stupid politician

He was addressing the media at a dinner arranged by Awami National Party’s Sindh chief Shahi Syed’s residence, Mardan house here on Wednesday.
Mirza said that “if someone says that Afaq Ahmed is a criminal and a murderer, then I will say Altaf Hussain is a 100-times bigger criminal than Afaq.” he that Ahmed was facing jail time without being convicted of a crime.
He said that he will continue his fight against criminals, murderers, and extortionist as long as he was alive.
Talking about calls for the division of Sindh, Mirza said that no one had the courage to divide Sindh. He said “I appeal to the people of Karachi and Hyderabad to get rid of these people (who are asking for Karachi to be made a separate province)”.

I cannot express my feelings on this issue. I am very sad to see this entire situation and the worst part is that although we have been handicapped in 1971 we are still raising slogans of ethnicity. We have not learned anything from history. I accept that the statement of Zulfiqar Mirza was very stupid but there is some responsibility of the politicians also who fanned the flame and took political advantage.MQM must not spoil the issue and generalize this as an ideology of whole Pakistan. It is just some stupid’s like him who thinks like this but as a whole Pakistani public always respect the sacrifices.
The worst part of the situation is I am observing from days that politicians are repeatedly using the term “Urdu bolne walo ki qaum”,”Sindhi qaum” and others. This is stupidity at its extreme. There is only nationality and that is Pakistani.

economy decline

As the PPP and PML leaderships continue their political posturing, the larger story is the massive loss of confidence by business/investment community in Pakistan. It is worrying to see a sudden halt to foreign investments and the flight of capital by Pakistani investors to investments elsewhere in the world.
State Bank has raised interest rates from 10% to 12.5%, the rupee is in free fall, the dollar reserves are disappearing and both S&P and Moody’s have cut Pakistan’s credit ratings.
KSE 100 index has lost 2992 pts during May 2008 starting at 15122 & ending at 12130. The index has lost 879 pts during the week ended May 30th , 2008, standing at a nine month low.

Unfortunately, it takes time and serious effort to create confidence in markets and economy. But it is very quick and easy to destroy such confidence by ill-conceived, impromptu statements. Zardari's comments such as Pakistani economy heading toward a "meltdown" add fuel to the fire and weaken confidence in Pakistan's economy and drive away investors. What Pakistan needs more than anything else is a sense that the leadership understands the issues and working seriously in a focused manner to resolve the economic issues? They need some sense of political stability and predictability.

is this democracy ?

Pakistan has a new prime minister elected by the new parliament chosen by the people in largely free, fair and peaceful general elections held by President Musharraf's government last February. As expected, the new Prime Minister Makhdoom Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani comes from an influential feudal family in Southern Punjab. In the absence of a large, powerful middle class, this is the best that one could hope for as an outcome of the electoral process. But does this mean we are closer to a functioning democracy now?
In India's case, Prime Minister Nehru and the Indian National Congress leadership, mostly from the middle classes, seized control and successfully emasculated the Indian feudal class by extensive and real land reform immediately after independence. This never happened in Pakistan. Even though most of India is mired in deep poverty, an average Indian is better educated than an an average Pakistani and the enrollment rate of children in school is much higher, giving hope for a better future. India is beginning to emerge as an industrial economy and acquiring global industrial units like Corus steel and Jaguar.

Pakistan can possibly evolve from feudal to industrial society with a large middle class but it is likely to be a very long and slow evolution, given the history of our recalcitrant feudal leadership. Under Musharraf, the middle class has grown rapidly. I think this is likely to slow down to suit the whims of the feudal class for continuation of the patron-client society they prefer.

TEA , Good for economy

Pakistan is the world’s third-largest importer of tea with nearly 175 million kg of annual consumption, costing an estimated $500 million, and increasing at about 4% a year. It imports tea from 21 countries, with the lion's share of black tea imports coming from Kenya, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The country's green tea requirements are met by imports from five countries led by Indonesia and Vietnam. Only a small fraction of Pakistan's tea imports come from neighboring India.

Tea prices, which hit record highs in 2009 due to droughts in India, Sri Lanka and Kenya, should stabilize in 2010 as weather has returned to normal in the main producing regions in Asia and Africa, the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) said. It is estimated that global tea production has been cut by as much as 20% this year.

With the rising tea consumption and growing import bill, it is important for Pakistan to give incentives for investments for tea cultivation. Such a policy can help create jobs in the northern regions where they are most needed, while at the same time providing economic opportunity to young people to take a step toward creating the much-needed peace and political stability for the entire nation.

ZARDARI-MUSHARRAF BONDING

Asif Ali Zardari reviews his political options and the PPP-PML(N) coalition takes shape, there are clear indications that the PPP is ready to work with President Musharaf rather than seek confrontation. "The ground reality is that we do not have two-thirds majority in both the houses of Parliament" that would be required for a successful impeachment. Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and leader of the party that won the most seats in parliamentary elections last week, said his coalition will be unable to impeach President Pervez Musharraf, and that he would instead seek a working relationship with the embattled leader.

I believe that it is in the best interest of Pakistan, its democracy and its economy for all the key players to move forward in a conciliatory manner and focus on the serious challenges ahead rather than waste energies fighting each other. The conciliatory course is the wisest course for Mr. Zardari as the senior partner in the new coalition. Let's hope that Mr. Zardari can persuade Mr. Nawaz Sharif to abandon his personal vendetta against Musharraf. This will be the first real test of the coalition being formed.

U.S GO WRONG

Eighty-one percent of Americans believe the US is headed in the wrong direction, says the latest NY Times/CBS poll conducted recently. This is the worst ever reading of dissatisfaction since this particular poll began in the 1990s. Although the public unhappiness has been rising since the early days of the Iraq war, it has taken a new turn for the worse in the last few months, as the economy has seemed to slip into recession. There is now nearly a national consensus that the country faces significant problems.

While it is not clear from the polls whether the people see a direct connection between the misguided conduct of the war on terror, the recent books such as "The Three Trillion Dollar War" by Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz are helping make that connection.

This poll confirms that Pakistanis are not alone in how they feel about the negative impact of the US policies on economy and security. Like their American counterparts, Pakistanis share similar feelings of dissatisfaction . Pakistanis have already spoken in recent elections. All the indications are that the Americans will also send a similar message in the November elections to the US Congress and elect a Democrat as the new President. The real question is whether the new governments in US and Pakistan will listen and act on what they are hearing from their people.

WOMEN'S EXCEPTANCE

As the world celebrates International Women's Day today, it is natural to ask if Pakistani women have made substantial real progress in the last 5 years under President Musharraf. The answer to this question depends on who you ask and how you judge women's progress. In terms of the women's political representation in the nation's parliament, there has clearly never been a better time. The discriminatory laws such as the Hudood ordnance have been repealed. There are other indicators such as women's presence in the traditional male professions such as law, medicine, business, the police and the military. We have seen women inducted and grow in numbers in each of these male-dominated areas. Women's ranks have also grown in the nation's mass media and they are much freer than ever to express themselves in the choice of appearance, speech, dress, arts, entertainment etc. The women in parliament have not been particularly vocal in raising the women's issues in parliament and they have not offered any serious legislation other than the Women's Protection Bill that was offered and passed because of President Musharraf's personal intervention.

In summary, the Musharraf era has seen measurable progress in improving the situation for women. However, a lot more needs to be done. What is really needed is a fundamental change in social attitudes toward women, particularly in rural Pakistan. A massive effort is required to make both men and women aware of the need and the benefits of women's empowerment for a better future of Pakistan. Healthy, educated and empowered women can help bring up better children to build Pakistan as a modern society that cares for its people.