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Saturday, March 15, 2008

Media Watch: An Avoidable Death and Frontier Post Dumping on Sharif and more...

While the elected politicians are indulging in round the clock
meetings and horse trading over issues such as judiciary,
composition of the cabinet, who will be at the helm there are other
pressing issues that need attention.

For Sind Assembly one of the first thing they should legislate, and
over which there would be unanimity, is to pass a directive
ordering doctors and hospitals to attend to a patient FIRST. There
should be an end to the bureaucratic requirement of a "police
report" before they can start treating a critical patient. t

A Single Bullet That Shattered Dreams - M Zeeshan
Azmat


“I continuously implored the doctor but to no avail. Then, I called
my cousin, who is a senior police officer, and, only on his
intervention, the doctor brought my brother in the hospital,” he
continued, adding that, later, the doctors told him to shift the
patient to the Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for
treatment and hire an ambulance that has an oxygen cylinder
because Shawaiz’s condition was critical.


Adnan added that he went to the nearby ambulance centre, but
those present were having dinner at the time and none of them
was willing to perform his duty. However, one of them told Adnan
to bring the patient to the ambulance, but hastened to add that
there was no oxygen cylinder.



***

In a hard hitting editorial "Politics of chicanery" the
Frontier Post laid bare Nawaz Sharif and his former/
present pals. The italics are mine.

A news channel has it that PML (N) supremo Mian Nawaz Sharif
has met former army chief Gen. (Retd.) Mirza Aslam Beg and
discussed the current political situation with him. He may have;
he may have not. But what is the harm in meeting a past
benefactor? Just recall the Mehrangate. It was on the watch
of that ex-army chief that the ISI pushed under the table over
Rs.1 billion doled out by the Mehran Bank into several political
hands, MNS being that largesse’s principal beneficiary.


The bank has since gone bust; its CEO Younis Habib has departed
this world. But MNS is still very much in business, both literally
— in steelmaking — and figuratively — in politics. And yet he is an
ingrate to this intelligence agency
. The other day, he was waxing
eloquent about the beans that a senior retired officer of the agency
had spilled on the agency’s engineering feat in manipulating the
2002 national poll to the gratification of the then uniformed and
now defrocked general. But this leading star, now shining
grandiosely but funnily on the national political landscape, forgot
to remember how good had been this agency to him in the yore.

This fabulous dough was not the agency’s lone contribution to the
making of his political career. It was quite indulgent to him in
many other ways. It was the ISI that had cloned the Islami
Jamhoori Itehad for him to ride on and stomp home to
saddle for
the first time on his dream chair of the prime minister in
Islamabad .

Had the democracy impulses ever tormented overwhelming his
body and soul, MNS could have shut down, at least, this cell and
put paid for good to its poking of its dirty nose in political matters,
which functionally are no part of this agency’s laid-down charter
of duties. Twice, he came to rule the roost in Islamabad ; yet he
did not. What does it tell if not that the agency’s exploits were
kosher to him when those served his interests and were not
kosher to him when those hurt his interests?

Verily, MNS’s politics stinks; his discourse smells foul;
his acts strike so cunning and deceitful.


Now that he is posing to be a reformed and a contrite democrat,
one thought that the shameful days of Changa Manga are over;
that no more will there be the spiriting away of legislators to hilly
retreats’ fastnesses to ward off hostile poaching on them; that
no Rs. 1.5 billion will now be trucking in from Osama
bin Laden to him to buy up political loyalties and
engineer his political foe’s downfall;
that no chief minister
will be roping in a drug baron for him from the tribal wildernesses
and ferry him on the CM’s plane to Lahore to put up at a
Pakhtun’s home and shell out enormous monies to line up political
backup for the fructification of MNS’s power errands and power
missions.

Still, if he is now a changed man as he claims he is to be, he must
come clean
on his party ranker’s obscene broadsides against
the Makhdoom, vow to work for immediate packing up of the
ISI’s political cell, and apologise to the nation for his own
abortive attempt to pollute the already-badly smitten nation’s
constitution by having himself anointed an omnipotent
Ameerul Momineen through a constitutional amendment.


Moreover, he must declare publicly that once the felled judges
are reinstated, he would himself move the court to rule on the
petition pertaining to the Mehrangate, lying pending before the
Supreme Court since long. If he doesn’t do all this, he will
continue to come across to the common citizenry as a pretender,
a phony, a chicaner, and an imposter, indeed much more
compulsively than he does now.

****

I was drawn to this news item because of the heading
: Fahim
rejects offer to become president by Amir Wasim.
As I read
the story it becomes evident this is the work of a incompetent or
overzealous copy editor at the Dawn.


“I am the president of the (PPP) Parliamentarians and this post
is more important for me than that of the country’s president,”

Mr Fahim said when a reporter asked him whether he had been
offered the post of the country’s president or that of National
Assembly speaker in return for his withdrawal from the race for
premiership. “I will not become speaker. I am the
PPP-Parliamentarians president,” he said, adding that he was still
a “very strong candidate” for the office of prime minister.

Notice how Amir Wasim framed the question to elicit information?
And note how the veteran politician replied?

***

This is the stuff that should be saved and put on placards if these
platitudes do not come true or when they falter.


PPP, PML-N working on plan to bring down prices by
Ihtasham ul Haque


ISLAMABAD, March 13: The Pakistan People’s Party and the
Pakistan Muslim League-N are working on a plan to bring down
prices of essential commodities.

“While political issues are being sorted out, a strategy is also
being finalised to deal with issues like increase in prices of food
items and petroleum products and the increasing fiscal and trade
deficits,”
former finance minister and PPP leader Syed Naveed
Qamar told Dawn on Thursday.

He said that leaders of the PPP and PML-N were eager to provide
relief to people. “It is very unfortunate that the PML-Q kept doing
politics over past six years and ignored important economic issues
which are now causing a huge problem,” he added.

The public will tire off blame the previous administration ploy very
quickly. Let us see what miracles they can pull out of the sky.

***

Ayesha Siddiqua, whom we know as a student of military inc.
has dabbled in sind politics and writes of reimagining Sind.
Much of her suggestion smack of 80s problem solving applying
in the decade of the next century. It does not reflect today's
ground reality. She side steps mentioning that Karachi's engine
provides fa greater percentage of federal revenue and if
Karachi's needs are neglected forget the province the whole
nation would suffer.


Re-Imagining the State - Ayesha Siddiqua

The PPP, in particular, will have to deal with the problem of
forming a government in Sindh without the MQM in whose
absence one cannot conceive of any stability in the urban areas of
the province.
Unfortunately, the PPP’s gesture of extending a
hand to the MQM was rejected and the latter opted to sit with the
opposition instead. Despite this, the new leadership would benefit
a lot if it looked carefully at its relationship with the ethnic party
and find a long-term solution to the larger problem of ethnic
politics in the country.

At this juncture, what is needed is the re-imagination of the state
based on carving out administrative divisions on a linguistic basis.
The ethnic tension in urban Sindh can only be solved once the
internal boundaries of the state are re-imagined. The conflict in
Sindh, which has marred light and life in major urban centres like
Karachi, needs deep political solutions.

***

Is this yet another sign of times? We had not heard a pipsqueak
from Haqiqi for years and now suddenly this? Agencies? The
incoming administration?


KARACHI:
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)
kidnapped six activists of the MQM-Haqiqi from outside the
Karachi Press Club on Wednesday, alleged MQM-H Joint Rabita
Committee In-charge Akhtar Hussain and MQM-H Women
Department In-charge Rida Hakim on Thursday. The nominated
deputy parliamentary leader of the MQM in the Sindh Assembly,
Syed Faisal Sabzwari, told Daily Times that the party had nothing
to do with the incident that took place outside the press club on
Wednesday.

***

Good summation by Ejaz Haider: the political objectives of the
terrorists and the political objectives of the security forces need
to be reconciled. Blame game would be counter-productive.
Imran Khan has suddenly discovered the utility of "task forces."
While that may also work some, time is of the essence.


This also brings me to the third point. The madness we are
witnessing is not without method. It is linked to political objectives
which is why it is incorrect to think that these people are merely
reacting and once Pakistan surrenders, Pakistanis will be spared
such attacks.

In fact, Pakistan will be caught between them and the rest of the
world. It is a difficult battle but unavoidable both for internal and
external reasons. The security forces are also learning on the job.
What’s required are suggestions on how to counter the threat, not
deny its existence or hold the government responsible for it.

***

And PPPP has a solution to fix the menace of suicide bombings.

New Government Has Blueprint to Tackle Suicide
Bombings _Qudssia Akhlaque

“We think we have a solution to the problem. We have a blueprint
that can be acted upon and it is doable,” PPPP’s articulate
spokesperson Farhatullah Babar told this correspondent when his
attention was drawn to the spate of pre- and post-election suicide
bombings and asked what specific steps his party would take in the
immediate term to tackle this issue. At this point, Babar opted to
stay clear of specifics of the blueprint, broad contours of which have
been discussed with the main coalition partners.

***

And now Ayaz Amir proffers his solution to reduce Ata's price.

There are 112 districts in Pakistan. Out of a population of 160
million souls can't we find 112 good sessions' judges, 112 deputy
commissioners, 112 police heads, and 112 district medical officers?
Once these administrative changes are in place -- and these
shouldn't take more than a week----with a firm hand and stern
resolve 'atta' (flour) at reasonable prices should be made available
throughout the length and breadth of the country. Our first task
should be to feed our own people, not sustain the livelihood of any
neighbouring country. If breadlines outside Utility Stores persist,
of what use a restored judiciary, of what use democracy?

***

If you can read Urdu here is a thought provoking column by
Kishwar Nahid


[more later]





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