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On the other side, the Jewish people, after
the holocaust, have the fear that this time the Muslims will try to
eliminate them from the earth. This inner fear and after so many wars in
Middle East, they wanted to ensure that the Muslims are weakened to the
extent that they cannot rise in any field of life. Jewish leadership has
very wisely captured the financial markets of the USA and controls the
economy and the policy making of the country. The Christians knowing that it
was Jews, who crucified Jesus Christ, still collaborate with the Jews to
fight with the Muslims. Today most of the Muslim world is in turmoil. The
USA, outwardly, and Israel, inwardly, control the policy where to strike and
who to take for accomplishing their goals.
To undermine the Muslims and justify the war
on terror, this plan was exercised by the help of Musad, CIA, and other
agencies approved by the President of the USA. According to so many reports,
it has been established that there was no plane, which hit Pentagon, as the
span of the plane was far bigger than the hole it made in the Pentagon. Also
crashing of the plane with full fuel tanks should have burnt half of the
Pentagon; whereas some photographs show that books in the next room were
found intact. The theory is that it was a missile that hit the Pentagon.
The Muslim theory is that this plan was
executed on a special Jewish day to minimize Jewish casualties. The planes
did take off but in reality are not the ones to hit the Twin Towers. Two
windowless guided planes equipped with missiles, were actually part of the
plan to hit the bottom. They were guided to hit the twin towers with full
precision and accuracy. I talked to so many pilots who fly 747s and
according to them no one with flying training of small planes can hit those
targets with such perception and accuracy. Some footage showed by the US
media that there was a blast before the plane’s hitting the tower. It is
suggested that this was a planned demolition of the twin towers to create
conditions for the government to justify any action against any Muslims in
the USA and abroad.
During President Clinton’s time a small
plane deviated from its course and in merely three minutes 14 F-16
surrounded that plane and forced the landing before it could go close to any
targets of importance. It is a mystery to reflect that how come those F-16,
which control the Washington DC air space, did not get airborne to chase
down the planes supposedly off their course.
According to initial radio reports, two
planes were flown in Cleveland Airport. No one was allowed to disembark the
plane due to the blazing news of the twin towers’ being hit. Subsequently,
those two planes were rerouted to unknown destination. Perception is that
the real planes were diverted to clear way for the guided planes, which hit
the twin towers. And the two planes cited to be used in this terrorist act
were actually crashed some where else. Also stories of the plane crashing in
Pennsylvania have different versions. For instance some say it was a missile
that blew the plane and not the terrorists. The planners wanted to make sure
that every one on board those three flights would be dead, to ensure the
safety and secrecy of the plan. If it is true, this could be the most
sophisticated plan ever executed in the history of the world.
Even with the twin towers melted and with
thousands of gallons of jet fuel burning, the USA government without a hitch
found the passports of a few Muslims so to prove their presence on the
accident scene.
Moreover, word has been that the people
shown as the terrorists were CIA operatives bought forth; and their
identities were released to blame the Muslims. So far none of those have
been identified and none of their relatives have come forward to claim that
those people existed. Theory is that those people are either killed or paid
enough money to keep their mouth shut.
One theory is that these were the Saudi
citizens serving jail times whose pictures and passports were provided by
the Saudi government and they were executed. This could be one reason why
all the important Saudi nationals were boarded in specially arranged planes
to leave the USA while all the air traffic was suspended in the country. As
per this theory, it incriminates the Saudi leadership to be part of this
conspiracy.
The kernel is that a mission was carried by
the USA in collaboration with Israel. This subsequently created grounds for
Iraq invasion and now in advance to hit Iran. The Muslim perception is that
due to the Israelis’ fear that one day the Muslims might hit them with an
atom bomb and eliminate the entire Jewish race from the map of the world.
Hence they want to make sure that no Muslim country has hand on the atomic
arsenals. The USA policy makers are hostages to the Jewish lobby. They
cannot win even a small scale election without Jewish help. Most of the
politicians are forced to follow the policy to destroy the infrastructure of
the Muslim countries and stop them from raising their heads against the
gigantic power of the USA. Systematically, the US has weakened all the
Muslim countries by acquiring full control over oil reserves and world
economy.
To cut short, now the Muslims feel that this
is the conspiracy of mankind where the US government and Israel killed their
own innocent people to achieve their long-term goals to weaken the Muslim
world. Their perception is that 9/11 was the biggest intrigue of the history
and will be revealed one day.
1999: Pakistan A Failing State
For more than two hundred years
the British ruled the Indian subcontinent, which now is composed of
Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. The British were pushed out by force;
however, before they left, they partitioned the subcontinent, thereby,
creating many unresolved issues and border disputes. This was done
deliberately to make the people of the subcontinent believe that the British
rule was better than self-rule. In particular, the creation of Pakistan
consisting of two parts, 1,000 miles apart, and the unresolved Kashmir issue
have kept this Muslim State in complete disarray for the last 53 years.
This conspiracy took its first
toll in 1971 when Bangladesh, afforded nominal fundamental rights, and took
refuge from the minority province, West Pakistan, which had ruled it for 24
years. Since then, the rest of Pakistan which has been ruled by one of the
biggest militaries of one of the poorest countries of the world has taken
this country, at the edge of collapse and breakup, into further tiny
fragments based on linguistic and cultural conflicts. The concept of one
Muslim State has failed in Pakistan. While most of the people pray five
times a day, fast for thirty days in Ramadan and sell their households to go
to Mecca for pilgrimage, they are still divided just on the basis of
language and culture. In this toxic society, there is neither rule of law,
nor value and respect for good. Furthermore, corruption has been accepted as
the way of life and all institutions have failed, thus, bringing the country
close to economic and moral collapse. Economic frustrations push several
young people daily toward committing suicide. In Pakistan, billions of
rupees are spent to build palace-like houses that are surrounded by garbage
and filth; thus everyone is deprived of the basic needs of clean and a
healthy environment.
During a recent private
gathering of some army officers, politicians, bureaucrats and foreign
diplomats, one of the top analysts observed: “After talking to you, I get
the impression that every thing is fine in this failing state.” He implied
that all the fancy talks our army officers, politicians, bureaucrats and
intellectuals made to impress each other and outsiders were simply a white
lie. I believe the collapse of Pakistan is inevitable because a country
without a permanent constitution, stable political and judicial
institutions, lacking basic amenities and infrastructure, and prevalent
lawlessness, is, God-forbid, seems to breakdown.
Recently I met a few academics
and intellectuals who believed that Pakistan had already failed on paper,
but no one dared to accept this hard fact. A country, which was a close ally
of the United States of America for the last fifty years, had been
categorically told by President Clinton: “Thank you for your past support
and friendship but you are no longer useful in our interests.” On the other
hand, India, in the same span of time, has established high-class
institutions and maintained democracy along with development of science,
technology, industrialization, and production of war arsenals. India forced
the world powers to negotiate business contracts with them and ignore their
long time friend Pakistan.
Pakistan has been run on a political
experiment. I call this a 10-2-2 formula: 10 years of army rule, 2 years of
Muslim League, and 2 years of People’s Party rule. However, one high-ranking
politician corrected me and claimed that Pakistan had actually been ruled by
the Punjab-dominated military, since the assassination of Prime Minister
Liaquat Ali Khan. According to this source, politicians are used as pawns,
whenever military wants political cover to show the world that Pakistan is a
democratic country; however, Armed forces are in control behind the scenes.
As soon as the time is ripe, they fire the political governments and if
threatened, they make sure to lay the political leaders to rest, as they did
to Liaquat Ali Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. At present the military and its
secret service agencies control all the political institutions and demand
seventy percent of the national budget exclusively for the armed forces.
Additionally, they indirectly control the rest of the budget by deployment
of retired army, air force, or navy personnel from the bottom to the top in
civil, semi government and other financial institutions. This gives you a
feel that you are living in an army state.
Once I wrote to General Pervaiz Musharaf
that politicians admit that they are involved in 10-20 percent of the
national wealth corruption, but the military was involved in the rest of the
national budget, and army has become thoroughly acclimated to the corrupt
ways of life. So far he has shown no moves to cleanse the forces from this
disease, but he and his associates are busy in crucifying the political
leaders.
During the tenure of Benazir Bhutto as Prime
Minister of Pakistan, the then Chief of Army Staff insisted that defense
secretary release the army budget on a post facto basis without the approval
of the Prime Minister, who happened to be on a foreign trip. When the
Defense Secretary phoned the Prime minister to approve the release of the
budget, Benazir Bhutto instructed him to wait until her return. To her
surprise, upon her return, a summary of post facto approval was on her desk.
The Defense Secretary informed her that the Chief of Army Staff had left him
only with two choices: (i) either to release the budget or (ii) be prepared
for a military coup. Such utter abuse of power and disrespect for law and
institutions does not show any hope for the well being of this country.
Once a friend of my father asked him to
request one of his colleagues for a favor; my father told him that his
colleague would not oblige him, but if he would take Quaid-e-Azam (Mohammad
Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan) –a metaphor implying his picture
printed on the currency notes, often used in colloquial expression- to his
colleague, then he would surely oblige him. I am glad that Quaid-e-Azam, who
led the efforts for the creation of this country as the only Muslim State
created in the name of Islam, has yet not lost his value. His picture on the
currency of Pakistan has the top value to buy anything: judiciary,
politicians, bureaucrats, and members of the white elephant armed forces.
The main problem with Pakistan is the lack
of National honesty barometers, where 70-80% of the people are corrupt and
rest of the 20-30% are trying their best to secure a position where they can
also exploit the system. Today, when visiting homes of some army and
government officials, I wonder how they can afford such lavish standards of
living with their regular salaries.
The biggest concern I have is that the
Talibans, due to lack of American attention, have been scattered all over
Pakistan after achieving their goal to break the Russian Empire. And these
militants, drug and arm dealers are training and recruiting a new generation
of militants who cannot earn their livelihood. This has created conditions
of civil war, which may eventually result in a fundamentalist revolution
like Iran. According to one source, the Talibans have established 700
schools under the cover of Islamic education in Sindh province itself and
are training militants in these schools who intend to bring fundamentalist
rule in the country. This should be a wake up call for the American policy
makers because if and when such a revolution breaks out in Pakistan, it is
going to catalyze an inevitable war between Pakistan and India resulting in
destruction of all American interests in the region. The American policy
makers have turned their back from their fifty years close ally to capture a
huge economic market of India. But American policy makers do not realize
that a war between India and Pakistan with all the nuclear arsenals will
drown all their investments in India. Therefore, it is very important to
resolve the Kashmir dispute.
Following are a few suggestions that can
rescue Pakistan from total disintegration.
The USA should mediate the Kashmir dispute,
hold an UNO-supervised referendum to find out the will of the local people
as to whom they want to live with or if they want an independent state of
Kashmir.
The USA should provide quick economic aid to
Pakistan to restore its economy with a pre-condition to restore democratic
institutions.
Once the Kashmir issue is settled, Pakistan
must reduce its army to 50% and divert the funds to improve basic
infrastructure, education, health, etc.
Reduce duplication of bureaucracy by giving
full autonomy to the provincial governments and keep foreign affairs,
defense, and railways with the central government. Keep Provincial Liaison
Officers which coordinate central government efforts with various provinces.
To improve relations between provinces, rural and urban areas, fair share be
given to all to prevent the state from failing. At present all of the
smaller provinces think that they are under the umbrella of the Punjab, most
populated province and, in particular, largest producer of the army
personnel; hence, there seems to be no way to get a fair share in any walk
of life.
All elections should be held on a 2-year
tenure basis; however, the Prime Minister should be elected for a 4-year
term, unless he/she is removed from office by vote of no confidence. All
elected representatives must relinquish their seats if they leave the party
on whose ticket they have been elected to ensure party crossovers are
discouraged.
Amend the constitution to safeguard
political and democratic institutions and make the judges liable to be
hanged if they give mandate to illegal takeover of the democratic
institutions.
The press has to be free, yet needs to be
controlled. It must inform the common man of the critical issues faced be
the nation, rather than serve special or self-interests.
Industrialization is the backbone of the
progress of any country. Maximum efforts must be made to establish
industrialization, computer hardware and software industry, along with heavy
machinery and tool complexes. Privatization of the major industries must be
carried out with ample legal protection to industrialists to protect their
investments.
All the defaulters of government loans
should be jailed until they settled their dues so that the country can be
saved from financial bankruptcies.
Reduce the foreign embassy staff to the
minimum except in important countries.
Most importantly, reduce expenditures and
invest in the well being of people by providing them with the basic needs of
life.
2003: Immigrant Leadership
If you study world history, you will come
across the fact that 95% of immigration occurs due to financial reasons.
Most of the immigrants coming from the third world countries come to USA to
achieve financial independence. They use right and wrong means to achieve
their goals. After they become financially independent, they realize that
money does not bring glory and fame. So they start their campaign to be
recognized with their communities. Then, these people become active members
of civic organizations and become philanthropist by using some charitable
organization to achieve their ambition. This is where again they manipulate
right and means and vicious tricks to achieve their goal. Once they are a
part of any civic or charitable organization, they use old political school
of thought to divide and rule, make dictatorial decisions to achieve the
leadership of those organizations. This breed of politicians once in
leadership role do not want to leave the power and glory and use all the
right and wrong methods to keep themselves in the front lines. They
discourage the new line of leadership and undermine their capabilities to
come forward to the leadership role. So the fight for power begins, they use
the community as their pawn and keep on trying to prove to everyone that
they are the only ones doing an excellent job for the community. However,
their actions are directed for personal gain and glory. In the process if
there were a few sincere leaders who want to do something positive for their
communities without any financial goal or personal glory, become the biggest
victims of these selfish leaders.
War breaks out between good and evil. This
is the reason civic organizations of immigrants do not flourish and remain
in chaos at all times. The main problem is the lack of tolerance; excessive
greed of power and projection of personal glory. All this drives away
sincere people and ultimately leadership remains in the hands of a few
selfish and self-centered people. In some cases, if a clash between two
leaders with similar evil agenda starts, it splits the community by starting
parallel organizations to undermine the democratically elected leadership.
We do not accept the will of the people and do not let the elected office
bearers to work for the community but to keep them busy to defend their
actions. Why? The reason is that by birth most of the immigrants are born
during dictatorship rule and it becomes their second nature to believe in
absolute power whenever they get a leadership role. Though we preach for
democracy and democratic values, but are reluctant to accept majority’s
decision during the elections and never accept the elected leaders. From
national level to smaller civic groups the leaders do preach to have belief
in democratic values but fail to give the people the rights outlined by a
true democracy. In the end, most third world countries cannot claim to have
practiced democracy in the real essence. This is the reason why democratic
institutions never flourish and people’s desperation goes deeper and they
are disgusted by the system. This frustration brings an evil action and ends
up on killings of the innocent people. In general, it is the poor who suffer
from the arrogant decisions made by our leaders. The rich get richer and the
poor go down in the hole deeper day by day.
If we have to survive, we must learn the
rule of playing right, keeping community or national interest a prime
consideration to make decisions, encouraging young leaders to come forward
and take the leadership role to give new life to communities.
A few years ago, in summer, I visited the
United States Senate building to make a speech. During the lunch hour I saw
hundreds of young kids ranging from 16-25 years of age eating lunch with us.
Upon my inquiry I found out that those were mainly interns working for
nothing to learn how the government functions. This program not only brings
free labor for various elected officials but also produces next generation
of bureaucrats and elected leaders. This is the reason there is no lack of
leadership in developed countries like the United States as compared to any
other country in the world. The United States believes in the true essence
of the democracy and work constantly to improve infrastructure and upgrade
the standard of their institutions. This is the reason why the United States
is the most desirable country to migrate to. Immigrants do come here with
the hope to be part of this society but lack desire to follow the basic
principles of democracy.
I urge the leaders of every level from third
world countries to learn the value of right and wrong and stop believing in
mighty power. Finally truth prevails and eventually two wrongs do not make a
right. We must produce second generation of leaders rather than creating
suicide bombers. We need to provide ground for the young generation to work
hard, play by the rules and achieve excellence in every field of life.
1996: Why the Sindhis are suffering in
Pakistan
Sindh has been the oldest name in the world,
as the history of the world is known. Excavation of Mohan Jo Daro near
Larkana, Sindh revealed that Sindh was one of the richest areas in the sub
continent. This is why all outside warriors wanted to capture Sindh, hence
turning this area into a battleground throughout the history. In recent
times Sindh became independent province of united India in 1936 when it was
divided from Bombay. Research has showed that history of Sindh has been
quoted in Bible and old Parsi holy book Zanaosta. The point is that Sindh is
the oldest civilization and the Sindhi language has been the richest of all.
Sindh was the first to vote to confederate with Pakistan. Most of the
immigrants from Hindu dominated areas settled in province of Sindh during
1947. However after 57 years of joining the federation of Pakistan, Sindh
has still been the battleground for its self-existence due to hospitality
extended to their Muslim brothers who migrated from India. Today the
minority with collaboration with army and intelligence agencies rules the
majority of Sindhis. Most of the businesses and key jobs are held by the
immigrants. The common Sindhi wonders why they voted to be part of Pakistan
which was supposed to bring all the Muslims together under one roof and
provide justice for all the citizens. Here are a few of their problems and
some solutions to bring this nation at par with the other Muslim brothers of
Pakistan.
1: Identity Problems:
Since partition of greater India, most of
the Muslims migrated to Sindh and most of the Sindhi Hindus migrated to
India. Before partition, the Sindhi Hindus were dominant in education,
business and government jobs. The people of Sindh were excited to join
Pakistan with a hope that after departure of the Hindu Sindhis they should
get opportunities in various fields of life. However, their dream of getting
government jobs was never fulfilled, mainly due to lack of strong leadership
that was dominated by the feudals and jagirdars. These leaders had the fear
that if the education was made available to the common Sindhis, these people
will come in direct confrontation with their feudal power. Therefore local
Sindhi became the victims of the ignorance on both sides resulting
frustration against the federation of Pakistan. On the other hand immigrant
Urdu speaking people who were already educated and had been working with
English government before partition came and took over the majority of
government and policy making positions keeping local Sindhis at the back
seat. First Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaqat Ali Khan (immigrant himself)
made all the efforts to settle the Urdu speaking people by giving them all
the properties and lands abandoned by the Sindhi Hindus by word of honor
through claims. As such this new minority supported by the government
started ruling the local people. My father who was Rehabilitation
Commissioner Hyderabad Sindh to settle immigrants in 1947 used to tell
stories including one that when immigrants came to Lahore by trains the
local Punjabi people diverted them to Karachi by telling them that they are
still inside Indian border. This one factor has kept Pakistan under constant
danger of breaking up into smaller pieces. If the immigrants were evenly
distributed within the four provinces we might have been more Pakistanis
than the Sindhis, Punjabis, Mohajirs, Pathans and Baluchis. This one
conspiracy has brought us at the verge of war and we are against each
other’s throat. Immigrants, who came to Sindh instead of learning local
language and local culture, started to impose their language and culture on
the locals. This resulted in identity crisis for both of these factions and
a fight for identity started. And today Sindh is the most polarized province
in which Urdu speaking people though living in Sindh do not like to be
called as Sindhi but proudly call themselves as Mohajirs. The same people
when settled in USA proudly call themselves Americans, but hate to be called
Sindhis. The Sindhis, on the other hand, took thirty years to get a little
education and have finally realized that they have lost their identity. They
are now trying to recapture political and social status in the country
causing an internal war between these two ethnic groups. Very recently a top
researcher revealed to me that Pakistani establishment does not consider the
Sindhis and the Baluchis to be part of the federation therefore constant
conspiracies have been triggered against them to undermine their communion
to be part of the Pakistani culture. In recent days a minority political
party has been ruling the government of Sindh with systematic manipulation
and intrigue of the federal government just to secure their position on the
federal level. This is causing a severe identity crisis with the Sindhi
people who thought Pakistan would bring to them democracy and equal rights
after the Hindu domination was eradicated. However, from the frying pan to
sauce pan they are still at the same juncture of identity crisis. They
cannot join the armed forces, higher government positions and cannot be part
of the policy making. Gradually, this frustration has created the same
feelings as in our Muslim Bengalis, who, finally fought a war within and
acquired a separate state for them: Bangladesh. Unfortunately the rulers of
Pakistan have constantly considered the Sindhi second class citizens of
Pakistan which will consequently frustrate them and provoke to fight against
the federation.
2: Political Problems:
Since the
partition, most of the Sindhi leaders who traded their integrity with the
army junta and the establishment were given higher positions. Ayub Khoro,
Moula Bux Soomro, Pir Illahi Bux, Kazi Akbar and many more were appointed
leaders. They were busy in nothing but consolidating their positions rather
than serving their constituents. People of high standing like Pir Sahib of
Pagaro stood behind the establishment to safe guard their own holdings
ending up no representation of the common Sindhi at high level. One unit was
forced to Sindh and national capital was moved to Islamabad to weaken
dependence on Sindh. On the other hand, most of the fertile agricultural
land was allotted to army officers and the Punjabi landlords who eventually
became highly forceful to contest elections and take away political seats
which were Sindhi based constituencies. From one dimension, outsiders
captured the economy; from another, political seats were taken away from
them reducing their political stature to a minority within the elected
assemblies. To further weaken the Sindhi political power, the establishment
gave birth to the MQM, Jamait-I-Islami, and a few other small factional
groups. And now a party with majority Sindhi elected members cannot form the
government in Sindh. During Shaheed Bhutto’s tenure as Prime Minister it was
the first time an all-Sindhi-members government was established due to clear
and free elections. However, once Sindhi language was prescribed to all
schools of Sindh, such high caliber people as Raees Umrohi screamed out
loud: “Ye ja raha he janaza Urdu ka”. This resulted in counter demand of
Urdu language. As soon as Sindhi language was prescribed a compulsory
subject to be also leant by the Urdu speaking clan, a big political roar was
registered.
Moreover,
the establishment conspired with the Urdu speaking political leaders not to
accept the early elections held by Bhutto to create conditions for army take
over. Hanging of Bhutto and firing of three Sindhi prime ministers: Mohammed
Khan Junejo, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi and Benazir Bhutto (two times) are
regarded as conspiracy against Sindhi politicians. Politicians like G.M.
Syed, Mumtaz Bhutto, and Hafeez Pirzada who raised questions of rights of
Sindh were buried in illegal cases and put in jail to divert their attention
from the cause of Sindh. Sindh Governor Azeem Daudpota was fired only
because he refused to issue statement in favor of Kalabagh Dam which is
considered to be against the interests of Sindh.
Cunningly,
Mohammed Mian Soomro was appointed as Governor of Sindh with pre-condition
to issue statements that Kalabagh Dam is not against the interests of Sindh:
he conveniently signed the statement and is still a favorite of the
establishment. Most of the Sindhi politicians who have raised voice for
Sindh and its issues have been jailed. Presently, except for a few,
politicians like Rasool Bux Palejo, Pir Mazhar Ul Haque, Nisar Khoro have
been sidelined creating a big political vacuum in Sindh.
3: Financial Problems:
Sindh, being
mainly dependent on agriculture, always promoted production of fast moving
goods but never observed serious attention to trade and commerce. Most of
the businesses were captured by the Urdu-speaking people particularly the
Gujrati Memons the Aghakhani merchants. They kept the local Sindhis at an
arm’s length. The Sindhis were more interested in becoming clerks than
entrepreneurs with a result of complete financial dependence on the non-Sindhis.
Though it has been their fault still they consider establishment responsible
for this problem. The final result is that till today very few Sindhi
entrepreneurs are active in the financial field.
When the
government brought in the quota system, smart immigrants achieved forged
domicile certificates to stand eligible as rural candidates and stole jobs
from the native Sindhis. This way Mohajirs found a way to capture seats,
which were reserved for interior Sindh. Many people like Dr. Ishrat Hussein,
Governor of the State Bank, reached to high levels by forging their domicile
to rural Sindh causing a severe resentment within Sindhi people.
4: Language Problems:
After the
partition, Urdu became the national language and was accepted by the Punjab,
Baluchistan, and NWFP provinces. However, the Sindhis did not accept the
Urdu language because Sindhi is a richer language than Urdu. As a matter of
fact, Sindhi is richer than English, which was analyzed by a German scholar
Enimery Schemel, in a research paper published in the mid 70’s. However,
Urdu was forced upon the Sindhis as a compulsory subject in curriculum from
high school whereas Sindhi was never made a compulsory subject for
immigrants. This is considered as a conspiracy against the Sindhi language.
The Mohajirs never tried to learn Sindhi, and during Bhutto’s regime, when
it was introduced at the lower level schools, it resulted in linguistic
riots. The Sindhis felt that Mohajirs took over not only their land, but
also their language. This became their wake up call.
Sindhi is a
rich language and Sindh has produced poets like Shah Latif, Sachal Sarmast,
Sheikh Ayaz, etc. They had the same caliber and charisma as Allama Iqbal or
Faiz Ahmad Faiz. But, they are never acknowledged by our nation and in
particular by the Urdu-speaking intellectuals. Karachi television station
used to telecast only 30 minutes of Sindhi programs out of full day’s
schedule. Radio Pakistan also broadcast very few Sindhi programs in a fear
that non-Sindhis may not know the language.
Conclusion:
After break
up of one unit the Sindhis have taken active role in every field of life
that is the major cause of resentment by the Urdu speaking people. However,
if we believe in democracy and abide by all the rules of honesty and
equality, we must give equal rights proportionate to the volume of the
population at all levels of government and financial institutions. If done
rightly we can eliminate so many problems and the wave of breaking away from
the federation will be slowed down and we could live within one country
Pakistan.
If
immediate steps are not taken it will not be far away that Baluchistan and
Sindh will be asking for independence from the federation of Pakistan.
1996: Why the Mohajirs are suffering in
Pakistan
Immigrants generally compare their future
well-being to their home countries where they have migrated from based on
forecasts conditioned by information available to them. Thus, potential
immigrant shop for a new country in order to achieve a better future where
the political, social, cultural, and economical frames are similar to those
of their home lands. However, political, religious, or economic turmoil
produces immigrants who must flee at once to save their lives. Such
immigrants usually go through an adjustment phase in the host country
because of their weak status, both legally and politically.
However, things were different for the
refugees who migrated from India to Pakistan right after its emergence on
the world map. Conditions for these immigrants for their adaptation to the
new land, culture, and people were highly encouraging. However, these
immigrants did not try to learn about the local social, political, or
economic situations and issues in Pakistan, and especially Sindhi-dominated
society. However, these refugees now called Mohajirs not only declined to
learn the local culture, language, and social system, but were less strongly
inclined to actually socialize with local people. This created a social
vacuum between the local Sindhis and refugees who, instead of transforming
into the Sindhis, decided to become a political force under the umbrella of
Mohajir leadership. At present these immigrants are going though a phase of
reality and are facing several problems. Following are a few of these
problems with solutions to save the innocent people and keep the country
within one federation.
1. Identity Problems:
Since
Pakistan was founded in 1947, the then called patriot Muslims suddenly
became Mohajirs. They neither chose to remain as Muslims, nor became
Pakistanis, and in turn lost their identity as a nation because they did not
have a specific piece of land to make Mohajiristan. These are the same
Mohajirs who, in the United States, call themselves patriot Pakistanis, but
within their own, country refer to themselves as the Mohajirs. This was done
in order to divide them socially from the local Sindhis.
After the
partition, the Mohajirs were told that Pakistan was created by them and only
for them. They never thought that there were other members of the family of
Pakistan, in particular the Sindhis, who were the first to vote for the
creation of Pakistan. The Mohajirs, at the time of the partition, were more
educated than the Punjabis, Sindhis, Baluchs, and Pathans. Therefore, they
took over most of the jobs. Now, other ethnic groups started producing more
educated candidates, which has begun a distribution of jobs: this is
unacceptable by the Mohajirs now. They believe that they are being
discriminated against, which is not true. They are not getting jobs because
of a re-awakening of the interior part of Pakistan, where some education has
brought in a new breed of the educated class.
For
example, in 1974, in the PIAC alone, 8,963 employees out of 17,343 were only
from Karachi, and 353 were from the rest of the Sindh. At present, over the
past 20 years, employees from the interior Sindh are at about 1,789 and the
Mohajirs have been reduced to 6,829, which is still over 40% of the total
work force. The rest of the positions have been acquired by the Punjabis.
This is the
same scenario as in the early 70’s and 80’s when there was a vacuum of
professional engineers and doctors in the United States of America. Anyone
with a bachelor’s degree was working on a high-paying job. This happened
because most of the young American generation was wiped out in the Vietnam
War. In the nineties, local Americans were back in the market and the Asians
did not find technical jobs, even if they had master’s degrees from local
universities. This was not discrimination, instead, a natural phenomenon.
Why should anyone hire an Asian when they already have their own child with
the same qualifications?
Lots of immigrants changed their names and
became Syeds overnight to get undue advantage from innocent locals who carry
high regards for the decedents of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him). The
Sindhis respected the Syeds by the core of their heart. For instance, my
father’s Naik (Lead Servant) was travelling in a bus from Khairpur
Mirs to Larkana. During his trip his bus was robbed. All the passengers were
asked to give away their precious belongings and money before disembarking.
Before Naik left the bus he told the robbers that he was a Syed which was
not true. Upon completion of the robbery the head of the gang took a lap of
goods and gave to Naik as a gift and asked him to pray for them. One can see
that even criminals respected the Syeds. Immigrants used this card and took
many people for a ride. Lots of immigrants produced forged certificates,
affidavits and educational degrees to claim jobs, properties and lands.
Today most of these immigrants claim that Pakistan was created by them and
is for them. They have no consideration for the other communities like the
Sindhis, Baluchs and Pakhtoons and that they are also part of the federation
and have the same rights as the Mohajirs do.
In
Pakistan, the same circle of event is taking its round in reverse. The
Mohajirs basically ruled the country through the bureaucracy for the past 30
years and now while the Punjabis and Sindhis are holding key positions, they
are not ready to accept the fact that the Mohajirs are merely 22% of the
Sindh population, only 5.9% on the national level, and should only be given
their due share based on their population.
2. Political Problems:
From
Pakistan’s independence, the Mohajirs did not bear very seasoned politicians
except Liaqat Ali Khan. The Mohajir leadership went to people like Nawab
Muzafar, Usman Kennedy Nawab Yameen, Ahad Yousuf, and Altaf Hussein. On the
other hand, Sindh brought up more educated leadership like Z.A. Bhutto
(Barrister), Syed G.M. Syed, Mumtaz Bhutto (Barrister), Hafiz Pirzado
(Barrister), etc. Most of the ministers from Sindh were educated and
shrewder in politics than they were in the early sixties and seventies. A
few examples are: Mohammad Khan Junejo, Ghous Ali Shah, and Abdullah Shah,
who have been in power on both sides of the House and are very talented
people. However, Altaf Hussein, though very shrewd, has not been able to
create a national charisma and has not been successful politically. For
example, he joined hands with army junta of Zia after Bhutto’s fall whereas
he did not understand the politics of why G.M. Syed was helping him to train
his people in his home town of Sun. G.M. Syed wanted to reawaken the Sindhis
by training the MQM workers; he encouraged a clash between two. He thought
that once the Sindhis were subjugated they would fight back. He wanted them
to come out of that feeling of Muslim brotherhood in which they gave away
their homes to the Mohajirs in post-1947 era.
My father
Karamullah Memon, a native Sindhi, serving as Rehabilitation Commissioner
during 1947-48, gave away his own house to a Mohajir in claim. The Sindhis
welcomed the Mohajirs and the result was that most of them got settled in
Sindh. In return, they destroyed small towns of Sindh by selling off iron,
bricks, doors, and windows dismantling the houses left behind by the fleeing
Sindhi Hindus. In only one city of Shikarpur, which used to be called the
Paris of Sindh, over 15 thousand houses were destroyed and the money was
transferred to Karachi to establish businesses.
Altaf
Hussein did not realize that the MQM was created by the Zia regime to
overcome Jamait-I-Islami, which was the most organized party in Pakistan
that was capable of changing Pakistan into a fanatic so-called Islamic
state. Upon advice from other intelligence sources, the MQM was brought in
to counteract fundamentalism. In the process, the MQM was backed up by the
army and the net result was that when the Kacha Kala Hyderabad incident
occured, three truckloads of arms and immunization were recovered: with the
Pakistan Army logo embossed. The entire weaponry was used for the killing
the local Sindhis. One of the reasons why the army fired Benazir Bhutto as
Prime Minister was the conflict over the arming of the MQM.
In Karachi,
in target killings of the Sindhis approximately 500 Sindhis were killed.
This was what G.M. Syed wanted. The Sindhis woke up from deep sleep and
learned their lesson that they were being exploited in the name of Islam.
The MQM leadership not realizing the outcome of their excessive power became
a threat to the Pakistani army. At that time, the army had a wake up call
and forced them to disarm the MQM and its leaders by bringing in power the
rival group of the MQM and creating conditions in which the Mohajirs were
killing Mohajirs, while the Sindhis and Punjabis were only watching. The MQM
leadership, or, as a matter of fact, Mohajir leadership had never joined
forces with the local Sindhis. It may have been because of the Punjabi
conspiracy, which started in 1948. Since then, the Punjabis have planned to
move everything to the Punjab from Karachi to reduce the economic power of
Karachi. The Punjab has been very successful in implementing their plans.
After 47 years, Karachi is completely destroyed both politically and
economically while the Punjab is more prosperous than all other provinces.
The Sindhis suffered by losing fertile lands to the Punjabi Generals and
Colonels, but the Mohajirs were the biggest sufferers. This happened only
because they did not join their forces with the locals. They always chose
the side which was the other direction to the Sindhis and now they are
isolated.
Though it
is too late to reconcile the differences between the Sindhis and Mohajirs,
still, the only solution to all the problems of Sindh is unity of the
Sindhis and Mohajirs on all levels. It should be done on the basis of equal
share, based on population ratio. The Mohajirs must end the conspiracy of
trying to achieve a majority by bringing in Biharis from Bangladesh and must
stop various political tactics to dislocate the local Sindhis. Today’s
Sindhi is educated and ready to grab his or her due right. No one can say
that the Sindhis are inferior to others, as it was exploited in the past
that they did not want to leave their village.
The MQM
leadership, in association with Nawaz Sharif, tried to dislocate the then
elected Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and in return received 20000000 rupees
for each National Assembly vote cast against Bhutto. Altaf Hussein now owns
a big mansion in London, and the cost of his security is over a million
dollars per year. One open-minded person should think about where this money
came from. I am not defending the Sindhis. They have also made a lot of
money. Asif Zardari is a good example of someone who exploited the resources
of Pakistan. But, let us evaluate how many honest politicians Pakistan got
after coming into being. Politics is the game of the rich and corrupt. All
politicians are corrupt, and this is their investment to achieve power by
pouring money. When they get the power, they exploit it and misuse the
country’s resources. In third world countries the army and bureaucracy are
the biggest corrupt institutions. However, politicians get more exploited
because their finances are in the public eye. If you go and see the houses
built in Islamabad by army officers, you will be amazed to see how an army
general whose salary is about Rs 20,000 a month can afford a multi-million
rupee mansion. Unfortunately, we do not see within our ranks; instead, we
think everyone else is corrupt. But when it comes to us or our loved ones,
we close our eyes. We are hypocrites and this is the reason we have no
national unity.
The only
political solution Sindh has is to live and to let live. The Mohajirs must
accept the majority of local people and stop conspiring against them. Join
together and make the province a prosperous one. Do not make Karachi a
second Beirut as this is what your enemies want. The Punjabi feudal system
is not your friend as they have always used you, but at other times have
been mistreating you because you are a threat to them. Join forces with the
Sindhis and stop killing each other.
3. Financial Problems:
Most of the
Mohajirs lost their belongings after the partition. In this transition,
opportunists took advantage of the rehabilitation program and filed forged
claims and became rich overnight. Real rich and famous people like Nawabs,
etc. were too proud to ask for anything and went into poverty. Once, I
visited the home of a brother of Nawab of Juna Garh. He was living in a
two-bedroom portion near Tariq road with no basic amenities. When I probed
into the matter, he said he was ashamed to ask for anything from the
government.
However,
the financial structure of the Mohajirs was completely switched around and
crooks took over the economy and exploited the resources. The Memons,
Ismailis, and Khojas by nature were selfish businessmen, interested only to
make more money and move the resources to foreign countries. This gave way
to a financial vacuum for the Mohajirs. On the other hand, the result of the
Punjabi feudal conspiracy (based on divide and rule) caused so much unrest
in Karachi that in the last 15 years, no major industry has been
established. On the other hand, most of the industries have been moved to
the Punjab, making Karachi financially hollow. This is because of the trap
set by the Punjabi feudal lords to keep the Mohajirs and Sindhis fighting,
to end in destruction of our own home.
Now, when
the Mohajirs are denied the jobs, they blame the PPP leadership. I think one
must critically analyze the root cause of the damage that falls to both
sides and one should evaluate as to who is responsible for this economic
chaos and who is the benefactor of this scenario.
4. Language Problems:
After the
partition, Urdu became the national language that was accepted by the
Punjab, Baluchistan, and NWFP only because they did not have their own
language with an alphabet. However, the Sindhis did not accept the Urdu
language because Sindhi is a richer language than Urdu, and as a matter of
fact, Sindhi is richer than English, which was analyzed by a German scholar
Enimery Schemel, in a research paper published in the 70’s. However, Urdu
was forced into Sindhis and was introduced as a compulsory subject in
curriculum from high school. This was a conspiracy against the Sindhi
language. On the other hand, the Mohajirs never tried to learn Sindhi, and
during Bhutto’s regime when it was introduced in the lower level schools, it
resulted in language riots. Sindhis felt that the Mohajirs had taken over
not only their land, but their language. This became their wake up call.
The
Mohajirs, again, due to the some feeling of superiority, did not learn
Sindhi and became a separate group. However, all the Mohajirs who settled in
the Punjab learned the Punjabi language and mingled in the local culture so
that there were no Mohajirs in the Punjab. Even Mohajir women who married to
Sindhi men never tried to learn Sindhi. However, they forced their language
on their children too. The dark side was that if a Sindhi woman was married
to a Mohajir man, she had to leave her language and so the culture, as it
was a must to switch the language in any case. I appreciate the
determination of the Mohajirs in promoting their language by forcing it on
others, but it created hatred in Sindhis for Urdu speaking people as opposed
to Urdu as a language. The proof is that most educated Sindhis read, write,
and speak Urdu without hesitation, but very few Mohajirs like to speak in
Sindhi even with their own family members.
Sindhi is a
rich language and Sindh has produced poets like Shah Latif, Sachal Sarmast,
Sheikh Ayaz, etc. who had the same caliber and charisma as Allama Iqbal or
Faiz Amhed Faiz had. But, they are never recognized by our nation and in
particular by the Urdu-speaking intellectuals. Until and unless mutual
respect is developed, this hatred will continue. Poor people will continue
to die. Democratic governments will be taken over by the army generals. The
poor will get poorer and the rich will get richer. Selfish politicians will
go on exploiting the innocent public and filling their pockets. Some of us
preach killing in the name of God as General Zia did. If this continued in
the name of God and religion, we will be punished by God as He punished the
past nations that took His name but killed the innocents.
I think
this is the time to wake up and reconstruct Pakistan for what it stood for,
“Equality for all on the basis of Islamic values.”
Addendum 2004
After eight
years the situation has not improved. The MQM is in collaboration with the
Punjab army and feudals have captured democratically elected assembly of
Sindh. It is amazing to note that a minority with fewer seats in the
assembly is ruling the province. This in turn has created deep-rooted hatred
for the Mohajirs. Due to recent remarks by Altaf Hussein, the wind is
changing and latest elections will be held in 2005. If the PPP captures
majority at center and can form governments in provinces without the MQM
then the Mohajirs will start complaining for discrimination. However, in the
past years no one said a word against non-democratic government held by the
MQM. Unless and until we do not give due share of national wealth and
resources to every citizen of the country, the country will remain in
political turmoil with no hope of progress in the future.
March 2001:
How to Bring in Democracy in Pakistan
A Letter to Ms
Benazir Bhutto, Ex. Prime Minister of Pakistan
The first and fundamental thought is that
the United States of America, being the world’s greatest super power,
encompasses the largest democracy in the world, and has a complete control
of our government. The CIA network is spread all over the world, and with a
few exceptions they are practically controlling the world. Therefore, in
order to bring democracy in Pakistan, the process has to start within the
United States.
The following steps ought to be taken in
order to restore democracy, especially if the Peoples’ Party wants to come
back in power after the army’s failure, which seems very evident from their
initial few months in power. Until this regime convinces the United States
government in the same manner General Zia UL Haque did, by helping the
United States to bring the Russian empire to a downfall, the efforts to
re-establish democracy in Pakistan will continue to be strenuous.
The Peoples’ Party should strengthen its
roots in Pakistan. So far, the common status of the Peoples’ Party is that
it is not very democratic in its decisions, and is full of leaders who are
arrogant and corrupt. Most of the honest politicians who were with the late
Z.A. Bhutto have left the party. The first step must be to change the tone
in your dealings: be friendlier and bring all the old timers on the table.
Though old in age now, they are more precious than gold. Give full
consideration to their advice, and their next generation in the party will
revitalize it.
Generate a plan on how you will solve the
problems of the common man, such as corruption, brutality and misuse of
police power, feudalism, price hike, joblessness, illiteracy,
industrialization, power-shortage, communications, and the biggest culprit
reduction of the white elephant The Army. At present the army has become an
inevitable partner in the political system therefore, we have to compromise
with the army leaders and work our way to draft a plan and act upon it as
long as it upgrades the standards of the common man. Unless the middle class
is not in the majority, there will be no democracy stable enough to rule
more than a few years.
Set up a committee of three to five people
each in all major cities of the United States of America and Europe. Let
this be called a People’s Party Political Action Committee. This committee
would recommend to the party as which political candidates to be supported
in the United States congress, senate, and local political arena. It would
be necessary to finance such committee whose job would be to campaign and
lobby to bring a democratic government in Pakistan. The key thought is to
provide funds, as it will need a minimum of $100,000 budget at each
location. Let this committee get its roots in United States politics which,
in the long run, would bring stability to the Pakistani government. Some
suggested cities are Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Los Angeles,
Houston, San Francisco, Orlando, Atlanta, Seattle, Denver, St. Louis,
Dallas, Miami, Phoenix, London, Paris, etc….
Appreciate hard working party workers and
people who support you. Send them personalized notes, autographed pictures
and appreciate their work. Be available to them and be friendlier to them.
When I met Mrs. Hillary Clinton I realized she could be a role model for
politicians. The entire time I was with her, she acted as though she was my
best friend. Mr. Clinton displays many of the same qualities. He is so
charismatic that you feel that he is your best friend. Recently, when I met
you, I found similar charisma in you but if you use those to your advantage.
The key is to be close to people and be accessible; this will change your
perception and make you famous.
How to Prevent
Pakistan from Further Destruction
Letter to Mrs.
Benazir Bhutto Ex. Prime Minister of Pakistan
Dear Mrs. Bhutto:
I have been a critical observer of the
Pakistani politics for twenty-two years, in particular, of your family’s
role in the politics of Pakistan.
Your father, the late Z.A. Bhutto, started
his political life from our home. Your late grandfather brought your father
to my uncle, Abdul Fateh Memon, to teach him the local politics. At the
time, my uncle was the General Secretary of the Muslim League. Subsequently,
he became the greatest leader Pakistan has ever seen so far because of his
hard work, intelligence, and dedication to the cause of people.
I have been a silent observer of
your family’s role in politics and hope that you can be successful in your
political career. In the next few pages, there are a few suggestions, which
could be useful for the fulfillment of the promise your father made to the
people of Pakistan, which he could not achieve because of too many negative
forces against him. This time you have an opportunity, which can either
place you topmost in history or fade you out from politics of Pakistan
altogether.
I am writing this letter for the
sake of the people of my country. I have no political or economic ambition
associated with you or the opposition party. I have friends in both parties
as well as in the bureaucracy. Furthermore, these are merely my personal
thoughts, and no one has inspired me to write this letter to you. I hope
this letter will reach you and that you may benefit from the same.
The Peoples’ Party is the party
of the masses who are mostly uneducated. Most of the educated class is
against your party. Your biggest problem is to do something for them to keep
them quiet. This has to be done in such a way that your promise to the
people who voted for you is also not jeopardized.
Efforts have to be made to
divert the attention of people from large metropolitan areas to reduce the
economic and social pressures. If you analyze the situation in the United
States of America, all the lower middle class people have been provided with
basic amenities and entertainment. The same efforts should be made to do the
following:
Ø
Encourage recreational
activities. Government sponsored tournaments should be arranged by district
officials.
Ø
A movie channel should be
launched on TV or an existing channel should telecast movies and shows from
various countries around the clock. This will keep people interested in
other things rather than street violence and street politics.
Ø
Mobile movie theaters that go
village to village and provide entertainment to villagers while conveying
government messages to them should be established. This system was very
beneficial during Ayub Khan’s regime when he used the district
administration to propagate his message to the people while providing
entertainment at the same time.
Ø
Open kuchahry --actually
originated by Captain Usman Ali Issani during his tenure as Deputy
Commissioner Khairpur in the early 60’s and utilized by your father very
effectively in the early part of his tenure-- should be organized again. All
the Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, and all top-level officers should
head it at least once a month. You should also take time to meet common
people. In your last tenure you were distant from the people. This was one
of the reasons you were removed without any hitch by the then political
masters. You are lucky that a change in the American Government and a rift
between Nawaz Sharif and Ishaq Khan made way for you to come back in power.
However, this may be the last chance you have to get close to the people.
Ø
Corruption in bureaucracy is
at the highest extent. In my view there is no way to control the corruption
in the bureaucracy except by finding ways to reduce it, particularly in the
areas where the common man has to let go of bribe to live clean. Find out
some ways to provide telephone connection, electric connection, and health
care, building permits, factory and industrial permits, admissions to
professional schools, driver’s licenses, passports, ID cards, and many basic
amenities without red tape. One way to do so is to create alternatives to
existing agencies in which the private sector would provide such services.
You must have seen an improvement in air service after an alternate airline
was allowed. This will ease unemployment problems as well as dependency on
the government would lesson.
Ø
Efforts should be made to
delegate powers to the lower levels for people to get quick decisions.
Presently appointment of a peon to the secretary is done by the chief
minister. We must change people’s minds to small business and encourage
entrepreneurs by some reward system to strengthen private sector. Right now
every graduate wants to be a clerk. Efforts should be made to change this
attitude and divert the manpower to the technical fields, business, and
service industry. Non productive expenditure on the bureaucracy and the army
should be reduced, and public spending on education, cultural and social
programs should be increased. Ask the people who possess billions of rupees
in hiding to bring the money out and invest in industry and the private
sector. You should give them cover to protect their investment, even if it
has come from black money. In this way, black money may provide jobs for the
poor and develop the country.
Ø
On the political side you must
bring all the experienced politicians close to you. One of the reasons of
your father’s political downfall was removal of dedicated and experienced
politicians from the party and bringing in opportunists close to him. The
political scene in Pakistan has not changed in the last thirty years. You
have three kinds of people in politics.
Ø
Ones are Feudals, Landlords,
Zamindars, and Chowdhrys who want to be in power to keep their heritage and
have no interest in the country, its people or you. They are only interested
in their safe net. Wherever they see their safety, they run to that lurking
hole.
Ø
Second are those opportunists
who want to make money by politics. As long as they make money they are on
your side.
Ø
Third are the politicians that
are few in numbers yet want to do something for the people while they are in
office. Find such people and bring them in your government.
To control the country you need to have a
balance of all these types of politicians for your own safety. You must try
to bring people like Khar, Mumtaz Bhutto, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Hafiz
Pirzada, Allana, Miraj Mohammad Khan, and several others past PPP
well-wishers back and continue the efforts to do something for the people.
Arrogance is the killer of the politician. One of the reasons of your
father’s failure in the end was non-compromise and arrogance shown to the
senior politicians. You should take advantage of his mistakes and visit such
people and try to clear old enmities. I still remember that one time in the
early part of your father’s coming into power; an effort was being made to
clear differences between him and Pir Pagaro through Syed Ghous Ali Shah.
But due to the selfishness of a few of his close associates, that effort was
ruined because it was not in their interest to bring Pir Pagaro close to Mr.
Bhutto. I know it will be very hard to reconcile the differences with him
now, but I would keep an open dialogue with him and his close associates.
The same should be observed with Nawaz Sharif and other prominent opposition
leaders. You must invite them for political sittings and suggest them to do
something for the people together. Break the old feudalistic trend of
politics, and try the modernized ways to bring people at the same table.
This way they will let you rule for your tenure and let the people decide
for you or for them in the next elections. Do not impose your leadership.
Let the people and the assemblies bring you as the leader. I know you were
advised by several people not to accept leadership while Ishaq was President
because you were not elected but selected to do a certain job. You are lucky
that you got another political life, so use it wisely. Bring people together
like you did with Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi. I am positive that if you go and
visit these people, they will stop negative campaigning against you and the
PPP.
I am sending you a copy of an
article written by Nicolas Platt who was the U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan in
1991. I agree with his idea that now is the time to change the politics of
revenge, and make the national assembly into a working legislature, make
friends, and avoid confrontation.
Recent shifts in the American
Policy are good signs for your party. You must create political forums that
could propagate your message to the right quarters. You are aware about
efforts done by the Sindhi Association of North America on human rights
violations. We used modern ways of approaching the local congressmen and
senators on a very small scale and this brought back very positive results.
On the same grounds, you must form small political forums on district,
division, provincial, national, and international levels. They should hold
meetings with people of interest and create positive response for your
party. Right now PPP is labeled as a party of opportunists who want to make
money by right or wrong ways. You must change this image of your party.
News media is completely against
your party. Efforts should be made to reduce negative propaganda against
PPP. I recall during your father’s era these people used to write “Larkana
has become the second Paris of Pakistan. All the money has gone to Larkana.”
You and I know that, except for a few development projects, nothing
constructive had been done there. But people outside Sindh always had a
feeling that all the money was being spent in Larkana. Educated Mohajirs by
nature are complainers and it is very hard to satisfy their appetite for
money and power. However, with the right propaganda, you could bring the
truth to the common man. But, this can only be done if your party members
show an honest effort to rule the country.
January 1998:Human Rights Violations and Dictatorship in Pakistan
| Honorable Bill Clinton |
| President |
| United States of America |
Dear Mr. President:
I am sorry that I missed an
opportunity to see you in person during your visit to Houston for a
fundraiser for Congresswoman Ms. Sheila Jackson Lee. I was unable to attend
due to a severe flu virus. I intended to submit this memorandum to you;
however, instead, I am sending it to you by mail with a hope in shifting
U.S. policy towards Pakistan.
Strategic Importance of Pakistan:
Fundamentalist governments in
Iran and Afghanistan, along with India’s powerful help of China and Russia,
have left Pakistan’s only ally as the United States, who potentially may be
able to keep the balance of power in the region.
The United States of America can
keep the Balance by supporting the democratic process in Pakistan and use
its resources to keep check and balance. Presently, Premier Nawaz’s
government is completely busy in crushing the opposition political leaders
in order to create a totalitarian rule in the country. All major positions
have been assigned to their home town friends, leaving the rest of the
country that consists of three minority provinces with no representation in
the political process. This will eventually create a situation similar to
Bangladesh and break Pakistan into several tiny countries for which
political movement in Sindh, Baluchistan, and Pakhtoonistan are already
fully ripened. This totalitarian rule will make this process very easy. This
in turn would leave the United States without an ally in the region.
Action Required to Safeguard USA Interests:
Premier Nawaz’s government shall
be asked to stop all human rights violations by withdrawing all politically
motivated cases against each political party. The time and resources shall
be used to upgrade peoples’ standards of living, rather than crushing
political rivals. In turn, when those rivals come back in power, they also
spend their time to crush other parties, causing a total loss of resources
and hindering development for the poor masses.
Negotiations shall be expedited
to have a NO WAR PACT between Pakistan and India, to stop the arms race in
the region. Pakistan and India shall be asked to reduce the size of their
armies and furthermore spend at least 50% of their budget on non-military
expenses. The Kashmir issue should be resolved with a free UNO controlled
election in which the Kashmiris shall decide what is to be done about their
country as opposed to the Pakistani and Indian politicians deciding for
them.
This process would also upgrade
the education level in these countries, which would therefore produce better
political leaders, technocrats, and educators. Presently the so called
“democratic” process is controlled either by the army, bureaucrats, selfish
landlords, or career politicians. All elections, except for one in 1971,
have been rigged by the local and army authorities. Moreover, the so-called
mandate of “absolute majority” in the Parliament is a result of massive
fraud without a truly democratic and fair election.
IMF funds and other grants are
mostly used either by the government officials or are given as bribes to the
friendly politicians. Less than 5% of the budget and loans are used for the
common man. For this reason, a negative feeling persists between the people
of Pakistan and the U.S.A. though the elite of Pakistan have always collated
for US interests. Unless the aid granted to these countries reaches to the
common man, we will have no sympathy in their hearts.
Premier Nawaz’s government shall
be asked to give a fair share, in all respects, to the smaller provinces and
stop various conspiracies that give way to political instability in those
provinces. This should include all political, bureaucratic, army, and other
appointments. At present, Premier Nawaz’s hometown and home province
associates and friends hold all 40 of the top positions.
If few of these ideas are
implemented, it will save Pakistan from further breaking into smaller pieces
that would not be in the long-run political interest of the United States of
America.
With regards,
Manzoor A. Memon
Conclusion: President Bill Clinton’s
personal response is given below,
Sindh Today
A letter written by my cousin late Ali Raza
Memon, son of Abdul Fatah Memon, former Ambassador of Pakistan to Saudi
Arabia.
Mohtram:
Asslamu-alaikum wa Rahmatu-Allah wa
Barkatahu,
As a concerned Sindhi, I would like to draw
your attention to a major problem of Sindh and the Sindhis. You are in a
position to help directly and indirectly (through your children), to help
find a solution for this predicament.
We are pained and bewildered to see a
complete absence of Sindhi entrepreneurs, industrialists, businessmen,
traders, bankers, financiers, as well as other technical and non-technical
labor hands, in the economic and financial stage of Sindh and Pakistan. We
are fully aware of the conspiracies in the past and present, to keep the
Sindhis out of the mainstream of national economic life. However, we also
know that there have been certain reluctance of our educated and upper class
to participate directly in financial and industrial life in Sindh. Sir, time
has come for the Sindhis to play an active and rightful role in day to day
business, industry, and trade of Sindh. Sindh needs indigenous Sindhis to
enter business, trade, industry, and finance. Sindh cannot prosper unless
the real sons of soil become industrialists, bankers, investors, traders,
managers, technical and non-technical hands, and equally important owners
and exploiters of the God given natural and other resources.
In the past, the Sindhis, who by chance got
permits to put up industries or other businesses, sold them for pennies to
the non-Sindhis, who are now millionaires, and who refuse even ordinary jobs
to the Sindhis. Some Sindhis got loans, which were spent away on
unproductive schemes and activities. Sir, if the Sindhis do not wake up now,
their children will be in worse conditions than those of the Red Indians of
Canada and the United States of America, (who were once the owners of the
United States and are now beggars and strangers on the same land.)
Sir, God has provided us one more chance to
do something really constructive and productive for our people and land. The
Sindhis who are in power must play constructive roles in the national
reconstruction of Sindh. Let them set up new industries in Larkana,
Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Dadu, Nawabshah, etc…. Let them get permits for their
friends, relatives, and acquaintances to put up factories (small, medium,
and large), industries to initiate new businesses, trading houses, shops all
over Sindh. Karachi should be rehabilitated by indigenous Sindhi
businessmen, industrialists, traders, bankers, and experts in finance and
related technologies. Let our leaders and politicians arrange loans from
public and private institutions for the Sindhis qualified to set up business
and financial projects in the nook and corner of Sindh. The Sindhis are
blessed with brains, physique, knowledge, resources and education to play a
fair and active part in the national and international development. This is
the best time to take the initiative for an overall economic plan and
reconstruction of Sindh: to prepare and allow the Sindhis to participate
fully in economic, financial, and industrial life of Sindh.
We Sindhis have to work very hard, and fast
to compensate for our past deprivations. Right now we are in a very bad and
sad situation, all of our major cities and towns are out of our economic and
political control. Even small towns are getting out of our control. Let us
take control of our economic destiny in our hands now!
Every one of us sitting abroad will be happy
to fully participate and cooperate directly as well as indirectly in
reconstruction of the Sindh economy. I am offering my unconditional support,
help, and assistance to Sindh and the Sindhis in their endeavor to take
their rightful, God-given right to own, use, and exploit their resources to
the benefit of all people in Sindh and Pakistan.
“Let us get our middle class to enter trade,
business, management, and related services…private as well as public
sectors.”
“Let us get our upper class to invest in
setting up industries, factories, banks, insurance companies, trading
companies, foreign agencies etc….”
“Let us get our skilled and unskilled labor
to find work in our industries, trade and related agencies.”
“Let us demand our due share in national
wealth, revenue and resources.”
“Let us speak out, as well as act for
securing our God given rights as citizens of Sindh and Pakistan.”
Above all let us encourage our fellow
brethren Sindhis to go into ownership, management and work in the economic
sector of Sindh and Pakistan. We need economic prosperity and control over
Sindh’s destiny to be real and true free citizens.
Please think about it; let me know your
reaction. We have enough pool of talent, wealth and resources to be our own
economic and financial bosses. This should be in effect immediately.
God bless you and all the Sindhis.
Ali Raza Memon
December 8, 1998
Letter to Mr.
Abdullah Shah
Chief Minister
Sindh
Dear Shah Sahib:
Assalam-o-Alakium
I hope this letter finds you and your family
in the best of health. It has been about five years since we met in
Washington D.C. where I made a comment to you about the change of Chief
Minister in Sindh and I told you that you would be a better Chief Minister.
I think after what you have done in a few years as CM I was 100% right. I
congratulate you on your hard work and efforts to cope with the situation in
Sindh in what you also lost your dear brother. I am sorry about his untimely
death. Please accept my deepest condolences.
During my meeting with one of very recent
ex-CM (not from the PPP), I asked him to evaluate your performance and I was
told that after Mumtaz Bhutto you were the best CM the PPP brought in.
Hearing from an opposition party leader I really compliment you on your
performance and all of us here are really proud of you.
The reason why I am writing you this letter
is to bring to your attention the propaganda initiated by the PPP opponents
all over the world through the media. In my letter to Mrs. Benazir Bhutto, a
few years ago, I insisted on fostering some media lobby in various important
countries like the United States of America, the UK, Canada, France, Japan,
etc…; I also suggested the launce of a news letter which should be printed
in Pakistan (due to economical reasons) sent to various countries to be
distributed to all the Pakistani community within each country. Also news
through the internet will be a beneficial tool to pass the information.
Interviews from various PPP politicians while visiting any foreign country
on radio, TV, and newspapers have proved to be a very beneficial tool.
Unfortunately, the non-Sindhi community is unaware about the injustice done
to us and they think we are the aggressors whereas we have been the victims
since the partition.
I will be in Karachi from May 3rd
to May 18th 1996. If you would like to discuss this proposal in
detail as how to set up a propaganda tool, please instruct your private
secretary to allot some time between the above dates. I will be in touch
with your private secretary.
Thank you and I will see you soon.
Muslims and Mainstream Politics:
(A Speech at APPNA Convention)
Brothers and sisters, Assalam-o-alakum. On
behalf of Mayor Lee P. Brown and the city of Houston, I welcome you all. I
thank the organizers of APNA for this opportunity to address you all. The
issue I would like to discuss is the Muslims and mainstream politics.
After 9/11 two years ago the demographics of
the United States have completely changed. The Muslims have been brought
under the spotlight. On one side we have our integrity and pledge of
allegiance adhering to the oath to be the citizens of the United States. On
the other side, we have teachings of Islam and our brothers and sisters who
are living in the Muslim countries like Kashmir, Palestine, Iraq,
Afghanistan, Chechnya, Bosnia, where they are suffering. We have to see how
to balance our local and Islamic commitments. This is a hard task but can be
done if we all work together as a team and do not get divided on petty
things. One important aspect is to follow Islam in its true essence. Yes, we
have five pillars of Islam; following those makes us officially a Muslim.
But the practice of those along with the true human values and standards of
honest life makes us a complete Muslim; that is, we not only have to
practice Deen but also play a role in Dunyia. You should see that a few
Muslims’ acts of cruelty result in all Muslims’ suffering the aftermath. So
what we should do is come out as winners. Including our Islamic duties, we
need to get involved in our community and political affairs from the roots.
From school boards, city, county, state and federal levels, we need to get
involved in the political process and slowly send this message to our next
door Americans that we are as patriotic as they are and Islam is the
religion of peace not terrorism as it is being wrongly portrayed. We have to
be honest, punctual, and fair in our dealings and give messages of
friendship and peace to local people and be a part of the system. A few
things we should do are:
First, register to vote, and urge friends
and relatives to register and vote. This will strengthen your community in
the eyes of the politicians and lawmakers as your block vote can make a big
difference. You must become member of your civic, religious community and
business organizations. We have about two million Muslim votes all around
the country which can cause someone to win or lose any election.
Second, join the political party of your
choice; examine their manifesto and their track record and decide which
party will serve our needs. Then go and vote in primary elections and try to
get elected as party delegates, or party prescient chairs. This way you will
be inside the political party and can divert the party manifesto and policy
towards your community cause.
Third, once you are in the political body,
pick candidates of your choice and support them by volunteering your time to
their campaigns. Raise funds for them, put their signs on your businesses
and show that you are a part of the system. We are very slow in letting our
money go; we need to be generous in donating not only to our own
institutions like mosques, Islamic schools, but also to the American
charities, political action committees and candidates who can support your
community cause.
Fourth, we need to encourage our youth to
participate in the political process by asking them to spend their summer
doing internships for the city, county, state, and federal offices. My
suggestion to people is, if you want to live in this country you need to be
a part of this society, as people say: “Do in Rome as the Romans do.”
Lastly, I urge the doctors’ community to
donate their time to the American charities and make a political force for
their communities by inviting political candidates and opening their door
for their political activities like fund raising etc… I think you can play a
vital role in bringing our communities at par with other communities by
paying some attention on this subject.
If any youngster is interested to work as
volunteer or intern in any political office, contact me, I can try to get
them in.
I hope God will give us strength to follow a
straight path, where we are successful not only on the religious front but
on a worldly front too.
Thank you, and may Allah bless you all.
December 20, 1999:
Letter to
President General Pervaiz Musharaf
SUBJECT: DR. ISHRAT HUSSEIN,
GOVERNOR STATE BANK
Dear Mr. Musharaf:
Since your
take over as CEO of Pakistan, you have been preaching for equal rights for
the provinces, but your actions are contrary to your statements. Major
positions on federal and provincial levels are held by either the Urdu
speaking or Punjabi speaking officers. Locals from Sindh, Baluchistan and
frontier provinces are being sidelined. Your policy to adopt merit system
for appointments is not a bad policy but if you live in an equal opportunity
state like the United States of America, you will notice that here every
rich or poor person has the same facilities to go to school and grow in the
equal society. You should not forget, in the past 50 years the step brother
attitude towards the Sindh, Baluchistan and frontier has not groomed the
people of these underprivileged areas to compete with people from large
metropolitan areas. Therefore, it is imperative to keep the merit policy
within rural and urban areas so that the best could be picked up from all
over the nation to ease tension within the provinces.
Appointment
of Dr. Ishrat Hussein is a major concern that the foundation of his career
is based on a fraud: he obtained a fake rural area domicile certificate to
compete in CSS examination on a Sindh rural seat. The reason I am confident
about this is because it was my father, late Karamullah Memon PCS (one of
the most honest officers the Sindh bureaucracy has ever seen), who by
mistake issued a false domicile certificate to Mr. Ishrat Hussein CSP. My
father noticed the mistake after Mr. Ishrat qualified for CSS and became SDM
in our home town Shikarpur in 1966. My father regretted this mistake when
Mr. Ishrat became his boss by superseding him in provincial position.
The reason
his domicile is important is that a lot of Urdu speaking people have
exploited the rural urban domicile policy in the past and deprived the due
share of the less fortunate people and Mr. Ishrat is a good example of this
cult.
I, as a
political observer, must urge the policy makers to make sure that policies
of equality and fairness must be restored; otherwise further partition of
Pakistan is already on the CIA’s drawing board. These actions will give
smaller provinces an excuse to part from the federation. So please pay
attention to this policy.
Also after
reading your speech on economic affairs, my only comment is to ask you to
reduce the government expenses and in particularly the white elephant: the
army, which has made our country completely hollow. It is time to settle our
differences with India and divert our economy to industrialization rather
than warmongering.
Accepting
resignation of Dr. Yaqub was a good move. In principle he was a part of
policy making of Nawaz Sharif and he should be held responsible for the
economic collapse of the country. I disagree with his policies, though he is
related to me: national interest should be kept at the top of the agenda.
Lastly, I
can see your actions slowing down to eliminate the evils out of the society.
You need to make quick decisions as you will be weakened as time passes. Do
something for the poor people who see you as their final hope.
With regards,
Manzoor A. Memon
September 24, 1989:Speech at Palestine Muslim Group
Thanks for granting me the opportunity to
speak.
My name is Manzoor Memon. By profession, I
am an electrical engineer, advisor to Mayor, businessmen, election judge,
Democratic Party chair, trustee Pakistan association, and president of
Pakistan Chamber of Commerce.
My role today is to bring forth some
reflections as how to be effective in this society. I will touch the
following four subjects:
1.
Global economy
2.
Economy controls politics
3.
Politics controls policies
4.
Policies control our lives
Bring efforts to have control over business.
The Jewish people are a role model. How can a handful of people control
policies of the strongest country in the world and undermine multi billion
community of Muslims? By controlling financial markets. We can control
politics and polities.
How can we do the same? People who are in
business need to come from behind the closet of collecting dollars; it is
time to give back to the communities. Participate in political system. Every
major town should have a group of businessmen mobilizing their funds and
giving it to local, state and national leaders during election time. Do not
do it individually but give as a community and start asking for something in
return rather than just a photograph which you proudly hang in your living
room to show to people. Make the politician change some policies for our
motherland and us. We love our homeland USA but we owe something to our
motherland.
The people who are not rich but educated and
can participate in the election process should get attached with political
candidates and parties, be their members, and get into staff of the
politicians. Staff of politicians writes 95% of laws and regulations, they
control the language of those legislatures that control our lives.
Then comes the most important factor that we
all have ignored: to exercise our valuable vote. Statistics shows that our
community voting has been less than 5% of registered votes. Estimate is that
we have at least 3 million registered Muslim votes, so we need to vote in
block and get attention of the politicians. Please register and exercise
your votes if you want to survive in this country.
Again controlling the business is the key
factor. This has proven in the past to be the most effective way to take
your communities on the higher level. Support political candidates
financially; work with them, and go to vote. You will be ahead of other in
the game.
Thank you again.
2002.Interview with Manzoor Memon
Manzoor Memon’s nick name is Manny Memon. He
was born in Shikarpur Sindh. His family shifted to Larkana in 1947. His
father late Haji Karamullah Memon was Deputy Commissioner and Secretary
Revenue to the Sindh Government. His Uncle Abdul Fateh Memon was a General
Secretary Sindh Muslim League in 1948 under late Ayub Khoro’s presidency. He
served as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1963 to 1969. His other
uncle Nizamuddin Memon was a close advisor to late Z.A. Bhutto, also being a
member of the Pakistani delegation to UNO.
Manzoor Memon acquired his Bachelor’s degree
in Electrical Engineering in 1973, with third position within entire
University. He worked for the Karachi Shipyard and PIA until 1980 when he
migrated to the United States of America. Here he worked for major US
companies like Bechtel Power Corp, Mississippi Power and Lighting Company,
Flour Daniel, Ebasco Construction, and Stone and Webster Company.
In 1987, he quit engineering and pursued
several business ventures and has been very successful. Since then, he has
been CEO of several companies including Mars Carpets and Tapestries,
Universal Postal and Travel Center, Amber Travel, ATI Travel Club,
Pasadena’s One Hour Photo, Prime Time Video, Deer park Dairy Queen, Pasadena
Baskin Robbins, M & M Food Mart, Chevron Gas Station, and A.K. Construction
Co. etc.
Manzoor Memon is actively involved in local
community and political affairs. He serves as member of Mayor Lee P. Brown’s
Advisory Board for Asian Affairs. He has also served as member of Mayor’s
transition team, Finance and Political committee. He was nominated by the
Mayor to serve as trustee for Baylor College of Medicine. He has also served
as a member of President Bush’s exploratory committee, and Senator Hillary
Clinton’s financial supporter. He serves as a member of the Pakistan Center
Trust in Pakistan Association of Greater Houston. By affiliation he is a
strong Democrat and believes in human rights and prosperity of poor people
of the United States and other world nations.
Here are a few of his thoughts on various
issues.
Q: You have been involved in so many
businesses, why do you change so much?
A: This is my weakness that after
establishing a new business and bringing it to its peak, I want to do
something else; as there is no challenge left in doing the repeated thing.
Pursuing new ventures gives me an opportunity to learn different things.
This way I keep myself interested in life. Financially, I may not make so
much as others who concentrate on one kind of business, but it gives me
pride to know a little about everything.
Q: Why did you come to the United
States of America?
A: I used to work in PIA; my
appointment was political so as soon as the army toppled up late Z.A.
Bhutto’s government, we were on the target list. This was the main reason I
had to leave the country.
Q: Do you want to go back to
Pakistan?
A: I do not think so. I have worked
very hard for the last 21 years and it’s time to retire and let the new
generation take over. I do not see any reason to go back. However, if given
a position to promote education in the rural areas, I will donate my time
for a few years to help my people.
Q: Tell us something about how the
9/11 incident affected you.
A: I do not see any effect on me, my
family or business. However, there are a lot of friends who have lost jobs
and the situation is not very sound economically for so many of our people.
We used to be freer in our actions and speech before. Now we have to be more
careful and discreet. We are lucky that we are in Houston, where because of
our community’s strong support to the Mayor and interaction with the law
enforcement agencies, we have been treated very well.
Q: What do you think about the local
political atmosphere? Where do you believe our community is headed?
A: Since the last few years, things
have been a lot better. Our people have started getting involved in
mainstream politics. We have Pakistani Muslims involved in Republican as
well as Democratic parties at various levels. Compared to the Jews, we are
at a starting level in mainstream politics. However, it is a good start and
I urge people to register to vote and exercise their right to vote. As more
people vote, it will strengthen our community and will carry us into
mainstream politics. The only advice I want to give to our political
activists is to knit our strings to make a strong rope. Presently, everyone
is working on their own, in small groups to get personal agenda fulfilled;
and it has been very hard to bring all activists on one platform. Until we
keep our disagreements aside and work as a strong Pakistani group, we will
not be successful as a community.
Q: What should our community be doing
to handle the current situation?
A: Most of our people have come here
for financial reasons; however, we need to get involved in mainstream
American politics on all levels. I have seen a tremendous change in
political scenario by our people’s involvement in the past four years.
Thanks to Mayor Lee P. Brown, who opened his doors for our community to
participate in the local government. The last election remarkably showed
this from all Muslims. It was the first time politicians considered it
important to come to our mosques and solicit our support. We need to unite
and support the right candidates who could give us access and protection. In
my view, the Muslims from the other cities must learn lesson from Houston,
which is considered the most desirable city for minorities. This is mainly
because of our interaction with local politicians. As a community, we must
participate in the system and give a message to the leaders that we are as
patriotic as the rest of the Americans.
Q: What do you think about
institutions like PAGH and ISGH?
A: This is a very difficult question
to answer as I do not want to hurt anyone’s feelings. I will give my
comments for each of them separately. ISGH is doing a fairly good job; it
has grown from three branches to about twenty. However, the membership is
not very high. In my view, we have over one hundred thousand Muslims in this
area and we should have membership of at least ten thousand people. We need
to make the membership free to establish the institution and use it as a
semi political forum to serve our community. ISGH, PAGH, and other Muslim
associations should work together to serve the needs of the people. PAGH
performance has been below average except during 9/11, when some positive
steps were taken to safeguard our interests. Similarly, their membership is
very low which should be made free. In my view we should offer two kinds of
membership for both of these institutions: one, paid members can vote in the
elections, and the free members will remain on the list with no voting
rights. This way we can look better as a stronger community organization and
show our strengths.
Q: You are member of Pakistan Center
Trust. What have you achieved in the past Year?
A: Honestly, nothing except hold
a few meetings. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources and common
ground to build a Pakistan Center. In the past, so much money has been
raised in the name of the Pakistan Center with no results. Therefore it is
not possible to get the communities’ help to build the center. I proposed to
create a separate trust to build a Pak American Cultural Center. This trust
should have permanent board members with a non refundable donation of $10,
000 each. This center should be operated like an investment; PAGH should be
given space to operate its community service from its premises. The board
memberships should be non transferable and non cancelable. All the income of
the center should be deposited in trust accounts and the center should be
maintained from these funds. City of Houston Community services may grant up
to half a million dollars towards the building of the center. The Arab and
Chinese communities have already built a center in the last few years. Until
and unless some strong financial support is provided by some of our members,
I do not see a center built for the next few years. We have built so many
mosques. This means people do contribute towards such activities but we have
to show the results to the community. In the past we have completely wasted
our resources and have lost our credibility with the community.
Q: What is your business advice to
the younger generation?
A: They must achieve basic education
before going for business. They should have enough capital to sustain
unforeseen expenses before going into business. Most of the small businesses
fail due to lack of back up funds and poor advertising. In my view this
country is the most suitable for business rather than doing a job. They also
need to save and invest, and work for themselves to achieve financial
independence. This way they can support their family and enjoy life.
Pakistani Chamber of Commerce Dinner USA
8th Annual GALA Speech: February 28, 2004
Honorable Mayor Bill White, Mayor David
Wallace Councilmen Masur J. Khan, Adrian Garcia, Ron Green, President PAGH,
ISGH Ladies and Gentlemen,
My name is Manzoor Memon and in some circles
I am known as Manny Memon. I am President elect for the Pakistan Chamber of
Commerce as well as advisor to the Mayor for South Asian Affairs and your
host. Today I have to play different roles and one of the most important is
to introduce our keynote speaker. One good thing I enjoy about my life is
that I play various roles every day. As Shakespeare said: “And all the men
and women merely players; /They have their exits and their entrances, …”
Some are heroes and some are villains. I have tried to be a hero but so far
I am working as an extra.
I am blessed with a beautiful wife, my
mentor, and spiritual guide. My son Rakib and daughter Sana are the best
thing that has happened in my life and I am proud of them.
You all know that I worked as advisor to
Mayor Lee Brown for a few years, assisting the community. So far Mayor Bill
White has been kind enough to keep me as he knows that he cannot find a
dedicated employee for merely $1.00 a year. Now you know how strong the
dollar is in the city of Houston. I just want to let him know that the city
still owes me $2.00 for my last 2 years salary!
Mayor Bill White I would like to state that
Mayor Lee Brown did so much for our communities and you have to fit in his
big shoes to help our communities to go to the next level in the local
political arena. I am sure you will do the same as Dr. Brown did: he
recognized the diversity of this great city and gave access to every
community in the local government. I am not going to rate you as the best
Mayor in the United States as yet because then you will not have any
incentive to get a raise from the tax payers. But I know you personally and
that you have the heart for the poor and common man as you too rose from the
bottom to the peak like most of us. You came here with few bags just like
most of us who were also allowed 2 suitcases and only $200.00 to migrate to
the Unites States of America. Today you are with the few hundred success
stories of our communities. We’ve both worked hard, played by the rules and
became financially independent as we are now a part of mainstream America. I
must tell you, I love this country, where opportunity is available for
anyone who has the will and determination to work hard. The only handicap we
have is resistance from groups that do not believe in diversity and try to
keep us behind and away from joining the Mardigra party. I urge you to help
our community embrace this party and allow us to work together. After 2
years I ensure you that I will be the first to say that Mayor Bill White is
the best Mayor of the United States of America. In December, 2005, I will be
the President of this Chamber and I will present this shield to you. Until
then you are kind of on probation and you would have to work hard for your
shield and maybe we can recommend some rise for you, if the city budget can
afford the additional burden!
Now let me introduce you to the keynote
speaker of today’s event. This gentleman and I met in March. When I saw his
company I was impressed and I stayed over to shake his hand. His first
question was: where are you from? I answered Pakistan. He then asked where
in Pakistan? I replied Sindh. He then asked which city? I told him Larkana,
He then quickly said he was in Larkana a few years ago. Then he told me that
he was roommate of Murtaza Bhutto and a friend of Benazir Bhutto. We were
instantly connected and as you all know the tradition in Sindh, once we
become friends we remain friends for life. A few weeks later he invited me
to his office and I discovered that he was a very rich man. At first, I was
skeptical on how our relationship could prosper, because I generally did not
get along with the rich. My first question to him was: “If get elected, will
you support affirmative action?” He replied, yes. I quickly told him I was
on board with him. The reason I did it was not because I am a city
contractor, or I want to try to get financial advantage for me, but for my
community who are minorities and should get a piece of the pie. On a
personal note please go and get your business listed as a minority owned
business and start doing business with the city. It is a slow process but I
assure you there is a piece for you too if you try. Call me if you need any
assistance. I have asked the President of the chamber to let me hold a
seminar to educate people on how to do business with the city’s typical
norms.
During our meeting, I told my friend that no
one knew him in the city; that his opponent had a complete edge over him as
he had been around. I said: “Let us put your name on 14 big billboards all
over the city, so that everyone knows who you are.” He replied: “I am sorry
I am not in favor of billboards, as it reduces the beauty of the city and I
am not going to change my stand on this even if it is in my advantage.” I
was impressed and decided in my heart to join him since I knew this man was
a man of principle and that he would take a strong stand for the truth. I’ve
made the right choice. At the moment, all our political pundits were telling
me, “Hey you are on the wrong side.” But I continued working with him, and
can proudly say that from your community I was the first who joined his
political campaign. We’ve worked very hard to get him elected partly because
he believed in our issues and mainly because he was kind of FOB (fresh off
the boat) like us and had the vision to run the city as a business not as a
bureaucracy. I knew he had big ears as they joked about him. I told him it
was better to have bigger ears as “you will listen to people more finely
than others.” In today’s times people want to get rich but they do not want
to give back to their communities. I know though he is a rich man, he will
do better for us. Tell me who wants to leave a job with millions in salary
and come to work for $120,000 salary with 18 hours of a work load at $18.26
an hour. This is like a laborer’s job. It takes you away from your family
and friends. But he took this job to serve and we should thank him for the
risk he has taken for us where as he can be laid off after 2 years without
getting unemployment compensation. We thank you for taking the risk for
working for our communities. Let us all do the same service for our
community, without financial incentives and make this city the most
beautiful city in the world.
Now let us hear the rest of the story. We
went door to door for him and finally he beat all the odds and today we are
proud to see our friend with us and we want to honor him to be our leader
and extend our community and personal resources to help him be successful.
Let me tell you a few more things about him
before I ask him to address this special crowd. He was born on June 16th,
1954, in San Antonio. I just wanted to share that I am 3 years older than
you are and this is my real hair on my skull. So please take care of your
health first. I know you love this job but health and family comes first.
Note down his birthday and do not send him any gift more that $100.00, as he
cannot accept expensive gifts. He received his bachelor’s degree from
Harvard, and Law from University of Texas. Also appointed as Deputy
Secretary of the United States Department of Energy during President
Clinton’s time from 1993 to 1995. He stayed in Pakistan for almost 6 months
and knows Urdu and I think he knows a few bad words too, so you better be
careful. He was Democratic Party Chair from 1995 to 1998, and was President
and CEO of Wedge Group till he decided to take this labor job of $18.26 an
hour. During his early years he practiced law from 1979 to 1993.
Ladies and Gentleman let me present you my
friend, Mayor Bill White to make his keynote Address.
Thank you and God Bless You.
Conclusion: After more three years my fear
which was indirectly indicated in my speech came to be true. Mayor Bill
White not only ignored the Asian communities, the Afro-Americans but also
collaborated with the Hispanics. He has pushed our communities behind as we
have no representation in the City Hall nor do we have any voice at any
level. Except a few board appointments our communities have achieved
nothing.
May 05 2004
The General Secretary
Pakistan Chamber of Commerce
Subject: Response to
Evaluation Meeting for PCC 8th Annual Banquet.
Dear Mr. General Secretary:
This is my official response to the
allegations levied against me in the meeting held at the house of Mr. Haroon
Sheikh, the President PCC. This meeting was held in my absence and without
giving me any opportunity to defend myself.
Item 4 (a): The presentation to introduce
the Mayor was within the decent boundaries and was very much appreciated not
only by the audience but also by the Mayor and his wife. E-mail from the
Mayor’s wife was provided to all the executive members during our May 04 EB
meeting, which stated that it was a wonderful introduction. The sentence:
“It will be difficult for Mayor to fit in former Mayor’s shoes” has been
misquoted. The original and correct version was: “Mayor Bill White I would
like to state that Mayor Lee Brown did so much for our communities and you
have to fit in his big shoes to help our communities to go to the next
level”. At no place it was stated that it would be difficult for him to fit
in his shoes. Whoever brought this point must read or hear my speech more
carefully before making such allegations.
 Item 4 (b): Distributing copies of my speech
was done only to the head table to pass on community issues to the VIPs so
that they should take home a hard copy to read it again and know our
community issues. The purpose of such events is not just to do photo ops but
to highlight community issues to the mainstream politicians. Passing on the
copy of the speech in no way needs any EB approval. And if so then every
action by every member should be previously approved by the board, which was
not done.
Item 4 (c): Mr. Haroon Sheikh was briefed
about the Ajrak and Toopi, which is our cultural heritage and it was placed
with the awards from the beginning of the program. If anyone had a problem
with it he should have brought this matter to attention. Giving gift on
behalf of the chamber is just enhancing the image of the chamber not
personal projection. Had the presentation been made by me during my speech
stating that it was my personal gift to the Mayor, it would have been
against the ethics. This gift was paid for by me and was presented on behalf
of the chamber. There was no negative image on the protocol of the chamber.
Item 4 (d): This allegation has been
misstated that I invited other VIP guests on the stage without consent of
the PCC. This is false and ill stated. As Mayor had left the function I was
aware that some awards were left to be given so I asked Ron Green Council
member to wait for a few minutes to see if there was any more business he
needed to take care of before his departure. The President PCC was
approached with a suggestion that Ron Green could distribute a few of the
left over awards. The the President PCC arbitrarily rejected this advice.
Ron Green left without any hard feelings. However, Mayor David Wallace, who
was not on the program, was asked to distribute the awards without consent
of all the board members too by sole decision of the president. I thought we
were a team and were supposed to work together and take each other’s advice.
If I wanted Ron Green to give a few awards it is an allegation and when the
President PCC does it is okay. This shows lack of co-ordination between the
board members. Such dictatorial decision making should be avoided in future.
At no time I did anything against the constitution of PCC to jeopardize this
program.
Item 5: The actual awards were supposed to
be made by the company of Tony Lawrence as a favor to the chamber. However
due to lack of decision the company refused to make those awards. Therefore
we had to go to the other vendor for which final approval was to be given by
President of PCC. I scheduled a meeting with the President of PCC at 5 p.m.
on Thursday before the program. He made me wait till 6 p.m. and told me that
he couldn’t make it and I should fax him the copy of the material for his
final approval which was done and he gave me the authority to go ahead with
the awards. Also pen sets made for VIP guest were made by the same vendor of
which the President PCC was made aware and he authorized to get them. These
pens sets were printed with the chamber name, not my name as it has been
projected that I drove it into my personal campaign. I have spent $465 for
which I should be reimbursed. If the President PCC feels that he did not
approve this item then I would like to question that who approved $200 each
for Saheer Lodi and Muzhar Ali. This was decided in the EB meeting that they
would observe this event without any remuneration. If we are talking about
accountability, then we all should be asked for each expense incurred
whether or not this was approved.
Item 6: during private meeting with Miss
Houston attended by Nomi Hassan and me; I informed the President PCC that
Miss Houston is performing in the program only to raise funds for her Miss
Texas pageant. It was approved that fund raising efforts would be allowed
for her. This is a very common practice in mainstream and we should be
educated to accept such things living and working in the USA for decades.
The allegation that I took more than my
assigned time is very much accepted and I apologize for the lengthy
introduction. Mayor was supposed to stay 45 minutes but overstayed for 75
minutes. Yes I took 5 minutes extra but who used the rest of 25 minutes? Why
not we reprimanded those individuals who used that time that could have been
used for giving the awards to the VIP guest? How come I was only targeted in
this matter? I used the extra time to highlight the problems faced by our
community, and encouraging the Mayor to know what we are expecting of him in
next two years, rather than buttering him that “he is the best Mayor of
USA”. I work for him and I know the protocol as how I should address and
behave with him. At no place I insulted him or made speech for my personal
things. It was just to highlight community problems. It is the chamber’s
responsibility to work for the issues of the community and not to feed the
chief guest, take a picture, print it in weekly newspaper and be happy. We
need to outgrow those things and help our community to bring up their issues
to the monitor.
During our EB meeting on May 4th,
2004, several additional allegations were surfaced for which I have already
given verbal response and it should be documented if need rises.
The most serious allegation was that I
invited eight people without paying which is false. My family and two guests
were part of Mr. Chand Khan’s table, which was paid. I invited no other
attendees. I had sold three tables and raised $ 4000 for the chamber, which
might be the second highest money raised by any member. And this was never
acknowledged.
An allegation that I insulted VIP guest
Owner of Copy and sign, who occupied eight seats on the VIP table without
any one’s knowledge. I would like to know who authorized eight seats and
under which consideration they were treated as VIPs when we had to seat the
real VIPs on other tables.
There was a false allegation that I asked
son of Mr. Zaka to leave the stage, which was baseless as he was the one who
brought all the awards as seen on the video. Additionally, the complaint
that I did not allow his picture to be taken with the Mayor is also untrue
as a picture of Mr. Zaka and his son is very much available in the chamber
album. I am sorry to say but such false allegations are nothing but an
attempt to undermine me.
One allegation made by an EB member was that
I was staying with the Mayor as his tail was cheap allegation. I think those
people should be educated that I was performing two duties that day. I was
not only performing function of President elect but a staff member of the
Mayor. Per my job description it is my duty to lead the Mayor and be with
him and to support him at all times. It was upon my request at the first
place that he accepted the invitation. I am his advisor and I have to stay
with him. Those who made this allegation should be educated about how the
mainstream system works and what the duties of the advisor to the Mayor are.
Making baseless allegation, if leaked out,
will damage the chamber and its reputation. I therefore request you all to
close this chapter here and avoid making false and baseless allegation in
the future and not to gang up on one person for personal motives.
At the end, I would state that I spent one
week on this event and I thank Mr. Wajid Khan and Mr. Saeed Sheikh for their
untiring efforts to get the magazine printed within three days. They will
verify that I worked with them last three nights till 11 p.m. to get the
magazine printed. However, I regret to say that my efforts were never
acknowledged nor appreciated; on the contrary, several baseless allegations
were levied against me. I thank the members of the board who supported my
responses and in the end it was decided to settle our issues and go on with
the program of the chamber in the broader interest of the institution.
I am writing you this response to be on
record that I made the effort to resolve this matter and now this matter is
considered closed.
I hope we will continue our work and make
sure that we all are doing this as volunteers and we must respect each other
for the time we are devoting to the chamber. The president of the chamber is
the leader of the chamber; however, this is a democratic institution and
must be run with democratic values with mutual respect and honor of the
members.
Once again I am sorry if I have offend
anyone but my intention has been to make the chamber go on to the higher
level of excellence and hope we will continue doing so.
Sincerely
Manzoor Memon, President
elect
February 6, 2005:
Pakistan Chamber
of Commerce USA, 9th Annual GALA Speech
Dear Members:
First of all, I would like to congratulate
the new members of the executive board who will be sworn in on February 26,
2005. I also would like to thank all the members of the Pakistan Chamber of
Commerce-USA for giving me the opportunity to serve as your President for
the 2005-2007 term. I affirm you that I will put forth my maximum efforts to
elevate the standards of this chamber and bring surpassing value to this
organization.
Living in post 9/11 era has been slightly
deviant and it has become very rudiment for the business community to avert
their focus from money making to safeguarding their rights. Pakistan Chamber
of Commerce-USA can take the lead in building bridges between the people
with a transparent message to everyone that we are an integral part of this
society and will play our role pragmatically to safeguard our rights. In
this connection, I appeal to all of the business community to join with us
in making this organization stronger so that we can preserve our rights on
all fronts.
In the next two years, I plan to converge on
the following few agenda items. However, I will always be seeking
facilitation and guidance from all of you to dedicate my resources to
support our business community.
Upgrade constitution of PCC-USA to meet the
prevailing needs:
Form Young Entrepreneur Forum to encourage
new young businessmen/women members and provide free help to augment their
businesses.
Form Businesswomen Forum to bring women
entrepreneurs to join the chamber to work shoulder to shoulder with their
counter parts.
Institute a small computer learning center
at the chamber office for free adult computer learning skills.
Join leading local chamber of commerce
organizations and help members to network with mainstream businesses.
Continue organizing workshops and business
seminars to aid the business community.
I will urge you to give me a helping hand
and pray to Almighty God to give us the strength to work for the prosperity
of our community and take them to the next level of eminence and excellence.
Thank you again for giving me the
opportunity to lead this eminent and prestigious organization and I pledge
to you that I will bring forth my foremost efforts to make a difference.
Thank you.
Pakistan Chamber of Commerce USA
10th GALA Presidential Address
Honorable Congressman Judge Ted Poe, Consul
General G.R. Baluch, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.
On behalf of the Executive Board of
Directors of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce, USA, I welcome you all and I
express my gratitude for your continuous support of PCC-USA.
Unfortunately, the year of my Presidency was
overshadowed by the disasters of Tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in
New Orleans, Hurricane Rita in Houston and the devastating earth Quake in
Pakistan. Perception in general is that the Chamber did not perform its
manifested role for promoting business. But the humanitarian services and
volunteer work performed by this board was admirable. All of us worked hard
in conjunction with other community organizations such as PAGH and Hazara
Welfare Association to serve the affected people. Side by side, we held
several business and networking seminars and hosted or co-hosted several
major events to promote business.
Keeping all these achievements aside, I have
a major regret that we as leaders have failed to bring majority of our
business community to be a part of this organization. I would like to invite
you and request you to join the various civic organizations related to the
Pakistani community.
Since last ten years I have been making the
same appeal to all my friends and community members that we need to be part
of the mainstream American system. We need to come out of the closet and
take active part in the mainstream politics by encouraging people to
register to vote. Please cast your valuable vote and join political
candidates in the campaign by giving political contributions. This will give
you a chance to divert the governmental polices to safeguard interests of
your businesses and communities.
To be successful, first of all you need the
motion which triggers the momentum and ultimately becomes a movement. And to
make the movement successful you have to pay the price and the price of the
success is serving your community.
Many of our friends who are actively
involved in the political arena are getting old and burnt out due to the
lack of support from our business community. For most of our community
people buying an expensive car and a big house is fulfilling and satisfying
but going to vote and donating a few dollars towards the political process
is a waste.
Please balance your priorities by taking our
next generation in mainstream politics. Our message to our children should
be to be proud of our roots and not to give up our rights because of our
ethnicity. We need to guide them how to be part of mainstream politics.
This is the only way to survive and be a
part of this society.
I would like to thank my Executive Board for
their support in achieving a few of the milestones for the chamber this year
I would like to thank our Chairman
(sometimes I call him Commander In Chief), Ashraf Abbasi, for his guidance
and support. His untiring efforts cannot be forgotten. I thank the following
people who personally helped me at all the times and completed their
assignments with precision and dedication. Their valuable contributions can
never be forgotten. Special thanks to Saeed Sheikh, General Secretary, who
made excellent efforts to promote PCC in Pakistan; Mumtaz Khan, VP Media,
who was always been there to help; Abdul Qayyum, Chairman Seminar Committee,
who has been constantly working hard to motivate people with his words of
wisdom and holding business seminars, and was willing to take a bullet for
me; Pervaiz Jamil Swati, Chairman Publication Committee, who has outdone
himself to produce an excellent issue of Spokesman.
I congratulate the incoming President Dr.
Barkat Charania and will urge his new team to help him achieving the goals
of the chamber.
Letter to Incoming
President of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce, USA
March 8 ,2006
Dr. Barkat Charania
President
Pakistan Chamber of
Commerce-USA
I regret to state that due to some more
important activity I will not be able to attend the final meeting to
relinquish charge to you in person. However, I am leaving the keys of the
office and mail box with my good wishes to you and congratulations on your
taking over as the President of PCC-USA.
I had all good intentions to attend today’s
meeting and give my final thoughts about the performance of the chamber and
its executives but I choose to write my final comments and would like you to
pass on to the executive board.
The outside perception of the chamber is not
very positive. Most of the people think we do everything for a photo-op and
no solid and concrete work has been done by the PCC-USA to promote business
locally and between Pakistan and USA. Unfortunately, most of our time has
been diverted to unrelated issues of interpretation of constitution and
petty politics among our few members. If an honest and realistic evaluation
of their performance is done very few of my EBD members would get a passing
review. In the beginning I thought that I should give personal performance
report to every EBD member but decided against it as this will create more
unpleasant feeling among us. As most of the EBD have been calling my
explanations, this would have been an excellent opportunity for me to let
those know about their level of competency, dedication and love for the PCC-USA.
However, I decided to give my remarks without mentioning any one’s name.
Recently Tariq Khan, Chief Editor Pakistan
Chronicle, asked me very bluntly in nasty language as to what Chamber has
achieved in last ten years. We need to evaluate our performance and answer
these questions by making things happen rather than spending enormous amount
of quality time to write and rewrite constitution and stop bickering and
taking our personal vindicate over other members.
In my view we have three kinds of people in
our chamber.
The one kind are hose who have nothing
better to do but come and join the group, have dinner and contribute few
dollars as asked by the leadership.
The second kind are those who have personal
and business agenda to promote themselves and their political agenda by
using others’ funds, as well as promote their businesses through PCC-USA.
Some of those want to buy everything by their money and want to be part of
everything happening in the city. For them photo-op is the extreme
achievement in their life.
The third category is the very few who want
to work and want to achieve some goals (off course for them too) but there
is so much resistance from the non-doers that eventually they become
ineffective and leave the scene colorless and ambiguous. This is the reason
most of the highly educated people in the chamber have either sidelined
themselves or shied away from being part of the PCC-USA. Therefore we need
to encourage highly qualified people to become part of this organization if
we want to achieve excellence, distinction or keep yourself a 22-member
organization with 16 Executives.
What we require is to assign ourselves small
goals and try to achieve a few of those at the end of the day. I assure you
that if you work hard, the fame and photo-op will follow you. So rather than
giving an envelope to media to print your pictures, they will be compelled
to put your picture because you are always doing things and making a little
difference.
In my view, some of us are corrupting the
media by encouraging envelope culture just to buy out everything. My message
to those is, you can buy out everything but consequently only the
result-oriented people get place in the history and talkers and sloganeers
take the back seats and their names never get mentioned. People who serve
the community selflessly get the community praise and take the front seat.
Do something which your next generation will be proud of you; respect others
if you want to be respected; have honest dealings with people and keep
politics above the community.
Once again thanks for giving me an
opportunity to serve as President of PCC-USA; thanks to those who helped me
and thanks to those also who were after my blood since I came to the
chamber. In my view, eventually, we all failed to take our organization to a
higher level not because of the bad president but because of ineffective and
lazy board members who were busier in creating trouble than achieving any of
chamber’s goals.
I pray that the new board members co-operate
more with you and produce some positive results. I extend my full
co-operation and I will always be available to help if there is a
constructive and practical goal to be achieved.
Good luck
Manzoor Memon
2007:Inaugral Speech on the opening of Pakistani
American Community Center
Honorable Guests Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let us celebrate today the fulfillment of a dream of
the Pakistani community who have been talking and planning to establish the
Pakistan Center for the past 30 years. Finally, our team did the job and I
thank God Almighty that He gave us the strength to sustain all the pressure
and selected us to give back to the community.
Most of my friends and even my family always questioned
me and asked me why I am so engrossed in this project and have ignored my
own business. I traveled every day from Deer Park and made sure to get all
the things done. Well, there is a story behind it.
While seeking help from a well-known politician whose
name I will keep confidential, he told me “Manny I am sorry I have more
important issues to handle and your community is not my priority”. He made
me think that day and I realized it should be my priority to help my
community and I should make the effort to make things happen. I should ask
this question from myself that what I have done for the community that I
expect someone else to help me so I decided to take this dream and wanted to
fulfill our dream of establishing the first Pakistani American Community
Center in North America. I thank my friend for giving me the vision that it
is our job to pursue our dreams and we need to make an effort to fulfill
those dreams and no one else will come to change our fate until we make the
effort.
Buying land and building a center of this size would
have cost a minimum of 5 million dollars and at least 5-7 years to raise the
money and build the center. My dream was to give the community their dream
within two years and under the leadership of our President Ghulam Bombaywala,
who shared the same vision, today, we have a home called Pakistan Center.
Let us give a round of applause for Bombay for his great leadership and
thank you Bombay for giving so much to this community.
We purchased this building two years ago for 1.5
million dollars and spent about $600 thousand dollars to renovate for which
we received bids for more than 1.2 million dollars. This was done with a
little help from me but more from our Contractor Erasmo Manias who did
wonders and transformed an old and run down building to this beautiful
structure at a great savings to the community. We must thank him for his
efforts and great workmanship. I am sorry that you didn’t make so much money
but I am sure you feel great today that you are part the dream of 60,000
Pakistanis and I am sure God is going to reward you for your hard work and
dedication. Today this property is worth 3 million dollars and we brought
PAGH, which was at the verge of bankruptcy a few years ago to a multi
million-dollar organization.
I would like to thank a few more people who supported
me. Zafar Iqbal PE City Engineer Friendswood, Bobby Oakes City of Houston,
Marcela ---- City of Houston (who did a miracle to issue the Occupancy
Certificate within 15 minutes of the final inspection which passed at 4 PM
yesterday on a Friday when the office closes at 4:30 and she got me the
certificate at 4:27 PM which was a great effort.
I also want to thank brother Abdul an electrician and
Calvin my handyman who did tiny things which many would not do to make this
place look beautiful. Let us not forget those men and women who put their
sweat to fulfill your dream and let us thank those unsung heroes who
contributed financially to pay for this center. A round of applause for
those who shared their hard-earned money and had faith in our efforts and
today their names will go on the wall of fame and you are part of this
historical day. Thank you for your generous support and we request all of
you to make efforts to pay off this building so that the community has a
clear title of the center shortly. Let us do positive things as good deeds
will remain in the history books forever and let me see that all these walls
of fame are filled with your names let us give our new generation something
to remember their roots, our culture and social values.
I should not forget to thank Nargis Fatima whom I have
adopted as my sister who worked shoulder to shoulder with me. This beautiful
set up is all her contribution and I am sure she will make this hall more
beautiful day after day.
I will end my speech with this note that well to do
people who have been blessed with wealth should share their fortunes to
support programs like this and be generous to help. Let us celebrate.
Hey guys, we
did it.
Pakistani American
Community Center: A Dream Come True
Since I moved to the Houston Metropolitan
area in 1985, Pakistani American Association of Greater Houston (PAGH) had
had a plan to build a Pakistan Center. Per the constitution of PAGH, a
Committee of Trustees was nominated by the Executive Board of the PAGH to
serve as planners and executers of this project. Every year PAGH Executives
held community events to collect donations for the Pakistan Center
Construction fund. In 1988 a lavish party was hosted by PAGH in the
Houstonian Hotel with several gambling machines to raise funds for the
Pakistan Center but this dream of Pakistani community remained on the
drawing table and most of the money donated was spent on hosting other
events in the hope of raising more money.
 During
my tenure as Advisor to the Mayor for South Asian Affairs, former PAGH
President Masur Jawaid Khan invited me to be one of the Trustees for the
Pakistan Center. He made this decision for two reasons: to use my services
to convince Mayor Brown to get a matching community grant of half a million
dollars to build the Pakistan Center and to exploit my resources to get him
elected as a City Council Member.
During my four years as a Trustee, PAGH
could not raise any funds which could enable Mayor Brown to get us matching
grant of half a million dollars. However MJ Khan took full advantage of my
position to promote himself and became the first Muslim City Council Member
in Houston.
 MJ
Khan always bragged that it would be no problem for him to raise half a
million dollars from the Pakistani community, though he could not achieve
any goal set for the construction of the Pakistan Center. During meetings I
always told him that due to his policies of divide and rule it had brought
so much polarization in the community that he would not be able to raise
even $ 50,000. On the other hand our community members have no sense of
patriotism and they are too miserly to donate for the future generations
which kept this project in
abeyance. After all, when MJ Khan left PAGH, this 20 year old
organization was at the edge of bankruptcy with $11,000 in pending bills and
a piece of land which had no resale value.
 Once
Ghulam Bombaywala took the oath as President of PAGH, he started massive
fundraising efforts and collected almost $250,000 in one year. Since then MJ
Khan and his supporters who lost the election against Bombay started an
organized campaign against Bombaywala which eventually hurt the
establishment of the Pakistan center. Most of Bombay’s opponents were part
of an ethnic political party, fully-equipped with strategist propaganda
mechanisms that resulted in complete polarization and split the community.
This made the civil society completely secluded from the community
activities.
However,
Bombay being a successful entrepreneur, did not care for the criticism and
sold the piece of land acquired at the remote place for the building of the
Pakistan center and managed to save $500,000 in the bank to show to the City
of Houston and get the matching funds from a community grant. However, it
was too late and by this time Mayor Bill White took over and MJ Khan became
a close associate of the Mayor and our dream of getting the community grant
was shattered. On my final day, Mayor Bill White told me that our community
was not his priority and he could not do anything for us. I started thinking
as to why I was begging Bill White to help my community and that I should
come forward and facilitate to build the Pakistan center.
At the same time, Bombay had signed a letter
of understanding with Haroon Sheikh and Dr. Barkat Charania to purchase a
10-acre land parcel owned by them to build the community center. From day
one I opposed the idea to buy land and build the center which would take a
minimum of 10 years to complete the project. I therefore kept on convincing
Bombay to buy an existing building and convert it to a community center.
Due to severe opposition from the community,
Bombay finally dropped the idea of buying that land and negotiated with HEB
to buy a shuttered-down grocery store for 1.5 million dollars. Partners Bank
of Texas approved a 100% loan based on the fact that $500,000 raised by PAGH
would be used to remodel the building to transform it into a business
center.
Bombay, knowing my experience in
construction and contacts with city officials, asked me to lead the
Construction efforts to build the first Pakistani American Community Center
in Houston. This center was finally opened for the community in June 2007
with enormous efforts from the two of us. .Bombay raised the funds from the
community and I managed the construction. Ultimately, a project which was
considered to cost 1.2 million dollars was completed at the cost of
$655,000, almost half of the projected cost. This was
only a two-men show. Houston Chronicle
rightly proclaimed it as one of its kind: a financially self–sustained
project. Bombay loaned $250,000 for the center, and I borrowed $239,000 from
a financial institution to accomplish the task. On completion of the center,
the property was refinanced and Bombay was paid back the loan. We have paid
$150,000 of the total loan I acquired, with a balance of $89,000 still to be
paid. The best part of this project is that today Houston is the only city
in the world with a 37,000 square feet facility called the Pakistani
American Community Center serving the Pakistani community day and night.
This facility consists of a free medical clinic, a library, a computer lab,
a youth center with a basketball court, a senior citizen room, a women’s
club, a Mosque, a community kitchen, and a banquet hall for community events
with room for 1,200 people. Part of the frontage of the center has been
built with seven retail shops that bring enough revenues to pay off the
monthly mortgage acquired to build the center. The Banquet Hall has been
used for parties and community events. In her recent visit, County
Commissioner Sylvia Garcia stated that she had never seen a center offering
so many services: she called it The Complete Community Center.
I would like to mention efforts of a few
people: like Tasleem Siddiqui, who donated the real estate commission of
$37,000 to PAGH Construction fund, Nargis Fatima and Mian Nazir, who worked
with me to accomplish this dream of Pakistani people. I can never forget the
efforts of Bobby Oakes of the City Of Houston, who extended all his
resources to make this project successful and complete even though many city
officials were secretly working against this project to fail our efforts.
At the end, I want to thank Mayor Bill
White, who opened my eyes by telling me that my community was not his
priority as it should be my concern as a Pakistani to help my community
which inspired me to complete this project with my passion. I thank God
Almighty and find myself privileged that He selected me to realize this
dream of my people. Since then my message has been the following:
To accomplish great things we must not only
act, but also dream, not only plan but also achieve – Anatole France.
History always remembers the achievers not
the sloganist or people who use negative tactics to bring polarization in
communities to achieve their personal goals at the cost of national pride.
My biggest regret while work on this project
is lack of support from my fellow colleagues and friends who always looked
to me with suspicion as to why I have dedicated my life to this project;
they have been trying to find loopholes to criticize my efforts. However,
they did not realize that this became my passion and I wanted to show the
community that a few good people can make things happen and achieve what
many of us could not achieve in 30 years. It takes vision, courage, and
enthusiasm to accomplish massive tasks. Money is not the only thing in life
one needs to live for but to give back to one’s community is what will be
remembered after we all are gone.
Last but not
least, I will request all those who have shied away from this project due to
negativity created by a few individuals to come forward. I request them not
to see this center as Bombay’s center but to use it as Pakistani pride and
utilize it in an optimum way to help your people in various walks of life.
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