play in either postings or transfers or even roster setting for flight crews in the airline but the worst display of flouting of transparency, rules and regulations was displayed when the PIA decided to induct fresh air hostesses a few weeks ago and inducted 12 air hostesses at the recommendation of PPP office-bearers of interior Sindh.

In total disregard to discipline and fair play, some of the employees who were thrown out of PIA on criminal charges were graciously reemployed and offered foreign postings.

TCP Jolt Exchequer

Unprecedented and fearless corruption plagued the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) and with it the national exchequer as the country lost billions of rupees when an influential federal minister, along with the same friend of the government high and mighty, manoeuvred the appointment of an income tax officer as the TCP chairman in the second half of last year.

This appointment preceded a well-hatched strategy to plunder the government’s trading activity such as procurement of fertilisers, sugar and wheat from international market and a blatant attempt to re-nationalise export of rice from Pakistan by procuring rice locally at an inflated price.

Simultaneously, the new handpicked chairman introduced non-transparent procedures, mostly through backroom deals, to import commodities and their shipping at grossly inflated rates and these imports were timed as such that the local markets could also be played for maximum profits.

To further maximise the profits to the loss of Pakistani national exchequer, new contracts to handle cargo (stevedoring) at ports were awarded at a price that was often thrice the price paid by the TCP for the similar job in the previous year.

Inland transportation agreements with private transporters were so lucrative that they some time hired the government’s own National Logistics Cell (NLC), which incidentally failed to win the TCP work, for transportation of commodities from ports to destinations all over the country.

“These contracts were so lucrative that the favoured contractors some times outsourced their work and still made hefty profits notwithstanding the profit they shared with the TCP top management and their masters,” a well-informed TCP source said.

The situation took such a serious turn last year that Prime Minister Gilani had to intervene to stop the TCP, aided by a friend of high and mighty also the central figure in Pakistan Steel corruption, from an attempted informal re-nationalisation of the rice export from Pakistan by procuring rice from the local market at an inflated price.

“The rice operation alone cost the country about Rs 3 billion,” according to a TCP insider. But several TCP sources confirmed that an estimated loss of about Rs 20 billion was caused to the national exchequer by engineering ill-conceived, non-transparent import of Urea in the country last year.

The TCP sources pointed that the race to make quick money was so fast early this year that the TCP chairman routinely ignored objections of Transparency International Pakistan and parliamentary committees in awarding contracts to handpicked that had formed a cartel to monopolise the TCP work in blatant contravention to the government rules governed under the PPRA.

The corrupt TCP management apparently hit a jackpot when the government instructed the TCP to energise the Gwadar Port by ordering some commodity imports at the new port.

“A cursory examination of cargo handling contracts awarded for wheat imports at the Gwader Port will show that sums allowed for the work was five times more than the market price,” a knowledgeable TCP source said, while giving documentary evidence of incredibly low offers that were available to the TCP for the same job.

The stocks available with the TCP and import orders were manoeuvred with the sole idea of benefiting the vested interest with no remorse for the suffering of population. That’s why people of Pakistan are these days forced to buy sugar at an all-time record high price of about Rs 50 per kg. This price situation on sugar would run well into the month of Ramazan.

As the pie of corruption keeps expanding, so was the greed of the top TCP official and his masters until April this year when Minister for Commerce Makhdoom Amin Fahim in consultation with the prime minister decidedly removed the TCP chairman but without ordering probe into his actions.

National Bank Jolted

The National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) is another national institution facing doubts about its health and deals concerning government linked individuals, companies and projects.

“On the face of it, the National Bank of Pakistan is seen as financing government backed projects or troubled public sector entities but at the back influential, politically-linked individuals and contracts benefit from this financing,” said an informed NBP official.

For example, a recent decision by the NBP-led consortium to provide an emergency financing of Rs 10 billion to corruption ridden Pakistan Steel may eventually benefit private individuals who are calling shots in Pak Steel affairs from their private office.

The National Bank’s role and interest in enhancing its exposure and affairs of some sugar mills of Sindh and their links with powerful political individuals has left many questions unanswered.

The NBP, which also serves as the treasury for Government of Pakistan, is being curiously watched for its role and growing interest in controversial rental power plants scheme of the government.

The bank, it seems, is ready to take a big exposure in the scheme and had already agreed to finance at least two of the projects.

A whopping Rs 21 billion worth rental power projects have already run into controversy because of the government’s mysterious inability to fully utilise the already-installed electricity generation capacity in Pakistan and armtwisting of other Pakistani banks to finance the shady scheme.

It remained no secret that all top bankers of the country were summoned to the State Bank of Pakistan head office in Karachi early this month. There they had taken the impression that they had no choice but to finance the rental power scheme.

Port Qasim Sinks

The Port Qasim Authority (PQA) is a prime example of influence peddling by politically-linked people in getting posted to lucrative positions. A few weeks ago, an intense controversy swirled around Afsar Talpur who was made PQA’s acting chairman. The port authority was already in the middle of charges regarding illegal allotment of land and huge corruption in contracts on port related work.

As it surfaced that the acting chairman, already an official at the PQA, was himself at the centre of many of the charges, the top offices of the government were told that though posted on the orders of the elderly father of an influential personality, the case may create a major embarrassment for the government.

For several days, in the month of May this year, several directors jockeyed for lucrative assignments as the alleged corrupt acting chairman was asked to resume his previous assignment. An intense battle to win the most lucrative positions at the port authority continues to date.

But there was no substantial inquiry to probe the charges involving the allotment of Port Qasim lands through non-transparent procedures and into questionable contracts that have the Port Qasim as one of the most “lucrative” government departments.

A senior government official, however, termed the reports about the malpractices in Pakistan Steel, PIA, TCP, NBP and Port Qasim a mere propaganda. He said such kind of information was totally wrong and politically motivated. He said opponents of the present government were out to level allegations against the present set-up without any foundation. He said in all the above mentioned organisations, merit was followed as part of the government policy. However, detractors of the government continue to raise baseless objections.

Published in The News

I am reassured that Ch Nisar Ali the Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee has taken notice and demanded a report and investigation. The PPP government has few fans and at best reluctant supporters like me who wish to see democratic governments deliver. Thus the PPP government must answer in detail the questions put forward in Kamran Khan’s article  and clear the polluted air that stinks of corruption as the vultures are circling.

My views on the so-called ineligibilty of the Sharif brothers is  captured above, need I say more?

That said I will say at least this, that it is a wicked verdict coming from the canine Dog(gar) court. The judgement was authored by Mr 10% though it does bear the pawprint of the dog sorry Dog(gar) court (pun intended of course!)

I vociferously condemn the disgraceful decision by the Dog(gar) court and the Zardari government in proclaiming governer rule in the Punjab. Such a decision is Mr 10%’s equivalent of November 2 and like Musharraf he too will suffer ignomy for it.

Zardari’s decision will be the nail in the coffin of this vile regime, but his decision is a  national tragedy as he has trampled upon the hopes and aspirations of a nation starved of democracy.

Worse he has single-handedly destroyed a national treasure that was the Pakistan People’s Party, is this zombie of a party now extinct or will the spineloss sops including luminaries like Prime Minister Gillani and others stand  tall against the man of percentages and save this party?

- WRITTEN UNDER MARTIAL LAW (My thanks to cowards Tariq Pervez. Sabihuddin, Sardar Raza & Co for selling out)

George Herbet once said that “hope is the poor man’s bread”. In luckless Pakistan this hope is all that people live for, hoping against hope for the miracle of a better tomorrow. However miracles do not come easy in this land of the pure made impure by military and civilian dictatorships alike.

That said a correction is necessary for miracles do happen in Pakistan. At least they do if you are Sardar Israrullah Zehri, Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani and Makhdoom Amin Fahim all giants amongst men no doubt as they were sworn into the king-sized cabinet of Prime Minister Gillani only a few days ago.

Let us begin with the heavyweight that is Makhdoom Amin Fahim our would-be PM as promised by our very truthful President. Remember too his credentials as Shaheed BB Shaheed Bhutto-Zardari Shaheed ’s right hand man.  That said this was not enough for Mr 10% who treated the nation to the first of his tricks in choosing Yousef Raza Gillani as the Prime Minister.

The resulting acrimony between Messrs Zardari and the Makhdoom was documented daily amidst claims and counter claims. Then it went all quiet for a long while like the dark night, only for the nation to wake up one day to hear the news that the Makhdoom has joined into the cabinet of his pal “Yousaf Saai”.

The miracle of Sardar Israrullah Zehri is even more impressive. This is the senator with honour who spoke in favour of the ‘ honour killing’ of women who were buried alive and later become lunch for animals. His reward is no less than his deserved entry into the cabinet of course, so the moral of the story is supporting human rights abuses will get you a plum ministry from Mr 10%.

The last miracle is probably the most damaging of them all as an uneducated jahil has taken over the key ministry of Education. His name is Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani and he has to his credit no less than his proud role as part of a jirga that passed judgement offering young girls for blood money in order to resolve a dispute.  The Chief Justice took notice of this vile decision only for it to be reversed by Mr 10%’s favourite Sindhi son, the one and only Dog(gar).

All three appointments must be lauded, and I guess ’Sunglasses Sherry’ Rehman is busy preparing to tell the world soon the merits of appointing such giants amongst men. No doubt Shaheed BB Shaheed Bhutto-Zardari wanted it this way and so I am compelled urge the nation to stop their carping and support these great men and all who sail in the cruise liner king-size cabinet of ‘Yousaf saai’.

- WRITTEN UNDER MARTIAL LAW (My thanks to cowards Tariq Pervez. Sabihuddin, Sardar Raza & Co for selling out)

But sadly it is a nightmare and its not on Freddy Krueger’s Elm street but rather a nightmare that all of Pakistan is set to endure as we raise our glasses to the one and only President Zardari.

One can only expect much of the same and that the liar liar co-chairman of the spineless PPP will continue to promise and then lie as he did with the entire nation over the judges issue. Indeed it is obvious that as the President, Zardari will continue to betray the people’s mandate of February 18.

Consider that under him already we have seen the worst terrorist attack in Pakistan in Islamabad and his sorry excuse of a speech to a nation under attack. Indeed instead of providing hope to a nation by extinguishing the fire he blundered in promising more of the same showing his tough resolve to fight this war.

Consider the alternative speech, just imagine if he responded by calling an APC on the issue , announcing a unilateral ceasefire of 14 days to provide confidence to new peace talks led by tribal elders and political leaders across the political divide inside and outside of Parliament. 

Consequently the process of forming a key national policy on the issue could be framed with political ownership from all the political parties. However such a script does not carry favour with Uncle Sam hence we were told and told again in New York just yesterday that Pakistan is at war, period.

It is true that Pakistan is at war with rising extremism that threatens our way of life and our very being. Yet the architects and pimps of such evil designs namely India and bastard Mehsud who is on the RAW payroll are not exposed as should be the case but instead left alone or as in the case with India promised trade (in bodies I expect a la Khalid Mahmood )  by our President who seems forever ready to prostrate to the god of Delhi.

That said the ignomy all began with a press conference with the nobody that is the mayor of Kabul, on the very day he was sworn in by Doggar the dog, need I say more? 

And so the lying President goes on committing folly after folly under the dubious and defunct mantra of reconciliation founded according to him and his sop of a party by his departed wife who in her rush for the power grab warned of Kahuta being taken over by the Taliban, such is the legacy Mr 10% seeks to build on.

I finish with an article Jemima Khan wrote recently just as Zardari got elected, its well worth a read and is shown below:

Mad and Bad – But The West Will Turn A Blind Eye 

President Asif Ali Zardari, Benazir Bhutto’s widower, formerly known as Mr Ten Per Cent because of kickbacks received during his wife’s time in office, has become one of the most powerful and potentially dangerous men in the subcontinent. Mad and bad. And now omnipotent.

He is head of state, supreme commander of the armed forces, has the power to dismiss parliament, appoint the heads of the army and election commission – and, as chairman of the National Command Authority, has the final say in the deployment of nuclear weapons.

Earlier Zardari vowed to relinquish the executive powers that Pervez Musharraf gave to the originally ceremonial presidency. Now he’s evasive. Despite the fact that he has little public support (14 per cent, according to a recent poll), holds no seat in parliament and has no mandate other than his association with the Bhutto name, he had every right to nominate himself or anyone else as President. His party – inherited from his late wife – was democratically elected in February and has the largest number of seats in parliament.

The man who now has his finger on the nuclear button was only last year declared unfit to stand trial in a UK court on account of multiple mental problems. According to court documents filed by his psychiatrists, he suffers from dementia, major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress after spending 11 of the past 20 years in jail in Pakistan.

According to their testimony last year, he found it hard even to recall the names of his wife and children. He has long had memory problems. In the past he has been unable to recall whether he was the owner of a multimillion-pound Surrey estate (he thought not, but later took possession of it) or if $60m (£34m) in a frozen Swiss bank account was actually his.

He also thought that he had graduated from the London School of Economics, or was it the London School of Business Studies? There are no records of his doing either. The doctors’ diagnoses of severe mental ill-health rid Zardari of his corruption case in the UK.

Last November’s National Reconciliation Ordinance, brokered by the Americans to allow Bhutto’s return to Pakistan and passed by Musharraf, rid him of the rest. It also guaranteed him lifelong immunity from prosecution for corruption. He appears to have made medical history and rid himself of his dementia in time to become President. The only thing he can’t shake off is his appalling reputation.

Zardari has long been dogged by allegations of crime and corruption. In 2003, a Swiss magistrate found him guilty in absentia of laundering $10m. Musharraf’s National Accountability Bureau estimated that he had looted up to $1.5bn from the treasury during his wife’s two terms in office.

In 1990, he was in trouble for allegedly tying a remote-controlled bomb to the leg of a businessman and sending him into a bank to withdraw money from his account as a pay-off. More sinisterly, he was charged with complicity in the murder of his brother-in-law Murtaza Bhutto, but the case was never tried. He was also implicated in the 1996 murder of a judge, Justice Nizam Ahmed, and his lawyer son. 

Even if Zardari is given the benefit of the doubt and has changed after his wife’s assassination and his many years in jail, his behaviour in the run-up to his election as President proves he still can’t be trusted.

He has already reneged on several written agreements made with the coalition, including his pledge to field a non-partisan candidate for president, as well as his pre-election promise to reinstate the judges deposed by Musharraf. If reinstated, they could repeal the amnesty granted to him and reopen corruption investigations. 

Inside Pakistan, people are despondent. The economic situation is worse than ever, with inflation at almost 25 per cent. Outside Pakistan, despite his reputation, he is tolerated. He’s seen as pro-West. He will be another “key ally in the war on terror”.

America is stepping up its military campaign in the region, not least because George Bush wants Osama bin Laden’s grizzled head before the US presidential election on 4 November. Strikes against Pakistan’s tribal areas by US/Nato forces are not uncommon, but on Wednesday, for the first time, ground forces attacked a village on the Pakistani side of the border, in South Waziristan, killing 20 innocent people.

Tribesmen are up in arms – literally – and have promised revenge, and there has been widespread condemnation. If Zardari is seen to be tolerating such attacks by foreign troops inside Pakistan, a violent backlash is likely. 

On Friday, he pledged to eliminate the Taliban. A tall order. Since Musharraf joined the “war on terror” at US bidding and expense and sent Pakistani troops into the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pashtun tribesmen have been falling over their Kalashnikovs to join the Taliban.

 With hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people from Bajaur as a result of conflict, weekly reports of aerial attacks and collateral damage, the Taliban movement is growing in strength by the day.

And it’s not just the formidable Pashtuns on the warpath. The Taliban is operating on fertile soil. Nationwide, 71 per cent of Pakistanis oppose co-operating with the US in counterterrorism and 51 per cent oppose fighting the Taliban at all, according to a June Gallup poll.

The vast majority of Pakistan’s 190 million people may not like the Taliban, but they dislike the US and what is seen as its proxy army even more. Even within the army, there are rebels who object to being forced to kill their own people. The majority of the population is also deeply opposed to what it sees as a foreign occupation in Afghanistan, with more than 80 per cent favouring a negotiated settlement and withdrawal.

Suicide attacks within Pakistan – unheard of before 9/11 – are now so commonplace they barely make the front pages. From the wilds of the tribal areas to the mosques of west London, the war on terror has been hopelessly counterproductive, despite being fuelled by millions of dollars. Its chief beneficiaries have been the Taliban and their sympathisers who feed on the instability.

Zardari has replaced Musharraf, but their policies will be the same. He is unlikely to prove more successful at tackling extremism. His already meagre popularity rating is expected to dwindle rapidly as he is increasingly perceived as another US stooge.

And despite all his powers, he is still less powerful than the army. As ever, if the politicians fail to steer Pakistan through its myriad problems, the military, which has notched up 33 years of rule in Pakistan’s 61-year history, will step in.

What is depressing is not that everything now changes with the election of Asif Ali Zardari, but that everything stays the same.

- WRITTEN UNDER MARTIAL LAW (My thanks to cowards Tariq Pervez. Sabihuddin, Sardar Raza & Co for selling out)