How to Eliminate Corruption in Pakistan: Simplicity and Transparency of Bureaucratic Procedures

Corruption is directly proportional to the complexity of  bureaucratic procedures and is inversely proportional to the transparency of bureaucratic procedures. The bureaucratic procedures are being made more complicated (eg. even a pencil purchase requires approval) and censorship is being imposed, which will further decrease transparency and will thus increase corruption. For a perfectly transparent process, Each and every step of the bureaucratic procedure must be transparent and visible on government websites for all cases without exception. All decisions for all cases must be visible to all.

Is Criticism of Imran Khan as PM something new?

Saw this post: ‏عمران خان کا1،1دن گناجارہاہے
میں حیران ہوں اس ذہین ترین قوم پر پچھلے70سال کیسےگزرگئے
Here is the history for youth who do not read history. Pakistan has never been a bed of roses, even for military dictators. There were mass protests every year since 1950. Here are some from my memory: 1952 qadiani riots n Lahore Martial Law,  1954 bengal riots, 1955-7 five prime ministers changed, 1958 martial law, 1962 BD elections, 1964 Fatima Jinnah elections protests, 1965  Operation Gibraltar leading to war with India,  1967 Karachi language riots, 1969 sugar price hike riots, 1970-71 lost half Pakistan, 1972 Balochistan ptotests and language riots, 1973 anti qadiani movement,  and Pakistan constitution, 1974 mass protests, 1976-77 elections and pna movement closures for several months with curfew, 1977 gen Zia's martial law, 1979 Bhutto hanging closures, 1980-81 alzlfiqar, 1982-83mrd movement, 1985 till today nearly every week of every month there were mass killings, blasts, protests,...
(pl add and fill in the blanks in comments. I will update here)

Overcoming Forex/IMF Problem through Incentivizing Small Producers of Solar Energy

How to resolve Dollar PKR devaluation problem and avoid IMF loan.

I think PTI Imran Khan's strategy to focus on small producers has a lot of potential. Here is what can bring tabdeeli through massive generation of jobs and overcoming the foreign exchange issue of rising dollar and devaluation of rupee. I think experts in PTI with ability of out-of-the-box creative thinking must look at this proposal.

Solar incentives can create massive saving on the $10bn/yr oil-gas imports. It can create at least 2m home entrepreneurs and other supporting businesses along with pumping and generation of economic activity of Rs 4 trillion!

Instead of IMF bail out, PTI can go for a massive crowd funding investment in energy sector. Here is how:

PTI should give the same subsidy to home solar energy producers on self generation of solar energy and net metering equal to that offered to PPIs for energy generation from wind or gas. Government must ensure availability of low cost and high quality solar panels through Incentivizing their imports or their local production. I am sure at least 20 lac home owners can easily invest around Rs 20 lac each in solar generation for their homes with their surplus energy getting pumped into the grid. This is 20lacs x Rs 20lacs = Rs 4 trillion investment. It will generate 20 lac entrepreneurial jobs generated by home owners who have become self employed through this. In addition there would be at least 5 lacs to 1m support jobs of installers, maintainers, equipment traders, importers, suppliers. It will also say good bye to at least $4-5bn of imported oil n gas for energy sector. This is going to be a recurring saving and will substantially improve our balance of payment woes, strengthen the rupee, reduce devaluation. Furthermore, it will increase our self-worth, will reduce meddling of IMF and World Bank in the manipulation of our economy. We will also become resilient to single point of failures often witnessed due to the problems of distribution.

Who will lead the resistance to change. This is going to be Oil lobby who are going to scream and oppose this scheme. Oil and Gas Sector vested interests and IMF/World Bank type big lenders will be most worried and will try their bests to throttle the initiative.

Love of Research and Books-Prof Ahmed Saleem

I went to meet Professor Ahmed Saleem at his home library. His house is in Judicial Town near Chhattar Park in a very picturesque setting at the foot of the hill with stream flowing near by. His library consists of his personal collection of over 45,000 books and a collection of newspapers since 1947 of Jang,  Imroze, Pakistan Times etc. His room is next to the library and resembles more of a bed placed in a library room with a nearby desk-chair and a small sofa. 

The library is divided into various sections. Sections on East Pakistan, Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh, Gilgit-Baltistan had around six shelves each containing several thousands books. He has command over Punjabi (mother tongue), Pushto (grew up and did his early schooling in Peshawar), Sindhi (taught for around 5 years in Sindh University) and has a working knowledge of Balochi. There is a separate sections of Urdu literature (he taught for around 5 years at KU). There are additional sections on Iqbal, on feminist authors and their works. He also has a shelf filled with his own books. It contains a large number of research oriented works that he had produced as a researcher for SDPI,  an NGO in blue area Islamabad with which he had been associated with over 20 years. He proudly showed me some precious collection of magazines and newspapers and documents dating to mid 19th century. There are valuable issues from over hundred years of monthly Ismat and Tehzeeb e Niswan. 

I had gone there to collect articles by Mrs  Altaf Husain Fatima Khatoon. She was the mother of my late father-in-law Ausaf Husain, and she was also my father's second cousin. Apa Fatima Khatoon's  articles and poetry was published in monthly Ismat from 1950s till her death in 1983 under the name of Mrs Altaf Husain. I had around 50 articles and pieces written by her in Ismat that I got from my father's collection. In researching about her I happened to meet Ms Safoora Khairi, the current managing editor of Ismat. She connected me to Prof Saleem. My objective was to see if I can get more articles from Prof Saleem's collection.  

I managed to get 20 more pieces by Mrs Altaf Husain from Prof Saleem's library which has Ismat issues since its inception in 1908 by Allama Rashid ul Khairi till present. Prof Saleem has also published an index of all the articles published in Ismat from 1908 till 1947, a work that he got completed as part of the MPhil thesis of his student. The newly obtained articles when added with 50 that I have from my father's collection are sizable enough that  I am planning to publish in a book form (inshallah). While searching for these in Prof Saleem's library, I managed a wonderful discussion with him on his associations with literati, their works and his learning from them. 

He talked about his association with Ahmed Faraz while he was growing up in Peshawar, and his association with Faiz and his association with Ibn e Safi. He told how his parents would not allow him to read ibn e safi while he continued despite their punishments. He talked about his love for books and how he collects them. He said that he knows several second hand junk dealers. They call him whenever they get some old document that they think would be valuable for Prof Saleem. 

He mentioned that he is planning to create more space by either moving on the second floor or obtaining a place nearby. There is a need for preparing a proper catalog of all the books and the need for more space for shelving. The books did not have that stuffy smell that comes in collections that are not properly exposed to sunlight and fresh air. Both these things were there. However, since his movement to this place in recent months, the books need to be properly shelved. Given his age and his recent operation, this appears to be a tall order. He said he would be getting some full time assistant as soon as there is more space for him to be seated. He has only a daughter who lives in Rawalpindi. There is a this treasure of books that needs a proper institution for preservation and access.

Anyhow, it was such a pleasure knowing and meeting him. You should all seek him out through his employer SDPI's office in blue area. A treat to meet a knowledge encyclopedia like him. 

See Also:

• Baba Rehmatay- From Chief Justice to Chief Executive: Tilting at the Windmills?
• Dr Muhammad Mahmud of IBA: A Self-made Industrious Faculty Member
• Dr Wahab and IBA of 1980s and 1990s
• Edhi, Old Home and our Bari Bi
• Exemplary Inspirational and Collaborative Leadership - Dr Hasan Sohaib Murad - New!
• Growing up with Mohammad Ali's Legend
• Mukhtar Masud's Awaz-e-Dost and Love for Literature and History
• Rememberance of the Loved Ones and Life
• Role Model of Forthrightness, Calm and Resourcefulness: Daud Khaloo
• Sardar Mamoo - Reliance and Tawakal on Allah- Life is to give and not to take
• Shahjehan S Karim - Visionary Social and Ethical Leadership
• Sir Najmul Hasan of IBA and How to Determine the Extent of Your Success in Life

Growing Up in the 1960s-70s: Recollections of Rauf Mamoo by his Daughter

Recollections of Faryal Osman daughter of Rauf Mamoo (Major Shah Mohammad Ismail, Artillery SP3), while growing up in Nowshera when Rauf Mamoo was a Captain and later in Hyderabad where he was posted as Major before his retirement. The chronicle is interesting because it describes the life and times of junior army officers during those times.

میری پیدائش حیدرآباد کے سی ایم ایچ میں ھوئ ۔جس دائ کے ہاتھوں ہوئی بہت بعد میں عمران کی پیدائش ،جو کہ اسی سی ایم ایچ میں ھوئ، وہ بھی اسی دائ کے ہاتھوں ہوئی ۔امی نے اسے پہچان لیا تھا ۔ہم سب ایک دوسرے سے مل کر بہت خوش ھوئے ظاہر ھے اس خوشی میں عمران کا آنا بھی شامل تھا ۔ اس زمانے میں امی کو سوا مہینہ نانی نے گھر میں رکھا ۔ابو کی پوسٹنگ  پشاور میں تھی ۔امی ابو دونوں جاب کرتے تھے ۔لہازا سوا مہینہ بعد امی مجھے میری نانی کے پاس ہی حیدرآباد چھوڑ کر چلی گئیں ۔میرا خیال ھے جاب کا بہانہ ہی تھا، اصل میں ہماری امی جان سے ہمیں سنبھالا نہیں جاتا تھا کہ وہ بہت نخریلی اور نازک مزاج تھیں ورنہ جاب چھوڑی بھی جا سکتی تھی ۔ عجیب بات ھے اس زمانے میں لوگ بہت آرام سے اپنا بچہ کہیں بھی چھوڑ دیتے تھے ۔عثمان کے ایک بھائ بھی پیدا ھوتے 

ہی اپنے ماموں جان کو دے دیئے گئے تھے ۔

Zauq-e-Aagahi, Quresh Pur and PTV's role in Inspiring a Generation of Knowledge Seekers

Once upon a time on PTV we used to have quiz competitions of the highest order. I grew up with many such programs that made me look up to the contestants as the wizards of knowledge. Unfortunately today on TV we find nothing except crass, gross, coarse and vulgar competitions like programs where they are competing on everything except knowledge. These so called competitions have promoted lust for money and has encouraged people to perform any wild and vulgar act just to gain a gift for which begging and stooping low becomes the order of the day. They have any thing except inspiration for pursuit of knowledge.

Exemplary Inspirational and Collaborative Leadership - Dr Hasan Sohaib Murad

Today (Sep 10, 2018), with the departure of Dr Hasan Sohaib Murad for the hereafter. I lost a mentor, a guide and a trail blazer who exemplified what does it mean to be an inspirational leader. Inna lillah e wa inna ilaihi rajioon. A loss that seems more acute because I could have learned much more from him than what I did. Here I relate my observations about his achievements as a great collaborative leader, an inspiration for all those who met him, and my learning from him.

"Skin in the Game" Public Service Reforms in Pakistan- A Proposal

The fastest way to reform the public sector is to bring the bureaucracy's skin in the "game" of changing the bureaucratic structures and increasing the efficiency. Unless the decision makers are themselves going to feel the adverse consequences of their decisions and hurdles they would not be willing to make positive changes in improving the efficiency and reducing the long term costs of their decisions. Here are some of the reforms that will expedite the change in bureaucratic structures and efficiency for the better by involving all ministers and grade 18 and above officers (VIPs). (i) All ministers and grade 18 and above bureaucrats must be forced to get medical treatment only from government hospitals. They must be compelled to use the same process, same queues, same medicines, same wards and same food that is being given to any other patient. This is being implemented by Indus Hospital and even SIUT for all patients irrespective of the status or affiliation of the patients. (ii) Similarly, all ministers and grade 18 and above bureaucrats must be forced to get their children enrolled in government schools and universities. This should be done with a provision that no two VIPs are allowed to go into the same school till all the schools have at least one VIP. The latter provision would force all schools to be upgrades instead of a few reserved for VIPs. (iii) Similarly, such provisions could be designed for all other public services using the parameter of average case disposal time. (iv) For example, to reform AGPR's pension process, the VIPs should not be allowed to get their pension process approved in a time period less than the average time taken by other pension applicants. (v) (vi) Similarly, to expedite the passport or CNIC application process, the VIPs should not be allowed to get their application process earlier than the average time taken by the people. (vii) There should be no special protocol for any VIP of any stature whether from judiciary or intelligence or military. VIPs should be entitled to that security which is available to common people. (viii) To improve the public transport service, all grade 18+ officers must be forced to travel via public bus services or Pakistan Railways to their nearest destination irrespective of the nature of their work. No official cars should be allowed on routes where public bus service or railway service is available. All air travel should be banned for the VIPs. (ix) Similarly, disposal of cases of serving judges and other VIPs should not be done earlier than the average time of disposal of all cases at a particular stage (trial court, high court or supreme court stage). (x) For Police Reforms, no VIP's case should be taken out earlier than any other applicant in the queue. The procedure must be the same for everyone. Any exceptional call that is received by the police on any mobile number of office number must be visible to all the public. One can then work out other such processes for all the other public services.

Flight from Bedar when Hyderabad Deccan fell to Indian Invasion in 1948

This post describes my maternal family's flight from Bedar Hyderabad at the time of the annexation of the Nizam-ruled princely state of Hyderabad Deccan by Indian forces in September 1948. 

See podcast of my mother's sister Arsalan Khatoon who was among the group that had to run empty handed with her mother, brothers and sisters. 

https://soundcloud.com/citizensarchive/arsalan-khatoon-podcast

"Operation Polo is the code name of the Hyderabad "police action" in September 1948, by the newly independent India against the Hyderabad State.  It was a military operation in which the Indian Armed Forces invaded the Nizam-ruled princely state, annexing it into the Indian Union. At the time of Partition in 1947, the princely states of India, who in principle had self-government within their own territories, were subject to subsidiary alliances with the British, giving them control of their external relations. In the Indian Independence Act 1947 the British abandoned all such alliances, leaving the states with the option of opting for full independence. However, by 1948 almost all had acceded to either India or Pakistan. One major exception was that of the wealthiest and most powerful principality, Hyderabad, where the Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, Asif Jah VII, a Muslim ruler who presided over a largely Hindu population, chose independence and hoped to maintain this with an irregular army recruited from the Muslim aristocracy, known as the Razakars." [Wikipedia]

See also:

• Sardar Mamoo - Reliance and Tawakal on Allah- Life is to give and not to take
• Traditions of Ramadan: Reflections of Past Ramadans for Rekindling
• Role Model of Forthrightness, Calm and Resourcefulness: Daud Khaloo
• Sardar Mamoo - Reliance and Tawakal on Allah- Life is to give and not to take
• Smoking and Childhood 
• Recollection of an Unforgettable Recitation of Majaz's Nazr-e-Aligarh
• Ethical Standards for writing Recommendation Letter: A Deputy Commissioner's refusal in 1943
• Family Tree of Sadat e Nehtaur: A Case Study of Compilation of Social History
• Edhi, Old Home and our Bari Bi
• Rememberance of the Loved Ones and Life
• Remembering East Pakistan: We look before and after, And pine for what is not
• Computer Revolution and Moore's Law: A Personal Journey
• Companions of Hajj: Dekh mera Zauq o Shauq (Yearning and Passion)
• Pursuit of Excellence vs Guzara: How to teach excellence through everyday examples
• Of Achars, Chutneys and Halwas: A Lifestyle Getting Lost Through Branding and Mass Production
• Secret of Happiness: One Simple Rule
• How Language Acquisition is Made Difficult for Children: Eight Lessons from an Urdu Acquisition Case Study
• Of Jungles, Streams, Berries and Wild Pink Flowers: Costs of Commercialization of Islamabad
• How to find "Buzurg" and "Wali" of Allah
• How to Sprinkle Happiness Around You: Javed Bhai (Dr Zaeem Jafri) – A Jolly Good Fellow
• Ansari Sb: Khawjgan e Chisht Ahle Bahisht
• Rauf Mamoo - How to Make People Feel Special and Close

Essential Orientation for Teachers and Faculty Members

Essential Orientation for Faculty Members, Teachers and Facilitators embarking on a journey to understand experiential learning and weaning away from the conventional mode of teaching. In my opinion this is the minimum level of understanding required by teachers of schools and universities.To maximally gain from this material, watch the following videos and read the following blog posts. Then write your reflections by connecting the ideas to your experience or observation.

Videos

• Sir Ken Robinson: Changing Education Paradigms
• Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?
• Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!
• Angela Duckworth: Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
• John Hunter on the World Peace Game
• Diana Laufenberg: How to learn? From mistakes
• Sam Richards - A Radical Experiment in Empathy
• Kiran BirSethi teaches kids to take charge
• SugataMitra's new experiments in self-teaching
• Cameron Herold: Let's raise kids to be entrepreneurs
• Arvind Gupta: Turning trash into toys for learning
• Kathryn Schulz: On being wrong
• Deb Roy: The birth of a word
• Patricia Ryan: Don't insist on English!
• Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are by Amy Cudy 
• Parhogelikhoge by Dawn News Channel
• Alan Kay shares A powerful idea of ideas
• Play is more than Fun 

Essential Blog Posts

These are the essential blog posts from my blog at syedirfanhyder.blogspot.com:

• How STEM and Learning is made difficult
• Why Project Based Learning? An Experiential Learning Case Study of Language Teaching
• How Language Acquisition is Made Difficult for Children: Eight Lessons from an Urdu Acquisition Case Study
• Subject Compartmentalization vs Holistic Learning: How to align with natural process of learning of a child
• Problems with Bloom's Taxonomy: Impact on Curriculum and Motivation of Students
• Education as Tazkia: Is a child like a clean slate?

See also:

For the list of all my posts on School Education, click here

For the list of all my posts on Higher Education, click here

For the list of all my posts related to PhD and Research, click here

Suo-moto judgment for Criminal Cases vs Summary Military Trials (Kangroo Courts)

I would like to invite those interested in law and constitution to comment on this post. Here I am looking at the role of Suomoto Judgment in criminal cases and cases related to corruption. I think suo-moto was originally conceived in the constitution for constitutional cases and constitutional rights cases that require immediate action where general interest of people is being violated.

How suo-moto cases of supreme court
compare with summary military trial courts

How to be a Change Leader and a Job Creator

[IoBM Orientation for New Students Sep 1, 2018]
As I look at your beaming faces, your youthful energy, and your ambitions for shaping the future of our nation and our dear country, I am filled with hope. I am sure that our future is destined to be better than our today. It is also welcoming to see that "change" and "job creation" are among our top national priorities today. Today I would like to share with you how you can be a change leader and how you can be a job creator.

Technical Analysis of Helicopter Cost Debate for PM Imran Khan Travel

Recently Pakistan's information minister's claim that the helicopter ride of PM Imran Khan costs Rs50/km became viral on social media and caused a lot of posts debunking and defending with humor and exaggeration. There were also claims that the cost is Rs 30/km and not Rs 50/km and led to cynics doing all sorts of projections on the basis of these costs leading to outrageous conclusions leading to start of public transport service, parcel service and food service. Here is a technical analysis of this helicopter cost debate requires cost accounting, financial management and strategic management concepts as well as some common sense.

How to Sabotage Change (Tabdeeli) by Turning the Focus from Output to Input

Change Resistance from bureaucracy against IK's "tabdeeli" agenda through very clever manoeuvre by taking IK's eyes off the ball (output). By opening the Pandora box of holidays per week, Sir Humphery (of Yes Prime Minister serial fame) or equivalent senior bureaucrat in the IK's clique had turned the debate away from "output" measurement and towards "input" measurement; no one wants to know how much input (#days, #hours ) bureaucrats are giving per week. People n PTIans do not want to know whether bureaucrats are inputting 5 days or 6 days per week, or whether they are inputting 6 hours or 8 hours per day. This is input measurement. They want concrete measurable output. #jobscreated, #homes constructed, #cases resolved by courts, reduction in #kidsdropouts from school,... People want "output" not "input".

Traditions of Ramadan: Reflections of Past Ramadans for Rekindling

This is a time to reflect on our traditions and culture of Ramazan. I am wondering how many of Pakistanis are still experiencing these. There are some disturbing posts on FB and also through some of my interactions with others that inform me that it is not only time to reflect but also to rekindle these traditions through a conscious sustained effort. We can no longer take for granted some of these traditions wherever they are continuing. Here I reflect on my life and learning over the last 55 years with many of these traditions

How Long Pakistan has been Under the Corrupt Rule when Imran Khan Tookover

Only RAW agents or traitors can claim that IK has inherited 30-70 years of corruption in Pakistan. At most there can only be 10 years (2008-18) of corruption because by 2008 Gen Musharraf through his 9 years of most clean anti-corruption dictatorial rule had eliminated ALL corruption. During this rule, Gen Musharraf had completely obliterated corruption,  which was accumulated during bloody civilians' corruption infested rule during 1988-99. Pl note that by 1988, ultra-patriotic Gen Zia's anti-corruption martial law of 11 years had completely cleansed Pakistan from all the corruption that only ZAB must have accumulated during his 1971-77 rule. Of course ZAB corrupted a Pakistan that he got completely corruption-free. Pakistan was cleansed of all corruption through tireless n sustained efforts of two ultra-patriotic dictators Gen Ayub n Gen Yahya. Gen Ayub n Gen Yahya's rule spanned 14 years from 1958 to Dec 1971, through which they obliterated corruption accumulated by the bloody civilians since the inception of Pakistan. These patriotic dictators achieved this through angels descending from heavens and by 1971, by 1988, and by 2008 they had left the country pristine and blemish-free from any crime n corruption. Hence, all n every bit of corruption that exists today ONLY occurred during corrupt rule of ultra corrupt bloody civilians over the last 10 years.

• How Corruption is being Eliminated in Pakistan since 1950s: Corruption as a Ruse to Maintain Status Quo

Ghaus e Buner (Swat), Syed Ali Tirmidhi's Descendant Syed Akbar Shah of Sathana

By Muhammad Shafi Sabir

Tazkara Sarfaroshan e Sarhad: Syed Akbar Shah of Sathana

One of the most vocal and active resistance leader against the Sikh Regime's injustices was Syed Akbar Shah of Sathana. He belonged to the family of Ghaus e Buner, Hazrat Syed Ali Tirmidhi also known as Pir Baba Rahmatullah Alaihe. In tribute of Syed Akbar Shah, British Historians have this to say: "The death of Swat's Ruler Syed Akbar Shah on the 11th of May 1857 was a good omen for our Government. This was the day when news of the war of independence had reached our offices in Peshawar. If he were alive by this time, then the political scenario of the Frontier would have been much different."

• I want to explore links of this lineage with Syed Hasan Tirmizi in my Family Tree of Sadat e Nehtaur: A Case Study of Compilation of Social History One of the objective of this post is to stimulate some researcher to find the link between the two shajras with common ancestors in Tirmiz.

Market Value vs Cost Declaration of Properties in Tax Returns

Why variations in property value declarations in nomination papers?
Do u know property is declared for tax purposes at its purchase value, also known as book value? 
500yds DHA plot bought in 1990 for (say) 3 lacs is declared at 3 lacs, not its current market value which can be 3crores!
Rationale: Will you pay tax every year for property value appreciation? What if your property depreciates? Will you ask for tax credit? What scams will this fluctuations and adjustments may cause? What about fluctuations in stocks?
Hence, capital gains tax is only levied at the time of sale of the asset, when sale price is subtracted from purchase price. The difference becomes capital gains, and is taxed as Capital Gain Tax.

Property or land will be declared as per purchase value as well as current value in Election Commission assets declaration both, but only purchase value (at the time of purchase) will be provided in Election nomination papers. Also there is only property tax no wealth tax as of now, but we need to submit wealth statement with tax returns, property tax is provincial tax not federal.

As per IFRS and GAAP all properties supposed to be disclosed at cost or market value which ever is lower. Any depreciation needs to adjusted in balance sheet, but not enhance in the market value. So it should be at cost.

Neocolonialism and Indian Agenda for Pakistan

Neocolonialism and Indian agenda for Pakistan consists of the following points that they use their stooges in Pakistan to promote:

1. FATF restrictions on foreign trade. Further throttle whatever exports remain. Check!
2. Convert CPEC from "game changer" to "game over" (in progress)
3. Convert Positive sentiments into negative sentiments for outlook on Pakistan's Economic Progress. Check!
4. Change the election discourse from competition on development to competition on muck throwing (libel, slander, invectives). Check!
5. Stultify growth in domestic sectors by stopping investments in high growth industry and real estate sector. (in progress)
6. Convince world powers that Pakistan is not a democracy and is being controlled. Check!
7. Keep Pakistan perpetually destabilized and perpetually developing and perennially in ICU, and for ever dependent on WB, IMF,.. .
8. Make provinces fight against each other. Create conditions where people turn against state. (in progress)
9. Stop urban centers from becoming lively and engines of growth and keep them as ghettos that are dirty, violent, and unlivable.
10. Stop and stultify the vibrant and emerging social sector and government partnerships in health, education, poverty alleviation and environment.

Dr Muhammad Mahmud of IBA: A Self-made Industrious Faculty Member

Dr M Mahmud expired early morning of July 12, 2018. Inna lillah e wa inna ilaihi rajioon. May Allah reward him with the best of abodes in the hereafter. Aameen. Allah blessed him with 27th Ramazan night to start this journey.

He was an alumnus of IBA. His association with IBA started in 1967-68 in the accounts section and extended for over 40+ years. At the time of death, he was associated with IoBM as faculty and professor of finance and accounting department. He had been at IoBM for the last several years, and had also been HoD of Accounting and Finance department. As Dean, I found him to be diligent, conscientious professional who would take all his responsibilities seriously.

Dr Muhammad Mehmud (d. 2018)

Is Pakistan under a Judicial Martial Law? CJMLA parallel with CMLA

What is common between Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA) and a Chief Judicial Martial Law Administrator (CJMLA) or a Chief Executive Martial Law Administrator (CEMLA)?
"A creeping coup has taken place against the authority of the civilian government. The coup has taken place very quietly before the election," Mr Farhatullah Babar said in a seminar [1]. "It is different from the martial law of the past, with two resulting outcomes: the civilian government exists, but has no authority; press freedom exists, but journalists have no freedom."

This "creeping coup" is defined by this post as a Judicial Martial Law, a term which was formally demanded by Shaikh Rashid [2] on March 23, 2018. Despite pretensions to the contrary by the Chief Justice to have burred the Doctrine of Necessity [?], the scope creep of suo-motto notices across all organs of state and government demonstrate otherwise. This post argues that currently we seem to be under a Judicial Martial Law because the scope-creep of suo-motto has gone beyond the limits of the constitution and is now exhibiting the prominent distinctive attributes of a conventional army led martial law. The common attributes shared by the two versions of martial law include arrogation of the powers of the three pillars of the democratic state into a single person along with usurpation of the constitutional rights of due process of law and freedoms, specifically the right of expression, and a travesty of justice through an arbitrary and discretionary application of law and constitution through selective judgments that are contradictory to each other. 

Express news of March 23, 2018

Lesson from Decade of Development of Dictator Gen Ayub Khan: Development without People Representation

Do we want to build yet another big dam without building consensus among all the affected provinces? Do we again want to forget the disastrous consequences in our history when development projects were steamrolled without people's consent? We see in our media yet another drive to hammer the benefits of Kalabagh Dam (KBD) while relying only on technical feasibility data and completely ignoring the real reason for opposition, namely, the trust-deficit of the smaller provinces as explained in the linked post. This post reveals the reality of Gen Ayub's construction of seven dams during 1960s, which is being used to heap accolades on the role of dictator in Pakistan's development. The use of this approach in support of KBD is again going to be a recipe for disaster and alienation if we fail to  understand that "a nation that forgets history is forgotten by history!" Our history tells us that development projects of the 1960s, which were forced down the throat of the people without their representation, had led to disastrous results. The case of seven dams built in West Pakistan during 1960s which is being promoted on the social media as a great gift of dictator Gen Ayub Khan to Pakistan was one of the greatest disservice done to Pakistan. The naive dictator, caught in the spell of his neo-colonial handlers, may have been hoodwinked into believing with good intentions that "big" development projects benefit the people. However, the grandiose development projects ended up confirming the suspicion of Bengalis of East Pakistan that they were being disenfranchised by West Pakistanis. The development was a ploy and its visible concentration only in the West, was only designed to benefit the West Pakistanis. This feeling of injustice and disenfranchisement exploded when Gen Yahya, another military dictator from West Pakistan, refused to handover the power to Awami League, the political party from East Pakistan led by Shaikh Mujeeb that had won the 1970 elections. This led to mass protests in East Pakistan, followed by a brutal army operation, which finally culminated in secession of East Pakistan in 1971 as Bangladesh.

A Tribute to Cricket for Spearheading my English Language Acquisition - Sports and Language Learning

I often see parents worrying about language skills of their children. A closer look at the hobbies of such children will indicate that they are not passionate about any hobbies especially sports. Here I would detail the role of cricket in spearheading my English language acquisition.  As my interest grew, with cricket and started following the cricket there were some milestones.

The book that I read in 1980s

[Work in Process]
Coming soon

Role Model of Forthrightness, Calm and Resourcefulness: Daud Khaloo

I can still hear the distinctive sound of Daud Khaloo's Java motor cycle coming from afar in 1970s calm and quiet  Khawaja Nazimuddin Road portion of F-6/4 of Islamabad near China Chowk. It was the time when Shahrah-e-Quaid e Azam and the adjoining buildings  now known as the Blue Area had not yet been constructed, nor were there any high rises on Khawaja Nazimuddin Road.  The putt-putt of the Java motorcycle would announce his coming with Good Beti (Khala Jan) from the small bridge near our house in those clear, serene times of Islamabad. My mother and father would start issuing instructions on hearing this announcement to prepare for their reception.

Jawa motorcyle like this was brought by Daud Khaloo from USSR

Sardar Mamoo - Reliance and Tawakal on Allah- Life is to give and not to take

"Shah M Mubeen ur Rehman known in the family as Sardar was my ماموں  and veteran of wars of 1965 and 1971 (Baluch Regiment) and passed away with metastatic cancer in 1992. He along with his brother Shah M Ismail, served as رضا کار during Hyderabad Indian army action in 1948 and narrowly escaped death at the hands of Indian military. His older brother Shah M Farid ur Rehman was also a volunteer and was martyred during the migration following the partition of India, when the train he was travelling in was cut and the passengers were lynched by the mobs. His body was never found. An acquaintance who was sent to search for Farid Mamoo reported that he saw a body matching the description of the jacket that he was wearing.

Kalabagh Dam Use for Inciting Smaller Provinces against Federation-Technical Feasibility vs Trust-Deficit Issue

The opposition for big dams like Kala Bagh Dam (KBD) originates in smaller provinces from the same concerns and mistrust that we have for India building big dams up stream on Indus because it hurts Pakistan's lower riparian rights when the water is diverted away from us without our consent and approval. It is primarily a trust-deficit problem and is not technical or financial feasibility problem that many people typically think.

A Tale of Two Live Performances of Pastoral- 6th Symphony of Beethoven and My Musical Journey

Here I recall the two experiences of my life while attending two live performance of Beethoven's 6th Symphony, "Pastoral" and how they stimulated my love for Beethoven and classical music. The two experiences are spread apart by nearly thirty years. First was at UT Austin's Bates Recital Hall in 1989 conducted by Louis Lane and the second was at the Hong Kong's Cultural Center Concert Hall conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy in 2018, and this is a tale of my musical journey with Pastoral.

Louis Lane, Director Orchestra atThe University of Texas at Austin from 1989-92

Metro Transport Infrastructure of Hong Kong and Detractors of Metro for Pakistan

I just returned from Hong Kong. I was astounded to see the metro bus-train infrastructure and roads infrastructure with elevated expressways and flyovers constructed not only in city areas but also on sea and between islands. There are over 15000 buses plying on over 500 routes. Crisscrossing the islands were 11 train lines with such heavy use. I often saw several routes buses on the same bus stop. Not to speak of was the ferry service between the islands. There is no need for residents to own cars living in the congested city areas.

Metro Buses and Trains vs Health and Education-Tryanny of OR

Why can't we come out from the tyranny of "or"?
It should not be either metro "or" health/education. It should be metro train/bus "and" health/education. 
As admirably explained in Malcolm Gladwell's book "Built to Last", issues should not be cast as "either-or". Great leaders learn the power of "and" !
It is not either quality "or" cost. It is both quality "and" cost.

A Tale of Two Operations- 1999 Kargil Operation and 1965 Operation Gibraltar

1999 Kargil Op & 1965 Op Gibraltar: Two pompous dictators, two huge fiascos, two strategic miscalculations by dictator generals who live their early life saying only "yes-sir", and then live the remaining life only hearing and expecting nothing except "yes-sir".

Interestingly enough both of these clandestine operations had several common characteristics :

1. Both were secret operations. Only a very small clique within GHQ knew about the op. 
2. Both were brain child of a select few, know-all, be-all pompous dictatorial generals with delusion of grandeur. Led by pompous Gen Ayub n Gen Musharraf. 

Dictator Gen Musharraf as Bounty Hunter: Costs of Joining War on Terror

 [To understand the context of this post, please read At What Cost! Why Compute Economic Costs of Faulty Political Decisions]

References:

1. Musharraf handed over 4,000 Pakistanis to foreign countries
2. https://tribune.com.pk/story/1687073/1-musharraf-handed-4000-pakistanis-foreign-countries/
3. Pakistan suffers $123.1 bn losses in terror war
4. Pakistan’s losses in war on terror fail to impact US discourse
5. War on terror fought with Pakistan’s own resources, says FO after US aid cut
6. Viewpoint: Why Trump's threats to Pakistan raise serious questions
7. The Social, Political and Economic Effects of the War onTerror: Pakistan 2009 To 2011

How Corruption is being Eliminated in Pakistan since 1950s: Corruption as a Ruse to Maintain Status Quo

Sustained Elimination of Corruption since 1950s. All thanks to CJPs and our patriotic forces:
The corruption was first eliminated in 1951 when Liaquat Ali Khan was terminated and then corruption was eliminated by removing Khwaja Nazimuddin in 1953.
Corruption was again eliminated in 1954 when the Molvi Tameezuddin assembly was dismissed. The patriotic elimination of corruption was then institutionalized in 1955 with Patriot Chief Justice Munir's Doctrine of Necessity (DoN) and its ratification of dissolution of assembly. Corruption was repeatedly eliminated by Patriot Gen Iskandar Mirza for as many as 4+ times from 1956-58 under the watchful eyes of Patriot-in-Chief, CJP Munir. Then came patriot Gen Ayub and imposed Martial Law to eliminate corruption again with the blessings of CJP Munir invoking the DoN. Corruption was then eliminated by Gen Ayub for 11 long years from 1958 to 1969. Then Gen Yahya Khan came in 1969 to eliminate corruption and eventually eliminated it with his blitzkrieg surgical removal and amputation of the corruption filled half on 16th December 1971. CJP's patriotic DoN again ratified Patriot Gen Yahya's corruption elimination rule.

Can a Strong Clean Leader Solve All the Problems of Pakistan- Mythical Narratives

Is it possible to eradicate corruption by only changing the person at the top,  the man at the helm of affairs? Unfortunately, this seems to be the predominant narrative in Pakistan.  This narrative of "Pakistan Needs a Strong, Clean and Decisive Leader at the Top" has been selling in Pakistan since 1950s. This narrative states that Pakistan cannot progress without a strong decisive leader and therefore supports the changing the person at the top narrative under the doctrine of necessity. The narrative erects the bogey of Pakistan's survival is at stake and the fear of Pakistan's breakup is therefore used to justify the ushering in of strong dictators, one after the other, and sells the idea that politicians are weak and corrupt and responsible for all the malaise.

• See also: Are All Politicians Corrupt in Pakistan? Mythical Narratives Designed to Support Rule of Dictators

On one hand, this narrative justifies usurpation of the right of people to elect their leaders and learn from their mistakes. It also stops devolution of the power to provinces and from provinces to the district level as the specter of ethnic divide and fear of dismemberment is raised to stultify the experimentation of people with different political parties and types of leaders.
This narrative also justifies rule by military dictators and un-elected elites.

See also

• Is Illiteracy Responsible for Problems of Pakistan? Narrative to Justify Neocolonialism and dictatorial rule
• Narratives Designed to Dishonor Popular Choice and Support Neo-Colonialism

Agenda to Ensure Supremacy of Law and Constitution in Pakistan

My agenda is simply to strive for supremacy of rule of law and constitution. I am pained to see people hurling invectives, slandering, and condemning people as traitors without due process of law. Even if I know that someone is guilty, I have no authority to take law in my own hand and dispense justice of my liking. This will make me no different from the terrorists who based on their whimsical understanding are willing to explode their vests or the crowds that lynch to death people on mere suspicion of crime.
No,  the only fit and proper recourse for me if I think someone is guilty is to pursue the case as per "due process of law" under article 10A of constitution that upholds the "right to fair trial" as a fundamental human right. This applies equally to all citizens especially more so to CJP whose primary responsibility is to uphold the rule of law in dispensation of justice through ALL levels of judiciary: The fundamental criteria for evaluating quality of justice include  "justice delayed is justice denied" and "justice should not only be done but also seen to be done".

Top Ten Reasons Why HEC Abandoned Quality Ranking of Universities

Recent decision of HEC to abandon its quality rankings [1] needs to be welcomed. It was an initiative motivated by hubris with scant regard to societal and industry requirements. It was conceived and designed by those who wanted all the universities to become research universities and clones of each other. It was a whip with which to make all the universities fall into the same line ignoring their local, geographical, societal, and industry specific contexts and distinct advantages. The criteria appeared to have been designed to satisfy the Western industry and societal requirements, and not from the point of view of national and regional requirements.  The ranking was called quality ranking but was nothing more than measurement of quantities devoid of any qualitative input. It was plagued by political considerations for a quota system. It had the audacity to measure quality of teaching with PhD degrees, and did not discriminate at all across different disciplines with their unique requirements. Above all, there was no mechanism of verification of data. The ranking criteria had too many infirmities and was modified each time under political pressure. It gave too much weight to input and too little weight to outcomes and impact under the assumption that output measurements will suffice. Societal and Industry impact measurement was conspicuous by its absence. Bureaucratic measures of impact were considered to substitute for feedback from industry and society. There was little recognition of the quality of university processes. Above all, HEC being a funding agency and a regulator could not simultaneously also act as a ranking agency because it would try to give more weight to its own funding decisions. Hence, the ranking criteria became nothing more than the criteria of measuring the decisions of HEC fundings.

Is Illiteracy Responsible for Problems of Pakistan? Narrative to Justify Neocolonialism and dictatorial rule

[To understand the context of this post, please read At What Cost! Why Compute Economic Costs of Faulty Political Decisions]
Are Illiterates Responsible for Woes of Pakistan? Or Is this a Narrative to Support Exploitation? Is this narrative designed to support exploitation by the un-elected "educated elites" in the service of neo-colonialism? There is a dominant narrative in Pakistan which states that lack of education is responsible for all our woes and problems. The narrative starts by emphasizing the dismal statistics of illiteracy in Pakistan, and implies that "illiterates" are responsible for the lack of development and progress in Pakistan. This narrative allows the "educated elites" to absolve themselves of their disastrous governance over the last 70 years of our existence and shift the blame on to hapless "illiterates". This narrative justifies usurpation of power by the "educated elites" from the people and maintaining their exclusive hegemony over the distribution of resources. In Pakistan, "illiterates" have never been in power. Half of our existence has been directly under the military rule which had been justified using this narrative explicitly, and during the remaining half, the power had never been devolved to the people using this same narrative. Even the governments formed by the politicians elected by the people had been that of the "educated elites". If there is any clique that should be held responsible for the woes of Pakistan, then it can be no other than the "educated elites". This post explains how this happens.

Pakistan Helped US Become Superpower- In the Service of Neocolonialism

[To understand the context of this post please read At What Cost! Why Compute Economic Costs of Faulty Political Decisions]

How Pakistan helped US become a superpower is a classic case study of how developing countries are maneuvered to help neo-colonial powers achieve their global agenda. This was admitted on record by DG ISPR in Pakistan,  "Had Pakistan not played its positive role, USA might not be the uni-super power in the world". This was reported in the papers of 29th March 2018 including News, Nation, Dawn etc. The role which has largely been "positive" for the super power is actually "negative" in its fall outs on economy and stability of the country. It has mired us in un-wanted wars for benefits that in the long term turned out to be exorbitant costs. Neocolonialism is the control of developing countries through hegemony and imperialism and through installation of unrepresentative governments and dictators. Pakistan has suffered tremendously on each of these accounts to service neocolonialism. 

DoN godfathers Political Engineering of the SC Bench to Obtain Doctrine of Necessity Judgement

How SC Bench was engineered in 1955 to get the judgement of choice notorious as Doctrine of Necessity (DoN). Sindh High Court had decided against the decision of Governor General in 1954 to dissolve the Constituent Assembly, and had restored Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan to his office of the President of the Constituent Assembly. The following excerpt from Hamid Khan's book "A History of Judiciary of Pakistan" [1], describes the doctoring or political engineering of the bench in 1955 that was sitting on the appeal which was filed by the Governor General against the SHC decision. There were five judges on the bench. CJ Munir knew that getting the judgement of choice was not easy in the presence of upright Justice AR Cornelieus and Justice Shahabuddin who would not only stand up but would also persuade another judge to side with them leaving CJ Munir and the 5th judge in minority. Hence, it was decided to some how remove Justice Shahabduddin from the bench and elevate in his place an ad-hoc compliant judge from Lahore High Court. This was done through Governor General Ghulam Muhammad's machinations and scheming and obtained the notorious Doctrine of Necessity judgement [To understand the context of this post, please read At What Cost! Why Compute Economic Costs of Faulty Political Decisions]

Power of Word in Value Based Education: Discriminating Truth from Falsehood

Honorable Prime Minister, Group Chairperson City School, dignitaries, educationists, teachers and my dear students. I thank the organizers for giving me the opportunity to speak about value based education, some thing that is near and dear to my heart. Power of Word emanates from the depth of our feelings. Words are only words unless they have conviction and heart felt emotions supporting the message. The reason why we are talking about values today is because we have lost sight of the fundamental value that used to be ingrained in the lives of the students. Some 40 years ago, all the corridors and halls of the schools in the morning would start with the reverberation of that prayer from Iqbal that outlines the purpose of life of the students: To make my life a beacon of light whose purpose is to remove the darkness from the entire world and to spread light everywhere. Somewhere along the way, we lost sight of this noble value. Our education's purpose became my personal career and prosperity for me and my family. My only objective became to have a generator that would lit my home instead of my knowledge spreading light everywhere. 

Justice Delayed is Justice Denied: Covey's First Habit Advice to Chief Justice of Pakistan

[To understand the context of this post, please read At What Cost! Why Compute Economic Costs of Faulty Political Decisions]

What is the advice for Chief Justice of Pakistan(CJP) from Covey's First Habit of Highly Effective People: CJP ought to work on his circle of influence, instead of his circle of concern, by focusing on speeding up the judiciary's process of dispensation of justice. Justice delayed is justice denied. If CJP succeeds in reducing the average time of court cases, he would have effectively extended his "circle of influence" to encompass majority of zillions of issues which are currently in his "circle of concern" as shown in the figure. However, he can not extend his circle of influence without working on his circle of control i.e. session courts,  high courts and SC. Ignoring the circle of influence and control makes his attempts to address the myriad of issues in his circle of concern, resemble more like "tilting at the windmills" by Cervantes' Don Quixote [1].

Baba Rehmatay- From Chief Justice to Chief Executive: Tilting at the Windmills?

[To understand the context of this post, please read At What Cost! Why Compute Economic Costs of Faulty Political Decisions]

What is the constitutional role of CJP? To act as the Chief Justice who arbiters when there is a constitutional conflict between law passed by parliament and executive decision making, or is the CJP role to assume powers of the Chief Executive and start controlling  the executive decision making?  Given the recent intrusion into the executive policy making, Baba Rehmatay through an indiscriminate use of the the suo-motto powers, appears to be morphing from the role of Chief Justice in to the role of Chief Executive? Is CJP responsible for framing  (i) sugar policy, (ii) health policy, (iii) salt policy, (iv) education policy, (v) water policy, (vi) drugs policy, (vii) milk policy, (viii) media policy? Is CJP the framer of investigations policy, procedures and schedules for JITs, and NAB, is he the final approver of executive appointments, and determinant of hiring policy? The news reports below, quoting the remarks and observations of CJP, indicate that he is on a mission. Is the mission extending beyond the constitutional boundaries of judiciary? Ignoring the circle of influence and control over courts makes his attempts to address the myriad of issues in his circle of concern, resemble more like "tilting at the windmills" by Don Quixote as explained in
Covey's First Habit Advice to Chief Justice of Pakistan.