Silver Lining-Tayyaba Case

In the past few days, we witnessed a horrible crime against humanity being committed in a household that’s headed by a person responsible for being just. Irrespective of the fact that any and all details pertaining to what happens inside is personal and cannot be pried upon; it wouldn’t be wrong to say that such a house constitutes in its existence the very idea of dignity and decency. However, as the grave events suddenly appeared and unfolded many remained baffled, horrified and simply depressed. How could a lady inflict such harm to a minor? How could a mother even allow her child to work at someone house in such an age? How could a judge remain quiet after witnessing his life partner committing such horrors? The very nature of this society has become questionable. There are plenty of things that we are to answer for but this horror; regardless of any religion, social standard or law this is a direct violation of the most basic of human rights.

In light of the fact that all involved were Muslims, I’d like to point out the two things that Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W) emphasized upon in his last moments: One was Salat and the second one was the instruction to always be just, kind and generous to your subordinates. I’m not going to focus my argument on faith alone but this goes without saying that in the eyes of Muslims and in accordance to Islam; this is a grim sin.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to pay homage to the Chief Justice who took suo moto notice on the situation and brought the case to the court. His first statement pertaining to the predicament was what strengthened my belief in humans and humanity. He ruled that this was a violation of basic human rights and thus a settlement would not hold any legal substance. Let’s keep in mind, that there was an attempt at solving the matter via finances. The parents of the victim already signed the settlement forgiving the wife of the judge for a feeble sum of 30,000 PKR.

As the case surfaced, the girl too was hidden from the courts. Thank fully however, she was recovered by the police and presented in the court. From the way things are going, despite the grim nature of this entire ordeal I cannot help but be hopeful. I hope that justice will prevail and those who were intoxicated by their power and authority learn how despicable their acts were. Maybe this case, will be the beginning of human rights being delivered to everyone regardless of their social or economic status. Maybe, this will be a start of a revolution where children will not be forced to work like this. 

Lives that could’ve been saved-Death Toll of Railway Accidents in Pakistan

Before I present the stats of lives claimed by railway accidents during the tenure of Khawaja Saad Rafique. I’d like to express my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the Lodhran accident that happened today in the morning. I will also take this opportunity to express my condolences to all the lives affected by the poor management of Railways in Pakistan. The statistics presented have been collected from various news reporting agencies and articles written by their reporters.

2013:

On 6^th July, 2013 a rickshaw collided with a train at a level crossing near Sheikhupura, Punjab. This accident claimed the lives of 14 people while one person was injured.   

On 26^th July, 2013 a train heading from Rawalpindi to Lahore was derailed near Gujranwala. This lead to the sad demise of 2 people whereas several were injured.

2014:

 On 7^th May 2014 Karakoram express was derailed near Bandhi railway station, which is located at least 55km from Nawabshah, claiming the innocent lives 2 people while 15 others were injured.

11^th November 2014 witnessed a major accident when a passenger coach collided with a truck near Theri Bypass in Khairpur leading to the loss of 58 lives.

2015:

On 3^rd July, 2015 a passenger train derails as a bridge over a canal near Gujranwala collapses from under the train. 19 passengers died while several were injured among the total 300 passengers.

On 20^th July, 2015 Six members of a family die as their car collides with a Karachi bound train at an unnamed railway crossing at the Pale Jani railway station in Matiari.

1^st November, 2015 witnesses the Aab-e-Gum derailment. The jaffar express derails at Aab-e-gum leading to the deaths of 20 people and injuring 96 others.

2016:

On 15^th September, 2016 a passenger train collides with a freight train near Multan leading to the death of 6 people and injuring more than 150.

On 3^rd November, 2016 two passengers train collide near Karachi Landhi railway station claiming the lives of at least 21 people and injuring more than 60.

On 8^th October, 2016 a freight trains collides with a bus carrying workers of a factory at Landa level crossing near Gujjar chowk. This collisions takes the lives of 4 people while 10 others are injured.

2017:

Today on 6^th January, 2017 a rickshaw collides with a train at Lodhran Punjab. This leads to the sad demise of 8 people in total; comprising of 7 students and the rickshaw driver while 5 more students are severely injured.

If we were to formulae statistics based just on deaths and injuries per year, the graph would look something like this:

These deaths may have been reduced if not avoided completely if we had implemented the internationally practiced safety standards. As you may have heard, if you had listened to the Lodhran incident, that the operator of the gate/crossing didn’t have any communication equipment. He stated that when it wouldn’t be foggy, he would see the train coming and close the gates. Or if it was foggy, he would listen to the whistle and close the gate. Such primitive techniques at such an age is an insult to the entire railway industry.

Why hasn’t the ministry employed engineers and implemented simple yet effective sensor based technology to deal with the opening and closing of gates? The concept of these operators is not necessary. If we went for automation and regularly maintained and checked these sensors and the affiliated technology, we can effectively regulate the flow of traffic and thus avoid so many deaths. All the previous ministers and especially the current minister are answerable as to why despite the world evolving around them; they have worked hard to make sure that our railway remains in the stone age. Thus consequently, our innocent people end up becoming victims to it.

The responsible should answer for the lives that could have been saved. They shouldn’t just collect their fat pay checks. This too falls as their responsibility and as it is evident that they have not delivered, they must now be held accountable; it is only just.

The Talented Corrupt

Corruption is becoming more and more difficult in the new age as even the sleeping agencies start to move. Sadly, as the means become difficult and challenging; smarter and more talented corrupt appear on the stage. They find means that facilitate their desires in a way that goes undetected. We could blame the system for it or we could argue that the agencies responsible to watch over such acts are to blame. When people bribe their way to attain positions and when the undeserving acquire jobs and positions that allow them be corrupt; what do we expect? We’re giving a mouse a piece of cheese and expecting them not to eat it? Then how can we really blame the mouse for eating the cheese?

If we talk about the fraud worth 176.72 million, that was reported on 11^th April, 2016, pertaining to the NIB bank. The accused were a Regional Distribution Head and an Operational manager, who were later arrested. Regardless of what happened about the case, I’d like you to think about these designations. When we think about such high tier designations, we know that they ask for serious experience and high quality education. Which implies, that the accused and those who committed the fraud were both experienced and educated; not to mention, were also highly paid individuals. Sure, greed did came into play but if they really were qualified and educated, they wouldn’t have done it.

This also doesn’t mean that our system isn’t to blame either. Let’s take a look at yet another incident that happened because our system allowed it. The one reported today about the land scandal of 193,000 kanal. Said land was acquired via verdicts of fake courts, lawyers, judges and witnesses. In other words, people became land owners by manipulating the system. This means that they had enough knowledge of the system to manipulate and bypass it. This also means that our system allowed this to happen. Our system had the Achilles heel that despite being almost perfect; due to the lack of monitoring, it allowed such fraud and corruption to take place.

Even our educators do not spare a chance of corruption; they also do their best to exploit situations when they get a chance. I am not speaking in general but I do mean to address the authority. And I’m not speaking based on hearsay either; I speak out of personal experience. I too fell victim to bribery when I was forced to pay for my HSSC certificate. My former principal had acquired the HSSC certificates of my batch and had placed them in the care of a teacher. After tracing the whereabouts of the certificate, we found our way to her home and she demanded the unnecessary payment of 500 PKR. As we were aware that no such payment was necessary, we demanded a reason. For which we were answered, that everyone was being asked to pay it. Therefore, having to deal with a female, a mother and a former teacher; I had no choice but to give in. As a last resort to deter her from her wrong doing, I even demanded a receipt of the payment to which she gladly complied. Here is an image of the receipt that I got for paying the amount to acquire my HSSC certificate.

Our choices have given birth to this form of corruption. If the board hadn’t given my certificate to the principal, I wouldn’t have to fall victim to this bribery. If the bank had given those designations to the truly worthy, that fraud wouldn’t have happened. And if the agencies responsible to monitor corruption had kept an eye on these fraudulent claims; the land fraud would not have happened. All of it could have been avoided from various methods but none of it was.

In conclusion, when we ask for a change we must start from ourselves. The educated must think of the responsibilities that fall on them and they should know that they are accountable for what they do.  

Banks & Annual Closing

What is closing? It is an internal procedure that every business, institution, organization and company undergoes. However, the closing of banks is the most notorious one because they are the center of all the currency and finances roaming about in various businesses. Even a small business has to do a daily, weekly, monthly and then annual closing to learn about the details of what they spent and what they earned. For banks, it’s about various other details since the banking procedures are governed by various applicable laws. Why did I bring up closing and why are we talking about the annual closing of banks? It is an internal procedure and should have nothing to do with those not directly involved but sadly, it does.

As the year went through the annual closing, banks were all in chaos. People were requested and even begged to leave their savings in their accounts. While large account holders were similarly requested and begged to submit as much amounts as they could. Why? Because the banks were doing their annual closing and they needed the numbers. The numbers that they would use to advertise how great they were doing. It is a sad sad predicament. Yet again, another institution of our country only takes into account its own preferences and doesn’t concern itself with the need, desire and preferences of its clientele.

My person interaction with this situation was that when a needy person needed a certain donated amount to purchase dowry for their daughter; the banks didn’t facilitate them. This needy person was a labor who worked on daily wages and a certain NGO had procured donations to fund the dowry of this person. Even though, donations aren’t easy to arrange they still managed it. The only thing that remained was to cash that donation and purchase the dowry. The banks just didn’t let the NGO to cash out the amount because they were going through the annual closing. How sad and unjust is that? The NGO then managed by using various contacts and by asking favors from local business owners. However, this should not have happened.

The closing procedure is of an internal nature. The banks are service providers so for them, the preference of their clientele should come first. Regardless of whether or not they’re going through their daily closing, weekly closing, monthly closing or annual closing.

This article is written with the intent to point out that this is not appropriate and that banks should revise the way they work. Aren’t bank managers and officials supposed to be educated individuals? If so, then ideally educated individuals in the service provision field should be more caring and humane towards their clientele. Why is it that everything is going in the opposite direction? We really, should go through a process of self evaluation. And in the spirit of the beginning of a new year, we should rethink how we do things. 

Curtain Rises Once more: Zardari Returns

Shakespeare referred to this world as a stage and everyone in it as actors. The reference is quite adequate when considering Pakistan and its politics. When we talk about a stage and when we think about curtain rising, we assume that something exciting and new is awaiting us. As a reaction, the audience is happy, it cheers and rejoices and thinks and hopes about what lays ahead. Even though the reaction of the crowd is the same, nothing new awaits them. The curtain may have risen, there may have been cheers, there may have been dances and loud music but there’s nothing new. Any sane or logical individual would no doubt argue, then why cheer? Why be happy? To answer that question, I actually do not have an answer. I too am equally baffled as to why this crowd cheers and rejoices.

What change does Mr. Zardari bring? What promise does he have? We all know what he is capable of thanks to his previous tenure as President of Pakistan. No promises delivered, no opportunities offered, nothing actually achieved: that is what those five years comprise of. Then why would anyone hope that something different would happen if the same man reclaims power in Pakistan? The dilemma doesn’t just stop here, there’s more to it. The King is followed by the Prince, the succession continues. Holding hands, the father and son intend to come into power and enter as representatives in the national assembly.

Among the many targeted questions, one that slips our minds and is now becoming a rather acceptable fact is that the prince is rather ashamed of his succession. Why would that be? There may be quite a few answers to that but I say this because the prince doesn’t even directly use his father’s name. As our culture dictates that the name of the son is followed by the name of the father; that is not the case with Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. He is by no means the son of Bhutto, nor by any logical argument would the name Bhutto be fit to be attached with his name. Why is it attached? Why did Mr. Zardari only called him Bilawal Bhutto and not Bilawal Zardari? It is quite evident isn’t it? The seat they’re targeting is the same seat that Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto succeeded from. Our actors are quite magnificent when it comes to the manipulation of the stage. They are most certainly legendary when it comes to that.

In conclusion, even though nothing new awaits us, we dance and rejoice with the appearance of an old veteran manipulator and actor. Why can we not see past the smiles, the music and the shiny promises that they make? Why even the educated must bow their heads before these chosen few? Only time can answer such questions.

What’re your thoughts about this dilemma? Would you agree? Would you disagree? Let me know, share, let’s analyze this dilemma togethe