The Way Forward For Pakistan?

Despite my proclivity towards Gen. (R) Musharraf and his government, my extreme abhorrence for President Zardari and equally strong feelings of hatred fpr Nawaz Sharif, I would not like to see yet another military coup in the country now. My regular readers may label this a change in my thinking, but it is not. The reasons will be explicated as I present a background for this particular post.

Pakistan is currently surrounded by external threats. The problem of security is compunded with the internal threats. Electricity was always a problem in Karachi, now the whole country faces it. Petrol is mysteriously missing from various large cities. Stock Exchange is being restored to the position of October 99. Higher education sector has taken a bad blow. Political rivalries of the 90′s are back with full throttle. One man is running the show in Pakistan, despite it being a democracy. The list is just endless.

There are calls from certain quarters demanding the topple of the present setup. It is, indeed, extremely unlikely to continue the full tenure (which I guess the ruling elite realises and hence doing all personal favours in haste). Now let us suppose for a moment that the current chaotic conditions continue, pressure grows and Pakistan Army steps again to take control and vow to bring back the country on track. It will be welcomed by the people (again) and they will regret it later, as usual. An army interference at this stage is not a solution because then the politicians will have yet another chance of saying rightly that they weren’t given a chance. For example, if Raja Pervez Ashraf claims to end load-shedding by next year (my understanding being an end to electricity will mean no load-shedding), and the government is being toppled then he can say that he wasn’t allowed to finish his mission. So, the army should exercise patience and let the politicians stay in power for five years. (more…)

My Highs & Lows of 2008

What’s good about a new year? To be honest, nothing is good about it given the extra effort needed at the time of speech delivery to make sure you don’t say next year to things which are suddenly going to happen in this year and the added mental effort of making sure you jot the correct digit when writing down the date. However, the new year, or end of an year can serve as a benchmark to have a look at the things and events that happened in the past year. Looking back myself, I can say with certainty that this year had events that will remain ingrained in my memories forever.

The beginning of year 2008 was a good time for me. I was done with my final semester exams looking at various options to shape my career. As soon as the year started I knew the next two-and-a-half months would be extremely busy. Being the sole driver in my family (with my dad in UAE), only son, and only brother of my dear sister it was me who had to make sure all her wedding arrangements were meticulously handled. I didn’t apply for jobs at that time, hoping to secure an admission in some MSc course. I also knew the next few days would be spent shopping with my mom. This wasn’t all that bad: shopping at Tariq Road with ladies around (more…)

Story Of THAT Car!

CAUTION: This is a long story written out of extreme boredom AND I suck at story-telling.

It was a Thursday night and time was not on our side, so wasn’t luck. Things were getting tougher as the deadline drew near. As I recall with my bad memory, only a week was left to finish off the task before flying out. There was uncertainty about the end but the determination was rock-solid. We weren’t aware of the time, day or night. Only one (maybe two) thing was on our minds – victory (and defeat too).

On this particular Thursday night we decided to go out to eat, as we usually did at some point of the day whenever we achieved something or failed to produce anything for a very long time. As I said, time was of essence hence eating out in least possible time was always favoured. That meant something close by. The other factor was our light pockets during those days and the debts we had taken from almost everyone we knew (I hope we returned all of them!).

So, if some of you haven’t already guessed, this is a page from the days we were working on the (second robot). I like to call that period The Robotic Age. Anyway, PNEC being situated in a prime location – Karsaz, the obvious choice to eat was Mohammed Ali Society. Perhaps, the cheapest place there was Ideal Restaurant (ideal, indeed). I don’t remember how many of us went there but I’m sure about three (including myself). The other two included Atif (the guy in the video) and Munzir (deserves a whole post for his achievements and geniuses). On that team of four, two of us had cars. That particular day, I left mine at home (because my father was in Karachi) so we went out for dinner on Munzir’s car hoping that it doesn’t stop midway. The car obliged, and we were relieved, obviously. After satiating ourselves with some nice (and cheap) food and discussing further plans on how to make the night more productive we decided to leave.

The driver (Munzir) turned the key and the engine roared. The car moved, and we were almost assured of reaching back to PNEC which was only a few minutes drive. But then Uncle Murphy had to come in somewhere!! The car stopped, running short of fuel of either kind i.e. petrol and CNG. We tried giving it a push several times, but the car did not respond as if it was comatosed (is that a word?). We shared a few laughs partly because we knew that was likely to happen. In fact, it should have happened earlier! (more…)

Get Lost, Rehman Malik!

Rehman Malik is not willing to take the responsibility of the Marriott blasts. He’s adamant that the terrorists are responsible for the mess. Rightly so, but the terrorists are responsible for the success of the blasts in their frame of reference. Who’s responsible for the failure?

Malik is so desperate to get the media attention that he’s gone all out with his contradictory statements some of which I’ll mention in the later part of this plea.

First of all he claimed in post-Marriott-blast press conference that after his advent the terrorist activities has been reduced by 98% [any sources?] but what he failed to mention was that the enormity of the attacks during his tenure has only deepened and heightened.

He went on to say that his ministry had some sketchy information of potential terrorist activities on that day. I guess that is precisely why all the political and military heavyweights were gathered at one place so that if something goes wrong, everyone goes together. *that would’ve been better!*

Since he had the information can’t he respond to the simple question then how did a truck laden with modern explosives manage to roam around in Islamabad? A police official interviewed at a checkpost in Islamabad said that they hardly check the trucks citing the lack of necessary equipment as one reason.

Next, he claimed that the target was Parliament/President/PM and his ministry managed to save them. So, are those innocent people worthless and were deprived of security because the more important people were enjoying an exotic Iftar dinner? The dinner you couldn’t leave earlier to arrive at the place of blast.

Suddenly he came up with another idea! He said that Marriott was earlier supposed to be the venue for that iftar dinner of heavyweights which was later shifted to PM’s place. The Marriott admin quickly rebuffed this version, stating clearly that they had no such bookings.

So, what exactly is Rehman Malik trying to do? Is he trying to portray himself as the savior of the leadership of Pakistan? Is he trying to get something out of it to save his chair? That is more than likely.

But, it’s time to step aside Mr. Malik. Your ministry has been unable to control the terrorists attack despite your claim of a 98% reduction, which I must say, is plainly false. You were responsible for Benazir Bhutto’s security earlier, but she died. Now you’re responsible for Pakistan’s security, but we want Pakistan to live.

So just get lost, we hate you!