Party Manifestos

WOW… I was quite surprised. The MQM have always instilled fear in most people’s hearts because of their terror tactics used in the dark years of Karachi’s history. Those of you who lived in Karachi in 1995 will probably remember that era as one that we hope to never ever see again. Was a time when it was never guaranteed that when you left your home…that you would come back again. I am NOT exaggerating. Violent times… during the tenure of BB interestingly enough.

Today we had Dr. Farooq Sattar as our guest and I wasn’t sure what to expect. But the person we met today was a far cry from the murderous reputation the party carries. Don’t get me wrong….. these guys know how to get rough if the need arises. Having said that they have been working hard at trying to make themselves a national party as opposed to a provincial one representing just one section of society. I was impressed with how he did answer some of our direct questions. We asked him would the MQM be willing to reinstate the judiciary if they were voted in the next parliament. He went on record to say YES… and that was a point the party disagreed with the President. We asked him about education and the reforms they planned…. again he came back with an answer that showed obviously these are issues that the party have been discussing and have solid plans to implement them. Now its our job , as the civil society that with each of our politicians…note the promises they make and when they come into parliament THEN mobilize ourselves into ensuring they follow through on their words… I also asked him would the MQM be willing to take on the military and ensure that army does not interfere in the politics of the country again… Again he said yes…. but all the political parties need to be in agreement. Trouble arises when the politicians themselves call on the millitary to benefit themselves…. again THIS is where the civil society really needs to be watchful and not allow our politicians to do this to us anymore. WE are responsible for allowing the politicians to bring Pakistan to where it is today and now is the time to get ready for serious accountability actions. There is a great prayer that I would like to share with you with regards to the nation : Lord give us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can and the wisdom to know the difference.

 

World disability day

Today I met Sarmad Tariq. He is an inspiration. He is a motivational speaker, a life coach…. a fab zest for life and all this while in a wheelchair. He certainly does not want to be credited as a disabled person but to be treated normally and be in mainstream society but it was interesting meeting and talking with him and finding out about attitudes of people towards the disabled. Simple things like how when we see someone in a wheelchair people tend to try not to make eye contact…. as if the person did not exist…probably their own embarrasment at their inability to handle the situation . Very inspirational.

Politics seem kind of cold these days. Politicians still trying to figure out if they should boycott the elections which doesn’t make sense to me… 16th December the emergency will be lifted according to President Musharraf. The Swat situation seems to be more or less back under control thank God.  Apparently international agencies will be monitoring the elections to ensure transparency and fairness….so why the drama??? sigh…. we just love to scream foul before even playing the game…. and these are from seasoned politicians…. when will the maturity finally happen????

 

Take a step back… take a deep breath

ah Mondays are always tough… Its getting started in one’s work week after lazing for two days if you’re lucky to have the weekend off…

Today  on Breakfast At Dawn we had Hasan Askari… a senior political analyst and we were discussing the visit of John Negraponte to Pakistan and what it means for us… a very interesting discussion no doubt but something he said really struck me…

The situation in Swat is worsening day by day… we have a bit of a war going on in our North West Frontier Province.  Now a new flashpoint has erupted with the sectarian violence that has started up in Parichinar. With so much trouble up there Askari pointed out that the govt needs to have the stability to focus on handling that problem.  But with the confrontational stance that everyone is taking… Benazir won’t talk to Musharraf… Musharraf locking everyone up… everyone bashing Musharraf with or without the uniform. In fact even Askari pointed out that even if the govt does take a valid step our automatic response is to bash it because that is our first reaction. Lack of confidence in the govt has become habitual whether justified or not. My personal opinion is I sincerely hope Mush sees sense and lifts the emergency asap and that the politicians put Pakistan first for a change and work together rather than confrotational tactics with each other to bring stability back into the country.

 

Pasted from a question asked on my facebook….

Ayeshah asks:
we all believe in freedom of speech, press… do you think the media has handled the freedom they did experience in Pakistan before the imposition of Emergency responsibly?

Sajid Ghafoor:

I think in some cases they went over board

Ali Raza:why dont we as a nation have patience to see things evolve….

Ambreen Haider:…the world is demanding of pakistan what some consider dreadful, myself included. why cant ouor media be as composed and pleasant as BBC? we try to be.. fox news and sky news! ’nuff said.Ambreen Haider:on top of that the media got freedom the press has nevver experienced in the country’s history. if it was responsible, it would present the pros and cons alike, which it did not. the world sees the emotional drama the media has to portray, based on which. Ambreen Haider:media is supposed to be factual, and unbiased. i feel some of the media did tend to get a bit carried away with the hullaballoo when there was none. they made it an emotional campaign instead. remember all the blood and limbs at each bomb over the years? Ankur Tewari:A film maker is always as good as his last film. A politician as good as his last action. I think the media has conveniently forgotten the good the man in the uniform has done for the nation. It might not seem so but he has always put nation before self..

 

back to work

ah…finally got back to the BAD show…. that’s our inside joke for Breakfast At Dawn… I had taken 10 days off … one week was legal as i had a flu and couldn’t speak… and considering its a morning talk show, lack of voice meant I was redundant! By the time I was up on my feet was feeling kind of burn out and sorry for myself for my lack of a life with sleeping by 10 p.m to wake up at 4 a.m to be at work by 5:30 am…. do I hear violins anywhere? hmm… didn’t think so… oh well back to the grind… still feeling burnt out but taking a short break again soon which will be nice.

Felt good to be back at work and in the thick of things. Felt great to be talking to my colleagues and discussing journalists and their protests. I played the Devil’s Advocate (;)) and basically asked if perhaps the media had not acted responsibly at some points and did go overboard and therefore can we honestly blame the govt for clamping down on the media. Mubasshir Zaidi gave a fantastic response.. I was so proud of him ..I wanted to hug him… very rightly he said the govt has its own state channel…use that… get your spin doctors and tell the country your side of the story… our job is to report what is happening on the ground…

Problem is no one takes the state channels seriously because its known for its stance… with the result that ppl are generally watching the private channels for news updates and they only get that point of view… not the other side… is that fair too I ask?? how do you feel?? anyone out there reading?

Well time to take a cat nap so i can deal with my kids when they get home. later!