Urban hits and myths
From the Blog PkColumnist.com: Urban hits and myths - On a brief visit to Karachi, I almost got a crick in my neck on the drive from the airport: remembering all the grisly stories I had heard over the years about cars being stopped by bandits late at night on the road from the airport, I was constantly twisting around to see if we were being followed. Earlier, at the immigration desk, I had observed the official very carefully as he checked our passports. The reason? I had received several emails warning me to make sure pages were not ripped out of my passport. The writer did not make the motive very clear, excepting to suggest that the point of the exercise was to shake passengers down when they were leaving the country. Passports intact, my wife and I drove back safely. However, I had not told her about a possible danger lurking on the way: according to yet another email doing the rounds, armed robbers have taken to placing babies on the roadside by themselves. When people stop to investigate, they are held up at gunpoint, robbed, and women dragged off to be raped. All in all, not the kind of homecoming you look forward to. Of course, I didn't share any of these Internet-driven dangers with my wife. She had enough on her mind, given the reality of 70 people killed in Karachi over the last week. The government, of course, is frozen into inaction, its default position when faced with any crisis. More and more, it resembles a rabbit on a road, caught in the glare of rapidly approaching headlights. As I scanned the headlines on the morning of my return, I was struck by a sense of déjà vu (or, in this case, déjà lu, or already read). The Supreme Court had summoned yet another NAB official (does it have time for anything else?). One more shrine attacked. More drone attacks in Fata. The flood and its victims are scarcely being mentioned now. Oh yes, our delegation to Washington has secured yet more lovely greenbacks. Why is it that the more funds we beg from donors, the worse our economy seems to get? One new story: Sherry Rehman's house was surrounded by armed PPP goons, and the Member of the National Assembly was threatened with decapitation in a series of drawings on surrounding walls. Understandably, her young daughter was deeply upset, and the politician herself is disturbed by this thuggish tendency in her party. Her crime was to appear on a TV channel currently out of favour with the government, even though this puerile boycott was not made known to party members. Meanwhile, the usual stories of corruption in high places are doing the rounds. One well-placed friend in Islamabad told me that he knew of only two ministers who were not on the take. Considering there is a cabinet of 80 plus, it seems the gravy train is getting pretty overcrowded. Add to these numerous snouts in the trough the large number of presidential cronies let loose in the corridors of power, and you get an idea of the magnitude of sleaze allegedly rampant in the country. My source told me about a slush fund of ten million rupees a month being used to pay off journalists. Out of this amount, apparently only half makes its way to its intended beneficiaries, while the paymaster pockets the rest. What I want to know is, where's my share? And all this while we are begging the world for billions to rehabilitate the flood victims. In England, I was asked by many well-meaning friends who they should send their donations to. "But not to the Pakistan government," they made clear. Now, foreigners are insisting that they will channel their funds and supplies directly, or through NGO's, but not through official agencies. But my visit has also had several highlights. I saw a wonderful exhibition of drawings and miniature paintings by Murad Khan Mumtaz at Canvas Gallery. We had an excellent meal at Café Flo, where brain cutlets were on the menu for the first time. A friend took us to a stand-up comedy act by Sami Shah at the Boat Club. While the comic was very funny, many of his lines fell flat before a somewhat staid, middle-aged audience. My favourite one came when he was talking about the lawyers' movement, and the increasingly violent stance taken by some of its members. "What I want to know," Shah exclaimed. "Is what they are teaching at law schools these days. Karate? Unarmed combat?" This brings me seamlessly to the Supreme Court Bar Association election. I had heard that my old friend Asma Jehangir was a candidate for the post of president, and had assumed that she would win by a huge margin. Over the years, she has done more for human rights in this country than anybody else. Fearless and totally committed, she has campaigned tirelessly on behalf of the minorities and women. Against this backdrop, I was surprised to learn that the contest is actually very close. Apparently, some lawyers are running a smear campaign against her. She is being accused of being pro-government, although she has always maintained a distance from every ruling party, even when Benazir Bhutto, a close personal friend, was in power. Why she would wish to lead a moribund body like the SCBA is a mystery to me, but I would like to wish her luck in the election today. Flipping the TV remote compulsively as I do every time I'm back, I was struck yet again by how feverish our politics is. Normal political contacts trigger a wave of wild speculation. When Babar Awan met Chaudhry Pervez Elahi a couple of days ago, I saw popular TV anchors positively salivating live on my screen. It was not a pretty sight. What was even less attractive was the image of Elahi, oozing sleaze, and delighted to be in the limelight again. The thought of him, somehow sneaking into power through a back door opened by the PPP, is deeply depressing. . Read Full Post
PTCL Reported Net Profit of 2.08 Billion in Q1 2010
From the Blog Telecom News Bulletin: PTCL Reported Net Profit of 2.08 Billion in Q1 2010 - Pakistan Telecommunication Co Ltd today reported a net profit of 2.08 billion rupees ($24.22 million) in the quarter ending Sept. 30. The same period last year saw a net profit of 2.57 billion rupees. PTCL shares were trading 0.47 percent lower at 19.09 rupees, in a broader market KSE. . Read Full Post
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