Loud Thinking

Archive for July, 2014

An article of the century..!

A part-time leader.

By Zahid Hussain

Published about 5 hours ago

The writer is an author and journalist.

“The most important quality in a leader is that of being acknowledged as such.”

— André Maurois

UNFORTUNATELY, our third-time prime minister does not fit this criterion. While our troops are engaged in the most critical battle against militants and hundreds and thousands of people have been displaced from their homes in North Waziristan and are facing severe hardship, our leader is off to Saudi Arabia for his annual spiritual retreat for 10 days.

There cannot be any objection to his religious zeal. But as a leader he is also expected to focus on the job for which he has been elected. It is certainly no ordinary situation for a country in the midst of a conflict and looming humanitarian crisis.

Being away from the country for so long at this critical time and on a private trip illustrates how low governance is on his priority list. Should our leader not be dealing with the vital issues of national security at home rather than seeking his own salvation?

In any other country, a leader would have preferred to stay with one’s own people in times of tribulation. But this is not the case with Nawaz Sharif who is best described as a part-time leader with minimal interest in running the affairs of the state. Not surprisingly, the approval rating for his party has plummeted in a short period.

As a leader, the absent Nawaz Sharif is expected to focus on the job for which he was elected.
Surely, it is hard for any incumbent to maintain the same level of popular appeal that brings one to power. Yet the plunge in Nawaz Sharif’s approval ratings within the first year of his third term in office is astonishing even by Pakistani standards, if opinion polls are to be trusted.

Trailing far behind the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, the party has now fallen behind even the PPP in public approval ratings. According to the latest Herald/SDPI opinion poll, only 17pc of respondents said they would vote for the PML-N if elections were held today compared to 33pc for the PTI and 19pc for the PPP which was routed in the last election.

Such a low popular standing does not come as a surprise given Sharif’s dismal performance and style of governance. His is more of a family limited company than a functional institutional democracy. All power is concentrated in the hands of a few members of the family. And now the ‘gifted’ daughter is being groomed as heir apparent. There is no party organisation and all decisions are made by Sharif alone. The exclusion of others has created serious misgivings among senior party members.

For once, Asif Ali Zardari was right when he said the people had voted for Sharif to be prime minister, not a monarch. And that monarchy is run from Lahore where Sharif mostly stays when not out of the country. The rest of the country does not seem to exist for him.

A frequently asked question is how different is the current Sharif government from the prime minister’s previous ones. The answer is simple: it is far worse. Sharif is more indecisive and as one political leader said “he has no fire in the belly”.

Yet there is no deficit of hubris of power. The Model Town carnage and police brutality is the hallmark of Sharif’s rule. The panicky reaction of the administration on the arrival of Tahirul Qadri is a manifestation of the increasing political alienation of the Sharif administration.

It has been a disappointing first year in power. There have been fewer examples of such a lacklustre leadership devoid of any foresight. His disdain for parliament is demonstrated by his rare appearances in the house in the past 14 months. Not surprisingly, parliament has been reduced to a dormant forum with little debate on substantive policy issues.

Sharif returned to power with a promise to take Pakistan to the path of economic revival and improved governance. But his vision of progress has been limited to metro buses and motorways. Certainly, his government has achieved short-term economic stability, but in the absence of fundamental structural reforms the long-term scenario does not look so encouraging.

The health of the economy is interpreted through the narrow prism of foreign exchange reserves and appreciation in the value of the rupee. It is scandalous the way the finance ministry apparently manipulated the economic growth rate to portray a positive picture of the economy. The distortion was exposed when the real figure was provided to the IMF.

A major reason for the erosion in the approval rating of the PML-N is the utter failure of the government to deal with the power crisis. There has not been any respite from load-shedding despite the government’s claim of substantial increase in power generation. The unresolved problem of circular debt is said to be the major reason for the widening shortfall in power supply. The government has done little to improve the working of the distribution companies or to collect outstanding bills.

After much dithering, Sharif has finally given the go-ahead for the military operation in North Waziristan. But he is still not willing to take complete ownership of the critical campaign. Even the responsibility for displaced persons has been handed over to the military. What is most alarming is the government’s decision to call in the army to guard important public installations in major cities. There is also a plan to give wider power to the armed forces under Section 245 of the Constitution. It is tantamount to a complete abdication of the civilian government’s responsibility.

Getting the army involved in maintaining law and order in the cities can mean a gradual military take­over. It is almost a repeat of 1998 when the Sharif government used the troops for everything starting with electricity meter readings. It is apparent that no lessons have been learnt from the past. A part-time leadership cannot deal with the grave situation confronted by the country.

The writer is an author and journalist.

zhussain100@yahoo.com

Twitter: @hidhussain

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2014

India is NOT a secular but a HINDU state.

Pakistan and all OIC members must take up at all world forums to declare Shiv Sena as a terrorist organisation and impose a world wide ban on this organisation.

New Delhi: Shiv Sena MPs ‘force’ Muslim worker to break fast

Last Updated On 23 July,2014 About 12 minutes ago

The members of the parliament who allegedly misused their power belonged to Shiv Sena.

NEW DELHI (Web Desk) – At least eleven members of Indian parliament have allegedly forced a Muslim worker to break his Ramazan fast in New Delhi, India.

According to Indian media reports, the members of the parliament (MPs), belonging to Shiv Sena, forced the Muslim catering supervisor to eat chapatti when they weren’t served their desired food at Maharastra Sadan in New Delhi.

The Express said a letter sent to Maharashtra chief secretary J Saharia has named the 11 Shiv Sena MPs as Sanjay Raut (Rajya Sabha), Anandrao Adsul (Amravati), Rajan Vichare (Thane), Arvind Sawant (Mumbai-South), Hemant Godse (Nashik), Krupal Tumane (Ramtek), Ravindra Gaikwad (Osmanabad), Vinayak Raut (Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg), Shivaji Adhalrao Patil (Shirur), Rahul Shewale (Mumbai-South Central) and Shrikant Shinde (Kalyan), the Hindustan Times reported.

The Indian Railways subsidiary (IRCTC) that was catering for the Sadan suspended all operations in protest while formally complaint the Maharashtra resident commissioner about the incident in an email.

The IRCTC stated that the MPs, belonging to Shiv Sena misbehaved with the Muslim staffer and forced him to break his fast by putting chapatti in his mouth. The incident happened at the public dining while the MPs knew he was a Muslim.

“The specific incident happened with the Resident Manager/IRCTC, Sh. Arshad who was forced to consume full chapati whilst he was having fast on the eve of Ramzan. The concerned has been deeply pained and hurt on this account as religious sentiments are attached,” the manager wrote.

Arshad too has complained to the resident commissioner.

“All the guests along with media reporters and staffs of Maharashtra Sadan got into kitchen where I was getting the orders prepared. They caught me and put the chapati into my mouth. I was wearing a formal uniform set as prescribed by IRCTC and everybody in the panel also knew my name as ‘Arshad’ as I was wearing the name tag. Even then they inserted chapati in my mouth which caused my fast to break on the eve of Ramzan. I was hurt with the thing they have done as religious sentiments are concerned,” the Express quoted from his letter.

Strong reaction was seen on social media platforms following the incident.

Renowned journalist Raza Rumi termed the incident as ‘Pathetic, Condemnable’.

Another person tweeted, “Shiv Sena is nothing but an embarrassment”.

‘Monarchy’ to be replaced with democracy: Imran

By Bureau Report
Updated about 4 hours ago

PTI chief Imran Khan. — File Photo

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has claimed that his party is ready to do away with ‘monarchy’ and establish ‘genuine democracy’ in the country.

“There is total monarchy in the country in the garb of democracy. We are coming out on Aug 14 with full force to send ‘Badshahat’ packing and replace it with true democracy,” he said.

Imran Khan’s agitation

Speaking at a ceremony here on Tuesday to launch the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s initiative to give a subsidy of Rs600 each per month to a poor family on wheat flour and ghee, Mr Khan said the programme would cost Rs7 billion in one year and benefit more than 350,000 families.

He said politics should revolve around the people’s welfare and reiterated his claim that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be purged of corruption and people would get rid of politicians and officials who did not serve them.

The PTI chief said he would present proofs of rigging in last year’s elections before one million participants of his party’s long march on the Independence Day.

“Nobody can stop me from disclosing the names of the characters who stole the people’s mandate,” Imran declared.

He said his party’s workers were looking forward to the march which, he vowed, would rid the nation of people who were in the habit of ruling the country by rigging elections.

Mr Khan dispelled a perception that the march was aimed at harming democracy. The PTI had accepted the elections, but not the rigging, he said.

“We are establishing true democracy. All rallies held by the PTI have been peaceful,” he said.

He praised Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and his team for launching welfare schemes and asked the provincial government to take up issues with the centre within the ambit of the Constitution.

“I want the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to take a stand on the province’s claim of royalty on electricity, end to loadshedding and other problems faced by people.”

He said Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif had spent Rs100 billion of taxpayers’ money on their propaganda through media.

The PTI was gathering information about corruption in the Nandipur power project and Metro Bus, he added.

Imran Khan condemned Israel’s atrocities against innocent Palestinians in Gaza and wondered how the Jewish state was allowed to transgress and violate basic human rights enshrined in the UN charter.

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said the measures his government had taken were in line with party’s pledges to people.

He said the government did not tolerate corruption and it was evident that it took action against corrupt officials.

Later, speaking at an Iftar dinner held to raise funds for the Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital set up in Hayatabad, Imran Khan said that the facility was ready to serve people.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd , 2014

No Pakistani media has the guts to report this news..!

Gaza rocket lands near Israel’s main airport, US airlines cancel flights

Times of India reports..!

AP | Jul 22, 2014, 10.39 PM IST

Link:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Gaza-rocket-lands-near-Israels-main-airport-US-airlines-cancel-flights/articleshow/38879473.cms

No Pakistani media has the guts to report this news..!

Gaza rocket lands near Israel’s main airport, US airlines cancel flights

Times of India reports..!

AP | Jul 22, 2014, 10.39 PM IST

Link:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Gaza-rocket-lands-near-Israels-main-airport-US-airlines-cancel-flights/articleshow/38879473.cms

@MorningEdition: FAA issues 24-hour ban on flights to & from Tel Aviv in response to rocket strike near airport http://t.co/ZXtxOKiBTs http://t.co/HHUVkCwMW4

@MarquardtA: Airlines that have suspended flights to tel Aviv, via @mollymhunter:
Delta
United
American/US Airways
KLM
Lufthansa
Air France

@Lyonsoccer_87: @ibnkafka may be the IDF Air Force will heed the FAA and we’ll have the first no-fly zone on Israel

@BowenBBC: Suspension of some flights to Ben Gurion is a victory for Hamas. Israel wants to project business as usual despite the #Gaza war.

@freegazaorg: After Delta Reroutes Flight Into Israel, 5 Other Airlines Suspend Flights To Tel Aviv On Missile Worries http://t.co/mk8RKH5uaY