Part 2
Q) What does probation mean? Search that word from the English dictionary.
Ans: Probation means the act of testing a person’s conduct, character and qualifications.
What do double standards mean? What does corruption and abuse of power mean? What does accountability mean? What does national interest mean? What does dictator mean? Look these words up in the English dictionary too.
Q) Why do you think Akhtar doesn’t deserve to get banned?
Ans: He certainly did not deserve a 5 year ban by DNA. The fact that the ban was singlehandedly given by DNA through a self appointed disciplinary commission on whom he had strong influence over and the fact he ordered everyone in the PCB governing council meeting to agree to banning Shoaib for this 5 year period made it highly controversial in the end. It was not just the ban it was the professional charm which was put on this deliberate abuse of power, destruction of a player’s career, character assassination which really irked and worked me up. To make matters worse they stopped him from playing cricket anywhere in the world knowing full well that if the PCB banned Shoaib, the IPL in return would never except him. To be very honest a ruthless bunch of cynical and pathologically vindictive cabal had taken over the PCB then.
The PCB’s disciplinary charges against Akhtar were just rubbish and just an excuse to act so strongly against him. DNA who himself has been accussed of massive corruption, abuse of power as the PCB and NCHD chairman should not be talking about discipline in any field of life and thus his credibility to give any such punishment to another individual was just non existent.
Then I also read about players like Sohail Tanvir, Fawad Alam behaving in the same allegedly indisciplined manner which Akhtar was accused for e.g. breaking curfews, late nights, refusal to listen to captain, coach, manager. The fact the PCB never ever launched a similar witch hunt against Asif for his involvement in the nandrolene episode before the Dubai and Nandrolene part two scandal clearly proved how every resource, input and intellect was solely focused on the career destruction of one player only i.e. Shoaib Akhtar.
The PCB’s chargesheet against Shoaib was very weak and poor. Selective discipline in the end is nothing but contradictory and persecution of the highest order.
Q) If he does, followed by second top, then why do you think he deserves 2 years for taking drugs?
Ans: I don’t really believe in banning players, I believe in fining them until they are bankrupt.
Q) Who is your favorite poster in this website?
Ans: I have no favorite poster, I deal with every post on its merit and even if my biggest critique mentions something important and correct, I applaud him and let him know.
Q) Which poster do you hate the most?
Ans: I don’t hate anyone. But at the same time I do not appreciate being called names, being subject to personal attacks just because I have different and strongly held views and strongly respect those posters who debate and deal with the issue rather than getting personal. Getting personal is unfair, unethical and it is so easy to indulge in such cheap acts sitting behind the PC when these people know in real life they would be asking for serious trouble if they behaved in the same manner face to face.
Q) Which poster do you find most sensible on PP?
Ans: This is a very subjective question and will be strongly linked with one’s own views on issues. But I find most posters sensible who discuss issues and do not cross the line while debating and arguing. I have strong admiration for posters who don’t butt into threads looking to attack posters they have a history of disagreements with when he is cornered at that point in time.
Q) What do you think of Pak Wattan?
Ans: I cannot say much he is pretty new over here at the moment but I can tell he is very energetic, passionate and a determined poster who shows he cares about Pakistan Cricket. He’s very very frank as well and a friendly word of advice to not only him but other extremely frank people as well while being honest, frank, daring is a good thing it can also go against you especially with respect to the person you are dealing with so I would recommend first get to know the person before being frank with them. It is unfortunate we disagree about Shoaib Akhtar but with time I am sure PakWattan will become one of the top posters over here with time.
Q) Putting aside his ability, his achievements (as few as they are in cricketing terms) e.t.c. if you were his boss and Pindi the ******** employee. How long will he last?
a) 10 seconds b) 1 minute c) I hour d) One day if it was a holiday e) You would quit as his boss
Ans: Again a very biased question which has totally restricted my response. I challenge the person who posted this question to play for 20 years non stop without any injuries, rest and play 400 test matches, 800 ODI’s and let me see you get 219 ODI wickets and 178 test wickets in those glorious 20 years.
Anyways, if I was Akhtar’s boss then I would resign immediately because Akhtar is more important to the country as a sportsman and should I find myself in a situation where I am not getting along with him, then the greater national interest would dictate that I step aside and let him play for Pakistan because he can contribute more for Pakistan’s cause than me.
Q) Whats your take on the whole take on the whole light business? Is light a particle or wave?
Ans: I hate science and all its related topics unless someone can explain it to me in simplified, non jargon linguistic terms but I will refer you or anyone else who is interested in this question to this website http://www.visionlearning.com/libra...wer.php?mid=132
Q) Arbab Rahim and his brother in law got into a public fight. They both accused each other of tax evasion, fraud, kidnappings, extortion and even rape. They also provided evidence of their evidence of their allegations on TV channels twice on Dr Shahid Masood’s show on ARY at that time. Musharraf instead of starting a trial against them asked to sort out the matter in private. What do you think of Musharraf’s character and sincerity if he is willing to overlook the allegations above?
Ans: Anyone who indulges in corruption deserves to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Anyone who supports a corrupt act, covers it up is a corrupt individual and it is because of FINANCIAL CORRUPTION that we are where we are today. We as a country need each and every penny we can get our hands and even that we don’t use sincerely towards fixing our country. That is just a sad state of affairs and unforgivable. When I talk to the common man in the streets they yearn for just one thing “We want a Taliban type system”. Its just sad and pathetic that people have lost confidence in a secular non religious oriented system serving their best interests. But yes all the power brokers i.e. Politicians, Millitary, Navy, Air Force, Judiciary, Bureacracy, Feudals e.t.c have looted and plundered this country to a state where we have $45 billion in foreign debts and are stuck in this debt trap.
As far as Musharraf is concerned, I supported him when he first came to power in 1999. I was young back then, I remember people really supported him and how the people were just sick and tired of the circle of PPP (BB) and Nawaz Sharif (PML-N) and their monopoly on the political system. And now in 2008 people are supporting the same old faces who looted and plundered the country in the past and crying for Democracy.
In my view, education is the most important issue. Our people are not educated they don’t know their rights. Most are just so concerned about their own personal lives, family lives and could care less about what is happening in the country on a consistent basis. I mean an average or even more than average doesn’t even know who an economic system works, what is monetary policy, fiscal policy, GDP, Govt spending e.t.c. These are critical issues that most people around the world vote on. Our political parties make the same promises again and again, show the same failed and guilty of corruption candidates again and again. But I have not seen a single political party issue a Manifesto on its policies with regard to national issues in detail. Anyways this is for another discussion.
I think Musharraf like many people in History got corrupted by power as they say power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I didn’t like the fact he compromised with the same corrupt politicians in the PML Q, PPP (Sherpao) group. He did all this to remain in power. It was his hunger for power which led to his undoing, for a dictator its so hard to let go of it. But I credit him for leading the country well during the post 9/11 scenario. Yes he made mistakes as well, lal masjid issue being one it will always remain controversial and is a very sensitive topic to discuss along with the tribal area policy, his confrontation with the chief justice cost him the presidency. If he met the CJ in private and resolved issues with him he would still have been the President today.
Anyways to answer your question I would lose all respect for Musharraf if the above were true and did during the last 5-6 years of his rule.
Q) What do you think about the Steel Mill debacle?
Ans: Yeah I read about it. It was going to be sold for a price which was less reflective of its true value. I was glad the Supreme Court CJ ordered a halt to it. Unfortunately this is Pakistan for you, corruption Inc. Such incidents have happened in the past as well only for corrupt compliant judicial officials to play along and get their cut. I am certain someone was going to receive huge kickbacks. My suspicions are on Shaukat Aziz principally and the minister for investment back then Mr Hafeez Sheikh. I hope there is a sincere investigation and all guilty parties are punished for being party to this corrupt act. I applaud the CJ for standing up, putting his neck on the line and stopping it.
We need to seriously think about implementing the Chinese system in Pakistan where people are executed for Corruption. We need to strengthen our judiciary. We need to somehow reduce bribery in our society. We need to strengthen the police force, investigative process, quality of prosecution. Its time to actually make people pay for their acts. Then and only then will people develop some hope that yes a bright future is possible.
Q) How should Pakistan be run and who should run it?
Ans: Pakistan needs to be run on a war footing. We have wasted the perfect opportunity to become one of the top countries in Asia/World over the last 61 years. The remarkable thing is that despite all our problems we have still come along way from 1947. We are a nuclear power, we have a rich culture, heritage, many diverse languages and certainly no shortage of natural resources. But our biggest enemy has been Corruption and Bribery. They have impeded our potential economic growth and today we are in a debt trap and cannot even spend most of our money on our people in the most beneficial way possible.
If I was the leader of the country, first thing I would do is to launch an emergency accountability drive in each and every inch of the Pakistani country. I will go to the CBR, Banks, all different ministries, Atorney Generals office and every corrupt officials name would be put on the ECL. I would deploy troops on the borders and ports to ensure no one escapes. I will arrest each and every person against whom there is a hint of corruption/allegation. Unfortunately based on ground realities I will in emergency introduce a law by which people will be guilty till proved innocent and that the individuals arrested will be kept in confinement for as long as necessary. These politicians/officials know how to play around the system and drastic measures will need to be implemented to end their monopoly on the system once and for all. More important than punishing them we need to recover each and every penny that they have looted from the country, those individuals who volunteer to return all the looted money will return the money to the government in exchange for their freedom but the condition is that they will renounce their Pakistani nationality and never ever be allowed to return to the motherland again.
Next I would immediately pass land reforms with which the strangleholds of these feudal will be broken. I will not allow any individual to maintain a private army and will launch a massive deweaponization program in society. I will repeal all the discriminatory hudood ordinance laws and other discrimatory laws even if I risk assassination. I will declare Pakistan to be a secular state and openly declare that the business of the government is to govern and not deal with religious issues. However this does not mean Ataturk type forced westernization. I would rather leave it to society itself to decide which direction it prefers to go (let the market forces decide basically). The Ulema, religious clerics will have all the respect in the world provided no one preaches hatred, secretarianism and terrorism. The Ulema must spread the right message of Islam while ofcourse slashing the west for unjust policies and they will have freedom of expression but in the end no spreading of hatred.
Next step I will do is to overhaul the education system. For this the budgetary allocation must be increased tremendously. The economic progress of society is strongly linked to skills, human capital and development which all comes from education. Education also makes people smarter and gives them the ability to view life from a more broader and intellectual perspective. Knowledge is power. We need to give a massive boost to our education system so that we can produce more value added labour who in return will deliver value added output to the benefit of the country. We need to invest in Science, Information technology, encourage entrepreneurship, risk taking, capitalism, medicine, engineers’ e.t.c who can take the country forward. It is important to make primary education compulsory for all people and we will need to need to improve the public sector schools perhaps given the private sector a greater role in this endeavor. Technicalities can be worked out later but I want high quality teachers to teach the poor not low quality teachers.
Next Step would be to boost the budget allocations for medicine as well. A healthy society is a more productive and stronger society. The image of the country must be improved and for this we need to embrace modern times. Invest in recreation. I am not calling for Casino’s but develop high quality luxuries parks, amusement parks, gaming arcades, sports grounds, hotels, improve the roads/ infrastructure in our top tourist potential areas for e.g. Northern Areas like Naran, Khunjerab, Gilgit, Muree, Nathiagali. Improve the state of the museums in the country. Carefully understand our culture/history and show it to the world, develop a brand image for the country for e.g. lol the Asian Hotspot.
We need to improve our law and order if we are ever going to be serious about attracting foreign investors and business men. We have to do get rid of terrorism from our society. An all out military solution is not going to work and neither will hands off approach work either. The best thing to do is to develop the local intelligence agencies, embrace modern spying techniques, disbanding the ISI and establishment of a domestic intelligence agency responsible for internal security and a foreign intelligence agency responsible for external operations. We need to win this war through art and deception. Send spies in the mosques, infiltrate groups, preempt them, and keep the enemy under surveillance. The success of this is also dependent on the judiciary. Other than this we also need to improve the quality of our police, and traffic police and to start of an increase in salary is important along with an increase in professionalism.
As far as the economy is concerned, this is all linked to the steps taken against corruption, law and order, infrastructure development. It is important to identify world trends and our most important strengths. Developing long term plans, developing bodies to monitor their implementation and stick to them. But one thing is for sure, privatization is the way to go. We need to lift our people out of poverty through the privatization process as nationalization not only failed us but increased corruption and inefficiency in the country.
Promoting nationalism is the key as well. We need to this pathetic, ******** regionalism once and for all. I once spoke to a senior government official and he told me the Musharraf regime was at one point in time seriously thinking of increasing the no of provinces in the country from 4 to 10-15. I don’t think this is a bad idea at all, because a smaller area is always easy to manage. It is difficult and costly but in the extreme long run just might be right and hopefully this nationalism can be reduced. People need to be made aware of their duties to the state and country. How their actions affect the country. If they want the country to change, they need to first change themselves and be more responsible for the country. I leave the mechanism to the media people.
There is so much to do, I could go on and on but one thing is clear most of our issues are internal and if we solve these keys issues then nothing is ever going to stop us. Civilians should always lead the country provided they are clean, sincere, have a vision for the country and its future and act promptly and do not loot, plunder whatever little money the country has. Overall I am a secular, liberal individual and I just want a period of long term stability, good sincere governance with good people friendly, economic growth enhancing and poverty reduction policies which is what I am sure what every Pakistani wants. I don’t think most people in our country give a rats *** about Democracy or military rule but only about surviving their daily lives and making ends meet.
Q) What is the solution to the militancy in NWFP?
Ans: Like is said one thing is certain an all out military solution is just not possible. At the same time another thing is certain we cannot ignore the problem and not use force when necessary. A delicate balance is needed. Knowing the Pashtoons or any self respecting people around the world, do not kill innocent people even by mistake because you cannot afford any more enemies then you have. The problem is intelligence and information. We do know that terrorists, criminals, foreign fighters have taken refuge in parts of NWFP neighbouring Afghanistan. These dangerous elements have the advantage of fitting in easily among the population and have many hiding places.
Hearts and mind is crucial. Trust needs to be reestablished. You need to pump money into the area, create jobs, reward people for information while keeping their identities secret. At the same time, this has to be a covert operation. The problem is Pakistan’s sole intelligence agency is beyond control and powerful elements support these militants. So thus the ISI needs to slowly disbanded. We need to treat Israel as a model and use the Shinbeth (responsible for Israel’s internal security) and Mossad (legendary Israel’s foreign intelligence agency) as a model. We need to have our spies in the Millitant spots, we need actionable intelligence to act against these miscreants. We need to preempt them. We need to know where they sleep, eat; drink e.t.c. Accuracy in Counter terrorist action is critical. If you’re not accurate the militants win. We also need the support of the local population and this is where the hearts and minds kick in. We need to use propaganda against these militants. If they can use the media to their advantage why cant we do the same?
And of course, the Americans should be told in serious terms. Look this is our war, our fight and our problem. We are going to do this our way. You ******** better reduce civilian casualties because you are making our job very difficult and you are creating more and more enemies every day. If you have intelligence, give it to us and we will act on it but if you send your troops inside our country then our army will retaliate in kind and seize all cooperation.
Last but not least like I mentioned education, awareness and an improvement in the economy.
Q) What is the solution to the power crisis?
Ans: We obviously need to build more dams. Dams are unfortunately politicized by our politicians and as a result no work takes place, only plans are made. This is unacceptable and as President I would tell them to get lost and I am going to build these dams out of national interest and hell with your political issues. The country cannot suffer due to your stupid issues and ego problems. The country comes first and nothing else.
I think the government should think about investing in nuclear energy. I mean I don’t know the specifics behind it all but if we have the capability to produce nuclear weapons, why cant we invest in nuclear energy? This should be explored along with other cheaper alternative sources of energy.
Finally education and awareness once again. People need to be encouraged to conserve electricity and to minimize its unnecessary usage. For e.g. no need to turn the light on during the day, if there is a strong breeze outside no need to turn the AC on, people should get out more often no need to sit at home all day use electricity, Familes i.e one unit familes can all sleep in one room to minimize electric consumption. Unnecessary street and park lights should be shut down at night. Industries need to be given unlimited supply of Electricity or maximum supply of electricity as possible and should have access to financing facilities at cheap rates. Also the government should subsidize Electrical generators for low income groups.
This is my take on this problem. Everyone has to play a role here.
Q) Tell us about your educational background?
Ans: Life hasn’t been rosy for me. I have a very minor form of dyslexia i.e. a reading comprehension disorder which results in low attention span and taking time to absorb the written material. I had many academic problems and it affected my personality, had disciplinary issues as well and at one point some of my teachers even recommended that I be sent to a boarding school. Had to fight really hard to overcome my academic weaknesses. I studied privately for my O level exams, with the help of a private tutor who was a true mentor just a few years older to me but he helped me increase my confidence and self belief. Anyways I did my O levels in 2002, A levels in 2004. I joined the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi, the second best business school in Pakistan after Lums in 2004 and just graduated this May in 2008 with a major in Finance.
Right now I am doing my MBA from IBA as well. I am in my first semester right now but its different in the sense IBA requires all students who have done their BBA from IBA and who choose to immediately come back to the college for their MBA from August onwards to work in an organization for 6 months and to take responsibility for a specific work project in which they have to work and complete a given project from the company within 5 months from August 1st till December 20th. Every month I have to send a progress report to a faculty member from IBA who is monitoring all the MBA students doing their work projects and I am being evaluated by my supervisors in the company as well as from IBA faculty. In December I should have completed my work project and have to submit a report/presentation to both my company supervisor and IBA supervisor. In this whole Work project I will be given an overall grade. If I get an A that’s a Gpa of 4 in the first semester, B+ 3.33 e.t.c. In my next semester from January I will actually go back to college and resume studying as a normal student. The MBA will last for two years and I am planning to major in Finance again.
Other than this, I am currently also studying for my CFA Level 1 exam in December. I am gambling that if I inshallah clear Level 1 in December, I will appear for Level 2 in the following June 2009 and if I clear than inshallah I will appear for my Level 3 inshallah in June 2010. Best case scenario would be for me to complete my CFA exams and MBA in 2010. Then after that it remains to be seen, I haven’t decided yet but I could go to the UK to do Chartered Accountancy, a friend of mine is pursuing this option to so I guess I have been influenced as well.
I have other minor degrees while studying in IBA as well from other government institutions. I have a certificate in Islamic Banking and another certificate in specialization in Banking from the Skill Development council but these are not high profile degrees and at most I have developed a basic, general idea about these topics in the end. But as they say education can never kill you.
Other than this, I read many autobiographies, read the news, magazines and have a pretty decent grasp of current affairs.
Q) A few words on Zardari, Imran Khan, Nawaz Sharif, Musharraf?
Ans: A few words It is then
Zardari: Unknown feudal who became the husband of one of the famous female politicians in Asia to Mr 10% for his extravagant corruption during her rule to jail when she was overthrown and now the President of the country. God help us
Imran Khan: Playboy, legendary, charismatic leader who has given a lot to Pakistan but a failed Politician who is wasting his time when he should be focusing on being a social worker. Has even sacrificized his family for serving Pakistan. I am certain he and Jemima would still have been together had he given up Politics. He is well adored by the family and he and Jemima talk on the phone every second day.
Nawaz Sharif: Another hypocrite who is being an opportunist at this point. Proclaims to be standing up for all those things he blatantly violated during his second term in office. Have very little respect for this man who is just playing on popular opinion with an eye on the next elections.
Musharraf: At the end of the day another Millitary dictator who came in with popular support and resigned in the end as the most hated figure in the country. To be fair he did some good things for Pakistan but in the end every ruler reaches his shelf life and when they think they are indispensable they get the ultimate reality check in the end. Lets hope the last military ruler the country sees.
Q) At what age do you think Akhtar will be ready to get married to you?
Ans: My fantasy is with an American actress. Akhtar at best would just be a time pass buddy. But a fantastic bowler whom I wish was well liked by most people in general. I believe Akhtar will become a better person after marriage.
Q) We hear posters from Karachi complaining of the “Karachi bias”. Do you think there is such a thing?
Ans: I am not sure what is meant here by the Karachi Bias but I am going to take a guess i.e. neglect of Karachi as a city in comparison to others, Lahoris vs Karachites e.t.c. Well I tend to think of the country as a whole. Karachi is not the only city in Pakistan, I have been to cities like Quetta, Peshawar and in some parts of Punjab and too be honest they are even worse off than Karachi. But yes Karachi being a port city which allegedly contributes more than 50% of the countries revenue should have been more developed in terms of infrastructure, glamour then it is now. This applies to other cities too. I believe Karachi would have been extravagant personified if the Capital of the country was located over here but then the decision was made to have the Capital in Islamabad. Now I am not sure why this was done but the argument that is made is that Karachi strategically was an unsafe location. I do sometimes wonder how things would have been different if Karachi had remained the Capital of Pakistan.
Another aspect Lahoris vs Karachites. I find many people indulge in this immature generalization. Many Lahori’s I know in my college who come to Karachi complain about the city, and that Karachites are so cheap, desperately open minded e.t.c. When a karachite goes to Lahore he is mocked for his poor Punjabi skills and the fact he is a complete outsider. Karachites in return retaliate by remarking to Lahorites that kids live in Lahore, Men are born and bred in Karachi e.t.c. I mean this Is just so pathetic to be honest. This is one country, end of story. I could care less about who is Balochi, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Mohajir, Bengali. And we call ourselves Muslims? When we cant even tolerate each other background, culture e.t.c.
Q) Please explain your proposed Presidential System in detail?
Ans: I believe that the parliamentary system has failed in Pakistan to be honest. For the parliamentary system to work perfectly all the members of the national assembly must vote on issues fairly, with integrity and most importantly with the wishes of the constituency that that they are representing. But that never happens, its all party based, very rarely does a party member votes against his own party and if a party has a two thirds majority then do you honestly think they will vote their Prime Minister out of Office for e.g. remember Nawaz Sharif in his second term as premier introducing a law where the party leaders had the right to expel fellow party MNA’s for voting against the parties wishes. And why should the president be powerless? I mean even in the UK the Queen has the power to dismiss the Prime Minister so it is a check in the end. Our population when they vote for parties do not know which Prime Minister they are voting for and majority of our population doesn’t even participate in the elections because of complete lack of confidence in the system.
If Pakistan wants to keep the Parliamentary system, then I think we need to keep an eye on the French Constitution where the President is responsible for the army and foreign affairs while the Prime Minister looks after domestic affairs. There are separate general presidential elections and separate prime ministerial elections. I think this system should be looked at in detail. I also think we should have the system in place in Bangladesh where both the president and prime minister step down before the end of their respective terms and a caretaker government supervises the elections.
But personally I want the US Presidential system in Pakistan. I say just appoint one chief executive of this country while holding separate elections for the national assembly and senate. Atleast with this system people know exactly who and what they are voting for atleast. Its time to try this system in Pakistan. Where the President cannot act alone without congressional support. However having said this no system will work if it isn’t allowed to work but I feel the US presidential system is best suited to Pakistan’s environment.
And yes one electoral reform. On election day, voters in addition to the choice of the candidates standing for power, should be given a separate option which states “Not using my vote because of lack of confidence in all candidates”. If throughout the country majority of the votes end up in this box then for the other candidates, the election should be declared null and void, new elections should be called for and the candidates who stood in the previous election should be barred from the next election. I believe this will increase voter participation and increase their involvement in the democratic system. The main reason for our low voter turnouts is simply due to lack of confidence in the system and any of the candidates.
Q) Do you like to seek attention?
Ans: Not in that sense but I do like to draw everyone’s attentions to issues that I feel are important and need to be made aware of.
Q) Did you know “Savak” was the spy service of Iran under the Shah?
Ans: Yes I know it well, my late grandfather’s friend was posted in the Pakistani embassy during the last three years upto the Islamic Revolution. He was an intresting and well knowledgable person. He told me about Iran, how life used to be under the Shah of Iran Mohammad Raza Pahlavi, the forced westernization of Iran, the massive but unequal economic growth over there. How the Americans were hated in Iran because of their support for the despotic Shah of Iran. I followed up on that and watched many documentaries and even read one or two books as well. My dad kept telling me about his many trips to Iran in the 70’s.
I read about the Iranian secret service “Savak” and how it was trained by the CIA, Mossad. They had imposed a check on almost all sections of Iranian society, they tortured and massacred many Iranians. They had a special cell in the US where they could monitor all Iran students studying in the US and made a list of all those students who were opposed to the Shah. The Savak also murdered many political opponents of Iran both inside and outside Iran covert style. Definitely an instrument of dictatorship and abuse. Its now been replaced by Savama which is the secret police of the Islamic government and equally ruthless against internal and external opponents and they rehired people who worked for the Shah in the Savak.
But I liked the name and I kept it. Havent ever thought of changing it. I am so used to it now.
Q) I googled Savak and found this line of clothing. Any Inspirations; http://i33.tinypic.com/o86tzl.jpg
Ans: Heheheh. That’s a pretty cool shirt. I wish I could buy it. It looks pretty inspiring to me.
Q) Who is a bigger fan of Shoaib Akhtar? Savak or Shoaib Akhtar
Ans: I just want to see my country win. I want to see them beat top quality teams. I want to see us produce the fast bowlers we were well known for producing i.e. 90 mph plus. I want our team to play aggressively, passionately, with self belief and without any fear what so ever. I want this team to be ambitious and proud of itself. It does not lack anything, all it lacks is a proper strategy and an attacking mindset at the moment. Like Imran Khan once said, we have the resources, we have the talent in domestic cricket, we aren’t using them properly.
Like I said I love pace i.e. extreme pace and since Akhtar is the fastest bowler in the world let alone Pakistan who has awesome wicket taking abilities therefore I back him a 100%. As for the user Shoaib Akhtar, I am sure he feels the same way too. We are both fans of Pakistani Cricket.
Q) Do you feel fans/media/internet have somehow “dehumanized” cricketers? Is it the case that we think of cricketers as some kind of machines/robots who deliver day after day? Who is to blame?
Ans: Actually all this is a price to pay for fame. The problem in Pakistan is that our entertainment industry is not well developed at all with exception to our music and modeling industry. Cricketers are the real celebrities over here especially larger than life cricketers like Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi. The media just loves to sell each and everything about them. It’s a global phenomena where even in the US there is a paparazzi problem and they just feel they have the right to butt in and report each and every thing in any celebrities personal life without any due regard to the consequences to the celebrities personal life, commercial interests and careers which is dead wrong and many celebrities have been complaining about for a long long time but the papparazi conveniently uses Freedom of the press as an excuse. There has to be a limit and balance somewhere.
Afridi also had a controversial playboy personality before his marriage but it all went away after he ended up getting married. He doesn’t attract that many female fans as he used to in 2000 and plus he has three daughters as well. Thus people don’t find him appealing in that sense anymore and therefore he doesn’t sell for those reasons anymore. Now Shoaib Akhtar’s biggest problem apart from his controversies is the fact he is still single. While that remains the same people will always right whatever they want about him and his personal life and people will feel free to spread rumors about him. Personally I think when he ends up getting married; it will be a start to a peaceful period in his life.
As far as fans are concerned we expect our celebrities to be perfect role models. We expect them to live the life we want them to live, we expect them to be perfect and to provide us nonstop entertainment and to keep us smiling all the time. We keep forgetting these players are human beings who make mistakes, are under pressure from high expectations and that they are a product of our society. We take Akhtar and Asif to task for using drugs? Are they the only people who use drugs in Pakistan? We blast Akhtar for the batgate incident? Is he the only person who abuses another person and gets into a physical fight? Is he the only carefree, night life loving person in Karachi? We need to just chill out and relax. These cricketers can make us cry one day and make us dance in absolute ecstasy the next day. Its just a game, there is more to life than just cricket and if Pakistan has a bad game or if the team is going through a bad phase, I would recommend just go watch a tv serial, movie, anime cartoon or go out chill with college friends, cricket buddies, gym friends e.t.c.
I think everyone is to blame. Players should of course be on their toes and more responsible and mentally tough to deal with fame. The media should also be more responsible and should not cross moral boundaries and should be aware of their responsibilities to be objective, balanced and not irresponsible. This culture of Paparazzi has to end. Finally fans should remember once again its just a game and the world goes on and on. If a player has disappointed you today, he will bring a smile to your face tomorrow and vice versa, this is how the world works.
But honestly speaking this is a problem in the west even and the best thing to do is for all stakeholders to get on with and deal with it as best as they can.
“I would like to thank Pakpassion, the management Saj and Co for this interview; I would also thank people for their honest questions. I apologize if I offended anyone in this interview; I tried to be as diplomatic as possible and meant no offence. Finally if posters do end up reading the whole interview, thank you once again and I hope we continue to learn from each other”
Q) What does probation mean? Search that word from the English dictionary.
Ans: Probation means the act of testing a person’s conduct, character and qualifications.
What do double standards mean? What does corruption and abuse of power mean? What does accountability mean? What does national interest mean? What does dictator mean? Look these words up in the English dictionary too.
Q) Why do you think Akhtar doesn’t deserve to get banned?
Ans: He certainly did not deserve a 5 year ban by DNA. The fact that the ban was singlehandedly given by DNA through a self appointed disciplinary commission on whom he had strong influence over and the fact he ordered everyone in the PCB governing council meeting to agree to banning Shoaib for this 5 year period made it highly controversial in the end. It was not just the ban it was the professional charm which was put on this deliberate abuse of power, destruction of a player’s career, character assassination which really irked and worked me up. To make matters worse they stopped him from playing cricket anywhere in the world knowing full well that if the PCB banned Shoaib, the IPL in return would never except him. To be very honest a ruthless bunch of cynical and pathologically vindictive cabal had taken over the PCB then.
The PCB’s disciplinary charges against Akhtar were just rubbish and just an excuse to act so strongly against him. DNA who himself has been accussed of massive corruption, abuse of power as the PCB and NCHD chairman should not be talking about discipline in any field of life and thus his credibility to give any such punishment to another individual was just non existent.
Then I also read about players like Sohail Tanvir, Fawad Alam behaving in the same allegedly indisciplined manner which Akhtar was accused for e.g. breaking curfews, late nights, refusal to listen to captain, coach, manager. The fact the PCB never ever launched a similar witch hunt against Asif for his involvement in the nandrolene episode before the Dubai and Nandrolene part two scandal clearly proved how every resource, input and intellect was solely focused on the career destruction of one player only i.e. Shoaib Akhtar.
The PCB’s chargesheet against Shoaib was very weak and poor. Selective discipline in the end is nothing but contradictory and persecution of the highest order.
Q) If he does, followed by second top, then why do you think he deserves 2 years for taking drugs?
Ans: I don’t really believe in banning players, I believe in fining them until they are bankrupt.
Q) Who is your favorite poster in this website?
Ans: I have no favorite poster, I deal with every post on its merit and even if my biggest critique mentions something important and correct, I applaud him and let him know.
Q) Which poster do you hate the most?
Ans: I don’t hate anyone. But at the same time I do not appreciate being called names, being subject to personal attacks just because I have different and strongly held views and strongly respect those posters who debate and deal with the issue rather than getting personal. Getting personal is unfair, unethical and it is so easy to indulge in such cheap acts sitting behind the PC when these people know in real life they would be asking for serious trouble if they behaved in the same manner face to face.
Q) Which poster do you find most sensible on PP?
Ans: This is a very subjective question and will be strongly linked with one’s own views on issues. But I find most posters sensible who discuss issues and do not cross the line while debating and arguing. I have strong admiration for posters who don’t butt into threads looking to attack posters they have a history of disagreements with when he is cornered at that point in time.
Q) What do you think of Pak Wattan?
Ans: I cannot say much he is pretty new over here at the moment but I can tell he is very energetic, passionate and a determined poster who shows he cares about Pakistan Cricket. He’s very very frank as well and a friendly word of advice to not only him but other extremely frank people as well while being honest, frank, daring is a good thing it can also go against you especially with respect to the person you are dealing with so I would recommend first get to know the person before being frank with them. It is unfortunate we disagree about Shoaib Akhtar but with time I am sure PakWattan will become one of the top posters over here with time.
Q) Putting aside his ability, his achievements (as few as they are in cricketing terms) e.t.c. if you were his boss and Pindi the ******** employee. How long will he last?
a) 10 seconds b) 1 minute c) I hour d) One day if it was a holiday e) You would quit as his boss
Ans: Again a very biased question which has totally restricted my response. I challenge the person who posted this question to play for 20 years non stop without any injuries, rest and play 400 test matches, 800 ODI’s and let me see you get 219 ODI wickets and 178 test wickets in those glorious 20 years.
Anyways, if I was Akhtar’s boss then I would resign immediately because Akhtar is more important to the country as a sportsman and should I find myself in a situation where I am not getting along with him, then the greater national interest would dictate that I step aside and let him play for Pakistan because he can contribute more for Pakistan’s cause than me.
Q) Whats your take on the whole take on the whole light business? Is light a particle or wave?
Ans: I hate science and all its related topics unless someone can explain it to me in simplified, non jargon linguistic terms but I will refer you or anyone else who is interested in this question to this website http://www.visionlearning.com/libra...wer.php?mid=132
Q) Arbab Rahim and his brother in law got into a public fight. They both accused each other of tax evasion, fraud, kidnappings, extortion and even rape. They also provided evidence of their evidence of their allegations on TV channels twice on Dr Shahid Masood’s show on ARY at that time. Musharraf instead of starting a trial against them asked to sort out the matter in private. What do you think of Musharraf’s character and sincerity if he is willing to overlook the allegations above?
Ans: Anyone who indulges in corruption deserves to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Anyone who supports a corrupt act, covers it up is a corrupt individual and it is because of FINANCIAL CORRUPTION that we are where we are today. We as a country need each and every penny we can get our hands and even that we don’t use sincerely towards fixing our country. That is just a sad state of affairs and unforgivable. When I talk to the common man in the streets they yearn for just one thing “We want a Taliban type system”. Its just sad and pathetic that people have lost confidence in a secular non religious oriented system serving their best interests. But yes all the power brokers i.e. Politicians, Millitary, Navy, Air Force, Judiciary, Bureacracy, Feudals e.t.c have looted and plundered this country to a state where we have $45 billion in foreign debts and are stuck in this debt trap.
As far as Musharraf is concerned, I supported him when he first came to power in 1999. I was young back then, I remember people really supported him and how the people were just sick and tired of the circle of PPP (BB) and Nawaz Sharif (PML-N) and their monopoly on the political system. And now in 2008 people are supporting the same old faces who looted and plundered the country in the past and crying for Democracy.
In my view, education is the most important issue. Our people are not educated they don’t know their rights. Most are just so concerned about their own personal lives, family lives and could care less about what is happening in the country on a consistent basis. I mean an average or even more than average doesn’t even know who an economic system works, what is monetary policy, fiscal policy, GDP, Govt spending e.t.c. These are critical issues that most people around the world vote on. Our political parties make the same promises again and again, show the same failed and guilty of corruption candidates again and again. But I have not seen a single political party issue a Manifesto on its policies with regard to national issues in detail. Anyways this is for another discussion.
I think Musharraf like many people in History got corrupted by power as they say power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I didn’t like the fact he compromised with the same corrupt politicians in the PML Q, PPP (Sherpao) group. He did all this to remain in power. It was his hunger for power which led to his undoing, for a dictator its so hard to let go of it. But I credit him for leading the country well during the post 9/11 scenario. Yes he made mistakes as well, lal masjid issue being one it will always remain controversial and is a very sensitive topic to discuss along with the tribal area policy, his confrontation with the chief justice cost him the presidency. If he met the CJ in private and resolved issues with him he would still have been the President today.
Anyways to answer your question I would lose all respect for Musharraf if the above were true and did during the last 5-6 years of his rule.
Q) What do you think about the Steel Mill debacle?
Ans: Yeah I read about it. It was going to be sold for a price which was less reflective of its true value. I was glad the Supreme Court CJ ordered a halt to it. Unfortunately this is Pakistan for you, corruption Inc. Such incidents have happened in the past as well only for corrupt compliant judicial officials to play along and get their cut. I am certain someone was going to receive huge kickbacks. My suspicions are on Shaukat Aziz principally and the minister for investment back then Mr Hafeez Sheikh. I hope there is a sincere investigation and all guilty parties are punished for being party to this corrupt act. I applaud the CJ for standing up, putting his neck on the line and stopping it.
We need to seriously think about implementing the Chinese system in Pakistan where people are executed for Corruption. We need to strengthen our judiciary. We need to somehow reduce bribery in our society. We need to strengthen the police force, investigative process, quality of prosecution. Its time to actually make people pay for their acts. Then and only then will people develop some hope that yes a bright future is possible.
Q) How should Pakistan be run and who should run it?
Ans: Pakistan needs to be run on a war footing. We have wasted the perfect opportunity to become one of the top countries in Asia/World over the last 61 years. The remarkable thing is that despite all our problems we have still come along way from 1947. We are a nuclear power, we have a rich culture, heritage, many diverse languages and certainly no shortage of natural resources. But our biggest enemy has been Corruption and Bribery. They have impeded our potential economic growth and today we are in a debt trap and cannot even spend most of our money on our people in the most beneficial way possible.
If I was the leader of the country, first thing I would do is to launch an emergency accountability drive in each and every inch of the Pakistani country. I will go to the CBR, Banks, all different ministries, Atorney Generals office and every corrupt officials name would be put on the ECL. I would deploy troops on the borders and ports to ensure no one escapes. I will arrest each and every person against whom there is a hint of corruption/allegation. Unfortunately based on ground realities I will in emergency introduce a law by which people will be guilty till proved innocent and that the individuals arrested will be kept in confinement for as long as necessary. These politicians/officials know how to play around the system and drastic measures will need to be implemented to end their monopoly on the system once and for all. More important than punishing them we need to recover each and every penny that they have looted from the country, those individuals who volunteer to return all the looted money will return the money to the government in exchange for their freedom but the condition is that they will renounce their Pakistani nationality and never ever be allowed to return to the motherland again.
Next I would immediately pass land reforms with which the strangleholds of these feudal will be broken. I will not allow any individual to maintain a private army and will launch a massive deweaponization program in society. I will repeal all the discriminatory hudood ordinance laws and other discrimatory laws even if I risk assassination. I will declare Pakistan to be a secular state and openly declare that the business of the government is to govern and not deal with religious issues. However this does not mean Ataturk type forced westernization. I would rather leave it to society itself to decide which direction it prefers to go (let the market forces decide basically). The Ulema, religious clerics will have all the respect in the world provided no one preaches hatred, secretarianism and terrorism. The Ulema must spread the right message of Islam while ofcourse slashing the west for unjust policies and they will have freedom of expression but in the end no spreading of hatred.
Next step I will do is to overhaul the education system. For this the budgetary allocation must be increased tremendously. The economic progress of society is strongly linked to skills, human capital and development which all comes from education. Education also makes people smarter and gives them the ability to view life from a more broader and intellectual perspective. Knowledge is power. We need to give a massive boost to our education system so that we can produce more value added labour who in return will deliver value added output to the benefit of the country. We need to invest in Science, Information technology, encourage entrepreneurship, risk taking, capitalism, medicine, engineers’ e.t.c who can take the country forward. It is important to make primary education compulsory for all people and we will need to need to improve the public sector schools perhaps given the private sector a greater role in this endeavor. Technicalities can be worked out later but I want high quality teachers to teach the poor not low quality teachers.
Next Step would be to boost the budget allocations for medicine as well. A healthy society is a more productive and stronger society. The image of the country must be improved and for this we need to embrace modern times. Invest in recreation. I am not calling for Casino’s but develop high quality luxuries parks, amusement parks, gaming arcades, sports grounds, hotels, improve the roads/ infrastructure in our top tourist potential areas for e.g. Northern Areas like Naran, Khunjerab, Gilgit, Muree, Nathiagali. Improve the state of the museums in the country. Carefully understand our culture/history and show it to the world, develop a brand image for the country for e.g. lol the Asian Hotspot.
We need to improve our law and order if we are ever going to be serious about attracting foreign investors and business men. We have to do get rid of terrorism from our society. An all out military solution is not going to work and neither will hands off approach work either. The best thing to do is to develop the local intelligence agencies, embrace modern spying techniques, disbanding the ISI and establishment of a domestic intelligence agency responsible for internal security and a foreign intelligence agency responsible for external operations. We need to win this war through art and deception. Send spies in the mosques, infiltrate groups, preempt them, and keep the enemy under surveillance. The success of this is also dependent on the judiciary. Other than this we also need to improve the quality of our police, and traffic police and to start of an increase in salary is important along with an increase in professionalism.
As far as the economy is concerned, this is all linked to the steps taken against corruption, law and order, infrastructure development. It is important to identify world trends and our most important strengths. Developing long term plans, developing bodies to monitor their implementation and stick to them. But one thing is for sure, privatization is the way to go. We need to lift our people out of poverty through the privatization process as nationalization not only failed us but increased corruption and inefficiency in the country.
Promoting nationalism is the key as well. We need to this pathetic, ******** regionalism once and for all. I once spoke to a senior government official and he told me the Musharraf regime was at one point in time seriously thinking of increasing the no of provinces in the country from 4 to 10-15. I don’t think this is a bad idea at all, because a smaller area is always easy to manage. It is difficult and costly but in the extreme long run just might be right and hopefully this nationalism can be reduced. People need to be made aware of their duties to the state and country. How their actions affect the country. If they want the country to change, they need to first change themselves and be more responsible for the country. I leave the mechanism to the media people.
There is so much to do, I could go on and on but one thing is clear most of our issues are internal and if we solve these keys issues then nothing is ever going to stop us. Civilians should always lead the country provided they are clean, sincere, have a vision for the country and its future and act promptly and do not loot, plunder whatever little money the country has. Overall I am a secular, liberal individual and I just want a period of long term stability, good sincere governance with good people friendly, economic growth enhancing and poverty reduction policies which is what I am sure what every Pakistani wants. I don’t think most people in our country give a rats *** about Democracy or military rule but only about surviving their daily lives and making ends meet.
Q) What is the solution to the militancy in NWFP?
Ans: Like is said one thing is certain an all out military solution is just not possible. At the same time another thing is certain we cannot ignore the problem and not use force when necessary. A delicate balance is needed. Knowing the Pashtoons or any self respecting people around the world, do not kill innocent people even by mistake because you cannot afford any more enemies then you have. The problem is intelligence and information. We do know that terrorists, criminals, foreign fighters have taken refuge in parts of NWFP neighbouring Afghanistan. These dangerous elements have the advantage of fitting in easily among the population and have many hiding places.
Hearts and mind is crucial. Trust needs to be reestablished. You need to pump money into the area, create jobs, reward people for information while keeping their identities secret. At the same time, this has to be a covert operation. The problem is Pakistan’s sole intelligence agency is beyond control and powerful elements support these militants. So thus the ISI needs to slowly disbanded. We need to treat Israel as a model and use the Shinbeth (responsible for Israel’s internal security) and Mossad (legendary Israel’s foreign intelligence agency) as a model. We need to have our spies in the Millitant spots, we need actionable intelligence to act against these miscreants. We need to preempt them. We need to know where they sleep, eat; drink e.t.c. Accuracy in Counter terrorist action is critical. If you’re not accurate the militants win. We also need the support of the local population and this is where the hearts and minds kick in. We need to use propaganda against these militants. If they can use the media to their advantage why cant we do the same?
And of course, the Americans should be told in serious terms. Look this is our war, our fight and our problem. We are going to do this our way. You ******** better reduce civilian casualties because you are making our job very difficult and you are creating more and more enemies every day. If you have intelligence, give it to us and we will act on it but if you send your troops inside our country then our army will retaliate in kind and seize all cooperation.
Last but not least like I mentioned education, awareness and an improvement in the economy.
Q) What is the solution to the power crisis?
Ans: We obviously need to build more dams. Dams are unfortunately politicized by our politicians and as a result no work takes place, only plans are made. This is unacceptable and as President I would tell them to get lost and I am going to build these dams out of national interest and hell with your political issues. The country cannot suffer due to your stupid issues and ego problems. The country comes first and nothing else.
I think the government should think about investing in nuclear energy. I mean I don’t know the specifics behind it all but if we have the capability to produce nuclear weapons, why cant we invest in nuclear energy? This should be explored along with other cheaper alternative sources of energy.
Finally education and awareness once again. People need to be encouraged to conserve electricity and to minimize its unnecessary usage. For e.g. no need to turn the light on during the day, if there is a strong breeze outside no need to turn the AC on, people should get out more often no need to sit at home all day use electricity, Familes i.e one unit familes can all sleep in one room to minimize electric consumption. Unnecessary street and park lights should be shut down at night. Industries need to be given unlimited supply of Electricity or maximum supply of electricity as possible and should have access to financing facilities at cheap rates. Also the government should subsidize Electrical generators for low income groups.
This is my take on this problem. Everyone has to play a role here.
Q) Tell us about your educational background?
Ans: Life hasn’t been rosy for me. I have a very minor form of dyslexia i.e. a reading comprehension disorder which results in low attention span and taking time to absorb the written material. I had many academic problems and it affected my personality, had disciplinary issues as well and at one point some of my teachers even recommended that I be sent to a boarding school. Had to fight really hard to overcome my academic weaknesses. I studied privately for my O level exams, with the help of a private tutor who was a true mentor just a few years older to me but he helped me increase my confidence and self belief. Anyways I did my O levels in 2002, A levels in 2004. I joined the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi, the second best business school in Pakistan after Lums in 2004 and just graduated this May in 2008 with a major in Finance.
Right now I am doing my MBA from IBA as well. I am in my first semester right now but its different in the sense IBA requires all students who have done their BBA from IBA and who choose to immediately come back to the college for their MBA from August onwards to work in an organization for 6 months and to take responsibility for a specific work project in which they have to work and complete a given project from the company within 5 months from August 1st till December 20th. Every month I have to send a progress report to a faculty member from IBA who is monitoring all the MBA students doing their work projects and I am being evaluated by my supervisors in the company as well as from IBA faculty. In December I should have completed my work project and have to submit a report/presentation to both my company supervisor and IBA supervisor. In this whole Work project I will be given an overall grade. If I get an A that’s a Gpa of 4 in the first semester, B+ 3.33 e.t.c. In my next semester from January I will actually go back to college and resume studying as a normal student. The MBA will last for two years and I am planning to major in Finance again.
Other than this, I am currently also studying for my CFA Level 1 exam in December. I am gambling that if I inshallah clear Level 1 in December, I will appear for Level 2 in the following June 2009 and if I clear than inshallah I will appear for my Level 3 inshallah in June 2010. Best case scenario would be for me to complete my CFA exams and MBA in 2010. Then after that it remains to be seen, I haven’t decided yet but I could go to the UK to do Chartered Accountancy, a friend of mine is pursuing this option to so I guess I have been influenced as well.
I have other minor degrees while studying in IBA as well from other government institutions. I have a certificate in Islamic Banking and another certificate in specialization in Banking from the Skill Development council but these are not high profile degrees and at most I have developed a basic, general idea about these topics in the end. But as they say education can never kill you.
Other than this, I read many autobiographies, read the news, magazines and have a pretty decent grasp of current affairs.
Q) A few words on Zardari, Imran Khan, Nawaz Sharif, Musharraf?
Ans: A few words It is then
Zardari: Unknown feudal who became the husband of one of the famous female politicians in Asia to Mr 10% for his extravagant corruption during her rule to jail when she was overthrown and now the President of the country. God help us
Imran Khan: Playboy, legendary, charismatic leader who has given a lot to Pakistan but a failed Politician who is wasting his time when he should be focusing on being a social worker. Has even sacrificized his family for serving Pakistan. I am certain he and Jemima would still have been together had he given up Politics. He is well adored by the family and he and Jemima talk on the phone every second day.
Nawaz Sharif: Another hypocrite who is being an opportunist at this point. Proclaims to be standing up for all those things he blatantly violated during his second term in office. Have very little respect for this man who is just playing on popular opinion with an eye on the next elections.
Musharraf: At the end of the day another Millitary dictator who came in with popular support and resigned in the end as the most hated figure in the country. To be fair he did some good things for Pakistan but in the end every ruler reaches his shelf life and when they think they are indispensable they get the ultimate reality check in the end. Lets hope the last military ruler the country sees.
Q) At what age do you think Akhtar will be ready to get married to you?
Ans: My fantasy is with an American actress. Akhtar at best would just be a time pass buddy. But a fantastic bowler whom I wish was well liked by most people in general. I believe Akhtar will become a better person after marriage.
Q) We hear posters from Karachi complaining of the “Karachi bias”. Do you think there is such a thing?
Ans: I am not sure what is meant here by the Karachi Bias but I am going to take a guess i.e. neglect of Karachi as a city in comparison to others, Lahoris vs Karachites e.t.c. Well I tend to think of the country as a whole. Karachi is not the only city in Pakistan, I have been to cities like Quetta, Peshawar and in some parts of Punjab and too be honest they are even worse off than Karachi. But yes Karachi being a port city which allegedly contributes more than 50% of the countries revenue should have been more developed in terms of infrastructure, glamour then it is now. This applies to other cities too. I believe Karachi would have been extravagant personified if the Capital of the country was located over here but then the decision was made to have the Capital in Islamabad. Now I am not sure why this was done but the argument that is made is that Karachi strategically was an unsafe location. I do sometimes wonder how things would have been different if Karachi had remained the Capital of Pakistan.
Another aspect Lahoris vs Karachites. I find many people indulge in this immature generalization. Many Lahori’s I know in my college who come to Karachi complain about the city, and that Karachites are so cheap, desperately open minded e.t.c. When a karachite goes to Lahore he is mocked for his poor Punjabi skills and the fact he is a complete outsider. Karachites in return retaliate by remarking to Lahorites that kids live in Lahore, Men are born and bred in Karachi e.t.c. I mean this Is just so pathetic to be honest. This is one country, end of story. I could care less about who is Balochi, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Mohajir, Bengali. And we call ourselves Muslims? When we cant even tolerate each other background, culture e.t.c.
Q) Please explain your proposed Presidential System in detail?
Ans: I believe that the parliamentary system has failed in Pakistan to be honest. For the parliamentary system to work perfectly all the members of the national assembly must vote on issues fairly, with integrity and most importantly with the wishes of the constituency that that they are representing. But that never happens, its all party based, very rarely does a party member votes against his own party and if a party has a two thirds majority then do you honestly think they will vote their Prime Minister out of Office for e.g. remember Nawaz Sharif in his second term as premier introducing a law where the party leaders had the right to expel fellow party MNA’s for voting against the parties wishes. And why should the president be powerless? I mean even in the UK the Queen has the power to dismiss the Prime Minister so it is a check in the end. Our population when they vote for parties do not know which Prime Minister they are voting for and majority of our population doesn’t even participate in the elections because of complete lack of confidence in the system.
If Pakistan wants to keep the Parliamentary system, then I think we need to keep an eye on the French Constitution where the President is responsible for the army and foreign affairs while the Prime Minister looks after domestic affairs. There are separate general presidential elections and separate prime ministerial elections. I think this system should be looked at in detail. I also think we should have the system in place in Bangladesh where both the president and prime minister step down before the end of their respective terms and a caretaker government supervises the elections.
But personally I want the US Presidential system in Pakistan. I say just appoint one chief executive of this country while holding separate elections for the national assembly and senate. Atleast with this system people know exactly who and what they are voting for atleast. Its time to try this system in Pakistan. Where the President cannot act alone without congressional support. However having said this no system will work if it isn’t allowed to work but I feel the US presidential system is best suited to Pakistan’s environment.
And yes one electoral reform. On election day, voters in addition to the choice of the candidates standing for power, should be given a separate option which states “Not using my vote because of lack of confidence in all candidates”. If throughout the country majority of the votes end up in this box then for the other candidates, the election should be declared null and void, new elections should be called for and the candidates who stood in the previous election should be barred from the next election. I believe this will increase voter participation and increase their involvement in the democratic system. The main reason for our low voter turnouts is simply due to lack of confidence in the system and any of the candidates.
Q) Do you like to seek attention?
Ans: Not in that sense but I do like to draw everyone’s attentions to issues that I feel are important and need to be made aware of.
Q) Did you know “Savak” was the spy service of Iran under the Shah?
Ans: Yes I know it well, my late grandfather’s friend was posted in the Pakistani embassy during the last three years upto the Islamic Revolution. He was an intresting and well knowledgable person. He told me about Iran, how life used to be under the Shah of Iran Mohammad Raza Pahlavi, the forced westernization of Iran, the massive but unequal economic growth over there. How the Americans were hated in Iran because of their support for the despotic Shah of Iran. I followed up on that and watched many documentaries and even read one or two books as well. My dad kept telling me about his many trips to Iran in the 70’s.
I read about the Iranian secret service “Savak” and how it was trained by the CIA, Mossad. They had imposed a check on almost all sections of Iranian society, they tortured and massacred many Iranians. They had a special cell in the US where they could monitor all Iran students studying in the US and made a list of all those students who were opposed to the Shah. The Savak also murdered many political opponents of Iran both inside and outside Iran covert style. Definitely an instrument of dictatorship and abuse. Its now been replaced by Savama which is the secret police of the Islamic government and equally ruthless against internal and external opponents and they rehired people who worked for the Shah in the Savak.
But I liked the name and I kept it. Havent ever thought of changing it. I am so used to it now.
Q) I googled Savak and found this line of clothing. Any Inspirations; http://i33.tinypic.com/o86tzl.jpg
Ans: Heheheh. That’s a pretty cool shirt. I wish I could buy it. It looks pretty inspiring to me.
Q) Who is a bigger fan of Shoaib Akhtar? Savak or Shoaib Akhtar
Ans: I just want to see my country win. I want to see them beat top quality teams. I want to see us produce the fast bowlers we were well known for producing i.e. 90 mph plus. I want our team to play aggressively, passionately, with self belief and without any fear what so ever. I want this team to be ambitious and proud of itself. It does not lack anything, all it lacks is a proper strategy and an attacking mindset at the moment. Like Imran Khan once said, we have the resources, we have the talent in domestic cricket, we aren’t using them properly.
Like I said I love pace i.e. extreme pace and since Akhtar is the fastest bowler in the world let alone Pakistan who has awesome wicket taking abilities therefore I back him a 100%. As for the user Shoaib Akhtar, I am sure he feels the same way too. We are both fans of Pakistani Cricket.
Q) Do you feel fans/media/internet have somehow “dehumanized” cricketers? Is it the case that we think of cricketers as some kind of machines/robots who deliver day after day? Who is to blame?
Ans: Actually all this is a price to pay for fame. The problem in Pakistan is that our entertainment industry is not well developed at all with exception to our music and modeling industry. Cricketers are the real celebrities over here especially larger than life cricketers like Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi. The media just loves to sell each and everything about them. It’s a global phenomena where even in the US there is a paparazzi problem and they just feel they have the right to butt in and report each and every thing in any celebrities personal life without any due regard to the consequences to the celebrities personal life, commercial interests and careers which is dead wrong and many celebrities have been complaining about for a long long time but the papparazi conveniently uses Freedom of the press as an excuse. There has to be a limit and balance somewhere.
Afridi also had a controversial playboy personality before his marriage but it all went away after he ended up getting married. He doesn’t attract that many female fans as he used to in 2000 and plus he has three daughters as well. Thus people don’t find him appealing in that sense anymore and therefore he doesn’t sell for those reasons anymore. Now Shoaib Akhtar’s biggest problem apart from his controversies is the fact he is still single. While that remains the same people will always right whatever they want about him and his personal life and people will feel free to spread rumors about him. Personally I think when he ends up getting married; it will be a start to a peaceful period in his life.
As far as fans are concerned we expect our celebrities to be perfect role models. We expect them to live the life we want them to live, we expect them to be perfect and to provide us nonstop entertainment and to keep us smiling all the time. We keep forgetting these players are human beings who make mistakes, are under pressure from high expectations and that they are a product of our society. We take Akhtar and Asif to task for using drugs? Are they the only people who use drugs in Pakistan? We blast Akhtar for the batgate incident? Is he the only person who abuses another person and gets into a physical fight? Is he the only carefree, night life loving person in Karachi? We need to just chill out and relax. These cricketers can make us cry one day and make us dance in absolute ecstasy the next day. Its just a game, there is more to life than just cricket and if Pakistan has a bad game or if the team is going through a bad phase, I would recommend just go watch a tv serial, movie, anime cartoon or go out chill with college friends, cricket buddies, gym friends e.t.c.
I think everyone is to blame. Players should of course be on their toes and more responsible and mentally tough to deal with fame. The media should also be more responsible and should not cross moral boundaries and should be aware of their responsibilities to be objective, balanced and not irresponsible. This culture of Paparazzi has to end. Finally fans should remember once again its just a game and the world goes on and on. If a player has disappointed you today, he will bring a smile to your face tomorrow and vice versa, this is how the world works.
But honestly speaking this is a problem in the west even and the best thing to do is for all stakeholders to get on with and deal with it as best as they can.
“I would like to thank Pakpassion, the management Saj and Co for this interview; I would also thank people for their honest questions. I apologize if I offended anyone in this interview; I tried to be as diplomatic as possible and meant no offence. Finally if posters do end up reading the whole interview, thank you once again and I hope we continue to learn from each other”
