AP Unmasked daily wage workers wait to be hired by customers in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on June 12. Photo: AP The coronavirus is spreading in Pakistan at one of the fastest rates in the world, and its overwhelmed hospitals are turning away patients. But the government is pushing ahead with opening up the country, trying to salvage a near-collapsed economy where millions have already slid into poverty from pandemic restrictions. Further complicating the dilemma, many people are ignoring government calls to wear masks or obey social distancing rules. Pakistan's military pressured to withdraw support for Imran Khan Millions crowd markets and mosques. Hardline clerics tell followers to trust that faith will protect them. Many call the virus a hoax. Even some government officials dismiss warnings, saying traffic accidents kill more people. "I am nervous when I go out because I see our people are still not taking it seriously," said Diya Rahman, a broadcaster at Radio Pakistan in the capital, Islamabad. Two of her colleagues have died of the virus and more than 20 others have tested positive. © Provided by South China Morning Post A health worker takes a nasal swab of a person during door-to-door testing for the new coronavirus in Islamabad. Photo: AP She fears that "until they see their families are dying they won't understand that we can save ourselves if we adhere to the guidelines, to wear masks." Pakistan is a prime example of fragile developing countries that say they'll just have to live with rising infections and deaths because their economies cannot withstand an open-ended strict lockdown. Pakistan PM Imran Khan says country may have to 'live with coronavirus' But the rapid acceleration in infections in Pakistan this month could be an indicator of what other countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America might face. New cases in Pakistan leapt from around 2,000-3,000 a day in late May to up to 6,800 a day in mid-June. Deaths are nearing 150 a day. So far, more than 180,000 people have been infected in the country of 220 million, and the government said Sunday the number could reach 1.2 million people in August. Authorities have reported 3,590 deaths. © Provided by South China Morning Post Family members carry the casket of a man who died of coronavirus at a cemetery in Hyderabad, Pakistan. Photo: AP Infections have soared 257 per cent in the last month, the International Rescue Committee said Monday, calling for international support "for local communities displaced by violence and natural disasters, as well as Afghan refugees as they face the health and economic impacts of the pandemic amid deteriorating living conditions." More than 1.5 million Afghan refugees live in Pakistan. Earlier this month, the World Health Organisation warned Pakistan in a letter that it was among the top 10 countries in the speed of the virus's spread and faced devastating effects from opening prematurely. It urged the government to alternate between two weeks of lockdown and two weeks of opening. The Associated Press acquired a copy of the letter, some of which was reported in the press. The government rejected the proposal. One lawmaker even accused the WHO of "imperialism". © Provided by South China Morning Post Residents argue with police officers who sealed off a coronavirus infected area in Lahore, Pakistan. Photo: AP Prime Minister Imran Khan said the refusal to impose a complete lockdown saved the country from economic collapse. In televised speeches, he has pleaded with the public to wear masks, ignore conspiracy theories and take the virus seriously. A survey by Gallup Pakistan released on Monday said 55 per cent of Pakistanis believe the virus threat is exaggerated. The survey of 1,050 people has a margin of error of 2-3 percentage points. As cases spiralled, the government last week shut down some districts in Islamabad and other cities where fresh outbreaks have been identified. But otherwise it has largely kept lifting restrictions. The restrictions were imposed in mid-March, but within weeks were lifted bit by bit. Now, most businesses have reopened, including markets and malls, as is public transport. Schools, restaurants and wedding halls remain closed, gyms had to be shut again, but mosques never closed because clerics refused to do so. Last week, the border with Iran " blamed as the source of the first infections " was reopened for trade only. People are now starting to get scared and the government is now taking it seriously, but I think we are too late Dr Qaiser Sajjad, Pakistan Medical Association At the same time, hospital beds have been filling up. Zeeshan Hassan said his uncle was turned away from three hospitals in the southern city of Multan, a virus hotspot. Administrators said they had neither a bed nor the drugs to treat him, Hassan said. His uncle was finally admitted to a government hospital, where he died within 15 hours. A few family members dressed in protective equipment were allowed to bury him. "Now we are all afraid we will get this Covid-19," Hassan said. Health professionals are being infected at an alarming rate, with over 3,000 testing positive and more reported each day, said Dr Qaiser Sajjad, secretary general of the Pakistan Medical Association. Even before the pandemic, Pakistan lacked enough trained health personnel to administer equipment like ventilators. With fewer than 3,000 acute care beds for the whole country, Sajjad warned that the system was teetering on collapse. "People are now starting to get scared and the government is now taking it seriously, but I think we are too late because Covid-19 has already spread massively everywhere in the country," he said. Misinformation is rampant, he said, and many Pakistanis believe doctors made up the coronavirus to explain deaths in an inept and failing health care system. It also doesn't help that some government officials have gone on TV to play down the impact of the virus, Sajjad said. © Provided by South China Morning Post Men gather to receive cash from the government's 'Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme' in Hyderabad. Photo: EPA "The poor people and ignorant people, they absolutely don't believe the virus exists. They think it is some conspiracy, all between the government and doctors," he said. Pakistan is dealing with serious economic issues. Economic growth has been slowing since 2018 but the virus has sent it into contraction for the first time: this month, the country recorded negative growth of 0.38 per cent. "Pakistan is officially in a recession," said Haroon Sharif, a former economic adviser who still counsels the prime minister. The number of people living in poverty has risen to 40 per cent from 30 per cent since the pandemic began, and massive job losses could spark unrest, Sharif warned. Sharif said the prime minister is trying to help the poorest Pakistanis, while his cabinet ministers " many of whom are wealthy industrialists and landowners " focus on the elite. Middle-income earners and small businesses that employ 15 people or fewer are largely ignored, he said. They have little savings, and much of their business is in cash and so they have little to no support from the banking system. "I know examples of teachers who are selling fruit," said Sharif. More Articles from SCMP Security law has knocked the wind out of the opposition University student and boyfriend arrested on suspicion of laundering US$46 million in Hong Kong Top Chinese officials hear views on national security law from leading pro-establishment figures in Hong Kong Intellectual property theft: what Chinese and British firms should worry about EU-China summit: Beijing puts focus on consensus, while Brussels highlights differences This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia. Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Pakistan Catholics join race for top government positions
Special civil service exam provides a golden opportunity for Christian students in underdeveloped areas Bishop Benny Mario Travas of Multan speaks at the inauguration of St. Peter’s CSS Academy on June 13. (Photo: Samuel Clement) For the first time in history, the most coveted tests in Pakistan to get elite jobs are being conducted twice this year — and the Catholic Church is gearing up for gains. Prime Minister Imran Khan last month approved special Central Superior Services (CSS) exams to fill 188 vacancies in federal services carried over from the last few years. The annual exam is conducted in February to recruit bureaucrats to posts up to Grade 17. The Federal Commission Public Service conducts the exam for services including commerce and trade, customs and excise, district management, foreign affairs, income tax, public information, military lands, office management, audit and accounts, police service, postal service and the railways. Shahzad Arbab, special assistant to the premier at the Establishment Division, announced that a special CSS exam will be arranged in November or December. "We truly believe in giving equal opportunities to federating units and 39 seats for Punjab minorities," he wrote on Twitter. The special exam will be conducted under the same rules and procedures to fill the leftover posts from the quota system for students from underdeveloped regions. In 2009, the national government reserved a 5 percent job quota for minorities. However, human rights organizations claimed that most people from religious minorities were doing menial jobs. Church reaction According to Samuel Clement, executive secretary of Caritas Pakistan Multan (CPM), this is a golden opportunity for mainstream Christian students in underdeveloped areas. "The Supreme Court has passed landmark rulings for religious minorities, but the challenge comes from the bureaucratic system which implements the laws of the state. Now our students have a better chance to make things right by becoming part of the system," he told UCA News. Clement was speaking on the sidelines of the June 13 inauguration of St. Peter's CSS Academy in Multan. CPM and Multan Diocese of Punjab province are managing the course to educate Christian youth. Some 75 candidates from Multan and surrounding cities have registered at the academy. Parents and members of the diocesan commissions also attended the thanksgiving Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Redeemer. Bishop Benny Mario Travas, the main celebrant, encouraged students to work hard and uplift the community. The CSS exam consists of four parts — a written examination, medical examination, psychological test and an oral test. Candidates must be aged 21-30 and have completed 14 years of education in post-primary school classes. The pass percentage of the exam was 2.56 percent last year. The latest trend started last year when Archbishop Joseph Arshad of Islamabad-Rawalpindi inaugurated a six-month preparatory course for 50 young Catholics at St. Mary's Cambridge School. A CSS preparatory course is offered by private academies at a cost of 70,000 rupees (US$424). The Church charges 1,500 rupees besides providing textbooks, teaching materials and related items. As the first batch awaits the result expected in September, the northern diocese has already begun online exams for recruitment of the second batch. "The selection criteria require a graduate (grade-14 degree holder), preferably those with a master's degree. The written exam was waived due to the coronavirus pandemic. We shall follow all standard operating procedures issued by the government," said Father Sarfraz Simon, coordinator of St Mary's CSS Academy. The education dilemma Educational institutions across the country will remain closed for the next three weeks amid the novel coronavirus outbreak that has affected 148,921 in Pakistan with 2,839 deaths. Church-run CSS academies are part of the Year of Youth 2020 inaugurated by the Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference at a Mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Lahore in November 2019. The bishops stressed the importance of education and a revival of the role of youth in Church leadership. Christian Missionary Schools are popular in the Muslim-majority country for their discipline and higher learning. A photo of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is emblazoned among other high-profile alumni of St. Anthony's High School adjacent to the Catholic Cathedral of Lahore. Educationists and activists cite anti-Christian discrimination and poverty as the two main obstacles for religious minority. Illiteracy is a huge problem among young Christian boys who have a cultural responsibility to provide for their families or raise money for a dowry so that their sisters can marry, they say. According to the Catholic bishops' National Council for Justice and Peace, the average literacy rate among Christians was 34 percent in 2001. In 2016, Lahore-based educational NGO Starfish Pakistan conducted a survey of 604 schools among the poorest Christians in 23 districts of Punjab, Islamabad and Karachi. Over a third of these schools are associated with Catholic or Protestant churches. The "For a Better World" survey offers an insight into teachers at these schools. Sixty-one percent of teachers have only studied to intermediate level (grade 12) or below, 39 percent have a bachelors' or master's degree, while 3,374 teachers have no professional qualifications. In April, Punjab's government for the first time set a 2 percent quota for non-Muslims at universities under its Punjab Minorities Empowerment Package in a measure long sought by Pakistani activists. Christians are the largest non-Muslim minority in Punjab and make up 2.6 percent of the province's population of 110 million, according to the 2017 national census. Catholic professor Anjum James Paul, chairman of the Pakistan Minorities Teachers' Association, praised church-run CSS academies but criticized the selection criteria for both students and teachers. "Only those holding a master's degree should be trained for at least two years and affiliated with major public libraries. Only officers must teach officers. The graduates have no chance at all," he said. "The academies show the Church's care for the youth but the leaders must facilitate them accordingly. These initiatives should be institutionalized instead of depending on the good will of the bishop."
Ayub era — the first economic stability phase of Pakistan
Positive criticism is better than advice. The current wave of criticism on government is most severe because, for the first time, a third party had emerged out of the two-party system and formed the government in the country. We take advantage to evaluate different eras from our past, about the economy and prosperity of people based on reports/data from the past. It will merely be a comparison of how and when common people lived happily, no malice. The dilemma in our country is that approximately 40 per cent of the voters come out to cast their votes and the rest of the 60 per cent remain unconcerned as per past general election reports. Resultantly, parties with a meagre/simple majority with 21 per cent votes out of the 40 per cent can form a government and it has happened many times. How neutral voters can be brought into the election to take it to at least 60 per cent of it, is a solution, which will result in the real government and real opposition. Strong and positive opposition is the key to the future of a prosperous country. As mentioned above, unannounced opposition becomes about 79 per cent against the elected party with 21 per cent votes. And member parliament tries to oblige through jobs, funds, and business to them to bind them to remain in government. That is why winning parties never discuss and compare their success on the issues of income, GDP, price hikes, development works in their tenures and new symbol of success is a slogan, which they claim with pride that they had completed a five-year term in the history of the country. When you fix a target to complete term, only you cannot penetrate masses and then it becomes numbers game only. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Credit goes to all rulers without any discrimination who made the economy of country glow and flow on the direction of masses; benefitting jobs and flourishing business, development etc. Simultaneously, people do not go after policies of government and prices may be because of literacy rate and stronghold of feudalism in rural areas and in cities, parties’ positions are different from rural areas that are influenced by feudalism for more than one hundred fifty years. Ayub Khan started cleaning up the politics to inculcate policies for social and economic disciplines Government of Pakistan remained in the lurch as two main founders who died very soon; Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Liaqat Ali Khan. There were perpetual changes at the top seat of the country at these unexpected incidents from 1947 to 1958; showing a lack of top leadership. That kind of fragility paved way for a martial laws and it came in existence through Iskandar Mirza who appointed General Ayub Khan as Chief Martial Law Administrator. During this era, there was nobody to determine a policy/guideline to run the state affairs, all were guests on continuously changing chairs. Soon after Ayub Khan reined in the power, he sent Iskander Mirza in exile. Ayub Khan started cleaning up the politics to inculcate policies for social and economic disciplines. He established strong relationships with administration and policymakers, he took people with the agrarian and industrial background which remained fruitful for the country and ultimately for the nation-building. He involved people from masses to conduct local affairs; members were elected which later chose Ayub Khan as President of Pakistan. A positive development was made by the incumbent to extend meaningful dialogue/friendship with China when India was backed by the US in a skirmish with Pakistan. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Ayub Khan launched 10-year development schemes in various organisations in all major cities of East and West Pakistan. Pakistan progressed in agriculture and strengthened the local industry and people were satisfied with their future seemingly running smoothly. East Pakistan had jute and rice whereas West Pakistan had cotton and wheat. Major electorate/mandate of ruling party administered the largest unit of the country, West Pakistan strictly through a man of nerves, Nawab of Kalabagh. There were no hooligans, mafias, pressure groups to hinder performance and were dealt with the force of Law. More than three hundred government officers were sent home from services on the corruption charges. People enjoyed the rule of law with a workable environment for development plans and growth rate was satisfactory. A strong head of state, Ayub Khan, won a war against India in 1965 under his regime too. Despite the burden of war with India, he managed US Dollars between Pak Rs 4.77 to 8.68 a dollar in the economy in his tenure. Let us see some landmark projects in his name like the construction of Minar-e-Pakistan; shifting of Capital from Karachi to Islamabad; using his power for Land Reforms, Agriculture University, Faisalabad; Punjab University New Campus, Lahore, Agriculture University, Faisalabad, the start of travel, through Electric train between Lahore to Khanewal on an experimental basis to replace diesel price hikes in future, bought the Gwader land from Masqat, Heavy Mechanical Complex, Taxila; Tank manufacturing; Railway Engine manufacturing at Risalpur and Islamabad; Warsak Dam, Mangla and Tarbela Dams; tea processing plants, Paper Mill Karna Fuly, and providing thousands of boat engines to fishermen in East Pakistan. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The repair of Badshahi Masjid; restoration work of Shalamar Garden; construction of Fourth Minar (new construction) and restoration of Chauburji Lahore. He also completed bridges over rivers of Ravi, Chenab, Jhelum and one in Attock District. He completed pillar-less steel bridge (Hanging Bridge) over the Indus River, connecting Sukkur to Rohri in Sindh, with a larger span of 790 feet without support. Our new generation may be surprised to read a list of works done in a regime in the past by a ruler named Ayub Khan, never brought in discussions at media/press for the public, who have become habitual of seeing, discussing and travelling Metro Bus services available in different cities. I do not criticise Metro here, I do travel in Metro sometimes but these projects are limited to some areas benefitting lenders. One can compare projects done by Ayub Khan. I do not know for how much loans were involved in those projects but loans are for once, and return of loans with a subsidy is an idea brought in politics in about three decades back, unlike past projects. Can anybody from any group or party in the country blame him any in-equality in trade, business, agriculture, name any branch of business that had adverse remarks with any city or district in his tenure? Yes, he had only a bad patch of his Foreign Minister who created turmoil against him forming his new party and parted ways with him. It ended with his resignation at that time. He ruled East and West Pakistan in the presence of leaders like Maulana Maududi, Bhashani, Mufti Mahmood, Sheikh Mujeeb, Abdul Sattar Niazi, Tameezud Din, and a lot more big names in the politics of Pakistan. In short, after reading the list of projects done by Ayub Khan, it is quite clear that he did very well but unfortunately fell victim of his own close aide, his FM who managed all through agitation. His development policies, projects and landmarks must be available in old reports and archives. The writer is a Lahore-based senior journalist and Incharge of Readers Column, Daily Times, Lahore
Aqeel ahmed soomro
Pakistan Catholics join race for top government positions
Special civil service exam provides a golden opportunity for Christian students in underdeveloped areas Bishop Benny Mario Travas of Multan speaks at the inauguration of St. Peter’s CSS Academy on June 13. (Photo: Samuel Clement) For the first time in history, the most coveted tests in Pakistan to get elite jobs are being conducted twice this year — and the Catholic Church is gearing up for gains. Prime Minister Imran Khan last month approved special Central Superior Services (CSS) exams to fill 188 vacancies in federal services carried over from the last few years. The annual exam is conducted in February to recruit bureaucrats to posts up to Grade 17. The Federal Commission Public Service conducts the exam for services including commerce and trade, customs and excise, district management, foreign affairs, income tax, public information, military lands, office management, audit and accounts, police service, postal service and the railways. Shahzad Arbab, special assistant to the premier at the Establishment Division, announced that a special CSS exam will be arranged in November or December. "We truly believe in giving equal opportunities to federating units and 39 seats for Punjab minorities," he wrote on Twitter. The special exam will be conducted under the same rules and procedures to fill the leftover posts from the quota system for students from underdeveloped regions. In 2009, the national government reserved a 5 percent job quota for minorities. However, human rights organizations claimed that most people from religious minorities were doing menial jobs. Church reaction According to Samuel Clement, executive secretary of Caritas Pakistan Multan (CPM), this is a golden opportunity for mainstream Christian students in underdeveloped areas. "The Supreme Court has passed landmark rulings for religious minorities, but the challenge comes from the bureaucratic system which implements the laws of the state. Now our students have a better chance to make things right by becoming part of the system," he told UCA News. Clement was speaking on the sidelines of the June 13 inauguration of St. Peter's CSS Academy in Multan. CPM and Multan Diocese of Punjab province are managing the course to educate Christian youth. Some 75 candidates from Multan and surrounding cities have registered at the academy. Parents and members of the diocesan commissions also attended the thanksgiving Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Redeemer. Bishop Benny Mario Travas, the main celebrant, encouraged students to work hard and uplift the community. The CSS exam consists of four parts — a written examination, medical examination, psychological test and an oral test. Candidates must be aged 21-30 and have completed 14 years of education in post-primary school classes. The pass percentage of the exam was 2.56 percent last year. The latest trend started last year when Archbishop Joseph Arshad of Islamabad-Rawalpindi inaugurated a six-month preparatory course for 50 young Catholics at St. Mary's Cambridge School. A CSS preparatory course is offered by private academies at a cost of 70,000 rupees (US$424). The Church charges 1,500 rupees besides providing textbooks, teaching materials and related items. As the first batch awaits the result expected in September, the northern diocese has already begun online exams for recruitment of the second batch. "The selection criteria require a graduate (grade-14 degree holder), preferably those with a master's degree. The written exam was waived due to the coronavirus pandemic. We shall follow all standard operating procedures issued by the government," said Father Sarfraz Simon, coordinator of St Mary's CSS Academy. The education dilemma Educational institutions across the country will remain closed for the next three weeks amid the novel coronavirus outbreak that has affected 148,921 in Pakistan with 2,839 deaths. Church-run CSS academies are part of the Year of Youth 2020 inaugurated by the Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference at a Mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Lahore in November 2019. The bishops stressed the importance of education and a revival of the role of youth in Church leadership. Christian Missionary Schools are popular in the Muslim-majority country for their discipline and higher learning. A photo of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is emblazoned among other high-profile alumni of St. Anthony's High School adjacent to the Catholic Cathedral of Lahore. Educationists and activists cite anti-Christian discrimination and poverty as the two main obstacles for religious minority. Illiteracy is a huge problem among young Christian boys who have a cultural responsibility to provide for their families or raise money for a dowry so that their sisters can marry, they say. According to the Catholic bishops' National Council for Justice and Peace, the average literacy rate among Christians was 34 percent in 2001. In 2016, Lahore-based educational NGO Starfish Pakistan conducted a survey of 604 schools among the poorest Christians in 23 districts of Punjab, Islamabad and Karachi. Over a third of these schools are associated with Catholic or Protestant churches. The "For a Better World" survey offers an insight into teachers at these schools. Sixty-one percent of teachers have only studied to intermediate level (grade 12) or below, 39 percent have a bachelors' or master's degree, while 3,374 teachers have no professional qualifications. In April, Punjab's government for the first time set a 2 percent quota for non-Muslims at universities under its Punjab Minorities Empowerment Package in a measure long sought by Pakistani activists. Christians are the largest non-Muslim minority in Punjab and make up 2.6 percent of the province's population of 110 million, according to the 2017 national census. Catholic professor Anjum James Paul, chairman of the Pakistan Minorities Teachers' Association, praised church-run CSS academies but criticized the selection criteria for both students and teachers. "Only those holding a master's degree should be trained for at least two years and affiliated with major public libraries. Only officers must teach officers. The graduates have no chance at all," he said. "The academies show the Church's care for the youth but the leaders must facilitate them accordingly. These initiatives should be institutionalized instead of depending on the good will of the bishop."
Ayub era — the first economic stability phase of Pakistan
Positive criticism is better than advice. The current wave of criticism on government is most severe because, for the first time, a third party had emerged out of the two-party system and formed the government in the country. We take advantage to evaluate different eras from our past, about the economy and prosperity of people based on reports/data from the past. It will merely be a comparison of how and when common people lived happily, no malice. The dilemma in our country is that approximately 40 per cent of the voters come out to cast their votes and the rest of the 60 per cent remain unconcerned as per past general election reports. Resultantly, parties with a meagre/simple majority with 21 per cent votes out of the 40 per cent can form a government and it has happened many times. How neutral voters can be brought into the election to take it to at least 60 per cent of it, is a solution, which will result in the real government and real opposition. Strong and positive opposition is the key to the future of a prosperous country. As mentioned above, unannounced opposition becomes about 79 per cent against the elected party with 21 per cent votes. And member parliament tries to oblige through jobs, funds, and business to them to bind them to remain in government. That is why winning parties never discuss and compare their success on the issues of income, GDP, price hikes, development works in their tenures and new symbol of success is a slogan, which they claim with pride that they had completed a five-year term in the history of the country. When you fix a target to complete term, only you cannot penetrate masses and then it becomes numbers game only. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Credit goes to all rulers without any discrimination who made the economy of country glow and flow on the direction of masses; benefitting jobs and flourishing business, development etc. Simultaneously, people do not go after policies of government and prices may be because of literacy rate and stronghold of feudalism in rural areas and in cities, parties’ positions are different from rural areas that are influenced by feudalism for more than one hundred fifty years. Ayub Khan started cleaning up the politics to inculcate policies for social and economic disciplines Government of Pakistan remained in the lurch as two main founders who died very soon; Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Liaqat Ali Khan. There were perpetual changes at the top seat of the country at these unexpected incidents from 1947 to 1958; showing a lack of top leadership. That kind of fragility paved way for a martial laws and it came in existence through Iskandar Mirza who appointed General Ayub Khan as Chief Martial Law Administrator. During this era, there was nobody to determine a policy/guideline to run the state affairs, all were guests on continuously changing chairs. Soon after Ayub Khan reined in the power, he sent Iskander Mirza in exile. Ayub Khan started cleaning up the politics to inculcate policies for social and economic disciplines. He established strong relationships with administration and policymakers, he took people with the agrarian and industrial background which remained fruitful for the country and ultimately for the nation-building. He involved people from masses to conduct local affairs; members were elected which later chose Ayub Khan as President of Pakistan. A positive development was made by the incumbent to extend meaningful dialogue/friendship with China when India was backed by the US in a skirmish with Pakistan. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Ayub Khan launched 10-year development schemes in various organisations in all major cities of East and West Pakistan. Pakistan progressed in agriculture and strengthened the local industry and people were satisfied with their future seemingly running smoothly. East Pakistan had jute and rice whereas West Pakistan had cotton and wheat. Major electorate/mandate of ruling party administered the largest unit of the country, West Pakistan strictly through a man of nerves, Nawab of Kalabagh. There were no hooligans, mafias, pressure groups to hinder performance and were dealt with the force of Law. More than three hundred government officers were sent home from services on the corruption charges. People enjoyed the rule of law with a workable environment for development plans and growth rate was satisfactory. A strong head of state, Ayub Khan, won a war against India in 1965 under his regime too. Despite the burden of war with India, he managed US Dollars between Pak Rs 4.77 to 8.68 a dollar in the economy in his tenure. Let us see some landmark projects in his name like the construction of Minar-e-Pakistan; shifting of Capital from Karachi to Islamabad; using his power for Land Reforms, Agriculture University, Faisalabad; Punjab University New Campus, Lahore, Agriculture University, Faisalabad, the start of travel, through Electric train between Lahore to Khanewal on an experimental basis to replace diesel price hikes in future, bought the Gwader land from Masqat, Heavy Mechanical Complex, Taxila; Tank manufacturing; Railway Engine manufacturing at Risalpur and Islamabad; Warsak Dam, Mangla and Tarbela Dams; tea processing plants, Paper Mill Karna Fuly, and providing thousands of boat engines to fishermen in East Pakistan. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The repair of Badshahi Masjid; restoration work of Shalamar Garden; construction of Fourth Minar (new construction) and restoration of Chauburji Lahore. He also completed bridges over rivers of Ravi, Chenab, Jhelum and one in Attock District. He completed pillar-less steel bridge (Hanging Bridge) over the Indus River, connecting Sukkur to Rohri in Sindh, with a larger span of 790 feet without support. Our new generation may be surprised to read a list of works done in a regime in the past by a ruler named Ayub Khan, never brought in discussions at media/press for the public, who have become habitual of seeing, discussing and travelling Metro Bus services available in different cities. I do not criticise Metro here, I do travel in Metro sometimes but these projects are limited to some areas benefitting lenders. One can compare projects done by Ayub Khan. I do not know for how much loans were involved in those projects but loans are for once, and return of loans with a subsidy is an idea brought in politics in about three decades back, unlike past projects. Can anybody from any group or party in the country blame him any in-equality in trade, business, agriculture, name any branch of business that had adverse remarks with any city or district in his tenure? Yes, he had only a bad patch of his Foreign Minister who created turmoil against him forming his new party and parted ways with him. It ended with his resignation at that time. He ruled East and West Pakistan in the presence of leaders like Maulana Maududi, Bhashani, Mufti Mahmood, Sheikh Mujeeb, Abdul Sattar Niazi, Tameezud Din, and a lot more big names in the politics of Pakistan. In short, after reading the list of projects done by Ayub Khan, it is quite clear that he did very well but unfortunately fell victim of his own close aide, his FM who managed all through agitation. His development policies, projects and landmarks must be available in old reports and archives. The writer is a Lahore-based senior journalist and Incharge of Readers Column, Daily Times, Lahore
Aqeel ahmed soomro
