The curious case of Waheeda Shah!

Published in Daily Times on March 11, 2012

Sir: The Election Commission has done what needed to be done, although it would have been more appropriate if the lady had been banned for the rest of her life from contesting elections. But true to form, PPP leaders are blaming the media and the Election Commission. The PPP leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly said that the lady didn’t slap anyone, she merely pressed her hand (lovingly?) on the face of the polling officer. The lady candidate herself admitted that she had slapped the two women, thinking they were the polling agents of her rivals. The fact that she was in a polling station, where candidates are not allowed entry, has been totally ignored. The Sindh Chief Minister thinks the verdict is “strange”, probably because this is the first time that a feudal has been punished for doing something which she and her kind do every day. Mr. Chief Minister, stranger things are going to happen in the near future, and you better tell your party members to be prepared for them.

SHAKIR LAKHANI

Karachi

The myth of Bangladesh's "phenomenal" progress

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I’ve heard many times from fellow Pakistanis that Bangladesh has made phenomenal progress in comparison to Pakistan. Those who say this usually cite as proof that the Bangladesh Taka is stronger than the Pakistan Rupee (one Taka is equal to PKR 1.11). However, the exchange rate does not reflect the true picture of a country’s economy. The Indian Rupee, for instance, is much stronger than the Pak Rupee, but it does not portray that almost 80% (836 million) of India’s population is struggling to survive on less than half a dollar a day (if proof is needed, please visit

https://www.reuters.com/article/2007/08/10/idUSDEL218894 and many other web sites).

As the data below reveals, Bangladesh is lagging behind Pakistan in all sectors, except the growth rate, which is natural, as Pakistan is fighting a war in which more than 30,000 of its citizens have been slaughtered. It should also be remembered that Bangladesh was at the same stage of development as (West) Pakistan when it was “liberated” by the Indian Army in 1971. Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) already had a steel mill (which West Pakistan did not have), it had a huge industrial base including jute mills, a large paper manufacturing factory, textile mills, an automobile assembly plant, etc. I would like to add here that these industries were set up and developed almost exclusively by residents of West Pakistan after 1947.

The comparative data of the two countries is given below:

GDP (purchasing power parity):

Pakistan: $488 billion (2011 est.)

Bangladesh: $282.5 billion (2011 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

Pakistan: $204.1 billion (2011 est.)

Bangladesh: $115 billion (2011 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

Pakistan: 2.4% (2011 est.)

Bangladesh: 6.3% (2011 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

Pakistan: $2,800 (2011 est.)

Bangladesh: $1,700 (2011 est.)

Unemployment rate:

Pakistan: 5.7% (2011 est.)

Bangladesh: 5% (2011 est.)

Population below poverty line:

Pakistan: 24% (FY05/06 est.)

Bangladesh: 31.5% (2010 est.)

Budget:

Pakistan: revenues: $26.3 billion, expenditures: $40.6 billion (2011 est.)

Bangladesh: revenues: $12.67 billion, expenditures: $17.15 billion (2011 est.)

Taxes and other revenues:

Pakistan: 12.9% of GDP (2011 est.)

Bangladesh: 11% of GDP (2011 est.)

Electricity consumption:

Pakistan: 89.23 billion kWh (2008 est.)

Bangladesh: 23.94 billion kWh (2009 est.

Natural gas consumption:

Pakistan: 42.9 billion cu m (2011 est.)

Bangladesh: 20.1 billion cu m (2010 est.)

Current account balance:

Pakistan: $540 million (2011 est.)

Bangladesh: -$372 million (2011 est.)

Exports:

Pakistan: $30.9 billion (2011 est.)

Bangladesh: $23.86 billion (2011 est.)

Imports:

Pakistan: $39.35 billion (2011 est.)

Bangladesh: $31.75 billion (2011 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

Pakistan: $17.8 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

Bangladesh: $10.98 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

Amend the Constitution to elect killers and crooks!

Amending constitution

Published in The News on March 8, 2012

Article 62 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan lays down certain conditions which an aspiring member of parliament has to meet before he can contest elections. Among other things, the Constitution stipulates that he or she should “bear good character, should be righteous, non-profligate and honest”. Obviously, such a person would never think of slapping a polling agent. Neither would such a person have unexplained wealth like luxury houses in the UK or France, or huge deposits in Swiss bank accounts.

I, therefore, propose that the Constitution be amended to make such people eligible to become members of our assemblies. Before a person can become a member of parliament, he or she should have committed at least one murder, should be known as a gangster whose mere presence in a locality sends its residents running for cover, who should have a fake degree or a degree from a non-existent college or university, who should have property worth millions in foreign countries, and who should have been filmed slapping government employees.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Mixed signals-the war on Iran

Mixed signals

Published in DAWN on February 28, 2012

THIS is with reference to your editorial ‘Mixed signals’ (Feb 22). I am afraid that we are almost at the brink of war and Iran’s confrontationist attitude would only add fuel to the fire.

If further proof is needed, one only has to read the 89-year-old Henry Kissinger’s recent interview in which he is reported to have said (among other things): “We told the military that we would have to take over seven Middle East countries for their resources and they have nearly completed their job.

“We all know what I think of the military, but I have to say they have obeyed orders this time.

“It is just that last steppingstone, i.e. Iran, which will really tip the balance. How long can China and Russia stand by and watch the US clean up?

“The great Russian bear and Chinese sickle will be roused from their slumber and this is when Israel will have to fight with all its might and weapons to kill as many Arabs as it can.

Hopefully if all goes well, half the Middle East will be Israeli”.

SHAKIR LAKHANI

Karachi

ECP must act against Waheeda Shah!

ECP must act

Published in The News on February 29, 2012

Anything is possible in a country where a proven fake degree-holder is given a party ticket and gets elected again, where another person with a fake degree gets the post of law minister, and where a man convicted of money-laundering cannot be touched. So, it is not surprising that Waheeda Shah thought she could get away with slapping a polling officer.

I doubt if her party will take any action against her. It is also unlikely that she will be punished by the ECP. But if that happens she will probably be made special assistant to the prime minister or the president, who like to have law-breakers around them at all times.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Why was convict Zardari elected president?

Why was he elected?

Published in The News on February 14, 2012

In the write-up ‘The Swiss letter has to be, has to be, has to be written’ (Feb 11) Ahmad Noorani writes, “The fact Aitzaz knows is that the Swiss investigation magistrate had convicted President Zardari on October 29, 2007, and President Zardari’s appeal against his conviction was also rejected by the Swiss Court of Appeals on the basis of strong evidence on March 19, 2008”.

 

If Zardari had been convicted, why was he allowed to run for president in the first place? Why didn’t anyone raise this issue at that time? I’m sure on this basis alone he can be removed from his present post.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Hand over tax collection to private sector!

Tax business to the private sector

Published in DAWN on February 14, 2012

 

THIS is with reference to the news item ‘Tax return filing dips 42per cent (Jan 31). According to the report, “…in 2006, percentage of taxpayers in Pakistan’s population was 1.5 per cent, which remained the same in 2010, indicating that no efforts were made to bring more people in the tax net even though the salaries and perks of tax officials have been doubled.”

Perhaps this is why there is so much inefficiency in the FBR. The government should now consider reducing salaries and perks of our tax collectors. But the best thing, of course, would be to hand over the entire task of tax collection to the private sector, which will surely do a much better job than the FBR.

SHAKIR LAKHANI

Karachi

Ghost cops

Published in The News, February 13, 2012

I often wonder at the logic behind many steps taken by the DHA authorities. There was no need to make Khayaban-e-Shamsheer a one-way road (it is perhaps the widest road in DHA). Everyday I see motorists openly ignoring the road signs and going the wrong way. And now, to make matters worse, the DHA is removing speed-breakers from most roads. At least, in the absence of traffic police, the speed-breakers ensured that the traffic slowed down, but now (with most traffic signals out of order), the chances of accidents will substantially increase.

I also wonder why most of the DHA is without traffic cops (except for the few who are posted near Dr Zulfiqar Mirza’s house and those of other VVIPs). I won’t be surprised if one day it will be found that most traffic cops supposed to be working in the DHA are ‘ghost cops’ who turn up only to collect their salaries.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Why not just write the letter?

Published in The Express Tribune on February 8, 2012

KARACHI: This is with reference to Fauzia Wahab’s article of February 7, titled “The trial of her grave”. If there is no case against Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari why is there so much resistance to writing the letter to the Swiss court that the Supreme Court of Pakistan wants written? Far from being a trial of her grave, this would prove that she was honest and incorruptible because the result, going by a reading of Ms Wahab’s article, would clear up all allegations of corruption against the late prime minister.

Shakir Lakhani

Teach them Urdu, not Chinese!

Teach Urdu first

Published in The News on February 7, 2012

This is with reference to the news item ‘Chinese to be introduced in the country: Firdous’ (February 5). In the same day’s paper, Ghazi Salahuddin writes in his column titled ‘Fallen between headlines’ “as many as 58 percent children in the country cannot read a sentence in Urdu or in their regional language.” I therefore request Dr Firdous Awan to first concentrate on teaching Urdu to Pakistani children.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi