Harassment doesn’t stop us
A recent news story published in The Express Tribune reported a female traffic warden in Lahore who had to get transferred from road duty after she was groped by a man on a motorbike. She said: “I cried at the CTO’s office and he ordered me transferred to the Ticketing Branch. The same thing happened to several other wardens.” The idea of including female traffic wardens in to the field was to make society a safer place for women. Officers thought that once the commuters saw a lady in charge, they would behave themselves. Unfortunately, that was not the case. It is ...
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The limits of judicial review
The Supreme Court of Pakistan seems to be arrogating power to itself while targeting the executive. The problem here is is two-fold. The first issue is one of judicial review, and the limits of that tactic. The Supreme Court has asked the attorney general whether the government intended to dismiss the chief of Army staff and the director general ISI, and when answered in the negative, asked for a written response from the government to the same effect. This translates as a written guarantee that both the aforementioned figures will not be relieved of their posts. The prerogative for these actions in ...
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Why democracy should stay
Pakistan’s administrative setup was modeled after the British system: an elected legislative assembly was to give form to an executive government headed by the prime minister. The president was to hold a symbolic role while the judiciary was set to be independent. It remains a reality that despite the narrow scope in the electorate, Pakistan was a product of democracy, and will only thrive and succeed if it is democratic in structure and spirit. The continuous hampering course that Pakistan is passing through is not helping it become a truly democratic nation which can grow strong economically and deliver welfare to ...
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Government vs Judiciary: When push comes to shove
Make no mistake, this is a Supreme Court crusade to recover ill gotten wealth. Doing so successfully has become its pride and joy. The bewildering list of instantly recognisable acronyms in cases involving financial misdeeds ( NICL, BoP, PSM, RPP) bears testimony to the fruits of such efforts. Given these circumstances, the government’s continuous attempt to frustrate such efforts by evading the implementation of the NRO judgement was never going to bode well with the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has waited over two years for the implementation of the NRO judgement. Unfortunately however – if I may take out ...
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Musharraf’s politics: A Pakistani love affair
Enough has been written on APML’s Karachi jalsa on January 8. Much has been said about the not-so-intelligent choice of venue, drawing immediate comparisons to the mammoth PTI crowd just two weeks earlier. Perhaps its time to dwell on why there were less supporters (read 8,000 – 10,000) in the ground. General (retd) Pervez Musharraf is undoubtedly among the few love affairs of the Pakistani public. At a certain time in recent history, millions of us worshipped him, liked and loved him, defended his actions and chanted his slogan ‘Sab se Pehle Pakistan’. We were proud that we were led by ...
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De(bt)ocracy is the best revenge
In a cosmetic democracy like Pakistan, the quest for securing or preserving political power is doomed to end in failure without a nod from the establishment which is the power behind the throne. Whether the regime is military or civilian, the establishment needs to have a political constituency. This explains why every military government in Pakistan cultivates relations with some political forces and tries to cobble together a political arrangement to further its interest. In my opinion, democracy in Pakistan is “off” the people, “far” the people “buy” the people! Talking of democracy reminds me of Bilawal Bhutto when, on ...
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In desperate times, PML-N calls for desperate measures
Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N are going to use the issue of electricity to get back into power. In public, every member of the party has stayed on message: that the power shortage is a reflection and final indictment of the PPP’s terrible governance and has convinced the PML-N that the government must go immediately. In private, though, some members of the PML-N, while sticking to their talking points about the corruption and mismanagement of the PPP, admit that they hope to topple the PPP government before the Senate elections in March, to prevent the PPP from getting a majority ...
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Protecting democracy, destroying Karachi
Nothing exasperates me more than reading literature bashing Pakistan, so let me spare us all that twinge and cut to the chase. Things are not well. Aside from the terrorism, obvious over stated lack of electricity, gas and employment, the city of Karachi has become an open battlefield. The nature of this situation is very disturbing. Not only has the violence been continuing without signs of subsiding, it is getting worse. The police has been ineffective, and the government of Sindh likewise. In fact, such is the level of helplessness of the think tank of our leadership, that the army ...
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City of lights… only during the day
Not once, not twice… but a dozen times I have witnessed the city of Karachi being true to its name. The City of Lights, as it was called, has of late seen more than its fair share of darkness. But wait… there have been instances of the city being alight, trying hard to regain its past glory. It’s quite a pity that that has happened only during the day when it is least needed. At 5 pm at the peak of summer, I was rather upset to see all the street lights near Karsaz and on Sharah-e-Faisal shining merrily as ...
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Are Pakistanis happier in 2011?
With regular bombings being just one of their constantly growing fears, and their country being ranked 12 on Foreign Policy Magazine’s Failed States Index 2011, Pakistanis hardly have reasons to be a happier nation in 2011. We haven’t stepped into particularly hopeful terrain this year. The CIA World Fact Book estimates that Pakistan’s net emigration rate is 9 per cent higher than in 2011. This is testament to the fact that many things are wrong in the country – the most glaring of which are: 1. Inflation The 15.5 per cent inflation rate in December 2010 was brought down by two ...
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