A different approach (dealing with India)

Published in Dawn on October 12, 2025

WITH the Bihar elections in India due soon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his henchmen are likely to do their best to blame Pakistan for all their failures. They want their people to believe that Pakistan is responsible for all their problems, including the fact that 40 per cent Indians are living below the poverty line, and many children have died after consuming contaminated cough syrups.

I suggest that instead of responding to any threats hurled by Indians, we should stay calm and not respond in kind. The best thing to do, of course, is to pretend that India does not exist, but since that is not possible, we should find an alternative way.

We could, for instance, point out that India could solve most of its problems by reducing its defence budget by half, and spend the money saved to feed its hungry masses. We could suggest that India would be better off buying fighter jets and missiles manufactured in Pakistan instead of France. Of course, the Indian government would not respond, but at least our offer would go some way towards convincing ordinary Indians not to fall for Pakistan-bashing.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

https://www.dawn.com/news/1948353/a-different-approach

Disqualified or not

Published in DAWN on April 27, 2013

THE Election Commission of Pakistan has reportedly not disqualified some people who have submitted fake degrees.

One is tempted to ask about the use of Articles 62 and 63 if wrongdoers are not restrained from contesting elections. Knowing the mindset of the majority of our voters (who mostly vote on a caste basis), immoral and corrupt people will be elected again, giving them ample time to loot the country.

The next government should do it immediately.

Shakir Lakhani,

Karachi

Nationalisation of education

Published in Dawn on April 27, 2013

I SEE returning officers behaving like Taliban, when I see lawyers garlanding a man who killed the Punjab governor in full view of the public, when I read of a judge who acquitted three rapists (despite DNA tests proving their guilt) because the rape victim could not produce the mandatory four witnesses to the crime. 

When I see all this, I know that this almost total collapse of society is due to the nationalisation of education by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first and the only civilian martial law administrator of the country.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

UK minister resigns after cheating on property tax

Strange people

Published in DAWN on September 29, 2024 

 

BRITISH deputy prime minister Angela Rayner had to resign recently when it was discovered that she had cheated the government by not paying the full amount of property tax on her apartment. While accepting responsibility is a common practice in certain parts of the world, Pakistani politicians must have been shocked beyond belief. Has anybody heard of ministers in Pakistan paying property tax at all? And why should someone have to resign for something that is the norm in Pakistan? I will not be surprised if some of them believe that this is one of those `London plans` that are concocted every few years to destabilise the government. Pakistan should make it clear to the British government that such resignations are not in Pakistan`s interest, and that nothing of the sort should be allowed the next time one of their ministers is found to have been dishonest.

It is a matter of national interest, after all.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

https://epaper.dawn.com/DetailImage.php?StoryImagae=29_09_2025_007_006

No law for sugar mill owners!

NO LAW FOR MILL-OWNERS: If there is one thing we have learnt from all the past and present sugar crises, it is that no action will ever be taken against those responsible for the soaring prices. Mill-owners want to increase their wealth, buy properties and go on vacations. After all, most of them have spent a lot in getting elected to parliament. We should let them enjoy their illegally obtained wealth and not waste our time and energy in pointing out the rampant corruption around us. It is purely our fault for living in a country where there is one law for them and another for us.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Dawn, September 13, 2025

https://www.dawn.com/news/1941625/no-law-for-mill-owners

 

 

Looting by Mobilink Jazz

Exploitative company

Published in DAWN on September 6, 2025

 

THIS is with reference to the editorial ‘Damning audit report’ (Aug 23), which, among other things, pointed out that a telecommunication company over-charged its customers to the tune of Rs 6.58 billion in a single financial year.

Over the last couple of years, the same company has been regularly increasing the price of its basic post-paid package, with the result that I am now paying more than twice the amount than what was the case earlier. When asked, its representatives told me that I could now use 15GB of data compared to four in the past, along with 3,500 minutes talking time and 3,000 messages. But I do not want all that. I just want 4GB data and a talking time worth no more than 100 minutes.

Why is there no cheaper package for consumers like me? The official reply is that I can always use a pre-paid package or switch to another cellular company. This is what corporate fraud looks like.

 

Shakir Lakhani 

Karachi 

https://www.dawn.com/news/1940095/exploitative-company

Failure to get Imran Khan freed

A key difference

Published in DAWN on August 17, 2025

THIS is with reference to the editorial ‘Another attempt’ (Aug 6). The fact that there has been no popular movement to get the jailed opposition party leader freed despite two years of incarceration proves that the party and its leader are not as popular as they believe, or they want others to believe.

They fully expected that United States President Donald Trump would secure his release from prison. That did not happen. They spent millions on lobbying in order to persuade US Congressmen to do the bidding, but to no avail.

Recently, his two sons flew to the US for the same purpose, and returned without any result. They even spent a huge amount placing an advertisement in the New York Times, calling attention to the man’s ‘plight’ and appealing for his release. Where is all this money coming from?

Other Pakistani leaders, past and present, have been jailed for periods much longer than the former prime minister, but they did not go to any such length to secure their release.

And, this is despite the fact that the man has been jailed for corruption after an extended legal process on the basis of tangible evidence that was available against him. Perhaps the other political leaders who were jailed in the past did not have as much wealth as he surely has.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

https://www.dawn.com/news/1931427/a-key-difference

 

Building collapse

Published in DAWN on July 24, 2025

BUILDING COLLAPSE: This is with reference to the editorial ‘Building collapse’ (July 5). I do not understand why some people often blame the Sindh government for such tragedies. It has done a ‘good job’ by taking necessary steps to prevent such incidents in future.

For instance, it renamed the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) as the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA). What else a government can do? Anyone can now violate building codes, and construct 15 floors above the permitted 10. This will allow at least some people to earn billions of rupees and send the money into foreign bank accounts. We should all stop blaming the seriously efficient Sindh government.

 

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

 

https://www.dawn.com/news/1926239/building-collapse

Boeing hired Indian software engineers at US$ 9.00 an hour!

Published in DAWN on July 01, 2025

THIS is with reference to the editorial ‘Air India tragedy’ (June 15) which stated that Boeing had reached an agreement with the United States Justice Department to pay $1.1bn to avoid prosecution for the two widely reported 737-MAX crashes. Boeing has a history of trying to cut costs, and for this purpose it outsourced to Indian engineers the development of its 737-MAX planes, paying them only nine dollars an hour because their American engineers would have charged $35-40 an hour, as reported by IndustryWeek, which quoted Mark Rabin, a former software engineer.

Rabin, while talking about Indian engineers’ lack of competence, said: “The coders … were typically designing to specifications set by Boeing. Still, it was controversial because it was far less efficient than Boeing engineers just writing the code. Frequently, it took many rounds going back and forth because the code was not done correctly.”

Also, an Indian company, Hindustan Computers Ltd (HCL), played a major role in the development of the 787 Dreamliners, one of which crashed recently less than a minute after take-off from Ahmedabad.

The teams investigating the crash should seriously consider all the relevant background while looking into the incident.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

https://www.dawn.com/news/1921317/dangerous-option

Fundamental questions

Published in DAWN on April 8, 1998 

Embed from Getty Images

This is with reference to Mr. Zaman Khan’s letter “Fundamental questions.” (Dawn, April 2). One explanation for the Quaid’s actions in the days after Independence may lie in the fact that he was too ill. The nation had a Prime Minister and a Cabinet, and Mr. Jinnah may have felt that he was bound to accept whatever decisions taken by them. 

But one should also remember that those were the days when the new-born country was fighting for it’s very survival. Dr. Khan Sahib and his partymen had been bitterly opposed to the creation of Pakistan, and they had lost the sympathy of the majority of the province after the vote for Pakistan in the referendum. 

Regarding the methods used to win over the support of the majority in the Assembly, Mr. Jinnah cannot be held responsible. He was after all the head of the state, not the head of the government. The courts were fully functional in those days also, and if questionable methods had been employed, these should have been challenged by the disgruntled few who were affected.

A month of homoeopathy

Published in DAWN Magazine on August 9, 1998

You’ve had sinusitis since you were a child. Someone tells you to try homeopathy. You go to an aged homeopath, one whom a neighbour recommends highly, and you are struck by the way he listens courteously, not at all like the allopathic doctors you know (whose only concern is to earn millions every year). He gives you some pills and powders and immediately you feel better. 

A month later, you realize that you aren’t your normal self. You feel, in fact, like you did when you were sixteen. So, on your next visit, you ask him if there’s anything else in the stuff he gives you which makes you feel so young. He beams. “It’s working, “ he says, “You’ll be a real man in a couple of weeks.” You almost faint. You remind him that you’ve paid him a small fortune to clear your nose, not to turn you into a raging maniac. He explodes. “You’re a funny man, “ he says, “Why don’t you like it?”

A horrible thought strikes you as you listen to the drooling nut. If he can make you a youthful 16-year-old, what’s to prevent him turning you into an 80-year-old doddering wreck? You decide, quite wisely, never to go to him again.

Jaywalker and the cops

 Published in DAWN on June 19, 1996

I was sorry to read about Jaywalker being injured in an accident involving a stolen yellow cab "belonging" to a CIA cop (Dawn Magazine, January 5).

Here is something to ponder over for our industrious DIG, who has been appealing to the public to bring to his attention any wrongdoings by policemen. He should immediately order an investigation into the affair. The concerned cop should be asked how the stolen yellow cab came into his possession, and whether he or his cronies have more stolen yellow cabs in their use. If the enquiry also reveals that quite a few policemen are the owners of mini-buses, the public should be informed how such things are possible, considering the kind of salaries the cops are paid.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

A narrowly averted mishap

 Published in DAWN on October 2, 2000

I'm not sure whether there's something in our Constitution that guarantees that PIA personnel cannot be held accountable for negligence, but after what happened on the night between September 20 and 21, a detailed study of the Constitution is required to find out if this is is so.

Flight No PK-307 took off almost on time (at 2215 hrs), but after about 20 minutes, the pilot noticed that either there was something wrong with the gauge indicating oil pressure in the hydraulic system of the landing gear or that it had practically no oil in it. Since I was seated in the first row (only a few feet from the cockpit and the crew), I knew what actually happened. It seems that the flight engineer (or whoever it is whose job it is to check whether the aircraft should be allowed to fly) didn't do what he was paid to do.

It was sheer luck that the pilot happened to notice the lack of oil pressure and decided to turn back to Lahore. When the plane landed, there were fire engines and ambulances on the ready, and the passengers smelt burning rubber. As soon as the Airbus stopped, the first thing the crew did was to find out if the tires were still intact. Fortunately, the brakes and the landing gear were not damaged, and a crash landing was not necessary.

I know that only a remarkably stupid person would suggest that an inquiry should be held to determine what really happened. In fact, the entire staff at the Lahore Airport during the next four hours actively collude with the PIA crew in pretending that what had happened was perfectly normal and nothing to worry about. At first, they announced that the plane would leave within an h our (at 2359 to be exact).When the new day began, they said it would be ready by 1 am. Finally, we were able to depart at 0315 am. 

The authorities should check if these facts have been recorded, or whether some fudging has taken place to protect those responsible for the near-disaster. I hope someone who cares for Pakistan is reading this and will take whatever action is necessary. Perhaps if those found negligent are punished PIA staff will be more careful in future. The two foreign engineers who were with me on what nearly became an ill-fated flight swore never to travel by PIA again. 

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

The 'saint' of the donkeys

Published in DAWN Magazine on May 3, 1998

Embed from Getty Images

YOU HAVE lost everything you had, even your wife has left you and creditors are hounding you to death. So you go to the one who has been your mentor, the man who looks after the shrine where you have worshipped since you were a boy.

"Guru," you say to him with tears in your eyes, "I've lost all hope. If you don't help me, I shall surely die".

He is deeply moved, and  asks you if you will do whatever he says. Of course, you reply.

So he says, "take this donkey and look after it day and night. No matter what happens, take care of it, and soon you shall be a rich man".

You're incredulous, but you do as he says. In a few days, the donkey dies, for you don't have enough to feed him and yourself. But you've promised to look after him whatever happens, so you bury him in a spot by a busy road. You keep the grave covered with flowers, and you build a hut there as well. Pretty soon, people passing by stop at the grave for prayers. They leave a little something with you when they leave, and in a few months you have saved enough to build a monument. The site soon becomes a place of pilgrimage and you become famous as a spiritual leader. 

In a couple of years you marry again, buy a Pajero and pay a visit to your benefactor, the man who told you to stick to the dead donkey. Oh wise man, you ask him, how did you ever guess that looking after the donkey would make me so wealthy? Simple, my son, he says. I made my millions after I buried your donkey's grandpa here.

Shakir Lakhani