Back in 2011, on January 2, The Express Tribune carried an article, Pak Tea House, by Ayesha Siddiqa. In that, a reference was made to another article, Tea,anyone? by Ahmad Rafay Alam, published earlier on May 8, 2010, in the same newspaper. I read both. As I am an ardent lover of the Pak Tea House, as it has played an important role in my intellectual training and so many other souls, and also as I knew quite a bit of what was happening to the Pak Tea House then and to the owner of this property through friends who

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I started collecting and sharing this information just because of my focus on how the state aristocracy makes use of its capture of the state to further its interests and loot; however, there is so much to it appearing daily in the newspapers that to me it requires another blog fully devoted to the state aristocracy’s appropriation of the citizens’ tax money and misuse of the public authority. Hence, I think I should give only the links to such news items and of course from such newspapers which I happen to see. Government allows MPs to stay put at Parliament

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has appointed a first cousin of Finance Minister Saleem Mandviwalla to the Central Board of Directors of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) apparently in violation of the law. Mehmood Mandviwalla is a practicing lawyer, a profession that disqualifies him from holding the position. He is also a partner at Mandviwalla and Zafar – advocates and legal consultants. The State Bank of Pakistan Act 1956 states: “The Directors shall be eminent professionals from the fields of economics, finance, banking and accountancy, to be appointed by the federal government. Those appointed to the board shall have no

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Finished reading (February 23), Makhanlal Roychoudhury, M.A., B.L, SASTRI’s The Din-e-Ilahi or The Religion of Akbar. The 396-page book was published in 1941 by the University of Calcutta. The book dispels many a misunderstanding about the Din-e-Ilahi and Akbar. First the contents: Synopsis Foreword Preface Introduction Chapter I – The Indian Background Chapter II – The Central Asian Background Chapter III – The Pendulum Oscillates Chapter IV – The Period of Quest (The IbadatKhana) Appendix A. The Muslim Rulers of the 16th century (The Mahzar) Appendix B. Three Paintings of the Ibadat Khana Chapter V – The Forces at Work

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ISLAMABAD: In yet another example of might is right, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has secretly awarded plots to top civil and military bureaucrats in recently acquired sectors while thousands of poor affectees (affected!) are running from pillar to post to get compensation for their land taken by the authority about four years ago. According to documents, the authority announced a compensation award for the affectees (affected!) of sectors C-13, C-14, C-15 and C-16 on Dec 2, 2008 promising to compensate them within six months under land sharing policy.  However, the poor affectees (affected!) with no political connections have yet

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Today’s The Express Tribune carried the following news: Forensics Investigation Same pistols used to kill 90 in Karachi Newsdesk: The investigators in the modern forensics department in Karachi have concluded that 90 persons were killed using the same three pistols in the provincial capital. The victims include Shia, Sunni and members of political parties, Special Assistant of the Sindh Home Ministry, Sharfudding Memon told BBC that in some of the cases not only weapons used were common but also the strategy used for the same. According to police statistics, last year 2,300 persons were killed in Karachi whereas in 2011

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In Pakistan, political meanness has thousands of ways to maneuver the things! Obviously, if one doesn’t follow moral principles, no rules, no laws could restrain him from doing what he is intent upon doing! In view of the forthcoming general elections in the country, “The ECP (Election Commission of Pakistan) has slapped a ban on ads carrying pictures of political leaders on TV channels and newspapers. It also warned of action over violation of its directives.” (The News, January 4, 2013)  However, among other things, for the last few days, newspapers are publishing the following ads with pictures of “men of opinion” commending

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ISLAMABAD: At least 40 cops including several elite commandoes and two vehicles of the Punjab police are delegated for round-the-clock security of Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) Chairman Dr. Tahirul Qadri, who is spending approximately Rs2 million per month from the provincial coffer. His security paraphernalia consists of a total of one sub-inspector, four head constables, 22 constables, 12 elite force commandoes, two drivers and two vehicles, a senior Punjab government official told The News. This is apart from the personal guards that Dr. Qadri has hired from a private firm for his security and dozens of his own party men,

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In Pakistan, political meanness has thousands of ways to maneuver the things! Obviously, if one doesn’t follow moral principles, no rules, no laws could restrain him from doing what he is intent upon doing! In view of the forthcoming general elections in the country, “The ECP (Election Commission of Pakistan) has slapped a ban on ads carrying pictures of political leaders on TV channels and newspapers. It also warned of action over violation of its directives.” (The News, January 4, 2013)  However, among other things, for the last few days, newspapers are publishing the following ads with pictures of “men of opinion” commending

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ISLAMABAD: The newly constructed 200-kanal palace in Bahria Town Lahore named Bilawal House, said to be worth Rs5 billion and allegedly gifted to the President of Pakistan, has come under severe criticism from Transparency International. TIP, in a letter to the Supreme Court, NAB and many other organisations, has asked how the president can receive the ‘gift’, as no government servant can accept any gift while in service. The spokesman of Bahria Town, Col (retd) Khalil when contacted said it was not in his knowledge and only Malik Riaz  can reveal the actual situation. Malik Riaz Hussain could not be

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In Pakistan, political meanness has thousands of ways to maneuver the things! Obviously, if one doesn’t follow moral principles, no rules, no laws could restrain him from doing what he is intent upon doing! In view of the forthcoming general elections in the country, “The ECP(Election Commission of Pakistan) has slapped a ban on ads carrying pictures ofpolitical leaders on TV channels and newspapers. It also warned of action overviolation of its directives.” (The News, January 4, 2013)  However, among other things, for the last few days, newspapers are publishing the following ads with pictures of “men of opinion” commending the “Services of

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The Grind of Education is milling generations of human beings to waste their life, talent, creativity, and the genius of their unique individuality in a drab of degrees and diplomas. It’s by taxing heavily the growth and development of the human world holding it back instead. That’s why especially political elites (read States and Governments) are fond of it. They have inspired a huge industry of NGOs and a flourishing crop of intellectuals to come to exist which remain busy to put more and more pressure on states and governments to allocate more and more funds for Education. Among other

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Intellectually Pakistan is quite a barren country. One reason, it has never encouraged the spirit of free inquiry. Instead, it goes for short-cuts to grab “progress,” “growth,” “development,” — thinking them as separate manifestations having no links with knowledge. In the wake of 9/11, in a local mosque in Shahdrah, Lahore, it was prayed: O God, give us all that America has achieved! Professor Dr. Abdus Salam too contributed to that short-cut thinking. Especially during Zia-ul-Haq regime and at his instance, there were hectic efforts to promote the education of Science and Technology in Pakistan. I had reservations on that

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The Kashmir conflict, like other ones such as Palestine, does have a history. Parties to it write, rewrite and exploit this history to a point where its ability to offer a solution becomes precarious. Besides, this kind of use of history complicates the conflict inextricably, and one wonders whether it would ever be possible to resolve it. So, I think, instead of delving into the history of Kashmir conflict, it’s better to look forward to its possible resolutions. For the last decade, I have ignored the news stories on Kashmir (and Palestine, as well). I do not read them with

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Enver Baig’s 2008 report on ‘Tawana Pakistan’ still not implemented ISLAMABAD:The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) took almost four years to probe multi-billion scam of Tawana Pakistan Project and is still probing, but a Senate sub-committee headed by former Senator Enver Baig in September 2008 had investigated the scam and identified all the accused involved in it. However, the findings were dumped in the Senate Secretariat since 2008 and government did not touch it. During his tenure as a senator, Enver Baig continued to raise hue and cry for taking action against all accused on the basis of his report, but

On the one side are the victims’ families, Leftist groups, and NGOs, and the sympathizers of the victims of the Baldia factory fire, who demand that the owners of Baldia garment factory be tried for planned murder of the workers. Finally they have come to demand that the said factory be converted into a rehabilitation center for the victims’ families. Looking for a way out? – SHC reserves order on Baldia factory owners’ bail plea [The photo published in The News on January 29, 2013] “Several NGOs had gone to court on Saturday (Jan 26) against Prime Minister Raja Pervez

Senate question hour: ‘Govt waived Rs360b in taxes, duties in 5 years’ ISLAMABAD: The government waived taxes and duties worth Rs.360 billion to various entities in the last five years through official orders, State Minister for Finance, Saleem Mandviwalla informed the Senate on Tuesday. The Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs), official paperwork without which the bureaucratic machinery does not move, were issued to accommodate the waivers and by-pass existing laws that could not be changed overnight, Mandviwalla said, replying to a question posed by Pakistan Muslim League-N Senator Nuzhat Sadiq. During its tenure the government waived around Rs.298.1 billion worth of inland

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It was back in the days when the lawyers’ movement for the rule of law was at its zenith. On the 9th of March, 2007, a word of NO uttered by a man representing the law before a man representing the might had acquired the status of a catchword. The same NO had come to symbolize a movement for the supremacy of the law in Pakistan. Such a moral strength was latent in that NO that it had awakened the consciences dead in slumber for decades. Endorsement for the rule of the constitution and the law in Pakistan came from

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Great people to fly with! LAHORE: A senior PIA official caused the PK 562 Karachi-Islamabad flight to land at the Allama Iqbal International Airport late on Tuesday night to allow his daughter to board the flight, reports Geo News. Later, the flight took off with the girl on board and reached Islamabad. [The News, January 30, 2013]

Pak politicians taking our taxes, not paying their own: UK minister LONDON: International Development Secretary Justine Greening has defended giving millions in aid to Pakistan amid suggestions the Pakistani politicians were “taking our taxes” while not paying their own.  Pakistan receives more money in aid than almost any other state but a report last December claimed two-thirds of its MPs have not filled out tax returns, including its top rulers. Sir Malcolm Bruce, chairman of the Commons International Development committee, raised fears that Pakistan’s approach was “we’ll take your money and do what we please.”  He asked the secretary of

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LHC stays proceedings in PML-Q MPs damages suits LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday stayed the proceeding of a civil court hearing Rs 50 million damages suits of PML-Q MNA Ch Wajahat Hussain and MPA Moonis Elahi against former additional deputy inspector general FIA and investigation officer of NICL scam case, Zafar Qureshi. The court issued this order on a petition moved by Zafar Qureshi challenging order of lower court wherein his plea for dismissal of suit was rejected.Chaudhrys of Gujrat had filed suits against Qureshi alleging that he had tarnished the image of their family and damaged their

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ISLAMABAD: While giving “Plot Amnesty”  to those top bureaucrats and judges who got more than two plots in the past under the Prime Minister’s Special Incentive Package, the Public Accounts Committee has recommended abolishing the existing plot policy by suggesting to the government to cancel the summary for awarding plots to top bureaucrats under the Prime Minister’s Special Incentive package in future, abolishing all the special quotas, including of generals, judges, journalists except widows, martyrs and (disabled) persons and no more agricultural land allotments to the generals, judges and politicians except the families of martyrs. Under the Prime Minister Special

FOR a developing country like Pakistan the biggest threat to its existence is terrorism within its boundaries which, if unchecked, may render it ungovernable. While external aggression unites a nation, internal dissension motivated by ethnic or sectarian move divides or causes gross injustices and state-institutionalised inequalities can break even the strongest of nations. Only prompt effective remedial measures taken across the board can avert this existential threat. Unfortunately Pakistan faces the cancer of terrorism bred by hate, waged by mercenaries and massive unchecked corruption which has assumed the form of financial terrorism. The bonding between corrupt members of this exclusive

KARACHI: While millions of households in Karachi go without clean drinking water for days despite having pipelines, those with direct connections in the water board enjoy a free home-delivery service. Karachi Water and Sewerage Board’s (KWSB) water tankers are supplying water worth millions of rupees to houses of government functionaries, bureaucrats, parliamentarians and ministers on a daily basis. The chief minister and governor houses, several serving and retired judges and many VIPs living in the city are among those enjoying this free facility. These revelations came during a meeting of the Sindh Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday, where

ISLAMABAD: During the last four fiscal years – up until December 2012 – the government has spent more than Rs2 billion on a media campaign for the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).  BISP Chairperson Farzana Raja shared this information with the National Assembly on Wednesday (January 23) during the question hour session. She said that of the allocated Rs3.6 billion, Rs1.88 billion was spent on the promotion of BISP in electronic media, while Rs555 million was spent on print media. “The purpose of the campaign was to make BISP easy to understand for every Pakistani,” said Raja. The programme’s communication strategy,

The sort of politicking being hurled around in Pakistan proves with ample evidence that the next general elections are at hand. Somehow, the latest episode of politicking started with Parvez Elhi (Pakistan Muslim League Q – Oh, Quaid-e-Azam!) giving a press briefing to the effect that Moonis Elahi, his son and young politico of the same party, would be back home in a week’s time to face the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the courts which were adamant to quiz him regarding his alleged involvement in the National Insurance Company Limited ‘Scam.’ (Every entity working under the aegis of the

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