Politics, Consultants and Fees
A few years ago, friends from a political party, that formed the government then, asked me to tell what things our party should do.
I told them the following:
– that party contested the elections, they had an election manifesto, they already know what to do.
– There are so many op-ed writers, analysts, etc, and they are already telling the government what to do.
– If you want me to tell what to do. Tell your party to contact me officially and pay me a negotiable fee, and that fee would be paid by the party from its own funds, not from the government.
My friends never contacted me again for the purpose!
26 August, 2023…
Filers, Non-Filers and the Property Rights in Pakistan
There was a joke about Gen Zia and Noor Jahan in which understandably Gen Zia was meant to be punished. But it appeared he was rather being rewarded and Noor Jahan was being meted out a punishment.
The same is the case of Filers and Non-Filers.
The government wants to punish the Non-Filers, but in reality it’s the opposite: the punishment is being meted out to the Filers.
The latest case of such punishment, from the standpoint of the government, meant to be meted out to the Non-Filers is in reality a punishment being meted out to the Filers.
And that’s sort of a clearance certificate every Filer is required to obtain from the FBR before he/she sells a property registered in his/her name.
That’s another dent in the already fragile property rights in Pakistan.…
The arrogance of economists
A friend was an economist proper, trained in a foreign university. When I tried to express myself on an economic issue under discussion, he told me ‘You’re not an economist.’ After keeping quiet on a number of occasions, I insisted ‘let’s see what I have got to say.’
Yes, I am not an economist, trained even in a local institution. I read Marxism, almost whole of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, and was involved in the politics of the Left for years. To many, that would be a disqualification!
I was taught economics by an illiterate, who could find a shop by matching its name written on a chit. From him, I learned about inflation, depreciation of currency, and the price of money.
But isn’t common sense one of the greatest teachers?
And like everyone is a philosopher, isn’t everyone an economist also!
Then I from a philosophical angle read …
غصہ اور تنقید کب تک؟
انیق ناجی اور ایک انوکھا منصوبہ
دانشور اشرافیہ اور فکرودانش کا بحران
آپ سوچنے سمجھنے والے فرد ہیں۔ تصورات و نظریات میں دلچسپی رکھتے ہیں۔ درپیش معاملات و مسائل کے بارے میں پڑھتے ہیں۔ اپنے خیالات کو مجتمع کرتے ہیں، اور یہ چیز ایک مضمون کی شکل اختیار کر لیتی ہے۔
اب آپ کیا کریں گے۔ یہی کہ یہ مضمون کہیں شائع ہو تاکہ پڑھا جائے، زیرِبحث آئے۔ اور یوں آپ کے خیالات پرکھ و جانچ کے عمل سے گزریں۔ اور اگر درست اور موثر ہیں تو ان کی پذیرائی ہو۔ اور یوں ممکنہ طور پر یہ کسی تبدیلی کا سبب بن سکیں۔
مگر پاکستان میں ایسا ہونے کے امکانات قریب قریب نہ ہونے کے برابر ہیں۔ آپ نے مضمون قلمبند کر لیا۔ اب یہ مرحلہ درپیش ہو گا کہ یہ شائع کیسے ہو۔
پہلا کام تو یہ ہوسکتا ہے کہ آپ اسے بطور خط یا بطور ایمیل کسی اخبار کو بھیج دیں۔ مگر یوں اس کے شائع ہونے کا غالباّ کوئی …
Meet my mentor Lakht Pasha aka Pashi
He died last year. Till death, he was a Marxist.
He left his home and family to devote himself to serve the cause.
His last years were marked by disappointment over failure of the Movement of the Left in Pakistan. He died in depression.
He was a polymath. A poet, literary critic, film critic, singer, Tabla-player, playwright, debater, teacher/trainer/mentor. A true, sincere and honest friend.
Such were the persons and personalities that shaped the Movement of the Left in Pakistan.
But unfortunate is the fact they did not/could not create an intellectual capital, including Pashi.
He too spent the last quarter of his life working for the Punjabi language and literature.…
رضا ربانی بطور شو روم پیپلز پارٹی
Karachi Mayor Election: Role and Politics of the JIP
Present Hyper-Inflation: Why there is no unrest
I try to explain why there is no unrest (or it is in a latent state).
- There is no political group or party to lead the disgruntled people
- There is too much political and hence social uncertainty and insecurity disallowing the people to act and come out on their own
- The current political crisis has already complicated the things too much and people fear the worst
- There may be political loyalties not allowing this or that section of the people to raise voice against this or that political party
- And most important of all, there is the Civil Economy (informal economy is an integral part of it) that provides the people with the cushion that absorbs the shocks of the hyper-inflation and there is ample evidence scattered around us that endorses this point.
- No doubt, the lowest rung of the middle classes bears the brunt of this unprecedented inflation, but
شیریں مزاری پر کونسے ظلم و ستم کے پہاڑ ٹوٹ پڑے
دانشور اشرافیہ، ثقافتی اشرافیہ اور سیاسی اشرافیہ کا ایک مخصوص حصہ شیریں مزاری پر ظلم و ستم کے جو پہاڑ ٹوٹے ہیں، ان پر ہاہا کار مچائے ہوئے ہے۔
یہ ہاہا کار اس وقت بھی مچی تھی، جب ایک مرتبہ پہلے انھیں گرفتار کیا گیا تھا اور ان کی دختر ایمان مزاری نے جینرل باجوہ کو گالی دی تھی۔ اور غالبأ ایک اور موقعے پر شیریں مزاری نے خود جو پولیس انھیں گرفتار کرنے آئی تھی، انھیں بھی گالی دی تھی۔
ایمان مزاری نے اپنی والدہ کی پے در پے گرفتاری پر جو اشک بہائے، ان پر بہت دکھ کا اظہار کیا جا رہا ہے۔ یوں معلوم ہوتا ہے کہ پاکستان کی تاریخ میں پہلی اور آخری مرتبہ کسی ’’سیاسی قائد‘‘ (شیریں مزاری) پر ظلم ہوا ہے۔
گو کہ یہ واضح نہیں کہ شیریں مزاری تحریکِ انصاف میں کیونکر اور کیسے شامل ہوئی تھیں، اور اب اگر یہ مان بھی …
Logical, Critical and Moral Thinking – A Personal Perspective
- I learned a lot from the students I taught.
- Now when I reflect back on those years (1988-2006, a continuous teaching period, after that, it’s sporadic), I feel more indebted to the students for engaging with me in a sustained and productive dialogue than to my own argumentative mind. Without them, there was no “Other.”
- [While teaching courses such as Economics of Education (MAEd), Environmental Education (MAEd), Discipline of Education (MAEd), Philosophy and History of Education (BEd), An Introduction to Economic Thought (BSHon), An Introduction to Political Thought (BSHon), and Economics (FA, FSc) and Philosophy (FA, FSc), and an Annual Residential Course: Ideas for a Free, Responsible and Prosperous Society (a diverse group of participants from post-graduate students to college and university teachers), since 2009 till date, I developed a methodology and the credit goes to the students and participants. I never blamed the students for anything.
اشرافیہ، ریاستی اشرافیہ اور دانشور اشرافیہ کا اجارہ کیونکر قائم ہے
اگر کوئی شخص اپنی نارمل زندگی سے اوپر اٹھ کر اشرافیہ، ریاستی اشرافیہ اور دانشور اشرافیہ کے تانے بانے کو توڑنا چاہے، ریاست اور اس کے وسائل پر ریاستی اشرافیہ کے غیر آئینی غیر قانونی قبضے کو چیلنج کرنا چاہے، دانشور اشرافیہ نے فکر و نظر کے اشاعت کدوں پر جو اجارہ قائم کیا ہوا ہے اس پر سوال اٹھانا چاہے، تو اسے تنہا کر دیا جاتا ہے۔ اس کے تصورات، نظریات اور تجزیات کو گھونٹ کر مارنے کی پوری کوشش کی جاتی ہے۔ یہ کام محض اشرافیہ، ریاستی اشرافیہ اور دانشور اشرافیہ ہی نہیں کرتی، بلکہ اصل میں یہ کام اجلافیہ، بزعمِ خود اجلافیہ کے نمائندے، اشرافیہ پسند اور اشرافیہ پرست کرتے ہیں۔
مگر اب آج سوشل میڈیا دستیاب ہے، جو کم از کم اوپر جس کا ذکر ہوا ایسے فرد کے تصورات، نظریات اور تجزیات کو تنہائی کا شکار نہیں ہونے دیتا۔ گو کہ اشرافیہ، ریاستی اشرافیہ اور …
پاکستان کے ’’دشمن‘‘ ہیں: دانشوروں کے تعصبات اور ان کے ذہنوں کا فتور
پاکستان کے ’’دشمن‘‘ اس کی سرحدوں کے باہر نہیں، سرحدوں کے اندر ہیں۔
اور یہ ’’دشمن‘‘ ہیں: دانشوروں کے تعصبات اور ان کے ذہنوں کا فتور۔
ان دانشوروں کی زنبیل میں تصورات اور نظریات تو ہیں نہیں۔ ہاں، ان کے آدرشوں کے محل محض نفرتوں اور محبتوں کے ستونوں پر استوار ہیں۔
مراد یہ کہ یہ دانشور خود کو سماجیاتی پسماندگی یا پسماندہ سماجیات سے بلند کر کے تصورات اور نظریات کی سطح پر نہیں لا سکے۔
یعنی پاکستان کی مجموعی پسماندگی کی جڑیں بیشتر اس کی سماجیات میں پیوستہ ہیں: جیسی سماجیات، ویسی سیاسیات
نوٹ: اگر پاکستان کے کچھ ’’دشمن‘‘ اس کی سرحدوں کے باہر موجود ہیں تو وہ سمندر پار پاکستانی ہیں۔ (واضح رہے یہ اشارہ صرف انصافی پاکستانیوں کی طرف نہیں، بلکہ تمام سمندر پار پاکستانیوں کی طرف ہے۔)…
رمضان میں پھلوں کی قیمتیں کیوں بڑھ جاتی ہیں؟
Defining Ashrafiya, Riyasati Ashrafiya and Danishwar Ashrafiya
Note: The following exchange took place in a WhatsApp group. The name of the objector is being withheld.
Objection by Someone:
Never understand this elite bashing. Are these old Marxists in new garb? Are we bashing success? Do we want communism?
Reply by KA:
Kindly pen down your (anti-) thesis and then anyone may counter it. I will do.
Objection by Someone:
Pen down what. I don’t fight ghosts. No one defines elite. They just talk of this socialist concept. Any one with money is elite
Reply by KA:
No, having money is not an essential feature of the Ashrafiya. Those who use word Elite may mean something else. In English, the equivalent of Ashrafiya is Aristocracy.
Objection by Someone:
Ok so what is elite capture. Where does it not exist.
Reply by KA:
In short, Ashrafiya was already there (subcontinent, monarchs, nabobs, etc). The state was already there. It …
Kristalina Georgieva, MD IMF proposing nothing new but slaughtering of the goose
That’s something unprecedented. Probably never ever any head of the IMF came forward to publicly propose what the government of Pakistan needed to do. But such is the plight of a perennial borrower. Yes, a borrower, and not a beggar, as the taunt always goes. Obvious that beggars are not required to return the alms they are given, though they may not be welcome next time. Loans must be returned, and with interest and sometimes compound interest. Otherwise, bankruptcy or the forfeiture is the fate. Or the default and the international isolation and economic and political consequences concomitant with it.
The other day Managing Director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva urged the Pakistani government to tax the rich and after withdrawing the subsidies from the rich divert them towards the people who really need it. [See Dawn, February 19, 2023]
Her words are: “Number 1 – tax revenues. Those who …
Hereditary politics is neither right nor wrong
Time and time again, the issue of hereditary politics finds limelight in the electronic and social media, and in the newspapers. For this or that reason, an intellectual or a political analyst, or a politician himself causes a stir.
Now when Maryam Nawaz Sharif, daughter of M Nawaz Sharif was made senior vice president and chief organizer of the PMLN, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a veteran politician of the same party resigned from the post of senior vice president and criticized the hereditary politics. He told the press he had already apprised MNS about his resignation in case she was given a top post in the party.
Thus, the debate on hereditary politicians got triggered this time. Like so many other issues, the issue of hereditary politics is also used to denigrate the politicians. That’s an old habit and has been nurtured over the decades by the establishment, its proponents and …
Let the establishment clean their Augean stables first
The umpteenth time, a nationwide electricity blackout happened on 23 January. It was told, after keeping the system switched off during the night when they tried to switch it on, it did not. However, whatever was the fault, electricity supply started restoring after 15 hours.
The same is the case with democracy in Pakistan. The democracy grid remained switched off for about four years, until the moment darkness engulfed the power grid itself. Then the staff in charge invited the technicians to switch it on and reconnect it to the constitutional grid. It did not. Democracy is still in an off-mode.
It was all behind the scenes when the technicians were called out to reconnect the system to the constitutional grid. And it was only on 27 October (2022), six months after a successful No-Confidence-Motion against the Imran Khan government in April, that an official declaration to the effect was …
Miftah Ismail’s politics and economics
Note: A version of this article was published in The Friday Times.
This is merely a cursory review/critique of politics and economics Miftah Ismail has lately been doing.
Miftah Ismail is expressing his differences with the PMLN top leadership openly and in a challenging manner, and as he was fired from the ministership of finance about four months ago unceremoniously, he is rightly in the news. (His defiance must be appreciated unconditionally.) On 15 January in two sessions of the ThinkFest in Lahore, his talk clearly represents his views.
In the first session, the question under discussion was: Are Politicians the Real Problem of Pakistan? He said, leave out the years there had been martial laws. Also, whenever politicians were in the government, they were not allowed to rule peacefully and there were Dharnas (large sit-ins) by Tahir-ul-Qadri, Imran Khan, and …