Fun times at Mobilink – an inspied performance by Mobilink employees to celebrate the birthday of its youth brand – Jazba!

Hafta-e-Hijab: Hijab Musalmaan Aurat Ki Pehchaan Hai

Banners announcing Hijab week have been hung across Islamabad by the Jamaat-e-Islami. The Jamaat-e-Islami’s women’s wing is the force behind this celebration and recognition of Muslim femininity and piety. Here are my thoughts on this Islamic feminist effort:

1. Two thumbs up to the Jamaat for organizing a woman centric political campaign. Women despite being slightly more than 50% of the population in Pakistan remain neglected as a separate and unique electorate by all political parties. While all political parties have women’s wings – none of them have women centric platforms, agendas or nationwide campaigns. the Jamaat’s women’s wing seems to be light years ahead of the per-oxide brigade of most other political parties women’s wings. Note: per-oxide overdose can damage hair and also your brain. Use per-oxide with caution.

2. Two thumbs down for excluding women who happen to be Muslim but don’t wear the hijab. What about those that cover their head with a chaddor or duppatta. And what about those who dont cover their head at all? This political campaign clearly demarcates the chaste from the waste and while clearly defining, reaching out and making its target female electorate feel good about its self – it is also a prosletyzing nudge to those sitting on the hair covering fence.

3. The Jamaat’s existence pre-dates the existence of Pakistan. In 1947 or even 1987, the JI’s women’s wing would not have launched this campaign. This particular campaign is another indicator of the growing Arabization and Wahabi/Salfi trend in society and politics. This Hijab is the pious Pakistani woman’s newest accessory – a result of cross cultural influences from the middle east. A burqa or chaddor is just not going to make the piety or the Muslim femininity cute any more. Burn those burqas I say. They are now a fashion faux pas. The Hijab is the lastest religious riot!

4. If you are feeling left out and would like to participate – you might be bale to do so by Hugging a Hijaabi – just make sure that you are either female or a mehram. Otherwise hell fire and bearded brothers will be let loose on you.

5. Why hasn’t this campaign been sponsored by Sunsilk for covered hair?

I attended town hall meetings, and I stood in candlelight vigils and I sat on unusually quiet dining hall tables with my American friends as they tried to comprehend the tragedy they had just witnessed. I did not want to speak up and intrude on their grief because other than sympathizing with the human tragedy I could not experience it in the same way as they did – an attack against their home country. I was an outsider, granted the privilege of studying at one of their schools courtesy of their money.

So I remained silent. I did not quite comprehend then that even though this had not been an attack on my country – I would live to see its consequences far more vividly than any American.

Once the initial disbelief had died down, it gave way to rage. People were looking for someone to blame and Muslims that lived in America were the easiest target. There were ugly incidents of violence against Muslims and those perceived to be Muslims. Security at airports went up and if you had a Muslim sounding name, chances were that you would get treated like a potential criminal. Horror stories rolled in faster than I could keep track. And I wasnt interested in keeping track because none of it touched my life at college. My roommates and I – who were all American (except for Catherine – who was Canadian) continued to be worried about what college kids worry about – the Freshman fifteen, what to wear to the eighties dance and boys.

For four years at college – and then for a year afterwards – we lived together and loved each other without prejudice or consideration for color or nationality. Being a girl, and one who does not wear any overt symbols of religion, I never faced any prejudice on the streets either. There were no rude comments, no mean glares at airports or snide comments in stores or at the work place. I loved America and my life and friends there with all my heart. While 9/11 changed the world for many – it had no impact on mine – till I moved back to Pakistan.

I moved back in 2006 to a Pakistan very different from the one I had left behind. While the older pakistan had economic woes and political warts, it didn’t have suicide bombers. It wasnt a country held hostage by militants.

Common wisdom in Pakistan suggests that while 9/11 brought the twin towers crumbling in the US it brought the state and the entire state of affairs crumbling in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. The United States war on Terror unleashed a chain of events that have brought instability and insecurity to pakistan. It is undoubtedly true that the War on Terror has had a debilitating effect on Pakistan – but it’s really how we chose to deal with Pakistan in the wake of this War on Terror is what has brought Pakistan to its knees.

Its been ten years since 9/11 but we still can’t seem to get our own act together. We continue to fund and support known terrorists. Men like Hafiz Saeed roam free and no law in the land dare find them guilty. Mumtaz Qadri, a cold-blooded murder is a hero and the Punjab government through its budget provides support to the charity wings of banned terrorist outfits. This is either the worst case of complicity, duplicity or incompetence or all three. Have we not had ten years too much of the destruction that these men and their organizations have brought upon us and our country? We continue to quibble about Apples and bananas and one upping each other at press conferences but we can’t seem to get our act together to stop the bloodshed in this country. Corruption and mismanagement remain rampant and each day thousands sleep hungry and are denied justice. Yet we continue to blame America and its war on terror for all our ills. 

The suicide bombers and the militants that roam freely in our streets and detonate in our mosques are not a creation of the United States or the by-product of 9/11 – they are the creations of our own incompetence and failures.

For America, 9/11 is a painful memory. For us it’s a daily reality. And even though we experience that pain every day – we have not done anything about putting an end to it and moving on. Having lived through 9/11 in the US and through many such days in Pakistan – I can only hope and pray that we too will learn to band together the way America did after 9/11 to rebuild. In Pakistan, we only saw images of the American jets that bombed Afghanistan, we never saw the thousands of firefighters and citizens that came together to lift the debris of the two towers that were razed to the ground on that day. They were no different from the thousands that came together to offer Pakistanis shelter from the floods or opened their homes to them during the IDP crisis of 2009 or risked their lived after the earthquake of 2005. Such spirit and resilience is no stranger to us Pakistanis.

Ten years after the day that changed the world and my country more so than others, I can only hope and pray that we will have honest and sincere leadership that can channel this energy and resilience into rebuilding Pakistan. And one day I’d really like some Pakistani leader to say and more than say to mean what Rudy Giuliani Mayor of New York City said after 9/11.

Replace New York with Pakistan in the paragraph below and see if  you don’t agree:

“Tomorrow New York is going to be here. And we’re going to rebuild, and we’re going to be stronger than we were before… I want the people of New York to be an example to the rest of the country, and the rest of the world, that terrorism can’t stop us.”

Back to School with Mobilink Billboard Bags

Destined for landfills, thousands of square kilometers of billboard skins made out of non-biodegradable plastic materials are left to rot in landfills or are burnt and release toxic fumes into the air we breathe. In the spirit of being an innovative and responsible, Mobilink Foundation - the non-profit arm of Mobilink is trying to save these sheets of plastic from ending up in landfills by turning them into school bags for underprivileged children. Once Mobilink billboards have been taken down, they are taken to a manufacturing facility in Lahore (which was set up with the help of Mobilink) where the skins are cleaned, cut and turned into school bags.

About Mobilink

Mobilink is Pakistan’s leading cellular and Blackberry service provider. With more than 32 million subscribers, Mobilink has the country’s largest voice and data network covering more than 10,000 locations. Housing an unparalleled 6,500 kilometers fiber optic backbone, Mobilink has invested over US $3.5 billion in Pakistan to date. 

The company’s Corporate Social Responsibility vision goes beyond occassional philanthropy and the company is dedicated to building a robust CSR program that leverages the company’s technological and operational expertise as well as its volunteer corps to institutionalize and mainstream CSR guidelines in internal and external operations. Examples of Mobilink’s corporate responsibility can be found in its enduring CSR efforts over the years in the areas of disaster relief, education, environment, health and the empowerment of the underprivileged.  

The Billboards to Bags Initiative

This project was conceived by the Mobilink team with the help of one its vendors who prints Billboard Skins.  The initiative is run out of Lahore and uses discarded billboard skins to manufacture school bags that are distributed free of cost to underprivileged school children.

This initiative is part of Mobilink’s environmental conservation efforts and its commitment to promoting education. Through this initiative, used billboard skins are given a second life, thus contributing to environmental protection and promoting sustainable business practices while providing essential items to those who need them the most.  

Manufacturing Process

Once Mobilink’s billboard skins have fulfilled their advertising purpose, they are used as raw materials for the bags. As a company that relies heavily on marketing its products through outdoor advertising, there is always a steady supply of pana-flex (flex sheet).  Once the skins are removed from the bilboards, they are washed to remove color. Next, damaged portions are identified and discarded. Skilled workers then proceed to cut the flex sheet into a standard school bag design. The cut materials are then given to women who stitch the bags in the safety and security of their homes. Hence these bags provide an important source of income to local women.  

Each School bag consumes around 7 square feet of clean flex sheet. The size that is usually used for manufacturing the school bags is 20 x 60 square feet.  Recycling these skins into school bags and then distributing them to underprivileged children is a far better then letting them become toxic waste in a landfill. 

An average school bag in Pakistan costs between Rs. 300 to Rs. 500 in Pakistan. According to some estimates, for an average Pakistani, this is the cost of one week’s food for a family of seven. These bags, made from recycled materials, only incur labor costs to the company that has a weekly production capacity of around 5000 bags. Mobilink provides these bags to the children free of cost. In a country where majority of the people live well below the poverty line, and cannot afford to buy essential school items for children, this initiative helps families avoid a heavy additional cost while saving children from having to carry school books in their hands.

Mobilink is the first and so far the only organization in Pakistan to implement a billboard skin-recycling program of this scale. Building further on the benefits of used skins, Mobilink also used the method to pack relief goods for the thousands of victims of the floods that hit Pakistan is 2010. Sturdy and water proof, these bags not only enabled the victims to safely transport food items to their homes as they waded through waist high waters but also use them to keep food and other items dry as showers continued in some areas for several days.

Since the launch of the Recycled Schoolbags initiative back in 2007, Mobilink has donated 35,000 school bags made from recycled advertising skins to leading local NGOs such as CARE Foundation, Zindagi Trust, JAQ Trust and other deserving students and schools. The Mobilink CSR team actively seeks out and supports schools that provide educational opportunities to children who cannot pay heavy school fees, afford books or other educational expenses to ensure that Mobilink helps reshape lives in a positive way.     

Children at the Pehli Kiran School run by the JAQ trust with Mobilink Billboard Bags

 Challenges during the campaign

Mobilink’s efforts have not been without challenges. Logistical hurdles have to be overcome in collecting skins from different regions of the country. While installing and dismantling the skins, effort has to be made to prevent tearing as that leads to wastage of skins. These have been overcome through the commitment of  Mobilink’s staff that through sheer grit and perseverence has made efforts to ensure a constant supply of skins.

Another challenge is trying to reduce the amount of waste through the design and cutting process while maintaining the quality and durability of the recycled bags. This requires adequate training of staff which has necessitated investment from Mobilink. The manufacturing challenges aside, other country specific hurdles have presented daunting issues to the whole campaign.  Power shortages and electricity failures lead to periodic disruptions in the manufacturing process.

Mobilink’s campaign not only produces environmentally friendly items that help recycle non-biodegradable materials but also augments the support network in Pakistan’s society for the underprivileged and the marginalized sectors of society. Mobilink plays a vital role here as not only is it garnering a culture shift towards more responsible consumption and care for the environment but it is leading by example through illustrating that these recyclable processes are sustainable. Since the inception of the program, several local and multinational organizations in the private sector have contacted Mobilink to explore the possibility of replicating the recycling model. A few local private sector companies have also come forth and donated used billboard skins from their campaigns to Mobilink. 

If you would like to know more about this initiative or help Mobilink innovate and improve its bag production program please contact Sehar Tariq, Manager Corporate Social Responsibility at sehar.tariq@mobilink.net We welcome new ideas!

A version of this article also appeared in The Express Tribune at Bagging billboards: Corporate social responsibility goes up a notch

So in these painful times, I have turned to a time tested pain killer – good food. And since I don’t have much else to say, i thought I would share my more successful experiments in the kitchen with others who try to lessen the pain of national tragedy with some nationally produced fruits and vegetables. Well some items are imported – but this is global village age right … so….. here goes…

The Rehman Malik

Isnt that tie the color of granny smith apples? They work well in this dessert too!

This dish was inspired by the bright neck ties and the smooth personality of (in?)security guru – Rehman Malik. It starts with a smooth and tangy lemon cream sauce and is underscored with resilient chunks of crunchy and colorful fruits. Much like Rehman Malik, this dessert has a smooth introduction (think RM at a presser assuring journalists that everything in place X will be in control in Y days) but is underscored by a more resilient layer of fruit that will not melt away like the smooth creamy sauce atop it in the face of fire from the public or press! (think Rehman Malik outlasting all his critics, all the bad karma and crude jokes sent his way! – this man is made of tougher stuff than milk and cream!) 

So while RM might have his faults, his bright ties are indeed patches of brightness in these dark times. And while RM might lack the good looks and finesse of a Shah Mehmood Qureshi or the classiness of a Bhutto, or the charm of a Mustafa Khar, those bright ties and smooth sugary notes will help you forget for a while that this man is not the same as some of his classier PPP colleagues!

The Rehman Malik, made with rather common and pedestrian ingredients will also make you forget that this is anything less than a 5 star gourmet creation!

Ingredients

1 packet cream

4 tbsps cream cheese (heaped)

3 tbsps yoghurt  (heaped)

2 lemon

2 tsp freshly crushed black pepper

Assorted fruits – use your favorites!
Method

Chill the cream in the freezer. When it is quite cold, open packet and empty contents into a blender. add the cream cheese and yoghurt. Blend all items together till they are nicely combined. Put the blender jug into the freezer to chill.

In the meanwhile chop up fruits of your choice. Green guavas that are sligthly sour are really delicious in this. Strawberries also work well. if you are in a hurry and need to whip up something really quickly just empty a can of assorted fruit mix to it. If you you mix assorted fruit mix can and some real fruits – you have yourself a real winner!

Add one tsp of crushed black pepper to the fruits and the juice of one lemon. Mix and put in freezer to chill.

Remove blender from freezer, add one tsp of freshly ground black pepper to it and the juice of half a lemon. Give the whole mixture one more whizz in the blender jug.

Then pour over chilled fruits and put in freezer till it is time to serve.

A quick and easy dessert that no one can tell came out of packets and tins!

Its not just Prada - She does Birkin too!

Hina Rabbani Khar was not my top choice for foreign minister. Others within the Pakistan Peoples Party were more qualified to be the country’s top diplomat. The blogosphere, email groups and Twitter feeds are buzzing with criticism from Pakistanis disappointed with Khar’s appointment as it epitomises the lack of merit, deep-rooteddynastic politics and the restrictive hold of the feudal classes on the political system. Criticism of her lack of expertise and the advantage offered by her family background are fair and deserve to be aired. What is not fair, and downright sexist, is bashing Khar on account of her looks and gender.

I’m not trying to be a wet-blanket feminist who tries to kill the fun in big boys talking politics and using ‘humour’ to add appeal to their writing. I like a good laugh too, but what I don’t like is a woman being singled out and ridiculed for things that her male predecessor was never targeted for, despite them bearing an uncanny resemblance to each other.

The dapper Shah Mahmood Qureshi was no less dashing or handsome as Khar is pretty. Especially when compared to some of his rotund, flame-bearded colleagues in parliament, much like Khar stands out when you compare her to her rotund colleagues. Qureshi was a sharp dresser, like Khar. Yet, while we have obsessed endlessly over the handbag she took to India, we never really paid much attention to the tie Qureshi wore at the joint press conference where prospects for India-Pakistan peace were butchered. I wonder why.

We’ve cried ourselves hoarse over Khar’s feudal background and her family’s influence in politics, but was there similar outrage among Pakistan’s mighty internet crusaders about Qureshi being the Shah Rukne Alam sajjada nashin, arguably the biggest source of his political clout? And there is also the small matter of Qureshi’s father having been the governor of Punjab, but somehow, in his case, familial linkages to the world of power and politics did not matter.

What does set Qureshi and Khar apart is the former’s longer record with the PPP. However, none of his previous experiences or portfolios provided any kind of training or expertise to head the foreign ministry. Yet this was not problematic in his case, as he dressed well and spoke English well. Khar dresses well too and can speak pretty good English. She has a degree in hospitality and tourism management which, some could argue, is better preparation for diplomacy than a law degree or experience with agriculture policy — Qureshi’s qualifications.

Hina Rabbani Khar’s appointment is symptomatic of many flaws in Pakistani society and politics, and are thus worthy of criticism. However, the kind of criticism that she has received is symptomatic of a deeply problematic gender bias in our society. Since her appointment, Khar has had to deal with slurs against her character, speculations about the methods she used to get to the top, snide remarks about her looks and accessories and a complete disregard for her intellect which has helped her manage several important portfolios.

She is not alone in facing such sexist onslaughts. Women in Pakistan who dare to look good and take pride in their femininity while wielding political power, like Sherry Rehman, will have to suffer numerous baseless insults about their character, integrity and competence. Only by turning themselves into an elderly maternal figure do women manage to get themselves taken seriously. Now that’s a pity. I don’t see men scurrying about to become brotherly or fatherly figures to the average Pakistani woman. Why must this be a woman’s lot if she is to be in power in Pakistan?

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2011.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/219332/the-foreign-minister-wears-prada/

As I walk down the stairs, to meet Mr. Maybe Right, I think of the time when a prospective groom had come to the house to meet an elder cousin. I was quite young then, but I remember her being tall and elegant and beautiful. He was short and tubby. He had a bulbous and terribly red nose which I believed before meeting him was not of the human variety and was only possible in cartoons. He also had a carefully preserved comb-over and rather large sideburns like a balding Elvis. And in addition to all those stellar qualities, he also sported a rather shiny and stout moustache. It seemed as if nature was trying to grow as much hair on all his other body parts to compensate for the lack of it on his head. In a cruel joke of nature, this man was profusely hairy all over. Dark coils of hair sprung forth from under his open collar and heavy waves of it swayed along his forearms as he moved them to gesture during conversation.  He was also sweating profusely.

Everything that could have been wrong physically with a man short of disability (that is if you don’t consider excessive hair growth one) was wrong. I remember all us cousins taking turns to peek through the door as this contender for the position of husband. We then promptly ran to the living room to explode into fits of laughter.  For days we argued over the exact angle his arm hair would move at when he went swimming and what would happen to that carefully preserved strip of locks on his shiny top.  We cackled hysterically and everyone in the house under the age of 18, immediately rejected him even as contender for the post of husband for the beautiful, Naveen Appa.

Luckily for her, everyone over the age of 18, also took him out from the running of husband candidates. However, in the lengthy debates and discussions that ensued in the house amongst various adults, over this hairy wonder, not once did the issue of his rather ridiculous looks come up.  His career, his family and the careers of his family and their education was discussed in painstaking detail and eventually it was deemed that his family seemed rather materialistic and was more interested in Naveen Appa’s foreign passport than her. And thus a carefully discerned reason became the basis of rejection and what had been staring everyone in the face, literally, seemed not to exist.

So, with my family, where the qualities of a boy’s family, his education and that of his parents mattered more, it would not be surprising if they had sent me someone akin to a troll.

I’m a little nervous and holding my breath as I walk down the stairs and across the cobblestones of my college courtyard and through the stone archway and heavy iron doors. As I step out from under the heavily fortified archway that is the entrance to my college dorm…..(Continue reading)

Executive Summary

The Government of Pakistan has declared that the sector is in a state of emergency. However, what has been lost in popular debate is that there isn’t one education emergency to confront. The sector faces a multitude of emergencies; each one equally critical and crucial to the creation of an efficient and effective education system.  If Pakistan is to achieve the miraculous turnaround in this sector that it needs, it needs to start with answering the following critical questions confronting the education sector today:

 More Spending or Smart Spending?

“Less than 1.5% of Pakistan’s GDP is spent on the public education sector” – Education Emergency ReportPakistan is one of the lowest spenders on Education in the South Asian region. Despite this, education budgets allocated to the provinces go unused each year. According to the Education Emergency report, some provinces spent less than 60% of the budget allocated to them. With low capacity to spend, should Pakistan be spending more on education or using budgets allocated to education in a smarter way?

Enrollment or Retention? 

According to data from the last few years, while enrollment rates have been rising, retention rates have been decreasing. More children are enrolling in school but a smaller proportion of those enrolled are completing primary school. With schools unable to retain students already enrolled, should Pakistan seek to employ policies targeted at putting more children in school or trying to keep those enrolled in school for longer?

Quantity or Quality?

“Although all children in Pakistan may be enrolled in primary schools by 2015, many may complete their education functionally illiterate and innumerate.”[1]

After spending four years in the education system in Pakistan, at the primary level, the majority of students are unable to perform simple mathematical functions or utilize language skills effectively. Most primary and secondary schooling in Pakistan does not equip children with the levels of learning that would make them competitive in international or even local labor markets. Parents are willing to pay more for their children to attend a school where they feel the child will have access to better quality education. Should Pakistan work to increase access to education or direct energies towards improving the quality of education being providing by existing schools?

Uniformity  or  Diversity?

Pakistan’s education system and syllabi were carefully crafted to promote a sense of unity and nationhood derived from a common Muslim identity. Ironically, while trying to develop a sense of united nationhood through an imposed and imagined sense of religious unity, the Pakistani syllabus has ignored and failed to celebrate the religious and ethnic differences in the country. However, sectarian and ethnic tensions are on the rise and often resulted in violent clashes. Pakistan must debate whether it should continue to preach uniformity through textbooks or move towards acknowledging and celebrating the plurality of the Pakistani people?

The Academy or the Economy?

Pakistan’s population will grow by around 85 million in twenty years (roughly the equivalent of five cities the size of Karachi).  The economy must grow by 6% a year to meet the needs of its growing population. 36 million new jobs are needed in just ten years. [2]

While the provision of employment is not the explicit duty of the state, a youthful population without access to employment or livelihoods, is likely to become a challenge rather than a dividend. Education planning must therefore map onto economic priorities and directions.  The construction of schools that can deliver quality education is of paramount importance but should this education be purely academic or should we take a more realistic view of our economic needs and integrate technical and vocational education with regular schooling?

Public or Private?

Over the last 30 years, Pakistan has seen a rapid increase in the number of private schools, particularly in the rural areas.[3] Increasingly, parents in both rural and urban centers have opted out of sending their children to government run schools in favor of local private schools. The increase in popularity of private schools is positively correlated with the decline in the public school system.  Should Pakistan invest its energies in outsourcing the provision of education to the Private sector and slowly outsource the control of the public sector to them as well?

Centre or  Provinces?

Under the 18^th amendment the provision of education is a provincial matter and sole responsibility for this function is set to be devolved to the provinces. Some experts have expressed concern over the capacity of the provincial governments to handle this responsibility. What roles and responsibilities will the center retain and should the center continue to play any role in the education sector?

Technicalities or Political Realities?

The creation of non-physical educational infrastructure is a highly specialized field. Its implementation, however, is largely dependent on non-technical politicians and bureaucrats. Should education sector reform be left to the technical specialists or spearheaded by political and bureaucratic actors?

Read The full text of the article here

Published by The Jinnah Institute http://www.jinnah-institute.org/programs/open-democracy-initiative/287-pakistans-eight-great-education-debates

NA bill to hit MPs with dual nationality

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Q on Tuesday introduced a bill in the National Assembly that seeks the disqualification of parliamentarians and members of the federal and provincial government who hold dual nationality and own foreign accounts and property. The bill also applies to the armed forces and judiciary.

The private member’s bill, moved by PML-Q parliamentarian, Raza Hayat Hiraj, was not opposed by the Pakistan People’s Party chief whip and Federal Minister, Syed Khurshid Shah, and was referred to the concerned standing committee of the House. Shah claimed no PPP leader had dual nationality or foreign accounts and property.

The bill applies to all individuals who maintain an account in their own name or in the name of spouses, children or dependents. It also applies to those who hold a dual nationality or have permanent resident status of any other country, whether in their own name or in the name of spouses, children or dependents. The bill applies if an individual holds an office of profit or interest in any company or organisation established in a foreign country. It applies to any individual who owns any property whether free hold, lease hold or even in the form of licence, assets or shares or any interest in any company based in a foreign country, whether in his own name or in the name of his spouse, children or dependents, and if he/she carries out business, including any commercial activity, in any organisation or establishment based in a foreign country, whether in his own name or in the name of his spouse, children or dependents.

I picked up this issue about a year back and wrote the following about it. I am glad to see that legislation is being moved to make this happen. Have not read the proposed legislation in this regard so cannot comment on it but this seems like a move in the right direction. Here is the article I wrote on it about a year back:

The Citizenship of the Leadership

In order to become a member of parliament in Pakistan, one needs (or rather needed) a bachelor’s degree (this could be real or fake – according to the chief minister of Balochistan, there is no difference), lots of money, political connections, dubious morals and the right surname.

One can either be born into such good fortune or marry into it. Post the accident of birth or arrangement of fortunate marriage the path to political power is fairly straight and we have been hounded by the specters of dynastic and incompetent politics since Independence. So I began to wonder, if the constitution had any safeguards to prevent us from such inept leadership.

A quick study of the document revealed that there is a whole list of conditions under which a person is rendered ineligible to run for political office. The conditions range from corruption to insanity. Interestingly, the one condition that the document is vague on is the issue of citizenship, particularly dual citizenship. According to the constitution, one can be disqualified from being elected to parliament if, “he ceases to be a citizen of Pakistan, or acquires the citizenship of a foreign state …”

I’m not a constitutional lawyer or a lawyer at all – but even to my untrained eyes, this language seems vague. So while we require political leadership to be sane and moral we don’t require them to be only Pakistani? Pakistan allows its citizens to hold dual nationalities so why deny politicians this legal right?

Because in Pakistan where the popular slogan ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ (long live Pakistan) has changed to ‘Pakistan se zinda bhaag’ (run away alive from Pakistan), holding only Pakistani citizenship by choice is either sheer stupidity or a pretty significant commitment to the people and the country. And as taxpaying citizens of the country, we should demand, at the very least, this commitment from those who we entrust with public office.

I grew up in Islamabad, where over the years I observed the long lines outside of foreign embassies grow longer and longer, a silent testimony that escaping from Pakistan was the first priority for many. In a country where people die of poverty and hunger each day while our leaders house rare Siberian tigers in air-conditioned cages – it is not odd that people want to escape? In a country where minorities are persecuted of minorities and there is hardly any safety of property or life, often the only option left is to run away.

I don’t have a problem with those who want to leave and build for themselves a better life. I have no problems with those who want to hold dual citizenship but live in Pakistan because this is where their heart belongs. But I do have a problem with those, who want to lead, live in style on taxpayer money, make decisions on behalf of the 170 million people of this country but hold in their hands, an easy exit strategy – dual citizenship.

Dual citizenship denotes that the person has a significant allegiance to or interest in another country. And while this is not a bad thing on its own, it is not the most desirable quality in a public representative. Public office holders should have only one allegiance, and it should be to the country and people that they represent. And those who aspire to leadership positions in the country should be required to give this commitment. Steering Pakistan’s future is a pretty big responsibility and it should not be granted to those who are not ready to show single-minded allegiance to the cause.

Also, leaders with foreign passports are like foreign capital – they flee when the going gets tough! Those who know they are unable to flee are more likely to act in the long-term interest of the nation and less like fickle foreign investments. So before you ask for my vote – please assure me that when the going gets tough you will not run and, if this ship sinks you are prepared to sink with it. Only captains willing to sink with their ship will do everything in their power to keep it afloat.

Unfortunately, for far too long, we have written off our politicians as a lost cause. We have stopped demanding of them the commitment that we as citizens deserve. And a good place to start would be demanding a show of commitment to the country by requiring all public office holders to hold only Pakistani citizenship. I am sick and tired of politicians who reap the benefits of the country and build business and property in foreign lands. I am tired of big-wigs being imported from abroad who treat the country like their personal political experiment and then leave when the country fails to respond as they wanted.

So can someone please take note of the constitutional vagueness that allows subjects of her Majesty, Queen of England or those that have pledged allegiance to the star-spangled banner from running for political office and making decisions on behalf of the people of Pakistan?

This was first published on the Dawn Blog at: http://blog.dawn.com/2010/07/07/the-citizenship-of-the-leadership/

Sehar Tariq is Pakistani citizen (only) who wishes we had better and more dedicated leadership. She blogs at www.sehartariq.wordpress.com

I’m confused.

Countries about to explode or implode (take your pick) shouldn’t be busy trying to provide goods that are unaffordable and potentially capable of being declared illegal in the near (shaped by a revolution led by bigots) future.

So are these entrepreneurs completely clueless or callous or both? Or are we all just kidding about impending doom?

In a country where bombings take out scores of people on a daily basis, where political leaders are shot dead in broad daylight, murderers are crowned heroes and the list of heinous crimes committed against humanity and the state by all and sundry is too large to list in one blog post; such economic activity seems like an anomaly.

Maybe these swanky establishments that open up with such great speed in even a sleepy little town like Isloo suggest that the rich are so far removed from the problems of the real people of Pakistan that they live in an alternate universe and this is one of the many signs that the day of judgement is surely upon us.

But I have had the opportunity to go to some of these establishments over the last few years and while on many an occasion, I have seen the same old crowd at these places, I have also seen growing numbers of young and not so usual people. The membership of these places seems to include a newer set of younger faces. There is a market out there for such products and there seems to be a growing pool of buyers. At least in Islamabad, these are the young people who work in the development sector or in the small corporate sector. Many a group of the average cheemas and seemas you will see enjoying a cup of overpriced and not so tasty coffee at Gloria Jeans in the evening in Isloo.

But are the consumers of modern, usually western and high-end products growing fast enough? And are higher individual incomes enough and evenly distributed enough to offset the fears of revolution? And  also does consuming a western brand of coffee mean that you also drink the democracy and live and let live kool-aid?

Probably not. And that is what worries me more than it confuses me.

And I guess we should all be worried because while the rest of the world seems to be breaking out into youth led protests for greater democracy, peace and human rights we are the only place in the world where the young people are coming out to demand an end to democracy, a military takeover and blood for blood. That’s sad.

What’s absurd is that they are holding banners saying Tahrir Square too. Guess the coffee at Gloria Jeans might give you a caffeine buzz but not a higher IQ or the ability to figure out that what the young people in Tahrir Square were demanding was the exact opposite of their demands. And by that logic, at least don’t hold a Tahrir Square banner! It makes you look stupid and not just messed up!

Thanks!

Read the article about this protest here