Category: Editorials

CHITRAL: Asking for Zakat or a donation for some benevolent activity was not so common a few years back, and could be compared to a sweet dish after a meal, but of late it appears to have become a main dish in the meal. Zakat demanders of all kinds have sprung up, using the social media, personal contact or any source available to them. Some asking to contribute to Madrassas, others to fund Ramzan meals for poor, other than the habitual personal Zakat seekers.

Unfortunately most needy do not have the guts or are shy being white collared, or for any other reason do not approach for Zakat, while the bold and outreaching approach aggressively and claw the Zakat money.

Zakat is not only a good tradition but a religious obligation for Muslims. However, as per Islamic principles, dependence on Zakat should be minimised by helping the needy people stand on their own feet throughout the year instead of them waiting for the month of Ramzan for ‘Free Lunch”. As The saying goes “if you are born poor, it is not your fault, but if you die poor, it is you to blame”. We should not have a sympathetic attitude towards poverty but instead hate it and try to help the poor beat poverty instead of nurturing it. .. CN report, 04 Apr 2021

CHITRAL: When stray dogs roaming the bazars and village roads outgrow a certain number and considered as become a nuisance for the human beings around, demand for their extermination rises and the municipal authorities either poison them to death or kill them by shooting them at point blank. The case of stray dogs can be dealt with in a more humane manner than poisoning them. This scribe has even seen a poisoned bitch in her dying moments due to poisoning while her pups trying to suckle her for milk.

If all alive stray dogs are neutered with injections so they do not reproduce but at the same time live their natural lives till end, it would be a much better way to control the population of these stray canines, instead of culling them mercilessly.

A former Airforce pilot has opened a shelter for stray dogs in Islamabad, which speaks of the better side of human beings. If one person can be kind, why can’t others be too . .. CN report,  02 Apr 2021

CHITRAL: Using the abundant waterpower to provide affordable electricity to the people of Chitral is the most feasible and viable method of putting Chitral on the path to progress. Noe only would it prevent the oak forests being shaved off, but it would usher in an era of progress and prosperity.

Any country which has provided cheap electricity to it’s people has prodded a revolution of prosperity. Small businesses and cottage industries can be set up in every home. The marble, the granite, the crush stones, the canning of fruits and herbs, the production of indigenous woolen stuff, cottage industry operated by women in every home are just a few example of how the welfare of the people can be ensured by making them productive.

At present we are in a perpetual begging mode, forever asking for imported gas, subsidies on eatables and grants and alms of all kind. We need to be provided with the energy which is our indigenous produce and begging to be utilised. A Chinese engineer once remarked in Chitral “If we had this much of water we would provide electricity to half the world”

The government is requested to provide cheap and affordable electric energy to Chitral by harnessing our water power, and then- believe it we would not be asking for any grants, aid or ‘free lunch’ of any kind. .. CN report, 27 Mar 2021

CHITRAL: Pakistan’s Army Chief and the defacto driver of this country has made a very positive policy statement, asking India to bury the hatchet and start a new era of peace in both countries and the region in general. This is an unprecedented statement from the commander of the armed forces about whom the general perception has been that both the military establishments of India and Pakistan have never wanted peace, as their prosperity depended on perpetrating a hostile environment.

The initiative by the Army chief is unexpected and unparalleled and if reciprocated by Indian rulers, can change the destiny of both the people and trade misery and poverty for peace and prosperity. After all, Pakistan and India have been sabre rattling and spitting poison at each other, creating unnecessary commotion and uproars for too long, presenting a scenario like two skeletons wrestling on a tin roof. In this age of reason and (even) artificial intelligence it would bode well for both countries to put discretion before valour and compete in eating the humble pie to sacrifice for peace, which the region and it’s downtrodden people are begging for. .. CN report, 21 Mar 2021

CHITRAL: A debate has been stirred up in Chitral whether we should have LNG gas plants or use electricity to mitigate our energy problems. Following are some points of comparison between the two options.

Feasibility: Feasibility is the first thing to consider before launching any project. A gas storage plant installation may be easy at the outset but keeping the gas store filled with gas maybe not be so, àla “It is easy to open a shop but difficult to keep it open”-Chinese proverb. The LNG gas has to be imported from Qatar or else where and is a recurring heavy expenditure which itself puts a question mark on it’s sustainability. On the other hand electricity is an indigenous produce and e.g with little effort the power house in Chitral town can be upgraded to 7 Mw which can provide far more energy to Chitral town than the LNG plant working at it’s peak (which is doubtful it ever will).

Transmission lines: It will cost billions of rupees to lay the transmission lines from the LNG storage tank to individual houses let alone the plant and the gas. As we can daily see the quality of water pipe lines (leaking after every few feet) will the gas flow be able to stand such faulty lines. The engineers and the contractors are the same whether it is water or gas or electricity. Gas leakage anywhere in the pipeline will reduce the pressure and even deplete the storage within no time. Who will rectify the faults and service individual homes? Is it being done for water pipe leaks?. If the answer is ‘no’, then what can we expect with the gas lines.

Cost effectiveness: Setting up gas storage plants and laying pipelines and topping up the tanks will cost multiple times more than even setting up a new hydel power station, let alone upgrading the existing ones. On the other hand, there will be no cost incurred on laying out electricity transmission lines as they already exist.

Time factor for implementation: The laying of gas pipelines up to individual houses would take years and in all likelihood would be abandoned midway (lack of funds.. Look at Lowari tunnel roads). Electricity model on the other hand already has transmission lines in place, saving millions in price and time.

Practicality and future prospects: The gas plants will for sure be abandoned sooner than later and there will no place to throw them away (Diesel generators of Begum Bhutto are a glaring example). Electric power houses are there to stay and at best would need upgradation from time to time.

Should we act like the ‘wise men of Gotham’ and ‘carry coal to Newcastle’, or should we struggle to use our indigenous and abundant wealth of free energy which is practical, feasible and economical. Is getting feasible energy our aim or burning gas at all costs, our obsession? .. CN report, 05 Mar 2021

CHITRAL: Politics in Pakistan is getting more and more frivolous by the day. We were used to votes being cast in favour or against a candidate for his/her attending/not attending funerals and weddings. Now a new phenomenon has come to light. The estranged provincial minister in KP, who did not support his party’s candidate in recently held bye elections, came on TV and said, because PTI workers were not happy with their leadership, so they voted for the PMLN, which is the prime ideological rival of the PTI.

What does this mean? It means obviously that now voters do not vote for party ideology and manifesto, but vote on whims no matter what party/ideology the candidate belongs to, even he may be deadly opposed to the manifesto of their party. The vote is not so much ‘for’ a candidate but is more ‘against’ a candidate.

With such a ludicrous sate at which politics has arrived , it is time to re-visit ‘politics’ and change it with a more practical and fair system- ‘Meritocracy‘ can safely replace politics as the new system for formation of governments. .. CN report, 21 Feb 2021

CHITRAL: The recent video going viral on the internet showing the process of ‘horse trading’ in the last Senate Elections’ and the confessions of an ex Minister about all that happened, is an eye opener and a conscience awakener to all Pakistanis (if at all any conscience is left). The same act is going to be repeated in the forthcoming Senate elections if the secret ballot condition is allowed to continue by the court.

It is an unfortunate fact that morality has no weightage in the lives of Pakistanis. Our religious clerics are the most to blame for this, because they never preach morality in their preachings and only harp on religious rituals.

In a country where parliamentarians who take an oath on the Holy Quran to be honest, are selling themselves openly, and it is now considered a norm, then there is definitely a need to do something drastic about it.  One way is to admit this reality and openly auction all political posts including, MPAs, MNAs, Senators, etc. At least there will be transparency and some money will come to the national exchequer instead of going into the pockets of unscrupulous people. .. CN report, 10 Feb 2021

CHITRAL: Constitutions have been revised and rewritten every where in the world whenever the need arose and when it was deemed fit to do so. As per latest news, Turkey is vying to adopt a totally new constriction.

Pakistan is one country which needs a new constitution the most according to ground reality checks. The present constitution was drafted and adopted posthaste just after the breakup of the country. Not much diligence went into framing of this all important document which has shaped the contorted form of our country till date.

The country is supposed to be an Islamic country as per the constitution, but hardly is anything Islamic about it other than the ban on alcohol. In an Islamic state, hands of a thief is supposed to be chopped off. If that is implemented, there would only be a handful of people left with full hands. Likewise so many dichotomies belie the constitution as being Islamic. We can at best say, Pakistan is as Islamic as ‘bank Islami’ or other similar named banks are truly Islamic Banks.

A new constitution is needed to be framed very carefully by experts. Religion must be given it’s due respect and importance. Practical clauses must be adopted from it, but the name of the country should be ‘Republic of Pakistan’. Reason being, when we attach the prefix ‘Islamic’, it has a lot of responsibilities and obligations with the name, which we cannot fulfill as we are not fulfilling today. Merely attaching the name ‘Islamic Republic’ is like having a ‘Bismillah Store’, ‘Ma shaa Allah Tailors’, ‘Macca Cola’ ‘Muslim banaspati’ etc.

The new constitution of Pakistan should ideally be one which should include ‘Meritocracy’ as the system of government, but if that is too rich to be palatable today, at least the system of Presidential government which is being practiced in 90 percent of the countries of the world, should be the linchpin of the new constitution.  .. CN report, 06 Feb 2021        

CHITRAL: The sooner Saudi Arabia relaxed on the strictly conservative and tunneled narrative of Islamic teachings, it’s effect has spread like wild fire in the muslim world. The UAE a sister country of Saudia has relaxed it’s  policies to the extent of allowing use of alcohol and co-living of unmarried couples. This all is to attract tourists and compete with other liberal Islamic countries like Turkey and Malaysia. in the field of tourism.

Even in poor countries like Pakistan where Saudi funded ‘Islamism’ closely monitored the freedom of  individuals since decades, has waned down due to lack of funding to the hardliners from the mother source. An example is of the change seen in the two Chitrals, the outlandish districts of Pakistan where religious elements till date hold the sway whether in social matters or political affairs.

The recent visit of girls football teams from Chitral to Islamabad and Chitral girls playing ice hockey in Hunza could not even be imagined a decade ago. Something has definitely happened in the Muslim world. Saudi Arabia has had a change of heart and its  ramifications have beamed out to the muslim countries, for the good or bad, is any one’s own appreciation of the situation. .. CN report, 29 Jan 2021

CHITRAL: Ever since division of the subcontinent in 1947, the people of India and Pakistan only know one thing -that the other is your enemy. Both countries have been playing the wicked game of animosity with a neighbour and people of both countries have had to pay dearly for it. The weekly parades at Wagah border where soldiers take pride in being able to stomp the ground harder and raise their legs higher than the opponent, with frenzied spectators shouting and jeering on each side, are a reminder of the colosseums of Rome where spectators enjoyed watching gladiators fight each other to death.

The perpetual fomentation of hatred between the two countries has led to conditions where the people of Torkhow in Pakistan cannot get their lifeline bridge for lack of funds or the people of Orissa in India have to defecate in the open for lack of toilet facility. Where does all the wealth of these countries go?!

If thought over calmly as to why and how have the two countries forever been put at loggerheads with each other, and who have been the beneficiaries of this animosity, it is not difficult to understand that those who manufacture and/or use weapons are the biggest proponents of perpetual hatred leading to battles and wars between the two countries, time to time.

Pakistanis and Indians have a rich source of manpower and superior brains. Expats from both countries have lifted up the condition of many countries. Many American companies like Google, Microsoft, IBM etc are headed by Indians and many Pakistanis are in Key positions in the American progress industry, but back home they are above board and thus irrelevant as there countries are too busy manufacturing and developing hatred against each other instead of attending to progress of their people.

It is time, leaders both civil and millitary, from both sides, should put their heads together and coolly ponder over this self inflicted perpetual cold war which is grinding out heavy damage to the life standards of both people. Those who quote religion as basis for this detestation should be explained that no religion preaches harbouring disdain about other religions, let alone be hostile to them.

If any good for the people of the region is intended, Pakistan and India have only one option -the option to live like good neighbours instead of looking for friendship in distant lands and cultures, because, as correctly said, “you can change friends, not neighbours”. .. CN report, 06 Jan 2020

CHITRAL: Until the 1960s there was a distinct definition of ‘Honesty’ and ‘Dishonesty’ in our society. Then, if a person indulged in dishonest behaviour he would stand out in a crowd and would be pointed out as ‘There stands a dishonest person’. Over the years the standards have changed and now an Honest man is the odd one and is pointed out by ‘There stands an honest person’.

The decadence of honesty has taken over our nation. Now any leader, whether it be those in power or in  opposition, even the head of the state make a statement and within no time negate it without even blinking their eyes in embarrassment or remorse.

If at a busy shop you buy a lot of groceries and the teller returns you a hundred rupees less from the big note you have given, and you point it out, he will coolly say ” koi masla nahi” and hand you the remaining money which he had intended to dishonestly hide. No feeling of regret or embarrassment is seen on the tellers face.

If you lend money to a freind and he promises to return it after a certain time and when you ask him for the money at the promised  time, he will mind it and utter words like “I am not running away with your money” “I will give it to you later” etc.

Shops which sell milk and claim it to be pure proudly boast it to be 100% pure, as if there is anything like 50% pure and as if impure milk is the norm.

A matter of fact is that honesty is down the drain in the conduct of daily life activities in our country. A crash effort to emphasize the importance of honesty (which is common and paramount in all religions) should be launched by the government through mosques and schools, media and press. The money to conduct such a program can be requested as grant from Honest nations of the world. For sure, they will be glad to donate money for this cause. .. CN report, 24 Dec 2020.

CHITRAL: Senate elections and horse trading have become synonyms in Pakistan. Members of provincial Assemblies love the Senate elections more than their own victory in polls- For obvious reason. The senate elections offers an MPA a chance to sell his/her vote to the highest bidder and in the process pocket several crore rupees, a sum they may not have even seen in their lives.

Now there is a proposal by the government to make the senate elections transparent. The MPAs will now have to cast their vote by a show of hand.  Apparently this seems a clean and transparent method of conducting the elections and definitely better than the previous system, but it still has it’s lacunas.

In the mew process the party head will decide whom to award the Senate ticket and that person will be automatically elected in proportion to the  MPAs of the party. No cheating by the MPAs can be done here, but the fact that the discretion of choosing the Senator lies with the party head in this system, which again does not seem a fair method.

The best way to overcome the Senate election problem is to publicly auction the senate seats within the designated constituencies and the highest bidder be allotted the seat. This way at least we shall have a hefty amount deposited in the treasury instead of going into the pockets of MPAs or party heads.

As regards the capability of such Senators they cannot do any worse than the traditional lot elected through secret ballot, as there is hardly anything for Senators to do.in Pakistan. .. CN report, 17 Dec 2020

CHITRAL: The rate at which the quality of politics is deteriorating in Pakistan is a forewarning that politics is seeing it’s end time. Politicians are no more venerated and even the best amongst the lot have heavy baggage of unreliability and untrustworthiness on their backs.

A politician saying one thing today and after few days/months, saying just the opposite is a normal feature which has caused the political leaders to loose there reverence in the eyes of the people.

Political meetings which once would arouse interest and enthusiasm amongst the people are now no more than ‘tamashas’  (event of entertainment). There is no inspiration in the speeches of politicians and those who manage to kindle inspiration temporarily, soon act in a manner to stub that inspiration.

Politicians who talk tall against the role of the millitary in politics soon get to terms when their tails are twisted or favours offered to them. Principled politics is a thing of the past and every one now considers politics a game of manipulation and pragmatism.

We are a poor and hard pressed country. Instead of wasting time on the luxury of futile political games which only limits the country to go round and round in a circle of no joy, a robust, no nonsense, apolitical, matter of fact, government should be set up with the only objective to deliver, instead of playing cat and mouse games of politics. .. CN report, 14 Dec 2020

CHITRAL: The country is in a ‘democratic’ crisis these days. All major political parties have teamed up against the sitting government with the single objective of toppling it. What could be the likely out come of this crisis is easy to guess. There could be two situations that will follow.

1. Either the government will capitulate under pressure and new elections would be held;  meaning same people will come up again on both sides and we will continue to dance in the ‘circle of no joy’.

2. The government will continue bruised and limping and will be continuously be thrashed with regular agitations and demonstrations and the result will be a continuation of instability..

So what is the best course of action for Pakistan now?
This a God given opportunity to wrap up this failed system and adopt another one which does not have political instability as a default built in feature, like this system has. A Presidential system, the Chinese model or best of all the system of ‘Meritocracy‘ can be adopted through a referendum based change of constitution.

As the ‘Meritocracy‘ system is too rich for the psyche of the nation to digest at the moment, at least a Presidential system or any system which eliminates/minimises politics/elections coupled with a potent and efficient system of accountability can do wonders for Pakistan. Good Governance is the top need of Pakistan at the moment and any system supporting it should be adopted.

Allah has given us yet another chance. Let us not squander this too like we did with similar chances before.  .. CN report, 09 Dec 2020

CHITRAL: In this age of automation and (almost) artificial intelligence, Pakistan is still stuck up with primitive methods of running government, institutions and businesses.

Needless to say that the human reliability index is abjectly poor in this country. Thanks to our elders, teachers and preachers, no body is ready to trust any body else. If you have an issue/problem and take it to a government office, the person(s) dealing with it there would by default ensure that the problem is not solved easily and all sorts of delay and negative tactics would be employed by him to impose his nuisance value on the petitioner. Government officials when carrying out their job consider it a favour rather than a duty. If you discuss some problem with a cleric, he will make sure that he beats you with his level of stubbornness instead of satisfying you with reason.

The better option for Pakistan is to automate everything possible, as soon as possible, reducing human interference to the minimum. The country can then takeoff towards progress in a fresh and healthy atmosphere. So far we are stuck with primitive ways, both in our thinking and in our management systems. .. CN report, 05 Dec 2020