Empty Vessels And All That Jazz

Re: Bina #22

[And feudalism is a dead concept. What remains is a horse that is being flogged over and over again long after it went to its grave]

The chowk intelligensia is certainly representative of the Pakistani intelligensia---- their liberal rhetoric masks the fascade of their monoplistic interests which rest of the misery and repression of the fellow human beings... Whether its feudalism ( as in this context) or the various bandyhoots... favoring military rule....or the self-righteous religious right ..... or some delulsional self-promoting nutcases- who believe that volume compensates for content....









From a DAWN editorial.......Feb 5th 2002

Bonded labour`s plight



The problem of bonded labour in agriculture and private jails of waderas has been coming up before courts with increasing frequency. Not that this is a recent phenomenon; it has been there all the time as an abhorring offshoot of the entrenched feudal system. What is new about it is the awareness of human rights and of the blatant violation of these in the rural hinterland by an unholy alliance of feudals and their administrative and police cohorts.

However, our rulers have not shown any strong inclination to attend to this evil and try to contain it through appropriate legal and social measures. Hearing a large number of petitions seeking protection against possible detention and persecution by landlords, a division bench of the Sindh High Court found itself in a bind. Since the apprehended detention related to disputes over money which was borrowed by the haris from their landlords and no physical detention had yet taken place, the division bench of the court was unable to act in the matter.

However, it recommended several changes in the Sindh Tenancy Act to bring it into conformity with the accepted legal and moral norms. In the interim, the court has issued a directive that civil judges and judicial magistrates investigate the matter and report to it.

The problems of bonded labour and private jails exist in six districts of lower Sindh, namely Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas and Umerkot. In these backward areas minority Bheel and Kohli tribes constitute a sizeable section of the haris and this makes it easy for the rulers to continue to ignore the problems affecting these people.

The haris of these tribes are sold along with their families by one landlord to another and the money is paid in consideration of the debts supposedly owed by the haris. These hapless haris and their families are employed as slave labour, with their movements restricted and a whole lot of them sometimes kept in private jails under strict guard.

The freedom and the rights that the Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act allows in such cases are denied to them by the relevant administrative officials in league with the landlords. Is it too much to expect the higher authorities to look into this ignoble aspect of feudalism more seriously and purposively than they have shown so far and take stronger legal and social action to minimize the suffering and exploitation of the landless haris at the hands of their feudal master

Re: Tara Masih,

He hasn`t ``disappeared`` anywhere. He`s dead. I remember reading in the Dawn several years ago about his death (basically from old-age related complications, don`t remember exactly what).

As to what I think about your article and the rest of your posts, the less said the better. For every reasonable statement (e.g., IMF advice to Indonesia was seriously flawed--I`m paraphrasing your writing here), you utter half a dozen imbecilities (e.g., the rest of your article on the Far East Asian Crisis).


Re: your passionate defense of BCCI

I was interviewed by BCCI in the late 1980s and asked back for the next round. After talking to a businessman friend of my father`s in Karachi (his views on BCCI and Abedi can`t be printed in a public forum), I decided not to go. In retrospect, it was a wise decision. I knew a former BCCI employee, then at the Stanford Business School, and he detailed exactly what BCCI was and how they did business and why he decided to leave. Later on, working in the banking sector in Karachi, I too learnt first-hand why BCCI was called the Bank of Crooks and Conmen International.

If you can still defend BCCI (which did do some notable charitable acts, e.g., providing funding for the Orangi Pilot Project in its early phases; but then Gen. Zia would also help out some poor slob every now and then, did this make up for the rest of his acts?) after having worked for them in a fairly senior position, I have serious doubts about your ethical standards, sense of morality and overall judgement.

Regards.

Zeemax #51
Its nice to see you in good command of your thread.
Well, my point is that the ruling classes in Muslim/Third World countries including Pakistan and Saudi Arabia do better for themselves in the global economic system than the average `Westerner`.

When the lopsided distribution of wealth in these countries makes the poor discontented or financial obligations to multilateral institutions become pressing, IMO, the ruling classes including the Saudi shiekhs hold off accountability for their actions by doing two things.

Firstly blaming the global economic system which has enriched them so far and secondly invoking religion.

If the elite donot like the existing rules of the economic system, they can change them only by continuous engagement with the global community, increasing the productivity of their internal economy and by weight of numbers, not by courting isolation. Since these countries are not democratic, the ruling elite cannot wield the numbers and donot act in the interests of the majority of their subjects by doing so. Invoking religion and Ummah is a short cut way to claim internally and externally that one is representing the majority interest when one actually doesnot.

IMO, this approach among the elite does nothing to help their less wellfed wellclothed illiterate countrymen. Instead of acting as a bridge, this approach only further isolates and angers the already poor about the world they must live in and makes their productive contribution to the societies and the world economy even more difficult.

I hope the ruling classes choose the better approach of empowering their people by reforming their internal economic and political systems.

Reply #: 42 sadna

``If going 100% Islamic was not the solution then, why is it the best option for Pakistanis now(I assume you think it is).``

Yes I think it is. We have a serious identity problem. I had earlier been of the opinion that Pakistan should have a South-East Asian Identity as we were all born with that. Same as India, Nepal, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka. My article re Millenium Manifesto refers. However One lives and learns. Now I do not believe the same. I now believe we are Muslims first, and anything else later. Our Muslim identity is what will guide us through the mess of the subcontinent.

Rgds

Zeemax, tahmed

I would be very interested in reading something about the rise and fall of BCCI. Are there any books articles you can point me too?

Reply #: 23 Ferozk

``does the name Halaku Khan mean anything to you? :)``

Yes it does. Also, the name Tara Masih means a lot. Ever wondered what happened to him ? He was the only person who knew ZAB was already dead when he was carried to the gallows. So he`s disappeared without a trace.

The FIR against ZAB was kept on file and never erased even though ZAB was in supreme authority during his tenure. I have personally had papers removed and replaced from police files for a few thousand rupees for friends. Do you think ZAB would have left that FIR against him in that dirty `thana` ?

Maybe i don`t know enough. Do tell me.

Rgds

Friends,

My request is to follow the rules of orderly discourse. Pls. don`t attack anyone personally for their opinions. We all are living, thinking, feeling human beings and we all have the right to state our views. We may agree or disagree, but it`s better to remain silent than to hurt someone by verbal indiscretion.

Also, we must argue on indisputable facts, not heresay. Heresay is open to challenge but facts are not.

I would also like to clarify that I`m not a conspiracy theorist, never have been. Facts speak for themselves.

Reply #: 39 tahmed321

``Rubbish. The bank gained it`s fortunes by helping some rogue elite in the third world funnel the wealth stolen from those nations out of the country``

When Peru was about to declare a moratorium on foreign debt, Alan Garcia, the then President, transferred the country`s reserves to BCCI Panama so they wouldn`t be frozen. Then he went ahead and announced the moratorium. Agha Hasan had advised him to do that. No country`s wealth was stolen through BCCI. BCCI helped many countries. It was actually the Central Bank of Zambia which has the largest copper deposits in the world. But, BCCI saga is a long story. I`ll publish it in a seperate article in due course.

``The managers of this Bank lived a lifestyle of kings``

I was one of them. BCCI took good care of it`s people. It only demanded two things; Complete dedication & loyalty.

``Pakistan has produced some world class bankers (before your ``leader`` Bhutto chased them out of the country by nationalizing commercial banks``

ZAB was right in nationalising commercial banks at that point of time. Nationalisations were done in Britain as well. The cycle of nationalisation and de-nationalisation has to be completed. ZAB was not given the time to complete that cycle.

Reply #: 42 sadna

``But in contrast, many Pakistanis including the Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain are able to send their kids to good colleges in the US and UK.``

Yes. These are the rent-seekers from the Pakistani ex-checquer as I had mentioned earlier. Rent is not only for property, it is also for influence and nuisance value.

Reply #: 44 sac

``You seem to have a very simplistic view of the Far East crisis of 1997``

In fact few people know more about the Far-Eastern currency crisis than me as I was an insider. Let`s focus on Indonesia for the moment. It`s currency was convertible and traded on international markets. It`s businesses were heavily in debt demoninated in US$. There was complete dollarization in the economy, with no restriction to borrow, lend, hold, sell or purchase foreign currencies against Indonesia`s currency.

But it`s intrinsic support to it`s own currency was much less than was thought. Both the Indonesian Rupiah and the Malaysian Ringgit were massively overvalued. After all what is any currency`s value ? In the floating exchange rate regime, it is the goods and services produced in the country as compared to the other currency/country, unless you have a Currency Board system like Hong Kong does, or a Gold Standard, where you have to match every local printed note with hard currency or underlying intrinsic value. George Soros knew that both these countries currency could not be supported by their economy. Indonesia/Malaysia didn`t know that.

When the time came, George Soros through the Quantum Fund began short-selling Indonesia`s currency. He knew the currency was overvalued and there was no way the central bank could protect themselves as Indonesia had $ 20 billion in reserves while the Quantum Fund had $ 100 billion. The Quantum Fund started the short-selling at 2500 Rupiah=$1, and continued the short-selling as the currency resultantly fell up to 18,000 Rupiah to $ 1. Quantum knew they could pick up Rupiah much cheaply to settle their forward obligations, so they put billions on the table and took on the Central Bank which was trying to save it`s currency by forward-buying of Rupiah against the Dollar. But they only had $ 20 billion and that was lost in two weeks. Quantum Fund was doubled from $ 100 billion to $ 200 billion in the same time.

Simplistic view ? Really my friend ?

``But I disagree when you think that there is some underlying conspiracy(zionist or otherwise) to make it so. Strong leadership is not the answer.``

I have clarified in the beginning that I`m not a conspiracy theorist. My article was based on facts and not any alleged consipiracies. However Allah has said He has placed stamps on the ears and eyes of people who just refuse to see or hear.

If leadership is not the answer, what is ?

Reply #: 45 sadna

``How many wives did an average Saudi shiekh lay off ?``

Sadna, C`mon. These are stereotypes. I don`t expect you to say these things. Do rise above.

Reply #: 46 hamzad afaqui

This was a personal attack on Sadna. Pls. don`t do it.

Reply #: 47 Zafar Al-Talib

Ok. Done. Stop the verbal abuse.

Reply #: 48 sadna

Theek hai naa. Stop fighting.

Fond Regards.

Poor Afaqui Sahib,

Not only are Feminazis more woman than you can imagine,

we are also the man you will never be.

Cheers all! Back to the Ivory Towers!

responses to pow@hindustantimes.com

On January 26, Hindustan Times launched a six-week-long people`s campaign to lobby for the release of the 1971 Indian Prisoners of War in Pakistan.

During a meeting at our Delhi office recently, we had the opportunity to talk to the relatives of the missing soldiers. After hearing them, we could only wonder at the insensitivity of successive governments in deserting these soldiers, and leaving their dependents to continue the fight to free their kin from the enemy!

Mr BS Suri talked of his father RS Suri`s struggle to find his missing son: ``For 30 years my father climbed the steps of the Defence Ministry and the MEA to meet and press officials to take up his son Major AK Suri`s case. Many times he knocked on the doors of political leaders. He even made countless trips to the Indo-Pak border to meet the soldiers serving there... No avail. Last year, he died at the age of 85...hoping to the last for his son`s freedom.``

Mrs Damayanti Tambay - She had been married just over a year when her husband Flt Lt Vijay Vasant Tambay went to war. He never returned. Later, she read in a Pakistani newspaper that the enemy had taken him prisoner. Since then it has been an unrelenting fight to find and free her husband. She told one of our scribes: ``Tees saal se bas intezaar ki ladai lad rahin hun...! Kuch aasan nahi tha. Bhook mitane ke liye kaam bhi karna tha; swabhiman aur izzat se rehna tha...Sarkar ex-gratia dekar case band karana chahti thi...Mein nahin mani.`` (I have waited for 30 years! It`s not been easy... The government wanted to give an ex-gratia and close the case... I refused to give in.)

When we heard of her we realized what it is to be an Indian woman. Had it been any country other than India, a woman in a similar situation would have waited a year, found herself another man and set up a home with him. But there is Damayanti Tambay...a brave wife of an Indian soldier. (Indeed, when she came for the meeting, we had the honour of introducing her as an Indian woman.)

These and other such stories of fortitude fly in the face of a nation whose governments let down its soldiers. Indeed, these are the stories that give us reasons to be optimistic for this country, whose proud citizens we all are...

Dear surfer, as we set out on this campaign, we hope and trust that among the hundreds of hands that will join with us, and the thousands of voices that will speak with us, a strong hand and a firm voice will be your own.

Editor (News)

HindustanTimes.com

Reply Hamzad Afaqui # 49

``Khusraas defending women? feminazis are not women--they are heejraas.``

Whether feminazis are women or hijras, they still kick your butt when it comes to discussions on chowk. Explain that, o commander of the faithful. How come they are STILL more intelligent and coherent and logical than you are. Poor fellow, nobody listens to you, do they? What`s a guy got to do to get respect? (Hint: your current approach is not working. Think of another.)

``You,bazaree-ishtiharee,should know that.You did write once that you are into `advertising` (somehow sounds important in inglish)]``

Not me, guy. Must be confusing me with somebody else who thinks you`re stoopid. (I admit that`s quite a crowd, even here on chowk. Aur aap ka attention span vaisai chhota sa hi hai...look, never mind, but...somebody with a day job has been making fun of you, haven`t they? Just ignore them, they don`t know how hard it is to be a kuen ka mendak like you...who has time for actual employment in this case?)

``Who even mentioned a woman here.Are heejraas,aka feminazis,women?--only to a khusraa.``

Now why, I wonder, are you afraid of women who do not flatter you by pretending to be weak? And why do you try and deal with this fear by deciding that they are not reallllly women, but something else?

You and 12-Head...birds of a feather, I guess.

(At this point I am sure many chowkies are, like me, hanging out to read some bizarre account of a 23 year old Beauty Queen from Wyoming who found peace and dignity in hijab after years of wearing miniskirts and living on wine coolers and bacon. Strangely all these converts seem to pick up Subcontinental English as soon as they put on a sack.)

``Trivializing it is not going to camaflouge it.Just as it is a pain in your butt(anal you said?) to walk tall as a muslim but bend at convenient angle as a hindu,similarly your khusraa-pun(no pun this)is evident.``

But what is obviously wigging you out (not that it takes much, mind you) is that I`m not bending over for YOU!

Deal with it Pork Chop. It`s never going to happen.

``It is doubly sad because you have a beautiful arab muslim sounding name.What a pity what a waste.``

Yeah yeah, blahblahblahyaddaydadda. If you don`t have anything to say please don`t pretend that you do. (Oh...that would cut your inputs right down, wouldn`t it. Hmmm...the idea is looking better and better.)

Well, see you later Miss Congeniality. It`s been FUN FOR ME (dunno about you, but then, who cares? Gosh, you`re a waste of oxygen...have you considered donating what you use to...well just about anybody is a good idea. How about Ricky Lake?)

#46

Hi Farangi Khush!

#47

Khusraas defending women? feminazis are not women--they are heejraas.You,bazaree-ishtiharee,should know that.You did write once that you are into `advertising`(somehow sounds important in inglish)]

Who even mentioned a woman here.Are heejraas,aka feminazis,women?--only to a khusraa.

Trivializing it is not going to camaflouge it.Just as it is a pain in your butt(anal you said?) to walk tall as a muslim but bend at convenient angle as a hindu,similarly your khusraa-pun(no pun this)is evident.

It is doubly sad because you have a beautiful arab muslim sounding name.What a pity what a waste.

hamzad #46
Now why are you are hitting out like a jilted wife? Apparently the Saudis laid you off too..?

Reply Hamzad Afaqui # 46

Your consistent rudeness to women tells us quite a bit about your upbringing (in a pig pen) and psychological problems (still stuck in anal stage - pun intended).

Well, now we know. Please stop reminding us.

[This may sound frivolous but is not: The recession has caused many hundreds of thousands of job losses in the US. How many wives did an average Saudi shiekh lay off ?]

They lay them as and when it pleases them.You,on the other hand,stand little chance to be thus favoured.

Kafiras can only be concubines,but then they have to be conquered on a different turf first.;)---and looks do matter.This heejra(gender neuters feminazi westernism being parroted & mynahed by the educated doesn`t sit well there.

Ugly & filthy----that is Hindoostan.Even Babar wrote that.Nothing has changed,I guess.

PS:
``US economy was already in recession, and this pushed it to the brink.``
This may sound frivolous but is not: The recession has caused many hundreds of thousands of job losses in the US. How many wives did an average Saudi shiekh lay off ?