Tag Archives: Asif

News, Pakistan, Politics, Sindh

We welcome PPP Govt decision about Kalabagh Dam

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If these are firm and resolute decisions, then the people of Sindh welcome the announcements with regard to Kalabagh Dam & Sindh Public Service Commission. We wholeheartedly support it. It is good to celebrate this day of positive announcements by PPP and it is high time when Mr. Zardari, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, Mr Asfandyar Wali and other party leaders should set more realistic goals for increasing the pace of development and justice. Now the coalition Govt will have to address the issues of NFC and provincial autonomy. Otherwise it would be a disappointment that a govt whose main mandate was to change the policies of injustice, unemployment, inflation and oppression, is ignoring the main issues and has been busy in transfers and postings. Once again I would like to congratulate Raja Pervez Ashraf and PPP leadership and would like to forward my earlier mail with a hope that PPP leadership and civil society would plan the strategy to materialize these suggestions, Ayaz Latif Palijo said to media.

Sindh Agenda

1. Formation of Malir, Lyari, Ibrahim Haidry and Gaddap Districts.

2. Resolution for Establishment’s apology for murder of ZA Bhutto,

Akbar Bugti, Nazeer Abbasi, Yousif Jakhrani, Lala Asad, Murtaza Bhutto, Ayaz

Samon, Nawaz Kanrani, shaheeds of Shah Bandar, 12th May, Thoree Phatak and

for all martyrs of MRD operation, Balochistan Operation and Wana operation.

3. Restoration of old Hyderabad district or at least merger of District

Matiyari with Hyderabad.

4. Restoration of rural area seats in DMC and NED.

5. Establishment of students and working women hostels at Karachi,

Quetta, Peshawar and Hyderabad for rural population.

6. After restoration of old Judiciary new merit-based appointments of

indegenious Judges in High Courts and Hon Supreme Court.

7. Issuance of lease to 700 villages in and around Karachi.

8. Opening up educational / employment opportunities for old residents

of Karachi in Kiyamari, Yari, Maleer, Gaddab and launching of projects in

poverty stricken areas like Ibrahim Haidry, Gaddap and Kiyamari .

9. Independent inquiry into the May 12 killings, October 18 and

December 27 blasts..

10. Legislation against illegal immigrants.

11. Legislation for appointment of meritorious rural youth in corporate and

private sector & MNCs.

12. Establishment of new multidisciplinary well equipped general hospitals

in Qasimabad, Gaddap and Gharo.

13. Creation of at least 3 new provincial Assembly and 2 new National

Assembly seats for Qasimabad and Hyderabad rural Taluka on the basis of

genuine population.

14. De-limitation and re-structuring of controversial constituencies in Karachi, Mirpurkhas and Hyderabad.

15. Merit based appointment of rural youth in Port Qasim, PIA, Railway,

Water Board, KPT, KESCO, SSGC, KDA, HDA.

16. Enquiry of corruption, out of turn promotions and illegal appointments

of last 8 years.

17. Removal of corrupt politicians, governors and bureaucrats from key

posts.

18. New balanced formula for NFC.

19. New Water accord & termination of Thal Canal project.

20. End of Balochistan operation.

21. Removal of concurrent list and legislation for Sindh’s genuine share

from gas, patrol, coal and port output/income.

22. Re-opening of illegally withdrawn cases against terrorists.

23. Restoration of judiciary and supremacy of law.

24. Removal of all restrictions from the media.

25. Release of all political prisoners and conviction of real assassins of

Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, Akbar Khan Bugti and other political leaders and activists.

26. Re-settlement of haree victims of bonded labor jails at specially

allotted areas around Ganjo takkar / Latifabad / Zealpak cement factory in

Hyderabad and in Gaddap, Maleer and University raod of Karachi.

27. Launching of Keti bandar Port and Thar Coal projects.

28. New employment opportunities & controlling inflation and price-hike.

29. Improvement in overall education, health and communication facilities of rural areas.

30. Plan for genuine results in next census.

International, Pakistan, Personalities, Politics, Sindh

Meet the ‘new’ Asif Zardari

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By Karan Thapar

NEW DELHI- Most people, I believe, grow to fill the responsibility placed on them. Promotions are, therefore, an act of faith. But that said and done I’m flabbergasted by the change in Asif Zardari. He’s literally become a different person.

The Asif I remember was a jovial tease, informal, chatty, fond of the good life and determined not to be boring or even serious. We first met the night after his wedding. “Benazir has told me all about you,” he said with mock gravity. “I’m on my best behaviour!” He then spent the evening pulling my leg and, frequently, his wife’s too. Weeks after Benazir first became prime minister we were together on her special flight from Islamabad to Karachi. It was an aged propeller plane which flew at a sedate speed. Sitting in the prime ministerial drawing room at the front, Asif looked at his watch. We’d been traveling for nearly two hours. “If you’d stuck to PIA not only would you have arrived but you’d be in the hotel pool by now!” I protested I wasn’t in a hurry. “Yeah? Let’s see if you return with us!” I didn’t. The Asif I meet two weeks ago was very different. Now the adjectives I would use are measured, emollient and deliberately self-effacing. Of course, he’s still charming, chatty and can’t resist teasing but there’s new gravitas, a consciousness of responsibility and a convincing sense of wisdom. Consider two examples. I pointed out that Nawaz Sharif would keep the PPP-led government unstable. Benazir’s reply would have been defensive. Asif chose to turn my question on its head. “And I welcome that,” he said. “I need people to keep me in check.”

“You need to be kept in check?” I asked, puzzled. “Power is a tricky thing,” he responded. “What better can I ask for than my own ally should check me?”

It was a winning answer but also utterly unexpected. How many politicians on the brink of power welcome the prospect of being kept uncertain and unstable? Even if he didn’t mean it, it was the perfect thing to say. However, it wasn’t just fluent cleverness that made Asif so engagingly different. He also showed vision and courage. When I asked about Kashmir and the role it has played separating. India and Pakistan, Asif, in a simple heartfelt reply, reversed Pakistan’s stand.

Let’s put Kashmir aside for a wiser generation to sort out, he said. Let’s not be hostage to the UN resolutions, he added. Let’s get on with the rest of the relationship and once we’ve learnt live and love each other then tackle Kashmir. Stunned, I made Asif repeat this three times. Not once did he use the opportunity to resile. Each time he re-affirmed what he’d said.

Finally, I asked: “Can you carry your countrymen? Can you handle the backlash this would provoke?”

Asif’s reply was simple. There were no flourishes or braggadocio. “That’s the test of leadership,” and he left it at that.

I can’t predict what sort of government the PPP under Asif Zardari will give Pakistan. I can’t even state Asif won’t change this position. Politicians often do and Asif has faced flak from the Jamaat at home and the Hurriayat in Kashmir. But I do know that Asif did not get carried away. This was not indiscretion or impetuousness. He meant what he said and, what’s more, he meant to say it.

In fact, when I asked if Dr. Manmohan Singh chooses to invite the new PM what the response would be, Asif said not only would the prime minister come but so too Nawaz Sharif, Asfandyar Wali Khan, Fazlur Rehman, Altaf Hussain and Asif Himself. A new Pakistan would seek to be friend India.

I’m therefore full of hope. And whilst I accept hope can easily be dashed, I would say there’s need to encourage this one. That’s the challenge facing our government. How do we assist Asif Zardari without embarrassing or undermining him?

Courtesy: Hindustan Times