American think tanks are saying that the Pakistan Army is not ready
for taking on the militants in South Waziristan because the Pakistan
Army is not prepared to move troops from the eastern border.
Should they not be focusing on why Pakistan has to so avidly defend
the eastern border? Why the Pakistan Army had to re-deploy another
thirty thousand troops from the western to the eastern border?
Is Bharat-India so sacrosanct that its dastardly role in reducing
the manpower and equipment deployment away from the fight against
terror not be worked on by the US? Unless the US stops mollycoddling
Bharat-India, the fight on terror will be much harder to win. The US
must make Bharat-India redeploy its forces from Pakistan’s eastern
border so that Pakistan too can redeploy the thirty-thousand
battle-hardened troops to the western front.
The talk on the street is that the US is in league with Bharat-India
to try to Balkanise Pakistan, dragging its feet in giving money (as
the Wall Street Journal complains), not giving enough helicopter
gunships and night-vision goggles, the effective response to the
knowledge of the terrain which the militants gloat in.
The US calls Pakistan its strategic ally but makes incredibly
favourable nuclear deals with Bharat-India, and won’t rein her in in
its overt and covert enmity for Pakistan. Bharat-India funds
terrorism in Pakistan, provides intelligence and armaments to
militants in Pakistan, strategises through RAW (and its satellite
RAAM) to fan sectarian and Taliban terrorism in Pakistan, uses
thousands of her troops on the Afghaan side of the border to assist
and support Pakistan-based militants. What else are they there for?
Western media join badmouthing of Pakistan saying it is obsessed
with Bharat-India. Is Bharat-India not obsessed with weakening
Pakistan? Its 62 dams in Kashmir to gain hegemony over semi-arid,
irrigation-dependent Pakistan agriculture are a part of its massive
multi-pronged Pakistan-specific offense budget.
If the US and Europe want Pakistan to defeat the militants,
smugglers and criminals who are causing havoc in the north-west of
the country, it has to rein in India in no uncertain terms. This may
also work wonders for the US’s anti-Muslim image in the Muslim
world. It would one of the most awaited steps to ‘make a new
beginning’. —Lahore
US room
Waqar Marwat
In 9/11 attacks Bush and his allies killed their own 3174 citizens,
in Iraq war the number of deaths irrespective of injured people is
equal to 99,431, the number of deaths until now in Afghanistan war
is 63,774, lastly the number of drones deaths casualties in Pakistan
is to 522 committed by the US. Now summing these deaths it is
equivalent to 166,874 deaths.
Now to price these deaths is somewhat impossible but let’s try and
give them shadow prices. We can’t ignore this reality that human
being priceless creature. Let’s suppose the nominal price of any
human being is eight lakh rupees. Why I have selected this because
in our area if anybody commit murder then he will have to pay this
amount in rupee to the respective family otherwise lifelong enmity
and the police will not leave him.
Now by multiplying this eight lakh per head with the Americans
committed death casualties that is 166874, we get the shadow price
of this human being wealth equivalent to 1.33499E+11 worth rupees
and in dollars its worth 1668740000.
Let’s suppose this is the American’s investment in discovery,
exploration and digging out of these treasures now you decide how
worthy these treasures for American’s are? Of course, when we invest
in something the expected revenue is far more than the original
investment amount.
So in conlusion we can say that how brutal the American thinking and
character are? we should hate them, disconnect them and change the
names of bathrooms, washrooms and tioletrooms by US rooms. —Via
email
Umra passengers plight
Abrar Hussain
Over 800 Umra passengers who flew to Jeddah by PIA, are stranded
there because of the corruption ridden nexus that exists between PIA
and few errant travel agents.
According to rules an Umra passenger or any other Pakistani citizen
traveling on a visit visa must carry a fully paid return ticket. All
these 800 umra pilgrims were carrying fully paid revenue return
tickets. Unfortunately for the umra passengers this has become a
very lucrative business, with recent changes in rules, that make the
performance of Umra almost as expensive as Haj.
Responsibility for this falls not only on PIA, but the Government of
Pakistan, which failed to negotiate a proper arrangement that could
have been less costly, as has been negotiated by the Iranian state
to facilitate their pilgrims. The religious fervor of the Pakistani
Muslims has been exploited not only by PIA but the Ministry of Haj
and members of the political establishment which demand share of Haj
and Umra quotas that end up being used by travel agents of
ill-repute.
The fact that return fare of these unfortunate Umra pilgrims has
been refunded by middle man, shows the involvement of PIA officials
in Jeddah and Karachi head office. It is an outcome of the unethical
and controversial foreign postings that this PIA management has made
on recommendations , in total disregard of seniority, experience and
merit. When incapable individuals are allocated prize foreign
postings that they do not deserve, they are also aware that these
postings are liable not to last their tenure. Rumors are abound that
it is not only cronies that have been posted abroad, but also those
who have greased the palms of those that matter.
There are also reports that people with a history of financial
embezzlement have been given important foreign postings. In such a
situation such criminal activities are liable to occur, such as the
misfortune that has resulted in over 800 pilgrims being stranded at
Jeddah, most of them, having spent all their money, and surviving on
charity. What worse can happen to these poor unfortunate passengers
who have spent their lifelong savings to perform this pilgrimage and
end up being pilfered and robbed. —Faisalabad
Serious introspection
Qazi Abdul Majeed
The causes of poverty are numerous however; in Pakistan
‘ostentation’ is the one which has hurt the people more than any
other thing. The previous regime, under the influence of
globalization encouraged all types of consumerism which brought with
it, various innovative concepts of lavish livings.
The imported luxury vehicles such as Land Cruisers etc, costly
western designers clothing and novel style of construction can be
witnessed in abundance in every nook and corner of the country. The
Defense Housing Authorities of Karachi, Lahore as well as Islamabad/Pindi
are the cities where shameless display of wealth and glamour has
become the hallmark of a “respectable” living.
This entire splendor of course has a cost which the nation is paying
in the shape of increasing absolute poverty and concomitantly
escalating rate of crime.
Another factor which gave rise to more poverty is that during the
last 10 years in order to ‘create corporate culture’ number of low
paid staff from government and private organizations was sent home
invoking esoteric terminologies ‘downsizing’ and ‘rightsizing’.
Those fired were given paltry amounts as “golden handshake” which
these hapless lost in stocks; another contrivance of ‘globalization’
encouraged and connived by those sitting on the top. On the other
hand salaries and perquisites of senior executives in the shape of
exorbitant house rents, medical, children education conveyance of
executives were increased in many folds which run into millions.
The previous regime also encouraged western dress code as part of
corporate culture and now in any formal event, officials can be seen
in suits mostly designer stitched. The offices have been made
centrally air-conditioned so as to make working temperature bearable
for these suited-booted officials.
Although during the last 10 years not a single watt of electricity
was generated whereas these offices are allowed consuming most of
the power which otherwise would have run the factories and lighting
the homes of the poor. Similarly marriages and other such family
functions are events where these rich grab an opportunity to display
their wealth. The favored include bankers, stock brokers and those
dealing in the real estate minted unbounded riches in the short span
of time.
The lavish living of this class is recently reported in a news
appeared in national daily. According to report there are some
Pakistani bankers who sport famous French handmade Berluti shoes
used only by celebrities like Duke of Windsor, Yves St Laurent,
Richard Burton, and David Rockefeller. The Berluti, founded in Paris
in 1895are famous for hand made fashion shoes.
These shows are obtainable only on Berluti outlets for which buyer
have to travel to Dubai or Paris or London, or New York. Lo and
behold: a pair of bespoke Berluti shoes cost upwards of US $ 3500.
Even change in the setup the enormous disparity of incomes between
the executive of financial institutions, banks and other
corporations and other segment of society created during the last
ten years and the trend of extravagant living has continued
unabashedly.
Unfortunately the gulf between the haves and have-nots is increasing
and every day substantial number of middle class is slipping into
the poverty because of their fast eroding purchasing power caused by
unchecked burgeoning prices of day to day consumers’ goods and
intermittent increase in the cost of electricity, oil etc by the
government.
As per Shahid Javed Burki “Caring for the poor” (June 30) due to low
GDP the number of poor in Pakistan is increasing at an alarming
rate. According to him GDP must increase at a rate equal to twice
the rate of increase of population for the incidence of poverty to
remain unchanged.
Therefore to reduce poverty, GDP growth has to be higher, perhaps as
much as three times the rate of population growth. In the presence
of the economic disorder and extravagant life style adopted by the
privileged however, reduction in poverty appears to be farfetched
delusion.
This is high time for the civil society, intelligentsia and those
sitting at the helm of affairs to have a serious
deliberation/introspection that if such pretentious and extravagant
life style is allowed to continue unchecked, bearing on the overall
cultural milieu of the country will be too grave to envision.
—Hyderabad
Half Indian or more
Shahbano Z Alam
Many of our TV anchors, political analysts carry more than half
Indian in them. They are more appeasing to Indian guests in their
programmes in sycophancy to president of country (he also carries
India in his heart and feels no threat from her). This attitude is
more witnessed in Karachi based anchors.
The other day while watching ‘doosra phelu’ I was dismayed when its
anchor snapped short a caller who just reminded one Indian guests of
37 local insurgencies active in India far bigger than independence
movement in Kashmir.
While Indians find excuse to distort our international image as
rouge ,terroristst,failed state in concert with USA, UK, Israeal,
Afghanistan .I wonder why such anchors and TV anaylsts,TV channels
are encouraged in Pakistan serving Indian interests.
—Scotland
