Author: Dr Khalil Ahmad

Dr. Khalil is a political economist and a political philosopher. He cherishes a cosmopolitan spirit and considers himself a moralist and a rationalist. He founded the first free market think tank in Pakistan, Alternate Solutions Institute. He wrote/published hundreds of articles on the various aspects of political economy of Pakistan, and on a variety of issues.He is author of a number of books that include "Pakistan Mein Riyasati Ashrafiya Ka Urooj"; "Siyasi Partian Ya Siyasi Bandobast"; "Pakistani KashaKash" in Urdu; and "Charter of Liberty" and "Pakistan's Democratic Impasse" in English.

The Taliban mindset

In order to secure constitutional protection for Muslims, the Muslim League argued in separatist language on the basis of a different religious identity. However, as the Congress would not budge on the issue, the Muslim League went ahead with its demand for Pakistan.
Thus, the constitutional issue was merged into a religious issue. Naturally when Pakistan came into being, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah found himself facing a dilemma: the Muslim League had been using the rhetoric of separate religious identity and now he wanted to make the new homeland a religiously neutral state as is evident from his speech of August 11, 1947.
That it could not happen, and the controversy lives to this day, proves that.
Also, that a constitution could not be framed until 1973, or while a few were framed and enforced, whatever their merit was, they could not survive, is sufficient to demonstrate the point:
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“Pakistan’s Democratic Impasse – Analysis and the Way Forward”

Alternate Solutions Institute released my latest paper, Pakistan’s Democratic Impasse – Analysis and the Way Forward, today (December 29).
Copied below is the text of the Media Release:
New paper – “Pakistan’s Democratic Impasse” published
The paper indicts politicians as the main culprit for failing the state of Pakistan
The paper falsifies the myth of blaming the Pakistan Army for the ills Pakistanis facing
Author argues constitution authorizes politicians to rule, not the Army
Lahore December 29, 2012: Alternate Solutions Institute released today Dr. Khalil Ahmad’s latest paper, Pakistan’s Democratic Impasse – Analysis and the Way Forward. Already this year, he has published two books, “Pakistan Mein Riyasti Ashrafiya Ka Urooj” (The Rise of State Aristocracy in Pakistan, February 2012), and “Siyasi Partian Ya Siyasi Bandobast: Pakistani Siyasat Ke Pech-o-Khum Ka Falsafiyani Muhakma” (Political Parties Or Political Arrangements: Philosophical Critique of Pakistani Politics, July 2012).
The paper elaborates the
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Politics at the cost of taxpayers’ money!

Most of the English and Urdu newspapers of today (December 27), published the following full page advertisement on behalf of “Chief Minister Sindh and All Cabinet Memebrs, Information Department, Government of Sindh.” Also, there are other smaller-size advertisements in almost all of the newspapers sponsored by various government departments.

See this full page ad copied from The News:

I checked online editions of The News, Dawn, The Express Tribune, Business Recorder, The Nation, Pakistan Observer, and Urdu dailies, Express, Dunya, Nawa-i-Waqt; they all contain the full page ad.

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What’s hiding behind this Advertisement?

In The News of December 24, on page 5 there published an Advertisement. Here it is:
What does that Ad mean?
How come that suddenly 8816 posts emerge vacant in various organizations working under the Ministry of Interior!
What does this Ad as a whole amount to? 
On December 25, The News published Ansar Abbasi’s story, Desperate rush to recruit thousands en masse. This story reveals what may have prompted the publishing of that Ad!
Here is the link to this story: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-19700-Desperate-rush-to-recruit-thousands-en-masse

In The News of December 26 published another story by Ansar Abbasi on the same issue. Here is the link: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-19728-Desperate-rush-to-put-favourites-on-key-posts  

The same advertisement appeared in an Urdu daily, Express, on December 27. Here it is:
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State Aristocracy’s Pakistan – 5: Justice for the elite class

The News in its print edition on December 23 reported the following:
Bakery boy absolves CM’s relative, cops of torture

LAHORE: A judicial magistrate of cantonment courts on Saturday adjourned the hearing by January 9 of a case against Ali Imran Yousaf, son-in-law of the Punjab chief minister, eight others including seven officials of Elite Force. 
On Saturday, the court recorded the statement of complainant Irfan who said that neither the CM’s son-in-law nor elite force officials had tortured him. He said he had been tortured by unidentified persons.
After recording the statement, the court adjourned the case until January 9. 
Previously, the court had indicted the CM’s son-in-law and others including Zafar Hussain, said to be the bodyguard of the Punjab chief minister’s son -in-law, and Elite Force officials Riaz, Yousuf, Mohsin, Maqsod, Farid, Nawab and Khalil Ahmed. 
According to the case, an FIR was registered by Umer Hussain,
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Two Pakistans

Anyone can see that there is not one Pakistan. After more than 60 years the two Pakistans can clearly be demarcated. One is for the ordinary lot of the people, and the second one is for the elite classes. Pay a visit to the ordinary Pakistan, and experience the ordinary life there, have a taste of some basic social services available there, and you will realize how neglected is this ordinary Pakistan of the ordinary people of Pakistan. Likewise almost in every big city, there are two cities, one for the ordinary lot and one for the special elite. All other smaller cities including the vast rural expanse fall under the ordinary Pakistan.
Now roam about some areas of the elite Pakistansuch as GORs (Government Officers’ Residences) or Cantonments, and see the difference between these two Pakistans. In a number of cases, these two Pakistans
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Privatize Gas Fields or Nationalize the CNG Stations!

Ordinary Pakistanis are in the jaws of another government-created crisis: they are facing shortage of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in their homes as well as in their vehicles. The other side of the coin is the industrial sector suffering a lot due to the shortage and limited supply of the CNG.
Years back caught in a fever of Greenism and making policies with no insight into the future, the government promoted CNG. When everything has gone Green, it was revealed that there was no more CNG to feed those who shifted to the use of CNG. Rationing started, and another venue for huge corruption opened. It is in addition to the bucks OGRA (Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority) and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources are making.
In many a city, for most of the time factories are closed, and there are strikes by unemployed factory workers. And there are
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Hukoomat Maila

Please note: This post has been shifted to the Urdu Blog – Civil Pakistan. To see it, click the link below:

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State Aristocracy’s Pakistan – 4: PM appoints son-in-law as ED World Bank

Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf by, using his discretionary powers, has appointed his son-in-law, Raja Azeemul Haq to the prestigious post of Executive Director of the World Bank Washington.  The decision was taken despite resistance shown by Finance Minister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, who tried to convince the Premier to change his decision, and told him that his son-in-law is “junior” for such an important position.
The Economic Affairs Division, the department which was asked to formally move the summary by the Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Ayub Qazi, also opposed the move. The department suggested that a head-hunting committee or selection board should be formed under the Establishment Division to select a suitable candidate.
Raja Azeem is currently serving in the PM Secretariat as the Additional Secretary on a grade 21 post, a position that a civil servant usually gets after serving for two to three decades. Until a few
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