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The people of Pakistan voted for a democratic government in order to find a solution to their problem. It now appears that the new democratic government does not have the ability to solve the complex financial and economic problems of the country. The law and order situation in the country is at all time low and suicide bombings have become a common phenomenon.

The currency is shedding value against dollar with each passing day. At the time of writing this post the dollar was being traded in the open market at Rs.81 against a dollar. This is despite the steps taken by the central bank to regulate the price of dollar in the country. More than six months have passed and we have not yet seen any serious and sincere effort to find a solution to the economic woes of the country. The foreign exchange reserves have depleted to an extent where they are not even sufficient for one month’s import bill.

There are rumors in the country that some banks may collapse. This has created an air of extreme uncertainty in the country and people are reluctant to keep their money in banks. It is said that one foreign bank that has investment of from a large middle east group has collapsed and the news will be made public in a few days. If this rumor is true this will have devastating effect on the banking system in the country as people will resort to large scale withdrawals.

We are not seeing any change in the economic policies of the government. The lame duck prime minister is the new Shoukat Aziz in Pakistan. In fact he is worse that Shoukat Aziz. Shoukat Aziz had at least complete control on the economic policies of the country. Gillani does not seem to have any authority at all. He is the new “yes man” in Islamabad.

So the big question is if any thing has changed at all in Islamabad?

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Polish engineers working for a Polish Oil firm in Pakistan have decided to return to Poland after the kidnap of a Polish engineer a few days ago. The kidnap of foreign nationals in Pakistan, particularly those who are working in various development projects is very unfortunate indeed. It has embellished the country name worldwide. Countries advise their national to avoid traveling to Pakistan because it is a dangerous place.

What image do we want to build for Pakistan? Do we want to build an image of country where no one is safe? The government has also not been able to provide adequate security to foreign nationals. Kidnapping of foreign national is a very serious thing. All-out efforts musts be made to recover the kidnapped engineer.

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Lt General Nadeem Taj has been replaced with Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pash as Director General Inter Services Intelligence. This is a significant move. Lt General Nadeem Taj has been made a corps commander. Some other changes have also been made and the newly promoted lieutenant generals have been given key positions.

Lt General Nadeem Taj was considered a close confidant of General Pervez Mushrraf. Lt General Shuja Pasha has been Director General Military Operation. It is a key position in the army but his appointment has DG ISI will certainly make him very important.

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The US embassy in Islamabad has resumed visa service from Monday which it had suspended after the bomb blast at Marriott hotel in Islamabad. Earlier the United States had suspended its visa service in Pakistan for an indefinite period of time. I think that it is a very good step and it will certainly be a good news for many.

The UK embassy had also suspended its visa service after the bomb blast and British Airways had cancelled its flights in Pakistan. I hope that this will also be restored soon.

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Pakistan is in the grip of various types of crisis. It is faced with the threat of fully fledged US attack in the tribal areas, there is political instability in the country as the ruling coalition has fallen apart and the economy of the country is in bad shape. There is acute energy crisis in the country and people have to do without electricity for long hours.

It has been only five years after the new government was formed and it has already lost credibility with the people. Ordinary people of the country who had voted to bring about a change in their fate now feel that the government has forgotten all the promises which it made during electioneering. If it continues like this, then I am sure that the government will not complete its term. It will have to go under mounting pressure from public.

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The judges of the superior judiciary in the country who have been saying that they will fight to the end for constitution, principle and justice are lining up to save their jobs. Eight judges of the Sindh High Court and four judges of the Peshawar High Court have taken fresh oath against their earlier stand. According to news reports some judges of the Peshawar High Court, including its Chief Justice have also agreed to take new oath.

The role of the judiciary in Pakistan has never been exemplary. They have always acted to protect their petty interests and sided with the powerful establishment. The fresh oath by the judges has implicitly accepted the as legitimate the action taken by President Pervez Musharraf on 3rd November 2007. If the action of the president was illegal there would have been no need for a fresh oath and a simple executive order would have been enough.

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The senior most journalist of the country Ardeshir Cowasjee in his column has written that issuing of National Reconciliation Ordinance is the greatest sin of President Musharraf and veteran leader Mumtaz Ali Bhutto have said almost the same thing.

President Musharraf should say sorry to the nation and withdraw this ordinance, sooner the better. This will flatten many balloons.

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Is the Pakistan Army going to ask Pervez Musharraf to resign? According to a report which is published in the Telegraph the Pakistan Army is going to ask Pervez Musharraf to resign within a week. The newspaper has quoted an undisclosed former military aid of the president according to whom the army leadership does not want the president to face the humiliation of impeachment.

The source says that the army is neutral but is expecting the president to resign. It will influence the president’s safe passage as the senior leadership of the army would not want him to be punished It further says that the ruling coalition decided to impeach the president because he had started to plot against the government with the help of intelligence agencies.

I think that there is not much substance in this report. Zardari wants to become the president and Nawaz wants to settle personal score. There is no other reason for bringing the impeachment motion against the president. I would also say it here that the day Zardari becomes the president of the country, it will be the unfortunate day in the history of Pakistan

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The federal government has reduced the customs and deemed duty on petroleum products by 25 per cent but it has decided to use the average Rs. 4.30 per liter for budget financing instead of passing it on to the consumers. There has been a downward trend in the international market and prices have fallen down nearly 20 dollar per barrel.

I think that the government should have lowered the prices keeping in view this downward trend and passed on the benefit from reduction in customs and deemed duty to the people. It is unfortunate that the government which claims to be people’s government has so far not taken a single decision in the interest of the people.

It has increased prices of all necessary things, including petroleum a number of times which has made earning means of livelihood more and more difficult for the poor people.
We look forward to the day when the government will be able to pass some financial benefit to the common people of the country. So far it has been blaming the previous government for all the bad things, but soon a time will come when they will no longer be able to use this lame excuse as well.

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The Pakistan Government had to withdraw its notification to place the power Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) under the direct control of the ministry of interior in the small hours after immense pressure from the defence circles. The Daily Jang has reported that the Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was informed in London that the Army was “displeased” with the decision and it was not acceptable to President Pervez Musharraf.

The decision to take back the notification has greatly damaged the standing of the Prime Minister and questions have been raised about his ability to solve complex problems. The Dawn has reported that there were red faces all around when the government reversed its decision.

I think that it was an imprudent decision in the first place. At a time when the rating of the government is at the lowest ebb, government should have avoided any direct confrontation with the military, keeping in view that there is a long history of military rule in the country.

In my opinion this ill-advised decision was taken in Dubai by Mr. Zardari and Rehman Malik who want to consolidate more and more power in their hands. The PM is only a figurehead. He only follows the instructions passed on to time via London.

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In The Line of Fire (General Musharraf), Good Bye Shahzadi (Shyam Bhatia) and Crossed Swords (Shuja Nawaz) are three books revealing three secrets. Reading of the first two books discloses upon the readers involvement of the people helping North Korea in becoming a nuclear country and the third one raises the curtain revealing the mysterious death of Army Chief General Asif Nawaz.

Whatever may be the truth but these books sold like hot cakes and their authors earned name, fame and a lot of money.

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The government of Manmohan Singh has survived a vote of confidence by securing 253 votes against 232 amidst allegations of horse trading. Three MPs of the BJP created sensation when they brought a bag full of money in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament.

The left parties had left the government over the issue of nuclear agreement with the United States. The United States has shown its willingness to work even with the minority government.

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The Islamabad High Court has disposed off a petition challenging the detention of Dr A. Q. Khan as illegal. The court has allowed Dr Khan to travel inside Pakistan and meet his relatives after getting security clearance. Nonetheless the court has barred Dr Qadeer from giving any interview to the foreign media about matters relating to Pakistan’s nuclear programme.

I think that the Islamabad High Court has given a very balanced judgment. Dr A. Q. Khan should be allowed to move freely inside Pakistan. He should be allowed to meet with his friends and relative. But it is no business of a nuclear scientist of a country to talk to foreign media.

The worthy scientist has alleged in one of his interview to a foreign journalist that a chartered plane had carried centrifuges to North Korea and under direct supervision of Pakistan Army. Later on he retracted and said that it was admitted by President Pervez Musharraf in his famous book ” In the Line of Fire”.

Chapter No 27 of the book deals with “Nuclear Non-proliferation” and no were it is mentioned that centrifuges were transfered to North Korea under direct supervision of Pakistan Army. Anyone can buy the book and read it for himself. As against this we read about some activities of Dr. Khan which were potentially dangerous for the country.

It should be realized that Pakistan is neither a military superpower or an economic power. We cannot remain in isolation. We have to depend on other countries for a number of things. We must not give excuses to international powers to take action against us.

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Addressing a function at Dar-ul-uloom Tafhim-ul-Quran Jamaat leader.Professor Abdul Ghafoor Ahmed forecast an imminent change in the country. His logic for the soothsaying based on the presence of the chief whips of two major parties who happen to in ruling coalition.

Jamaat boycotted the election as a result has stay away from game of power. It is unnatural for them to remain a loser for five years. Their hope lies only in failure of the present government and a fresh election without more delay. Sweet dreams are good for health.

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In the launching ceremony of his book ‘ The Post American World’ , Fareed Zakaria, editor Newsweek International, answering question of the press said that it is not the US but Asif Ali Zardari who wants to Musharraf to continue in his office and deposed chief justice Iftikhar Choudhry out because both serve his purpose.

This is nothing new. Pakistani analysts have said it long before. The reasons hinted are also the same.

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Grave concern has been expressed by Richard Boucher, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, over the prevailing cold war atmosphere among coalition parties of the Government of Pakistan.

Cold war is actually an exaggerated term. There are certain reservations which once removed will get every thing all right… Restoration of deposed judges is the main issue. Unless this is resolved relationship cannot be normalized.

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Disorderly behaviour by some among the audience in the Physicians’ Annual Session arranged in Washington , in presence of the Pakistani Ambassador, Hussain Haqqani, points to one fact that whatever happened there was preplanned by the man behind the scene. The organizers can be solely held responsible. The hooliganism took place in connivance with them.

What message we want to give to the comity of nations? It was a part of the game that is being played in Pakistan by spending millions and millions of rupees.

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The so famed constitutional package has been floated not for solving any problem. It is just to keep people engage maintain silence in order to study the package. It has as many as 80 articles or points to agree upon. Those who could not agree on one point i.e. restoration of judge, how can they come to an agreement on 80 points? One apple became the cause of burning the city of Troy; 80 points can bring about any amount of destruction.

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Saeed Ahmad’s article in Daily Aaj Kal is too pathetic enough to move any heart unless the man is a leader. For our leaders such things are minor incidents, not serious enough to deserve their attention. Even our religious leaders are busy in amassing wealth for themselves and their children.. NGOs working in our country are busy to make themselves international otherwise people committing suicide out of extreme poverty and starvation could be saved.

In Pakistan, there is a mosque in almost every village and there is a Pesh Imam in every mosque. If instead of emitting fire and flames from the pulpit they try to know about the condition of such people who are being forced to starve due to poverty and request people to reach for their help, it would be far better than his previous job.
People should not wait for bigger measures to be taken by the government. To save others following the line of Fatima, Fazilat,Zoiya,Ayesha,Mudassir or Sadaquat responsible people of the area should do something at once. Our leaders are busy in the efforts of providing justice to rich and the influential.

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In reference to Bilal Tanoli’s letter published in DAWN (June19) suggesting creation of Hazara Province Shahzeb Ahmed has adopted Master Tara Singh attitude to counter it. Another writer Tahir Iqbal Jadoon supported the view point of Bilal Tanoli.

At the time of partition India had only 14 04 15 provinces. Now, they have as many as 29 provinces. There is no harm in making new provinces for better administration. Any change within the frontiers of Pakistan can be made, but of course after threadbare discussion in the parliament and with consent of required majority.

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