Comments for Friends of Pakistan http://friendsofpakistan.net Share the Knowledge for Peace and Prosperity Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:27:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Comment on Fake Degrees by admin http://friendsofpakistan.net/?p=930&cpage=1#comment-24 admin Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:27:18 +0000 http://friendsofpakistan.net/?p=930#comment-24 As an old Chinese adage goes, fish starts rotting from the head. Precisely this is the issue with our legislators. Ironically, we have the most incompetent lot available in parliament to legislate laws for the common man. This whole saga has once again debunked our education system's infirmities and its sheepish acquiescence to the whims of those in power. This gruesome state of affairs warrants speculation by every sane Pakistani. The host of problems confronting this country bespeaks the kind of leaders we have who do not even have a fleeting understanding of the requirements of a country populated by over 170 million people. Take the example of the energy crisis. With the capacity to generate more than 40,000 megawatt, we are unable to even meet the national requirement which is far below the number quoted earlier. Perhaps this problem is also attributable to the incompetence of our leaders. There are other burning issues of law and order, infrastructure dilapidation, poor governance, and the list is endless. The nation may forgive them for their incompetence, but they do not merit any mercy for the havoc they are playing with the national kitty. We do not need Harvard or Oxford graduates to set things right for us. We just need honest people however less-educated they may be. Do our parliamentarians measure up to even this criteria of honesty? The answer is a big no. The only skill they bring to the legislature is their illimitable capacity to swindle taxpayers' money unashamedly. Shehrayar Ahmed Islamabad As an old Chinese adage goes, fish starts rotting from the head. Precisely this is the issue with our legislators. Ironically, we have the most incompetent lot available in parliament to legislate laws for the common man. This whole saga has once again debunked our education system’s infirmities and its sheepish acquiescence to the whims of those in power. This gruesome state of affairs warrants speculation by every sane Pakistani. The host of problems confronting this country bespeaks the kind of leaders we have who do not even have a fleeting understanding of the requirements of a country populated by over 170 million people. Take the example of the energy crisis. With the capacity to generate more than 40,000 megawatt, we are unable to even meet the national requirement which is far below the number quoted earlier. Perhaps this problem is also attributable to the incompetence of our leaders. There are other burning issues of law and order, infrastructure dilapidation, poor governance, and the list is endless.

The nation may forgive them for their incompetence, but they do not merit any mercy for the havoc they are playing with the national kitty. We do not need Harvard or Oxford graduates to set things right for us. We just need honest people however less-educated they may be. Do our parliamentarians measure up to even this criteria of honesty? The answer is a big no. The only skill they bring to the legislature is their illimitable capacity to swindle taxpayers’ money unashamedly.

Shehrayar Ahmed

Islamabad

]]> Comment on Fake Degrees by admin http://friendsofpakistan.net/?p=930&cpage=1#comment-23 admin Fri, 02 Jul 2010 08:51:14 +0000 http://friendsofpakistan.net/?p=930#comment-23 There is beginning to be a sense that the entire fake-degree charade is consuming the government, and that at the highest level. The president has now stepped into the fray. Addressing the launching ceremony of the Waseela-e-Haq initiative of the Benazir Income Support Programme on Wednesday, he dilated at some length on the matter. He referred to the past when there was a law on the statute book which required elected representatives to have a bachelor's degree as a minimum educational qualification. He 'wondered' why questions were being asked after the law stood repealed. The law may not be there but the lies remain – which is why the questions must be asked and why those who lied need to be exposed and held accountable. Once again the president trotted out the familiar mantra of 'threats' to democracy and that he and his government would serve their full term no matter what. He then turned his fire on the judiciary saying that they should accept that 'people are the real power' and appealed to his 'friends' to exercise patience as 'we do not want to increase the political heat.' If the people are the real power as President Zardari seems to understand the term, one wonders whether that renders the legal system an irrelevance. A new comments published in "THENEWS" on Friday 02, 2010 for our readers. Judging from his statements, the president thinks that he enjoys mass public support. Many would say he has frittered away the support that he had in the honeymoon period after the election of 2008. The ongoing battle with the judiciary -- be it over the Swiss cases or efforts to subvert the process of elections to the Supreme Court Bar Association by throwing money right and left -- is symptomatic of chronic weakness at the top. It is not enough to invoke poverty-reduction programmes in the name of the late Benazir Bhutto or tout constitutional reforms. What we need to see is a government that makes a sustainable plan to alleviate food, water and power insecurity and develops a national counter-terrorism strategy that actually works. Bleating about a judiciary that is doing what it is supposed to be doing and paying lip-service to a 'democracy' that is more window-dressing than substance, convinces few There is beginning to be a sense that the entire fake-degree charade is consuming the government, and that at the highest level. The president has now stepped into the fray. Addressing the launching ceremony of the Waseela-e-Haq initiative of the Benazir Income Support Programme on Wednesday, he dilated at some length on the matter. He referred to the past when there was a law on the statute book which required elected representatives to have a bachelor’s degree as a minimum educational qualification. He ‘wondered’ why questions were being asked after the law stood repealed. The law may not be there but the lies remain – which is why the questions must be asked and why those who lied need to be exposed and held accountable. Once again the president trotted out the familiar mantra of ‘threats’ to democracy and that he and his government would serve their full term no matter what. He then turned his fire on the judiciary saying that they should accept that ‘people are the real power’ and appealed to his ‘friends’ to exercise patience as ‘we do not want to increase the political heat.’ If the people are the real power as President Zardari seems to understand the term, one wonders whether that renders the legal system an irrelevance.

A new comments published in “THENEWS” on Friday 02, 2010 for our readers.

Judging from his statements, the president thinks that he enjoys mass public support. Many would say he has frittered away the support that he had in the honeymoon period after the election of 2008. The ongoing battle with the judiciary — be it over the Swiss cases or efforts to subvert the process of elections to the Supreme Court Bar Association by throwing money right and left — is symptomatic of chronic weakness at the top. It is not enough to invoke poverty-reduction programmes in the name of the late Benazir Bhutto or tout constitutional reforms. What we need to see is a government that makes a sustainable plan to alleviate food, water and power insecurity and develops a national counter-terrorism strategy that actually works. Bleating about a judiciary that is doing what it is supposed to be doing and paying lip-service to a ‘democracy’ that is more window-dressing than substance, convinces few

]]> Comment on Judicial Murder of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto by Peral http://friendsofpakistan.net/?p=110&cpage=1#comment-21 Peral Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:07:12 +0000 http://friendsofpakistan.net/?p=110#comment-21 I am also wondering why after so many year there is no inquiry commission setup or anything to tell the new generation about the circumstance that to the tragedy. All those judges could have been called to testify. Some are still alive. Of Course, ZA Bhutto does not need any of these but history should be cleared and the supreme court and the parliament should apologize to the Bhutto family and the nation. I am also wondering why after so many year there is no inquiry commission setup or anything to tell the new generation about the circumstance that to the tragedy. All those judges could have been called to testify. Some are still alive. Of Course, ZA Bhutto does not need any of these but history should be cleared and the supreme court and the parliament should apologize to the Bhutto family and the nation.

]]> Comment on Rules? What rules? by admin http://friendsofpakistan.net/?p=402&cpage=1#comment-20 admin Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:15:40 +0000 http://friendsofpakistan.net/?p=402#comment-20 Pakistan is among the most corrupt, poorly governed countries of the world, while its paid civil and khaki servants have been involved in institutionalised pilferage of the state. The state and its people are today insecure because of the policies of men like Zia and Musharraf. The imperial lifestyles of members of former military top brass like Gen Musharraf, Admiral Mansoor and Brig Niaz who live abroad speak volumes about their unethical practices. All the hopes are pinned on the independent judiciary. For far too long the people of Pakistan have been fooled and taken for a ride by the clergy, the security establishment, the civil bureaucracy and corrupt politicians. State land, the exchequer and corporations have been robbed by every government, while mediocrity dominates political appointments to senior executive and diplomatic assignments. Men who have pledged their allegiance to foreign countries by acquiring foreign nationalities decide the fate of the people who will live and die in Pakistan. None of the big robber-barons has been held accountable, in spite of the facade of NAB, because nobody wants to set a precedent which would bring themselves into the accountability net in future. In secular democratic countries like America elected leaders and civil or military bureaucrats are held accountable and have to resign if caught in minor unethical practices. The most recent example is the resignation of the governor of New York State and before him the resignation of the governor of Illinois. Politics when devoid of morality and ethics becomes a scam, where men who are involved in organised crime seek immunity from law which is not available to normal citizens. In developed societies, men who hold public office are expected to be open to public scrutiny on a more conservative scale than that applicable to common citizens. This is why democracy has survived in Europe, the US, Canada and other developed nations. R Chaudhry Conroe, Texas, US Pakistan is among the most corrupt, poorly governed countries of the world, while its paid civil and khaki servants have been involved in institutionalised pilferage of the state. The state and its people are today insecure because of the policies of men like Zia and Musharraf. The imperial lifestyles of members of former military top brass like Gen Musharraf, Admiral Mansoor and Brig Niaz who live abroad speak volumes about their unethical practices. All the hopes are pinned on the independent judiciary. For far too long the people of Pakistan have been fooled and taken for a ride by the clergy, the security establishment, the civil bureaucracy and corrupt politicians. State land, the exchequer and corporations have been robbed by every government, while mediocrity dominates political appointments to senior executive and diplomatic assignments. Men who have pledged their allegiance to foreign countries by acquiring foreign nationalities decide the fate of the people who will live and die in Pakistan. None of the big robber-barons has been held accountable, in spite of the facade of NAB, because nobody wants to set a precedent which would bring themselves into the accountability net in future.

In secular democratic countries like America elected leaders and civil or military bureaucrats are held accountable and have to resign if caught in minor unethical practices. The most recent example is the resignation of the governor of New York State and before him the resignation of the governor of Illinois. Politics when devoid of morality and ethics becomes a scam, where men who are involved in organised crime seek immunity from law which is not available to normal citizens. In developed societies, men who hold public office are expected to be open to public scrutiny on a more conservative scale than that applicable to common citizens. This is why democracy has survived in Europe, the US, Canada and other developed nations.

R Chaudhry

Conroe, Texas, US

]]> Comment on Sharif lashes out by Zohaib Bukhari http://friendsofpakistan.net/?p=367&cpage=1#comment-19 Zohaib Bukhari Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:37:32 +0000 http://friendsofpakistan.net/?p=367#comment-19 Govt has amicably turned the judicial crisis that raised a storm of criticism. Dust has almost settled and cordial meeting between CJP and Prime Minister of Pakistan conveyed a message to ill-wishers that there are no differences among Judiciary and Executive. We should commend Zardari’s acumen that he never indulged in bloody personal ego and always rose above such formalities avoiding anomalies. The very next day PML-N supremo Mian Nawaz Sharif suddenly woke up from his slumber and not only declared President Zardari as the biggest threat to democracy, a very good effort to create rift between both the parties. Nawaz Sharif adopted the typical approach and attempted to stab in the back of Govt. The situation very much revealed that he is ambitious to repeat the history of 90’s. On the other hand, If one come across the profile of all the judges and Justice Khawja Sharif being "more Sharif than the Sharifs," are all close associated of Mian brothers. Still the Govt did not make it an issue of self-esteem and complied with the Judiciary just to avert the Tsunami raise by Judiciary. It is also obvious that, enjoying all the privileges, higher judiciary can skew the process in a manner that can create hurdles for the executive. Govt has amicably turned the judicial crisis that raised a storm of criticism. Dust has almost settled and cordial meeting between CJP and Prime Minister of Pakistan conveyed a message to ill-wishers that there are no differences among Judiciary and Executive. We should commend Zardari’s acumen that he never indulged in bloody personal ego and always rose above such formalities avoiding anomalies. The very next day PML-N supremo Mian Nawaz Sharif suddenly woke up from his slumber and not only declared President Zardari as the biggest threat to democracy, a very good effort to create rift between both the parties. Nawaz Sharif adopted the typical approach and attempted to stab in the back of Govt. The situation very much revealed that he is ambitious to repeat the history of 90’s. On the other hand, If one come across the profile of all the judges and Justice Khawja Sharif being “more Sharif than the Sharifs,” are all close associated of Mian brothers. Still the Govt did not make it an issue of self-esteem and complied with the Judiciary just to avert the Tsunami raise by Judiciary. It is also obvious that, enjoying all the privileges, higher judiciary can skew the process in a manner that can create hurdles for the executive.

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