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Moulvi Abdul Haque, who also devoted his
life to Islamic studies, was an authority over interpretative studies of the
Holy Quran. He was very famous of his dedication, as he would recite the
holy Quran even in his sleep. His only daughter is married to his nephew
Azizullah Memon who abandoned her after few years of their marriage.
Moulvi Rehmatullah was involved in local
politics and was elected chairman of Shikarpur municipality and remained a
member of City Council until he passed away. Several buildings and a street
of Shikarpur were named after him.
Haji Wali Mohammad became a wholesale cloth
merchant and supported the family. However, he moved to Larkana during
1946–1947. He had two children Abdul Fatah Memon, who was the general
secretary in the Pakistan Muslim League and Ambassador of Pakistan to Saudi
Arabia, and Nizamuddin Memon, who was an advocate in Larkana, also the
advisor to Late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan. Abdul Fatah
Memon has eight sons and one daughter: Dr. Ghulam Ali, FRCS a surgeon in
London; Ali Nawaz Memon, a senior World Bank Financial Analyst, former
chairman of National Power Regulatory Authority in the Government of
Pakistan, and an author of two books; late Ali Raza Memon, a businessman;
Sikander Ali, Petroleum Engineer, now a businessman in Cairo Egypt; Shafqat
Ali, Chief Financial Officer in Islamic Bank Bahrain; Major Mohammad Ali,
retired from the Pakistan Army now working with Pakistan General Tires as
Chief Security Officer; Shaheen is a banker; and Dr. Jamal Nasser is a skin
specialist. The only daughter is married to Anwar Memon, who is President
and CEO of an environmental engineering firm in Toronto, Canada.
Nizamuddin Memon has two sons and two
daughters. His son, Khalid Iqbal Memon, is an advocate and is a serving
member of the Pakistan National Assembly representing the Pakistan People’s
Party from Larkana, Sind. His son Pervaiz Memon is a marine engineer by
education but handles family agricultural land.
Abdul Rasool also worked with Haji Wali
Mohammed as a cloth merchant. He had two sons, late Attaullah, who practiced
law in Larkana; and late Zahoor Ahmed, who joined Jamit-i-Islami and
remained their local leader.
Moulvi Abdul Haque, who also devoted his
life to Islamic studies, was an authority over interpretative studies of the
Holy Quran. He was very famous of his dedication, as he would recite the
holy Quran even in his sleep.
Khuda Bux was a Hakeem. He has one son
Ghulam Mustafa Memon retired Mukhtiarkar, with five sons and three
daughters. Shukat Ali Deputy Director WAPDA, Akhtar Ali Revenue Officer
WAPDA, Dr. Imtiaz a practicing physician, Riaz Ali Divisional Engineer
Pakistan Telecommunications, Irfan Ali Engineer with NESPAK
Fazullah also was part of the family’s
business. He had two sons: Azizullah Memon an advocate in Quetta, who later
on became Attorney General for Baluchistan; and Tariq Ahmed, who is
presently serving as deputy collector in revenue department of Sind.
Calipho Mohammad Bachal married twice and
had his eight sons Muhammad Ibrahim from his second wife.
The Soomros of Shikarpur
Moula
Bux Soomro, Ahmed Mian, Illahi Bux, and Mohammad Mian Soomro
Moula Bux Soomro, one of the few people from
Shikarpur, had been involved in politics since pre-partition days. He served
as Chief Minister of Sind besides serving as member of various provincial
and national assemblies. Moulvi Rehmatullah Memon, brother of my grand
father, served with him on various positions in Shikarpur Municipal
Committee. Moula Bux Soomro was student of my grand father, Moulvi Abdul
Rehman. From him he acquired Islamic education and knowledge of Holy Quran.
This is the reason the Soomro family has high regard for our family,
particularly my father.
 Besides his political career, Moula Bux was
very much interested in herbal medicines. He had developed some stimulants
extracted from pearls, which he presented to the rich and famous. As a young
boy, whenever I visited his house, I witnessed many people working on those
recipes, called Kushta in our native language. Including President
Ayub Khan, many politicians, government officials, and army generals were
his friends due to a constant supply of these medicines to them. He, in
collaboration with Hakeem Moulvi Fazalullah Soomro, an expert in herbal and
Greek medicines; developed some stimulants that were in high demand by the
older men to satisfy their urges.
Moula Bux Soomro made ground for his
family’s political dynasty and produced politicians like his son Ahmed Mian,
Illahi Bux, nephew Rahim Bux and grand son, Mohammad Mian.
Perception has been that the Soomros always
gave consent to the party in power and were the few Sindhi leaders who were
always bestowed a green signal by the army high command. This is the reason
why they always enjoyed power in every administration except during a
democratically elected government.
Ahmed Mian Soomro, son of Moula Bux Soomro,
was originally from Shikarpur but migrated to Jacobabad. He was a practicing
attorney and was one of the few attorneys my father became friendly with.
During my father’s posting in Jacobabad as Additional District Magistrate,
we used to visit Ahmed Mian’s house almost two three times a week. I
recollect that he was a very soft spoken and friendly person. In the
political circles as well as in general I have never heard any thing but
positive about him.
Illahi Bux Soomro, an engineer by
profession, became Principal of NED Engineering College, and once in
politics, has served at various federal levels and was Speaker of the
National Assembly of Pakistan. I met him only for a short while so cannot
form any opinion to write.
Mohammad Mian Soomro, son of Ahmed Mian, has
been serving as Chairman Senate in Pakistan. He has been educated in the
U.S.A. and worked in the banking industry. He served as Governor of Sind and
at various levels of government during army backed governments. I met him
during his visit to Houston when I accompanied him for three days. Like his
father, he was very humble and friendly and gave opportunity to everyone. I
found him very patient during photo sessions with the general public.
Mohammad Mian was kind of reluctant to
discuss any issues about Sind. During his lunch speech with Asia society, I
publicly asked him to discuss the Kalabagh dam issue. His response was very
shallow in this respect. Moreover, during private discussions when I
inquired him of the issue of donkey carts in Shikarpur that restricted any
motor vehicle from entering the city limits, he did not show much care about
the local problems. I suggested him to initiate a Suzuki mini truck program
by the Government as it could put an end to a lot of local problems;
however, he did not pay much attention to this either and had a good time
and returned to Pakistan. Senator Azam Khan Swati, who had financed his
trip, entertained him. Ashraf Abbassi, brother in law of Senator Swati, had
also been entertaining him from time to time by inviting him to Washington
DC to achieve their personal political objectives in Pakistan.
As a native from Shikarpur, I do not have
very high regard for the Soomro family. The reason is very simple: they lack
a certain sense of public service, as they have not done much for the people
even to those of their own constituency. Keeping in mind the fact that their
family has enjoyed power since the creation of Pakistan, I cannot find a
single initiative on their credit observed for the betterment of their city.
The Soomros always got representation in every non-elected government. In
1971, when Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party’s won majority vote in West
Pakistan, most of the Soomros contesting in elections, lost their seats from
Shikarpur. The main reason was that they never worked for the general public
but catered to the needs of the etablishment. This might be the reason that in any
fair elections they do not have a chance to win any elected office. In
short, this family served themselves and history will always remember them
as the followers of the army junta.
The Kazis of Hyderabad
Like the Soomros of Shikarpur, the Chowdhrys
of the Punjab, the Kazis of Hyderabad were always in power when a
non-democratic government was installed in Pakistan. Kazi Akbar, the lead
person of this family, had been involved in political affairs since
partition days and was one of the most favorite persons of the army junta
and served as Federal and Provincial minister at many occasions.
The biggest contribution of this family was
to publish a Sindhi daily newspaper Ibrat that served the people of
Sind as well as served this family to keep a tight grip on the local and
national political power. The next generation of this famous family has
established two television channels which are serving the people of Sind in
promoting their culture that was previously overshadowed by the
government-sponsored television stations promoting Urdu and ignoring all the
regional languages. No family can match this clan’s contributions in the
field of media and promotion of Sindhi culture. This family has acquired
high level of education and many of their members achieved foreign education
and are serving at high-level government positions.
Kazi Akbar build the first multi story
centrally air-conditioned hotel named “Hotel Orient” in mid 60’s by securing
large loan from Sind government Co-operative Department. However, most of
politicians, who receive such loans as kickbacks, forget that one-day they
have to pay back the loans. Kazi Akbar with his power kept on postponing the
due payments of the loan until my father became Registrar of Co-operative
Societies Sind in the mid 70’s. As my father was given a special assignment
to go after all the defaulters of co-operative loans, he put his full
attention on to the major culprits who were rich but not paying the
government loans.
Kazi Akbar was issued a notice and he, as
usual, ignored it not knowing that my father would go ahead with the rules
and auction his hotel to the highest bidder to collect the government money.
Kazi Akbar with all his political connections could not stop the process and
lost the property and a landmark of Hyderabad was taken over by someone
else.
This was again a magnificent example of my
father’s honesty and integrity. He could have kept quiet like many of his
predecessors in exchange for some financial favors but, in contrast,
maintained his high standard of righteousness. For bureaucrats, this is a
holy war either to be part of the dishonest system to grow rich and achieve
higher positions, or to remain isolated and be deprived of promotions by
keeping their honest ethics to serve the people for which they were
appointed as public servants not their masters. My father was a solo example
of part of this holy war and served honorably and impartially.
Amber Memon
My wife and soul mate who is
blessed with angelic features
My meeting with Amber is a mystery for me
even up to today. During my job as Engineer in Pakistan International
Airlines (PIA), I had a friend, a flight engineer. He lived in Karachi
Administrative Society with a family as paying guest. During one of my
visits to him, he introduced me to the family where I met with one of the
girls of the family. The visits revealed to me that the family was
interested in me and was trying to come to a ground to get me married to
their daughter. One day we were taking an evening walk in the neighborhood,
when she pointed to a house where, she said, a friend of hers named Amber
lived there.
 After a few weeks, while passing through the
street, I, outside Amber’s house, met a flight engineer, late Faheem Lodi,
an acquaintance then working in PIA. He was Amber’s brother in law. He
invited me in the house for a cup of tea. This was my first visit and
meeting with Amber’s family that consequently ended up in a relationship.
The girl who was instrumental to introduce
me to Amber and her family was very disappointed by this unlikely happening,
but this is an excellent example to quote that God makes the couples in
heaven. It is only the matter of right time and right place that your soul
mate joins you in the journey of life.
Amber was born in 1961. Her mother, Dr.
Jamal Yusuf, gave her under the care of her parents to remarry with late
Ahad Yusuf, former Mayor of Hyderabad and Provincial Minister of Health for
Sind. Amber’s father passed away and her maternal grand father, Syed Akhtar
Yusuf, raised her. Syed Akhtar Yusuf was a retired Army major; he worked as
General Manager for His Highness Mir of Khairpur Mirs; he also served as
General Manager, Pakistan Shipping Corporation. He retired in 1971, after
the separation of East Pakistan, and took the last outbound flight from
Dacca to unite with his family. Amber lived with her two aunts and an uncle
and four grand mothers in the same house. After Dacca’s fall, Major Yusuf
lost most of his savings and lived very modestly until he moved to USA where
also he could not rise and passed his life in seclusion and passed away in
Houston a few years ago.
Amber was brought up like a princess as she
lived with four wives of Major Yusuf who married a dozen times and had
children from each wife, surprisingly, all of whom living under the same
roof. Amber was educated in St. Joseph convent school in Karachi and went to
the same college until she was married to me. She was only 16 years old
then.
Amber gave birth to two of our children
Rakib and Sana and we all immigrated to the U.S.A. and have been in the
United States of America since 1980.
Since Amber’s childhood everybody had been
of the opinion that she had strange annotations and observations because
whatever she said, it came to happen. It is because of this foretelling of
hers that she was cursed by the people as someone who spoke the tongue of
evil. In our language it is called Kali Zaban. However, no one knew
that she did not have an evil tongue but positive gift to foresee one’s
future.
During our earlier years of marriage, we
were busy in raising kids and moving from Pakistan to the U.S.A. This kept
us too involved so I could not realize what special gifts Amber actually
possessed.
My first experience of this realization
process happened in 1988 when I asked her about two of my partners in
business: Rafique, a very energetic and hard working person, and Asim, a
laid-back, low-profile person. I liked to work with Rafique due to his
special qualities. Amber told me that Rafique would cheat on us in business
whereas she predicted of Asim to be very honest to me. At the end of the
day, Rafique embezzled about $ 30,000 from the company and Asim returned a
loan of $10,000 to the company, which I had forgotten to bring on the record
books. If he had not mentioned it at the end of the project, he could have
walked away with an extra $ 10,000.
In 1989 I visited Los Angles on a business
trip. My return flight was supposed to arrive in Houston at 10 p.m. and I
should have been at home by 11 p.m. However, my meeting ended earlier and I
took an early flight and landed in Houston at 7 p.m. I had a friend who
owned a club. He always invited me to visit him. I thought it to be a good
opportunity to call upon him that day. I spent my extra time from 7.30 p.m.
to 10.30 p.m. with him and arrived home at my scheduled time: 11 p.m. As
soon as Amber opened the door, she asked me which club I had been. Being
confused, I denied the charge and lied to her that I was coming straight
from the airport. To my amusement she said: “I saw your plane landing in
Houston at 7 p.m.” I still denied her statement and told her that she was
insane. She never argued and never repeated her comments. I just started
wondering how, in the world, she found out the truth.
Amber is a very religious-minded woman. She
prays five times as well as observes the Namaz-i-Tahajjid, a special
prayer performed just after mid night besides the five mandatory prayers
every Muslim is to perform. Due to her insight into religion, people always
approach her for spiritual guidance.
One day, we visited a Hindu priest in his
temple. When we entered his office, he asked me a strange question: “I
invited two of you; who is the third one you have brought with you.” I
freaked out, as there was no one with us. Later on a Christian clairvoyant
and psychic, S.L. Harribance President of Sean Harribance Institute for
Parapsychology, Inc, told Amber that she had extraordinary gifts and she
should meditate and develop her skills. I kept on pursuing her to work on
her skills and she started seeing clients and since then have been helping
so many people. Here are a few of her cases. The names of the clients have
been withheld.
A girl came to see her. She was not able to
conceive though had been trying to have a baby for the five years of her
marriage. Amber told her that she had been molested by someone and had gone
through a trauma. Due to this sexual contact, she actually hated to have
copulation and had no way to conceive. Initially, she denied but after a few
sittings, she revealed that the husband of her eldest sister, the bread
provider of the family, started molesting her since she was only 13 by
forcing her to have intercourse. Later on, this perverted man forced her to
bring her other two sisters for the same purpose and kept on molesting all
the three sisters. Due to this trauma, she could not have any relationship
with her husband. Amber told her that she needed to confront her perpetuator
to have peace with herself. She kept on promising Amber to counter the
person responsible for her problem but could not confront him and her
family. Unfortunately, the sinner passed away before she could reveal this
traumatic situation to anyone. Later on, she, along with her other two
sisters, confided with her eldest sister and revealed all the details of her
husband’s sinful life and came to a closure. Immediately after that, she
conceived and strangely delivered a baby boy on the same day as Amber was
born.
A Muslim married woman came to see her and
told her various problems and asked Amber for guidance. As soon as she
started her sessions, Amber told her that her basic problem is infidelity
with her husband. She denied the charge and insisted that she was very
honest with her husband. To break her consistent lying streak, Amber told
her the name of the man whom she was having sexual contact with. She was
very upset and started screaming and crying. Later on she confessed that she
was having an extra marital affair very discreetly but that no one knew
about it. She kept on questioning Amber about the source of her information.
She could not believe that Amber acquired this information from her inner
sources. She was so upset by the leak that for the next few hours, she kept
on trying to pinpoint the source of her leak rather than admitting that God
gives gift to some people who could see what a naked eye cannot. In the Holy
Quran it is very clearly stated that God knows knowledge of the unknown only
and only by those dear ones whom God decides to bless with a part of His
gifts. Fanatic people always confront Amber with a shout out that she is
doing wrong and it is against the will of God to pursue the unknown. But
they forget that she is helping the people to solve their problems. So many
people think she indulges in witchcraft and try to hurt her feelings. But
they do not know that she does help people and has no financial gains from
this practice.
In another case, one of our spiritual
friends recommended a girl for my son to get married. We visited the family
briefly and later on invited them to our house. Just after a few minutes of
their arrival, Amber asked the mother of the girl where her husband was. She
responded to her that he lived in Karachi and had not moved here as yet.
Amber immediately corrected her and said: “Yes, I know he is in Karachi but
he is in a jail (Penitentiary) and was arrested for smuggling drugs.” The
woman got so overwhelmed that she fell over Amber’s feet and kept on begging
her not to say anything to anyone. Later on she confessed that her husband
was a drug smuggler. Though very rich in his good days, was now serving
time. Superficially, the girl looked so delicate that if Amber had not had
this gift, I would have settled my son with this family without any
hesitation.
One of my biggest regrets has been to get my
son married without asking Amber while I was in Pakistan. The day Amber met
the daughter in law, she told me that she had been forced to marry our son
and that this relationship was not suitable for our family. Later on it was
found that she was in love with someone else. Her father forced her to marry
my son mainly for the money and for the reason that she could help the
family to migrate to the U.S.A. My son had to divorce her and we were saved
from a lot of future misery. However, it cost us at least $ 50,000 for the
wedding.
As far as politics is concerned,
Amber has always predicted about candidates and foreseen the results of many
elections. I always seek for her advice, as she was 100% sure about Lee
Brown and Bill White’s win as Mayor City of Houston. During the third
election of Mayor Brown, one day his opponent Orlando Sanchez met us in a
charity gala. When I told him about Amber’s vision, he asked her about his
election. Amber replied to him: “I see you winning first but losing later
on.” Orlando Sanchez and even I myself could not understand what it meant.
Amber could not explain to him what she just said. After some time, I came
to a realization as to what she meant that he would win the first election
but lose the run off election.
Similarly, Amber made predictions about
President Clinton that he would be impeached and later on exonerated from
the charges. I wrote down all the predictions she made for President Clinton
and mailed him a letter. I never received the response but on the day when
the Senate was supposed to cast a final vote, Amber and I were invited to
meet with the First Lady, Hillary Clinton at Tillman Feitita’s house. This
meeting took place around 5 p.m. and about an hour earlier, the U.S. Senate
voted in favor of President Clinton. I happened to have the letter written
to President Clinton, which I presented to the First Lady. She read the
letter very patiently and immediately asked Amber “Do you think I will win
senatorial race?” Amber replied: “You are already the Senator.” Mrs. Clinton
told her she was not the Senator as yet and was running for the seat. Amber
again uttered mysteriously: “You are the Senator.” Mrs. Clinton asked me:
“Does your wife follow politics? Doesn’t she know that Mayor Gulliani is
running against me and I am not the Senator?” Amber cut her off and said,
“But I do not see Gulliani running against you and you will be the Senator.”
Mrs. Clinton moved on to the other guests, without keeping faith in what
Amber said to her though she took the copy of her predictions. Just two
weeks later Gulliani was diagnosed with colon cancer and pulled out of the
race. By this time Mrs. Clinton understood what Amber was seeing she could
not conceive.
 During John Kerry’s presidential election
campaign, she constantly told me that George Bush was going to win which I
kept on ignoring, as I am a hardcore democrat. However, I did not invest any
resources in that election and everyone knows the result: Bush won the
election. During democrat primaries, I was one of the co-hosts for a
reception for Howard Dean. On the day of the reception, I was heading for
Hotel Wormick. I called Amber and asked her about chances for Howard Dean.
She told me that it would be a waste of time and $1000 donation and that I
should rather come home. I returned home and a few weeks later; Howard
Dean’s popularity declined and John Kerry surfaced as the candidate for
Democratic Party. So far she thinks that Hillary Clinton would be elected as
first woman President of United States of America.
Most of the Pakistani politicians who visit
us talk to her and get her analysis. Most recent ones are former Prime
Minister, Benazir Bhutto; former Chief Minister, Syed Ghous Ali Shah; former
Chief Justice Supreme Court, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah; former Minister, Pir
Mazhar Ul Haque; Senator S. M Zafar; Rasool Bux Palejo; and many others. The
best part about Amber is that she never reveals her intimate talks with her
clients and works very discreetly and does not charge for her services.
One of her astonishing cases was
when a couple visited us with their child. The woman was very talkative and
kept on daring Amber for her supernatural capabilities. Suddenly, Amber
asked the man a very strange question: “Who is this child in your lap?” The
man replied: “She is my daughter.” Amber said, “I know she is her daughter,”
pointing to the lady, “but not yours.” The man was very upset but the woman
was very clever and kept on giggling and changed the subject. Next day the
man came to my office and spoke to me about the comments my wife had made.
He wanted to know more about it. I had so much faith in Amber that I was
ready to pay for the paternity test (DNA Test). I made the deal with the man
that if Amber was wrong I should pay for the fees and would also extend him
a written apology. However, if she was not his daughter he would have to pay
the DNA test fees. We mutually agreed and got the test performed which came
negative and it was confirmed that she was not his daughter. Amber generally
doesn’t tell negative things to hurt people until someone challenges her
abilities.
In a similar case a family
approached us with a marriage proposal for my daughter. The boy was a doctor
with a very respectable family background. After our first meeting, we
visited their home and were introduced to the whole family. The father of
the boy had remarried a younger woman. He had four children from the first
marriage and two from the second. He remarried because his first wife had
passed away. On the surface, the family was very educated and nice and had
all the ingredients that a normal family would want in another to form
relations. Amber had many reservations about the boy and kept on analyzing
him. She told me that the man did not father the younger two daughters but
it was the older son who was the biological father of those little girls.
After a few days, the father of the boy came to see us and wanted to talk to
Amber in private. Strange to note is the fact that he told Amber that he was
doubtful about the paternity of the girls and had DNA tests done for them
and was sure that they were his kids. I think he knew that Amber had figured
out the incest and illicit relationship between his wife and his eldest son
and was covering the ground with us to pursue marriage with our daughter.
Subsequently, Amber very bluntly told them about the boy that he is having
an affair with one of the nurses in the office besides his involvement with
the stepmother. This is one of the cases that she was right on target to
weigh the character of the boy. I always wondered that why sex perversion is
becoming an epidemic in the Muslim society as we now often hear horror
stories of molestation and incest.
 Amber shows different dimension of her gift
with every person she works with, as she is excellent in reading people in
person as well as through photographs. In case of a Hispanic family, they
brought photographs of all their family members to be analyzed. Once all
pictures were spread out on Amber’s working desk, she picked up three
photographs and returned to them. She refused to read about those people and
told them that those people were dead and it is a sin to get into dead
people’s past life. This family was hugely overwhelmed by her assertion and
I always wondered how she found out that those three people were dead.
At another occasion, we were
attending a wedding when the father of the groom came to invite us to come
on to the podium and take picture with the newly weds. Amber told him that
she would follow him in a minute. After he left, she made a comment in front
of all the friends sitting on the table that she would not like to take a
picture with this witch. I got very embarrassed and asked her to be quiet
but she said that this girl has choose this boy just to get the green card
and was going to leave him merely in four months. It is so strange to note
that just before four months they were divorced.
Lately divorce is also becoming an epidemic
in the Muslim community and Amber has been counseling several girls but
unfortunately some of them do not listen to her advice and suffer. Amber has
told several families not to pursue marriages due to mismatch and in many
instances her advice was ignored and all of those marriages have failed. In
recent past she has told three girls to evaluate more about the man they
were getting married but they married them and ended up in divorce. Most of
the divorces are occurring due to either financial reasons or because of the
infidelity of either of the partners. Since our society is getting too open
and sex before marriage is becoming more acceptable by either of the
partners, it has opened a new dimension of the marriage, which is the major
reason of too many divorces. Parents need to counsel their children and
educate them to marry to make a family and try to adjust with each other’s
problems rather than divorce. If this epidemic continues, our next
generation will be as messed up as other advanced nations of western
countries.
Dr. A.Q. Afghan, Shikarpur
Dr. A.Q. Afghan, originally from Shikarpur,
was first came into my contact when I joined Sind University Engineering
College where he was Principal of the college. He was a typical Pathan a
very powerful and hardheaded man. Though our college was under the
jurisdiction of the Vice Chancellor, Sind University, he had established his
own kingdom and ran a parallel government. He always sponsored gangsters who
would give him absolute power that even his boss, the Vice Chancellor, was
intimidated by his strength. His major contribution was a liberal policy for
the Sindhis to get admissions to Engineering College, which gave a big but
inferior breed of Sindhi engineers. If he had been sincere with the cause of
Sind, he would have created a competition within the Sindhis and could have
produced a more highly educated class of engineers. As he gave admissions to
lot of weak candidates, unfair means in examinations became common and he
kept his eyes closed for such actions. However, looking behind, it seems
that his policy though did not produce high quality engineers but did
produce enough quantity of Sindhi engineers to capture jobs, which were
mainly occupied by the Urdu-speaking candidates. NED Engineering College, on
the other hand, though claimed to be high standard, was silently helping the
Urdu speaking candidates and discouraging students from Sind. His actions
can be justified to counter the action of the Urdu-speaking people in
Karachi to bring the Sindhis at par with them.
During my third year in college, I became
editor of a monthly engineering bulletin and annual magazine. It was then
that I had some interaction with Dr. Afghan and found him very abusive and
arrogant. He had no respect for good students and gangsters who ruled the
campus were well respected in his office.
Meanwhile, Sind University was administrated
by Vice Chancellor (VC) Hassan Ali Abdul Rahman, who never got along with
Dr. Afghan. Pir Mazhar UL Haque, former Sind Law Minister and prominent PPP
leader, was working as Public Relations Officer for the VC who was my elder
brother’s childhood friend. I used to share a room with Ghulam Nabi Memon
Morie, who was then elected as Vice President of Student union.
One day he told me that Pir Mazhar had asked
both of us to come and see the VC, but at dawn time so that our movements
are kept in secret. When we visited the home of the VC, Hassan Ali Abdul
Rahman, we were told that government had approved the upgradation of Sind
University Engineering College to a University of Engineering. We were told
that Dr. Afghan had been working against this cause, as he knew that he
would not be appointed as the VC of the new university. As he was being
selfish and was working for his own interest and hurting the only chance our
people would be getting to have an engineering university, Hassan Ali Abdul
Rahman wanted something to be done to eliminate Dr. Afghan from the scene. I
told him that it was practically impossible and we could be in danger if he
found out that we were making any move to dislocate him. During the
discussion, the Vice Chancellor gave us a lot of ammunition to attack Dr.
Afghan but Ghulam Nabi was not ready to make any move which could put our
lives in danger. I, after deep reflection, decided to take the required
action without telling anyone. My father was serving as Registrar
Co-operative Societies for Sind with head quarter office located in One Unit
Building at Hyderabad. I went to my father’s secretary and took him in
confidence and made him type up a questionnaire addressed to Dr. Afghan for
his activities. He made me 500 copies of the hand out and I dispersed those
very systematically and secretly by dropping 10 copies of the hand out in
each rest room of the Sind University. This was done between 2 a.m. and 4
a.m. when all the students were asleep. The next day the hand out was in
everyone’s hand and I left a copy of the hand out in Pir Mazhar’s office
without his knowledge. Dr. Afghan could not handle the allegations and the
Vice Chancellor asked legal experts to hold an enquiry against him to prove
his innocence against the allegations. However, the third day of the week,
Dr. Afghan tendered his resignation and within next one month the government
announced appointment of Dr. S.M. Qureshi as the Vice Chancellor of the new
Mehran Engineering University. Most of my close friends, who were
associated with Dr. Afghan, often wondered about who was behind that White
Paper against Dr. Afghan. I never revealed this secret to anyone till today
when it has been more than thirty years. I hope this is not going to hurt
the feelings of Dr. Afghan’s family. If they neutrally analyze, they will
realize that this was done in national interest, as creation of engineering
university was essential to produce highly qualified engineers from Sind. I
hope his relatives will forgive me. I always wondered why Dr. Afghan, who
was a very well known national leader of Sind, opposed the up gradation of
college: may be just to satisfy his own ego. I have no regret that I did
this and achieved the results.
On the other hand, this incident
gave a strong boost to Dr. Afghan’s career that later on he became Federal
Secretary for Science & Technology and served the country very well.
Abdul Fateh Memon, Larkana,
Sind
 Abdul Fateh Memon, son of Haji Wali Mohammad
Memon, was born in Shikarpur. He was my father’s first cousin. His father
was a cloth merchant in Shikarpur. He moved to Larkana with his two sons
where Abdul Fateh started his legal practice. He was very active in local
politics during partition time. He joined Muslim League and was elected as
general secretary for Sind Muslim League during Ayub Khoro’s tenure as
President. He was elected as member of West Pakistan Assembly and remained
active in politics until he was nominated as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi
Arabia in 1963 during Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s tenure as Foreign minister of
Pakistan.
During the early 50s when Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto first came to Larkana after his foreign education, a historical
meeting was held at Abdul Fateh’s residence attended by Sir Shah Nawaz
Bhutto, Z.A. Bhutto and Sikander Bhutto. On the other side, Abdul Fateh, his
brother Nizamuddin, and my two cousins Dr. Ghulam Ali FRCS; and Ali Nawaz
were present. In this meeting a historical statement was made by Sir Shah
Nawaz Bhutto to request Abdul Fateh to teach Z.A. Bhutto the ins and outs of
Sind politics. This relationship lasted for several years. However, during
this time Z.A. Bhutto got closer to Uncle Nizamuddin and drifted from Abdul
Fateh.
During national elections in the late 50s,
Abdul Fateh filed nomination against Z.A. Bhutto. At the time Z.A. Bhutto
was Industries Minister in Ayub Khan’s cabinet. Due to close relationship
between Nizamuddin and Bhutto, the younger brother forced Abdul Fateh to
withdraw his nomination and let Z.A. Bhutto win the election unopposed.
Subsequently, Z.A. Bhutto returned the favor by appointing him as Ambassador
of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia.
His major achievement was to get Pakistan
Airlines landing rights in Saudi Arabia, which had been denied for so many
years owing to internal politics. This happened due to his close friendship
with Kamil Sindhi, Minister of Aviation for the kingdom, and an agreement
was reached to give General Sales Agency to Aziz Al Hussaini, an insider of
the Royal family.
He also authored a book titled Oil and
Faith and presented it to King Saud, who was so happy that he issued a
royal decree to send a yearly royal invitation to Abdul Fateh to visit the
kingdom for two weeks with first class airfare and accommodation until he
was alive.
His major accomplishment in my view is that
of establishing the first Commerce College in Larkana Sind, which produced
first generation of financial experts from Sind. He remained patron in chief
of the college till the college was taken over by the government of Sind.
Historically, there has been another
incident, which could have changed the course of Sind politics. As soon as
Z.A. Bhutto resigned from Ayub’s regime, he announced the formation of the
Pakistan People’s Party. Z.A. Bhutto approached Abdul Fateh through his son
Ali Nawaz Memon, who was then working in World Bank. By this time, Abdul
Fateh had finished his tenure as Ambassador and returned to Pakistan,
settled in Karachi and started his legal practice. One day Ali Nawaz tried
to talk to his father by conveying the message to his father about Mr.
Bhutto’s desire to join his party. Somehow, Ali Nawaz did not get the
response; therefore he did not go on with the same subject. Twenty-five
years later, one day, Ali Nawaz asked his father why he did not join
Bhutto’s party. His response was that he never heard the message as he had
developed deafness in one of his ears and Ali Nawaz happened to be close to
his deaf ear. According to experts’ views, if Abdul Fateh had joined the
PPP, he would have been the first Chief Minister of Sind.
On the other side, his brother Nizamuddin
was very close to Z.A. Bhutto and has remained loyal to the party for next
generation. His son, Khalid Iqbal Memon, was nominated for the party seat
from Larkana to represent the People’s Party as Member National assembly in
current assembly.
Uncle Abdul Fateh had eight sons and one
daughter: all well educated and well established. Dr. Ghulam Ali FRCS
serving in London; Ali Nawaz served World Bank for thirty plus years; Ali
Raza (deceased); Sikander lives in Egypt; Shafqat is chief financial Officer
of Islamic Bank; Captain (army) Mohammad Ali; Dr Jamal, a skin specialist;
and Shaheen, the youngest, works in a bank. His only daughter is married to
Anwar Memon, President of an Environmental Engineering firm in Canada.
Abdul Fateh Memon remained loyal to Muslim
League throughout his life and died peacefully a few years ago. He was again
a symbol of honesty and integrity and kept his head up and never traded his
conscience for money. His major achievement was to educate his kids to the
high level; besides, he produced so many talented people from his college.
Abdul Jabbar Gupchani, Nawabshah
Professor Abdul Jabbar Gupchani met me at a
very crucial juncture of my life. After my Matriculation (Junior High
school) results that I passed with first class, I was sent to Karachi to
attend DJ Science College to complete my Intermediate (Senior High school).
My two elder brothers Professor Shabir Ahmed
and Late Irshad Ahmed were also attending DJ College and N.E.D. Engineering
College at the same time. My cousin Khalid Iqbal (MNA Larkana PPP) was
living in the same Metha Ram Hostel.
New atmosphere and my romantic involvement
with someone kept me from studying properly so I barely passed the first
year college. My father was very upset and I was immediately shifted to
hometown Shikarpur. Here I was admitted in a hostel and was grounded to
visit the home till I could achieve my goal: first class degree in
intermediate school examination.
On the first day of my college there, I met
with Professor Abdul Jabbar Gupchani Khoso. He was in charge of the hostel.
When he heard that I have been sent there for a punishment, he gave me a
deal for the life. He wanted me to start praying five times and in return,
he promised, he would tutor me for English, Mathematics and Chemistry all
free of charge. What I perceive today is that he was a God-sent angle for
me. I took upon his offer and was successful in achieving my goal. Once I
passed my examination with a first class (equivalent to today’s grade A), my
father came with all his friends and honorably brought me to our home.
I can never thank my father for the
punishment he imposed upon me to mend ways of my life that consequently took
me to higher level. To me, my father and Professor Gupchani are the two
heroes in my life who helped me surmount the peaks. I wish there were
teachers like him who could steer students to high level and bring the
talent of our nation on the crossroad where they can serve their country.
During my visit to Pakistan a few years ago,
I went to see Prof. Gupchani and traveled to a small village twenty miles
off Nawabshah driving along dirty roads but unfortunately could not meet
him. However, I was delighted to know that he was busy teaching CSS students
in Nawabshah after his retirement. I wanted to thank him for my success and
hope he is well and healthy.
Abdul Jabbar Memon, Karachi
Jabbar Memon met me during my third year
engineering studies in Sind University Engineering College, Jamshoro. I used
to live in a special one-bed room suite in Mehran Hostel. This favor was
extended to me through Ghulam Nabi Morie, who used to be the Vice President
of student union. Once Ghulam Nabi graduated, I had the option to bring any
engineering student to live with me in this special hostel accommodation
which was offered to the professors of the college living in the hostels.
Jabbar met me through someone and I took him
with me. He was very smart and talkative and I knew that it would be an
educational experience to live with him. However, some of his habits made me
request him to move out from the room; nonetheless, we remained friends
afterwards.
Years later I found out that he had
established an auto parts industrial unit in Karachi that included
manufacture of oil filters, etc. He visited the U.S.A. several years ago and
I entertained him here. He invited me to visit him in Pakistan and after
several attempts I finally met him in the office of Pakistan Business
Federation where he was serving as Vice President.
I think among our college mates Jabbar was
one of the few who chose to be an entrepreneur and was also successful in
the venture. Though I disliked some of his habits, still his typical
Karachites style was the reason of his success. The main difference between
people from interior Sind and Karachi was the slickness and sharpness.
Jabbar had both the features engraved. He was smart and paid attention to
his education and had a vigorous nature to make money and I see him as one
of a few Sindhi successful businessmen.
Abdul Kadir Siddiqui, Sukkur/Karachi
Abdul Kadir Siddiqui belongs to the family
of Siddiqui’s from Shikarpur who subsequently moved to Sukkur. His brother
Jamal Siddiqui had opened the first restaurant at Lib-e-Mehran (on the bank
of the Indus). Jamal passed away of a sudden heart failure.
I met Abdul Kadir through my father long
after he was married to my cousin sister. Once I moved to Karachi in 1974,
he got friendly to me mainly due to my father whom he respected a lot. Once
he was posted in Karachi and I was married, we became close family friends.
His wife Saeeda was my most favorite cousin sister as my mother raised her
after her mother passed away. Kadir was one of the few honest judges I met.
He was a very competent professional and rose from Civil Judge to District
Judge and subsequently retired as Secretary Law for Sind Government.
He was never nominated to the High Court
Bench due to his unfriendly attitude. He was very reserved and sometimes
very rude. I have noticed one thing in the bureaucrats who are very honest:
they are not friendly and suffer in their career building process. Once I
asked Justice Retired Sajjad Ali Shah, Chief Justice Supreme Court, about
Abdul Kadir. He concurred with me that his career did not flourish mainly
because he was very secluded and rude even to his own colleagues.
Abdul Kadir had the reason to be bitter as
he was in love with some girl and while still engaged she passed away
suddenly giving him a shock for life. Saeeda being the best girl I have ever
met could not get him out of that trauma. He used to visit my sister in law
Rezm’s home frequently in the evenings and shared so many of his personal
thoughts with her and reason of his seclusion and bitterness from the trauma he went through.
I drew closer to him after the news of his
younger brother’s sudden death. That time Kadir was in Australia on an
educational mission. I took care of the funeral arrangements and was there
for him all the time until he came back to make the formal funeral
arrangements. Our relationship continued after my migration to the U.S.A.
In 1988, I met Sajjad Siddiqui, son of Jamal
Siddiqui, through Badur Sheikh, now living in New York. Sajjad had just
completed his MBA program and was looking for some sponsor for work and the
green card. Due to Kadir’s relationship I immediately offered him a job and
sponsorship and moved him to Pasadena, Texas to work for me.
In 1989, he received his green card and
married the daughter of Kadir’s sister. I loaned him $ 5000 to take care of
the wedding arrangements and he came to Pasadena with his wife. After the
marriage his expenses started rising. As a result, he started stealing money
from the company where he was in charge of the finances. He started using
third party credit cards and pocketing cash. Eventually, he was caught. Once
FBI contacted me over some illegal activity going on in my travel agency
where third party credit cards were being used for airline tickets. Once I
came face to face with about the issue, he had no answer. A total audit was
conducted that reveled that he had embezzled some $ 30,000 or so merely in
one year’s time.
Unfortunately, the audit report came on the
night of Eid day and I fired him before waiting for Eid. His family was
devastated by confronting the harsh fact. I sent all the documents to Kadir
not in order to get any money but to keep him informed. He did not
acknowledge my good will that I saved him from getting arrested by FBI as
well as paid the money to save him. The biggest regret was that Kadir
claimed to be honest. He should have had the guts to stand up for the truth.
Kadir never responded to my letter and was so mad at me that when I visited
his house during my visit to Pakistan, he stole out from the backdoor and I
was told that he was not available to see me. However, I had seen him
slipping away and could say that may be he had no guts to face the truth. To
talk about honesty, preaching about honesty and practicing honesty are all
essential components of honesty on the whole. At this juncture I think that
even though he was called one of the most honest judges, he was not honest
with me.
After retirement Abdul Kadir practiced law
and passed away a few years ago due to a sudden heart attack. Most probably
heart disease was in their genetics as most of his brothers died of heart
attacks as well as he lost his 19 year old son by the same disease. He has
two daughters and one son and his wife lives in Karachi.
Overall, I think he was an honorable man who
kept the standard of honesty high and I consider him one of the few honest
officers of Sind government.
Abdul Majeed Bughio, Dadu/Karachi
Abdul Majeed Bughio is by birth from a small
village close to Dadu, Sind. He met me during my college days in Sind
University Engineering College, Jamshoro. We lived in the same hostel and
went to the same class from first year engineering until final. Majeed is
presently serving as Professor of Electrical Engineering at National
Engineering College, formerly known as Dawood College.
Majeed is one of the most soft-spoken and
sweet persons I have met in my life. He was always friendly and never showed
any temper. Our friendship blossomed even after college and he is still in
contact with me. Later on he married one of my first cousins and became a
relative too. I consider him one of my few best friends.
Majeed and I spend a lot of time together
during our stay at Government Hostel, located at Garden road where we
dwelled for several years. Majeed was a very handsome and well-dressed
person hence very popular among girls. During 1974-75, I used to conduct a
television program from Karachi TV Station when we both had a lot of friends
from both sexes. We enjoyed friendship of many good-looking girls. At that
time making friends with opposite sex used to be very difficult since our
society never allowed contact between opposite sexes. Most of our hostel
mates living in government hostel used to be very jealous but never knew the
trade secret of Majeed for being so popular. He was very considerate and
generous and had a lavish lifestyle that consequently impressed the girls.
Majeed was married to his cousin in his
village but never revealed this secret to anyone. During his marriage
process to my cousin, he kept me in darkness. I always regretted this. I
feel that he knew that his second marriage would not take place if his
previous marriage status was became known; therefore, he kept it hidden from
me. All I can opine is that God makes the pairs and no one could have
stopped that marriage and it was in his destiny to marry my cousin. He now
has two beautiful and credulous kids and a good family. Whenever I visit
Pakistan, they all show tremendous amount of love and respect and are very
hospitable.
Academically Majeed was not very bright but
due to his positive and friendly attitude, he adjusted himself well in a
professional institution like National College of Engineering. In my view,
he could have been a better administrator and could have been more
successful if opted for doing a business.
Aijaz Mangi, Shikarpur/Karachi
Aijaz Mangi, now settled in Karachi, is
originally from Shikarpur. I met Aijaz after he married my father’s first
cousin. Then he was Civil Judge in Sehwan, Dadu District.
Aijaz is an open-minded, friendly human
being; however, he has little mind for money. During my stay in Karachi,
1975-78, we were very close to each other. He was living as a paying guest
at the residence of a Punjabi family. It was when he got involved with the
sister in law of the landlord and eventually married her. His fate changed
as soon as he married the second time when his services as a Civil Judge
were terminated due to corruption charges and he was forced to practice law.
As an attorney he could not carry himself to a high rank. Thus he had to
work on minor cases or represent small companies and semi government
agencies as their legal advisor.
While he was involved with his landlord’s
sister in law who was from a very loving and nice family, I tried to let the
girl know about Aijaz’s first marriage. But as they say love is blind, they
got married without my knowledge. On the other side of the picture, his
first wife always blamed me as if I was solely responsible for Aijaz’s
second marriage. Unfortunately, people always blame others for their
mistakes and never realize why people tend to drift to seek new
relationships. In today’s competitive world, women have to work extra hard
to keep their husbands faithful to them. I see that working women,
particularly, have problems in keeping their husbands faithful. On the other
side there is always poetic justice and people suffer because of their own
mistakes committed in the past. One should look within him or herself for
the punishment God gives for the deeds they have done in the past.
Interesting to note is that Aijaz’s first wife was instrumental to get her
elder brother married to a Punjabi girl while he was already married to his
cousin. History repeats itself and one gets punished for the wrong one has
done to others. The only regret I have is that I got blamed for some one
else’s actions.
I am still on friendly terms with Aijaz and
his second wife treats me like a brother. She is one of the finest human
beings I have met in my life. Aijaz has one son and one daughter from his
first wife and two sons from his second wife. The kids are very nice and
well settled.
Congressman Judge Al Green, Houston
 Judge Al Green, member of U.S. Congress, is
one of the few congressmen who have supported the Pakistanis and other
Muslims of Houston any time we have turned to him for help. Al Green has
been an admirable personal friend and supporter and I see great potential in
him to rise to a higher level. Al Green has a friendly posture and his
affectionate style is similar to President Clinton, who gave 100 % attention
to anyone he was speaking to. Though I was a strong supporter of him during
his election campaign, some of the MQM gangsters joined him: this sidelined
me from his office. However, I knew that by the time he found out the
character of those people he would revert back to us to seek our help. And
now I can see him, by the passage of time, getting closer and closer to us
than many others. He meets us regularly at private dinners and discusses our
issues and has extended all the help possible. In politics, some time bad
elements support candidates to make their ends meet. In return, politicians
are forced to support them. But smart politicians keep them at an arm’s
length. They make efforts only to support the genuine causes of the people.
Al Green has supported not only our community but also all the minorities.
He is a strong voice in the congress for the poor. As soon as he was
elected, he became member of Pakistani caucus in the U.S. Congress and has
visited Pakistan several times and supported our issues inside and outsides
Congress.
Ali Nawaz
Memon, Larkana/Washington DC, U.S.A.
 Ali
Nawaz Memon, son of Abdul Fateh Memon (my father’s first cousin), was born
in Shikarpur. After uncle’s migration to Larkana, he was educated there and
secured first class first position in High School Examination of the whole
province of Sind. Ali was sent to the U.S.A. in the 50s where he obtained a
degree in electrical engineering and masters in business administration. He
joined World Bank as Financial Analyst and worked over thirty years in this
prestigious institution. He rose to a high diplomatic rank that was
equivalent to ambassadors of various countries, when he was posted at
foreign missions. Whenever Ali visited Pakistan, he was received by Chairman
WAPDA, Chairman KESC, and many top officials due to his position in World
Bank where he was loan-approving authority for water and power projects. As
he is an expert on water and electricity, he is still invited as an expert
and consultant to help various agencies including Pakistan Government
Ali was
our first relative and first Memon who migrated to the U.S.A. and has been
my mentor in certain ways. He is one of the few cousins I have been in
regular contact. He is a man of principles. I will never forget the incident
when he supported me instead of his own brother. In an issue, he trusted my
word more than his brother’s. Ali is a very loving, friendly and social
person and always hospitable to people coming from Pakistan. He has written
two books and presently serves as Vice President of Pakistan People’s Party,
U.S.A. I think it is very hard to find anyone better traveled than him as he
used to being on foreign missions three weeks a month.
 Ali
married one of our cousin sisters who was raised by my mother after the
death of her mother and was as close to us as a real sister. Ali has been
blessed with three children. Kamran is civil rights attorney practicing in
Chicago. He is very much involved in affairs related to the Muslims. Reshma,
a freelance writer for various USA’s mainstream newspapers, is married to
Aamir, son of Dr. Yaqoob, former Governor of State Bank Pakistan. Nouman is
working in Washington DC. Ali and his wife are one of the best couples known
in our family. The only thing missing in them is that they could have helped
many of our relatives to migrate to the U.S.A. when the U.S. immigration
policy was so liberal. Contrary to him, many of my friends have settled so
many of their friends and relatives in the U.S.A. Ali could have done better
in this field.
 Ali
was invited by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to serve as chairman of
NEPRA (National Electrical Power Regulatory Authority). He served a few
years on the post and returned to the U.S.A. due to family reunification.
During Benazir Bhutto’s recent visit to Houston, he was invited exclusively
to chat with her. The chat lasted three hours past midnight. Due to his
close relationship I was also invited to have an open discussion with her on
all issues and got aquatinted with Benazir Bhutto and have been in touch
with her since then.
Ali has
been deeply involved in theological aspects of the community problems but
has always been bashful to take practical part in solving any problems. He
has a nature of not getting dirty in problems. I conjecture that he thinks
that his efforts might not bring the desired results. In contrast, I differ
from him as I always jumped in the battlefield and tried to change the
things and have also succeeded a few times though failed many a times.
However, I always enjoyed the fight and made a difference. Ali is an expert
on water issue facing Pakistan particularly Sind; however, he is not as
vocal on this issue as I would expect him to be; it is may be because of his
job where he cannot be so blunt and bestow his truthful and honest public
opinion.
Ali is a
generous person and always helps his relatives in need and does it very
discreetly. In my opinion he could have been more effective in getting his
community people job opportunities while he enjoyed high and prestigious
position in society. However he feels that utilizing his position to help
any one would have compromised his integrity. In my view, our community
underutilized his talents as he could have produced better results in many
national issues in particular Water and Power problems facing our nation.
Ashfaque Memon CSP
Hyderabad.
Ashfaque was classmate and childhood friend
of my elder brother, late Irshad Memon. When I joined Sind University
Engineering College, Jamshoro, in 1969, Ashfaque was in final year
engineering. He was always very loving and nice to me and treated me just
like his own brother. When we lived in GOR (Government Officers Colony)
Hyderabad, he used to visit us on a regular basis. He was a very smart and
intelligent individual and acquired first position in most of his
engineering examinations. After that he appeared in CSS examination and
achieved his goal by getting appointed in DMG group. He has served as
provincial secretary of so many departments and I anticipate seeing him as
federal secretary any time these days.
After I migrated to the U.S.A., I lost
contact with him. But when I visited Pakistan during the mid 80s, he was
posted as Registrar Co-Operative Societies Sind. During my evening walks I
met his private secretary who an acquaintance of mine as my father also
served in the same position several years ago. I told Ashfaque’s PS to let
him know that I was there. Our houses were in the same vicinity so I thought
that he would make an effort to meet with me. Within a few days I met his PS
for two more times during my walk and he gave me Ashfaque’s message. The
message stated that if I needed some help, the PS would take care of the
problem. I was very furious and sent him a return message: “You bureaucrats
just think of material things and have forgotten all the values of
friendship and love.” I never met him during that visit and kept on
wondering that perhaps times have changed and we in the U.S.A. still carry
the old values.
A few years later, one day I got a call from
Ashfaque saying that he would like to visit us during his trip from
Pennsylvania to Los Angles. I was very mad at him and started being
outspoken on him. On the other hand, he justified his action by telling of
the new trend and prevailing culture in Pakistan that people see each other
only when they have some work. According to him, selfish interests have
superseded friendship and love. He thought I had some favor to be taken care
of in his office and so he instructed his PS to take care of it as he was
going through some physical problems. Once I heard his point of view, I
fully agreed with him that our culture has changed and people with only some
material interest to pursue will meet you. Once you are of no use to anyone,
they avoid seeing you. After his visit to us with his family we revived our
old friendship and have been in constant touch with each other and since
then he has treated me like a friend and not a man in material need. He has
a loving family and sweet children who are always cordial to my family and
my children.
Ashfaque has done a lot of work to help his
people particularly from his hometown. One day I visited him at his office
when someone came to see him and I overheard that there were only two boys
who needed jobs from his hometown. He wanted to help them to accomplish
their goal. I wish our bureaucrat friends take the task of developing their
own hometowns during their days in power and help the country to prosper
instead of accumulating wealth and spend on unnecessary activities.
Late
Ashfaque Memon (PIA)
Ashfaque Memon, younger brother of Justice
Hafeez Memon (former Justice of Supreme Court), got acquainted with me in
1968 when I joined D.J. Science College Karachi. Ashfaque was one of the
most soft-spoken and loving friends I ever met. During our class breaks he
would come to the common room of Metha Ram Hostel where I resided and played
table tennis with me. He used to live in Muslimabad near P.E.C.H.S.
Society. He often invited me to his house at weekends. Because I acquired
poor grades in first year college studies, my father sent me back to
Shikarpur where I was grounded until I achieved first class in my
Intermediate Science examination. I lost touch with Ashfaque until I joined
PIA in 1975. By then he had earned his engineering degree and was serving as
lecturer in Dawood College of engineering, presently known as National
College of Engineering.
Ashfaque and I socialized on constant basis
and I kept on pursuing him to join PIA as flight engineer as he loved to
fly. His elder brother Shafi Mohammad was also working in PIA as ground
engineer. I often talked him into helping Ashfaque to get a job in PIA.
Upon my insistence, he pushed his elder brother, Justice Hafeez Memon to ask
the then Chief Minister Mumtaz Bhutto to request Air Marshall Noor Khan, the
then Chairman PIA, to help Ashfaque to join PIA.
Ashfaque was asked to meet with Noor Khan
but he was somewhat shy and was not ready to meet with him. One day I forced
him, took him with me, and played as his elder brother and got him face to
face with Noor Khan. He issued instructions for Ashfaque’s appointment and
in a few months he was flying. However, God, Almighty, had some other plans
for him as one day, when I was working in my PIA office, I heard the news
that a PIA flight had crashed in Taif Saudi Arabia. Immediately I received
the news that Ashfaque was flight engineer on board the flight. This was one
of my saddest days as it was me who always pushed him to join PIA as flight
engineer. He never served more than six months: good people are summoned
backstage by the Almighty Director much sooner. The worst part of my
saddened self was to visit his room after his death. It was still decorated
with flowers of his wedding, which took place just a few months ago.
Ashfaque’s loss was as shocking to me as the loss of my elder brother,
Irshad, who died in a car accident outside Pakistan Machine Tools Factory in
1971. The following poem is dedicated to Ashfaque.
AROUND THE
CORNER
Around the corner I have a friend,
In this great city that has no end,
Yet days go by and week rush on,
And before I know a year is gone.
And I never see my old friend’s face,
For life is swift and terrible race.
He knows I like him just as well
As in the days when I rang his bell
And he rang mine.
We were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men;
Tired with playing a foolish game,
Tired with trying to make a name.
“Tomorrow “, I say, “I am thinking of him
But tomorrow comes; and tomorrow goes;
Around the corner yet miles away….
“Here is a telegram Sir, “…. Jim died
today.”
And that’s what we get and deserve in the
end
Around the corner, a vanished friend.
--
Charles Hanson Towne
Ashraf
Jehangir Syed, Houston
My wife Amber has been always infatuated by people with spiritual gifts. At
a spiritual sitting, we were introduced to Ashraf Jehangir. He claimed that
he had control of Jins (supernatural elements) and he could cure spiritually
afflicted people. As Amber is gifted with some special power to see through
people, I became interested in knowing if there was any truth about the
existence of supernatural spirits. Ashraf, my wife, and I worked as a group
for the next one and a half-year. Going from door to door, we tried to help
people with spiritual problems. Ashraf fell highly impressed by Amber’s gift
and started using her talent to help people overcome their problems.
I never believed in the existence of spirits but Ashraf showed me a
different world where there was existence of all kinds of spirits good and
bad ones. In our initial sittings, I took a video recorder to tape the
sitting. To my amusement, when I replayed the tape after arrival of the
spirits, the humans disappeared from the video. Only the audio was left. It
really fascinated me as to what process occurred when the human bodies
disappeared though physically he or she was present.
Time elapsed and I noticed that though Ashraf had a gift to get spirits
appear before us, he could not have cure for the people who suffered from
spiritual diseases. He kept on using Amber’s gift to impress people as if he
knew what to do and he could see through them. Once I figured him out we
slowed down our visits.
Despite
the fact that Ashraf had the gift to make the Jins appear before him, he
could not help people. Therefore, he recorded conversations with spirits
and replayed before new clients to impress them. Initially he never charged
any money from people but later on providing his services commercially.
One day a friend
of mine called me and told me that Ashraf played a tape of my close friend’s
wife who was having some problems. I was very upset with Ashraf and met him.
When he denied that he had played no such tape anywhere. I reprimanded him
that recording people’s voice without their consent and then replaying in
front of others was a federal offence and he could be jailed for it.
However, he lied to me and insisted that he never played any such tape. And
my friend was ready to produce several witnesses to prove that he was lying.
Unfortunately, our relationship ended at this junction as I lost faith in
him because I expected him to be man of God to help people not to exploit
their weaknesses. Also he stared charging money from his clients and had been
very successful in proving to be a spiritual healer to many. He left his
engineering job and is working full time curing people of spiritual diseases
whereas in my view he has only the power to diagnose a spiritual wound and
no power to cure.Dr. Aziz Siddiqui, Houston
Dr. Aziz Siddiqui and I became
acquainted when I was working as advisor to the Mayor of Houston. Aziz was
very active in Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH) which was led by
Saeed Siddiqui. After completion of Saeed’s tenure, Aziz was elected the
President of ISGH. After living in Houston for more than twenty years, Aziz
is the only President of ISGH who showed broad vision and used the influence
of his position to represent the Muslims of Houston. Aziz became president
in the post 9/11 era and worked tirelessly with interfaith groups to send a
strong message to the mainstream politicians that all the Muslims were not
terrorists. Aziz has since devoted himself to upgrade image of the Muslims
in Houston and its surrounding areas. He has developed a very close
relationship with the American media and homeland security officials. He has
hugely contributed in the efforts to spread the message of Islam.
For instance, once he and a few of
us were invited to address a convention of homeland security officers where
there were at least 500 plus FBI and law enforcement agents. He brought 200
copies of Holy Quran and gave away free copies to the law enforcement agents
to help them to understand Islam. To my amusement there was so much demand
that I took addresses of about seventy-five agents who wanted a copy of the
Quran. Aziz later on mailed a copy of Quran to each person who asked for.
Aziz and I worked very closely and
started a tradition of celebrating Ramadan Dinner at the City Hall. Since
then every year the Muslims of Houston gather in City Hall and invite every
one to participate in Ramadan dinner.
Unfortunately, due to friction
caused by a few of the local leaders, Aziz lost election on his second term,
which can be called the biggest defeat for the Muslims. We need people like
Aziz who can penetrate in mainstream American society with their look and
education and let the people know that Islam is a religion of peace and
harmony and that it does not, at any rate, promote terrorism.
It is so interesting that Aziz
even not holding any position in ISGH is working in mainstream and educating
people about the basic essence of Islam.
Aziz by profession is an
environmental engineer and has earned his Ph.D. in Environmental engineering
and is shy of writing the title of Dr. before his name because of several
people who buy fake Ph.D. degrees for
$ 200 and proudly present themselves as
doctors. I always jest upon him and often remark: “How come you are shy of
revealing your doctorate status to people when fake degree holders are
appointed as ministers in federal cabinets.”
Aziz is one of the few inspiring
personalities. Though he is a little media conscious like all of us but his work is so much
superior that he deserves to be entitled with, at least, a little benefit.
To my analysis, he carries a high standard and can work on the higher level
and confidently represent the Muslims Ummah at all levels.
Aziz Soomro,
Houston
Aziz Soomro got acquainted with me while I
worked as an electrical engineer with Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)
at Karachi Airport. As I was involved in community service right from the
beginning of my career, I organized a Sindhi Employee Association to support
cause of the Sindhi employees of PIAC. At that time I served the people
coming from interior Sind. I helped them in getting jobs and tried to solve
their problems in government offices.
Aziz, Nasurallah Yusufani, and I took some
timely action that resulted in the employment for at least 350 candidates
from interior Sind. Though it was my idea, however I do not want to deny
some credit to Aziz, Nasurallah Yusufani and Abdul Kadir Jamoot. They all
helped me in this venture that settled so many people from interior Sind who
had no chance to compete with people from Karachi.
After my immigration to the U.S.A., I once
again met Aziz in Houston when he and I organized Houston Chapter of Sindhi
Association of North America (SANA) and worked very closely to help Sindhi
immigrants to settle in the new environment. Side by side, we started
playing tennis on a regular basis and bonded very well. As soon as Houston
Chapter of SANA was organized, there was a struggle for leadership among the
members. With the support of Iqbal Tareen, some young and eager members of
SANA gave me a feeling that my services were not needed to them. At this
time Aziz also supported the opposite group and we chose separate ways.
I started taking part in mainstream American
politics and Aziz remained involved with SANA. This was a turning point of
my political career. As I got out of the ethnic politics and worked in
national politics, many doors opened up for me. I served as Advisor to Mayor
of City of Houston, President of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Trustee
for Pakistani Association of greater Houston besides being Democratic Party
prescient chair and prescient election judge and served as member of so many
boards. In a way I thank the people who sidelined me from SANA because if
after all opened new venues for me to serve my people.
Aziz was a clerk in PIA and did not have any
professional degree. But he worked as an insurance agent and earned enough
to support him and his family. Unfortunately, he did not have any children
from his first wife and it ended up in divorce and he subsequently married a
few more times and has struggled to make a family. He is very much involved
in affairs of Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH). Overall, he is a
decent human being. However, he lacked assessment of human culture and did
not know who was friend and who was an enemy.
Azizullah Memon, Shikarpur/Quetta
Azizullah Memon Advocate was my
father’s first cousin. My grand father had eight brothers and he was son of
the youngest late Fazaullah Memon. After his law degree, he, for a short
period, tried to practice in Larkana where my other uncles Abdul Fateh and
Nizamuddin Memon had also started practicing. But he immediately moved to
Quetta, Baluchistan. He went up to a level to be appointed as Attorney
General for Baluchistan and was nominated to serve as High Court judge but
never served on the position.
He was married to his cousin and had two
children from this wedlock. After his moving to Quetta he married again and
had several children. Due to his second marriage and abandoning his first
family, he was somewhat discarded from the family; thus, only few family
members associated with him.
I met him a few times but found
him very arrogant and like someone who lacked love for youngsters. One of
his sons is serving in DMG group of Civil service and has served as Deputy
Commissioner at various locations.
The reason I picked Azizullah’s name
to write about him is not to expose his weaknesses but to narrate a story of
poetic justice. Azizullah’s sisters never got along with his first wife
therefore encouraged their brother to marry again which made him abandon his
first wife and children.
His first wife was daughter of a very
virtuous, pious and religious man who was so much involved in Islamic
knowledge that he used to recite holy Quran during his sleep. Azizullah’s
first wife was a decent and honest woman and dedicated her whole life to
support her two children by working at petty jobs. At the end of the day her
one child became Ph.D. Doctor and another is serving as medical
practitioner.
On the other side, all sisters of
Azizullah suffered and could not settle in their family life. The story of
this section of the family is an example of God’s justice: one pays for the
ill doings right here and suffers for their bad deeds. I wish people tried
to love other humans and accept each other as God Almighty has created them
and adjust with each other rather than hurt innocent creatures of God. One
should not forget that there is poetic justice and God always punishes
people who have done wrongs to others. I do not know about Azizullah but
rest of his family always suffered and remained in seclusion.
Bashir Ahmed Moriani, Shikarpur
Bashir Moriani passed his PCS exam
in 1963 and was posted as Assistant Commissioner Khandhkot Jacobabad
District. At the time my father was serving as Additional District
Magistrate at Jacobabad. Mohammed Yusuf CSP, one of the few honest central
superior service officers, was serving as Deputy Commissioner Jacobabad at
the time.
One day DC Yusuf called my father
and asked him to hold an enquiry of a false traveling bill submitted by
Bashir Moriani. Bashir was asked to attend a government meeting at Karachi
and he claimed that he had traveled by train in the Air-conditioned
compartment. Unfortunate for him was the fact that a local MNA and Barrister
Darya Khan Khoso had already uttered unintentionally to DC Yusuf that Bashir
had traveled with him in his car to attend the meeting.
My father was a man of principles
and always upheld the law. During the enquiry he found out that Bashir had
tried to cheat on the government. Bashir expected that my father would
support him as he also was from Shikarpur. Irrespective of so much influence
and pressure exercised by him, my father wrote the report against him and
asked the DC to reprimand him for the illegal action he observed. Bashir
never admitted his mistake and never appreciated what my father did to him
by avoiding to write a report demanding to dismiss him from Service.
In 1974, when I had earned my
degree in electrical engineering, I wanted to join the Industries Department
of Sind Government where there was a vacant position requiring my
qualifications. Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi was the Chief Minister of Sind and my
Uncle Nizamuddin Memon was working as Advisor to the Prime Minister Shaheed
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto for political affairs. Bashir Moriani was the provincial
secretary for Industries Department. I asked Uncle Nizam to get my
appointment order issued from the Chief Minister who did and the file was
sent to Bashir for issuance of formal appointment order. This process should
have been completed within one week but Bashir kept on dodging and never
issued my order. After about three months I was approached by a good friend
of mine Nisar Channa who informed me that he had made a deal to pay Rs
50,000 to Bashir Moriani for the same position which I was seeking. He asked
me if I could ask my uncle to get his application endorsed by the Chief
Minister Jatoi for consideration only. When I told uncle Nizam he wanted to
experiment with Nisar’s story and got his application endorsed by the chief
minister. Nisar was appointed as Assistant Director Industries next day and
started his work immediately. Uncle Nizam was very furious and reported this
matter to the Prime Minister Bhutto during an open town hall meeting called
Kuchahry. Bashir was dismissed from his job on the spot and PM Bhutto asked
uncle Nizam to send me to meet with Salahddin Qureshi, General Manger
Employment PIAC. Next week I joined PIA as ground engineer. In about next
two years, I was appointed as Electrical Engineer Public works PIA and was
in charge of qualification of contractors who would bid for PIA construction
projects.
One day I received a call from
Shamsheer Haideri, Editor of Nain Zindagi (a renowned monthly
periodical of Sindhi language) asking me to do a favor to his friend whom he
wanted to bring to me. Shamsheer and I were working in association on my
weekly program being telecasted from Karachi Television station; therefore I
told him to visit me at his convenience. To my astonishment, the person he
brought with him in my office was no one but Bashir Moriani who at that time
was making a living as a contractor. Once I introduced myself to him he
could hardly lift up his face and never returned to my office due to
embarrassment and humiliation.
The moral of this story is that
Bashir took revenge of my father’s honesty and denied me the job and
appointed someone after receiving illegal gratification. As such he was
punished by God to come to me asking for a favor. On the other hand, Nisar
Channa, who had started his career with illegal activities was eventually
sentenced to jail for illegal practice of power. I was sent to a superior
place to work where I came across Faheem Lodi, an engineer in PIA, who was
instrumental player in having me marry to his sister in law. This ended up
on my immigration to U.S.A. and changed the course of my life.
This is the reason why I always preach
people not to ask for anything from God but to always ask for His guidance
and let Him make the right decision for you as He can never put you on the
wrong track. This is one of the most fascinating stories of my life where
someone tried to hurt me but it resulted in my advantage. I am glad I did
not push for it and followed the path God choose for me and today I perceive
to be a winner.
Benazir
Bhutto, Former Prime Minister of Pakistan
 I met Benazir Bhutto for the first
time when she visited Houston few years back. Though my family was very
closely associated with the Bhutto family for three generations, we grew up
in different environments so never finding a chance to interact. However, I
always kept an analytical look on her political career and wrote some papers
for her during her tenure as Prime Minister of Pakistan. She was very
impressed from my articles and complimented generously.
During our first meeting in
Houston, I was serving as Advisor to Mayor of Houston Bill White who
happened to be the classmate of Mir Murtaza during Benazir’s education in
Oxford University. I connected two old friends and it was a very emotional
time for her as well as for Mayor Bill White to recall the tragic murder of
Murtaza Bhutto.
After the public gathering,
Benazir invited my cousin Ali Nawaz Memon to have dinner with her and later
on I was asked to join her for political discussions. I gave her my views
about the reasons of her failures and gave several recommendations to
regroup herself and her party to come back in power. She was very patient
and listened to my advice very carefully. Later on when she found about my
wife Amber’s gift to see through past and future, she revealed her want to
see her. As Amber had already left for home, she spoke to her over the phone
for 45 minutes and Amber gave her views where she stood in her personal and
political life and suggested few ideas which could bring her back in power.
I found Benazir very tactful and to
the point. When she was meeting people, she had already made an observation
if she would shake hand and move to the next person or she would talk to the
person or invite him to be seated with her. As soon as she was finished she
had a very cordial way to end the conversation and moved on to the next
person very without a slight faltering.
I spend three and half-hours with
her that night and gave following few ideas to her.
Considering that most of the
political decisions are done by the US government it was necessary for
Pakistan Peoples’ Party to form an advisory council consisting of supporters
of the PPP who are deeply working in mainstream American politics. I
suggested her that she should encircle ten big cities of USA and create
local councils and ask them to lobby her cause among local congressional and
senatorial contacts to raise a unified support to bring democracy in
Pakistan. In my view even today if there is a fair election in Pakistan, the
PPP will take the majority seats and will be able to form government at
center and at least two major provinces Punjab and Sind.
Also I suggested her to contact
the old generation of the PPP supporters and try to bring the old guard back
and revitalize the party. Simultaneous to it, the PPP had to find common
ground with the Army leadership and give them assurance that they were well
fed. Unfortunately, this is a fact that the Army has established themselves
not only as defense organization but as political and financial group that
directly or indirectly controls all major institutions. The politicians are
always portrayed as the failure because they do not have control of the
major institutions.
Additionally, I suggested that
Asif Zardari, her husband, had been trapped as an escape goat to label him
the cause of her problems. Though it is not true but the army and opposition
parties like MQM had been systematically busy in his deforming his character
and portrayed him as a villain in Pakistani political arena. I said: “Asif
has to change his style and play a positive role to create an understanding
with Army generals to come back in power.”
At present, due to full support from U.S.A.,
Pakistani Army does not entertain any need to negotiate with the PPP or any
other party to share the power. It has been history of Pakistani politics
that whenever the army needs democratic institutions to recover from their
disastrous state, they drag to the forefront the politicians keeping their
power limited and bring wipe them off from the scene as soon as their
existence becomes fruitless. According to me, Benazir should have stayed in
opposition rather than accepting position as Prime Minister with very little
power. I think this time around she is more experienced and wiser and will
make a right decision when the time comes; for instance, when the army is
ready to bring the politicians to run the government.
During discussions with me, she
had a genuine complaint from the educated party workers who used the party
as a ladder to switch to the side of establishment and caused her
embarrassment. This is the reason she has to keep balance between those
uneducated workers who are loyal to her rather than those educated people
who cannot take the pressure and sell their integrity to the dictators for
petty favors or a temporary position as senator or minister. I very strongly
agree with her that a lot of people have merely used the PPP and abandoned
the party. Unfortunately, our people lack character and honesty and sell
themselves and never stand up for the democratic values to serve the poor
people of Pakistan.
 I am confident that if Benazir is
re-elected as Prime Minister, she will try to bring some dedicated and
honest people to work for her who can run some programs for poor masses of
the country that will uplift her image. She will have to learn to share
power with the army, bureaucracy, and opposition groups to take the country
to political stability. The major item on her agenda should be an acceptable
power sharing formula that could guarantee the political process. Asif can
play a pivotal role with her if he can mature himself and be politically
conscious as how to handle the people, how to interact with the army,
bureaucracy, and financial institutions. The major exploitation against him
has been of making money from various deals. Being myself a businessman, I
know that power can be used to make a lot of legal deals to make money. Asif
being a seasoned businessman made so many deals to make money legally. And
this caused him so much pain in exploitation but at the end of the day no
court could prove that he had done anything wrong. I think money making
should not be the prime target to get in power. If we serve the people and
improve living standard of the masses, people would love to re-elect us. One
has to decide if one wants to be a politician or a businessperson and what
is his/her prime target: fame or money. One has to set his or her priorities
in life and act accordingly.
As far as I see, Benazir will get
one more chance to rule the country and this will be her last chance to
leave her legacy as a strong and seasoned politician. If she has learnt from
her mistakes and does not commit those blunders and finds common ground to
solve the problems, she will be remembered in the pages of history for
saving this fragile country which is already at the verge of failing both as
a nation and as a country.
2007:
Why Benazir Was Assassinated?
Since last four
decades Pakistan is controlled by a group of people called "Establishment"
which consist of top feudals, businessmen, bureaucrats, officers of the
armed forces and ISI (Inter services Intelligence Agency). This group of the
people has controlled Pakistani Politics to attain and serve their own
interest and have been using politicians as pawns who has appetite for
power.
Late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto former Prime Minister of Pakistan was inserted in
this group to serve the agenda of this establishment and as soon as he
deviated his plans to serve the people he was first removed from the office
as Foreign Minister and then eliminated from the Pakistani politics.
Nawaz Sharif former
Prime Minister was also creation of this establishment and was fired once he
deviated from their program.
Benazir Bhutto was
made Prime Minister with so many stipulations and was used and fired once
their purpose was fulfilled.
President Pervaiz
Musharaf was selected by this elite group and has been puppet of the
establishment since last several years and once he stared deviating a little
from their agenda he was weakened by them.
Once Benazir Bhutto
arrived in Pakistan with a massive mandate and historic welcome by 3 million
people her assassination plans were on the drawing board and were very
systematically executed to keep this cluster of evil in full domination and
control. Today’s events will give full justification to them to eliminate
Musharaf and bring another Army rule and this process of exploiting the
system will carry on.
In my view this is
not an act of Al-Quida but an inside job with the blessing of our
establishment to eliminate Benazir from political scene to achieve their
sinister goals.
United States must
immediately cut off all the aid in fighting fake war against terrorism which
has been twisted by these elements to extract foreign aid. USA must invest
its resources to upgrade lives of poor masses of Pakistan instead of giving
free hand to billions of dollars to this group to improve our international
image.
Bill White, Mayor, City of Houston
 During my tenure as Advisor to
Mayor Lee P. Brown who was serving his last term as Mayor, everyone was
discussing about the next Mayor. Orlando Sanchez, who had lost his bid
against Mayor Brown, was very strong candidate. With blessings from White
House and Republican Party he looked the best candidate. In August 2003, I
was invited by someone from the Mayor’s office to attend the announcement
party for Bill White. He was unknown to many of us but I was told that he
would emerge as the leading candidate. I discussed the matter with my
spiritual guide, my wife Amber, who had also foreseen that he would be the
winner and she encouraged me to attend the party. I attended his
announcement party at minute Maid Park and waited till he was left with only
a bunch of people. When I introduced myself to him he asked me: “Where are
you from?” “Pakistan,” I told him. “Where from Pakistan?” he asked. I
replied: “From Sind province.” He inquired of me: “Where from Sind?” I
solemnly uttered “Larkana.” He then came up: “I have been to your hometown
four times.” I later found out that he was roommate of Mir Murtaza Bhutto
and classmate of Benazir Bhutto in Oxford London. When I told him about my
affiliation with the PPP, we immediately made a connection and he invited me
to visit him in his office. On our second meeting my first question to him
was if he would support city of Houston affirmative action program which
guarantees thirty percent of the contracts to the minorities. (Keep in mind
that I had no interest in any city contracts.) He stated that he would
support the program. We discussed political strategy and I handed over some
suggestions to him, which he appreciated. (Copy of my ideas is given in
chapter American political system).
As soon as he accepted me on his
team, I started working part time in his campaign office and made gross root
efforts to get him elected. I established a satellite campaign office for
him in Clear Lake area, which is an affluent neighborhood of Houston. My
main thought to join his campaign was to continue serving the community and
help the minorities to be part of main stream American politics. Bill White
was very open-minded and his wife Andrea White, who worked shoulder to
shoulder with him, was also very inspiring. He always portrayed himself as a
self-made person offering opportunities to everyone and speaking about his
Hispanic heritage. We all thought that he would be excellent choice for the
minorities and I forced several of my friends to support him financially
with huge checks even though they were close to his opponent Orlando Sanchez
who was a Cuban immigrant.
During the campaign
besides raising more than $ 75,000 I organized a group of local restaurant
owners to supply daily food for the campaign staff. This program lasted for
almost three months till the last day of election when we served food for
approximately 600 workers. All this hard work was done to get access for the
community in the new administration just like Mayor Brown provided us during
his tenure.
After the election,
things started changing. Once Bill white was elected and took oath to
office, most of the old staff was displaced and new people started working.
This was a routine to change the staff except for the people who worked
closely with the new candidate. As I used to work for
$ 1.00 per year salary and was not a
financial liability to the city and I was sure that Bill White would fulfil
his commitment to have a representative from our community in the City Hall.
However as things changed rapidly and instead of offering me some task to
work on; an attitude of ignorance was observed towards me so that I should
leave the office myself. At this time new chief of staff Michael Moore
invited me several times for meetings but it became evident that minorities
were not very much welcome in the new administration.
During Mayor Lee Brown’s time a
homogeneous staff consisting of all colors and religions worked in the City
Hall. Suddenly, a colorblind atmosphere transformed into one predominant
color. All key positions were assigned to the Caucasian staff. By this time
Mayor White hired people from various media organizations to attract media
attention like all politicians who are conscious of what the media gurus are
writing or airing for them. On the other side, he hired several Republican
Party members to show that he was working bipartisan. His choice to appoint
a former staff director of Republican Congressman Tom Delay, gave an
impression that he was working on a different agenda. However the policy was
very visible that minorities were not welcomed and the Mayor was more
interested to use them as a ladder to climb up to achieve a national
position as a senator or governor of Texas. This was the time I thought
appropriate to leave though I was asked to choose any board chairmanship
where he would appoint me. I politely declined and left the City Hall with a
sour note.
Today, after four years of Mayor
White’s tenure, he is politically as strong as rock but inside the minority
communities he has very poor scores. My speech on Pakistan Chamber of
Commerce U.S.A. 8th Gala predicted very early about his changing
attitude to our communities. Once he got elected he dumped Afro-American and
Asian communities and made political coalition with the Hispanics to cover
the majority. Both these communities feel deceived by him as from a
homogeneous and colorblind City Hall it changed into one color business. The
Asians lost seat of Mayor Pro-term and seat in the Houston Metro and were
sidelined in most of the committee appointments. As time went by, Mayor
White proved not to be fair in dealing with our communities. The biggest
problem we encountered was that the political contributors who gave large
checks wanted to see him and discuss some issues. But he never met anyone
and diverted all his calls to his sub-ordinates. The only way to get
audience with him was to be part of some fund raising efforts where one
could shake hand with him but still no issues were discussed and no action
taken. Since he enjoys command over powerful political brokers and has
raised huge amounts of campaign fund, he knows that he will continue for
three terms; therefore, he does not care about significant minorities. In
the long run, if he intends to run for a higher office, his character is
very much like an open book to the minorities and he will certainly face a
tough resistance from many quarters.
My biggest regret in political
field has been of betraying my friends by supporting a candidate who has not
served our community. His fancy speeches have proved to be words only and no
action. He is as media conscious as any other politician and loves to stay
in front of the camera but so far has not served the local communities.
Most of his policies have failed;
particularly his decision to accommodate New Orleans refugees in Houston has
backfired on him. His decision to evacuate Houston during Katrina proved to
be a big mistake that dragged millions of people on the roads in burning
heat. In my view Mayor should have ordered the evacuation of coastal areas
first and kept the people calm rather than creating chaos which took so many
precious lives. At that time most of the politicians were more interested in
being focused by the TV cameras to gain political leverage and showing
leadership skills. Today, after one year, the aftermath of those mistakes
has caused thirty- percent increase in crime in Houston and most of the
criminals who can strike you any time are well settled in our city. The best
approach would have been to disperse the evacuees to different cities like
Dallas, San Antonio, Shreveport, and Oklahoma. This would have saved us from
the 100 percent responsibility of the evacuees.
 Comparing the six years of Mayor
Brown and four years of Mayor White, reveals that the downtown
revitalization, which was on a full swing, has been slowed down and our
dream to have a vibrant downtown is no longer on the city’s drawing table.
Most of the policies like forcible
towing, traffic control cameras and sequencing traffic lights have brought
not much desired results to improve traffic congestion.
The biggest problem I found was
inaccessibility of the Mayor. Outside perception as confirmed by so many
city officials indicate a satellite city hall operating in Post Oak and
Memorial area where most of the decisions are made by few close associates
of the Mayor Bill White.
 Mayor Brown was a strong supporter of Mayor
White so I complained him about his changing colors. According to Mayor
Brown, Bill white used to call him every day before his election and after
getting elected he did not call him even once in six months. He did not want
his advice as he thought he was in complete control. So if he can show his
back to former Mayor where do we stand in line? But this reveals the
character of the person. On the other hand Mayor Lee Brown was always
accessible to everyone at any time and tried to accommodate every community.
At the end of the day Mayor White (as he preached honesty and opportunity)
has left me believing that those are fancy words used by many of us. But to
practice and do justice with the people is the hardest thing to do. All I
perceive is that the next two years of Mayor white’s term shall be as the
last four and he will be busier in setting that ladder to climb up to a
higher office and will do nothing for the poor and, in particular, for the
minorities.
Addendum: 2007. As
predicated Mayor Bill White was reelected for the third term without any one
daring to challenge him and City business is running as in the past. His
slogan of mobility has failed as traffic congestion is at the peak and
synchronizing traffic lights and traffic light cameras have proved to be
ineffective. Crime is on rise particularly homicide rate is getting higher.
Downtown revitalization is on hold and due to failed policies extension of
metro rail to connect different quadrants of the city has been bounced back
from the Federal Transportation Board. In my view at the end of six years
Bill White would have not much to show on his report card except helping his
rich and famous friends who might be successful in getting him elected as
Governor of Texas or US Senator.
Daud.( D. Y.) Sheikh PIA, Karachi
The offices occupied by D. Y.
Sheikh and me were next to each other. It was when I worked as Electrical
Engineer Public Works for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). Daud was
closely attached to a very educated family of Allama Daudpota and Iqbal
Akhund, former Pakistani Ambassador to USA. His uncle Dr. Ziauddin Sheikh
was my father’s close friend. Daud was a very senior engineer batch mate of
Director Engineering Aijaz Ahmed and many more but was suffering from a
disease that partially crippled him so he was unable to walk. His colleagues
were nice enough to keep him on the payroll of PIA. That was where I met his
family: two twin sons and a daughter. His courage to be in office was very
admirable and his family support was commendable. I was often invited to
their home and found him to be very inspiring. He is one of the few people I
ever met who, despite severe disability, gave full strength to his family
and himself and lived an honorable life. He catered for higher education to
his children and his sons rose to high positions.
Deedar Sanghi Houston, Texas
During my business ventures, I
build a new Chevron gas station and convenience food store operating 24
hours a day all year long. This was a very successful and financially
profitable adventure but manpower was always a problem. As it was a cash
business, it was very difficult to find honest cashiers. Deedar Sanghi was
one of those few honest cashiers who had worked part time for me but left
for better opportunity. I had told him that he could get this job back any
time he wanted due to his integrity.
One night I received a call at
2.30 a.m. from Bay Shore Hospital Pasadena Texas informing me that they had
found a person who was brain dead and with no identification. What he
possessed was but my business card. When they gave me his description, I
found out that he was my new manager who had started working a few weeks
ago. I immediately rushed to the hospital where I came across a Pakistani
family also sitting in the waiting area. The hospital staff wanted me to
decide to unplug his life support as there was no chance of his survival. I
refused to do so and asked them to give me some time to locate his relatives
and get their permission to let an end meet his life.
The lady who was sitting in the
waiting area asked me who I was and during her conversation asked me if I
would hire her brother in place of my manager who was not dead yet. I was so
disappointed in her attitude that she had no courtesy for the person who she
had come to visit. This showed how selfish and self-centered human beings
are and they have no ethics but selfishness is deeply rooted in them.
Any way, we visited my manager’s
apartment and retrieved a small telephone diary, which I brought to my
office. I started calling each number to check out his relatives. My second
call was picked up by someone I knew: it was Deedar Sanghi. I asked him what
he was doing there as the number was listed with another name. He told me
that until yesterday he had been working at a store for the last three
years. The store was sold and new owners had fired him. So he was visiting a
friend of him and had taken a day off and would continue searching for new
job from the next day. I told him about the condition of my manager and
asked him to come and work for me. He gladly accepted my offer.
Moral of the story is that no one
is indispensable. God has created an alternative of every one and helps the
needy in a very strange way. On one side my manager passed away; on the
other, I found an honest man; and he, being jobless, found a job with me.
Deedar proved to be very honest
and dedicated to my business and disclosed to me so many inside stories
about the misdoing some of my close relatives and friends were involved in
while working for me. It is hard to find people like Deedar. Though he was
not highly educated and came from a small village of Sind, he had high moral
ethics and high degree of honest attitude.
Side by side, I contacted the
mother of my manager and told her about her son’s condition that she had not
seen in the last fourteen years. His mother’s last wish was to ensure that
his body was flown to her so that she could see him for the last time. I
called several of my friends including Shameem Ahmed, Ghulam Bombaywala, and
Naveed Saleem. They donated money to make arrangements to send his dead body
to Pakistan. However, by the time the body was released to be shipped, I
received full payment of his funeral expenses from his cousin in Middle
East. And he bore all the expenses. So, I returned all the donations
received from my friends. There are good people all around you whom you can
find but you will have to make some efforts as they are all hidden behind
the curtain.
Dr Ayaz Mahmud Durrani
Dr.Ayaz Durrani and our family met in
Bay City Texas in 1985. Dr. Durrani is a highly educated and reputable
urologist in Texas. Aside from being an urologist and fertility specialist
he is also an inventor of many surgical instruments and has developed many
new surgical procedures. Many of his inventions are patented by US Patent
office.
One of his invention “Right angle
needle for radical prostatectomy” is sold world-wide. Many more of his
inventions for management of urethral strictures, catheters, and other
urologic indications are in the process of marketing.
 Dr.
Durrani comes from Bahawalpur and was raised in an educated family. His
father served in the armed forces of Pakistan. He was admitted in Dow
Medical College on scholarship from Bahwalpur and completed his medical
studies. He then went to England and became certified in the Royal College
of Surgeons. Dr Durrani served as chief surgeon of a 150-bed hospital in
Zambia. There he met with Najma his better half. They got Married and moved
to United States in 1972. He persuaded a Urology residency at the Lahey
Clinic in Boston and moved to Texas where he continued his Urology
practices. He has served as chief of staff in Bay City’s Matagorda General
Hospital and as one of the few Urologists in the surrounding cities like Bay
City, Angleton, and Sweeny etc. He moved to Houston in 1999, besides working
with Memorial South West hospital he maintains his practice in Memorial
Herman South West and Angleton Danbury Hospital.
Our families have many similarities;
both of our spouses have played a key role in our growth and success by
working side by side through out our career. We both have two children, our
oldest ones are supporting our business and the younger ones have pursed
medical careers. We share similar interests which includes love for music,
taste for good food and tennis. In addition to this he loves gardening,
fishing, and has passion for musical instruments. He plays harmonium, tabla,
sitar, and sing vocals. In some circles people know him as a musician before
a physician. I am yet to meet a multi talented person like him
who has excelled in any thing he wanted to accomplish. Both of our spouses
have dedicated their lives to raise children and both have a passion for
interior decorating. In business also we share similar interests like
investing in real estate besides our professional careers.
Dr. Durrani is one of the few doctors
who do not let success come in their way to serve humanity. A very good
example of this is that several years ago on Thanksgiving Day my wife fell
very ill and all the doctor’s offices were closed for the holidays. Dr.
Durrani specially opened his office and took care of my wife which was
greatly appreciated by my family.
In all the years of my living in USA I
have never met a doctor with such a down to earth personality. Generally
superiority complex is found in high class professionals particularly
doctors. A good example is a very close family friend who I called on a long
week end to attend to my daughter who was suffering bronchitis and high
fever. The response was that “I don’t have my stethoscope at home please
take her to the emergency room”. If doctors treat their friends in this
manner how would they treat their patients? In my view doctors must attend
to the sick at the time of the need and keep humanity on the top of their
agenda. I find Dr. Durrani not only to be an excellent professional but also
a great humanitarian.
Dur Mohammad Usto Jacobabad
Dur Mohammed Usto was one of the least
educated yet very successful politicians of Sind who remained an elected
representative of Jacobabad for many years. He was one of the most low
profile and soft-spoken persons. He respected and helped everyone. He served
as Federal Minister and provincial Minister for many years.
My father, while posted as Additional
District Magistrate Jacobabad in 1963, was the election presiding officer
for National Assembly elections. Dur Mohammed Usto and Afzal Khan Khoso, a
local Barrister, were in competition with each other in this election.
Interestingly both of them were given equal number of votes. According to
the prevailing election laws, the presiding officer had the right to cast
the final last vote, which could decide the destiny of the election. This
decision was to be taken within 24 hours of completion of the elections. As
Dur Mohammed Usto was not very much educated, therefore my father made up
his mind to give his precious vote to Barrister Afzal Khan Khoso. That day
in the evening Afzal Khan Khoso came to visit my father with a brief case
containing Rs. 500,000 ($ 100,000 US dollars at that time). He wanted to
bribe my father for which he was ready to pay dearly. But my father took him
outside his official bungalow and threw the brief case on the street and
changed his vote to Dur Mohammad Usto, who gratefully accepted and was later
on appointed as Federal Minister. On the other side Dur Muhammad Usto never
made any effort to pursue my father to vote for him. My father kept his high
standard of honesty and integrity and told Afzal Khan Khoso that he was one
unlucky person as he was getting his vote without his money. Dur Mohammed
Usto always respected my father for this action.
During 1974-75 one day my father
got a call from Dur Mohammed to get an appointment to see him. Dur Mohammad
Usto was serving as Provincial Minister Education. Therefore my father told
him that it is against the government protocol for him to visit him and
agreed to see him in his office. My father and I visited Sind Assembly
Building around 10 p.m. when he came at the gate to greet my father. As he
wanted a favor from my father in some matter, the business was taken care
right away and they started talking about old times.
At that time, I got an idea of my own. My
elder brother Shabir Ahmed, who, by that time, had acquired Bachelor of
Science degree, was working as a chemist in remote area Sugar mill. As my
father would never ask any favors from anyone, my brother was not in a
position to get a better job. I took the liberty without consulting my
father requesting Dur Mohammad Usto to get my brother some job. He
immediately called Director of Technical Education and asked him if he had
any vacant position matching with Shabir’s experience and education.
Luckily, there was a position of Instructor at Polytechnic College located
at walking distance from our home in Hyderabad. He asked me to go to his
private secretary and get an application typed up and issued orders for his
appointment. Shabir once joined that job got admission in Mehran Engineering
University and worked very hard by teaching as well as attending college and
achieved his engineering degree some four years after me but with 3rd
position in the university equal to my position. Later on, he was hired as
lecturer at Mehran Engineering University and got his Masters from
Manchester England. He is presently serving as professor of electrical
engineering in the same institute.
This is a classic example that a little push
and little common sense at the right time can change course of someone’s
life.
Dur Mohammed Usto served his constituents
honorably and remained my father’s friend till his end and always gave him
full respect and never forgot the favor.
In my view many of us need to abide by the
rules and stop illegal practices to achieve our goals as Afzal Khan Khoso
did and lost chance of getting elected and may be missed a chance to be the
federal minister due to his bribable and sinister thinking.
Fareed Shah Haqqi Milwaukee
Fareed Shah came into the circle of my
acquaintances in last days of Mayor Lee P. Brown’s first election campaign.
He appeared to very handsome but cunning and used Ghulam Bombaywala and
Lutfi Hassan to get a position to work as campaign staffer and later on got
hired as Mayor’s staff. Shah, who had recently moved from Chicago, emerged
as a big success once Lee Brown got elected as first Afro-American Mayor of
Houston. As Lutfi Hassan was very smart and sensed that ambitious and
determined Shah could be serviceable for him to achieve his agenda in the
City Hall, he extended full support to Shah to carry through his wish. Shah
was appointed as Assistant to the Executive Assistant to the Mayor at a very
low management level. Initially he worked under Helen Chang, where he could
not last for a few months and was later on transferred to work for Carol
Alvarado (who got elected City Council Member). Shah, being the first
Pakistani appointed at City Hall, was a big accomplishment for the Pakistani
community by getting representation in the Mayor’s office for the first time
in the history.
If worked in the right style, Shah could
have climbed up the political ladder to reach a consummate higher position.
But because of his selfish, arrogant and conceited nature, he was
practically forced to leave the City Hall after serving three and a half
years. This was because Shah started acting just like the Pakistani
bureaucrats keeping himself secluded and isolated by catering to the needs
of only a few people like Bombaywala and Lutfi Hassan. Knowingly that I was
very close to Mayor Brown, he always worked against me though on the surface
he played friendly.
Once we started meeting at community events,
Shah’s wife got into friendly terms with my wife Amber, and we started to
socialize often. Shah’s wife was more mature and straighter in dealing as
compared to him. She is a medical practitioner with a very affectionate
personality. Socially, they were very entertaining and carried high degree
of manners but weak in hospitality. During our initial sittings, once I
asked my wife about Shah if he would be a genuine friend and if I could
trust him politically. She responded to me with three words for Shah “I, Me,
and Myself”. I could never forget these words which proved to be not only
true for me but many of our mutual friends who eventually caught up with his
style of out doing every one of us. All through Shah’s three and a half
years tenure in the Mayor’s office, he did not let anyone enter the
political arena; as well as, he did not hire a single intern from South
Asian countries to learn how the City Government worked. On the other hand,
during my two-year tenure as Advisor to Mayor, I hired thirteen interns from
India, Pakistan, Iran and Bangladesh who learnt a lot how the political
process worked. What we need is to encourage our young generation to come
forward and learn the system and be part of the action. Unfortunately, when
young people come in power, they do not extend help to others to enter
political field due to fear of competition.
With the passage of time, complaints against
Shah were growing and he was given a signal to himself leave or he could be
fired. He was very smart and quit his job while maintaining good relations
in the City Hall and with the Mayor. He subsequently moved to Milwaukee. Now
he visits Houston periodically. Every time I meet him, he tells me about a
different job or different project he is accomplishing which shows that he
does not posses consistent behavior otherwise he could have been a big
success. He is cunning and smart and he can manipulate people at times. But
if he had kept his arrogant behavior in control and helped the community, he
could have been a big success.
The night three Pakistani store clerks were
murdered in Houston, Masrur Jawaid Khan, who later became first Pakistani
Muslim City Council Member, called Shah at 1:30 a.m. to seek for some help.
Shah’s response was that it was too late to call anyone and asked Masrur to
come and see him in his office at 9 a.m. Frustrated Masrur, who was
President of Pakistani Association of Greater Houston, called me as well as
asked Mian Nazir to call me around 1:45 a.m. for help. As I was very close
to Mayor Brown and had his private numbers, I immediately dialed his home
number. Mayor’s wife Francis Brown picked up the phone and I requested her
to get me through to the Mayor. She told me that he was traveling to San
Francisco to attend the funeral of his close friend. Once she came to know
about urgency of the matter she gave me Mayor’s contact in San Francisco. I
left message for the Mayor and a return call came within a few minutes. I
briefed Mayor about three murders of Pakistani store clerks causing a panic
and wave of fear among Pakistani storeowners. He told me to wait for the
Chief of Police C.E. Bradford’s call to reach me shortly. Within minutes I
received a call from Chief Bradford. He asked me as to what we should do to
calm the community. I suggested forming a task force to search for the
murderer and arrange a meeting with the community leaders the next day. This
meeting was scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Police Head Quarters. Around 10
a.m., when I was leaving for the Police head quarters, my wife got a call
from Shah’s wife and during social talk she told her that the meeting which
was scheduled at the Chief’s office was already held in Shah’s office at 9
a.m. This was the time I felt that Shah was trying to cut me off from the
loop to show his superiority and was trying to take the credit for the
initiative that actually I had taken already. The meeting at the Chief’s
Office was still held and various items were discussed including how to
protect storeowners and stop robberies and murders. The next meeting was
scheduled after two days on a Friday after funeral of the victims at 3 p.m.
to review police progress in the case. Just before the meeting, I received
call from the Chief of Police that the murderer was arrested but we still
needed to attend the meeting to brief the media about this case. After the
meeting, I made one of the biggest political mistakes of my life that
instead of leading the press briefing I told M.J. Khan to lead media
interview where he started his political career. I still recollect ABC news
correspondent’s comments: “You folks have a lot of pull in this city that
you got the murderer arrested within 24 hours.” For me this was a big
achievement of our community and if we would have continued working together
as a team we could have achieved a higher position in the political arena.
Unfortunately, we cut each other’s throats and never let others climb the
ladder. We spend more time in intrigues to bring people down than to perform
some positive work. In the mean while, Shah was in the background but was
very upset by the fact that we had used our contacts to handle this problem
without his help. Moreover, his refusal to take any step at the time of need
gave clear message that he did not carry so much weight to take steps to
help the community. Truly speaking, we had over expectations from an
Assistant to the Executive Assistant to the Mayor, which was merely a
clerical position.
Subsequently, a big memorial rally was
organized by the community where Shah tried to take all the credit for the
situation but by this time he was exposed within the group. Due to this
incident Police started patrolling stores more frequently and a Robbery
Prevention Video was developed to educate store owners as how to protect
such robberies and murders. This video was later on provided free of cost to
store owners and crimes in stores reduced tremendously. Thanks to the then
Chief of police and Mayor Brown, who changed the policies and achieved
positive results. Since the new administration of Mayor Bill White, the
policy has not been followed so vigorously and crime rate in stores has
again escalated for which the community members must raise their voice.
Shah was so slick that in one instance
Bombaywala asked me to support Shah to get promotion and I gladly asked the
Mayor that Shah’s salary was not enough to keep him in Houston. And if he
does not get this promotion we will loose the only link with the City Hall.
To my amusement, after a few weeks of my reminding the Mayor for his
promotion, I was told that he was promoted within days of my request. Shah,
contrarily, did not have a courtesy to inform me about his promotion and
never said a word of thanks to me. One day Shah and I were waiting for Mayor
Brown to arrive at an event at Hyatt regency Downtown. Upon Mayor’s arrival
he pointed to Shah and asked me: “Manny, who is this?” I was surprised that
why Mayor was asking me about one of his Assistants. I immediately responded
to him that Mayor he was your right hand and my left hand based on his
geographical position at the time. Later on I wondered about Mayor’s
question and then realized that he was letting Shah know that he was known
to him because of us and he did not carry any weight. Mayor Brown was very
tactful to have passed this message to him as well as to me that it was only
due to our hard work and connections that Shah was in the City Hall. Shah is
a typical example of new generation Karachites who have been trained to get
their ambitious goals by overstepping anyone’s toes. However, as they say
king makers shape the kings and crack them too, one should respect and honor
the people who have supported you at the time of need and work together for
the betterment of your community rather than achieving personal goals and
dumping your friends. At the end of the day, it is the same people who would
devastate you and you will be transgressed and dishonored. Politicians, in
particular, are the victim of this ailment as they forget which people
worked hard to bring them into power. Once they forget their friends, those
are the very people who turn to work against them and topple their power.
There is a famous quote: “If you want a person’s faults, go to those who
love him. They will not tell you but they know.” And those people are the
ones who would break hardcore of your power. Therefore please do not forget
your friends.
Shah Haqqi shared with me a very interesting
analogy. Once, his father directed him to marry a Punjabi girl if he wanted
to be successful. I think his father must be very smart-witted and had
foreseen the grip of the Punjab on the infrastructure of the country.
Factual as it is, without their support no one can rise to peak. Looking
back into the lives of many people like Masrur Jawaid Khan; Capt. Usman Ali
Issani; and my uncle Azizullah Memon, I do feel that marrying a Punjabi girl
would be very profitable if one needs to penetrate the Pakistani elite
culture. This is the same way Jewish girls are encouraged to marry outside
their circle to convert their spouses to Jewish religion as well as take
political and financial control of outside agencies. The Punjab has been
very successful in their goals chasing and has maintained strong control
over the Pakistani armed forces where other provinces are discouraged to
join. Though this eventually will create desperation and cause a civil war
within Pakistan but for the last 60 years the Punjab has been successful in
exploiting the country’s resources. In my view middle class Urdu speaking
people try to marry a doctor and preferably a Punjabi girl to achieve their
goals. Marriage is more of a business and a ladder to success for many
people like Shah . In contrast, I strongly believe that marriages
should take place to form a cohesive family and a sweet home and not to use
one’s spouse for financial goals.
Ghulam Mohammed Bombaywala Houston
Bombaywala and I became acquainted several years ago but got closer during
Mayor Brown’s first election. Bombay is the senior most Pakistani in the
local political arena and has been involved in mainstream politics since
President Regan’s time. He is one of the few less educated people I have met
who have achieved self-education and risen to the altitudinous level. He is
a very sharp, smart and cool-minded person who knows how to deal with
people. He is one of the best persons to raise funds for the community and
other projects. He has an art to win people if he wants and has been helping
poor people discreetly for which God has always blessed him. The only
drawback I found in him was to shy away from resolving matters between his
friends. This has caused a decline in his popularity in the community. As a
leader one has to get dirty and jump in the mud of rows and flaws to resolve
problems to move forward. I always found Ghulam to have the
let-the-nature-heal-the-wounds attitude, which is very harmful for leaders.
 Bombay
has a long history of achievements from his first day in the U.S.A. He came
with twenty U.S. dollars in his pocket and applied for a job at Restaurant
Michael Angelo located at Wertheimer Houston. Due to his non-proficiency of
English language, he was refused the job as a busboy or even the dish
cleaner. He subsequently applied for a job as convenience store clerk to
fill gas at the pumps where he was robbed on the very first night of his
work. This is an ideal story of an eighteen year old who later on not only
purchased the restaurant where he was refused the job, but also established
chains of restaurants including Marcos Mexican Restaurants, Pasta Company,
Macaroni Grill. He purchased chain of James Coney Island, an American hotdog
eatery, and expanded his portfolio with real estate and commercial
properties businesses.
Once you
get established and famous you can lose control of your business enterprises
because of lack of interest or mismanagement and you start falling apart.
That is what happened to Bombay. On one side, Bombay declared so many
bankruptcies of his businesses, and on the other, it looked as though he
were using the bankruptcy laws to make more money. Apparently, he was
following his Jewish friends who are very egregious and well known in
misusing the American bankruptcy laws to make hefty profits and cheating the
financial institutions. Bombay followed that trend and has been fighting his
proceedings for a few years. However, at one time he was one of the top
entrepreneurs of Houston interviewed by Oprah Winfery and many renowned TV
and radio hosts. He was an ideal American dream come true who came to
America with nothing but rose to the peak.
Once he
achieved his financial independence he diverted, his energies to politics
and then to philanthropy. He established House of Charity, a non-profit
organization, which sponsors children with disabilities to be brought from
the third world countries, and treated here. In addition, this organization
has been taking medical missions to Pakistan where the American doctors
conduct operations on the spot.
I worked
with Bombay on several projects as well as in the political arena. He is a
one fantastic host and spends lavishly to carve ways not only for himself
but for his close friends to enter the mainstream politics. He organizes
extravagant parties and is very generous in serving the people. By this he
achieves his strength in the community and political organizations. He has
served as Chairman of South Asian Chamber of Commerce and currently serving
his last term as President of Pakistan association of Greater Houston (PAGH).
His major accomplishment is the acquisition of a close HEB Grocery building
which is being converted into a retail center and community banquet hall, a
self-sustained project for the PAGH. Pakistani American community Center
will be the first of such projects built in the United States of America for
the welfare of the Pakistani people.
Although
Bombay has been working tirelessly for long time, his critics hold diverse
views about him. For instance, in the early days of his business venture,
death of his partner has been attributed to some financial dispute, which
caused heart attack to his partner. Though he died of natural death, Bombay's
critics have blamed him for the incident. However Bombay fervently denies any dispute
and claim to have helped the family of deceased after this incident. His
bankruptcy proceedings are mentioned with doubts and his philanthropic
activities are portrayed as more for media and public attention rather than
for the sake of helping the poor. The Executive Director of House of
charity, Hashmat Effendi, has been exploited in the community for milking
money through her organization. Her husband Tariq Effendi, who has been
blamed for losses to many investors in a failed stock scheme, is also part
of this charity. Superficially, Hashmat seems to be doing a lot of hard work
but many major donors to this organization have reservation about the
consumption of funds. According to one donor 87% of his donated funds were
used in administrative cost including office maintenance, traveling,
salaries, etc. and 13% of his money was used in the programs. Unfortunately,
most of charitable organizations, like the Red Cross, spend enormous amounts
to run the programs. At the end, aids reaching to the needy are less in
proportion than it should be. Recently, I came across with a volunteer who
visited Tsunami victims in Indonesia where she witnessed five Red Cross
workers making $ 16 an hour disbursed total $ 500 in a day to the needy
people. This comes to $ 640 spent on just the salaries to disburse $ 500.
Though House of charity has been audited by radio personality Marvin Zingler
of local television station but doubts about the financial aspects of this
organization still remain in the air. In my view a few local people with a
high degree of honesty and integrity should be requested to audit the
accounts of this organization to show the clear picture of this
organization.
Due to
this negativity and his being media conscious, Bombay’s achievements are
overshadowed. What I perceive is that he is better than a good many those
who have achieved nothing in their life comparing to Bombay who is doing at
least something may be a little for publicity also but is helping the poor
and needy. At the end of the day only God Almighty is the One Who knows the
inner intentions of humans whether the charity is done please Him or was
merely observed to make an impression upon people. I always believe in
giving credit to a person for something he has done rather than the people
who just criticize others.
Ghulam
Bombaywala: Addendum 2007
Bombay possesses one of the
common symptoms found in people in power: to keep educated and highly
talented individuals on the sidelined positions. Such people have
inferiority complex; they fear that civil society, those who adhere to their
own beliefs and principles, might take their leadership role and move ahead
of them. Owing to such characteristics, Bombay has lost most of his friends
and support from the civil society and his image has come to a tarnished
state. To me, leaders should have the guts and spirits to confer with the
educated, knowledgeable, and smart individuals to consolidate their power
rather than to get intimidated and scared by their skills and knowledge.
The last two years, I worked very closely with Bombay –
when he asked me to lead the Construction efforts to build the first
Pakistani 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. At the
end, a project initially considered to cost $1.2 million, was completed at
the cost of $655,000, almost half of the initial estimates. The project was
only a two-man 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.
Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Nawabshah Former Prime
Minister of Pakistan
 Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi belongs to
one of the biggest feudal family of Sind. Jatoi family has always been
involved in elections on the lower level. However, during Shaheed Bhutto’s
rising power Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi became Federal Minister and Chief Minister
Sind. Later on he achieved his life long dream and was appointed as Prime
Minister of Pakistan during a transitional period. He was mainly chosen to
give an impression of the representation from Sind. With the fact that he
was a low profile and weak administrator, he was the best pick for the job
by the establishment to serve their purpose. Looking as far back as I can, I
do not find any concrete work done by him for the common good of people
except supporting his feudal friends and relatives.
I have only three stories about Ghulam
Mustafa Jatoi, which can reflect about his personality.
After my graduation, in 1974, when I had
acquired my degree in electrical engineering, I wanted to join Industries
Department of Sind Government where there was a position requiring my
qualifications. Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi was the Chief Minister of Sind and my
Uncle Nizamuddin Memon was working as Advisor to the Prime Minister Shaheed
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto for political affairs. Bashir Moriani was the provincial
secretary for Industries Department. I asked Uncle Nizam to get my
appointment order issued from the Chief Minister who did and the file was
sent to Bashir for issuance of formal appointment order. This process should
have been completed within one week but Bashir kept on dodging and never
issued my order. After about three months, I was approached by a good friend
of mine Nisar Channa, who informed me that he has made a deal to pay Rs
50,000 with Bashir Moriani for the same position which I was seeking. He
asked me if I could ask my uncle to get his application endorsed by the
Chief Minister Jatoi for consideration only. When I told uncle Nizam he
wanted to confirm if Nisar’s story was valid; he got his application
endorsed by the chief minister. Nisar was appointed as Assistant Director
Industries next day and started working immediately. This showed the fragile
administrative capability of Mr. Jatoi that his orders were never
implemented by his immediate sub-ordinates due to his weak nature.
In his school days once he wore hunter’s
attire with a cap to attend grammar school where dress code was very formal.
While he was accompanied by Abdul Kadir Siddiqui former Secretary Law Sind,
the principal of the school saw Ghulam Mustafa and ironically asked him:
“Mr. Jatoi which jungle are you coming from?” Confused Ghulam Mustafa
responded: “Sir, I come from Nawabshah.”
While he was Chief Minister Sind, my father
was Registrar Co-operative Societies Sind. I used to be very closed to my
father and knew his schedule. One night, at about 1 a.m., while my father
had retired to his bedroom; I received a call on our official phone line.
The other side asked for my father and I replied the person that my father
had gone to sleep and this was not an appropriate time for any one to call.
The person on the other side said: “This is Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi the Sind
Chief Minister and I want to speak to Mr. Memon right now”. I very well knew
that father had to attend a meeting at the Chief Minister house the next
morning at 8 a.m.; this meant that he had to wake up at 5 a.m. in order to
travel from Hyderabad to Karachi. Knowing that my father had just gone to
bed, it was not appropriate for me to disturb his sleep. I told Mr. Jatoi
that my father had just gone to bed and he was supposed to meet him at 8
a.m. and it was not appropriate to wake him until it was a life and death
situation. As my father was holding a non-administrative position, there
could be nothing important to wake him up at 1 a.m. He kept on insisting
that I should wake my father up and I refused to do so and told him that
this was not a fair manner to treat government officials. He kept on arguing
and finally I hanged up the phone on him for which he complained to my
father. It is so disappointing to know that he wanted a simple and
unimportant task to be done by my father for which he was ruining his whole
night.
Unfortunately, most of the politicians,
particularly those who drink alcohol, work very late and expect their
sub-ordinates to remain awake with them. Being in the Pakistani bureaucracy
is like being someone’s servant and there is no sense of family time given
to the people by their bosses.
Over all, Mr. Jatoi has acted very humbly
and nobly with people though he has not served his constituents to give them
something in return. In my view, he could have achieved a lot but chose to
stay a low profile, friendly person to everyone and served his own family
and friends.
Ghulam Nabi Memon (Moraie)
I met Ghulam Nabi during my college second
year while he was in his third year and was serving as Vice President of
student union. He used to live in a special accommodation in the Mehran
Hostel and offered me to be his partner. I stayed with him for one year and
completed my tenure in the college occupying the same room. Ghulam Nabi was
a handsome, well-dressed and friendly person. However, as he came from a
small town of Moro, Sind, his grooming was more like a villager than a city
boy. He developed relationships with higher-class people and was very
successful in getting himself financially victorious through those contacts.
As time flew by, I found out several things
Ghulam Nabi did which hurt my feeling and some way harmed a few of my family
members.
For instance, I introduced him to one of my
relatives whom he proposed to marry and kept her in limbo for several years
and eventually broke off relationship. The worst part was that I was kept in
darkness throughout the time. In our culture this is considered very cheap
and low to make such connections. This only factor was the reason when he
came to the US, I refused to see him due to his low moral character.
In other case, he was indirectly responsible
for damaging my brother Aamir’s career. Aamir, when migrated to the USA,
came with a student Visa. Upon his arrival I set him up in a one-bedroom
apartment, bought him a car and furnished his apartment; and provided him
with an evening job as a manager at my store. Apart from that I paid for his
first semester fees and told him that he had to support himself as I had
made him all independent. Just after the first semester, Ghulam Nabi’s
younger brother, Ghulam Moieuddin joined Aamir in Houston. Due to Ghulam
Nabi’s poor character, I discouraged his brother to get close to us and in
hate he kept on instigating my brother. He preached him that his elder
brother was paying for his education and I should be paying for Aamir too.
This misinformation made Aamir very frustrated and he chose other venues and
moved there with him. Consequently, Aamir couldn’t finish college and
Moieuddin completed his college degree. Moieuddin, because of lot of illegal
money made by his brother, could afford to study without any work; whereas,
I could not afford to pay for four years college expenses of Aamir. The
frustration created by Moieuddin made Aamir waste his seven years, as
eventually he had to go back to Pakistan and wait for his green card, which
was also sponsored by me. I wish he would have followed the advice of his
elder brother not the outsiders and made his life more comfortable and
avoided the wastage of his prime time.
Ghulam Rasool (G.R.)
Baluch Counsel General Pakistan, Houston
 As soon as the government of Pakistan
announced opening of new consulate in Houston, we found out that G.R. Baluch
had been nominated as Counsel General. Several years ago I had met with
Abdul Rasool Baluch working in Pakistan Embassy in Washington D.C. I
misunderstood that A.R.Baluch is the one coming to Houston. However when I
visited Pakistan I found out that A.R. Baluch was working as Chairman
Insurance Corporation who connected me to G.R. Baluch who was then serving
as Deputy Chief Protocol, Karachi. I had a very brief meeting with G.R.
Baluch in Pakistan when he gave me his vision what he would like to see in
the new consulate. As I have been exposed to Pakistani bureaucracy since my
childhood, my immediate impression about him was that he was a typical
bureaucrat but refined because he came from diplomatic core.
I was very pessimistic about his ideas as
how he wanted to build the consulate in Houston but after a six-month
struggle, he did construct a consulate just like the vision he had, before
coming to the U.S.A. The biggest dilemma Baluch faced after coming to
Houston was leasing an appropriate space for the consulate. After being
rejected by several landlords due to post 9/11 security reasons he selected
a 2-story building owned by a former Pakistan army officer. Though I was not
in agreement with the idea to locate consulate at a very distant place from
the core community, it did have some advantages. And since then the
consulate has served the people professionally and satisfactorily for which
I admire G.R. Baluch’s visionary thinking and hard work.
Baluch is not only very eloquent and
articulate speaker but to the point and very pertinent to the occasion. I
have met so many diplomats but have found only a few like him who are so
well-spoken and knowledgeable about world affairs, literature and social
issues.
His other admirable quality was to be part
of each and every event organized by any group of the Pakistani community.
He always treated everyone equally though most of the community members
always judged him as a Sindhi diplomat and at many times did not give him
due protocol. To me, he was not treated fairly by some of our community
leaders only because he was from Sind.
Baluch, though treated everyone equally, was
never very friendly on the personal level and always acted like a
bureaucrat. In my view, because of chummy nature of people of Pakistan, he
likes to keep distance from people to keep himself in a safe zone.
In general no one will forget his
contributions for the commencement of the first Pakistani consulate in
Houston. This consulate has been designed to be customer friendly where you
do not have to wait in queues or at the windows to turn in your documents.
Consulate comprises a well-decorated hall and library where people can read
newspapers and watch TV while waiting for their documents. Currently Baluch
is serving as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Vietnam. At the end of his term
Pakistani American Association of Greater Houston and Pakistan Chamber of
Commerce jointly hosted a farewell dinner for him besides my personal lunch
for him. The disappointing part was that when he arrived at the beginning of
his assignment there were more than 50 community members came to receive him
. But upon his departure there was no one but two of his staff members
And I was present at the airport. It is so
sad that we all entertain the rising sun and forget the people when they are
leaving us. Baluch was a honorable man and served his country and our
community honorably.
Ghulam Rasool Sial Steel Mill, Karachi
Ghulam Rasool was introduced to me by my
cousin Khalid Iqbal Memon MNA, PPP Larkana, during my stay in Karachi while
I was working in PIA. He sent him to me to get a job in Karachi. Ghulam
Rasool worked and stayed with me till 1976 until I got him a job as a bus
driver in Pakistan Steel Mill through a friend of mine.
Ghulam Rasool, though very poor, has a
unique quality I have seen in merely a few human beings. Sincerity,
genuineness, honesty and integrity shown by him, has placed him in my heart
at a much higher level than many of the people I have ever met. Since then
Ghulam Rasool has been a loyal friend and has been always helpful to me.
After moving to the U.S.A., whenever I have visited Pakistan I have seen him
at the airport upon my arrival. Unless I have not left the country, he has
accompanied me like a personal bodyguard, secretary, and companion. His
family loves me and my family and takes care of us whenever we are in
Pakistan.
In my life time God has blessed me to help
lot of people but a few have ever acknowledged my efforts; however, Ghulam
Rasool not only acclaimed but reciprocated favor with service he has given
to me and my family. I wish people should not forget the people who have
been responsible for their success. They should not only acknowledge their
favor but try to reciprocate help not only to those who helped them but to
others so that this chain reaction of human generosity can continue and
spread all over the world. In practical life, my biggest regret out of human
behavior has been that most of the people whom I have helped have
backstabbed me, and my major financial losses and mental anguish has been
caused by these very people. A person like Ghulam Rasool Sial, a simple bus
driver and financially very distressed, is on top of my list for the human
goodness he has showed to me.
Gordon Quan Former Houston City Council
Member
While working as Advisor to Mayor for South
Asian Affairs I met Gordon Quan, a Chinese immigrant and a success story
within South Asian community. Gordon was one of the very few city council
members who served our community without much financial support from us. He
proved to be a true public servant and served us more than our own Pakistani
Councilman Masrur Jawaid Khan did.
 Gordon Quan, due to his strong nature of
generosity, rose to the position of Mayor Pro-term and served the then Mayor
Lee Brown with high degree of integrity and honesty. He became victim of
Mayor Bill White’s misleading hopes given to our community when the Mayor
collaborated with the Hispanics and sidelined Afro-Americans and South
Asians to solidify his political standings. In this dilemma, Gordon was
replaced by Carol Alvarado, a Hispanic, to be the Mayor Pro-term who proved
to be a huge embarrassment for Mayor Bill White later on. Again, here, an
honest and dedicated public servant was replaced owing to political reasons
and caused taxpayers big losses. Though Carol Alvardo is an intelligent and
smart lady, she rose to a high position without much experience on her side
and consequently caused high mental anguish and political damage to the
Hispanics.
Gordon was always part of our community
events and I always introduced him as Star of South Asia as he did serve his
people with highest degree of honor and righteousness. I hope he will come
back in public service and serve his people in the political field.
Gordon is an immigration attorney and has
always been helpful to anyone I have recommended him and many of our
immigrant community members are living in this blessed country due to his
untiring efforts to get them legalized. In my view he should be treated like
a role model for the young politicians and we should learn from him how to
carry ourselves.
Hakim Ali Zardari Karachi
While studying in my first year in
D.J. College, Karachi, one day, on my way to Hyderabad in a train, I met
Kazi Khuda Bux, the then District Session Judge, Karachi. Kazi K.B. was my
father’s friend. He invited me to visit him at his office. After few weeks I
visited my friend, Deedar Soomro, a civil judge; at the City Court. Then I
also visited Khuda Bux Kazi. Considering that he was my father’s friend, I
had reluctantly accepted his invitation to have dinner with him and to watch
the movie Fall of the Roman Empire at Bambino cinema. This is where I
first met with Hakim Ali Zardari who also told me that he was very friendly
with my father then serving as Deputy Secretary Home Department, Government
of Sind. I found Hakim Ali very nice and thorough gentleman. He extended
high class of hospitality whenever I visited him afterward.
Hakim Ali is one of the few Sindhis who
diverted his attention to be an entrepreneur and was very successful in
establishing so many companies. One of the reasons why the MQM leadership
has been at odds with Benazir Bhutto is due to high level of success in
business by Hakim Ali and his son Asif Zardari. After so many years of
confinement in jail, no court could prove Asif Zardari or his father guilty
of any crime. Unfortunately, this is the biggest dilemma that people in
politics cannot do honest business and after their opponents take the power,
most of their assets are fueled in saving their belongings.
After talking to several bureaucrats, it was
revealed to me that Zardaris did make several business deals during their
time in power but paid for everything they purchased. On one side Asif
Zardari was exploited a lot by the MQM and many opposition parties; yet
Hakim Ali Zardari kept his chin high and lived a decent life. During his
days at high profile position he was always very cordials with government
officers and treated them fairly. Contrary to him, Asif did use his power to
get his way, which caused him lot of grief, mental anguish and distress. If
he would have kept his positive attitude and made more friends than enemies,
he could have prolonged the PPP’s rule. Mutual respect is a key factor,
which makes one’s life easy, and gives peace to self.
In Pakistani society people do receive
preferential treatment when in power but if a deal is made per the
government rules, no one can challenge them. For example all the army
officers get a plot in Defense Housing Society; they can either keep or sell
it. They pay the government price and sale in the black-market. If this is
acceptable then if someone buys a KDA plot at the government rate it should
not be considered illegal. Army officers from bottom to top receive huge
financial packages, which never get challenged in the courts, but
politicians making an honest deal go to jail.
My personal view is that one should try to
keep the politics and public service separated from business deals to ensure
100 % honesty if one wants to be proclaimed fair and virtuous.
In my view the Sindhi feudals should learn
from Hakim Ali Zardari how to get successful in business, as he is a role
model for us as for as business is concerned.
Haroon Sheikh Houston
Haroon
Sheikh and I came in close contact when I was elected as President Elect,
Pakistan Chamber of Commerce-USA (PCC) while he served as the President.
 Haroon
and I came at odds right from the beginning of our relationship starting
from our oath ceremony till today. As I was still working as Advisor to the
Houston Mayor for South Asian Affairs, I took away all the limelight from
him that created severe resentment in him and till today he carries ill
feelings against me. Unfortunately, a lot of people perceived that I was
President elect and taking over the leadership gave me more protocol than he
deserved. His two years as President was over-shadowed by my high profile
position in the Mayor’s office and political affiliations with local
senators, congress members, and politicians. This sidelined him and put him
at odds with me.
Haroon is a typical Pakistani businessman and a very successful entrepreneur
and have this perception that anything and anybody can be purchased on a
certain price. Unfortunately, I came from a school of thought having learnt
the lesson that no one can buy my integrity and opinion with any
remuneration. Therefore, we always worked in opposite directions. Haroon did
make a lot of money by owing chain of Liquor Stores, Adult Bookstores,
Convenience Stores and real estate. He is a major partner in a CPA firm,
considered to be the largest Pakistani owned CPA firm in State of Texas.
Haroon
is a generous contributor when it comes to monetary aids, as well. He
provides free financial services to various community organizations. His
critics feel that he does this to get more business from the community and
it is his business maneuver rather than have a heart for the community
organizations. As he likes to have attention, many of cunning political
leaders use his money for political contributions to satisfy their political
agenda. In return Haroon has got the limelight and has perceived himself a
politician. In my view, Haroon has more caliber and qualities, which are
under used. He can mature himself to be a better and seasoned leader. He
needs to improve his command on English language and speaking techniques.
His major drawback was his inferiority complex, which I felt when during PCC
board meeting he made the following statement: “Memon Sahib, you always
treat me like shit.” I was really very disappointed by lack of his
confidence as I always treated him fairly and gave him proper protocol as my
President. The main problem with him is that he has not been raised in a
high-class bureaucratic atmosphere as I was; therefore, he lacked confidence
and was always looking for attention and media limelight.
Haroon
is a very good host and throws lavish parties at his house. Most of these
parties are arranged to get political leverage and make political contacts
and somewhat showing off his expensive house and beautiful decor. His major
complaint from me has been that I have never invited him to my home. I very
truthfully responded to his complaint: “We are very selective in bringing
people to our house and unfortunately he does not meet the criteria though
we have been friends outside since so many years.” Unfortunately Pakistani
people consider invitations at home the barometer of the friendship where as
in my view you invite only those people whom you consider true friends not
casual acquaintance and those people whom you trust and have no expectations
from each other. I considered Haroon as a political friend; therefore, I
always kept our relationship outside my house. Unluckily this statement
offended him a great deal, but I still hold that everybody lives by his
rules. For example, I do not visit anyone without an appointment or a prior
phone call nor visit anyone uninvited. Also if I am invited through a third
party, by the host I never honor such invitations as I think every
respectable person if invited must be properly invited by the host of the
event. The main reason for this is to get full respect, which you deserve
when you attend any event. Many of my friends do not like my habits but I
think one should follow the social ethics and rules of conduct to earn
respect in life.
Haroon has a very pleasant
personality; however, many a time he tries to enforce his opinion as the
final word and does not let others to share their point of view. His habit
sometimes portrayed him a dictator in the chamber matters and created many
problems. During his Presidency of PCC, he indulged himself and many of us
in removing Zafar Tahir from the position of Vice President Liaison. This
all ended up in a physical assault by Zafar Tahir to Haroon Sheikh, yet,
luckily, we all avoided a police case. It was odd that after a few months he
changed his political affiliations and joined forces with Zafar Tahir
keeping us in a limbo and which was never appreciated by any of our board
members. During my tenure as President he constantly poked his nose in the
chamber affairs and kept on undermining my caliber. He always created
political mayhem for me and I defeated him on political grounds. However,
after completing my one-year tenure, I chose not to extend my term to second
year because of lack of co-operation from executives of the chamber. Also
Haroon was on my case all the time and used his periodical dinners to create
political rivalry among the board members. On the other hand he wanted to
bring in his business partner Dr. Barkat Charania as the President who had
his ambition to be the President of Agha Khan Council and used this position
as a political ladder. In a nutshell, Haroon always tried to play politics
but does not have much community service credit embossed on his resume
though he claims to be one of the top leaders of our community. His biggest
weakness was his forgetfulness of anything he committed after 9 p.m. Some of
his friends think that it is due to some medication, which causes this
effect that he does not remember anything whatsoever that he says in the
late evening time. His habit has put him at odds with many of us but I think
it is beyond his control. His one dream is to be the leader of Pakistani
American Association of Greater Houston to get elected as President and so
far I do not see this happening soon.
Hashmat Effendi, House of Charity, Houston
Hashmat Effendi got aquatinted
with us about 15 years ago when she was operating a Matrimonial service to
facilitate marriages between Muslim couples. My sister-in-law retained her
services to get her daughter married and paid $ 500 for the service.
However, in six months’ time no proposal was ever given to my sister-in-law
and her daughter got married losing the retainer she paid to Hashmat. This
kind of dented our relationship and the scar remains visible even today.
In the late 90’s, Hashmat started
a charity named HOUSE OF CHARITY with Ghulam Bombaywala as her patron. House
of Charity has been very active in bringing handicapped children with
disabilities and burns from third world countries mainly from Pakistan and
provides medical care to those children. In so many years I have witnessed
several children coming and getting treated by the local doctors who provide
free medical services to these children.
 House of Charity is the only Pakistani
charity that has adopted the American ways and means to solicit funds and
grants to provide free medical care to the under privileged children from
poor countries. As a whole this is an excellent project and one should
always help in such causes. Lately the charity has been taking group of
doctors to Pakistan where they are provided with free access to the
operation theater facilities and hundreds of operations are done on the
spot. Service wise I have no doubt that a lot has been accomplished by this
charity.
Her critics are very vocal that Hashmat is
milking money out of these patients while in Pakistan. On the other hand as
most of charities spend major amount of their contributions in
administrating the program, House of Charity has always been criticized
about heavy administrative expenditures. One of the strong financial
supporters of the charity told me that upon his queries he found out that 86
% of the money collected was spent on administrative cost and 14% was used
for the programs. Due to this poor track record he pulled away from the
charity. The Red Cross and many other charities have the same track record,
as it is very costly to operate such programs. Most of their directors who
joined them have slowly sidelined themselves except Ghulam Bombaywala.
Due to so much negativity, House of Charity
was audited by Marvin Zingler, a TV Host of high reputation but no concrete
proof of any irregularities was found. However, some of the past employees
have revealed that Hashmat Effendi draws a substantial salary from the
program and has used the funds for her personal use. Upon my queries from
her, she denied these allegations and claimed to be doing this work for her
inner satisfaction only.
Hashmat has also suffered a lot on account
of her husband Tariq Effendi, who was involved in some stock trading in
which several Pakistani investors lost substantial money and blame Tariq for
the losses.
In my view everyone has to face Almighty God
and we are not the judges to decide about other people’s actions. If we feel
that this program is providing services to the poor people and handicapped
children are getting benefit from it, we should support it. If they are
doing anything for the financial reason or media attention as criticized by
many about Ghulam Bombaywala, they have to answer for all this to God one
day. One should always see within. If they are doing anything for human
culture, we must avoid criticism of these people over what they are doing.
It may appear to be very little but it is better than giving nothing.
Because of a lot of negativity about House
of Charity, its popularity has substantially reduced but they have survived
due to various government and charitable grants and are running a fully
equipped center in Houston.
Hillary Rodham Clinton Former First Lady and Senator, New York
Amber and I met with first lady Hillary R.
Clinton during a fundraiser for her senatorial campaign in Houston. When
President Clinton was dragged into impeachment process due to Monica
Lewinski ordeal, Amber had done a full analysis about the future events
including predicating that President Clinton would be impeached but
exonerated from the charges. It was analyzed that neo-conservative groups
had instigated and planted Monica to indulge the President in sexual
relation. He was not at fault but was distracted by human lust. The written
copy of the analysis was mailed to the President but I doubt if he ever
received it. However, on February 12, 1999, the day when we met Mrs. Clinton
at 5 p.m., the decision was announced to acquit President Clinton from the
charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. As I had a copy of Amber’s
analysis report, I gave it to Mrs. Clinton. Instead of keeping it she read
it all very patiently and asked Amber: “Do you think I will be elected
Senator?” Amber replied: “You are already a senator.” Mrs. Clinton said, “I
am running for the senate seat yet to be the senator.” Amber again
responded: “You are already a senator.” Mrs. Clinton looked at me and told
her that New York Mayor Gulliani was a strong candidate running against her
and the election was far away. Amber interrupted her conversation and said:
“Gulliani is not going to run against you.” Mrs. Clinton did not believe in
her assessment and later on when Gulliani withdrew from the contest, she
realized what Amber foresaw she could not see. Later on she got elected as
Senator New York without much fight and must be always wondering how Amber
knew that She was a senator already.
Meeting with Mrs. Clinton was in a very
cordial manner and she was not only very beautiful and well dressed woman
but had the same charisma as President Clinton who can make you friends
within no time. The quality these two have in particular the feel for the
poor peoples I am sure one day they will again occupy White House.
One more moral of this story is that in the
U.S.A. one can talk to the wife of sitting President about her husband’s
sexual life while surrounded by the secret service agents. The way she
handled the intimate details of the report was incredible and she
demonstrated high class of confidence and softness which most of the
politicians lack. If you commit a similar mistake in a third world country,
you would be in jail for life. I am so proud of the American system I am
living in where you can say anything to your elected representatives without
fear: that is what the true democracy is all about.
 My next meeting with Senator Hillary Clinton
was during a recent visit to Houston when a group of Pakistanis hosted a
breakfast for her. She looked as beautiful as she was several years ago and
her friendliness and soft nature still remained. The best part of her was
that during my stay with her from 7.30AM to 3.30PM she made three different
speeches and each one was to the point and very well balanced for different
audience. During my few minutes I pursued her to work on bringing democracy
to Pakistan and let the political leaders of Pakistan get the chance to run
their country. She not only promised but supported our cause during her
speech and I am sure once she is elected the President of USA she will help
Pakistan to converge as true democratic state.
Hipplito
Acosta, Former Director Immigration, US Dept. of Justice
 Hipplito Acosta got aquatinted with me
during my tenure as Advisor to Mayor for South Asian Affairs. In my opinion,
in the recent history of US immigration department he is the only Director
who can be named as a true public servant. This was the first time our
community not only met with the director but also became friendly with him.
Post 9/11 era was very favorable for the
Pakistani community in Houston because of two people: Mayor Lee Brown and
Hipplito Acosta. The registration process was very easy for the people of
our region as they were treated fairly and passionately with no complaints
from anyone. These two individuals made our life so much easy that Houston
became the most desirable city to live for the Pakistanis.
Acosta not only helped so many distressed
people seeking immigration but also changed the outlook of the service
center to make it customer friendly, as it should be. I recollect that it
used to take many hours to stand in queues even to get a form from the
immigration office. Poor working people had to take complete day off and
stand in lines outside in bad weather to seek for any help. Poli ( as we
called him later on) changed the out look of the service and got under-roof
seating and number system by which people were served like humans not like
animals as done before. Poli was always part of community events and helped
us hold immigration seminars and served the people irrespective of their
color and creed.
I can narrate so many stories in which Poll
helped distressed people to get legalized but I will mention only one case
enough to show his passion to serve. During Citizenship and naturalization
oath Ceremony he was informed that a lady who was supposed to take oath
could not attend the ceremony due to mild stroke and she was hospitalized.
After the oath ceremony, he visited the hospital and held a special oath
ceremony for the lady in the hospital and issued her the naturalization
certificate. How many of the public servants will provide a service like
this?
Poli was like a family friend to all of us
and we witnessed so many exemplary qualities in him as a human being and as
a public servant. I can write many pages about him. However his close
relationship with people took a toll on him when some of our Pakistani
political rivals wrote a letter against Poli which was one of the reasons
that he decided to take an early retirement. It is so disappointing to
mention and shameful of those Pakistani elements that did a big disservice
to Poli as well as to the people because he could have helped so many
Pakistanis during his remaining tenure.
We saw the strength of his friends when we
were invited at his farewell party. So many law enforcement officials, from
all over the country, attended this party. Poli has a special charisma.
This made us encourage him to run for City Council seat, which he lost due
to several reasons. Though he raised enormous money but due to several
catastrophic disasters like Katrina, Rita, Tsunami, and earthquake in
Pakistan, the political campaigning was more localized which did not give
him a chance to go door to door to show the people what his caliber was.
After his loss, he joined United Central Bank but I see a great future ahead
of him in political field. Poli has all the necessary ingredients: caliber,
vigor to serve, family and financial support from the Hispanics. This, I
know, will eventually glide him like a star on the political horizon of
Houston. In my view after Bill White’s tenure as Houston Mayor, Poli can be
the best candidate for the job as first Hispanic Mayor of Houston.
Hirbat Mirfasi Topeka,
Kansas
I met Hirbat Mirfasi (Herby) in 1981 when I
joined Daniel Construction Company at Wolf Creek nuclear plant located at
New Strawn Kansas near Kansas City.
Herby was a Muslim immigrant from Iran and
was working as an electrical engineer in the same department where I joined.
Herby was a fresh college graduate with very little practical experience.
Working with him immediately gave me an indication that he knew more about
computers but less about electrical power industry. He was a very friendly
person and I started taking him on site tours and taught him the practical
aspects of electrical engineering.
On my first day the site superintendent came
to see me. He could not pronounce my name so he started calling me from
Manzoor to Manny. Herby and Manny was a musical group very popular during
early 80’s. To assimilate in the group I did not object to being called
Manny which eventually helped me to be part of the system and at present I
am more known as Manny in the political field than with my real name. Herby
had a unique style of time management. This made him very famous in the
department. As we were hired to do a job contracted on cost plus basis, the
company managers encouraged us to work overtime so that the client could be
billed more. According to me, the job never required overtime, which put me
at odds with my managers. Henceforth, I completed the job within stipulated
time and refused to come on weekends to make extra money. Eventually, one
day my Manager came up and had an open talk that if I did not agree to work
overtime, there was no one to be supervised by him. According to him his
monthly mortgage and other payments forced him to work overtime to make his
ends meet. We finally negotiated a common ground under which I agreed to
work overtime every alternate week so that I could be with my family every
other weekend. Herby on the other hand, spent his office time and overtime
for his benefit by spending time socializing with all the employees of the
office. As he was single and very cunning, he was friends with all the girls
working in the office and became a very desirable person in the whole
department. He partied with the bosses and drank and ate everything
available. This dragged him very close to everyone. I, on the other hand,
was busier doing my job and trying to learn the American system to enhance
my career.
Herby being fresh from college was making a
start up engineer’s salary and I was making about $ 7000 more than him. At
the end of the year, my boss elevated him at a higher rank than me and gave
him a rise to match his salary with me when I received a merely 4% increase.
When confronted with my boss, I was told that he was very sociable and good
person, which pegged him with a major advantage. During that time jobs in
nuclear field were abundant therefore I started looking for a new job and
within a few weeks left the company to join Mississippi Power & Light
Company at Grand Gulf Nuclear Plant at Port Gibson near Vicksburg
Mississippi. However, I learnt a major lesson of my life from Herby, who
taught me that you do not need to posses professional excellence but public
relations to rise high. I was more qualified and more experienced but Herby
crossed over my salary level mainly because he was friendlier and more
sociable.
During my soliciting jobs I was invited by
New Jersey Power Company for an interview. When checking in at the hotel I
meet with an engineer John from Mississippi Power & Light Co. As both of us
were being interviewed by the same company, we decided to have breakfast and
visit the company together. Next morning John knocked my door asking if I
had an extra necktie he could use. I gave him few options and he borrowed
one of my ties and we went for our interviews after the breakfast. Weeks
later, John called me to get my address so that he could dispatch me the
tie. I told him to keep it as a gift. He subsequently offered help to get a
job in his company and arranged an interview and gave strong recommendation
and secured one of the best jobs I ever worked.
Herby taught me the practical aspect of life
and how to be friendly, gregarious and helpful and not to be stuck-up as
most of our people are. Since then I have made it motto of my life to be
congenial and friendly by extending help to anyone who come in my contact.
On my new job I followed the same style of
Herby and was amazed to see the results. I was designated to head a new
department as lead engineer instead of my boss who had a Ph.D. in electrical
engineering but had the same poor attitude as I had on my previous job. I
enjoyed my new position and it gave me a high degree of confidence because I
was supervising several engineers including two engineers with Ph.D. and two
with masters in engineering whereas I only had a Bachelor’s degree. I
accomplished my goals with high degree of success and got very high
performance reports from my superiors.
Positive attitude is a very critical factor
for a successful life and I recommend people to be friendlier and follow the
maxim: “Do in Rome as the Romans do.” If you have left your country and
adopted your new homeland to be part of the system then you must practice to
show that you are as good as your neighbor. ( I have lost touch with Herby
and would very much like to reunite with him if any one knows about his
whereabouts.)
Senator Hussein Shah Rashidi Karachi
I met with Hussein Shah through his brother
Jamal Rashidi, who got aquatinted with me in the year 1988 when I was
operating five travel agencies in Houston. One day Jamal asked me to check
if he could get a cheaper flight for his brother to travel from New York or
Washington DC to Houston. He had found out that it was costing him more than
$ 1000 for the ticket whereas I sold him the same ticket for around $300 by
using a continental airline’s coupons received by our company.
Once Hussein Shah came to Houston, we
clicked right away due to so many common acquaintances. I invited Hussein
Shah to my house and he became a charming guest for our whole family, as he
knew my wife’s close relations too. Hussein Shah had a hobby of taking
photographs but mainly his lenses were kind on pretty women. Once he found
that I also operate a one-hour photo lab he started getting his photos
developed and enlarged from there. Later on I felt that he was more artistic
than perverted as I felt earlier. Hussein Shah and I got so close that he
always wanted me to pick him and keep him company. During his stay in
Houston we spent a lot of time together and our friendship grew stronger.
Since then whenever I visited Pakistan he has been an extremely good host
and respects me very much.
Hussein Shah Rashidi is son of late Ali
Mohammad Rashidi, a great writer, politician and scholar. His writings about
Sind and its culture are one of its kind. My most favorite book written by
him Uhey deean Uhey Seehan has inspired part of my book by adopting
his style of writing about people. His quality of penmanship about people of
Sind taught me so many different ways to highlight positive and negative
points about people in a very cordial and polite way. Ali Mohammad Rashidi
was a shrewd politician involved in pre-partition politics and was always a
favorite of the army and establishment to hold a key position in various
governments. The only draw back in him was that he never took stand for Sind
issues and was instrumental in creating One Unit along with Ayub Khoro and
many other Sindhi politicians who did not have the vision to oppose it. One
Unit eventually damaged political and economic standing of Sind and the
Punjab was the biggest beneficiary and became very strong and has ruled the
minority provinces since then.
During formation of cabinet by Ghulam
Mustafa Jatoi Prime Minister of Pakistan, I was guest at Hussein Shah’s home
when I found that he was lobbying for his brother in law to be federal
Minister. I knew that Hussein Shah was a right hand and lead legal advisor
of Benazir Bhutto but was soliciting seat in the opposition group. Upon my
enquiry he told me that for feudals like them they had to play both sides
and keep their favorites in every cabinet to ensure that their interests are
safeguarded and they were treated fairly. Hussein Shah was honest in his
opinion as well as in his attitude that they believe in self-protection.
During Benazir Bhutto’s tenure as Prime
Minister upon arrival at dinner table I asked Hussein Shah how strong her
government was. He told me that I should know more because all the decisions
were made in the U.S.A. I can only concur with him that he was very true
that all of our leaders are chosen by the U.S.A. State Department and are
removed by them when their purpose is fulfilled. The Americans, though
preaching democracy in the whole world, believe in dictatorship and have
been busy for years in supporting dictators, kings and army generals to rule
and never let the democracy flourish in third world countries.
One interesting story narrated by Hussein
Shah is worth mentioning. Hussein Shah’s uncle, Hisamuddin Rashidi was a
jewel of Sindhi culture and literature. Most of the literary circles give
Hisamuddin higher status than Ali Mohammed though he was more famous.
Hismauudin had a colossal library in his hometown Ghari Yasin, near
Shikarpur, Sind. Perception has been that CSP (Central Superior Service of
Pakistan) officers are very educated and literate therefore he invited a new
Deputy Collector of Shikarpur to have dinner with him and visit his libarary.
After the dinner while taking tour of his libarary the Deputy Collector
stood in front of the portrait of Umer Khyam and told Hisamuddin that the
portrait looked familiar to him. When he was told who the person in the
portrait he responded: “Oh yes, I have seen his movie.” Illiterate CSP made
Umer Khayyam with a movie star rather than knowing anything about his
contributions in the field of literature and poetry.
Knowing so many CSP officers I have found
that their knowledge has been shallow but due to their strength as part of
the inner establishment they have been able to govern Pakistan and its
infrastructure since early days of Pakistan.
Hussein Shah Rashidi is also cousin of Pir
Sahib Pagaro but many people do not know this fact. I wish this family
together could take up Sind issues and help the poor masses and leave some
legacy. My cousin Shukat Memon Deputy Director WAPDA married from Hussein
Shah’s family and we became distant relatives too. Hussein Shah passed away
just recently but left a superior legacy of pleasant and friendly relations
with every one he knew. God bless his soul.
After an honest evaluation of his family I
think they could have done more for Sind and its issues and would have
achieved higher level of respect from the common man but they always chose
to be friends with the establishment for their own safety and preserving
their assets.
Jimmy
Burke, Former Mayor of Deer Park
 Dairy Queen, a fast food
franchise, was my first business venture in the USA; it brought us to the
city of Deer Park in 1985. Deer Park is a small town, east of Houston Texas,
mainly populated by the blue collar workers in the largest energy complex in
the USA, including Shell Refinery. Due to the exemplary schools, Deer Park
has been very desirable for the surrounding areas to raise their families.
In my first year of
business, I held an employee meeting in the dining hall of my restaurant to
discuss problems created by some old employees of the store to undermine the
management. Suddenly, I saw a tall Caucasian man come to the meeting table
and make the following statement: “If I were you, I would quit this job and
not work for this man.” I was very furious and told the customer to get out
of my establishment and we exchanged some unpleasant words before he left
the store. I was very disappointed to see that this man was so prejudiced
that he was instigating my staff against me. His attitude was very
unprofessional. However, it was not very surprising as Deer Park was a
color-biased city those days, its neighboring city Pasadena being the head
quarter of a white superemist organization. Lately, things have changed
and both of these cities have converged into a homogenous society.
 One day I visited City Hall
of Deer Park and saw pictures of all of the city officials hanging on the
front of the building. To my surprise, I found out that the man who I had
kicked out of my store was Mayor Jimmy Burke, Mayor of Deer Park. After
knowing this I was more disappointed as I never expected that a man of his
status would make such a bad statement to my staff in front of the owner of
the establishment. I expected a higher class individual of him and always
wonder why he acted so miserably. Due to this episode I was expecting some
retaliation from the city officials but in so many years I cannot state even
one thing which was done against me or my business.
Once Wayne Riddle was
elected as Mayor, the city of Deer Park started converging into a mixed
society and a business-friendly city and has developed extensively since
then. Mayor Riddle has been a true friend to our community and has always
attended our events, giving honors to our community. That is what the public
officials and political leaders should be doing: to serve the people and
bring them together.
Quite
recently, I was invited to a Golf Tournament hosted by Mayor Wayne Riddle.
He generously lent me room on his cart and took me for a tour of the
Battleground golf course. While taking a tour to one of the holes, we met
Jimmy Burke and Mayor Riddle introduced me to him. Jimmy acted as if he did
not know me but we briefly talked and broke the ice to start a new
relationship. About a week later, he came to my restaurant; here I served
him and his grandson with a complimentary dinner to establish our friendship
anew. However, I still wonder why he made such an irrational remark in my
store in front of my employees who were indulged in policies against the
company rules. Instead, I expected a public official should have supported
me and asked the employees to observe honesty and dedication for the
establishment that provided them with their bread and butter.
Iqbal Tareen, Dallas, Texas.
Iqbal Tareen met me first time when I
started studying for my engineering degree at Sind University Engineering
College, Jamshoro, in 1969. Iqbal was nephew of the then Principal Dr. A. Q.
Afghan and was more involved in student politics than his academic career.
After the 4th march incident on Jamshoro Bridge Iqbal emerged as
a student leader of Jeay Sind and has been affiliated with this group since
then. Iqbal is a natural speaker and very articulate in his thoughts and can
make very effective spontaneous speeches. Iqbal and I never got close during
college days. It was not until 1974-75 that he started visiting me at my
residence at Government Officers’ Hostel Mess, located at Garden Road,
Karachi. I was the in charge of the officer’s mess and had a lot of leverage
to assign living quarters in the hostel. One day Iqbal came to me with his
wife to seek place to live. Government hostel was equipped with about 100
single rooms and 10 family suites. Just on the same day when Iqbal came to
see me I had got possession of a family suite where I planned to move.
Considering that he was married and I was single I handed over the key to
him and helped him to move in the family suite. It was so bitter to
experience that after that I never heard from him and our relationship never
moved forwards an inch.
After migration to the U.S.A., Iqbal
appeared on the Houston scene when I had organized Houston Chapter of Sindhi
Association of North America (SANA). Though Iqbal lived in Dallas he was
always poking his nose in local politics and created conditions for me to
sideline from the SANA. Iqbal, though talked and preached about democracy,
always acted like a dictator particularly when he held a secret election of
the Houston chapter Of SANA over few beers in Jamil Daudi’s home one day
before the general body meeting of the group. When questioned about the
selection not the election of the office bearers, he defended the action and
I felt that it was impossible to work with this group and I resigned from
the basic membership of SANA. This in turn was a wise decision that I left a
regional and ethnic group and joined mainstream American politics and rose
to a higher level within Pakistani as well American political circles. In a
way, today I should thank all of those people including Iqbal Tareen, Jamail
Daudi, Agha Zafar, Aziz Soomro and many more who created conditions for me
to leave for a greener pasture. This is a good lesson to learn that
sometimes good comes out of someone’s baneful and flagitious actions.
Subsequently, Houston chapter of SANA as
well as the complete association has been in turmoil after Iqbal’s
involvement in SANA’s political affairs. Iqbal was elected as President of
SANA but did not achieve any goals instead most of the senior members of
SANA sidelined themselves. Once strong 1000-plus-member organization, SANA
shrank to a very thin membership mainly due to dirty politics played by
Iqbal and a few of his rowdy associates. In my view he has damaged cause of
Sind more than helping the people of Sind.
Iqbal Tareen has always talked and spoken
about Sind issues but has shown very little contribution on his resume. This
gives way to surmise that if he has helped anybody from his region. One day
I asked him a blunt question to account for any concrete work he had
performed to help the people of Sind. He was very upset, as no one had
confronted him as I did and he had no substantial achievements to mention.
Iqbal was Vice President Administration,
responsible for all appointments in Kettle restaurant chain with over 500
locations. Except one of his personal friend Sirfraz Abbasi, he never helped
anyone to get a job. On the other side, I, being a small businessman, can
very gladly state that I provided jobs to more than dozen people from Sind
and helped many to get green cards and provided logistic support to start
business. Iqbal, on the other hand, though preaching for Sind, cannot give
me few of his contributions to match. My two initiatives in Pakistan
resulted 500 plus jobs for the people from the rural areas for which I
always feel proud. Unfortunately, sloganeers like Iqbal get more media
coverage and hard working people who really help the community do not get
credit for their honest efforts.
On the academic side, Iqbal never attended
his engineering classes. Though he received degree in electrical engineering
in first class, he could never hold an engineering job. Because of his poor
academic career, he has never been successful in any field and I consider
him failure on the economic as well as political field.
On a visit by Rasool Bux Palejo in Houston,
he very conveniently appeared in our event and made so many promises with
Palejo to work on Kalabagh Dam issue but I have not seen any of those
promises fulfilled.
Iqbal is a very sweet talker and can
mesmerize you; however, his talk and actions never matched and in my heart I
always thought that he was a big waste of talent for the people of Sind. I
think he could have achieved a lot if streamlined his talk and deeds and
synchronize his actions with his speeches.
Late Irshad Ahmed Memon ,Shikarpur/ Karachi
 Irshad Ahmed was my second eldest brother.
He was younger than my eldest brother, Professor Shabir Ahmed. Irshad was a
jewel in crown of our family. He was not only very humble and soft-spoken
but was also very talented. His vast study of literature in a very young age
was very commendable. He had crammed up Bernard Russell’s books while still
in his teens. He was an extremely eloquent speaker and participated in
debates and won several awards. After doing his intermediate from science
from D.J. College, he joined NED Engineering College and graduated in
Electrical Engineering in 1972. Immediately after his graduation, he was
appointed as Assistant Engineer at Pakistan Machine Tools Factory.
Unfortunately, he passed away in a company car accident near Landhi railway
crossing and I lost my closest friend I ever had. Irshad was always my
mentor and mediator to resolve any family issues. My father used to be very
close to him and always respected his advice. As my elder brother Shabir
possessed a very low-key personality, Irshad more or less acted as the
leader of the house and every one looked at him for advice. He was not only
a favorite of our family but was very close to most of the relatives and his
loss can never be replenished.
Irshad was so friendly that he had friends
all over the country and after his untimely death, most of his friends
became my friends. Pir Mazhar Ul Haque, Ashfaque Memon, Muneer Umrani,
Khadium Hussain Memon, and many more kept in touch with me after his sudden
death.
The effect of Irshad's sudden death made my
father very mellow and one time very hard and strong person changed
tremendously and became more a friend to us than father. The barrier between
father and sons was broken and we became very close to our father. Irshad
was the greatest loss to me because after him I had to take charge of home
affairs to solve problems due to weak nature of my elder brother. Most of
the people still think that I am the eldest son of Karamullah Memon.
Irshad always encouraged us to read books
and during our spare time we all used to check out various Urdu, Sindhi, and
English novels and biographies and read at an enormous rate. It was his
motivation and encouragement for reading that has brought me to such a level
that today I can write to express my thoughts and spread my word.
On the honesty front, Irshad, in just a few
months of the job at Machine Tools Factory, was acknowledged for saving a
substantial amount of contract money by his articulate design. His superiors
for the honest and dedicated job done by him rewarded him generously and
gave him a pay increase within 3 months.
Good people like Irshad do not live longer
but during his short life of 23 years he touched so many people and made so
many friends that they still remember him. His friends who were in
engineering college would come and get tutored by him during summer vacation
due to his high command over mathematics and other engineering subjects. In
his life he always gave and was short lived and never enjoyed his youth for
which I always have regrets. But it was the will of God, Who is wiser and
must have some reason to take him and let us suffer. May God give him place
in paradise with my only words for him: “We love you dear brother and
will never forget your charming person and what you did for us.”
Ah, Young Irshad Memon
Ah, the
noble minded young Memon
Flourished
like a flower to fade in bloom
Bachelor
of engineering in electricity
Gifted
with knowledge and ability
What a gem
was he, what a wealth was he
Unparalleled in manners a jewel was he
The heart
and mind of the moaning parent
To them a
living sorrow with all torment.
Let the
mighty sun shine ever over his land
And the
kind clouds shower ever over his grave
Let the
most merciful Allah bless his soul
And the
native place where Irshad abodes.
Transport
serves the means of transportation
With all
speed but more speed towards destination
Transports
the living beings from land to land,
From this
impermanent world to the original land.
Now he was
in car now transported to hospital
Now he was
well now on death bed, painful
Now he was
Irshad now he is clay
Now he was
here now with Allah in gay.
Sent to
Karamullah A. Memon & Family by: Mr. Habiballah Qadri Thatta~
Dr. Ishrat Hussein, Governor, State Bank
Pakistan
Dr. Ishrat Hussein CSP was appointed as
Deputy Collector Shikarpur sometime between 1965 and 66. When my father told
me that he achieved a rural domicile certificate from him by falsifying his
application, when my father was serving as Mukhtiarkar Hyderabad. That time
around, a number of Urdu speaking people forged their residential address to
get domiciles from interior and this is how they deprived Sind of the
natives for the positions and Dr. Ishrat is one of those people who misused
the system and rose to the peak. During his tenure at Shikarpur, we had some
political rivalry with Habibullah Memon, who was City Council member of
Shikarpur. Just to tease him a few of my friends and I got an invitation
printed to hold a lunch in honor of Ishrat. This invitation was very
systematically distributed within all the elite of Shikarpur. However, the
day of lunch was picked up as April 1 1965 and no one figured out that it
was the April fool day. On the day of lunch Ishrat received a call from Dr.
Farooqi, father of Ihsan Farooqi (Houston, Texas), to pick him up on his way
to the lunch. Ishrat had no clue what he was talking about as the chief
guest did not receive any invitation. However, about 1 p.m., Habibullah
Memon’s family started facing the arrivals of the guests expecting lunch and
underwent a chaotic situation. My friends and I were hiding in a corner to
see who attended the lunch and enjoyed it.
After several years, when Ishrat was serving
as provincial Secretary, my father formally introduced me to him and told
him about my mischief. He was very cordial and kind of enjoyed the joke I
played on him. But the joke was on us when he became my father’s boss and
thanked my father for his generosity to give him a false domicile
certificate which gave him special place in his CSS examination being from
rural Sind. In his tenure, my father had two regrets: one was Ishrat’s
domicile certificate and other one was to issue a certificate of
recommendation to Mohammed Khan Junejo, who later on became Secretary Home
Department, where my father served under him as Deputy Secretary
Administration Home. I always wonder whether to help people out of the way
and let them rule you or to shy away from helping them. My father, though a
man of strict principles, did help the poor and had good life but never rose
to high positions like many who not only made money but were rewarded with
high positions.
I always ponder that if the system had been
fair, the Sindhis would not have suffered so much and a homogenous culture
would have emerged. However, the Urdu-speaking people not only exploited the
land and properties of Sind but also deprived us of the rights and took lead
in every field. Today the Sindhis, as a nation, are not accepted as part of
Pakistan. Despite the fact that they gave away so much to the Urdu speaking
people, the Urdu speaking people have shown no respect to them and have
always worked against the cause of Sind and conspired against the welfare of
the Sindhis.
Jamal Bijarani,Jacobabad
Jamal Bijarani met me at Sind University
Engineering College Jamshoro during my engineering education days. Jamal was
elected as the President of Student Union in my third year in college.
Student leaders were more of the gangster types; therefore, I used to avoid
them mainly for I was more involved in the academics and literary pursuit. I
was the editor of a monthly engineering magazine named The Engineers.
This publication encouraged young writers to contribute technical articles
for publication. Jamal came from a backward village, obtained his admission
in university through some political connection, and was never interested in
the academics as I did. However, one day, he called me to visit him at his
hostel room. As the serving President I could not deny his request and when
I visited his hostel room he greeted me by aiming a loaded gun at my head. I
was very scared and confused but somehow kept my nerves and asked of the
problem that had triggered this action. I was surprised to know that he was
acting lunatic because I had published an article written by one of his
political opponents. According to him, I had ignored him as the President
and never published his photograph in my publications. I briefly elaborated
to him that the publication was open for everyone and I would like to see an
article written by him which would be printed in the next issue. Jamal never
wrote an article. Instead, I wrote a news item about all the student union
office bearers and published his picture on the title page of the newsletter
to get him off my back.
After college days, I never met Jamal
anywhere. However, if ever confronted him, I will tell him that he was a
poor judge of character whose actions in life were a reflection of his
inferiority complex and demonstrated very low human quality.
I hope after so many years he is now
mentally grown up and has matured enough that this story may look funny to
him.
The reason why this kind of behavior
occurred was because the college Principal Dr. A.Q. Afghan encouraged
negative activities and people like us who believed more in academics were
sidelined and gangsters like Jamal Bijarani were always ran ahead of us. The
administrators of an educational institute should support the studious
students and discourage hooligans to send the right message to the youth
that excellence in academics is the route to success.
Dr. Jamal Yusuf, Karachi
Dr. Jamal Yusuf is the wife of Ahad Yusuf,
who served as Mayor of Hyderabad and Provincial Minister for Health during
General Zia’s tenure. Ahad Yusuf was an active member of Jamait-ulma and
enjoyed power without contesting any elections and exploited the system as
an army insider. Ahad Yusuf was one of the many Pakistani politicians who
were on Pakistani establishment’s list because they could fill in any
political position to support the Army Junta. Most of these politicians were
rejected by the people so could never get elected with a popular vote count;
therefore, they always conspired with army to weaken democracy. The Soomros
of Shikarpur, the Kazis of Hyderabad, the MQM leaders from Karachi, the
Chowdhrys and the Mians from the Punjab and many more have been recruited by
the establishment to fill in the blank space as needed to rule the country
by capturing power by coming from behind the doors.
 Dr. Jamal is biological mother of my wife.
She abandoned Amber after getting married to Ahad Yusuf. During her third
year of medical school Dr. Jamal married one of her cousins. The marriage
ended in separation and divorce to their first child. Amber’s maternal grand
father Syed Akhtar Yusuf adopted her and raised her like a princess. Amber
has no regrets but a very strong feeling of abandonment and disavowal still
persists in her heart always missing the love of her mother.
Dr. Jamal, after graduation, worked for a few years and later on become
administrator of Sir Haroon Hospital located at Shah Faisal Colony and
served the community for twenty plus years. Irrespective of many meetings
with my mother in law, my wife and I could never develop any relationship as
she is one of the most cold and self centered woman who has no love for
others but herself. Due to her first marriage and divorce, she could never
develop any close relationship with her father. She has been living in
seclusion in Karachi with her only other daughter from Ahad Yusuf. At times,
I think to myself that she should express regret and apologize to Amber and
get to know the lady, her daughter, who is one of the best people, with a
special gift I have met in my life.
Jawaid Maqbool, Los Angles
Jawaid Maqbool, instrumental in getting our
immigration to the U.S.A., is married to elder sister of my wife. He also
stretched a helping hand to me in getting me work with Bechtel Power
Corporation, one of the largest construction companies in the world. Jawaid
Maqbool has been living in the U.S.A. for more than 35 years. He worked
mostly for Bechtel Power Corporation and is presently living a retired life
in Los Angles. Upon my first visit to the United States of America, in May
1980, Jawaid Maqbool, told me two things in his twisted American accent:
“Maanzooor, information is the most important thing in this country.” He
added: “And the Americans are the most honest people on earth.” I was really
impressed by the latter sentence, yet the former looked silly and odd to me.
After living more than 25 years in the U.S.A., I can admire Jawaid about his
comments. Information is the key to one’s success here; whereas his comments
about honesty are still being reflected in my mind and have very mixed
conclusions.
I learnt so many things from Jawaid
particularly how to avoid being a guest at someone’s house as he always
stayed at a hotel instead of staying at someone’s house. Upon our arrival,
he checked us in a motel, too, and did not offer us to stay with him. It
looked to me very inhospitable and unfriendly at that time but later I
realized that it was a most practical move.
When we arrived in the U.S.A., I had sold
all my assets and brought in approximately $ 42,000.00, a handsome amount in
the 1980s. As Jawaid was not a businessman, but a career engineer, he made
me spend most of my capital to purchase a car and households. At the end, I
had only $ 3000 left. Then I realized that he could have helped me in a much
better way, that is, by getting me those items on installments so that I
could have invested the capital to grow faster. As he was not a
business-minded person, I do not blame him but it delayed my financial
independence that I could have achieved sooner.
All through my life, I will remain indebted
to his major contribution to sponsor us to get a legal status in the U.S.A.
My family and I have always been grateful to him, though he did it to please
his father in law. Who wanted to ship me to the U.S.A. for a major reason to
save himself from humiliation from my family and me.
Jawaid had grown into a very modernized man
and quite distant from Islamic values when I met him. He was the first
person whom I saw drinking scotch with champagne without water to thin down
the effect of liquor. He used to hold lavish parties at his home with all
kinds of liquor served there. However, as they say it is the God’s will when
he shows you the right path. Jawaid was posted in Saudi Arabia and while in
Mecca he was sleeping in Haram Sharif where his life changed and since then
he has been a man of Muslim faith by not only practicing the religion but
has been spreading the word of Islam all over the country.
Jawaid has a weakness for beautiful things
including pretty women. As such, he has always been a materialist for whom
worldly possession does have a value. After switching 180 degrees from a
modern man to a full faith Muslim, he still has a little feeling for his
weaknesses, which may have been changed by now.
Jawaid and I got on odds due to some of our
family matters. I expected him to take a stand for the truth but he acted
more of a politician. So, I decided to cut off my relationship with him and
his family considering him to be hypocrite. To me, if you claim to be honest
and a man of the faith, you should stand by the side of veracity and truth
even if it is not in your interest. Jawaid failed in his test of taking the
side of the truth for which I always regretted. But I never stopped giving
him the credit to be propitious and helpful in bringing our family to the
U.S.A. where we have prospered.
Jawaid has a very loving family: a daughter
and a son who are always in touch with my children though the elders (we)
are at odds with each other. I have always encouraged the younger generation
to maintain their relationships with others to have a pleasant life and
avoid mistakes committed by the elders without getting stuck by their
elders’ issues.
Jerry
Shirel , Deer Park Texas
In 1990, I wanted to diversify my financial
portfolio by getting involved in building small single family dwellings for
rental. I started my first experiment by building two houses side by side.
When I was almost getting close to completion of the project, I met with
Jerry Shirel, a white American whose mother in law happens to live next door
to the houses I was building. Jerry was also a builder and we got close to
each other and built some 8 houses together and I learnt so much from him
that no college can teach me. Jerry, now retired and close to 70 years of
age, was one of the hardest working, honest, and punctual people I have ever
met in my business life. I trusted him so much that I would leave my check
book and credits cards with him to use for anything appropriate for the
construction of the houses and at no time he spent a penny more than
required. I learnt so many trade secrets from him as how to save money.
Jerry had only one problem: he wanted everything his way and always wanted
to act like the boss. Initially, until I had not had enough knowledge about
the ins and outs of the construction business, I did act like a student to
him and followed his directions but a time came when we started arguing with
each other due to different approaches. Jerry was not a businessman but an
excellent builder. On the other hand, I have learnt a little about how to
make things successfully happen, and have adopted some ways that can reduce
cost to improve profitability. Eventually, due to some instigation by some
subcontractors, Jerry decided to leave me stranded in the middle of a
project. I completed the project at a lot lower cost then he would have done
and in a shorter time due to my nature of handling multiple tasks at a time.
Jerry, on the other hand, did one thing at a time: one house construction at
one time and I proved to him that one could do multiple tasks and make more
money in a shorter period of time.
Truthfully stating, he is my teacher and
mentor in the field of construction and I learnt so much from him that no
one has taught me. Today, I know more about civil engineering than my own
field of electrical engineering. The only negative quality Jerry has is his
racist nature; he was very rude with Afro-American and Hispanic labor and
mistreated them very much. I always wondered how he would have treated me if
I had not been the financier of the projects. Being an Irish, he always
wanted to make deal with Irish businessmen or his family members even if
their charges were more than those of in the market.
Jerry as a husband, father, and grandfather
is an ideal person as he took care of his close relatives and helped them
any time of the day. He loved his grand children so much so that they always
looked at him for everything. I think he is an ideal person for his family.
I would have rated Jerry as the best person
I have ever meet in my life if he had showed color blind attitude and
treated people a little nicer and avoided imposing his opinion over others
instead of mutual understanding of the issues.
Senator John Edward,
South Carolina
 During 2004 presidential election, I was
more inclined to support the democratic candidate Gene Howard. But as he
faded out, my next choice was John Edward Senator from South Carolina.
During democratic primaries, I met several times with John Edward and had
some intimate discussions with him. The notable one was in the office of
Nomi Hassan, an attorney. Only six people from the Pakistani Community were
invited to discuss Muslim issues with him. When my turn came I asked him a
daring question. The conversation is as follows.
“Senator,” I said, “If I pay you one
million-dollar, can you cut me one of your fingers?” Surprised Senator could
not say anything but “What do you mean?”
I repeated the same question: “Would you cut
me one of your fingers if I pay you a million-dollar?” Senator Edward found
it hard to come up with an answer as he did not know which direction my
discussion was to move.
“I do not understand your question,” was all
he could utter.
I told him: “Senator I am asking you
hypothetically: if I give you a million dollar, would you cut me one of your
fingers? Just say yes, or no.”
He said “No.”
I told him: “That is what I thought. Now
imagine a 17 year old beautiful girl is wrapping explosives around her body
to not only blow her body but her soul.” I further added: “Have you ever
thought why it is happening.”
He instead asked me for my opinion.
I said: “Because there is no hope for them.
The sense of disparity is so high in them that they would rather blow their
body than live a miserable life.” I went on: “All we need is to reduce the
frustration level among those poor people who have nothing going for them.
We need to help poor countries establish infrastructure, eliminate poverty
and provide health care, jobs and education. We need to spend money not on
bombs that cause devastation but on the betterment of human kind. Once we do
that, no one is going to cause the mayhem like bombing world trade center or
killing people on planes and trains.”
He listened to me very patiently and
promised that if elected President he would consider my advice.
 Today, after so many years, due to poor
American foreign policy, so many things have occurred creating chaos and
security mania in the whole world. If the United States sincerely wants to
create peace in the world, it should just commit its 10-year foreign aid to
improve infrastructure, health, education and to fight poverty. Then this
world can be a different planet. But if this neo-conservative behavior of
imposing our will on the other countries continues, people of the suppressed
nations will weaken us and one day we will no longer be the world power any
more. We need to see that countries that help others create good will among
the people making harmony and bond of love prevail among people. Contrarily,
we promote wars to help our defense industry and get innocent kids killed
for rich people who are making billions of dollars on the cost of blood of
our armed forces who are giving their lives for nothing.
We need to stop supporting the dictators,
kings, and army generals who are using their country’s resources by
consolidating and guarding their power only and pushing the poor people to
be poorer and making rich people richer.
A good example is Pakistan, which has
received billions of dollars from the U.S.A. for being an ally in the
so-called war against terror. How much of this money has been invested in
the welfare of people? How much has been granted to maintain and improve the
white elephant: army of Pakistan?
Some years ago, I met the Chairman
Appropriations Committee U.S. Senate during my speaking opportunity in the
Russell Hall in Washington DC. Once I was introduced to him he proudly said
to me: “I am seeing your President today and we will be announcing a 4
billion-dollar aid to Pakistan.”
I took the opportunity and asked him: “Mr.
Chairman, do you know that people of Pakistan hate us and burn our flag any
time they get a chance. So why are we giving our tax dollars to them? What
is the benefit of this aid?”
“What do you think we should do?” came from
him.
“We,” I bluntly spoke, “need to put a cap to
spend at least 50% of the money on non military programs. Once we improve
the living standard of Pakistani people, we will win their support and that
is what we need.”
He promised that he would try to put some
cap on military expenditure from the aid package. No one knows what happened
to this and to the many more aid packages given by the kind people of the
U.S.A. Surely they have been digested by the big bellies of Pakistan army
and members of elite establishment. We, the middle class, must try to
educate our American friends and politicians whenever we get a chance to
help our people to raise their living standard if they want to discourage
fanatic suicide bombers. Until and unless we are fair with poor people, our
innocent people will live in the horror and chaos of security phobia.
Justina Ashley, Austin Texas.
In the late 80s, I owned four travel
agencies operating in Pasadena and Houston. One day, I received a call from
a lady asking for a pre-paid ticket for her sister stranded at New York
Airport. When I quoted the price to her she asked me if I would do her a
favor by sending the ticket for which she would come and pay the next day.
That she did not carry any credit card puzzled me as it was against the
rules to issue a ticket without receiving payment. Moreover, if she did not
pay, I would loose more than three hundred dollars. I asked her name and
told her to wait for my call after some checking. When I called back the
number and asked the operator about her. I was told that she was Justina
Ashley, the Executive Director of St. Elizabeth Hospital, Houston.
Considering her stable position, I sent the pre-paid ticket for her sister
Mary who was waiting at New York Airport. The next day Justina visited my
office and paid for the ticket and invited me for lunch. Upon my visit, I
was surprised to see that she had invited all the key staff members and
doctors of the hospital and told them about me. She also suggested them to
use my company for their travel needs.
Three months later, she informed me that she
was joining Texas Southern University Houston as Executive Director Finance
and wanted me to visit her as soon as she was settled with her new job. To
my surprise, first thing she did was to instruct all the staff to use my
company for college travel arrangements. Not only did I receive orders for
business travel but also for personal travel of the faculties of the TSU.
While serving them, I started booking business travel for Former Chief of
Police Lee P. Brown who was serving as a Professor. Later on he continued
booking his personal travel also. One day he called me and told me to make
reservations for him and his wife for a visit to South Africa. He told me
that his wife had been diagnosed with cancer and she wanted to take a trip
to the motherland. He wanted me to make sure to get some comfortable flights
for them and book hotel etc. Upon completion of his reservations and
ticketing, I personally carried the package to his house where he treated me
very well and introduced me to his family. As soon as they returned from
South Africa Mrs Brown passed away and I attended the funeral and visited
Mr. Brown a few times afterward. This way we came on friendly terms and have
been as such ever since.
This is a classic example of trusting
someone at the time of need that opened so many doors for me of both
economic and political opportunities. Justina Ashley is my friend as of
today and we are in touch even after her moving to Austin. We have not seen
each other but Christmas cards always vitalize our friendship. In my life I
have always regretted that people whom I have served have never
reciprocated. But Justina is one of the few who not only transposed the
favor but also did so much for me that I will always be grateful and obliged
for her favors. Whenever I think about her, she reinforces my faith in
humankind and rings a message that one should always help other humans for
that God is going to open new doors for you in return.
Karamullah
Memon, PCS, Shikarpur Sind
My father Karamullah Memon was born on
December 20, 1920, in Shikarpur. His soul peacefully departed from the
material bonds of the world on June 26, 2000, leaving all of us in stark
deprivation of his love and care. In 1921, when my father was barely one
year old, his father (my grandfather), Moulvi Abdul Rehman Memon, an Islamic
scholar, bad farewell to the world. Following the family tradition and
Islamic teachings, my grandmother remarried to Hidaytullah Memon, a distant
relative of the family. Hence, his uncles raised my father and his only
sister in a joint family system.
 His personality traits were probably never
fully crystallized due to a sense of abandonment and negligence. Added to it
was a slight discrimination he felt due to loss of his father. However on
the academic side, he was very bright. He passed his matriculation (High
School) examination being one of the only four students who qualified from
Shikarpur center while the examination was given by the board in Bombay
India. His biggest regret was that his uncles never encouraged him to go for
higher education as they did to their sons. He was kind of forced to marry
and start working. At age of 17, he was married to my mother, one of his
cousins; he started as Clerk in revenue department in 1938, at the age of
18. Due to his honesty and hard
work he was promoted rapidly: Head Munshi in 1942; Assistant Mukhtiarkar in
1946; Rehabilitation Commissioner for Refugees in 1947; Mukhtiarkar in 1954
when he was posted at Badin. Subsequently he served as Mukhtiarkar
Hyderabad, Tando Allahyar, Rent Controller Hyderabad and Karachi till he was
promoted as Deputy Collector in 1958. He served as Deputy Collector SDM,
Khairpur Mirs 1958-1960; Chairman Nawabshah Municipality 1960-61 where he
got the new building constructed for the Nawabshah Municipal Committee. Due
to high crime rate in tribal area of Jhatpat (10 miles east of Jacobabad and
now a part of Baluchistan), he was appointed as Extra Assistant Commissioner
to curb the high crime rate. He was given special section 30 powers under
which he could sentence people without an appeal. He exercised those powers
and imposed heavy punishment like 5 years for stealing a chicken, 10 years
for goat, 15 years for cow and to-be-hanged-till-death for murder, without
giving consideration to any appeal. This was a unique case in which
government trusted his decisions and allowed him to exercise such powers
that consequently resulted for the crime rate to fall to almost zero count.
That time around, I happened to meet Sardar Sikander Khan Jamali of Roghaan
and his family. I was only 12 years old when we visited their house.
Sikander Khan Jamali and his family were very famous for raising high-class
breed of horses that competed in races in Jacobabad cattle show, a yearly
tradition. As I was interested in horse riding too, I asked Mr. Jamali to
get me a horse. The poor judgement of his servants resulted in an
interesting incident. The horse they brought for me was a racehorse. It
rocketed with a 50 miles an hour speed as soon as I got on to its back. As I
had some experience of riding, I clung fast to the horse and let it go as
far as it could go. Mr. Jamali immediately dispatched a jeep behind me to
save me but the horse was faster than the jeep and took me about 22 miles
away from their village till it got tired and let me have its control. By
the time the jeep reached near me, I had already turned the horse back on
route to the starting point. The Servants of Mr. Jamali wanted me to board
the jeep but I preferred to take the horse back and very successfully
brought it back to their house. As I recollect now, Zafarullah Khan Jamali,
who recently served as Prime Minister of Pakistan, was also with us during
this incident.
 My father was later on posted as Additional
District Magistrate at Jacobabad (1963); Deputy Collector Land Reforms,
Survey Superintendent, Additional District Magistrate Khairpur Mirs (1967);
Deputy Colonization officer Guddu Barrage; Deputy Commissioner Makran
District (1969); Additional commissioner Khairpur Mirs; Secretary Revenue
Board of Revenue (1970); Additional Commissioner Hyderabad Division;
Registrar Co-operative societies Sind; Director General Survey &
Registration, Deputy Secretary Administration Home Department; Director
Recovery Agriculture Development of Bank of Pakistan; Additional Secretary
Agriculture, Chief administrator Auquaf Sind where he completed his tenure
and retired in 1980.
 Looking at the profile of each of his
positions plainly reveals that he could have made millions just by getting a
few parcels of land or plots. As Deputy Colonization officer, Guddu Barrage;
he allotted most of the fertile land to the people of interest under direct
orders from Ayub Khan and high military officers. Here he could have
manipulated a few parcels for him or his family, only if he wanted. As
Registrar Co-operative Societies Sind, he was in charge of all the
government plots but could never build a home for himself and family. Upon
his retirement, he was sent home with approximately Rs. 100,000 as gratuity
and Rs. 2000 as monthly pension. However, he lived an honorable life until
he passed away peacefully. Luckily I had a vision to buy a plot from Allah
Bachayo Akhund, Former Federal Law Minister, who developed the Sindhi Muslim
Housing Society in Hyderabad where I built a small three-bedroom house for
him and the family that we were not able to paint till the end. He spent his
last days in this house but was always content and lived a happy life.
 His major accomplishments were to uphold the
law of the land and provide justice to poor people irrespective of any one’s
color or creed. His unquestionable honesty can be witnessed by the fact that
he gave away the house he was living in as Rehabilitation Commissioner
Hyderabad to a Muslim refugee (a Mohajir) to settle in. Half of the space of
the house was shared by the refugee and yet my father paid the entire rent.
He was in a much better and more powerful position to have hold over as many
houses – evacuated by the India-bound migrating Hindus – as he wanted; he
could have also entertained huge property on his credit only if he wanted:
but he strictly adhered to the norms of honesty.
 In 1958, when he was serving as Mukhtiarkar,
Tando Allahyar, this city was run by a local landlord, Bhoral Shah. The
local police and other law enforcement components feared his mighty power
and could not touch him. When my father issued his arrest warrant, the
police refused to arrest to follow. My father, accompanied by two guards, in
person went to his business premises, handcuffed him and herded him into the
lockup. This way he upheld the standard of law and order and this incident
broke the spell of lawlessness cast by Bhoral Shah who later on rose as a
prominent politician of the area but no one has forgotten this incident.
In 1959-60, when my father was serving as
Deputy Collector Khairpur Mirs, one day upon leaving his office he noticed
three well-dressed people in black coats but handcuffed by the police. It
was a Friday afternoon and the police had arrested them at this very hour to
be remanded in the police custody for the weekend until they could arrange
for bail. Sensing some foul play, my father refused to sign the remand
papers and returned to the office and convened the court to hear the bail
request of these three people. These three were: Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Syed
Ghous Ali Shah, and Ghulam Kadir Soomro, who became District Session Judge
later. This case was a fictitious one ordered by the then people in power to
harass them. But my father not knowing these three men gave them immediate
justice and issued the bail upon their personal cognition and let them go
loose. Due to this gesture of goodwill, all these three people remained
friends of my father and respected him always. Qaim Ali Shah even being my
father’s minister used to call him Sir and gave him highest regards any
minister would have given him.
My father, posted as Additional District
Magistrate Jacobabad in 1963, was the election presiding officer for the
then national assembly elections. Dur Mohammed Usto and Afzal Khan Khoso, a
local barrister, were contesting this election. Interestingly both of them
received equal number of votes. According to the prevailing election laws,
the presiding officer, in such a situation, had the right to the decisive
vote to settle the matter in the favor of either contestant. This decision
was to be taken within 24 hours of completion of the elections. As Dur
Mohammed Usto was not very much educated, my father made up his mind to give
his precious vote to Barrister Afzal Khan Khoso. However, the same day, in
the evening, Afzal Khan Khoso came to visit my father with a briefcase
containing Rs. 500,000 ($ 100,000 US dollars at that time). He wanted to
bribe my father. My father not only spoke a tongue of honesty to him –
surely disgracing for Afzal Khan – but also dragged him outside his official
bungalow and threw the brief case on the street and decided to vote for Dur
Mohammad Usto, who gratefully accepted and was later on appointed as Federal
minister. On the other side Dur Muhammad Usto never made any effort to
pursue my father to vote for him. My father kept his high standard of
honesty and integrity and told Afzal Khan Khoso that he was one unlucky
person as he was getting his vote without his money. Dur Mohammed Usto
always respected my father for this action.
During his tenure as Additional Commissioner
Khairpur Division October 1970, he received a call from Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto, who asked my father for a favor. Instead of asking my father to
decide a case in favor of Bhutto, he asked my father to see if he could make
the decision in the next hearing to close the case. This case was filed by
Ayub Khan’s government against Bhutto alleging that he used government
machinery to cultivate his lands without making any payment to the
government treasury. At this time, the only genuine election held in
Pakistan emerged Bhutto as the leader of the majority party. Still Bhutto
observed polite attitude that impressed my father because, despite being in
power, he did not try to unduly pressurize my father to take a decision in
his favor. Upon his next trip to Larkana, when he convened his court, he
asked Bhutto’s attorney Abdul Razzaque Soomro to leave the court and come
back at 1.30 p.m. By that time, my father had disposed off the remaining
cases from the docket and issued a written judgment in favor of Bhutto and
hand-delivered it to his attorney. This was completely out of norms of the
court where such high profile case, in which the sitting President and his
complete cabinet wanted to punish Bhutto, my father not only gave a verdict
in his favor but also gave the written copy of the judgment to Abdul Razaque
Soomro. Soomro was so excited by this decision that he immediately called
Bhutto, who was taking a nap. He had him woken up and informed him about the
decision made by my father. Mr. Bhutto personally thanked my father and
invited him to have dinner with him on his next trip to Larkana. Mr. Bhutto
was serving as Chief Martial Law Administrator and President of the Pakistan
on my father’s next trip to Larkana. Mr. Bhutto never forgot my father and
during direct appointments and accelerated promotions, he sent an invitation
to my father to apply for a grade 20 position of his choice. My father
refused to take up his offer and stayed in grade 18 and waited for his
promotion following the seniority-bases law. Many officers junior to him
like Maqsood Sheikh, Bashir Moriani, Ali Dino Panwhar, Ali Mohammad Shaikh
applied in this program and were appointed as provincial and federal
secretaries; but my father served by the rules and did not take any
political advantage from anyone.
Kazi Akbar of Hyderabad build the first
multistory centrally air-conditioned hotel named “Hotel Orient” in the mid
60s by obtaining a large loan from Sind government Co-operative Department.
However, as most of the politicians receive such loans as kickbacks, they
forget that one-day they have to pay back the loans. Kazi Akbar, with his
power kept on postponing the payment of the loan, until my father became
Registrar of Co-operative Societies Sind in the mid 70s. As my father was
given a special assignment to go after all the defaulters of co-operative
loans, he diverted his full attention to major culprits who were rich but
not paying the government loans.
Kazi Akbar was given a notice and he as
usual ignored it not knowing that my father would play by the rules: he
ordered the auction of Kazi’s hotel to the highest bidder to collect the
government money. Kazi Akbar with all his political connections could not
stop the process and lost the property and a landmark of Hyderabad was taken
over by someone else. This was again a classic example of my father’s
honesty and integrity. He could have kept quiet like many of his
predecessors by gaining some financial favors but he maintained his high
standard of righteousness.
For bureaucrats, this is a holy war to be
either part of dishonest system to grow rich and achieve higher positions or
remain isolated and be deprived of promotions by keeping their honest ethics
to serve the people for which they were appointed as public servants not
their masters. My father was the sole example of part of this holy war and
served honorably and impartially.
 During the same while, Abdullah Shah was
Minister of Co-operative Societies and Agriculture. He used to issue so many
verbal orders. My father as usual would send him written summary to approve
his verbal orders, which really aggravated Mr. Shah. He therefore sent a
summary to the then Chief Minster Mumtaz Bhutto accusing that my father was
an anti People’s Party and its programs and that his services be terminated.
Mumtaz Bhutto made a historical decision on that summary and instead of
firing my father, he took the portfolio of co-operative societies and gave
it to Qaim Ali Shah. He also put in black and white on the summary that if
we fired honest and dedicated people like Karamullah Memon then this
government was going to get a negative exposure in the public therefore it
was in the interest of the people the portfolio be given to Qaim Ali Shah.
This was a classical example of upholding the law and Mumtaz Bhutto made the
right and honest decision to fire his cabinet minister instead of dismissing
an honest officer.
Following the footprints of his father who
was an Islamic scholar with the biggest Islamic library in Shikarpur during
1960-1964, my father established three Islamic schools at Jatpat, Shikarpur
and Khairpur Mirs. Every year he would spend his vacation to collect funds
for the maintenance and operation of those Islamic schools. He was not only
honest, bold and man of principle but also very religious. He prayed
regularly and had done a lot of research about the Holy Quran and
Tafseer-i-Quran (interpretation of the Holy Quran). In his last posting as
Chief Administrator Auquaf for Sind, he was deeply disheartened when he
handled so many cases of child molestation, child abuse, adultery,
homosexuality and financial frauds committed by so many prominent religious
leaders. I always wonder why the people of faith whom we trust our souls,
commit such gross nature crimes. In his last days, my father isolated
himself from all the mollas (fake religious scholars) and diverted
his time in religious studies and helping young people who wanted to take
CSS examination. I always asked him to open a small institute to teach
revenue law which he was an authority and encourage young people to take CSS
examinations but he diverted his attention to God’s work rather than
indulging in worldly affairs. I always asked him to write a book about his
experiences in life but he never affirmed though he was an excellent writer.
His sarcasm and ambivalence of words were very famous among bureaucrats and
most of the CSP officers who claimed to have strong command over English
would be scared to correspond with him and would always avoid having an
argument with him over the interpretation of law particularly Revenue Law.
My father was very strict and always
demanded excellence in academics as well as character. My best friend Gural
Das, a Sindhi–Hindu, who owns a Rice Mill in Shikarpur, has always been in
touch with me. During our junior school days, one day Gural Das came to see
me after school during a hot summer afternoon. My father did not allow me to
go out and welcomed Gural Das with a slap on his face with a message to go
home and take a nap and do his homework. He also told him that once Manzoor
had finished his homework only then could he play with me. Due to this level
of discipline, we all achieved excellence in our academic life and many of
our friends stayed back and never progressed. Parents play a key role in
one’s success and we were blessed to have father like mine who always
expected perfection from us in all fields.
Ustad Kisha Ram, Head Master of Qazi
Habibullah School Shikarpur, where I was student from 4th grade till 10th
grade, asked my father for some favor. My father obliged him by solving one
of his major problems; hence, he always asked my father if he could return
the favor. One day Ustad Kisha Ram suggested my father that I should attend
his tutoring classes to improve my English and Mathematics skills. My father
accepted his offer and I started attending three consecutive of his tutoring
classes and learnt basic English language and practiced mathematics so
extensively that I always achieved 100% marks in my mathematics
examinations. After all it was my father who caused me to achieve excellence
in my academic career.
When I was sent to Karachi to study in D.J.
Science College, due to new atmosphere and my romantic involvement with
someone, I barely passed in the first Year College. My father was very upset
and I was immediately shifted to my hometown Shikarpur. Here I was admitted
to a hostel and was allowed to visit the home on condition that I achieved
my goal that was first class in Intermediate School examination. On the
first day I met with Professor Abdul Jabbar Gupchani Khoso, who was
in-charge of the hostel. When he heard that I had been punished to be there,
he gave me a deal of life. He wanted me to start praying for five times and
in return he would tutor me for English, Mathematics and Chemistry free of
charge. In my view, this was a God-sent angle for me. I took upon his offer
and was successful in achieving my goal. And once I passed my examination,
in first class (in today’s time getting A), my father came with all his
friends and honorably brought me to our home.
I can never thank my father for the
punishment he gave me to mend to ways of my life that consequently took me
to higher level. In my view, my father and Professor Gupchani are the two
heroes in my life who helped me to get to the peaks of my career and
character. I wish there were teachers like him who could steer students to
high level and bring the talent of our nation on the crossroad where they
can serve their country.
After 1970, my father was mellowed down a
little. This, in turn, gave too much liberty to my younger brothers who did
not achieve this high excellence because of lack of control. However, we are
always grateful to him that he spent his complete life in serving us without
doing anything for himself. Most of his life, he wore second hand clothes
and ate very light. I still remember that he got his first suit tailored
when he became Deputy Commissioner. He always preached us for modesty and
honesty and wanted us to serve with dignity and class. His hospitality can
be visualized from an incident that one day when I came home after a full
working day, he had served my meal to one of the guests and I had to buy
food from a restaurant. He had very soft-cornered for the poor and would
feed his servants from his own ration. During government business, he would
never accept invitations to eat with people who had any interest in his
government position. During his tenure he would never let us use government
vehicles for our personal use and used to take a taxi for his personal use.
How many officers can claim such a standard? In today’s time I can hardly
find any officer of his level who could maintain such high standards of
morality, honesty and integrity.
After he became Additional commissioner
Khairpur Mirs in the early 70s, he directed me to sit beside him on the
judicial bench so that I could learn the legal system. He did his most of
the office work at home and would give me files to study and took my opinion
over various cases as how to dispose of them. I was impressed by the notes
written by Mumtaz Ali Bhutto since he had a very strong command over English
language. Mumtaz Bhutto’s writing and daring notes were more powerful than
Shaheed Bhutto, who wrote very short and precise orders. I learnt a lot
about government procedures and operations mainly I learnt about protocol.
Due to his honesty and high degree of
integrity, my father could never make any friends. Most of the people who
claimed to be his friends stayed close to him while he was in office.
After his retirement, I wanted to pay him
for construction of the house on a plot I had acquired in 1970. My father
told me that he would not take my money. Instead he wanted to borrow it from
a close friend of him, Ali Hassan Mangi. During my father’s tenure, Mr.
Mangi had taken advantages worth millions; as such, my father was very
confident of borrowing some money from him for house construction. He was
very shocked that a multimillionaire, Ali Hassan Mangi, did not lend him
even Rs. 100,000. As a result, he was kind of forced to let me pay for the
construction expenses. I am spiritually happy that he did so as he lived
peacefully in the house till he calmly left this world.
Khadium Hussein Memon, Shikarpur
While my father served as Deputy Collector
during the early 60s, Khadium Hussein Memon was serving as a clerk in some
government department. On every Friday evening, most of the officers used to
gather at a small shop owned by Ameen Chishti at Lakhi Dar, Shikarpur and
enjoyed their weekends. Khadium Hussein, Late Deedar Soomro, Sessions Judge;
his father Dad Mohammed Soomro, my father, my brothers, and many officers
were members of this group. Khadium Hussein was a very intelligent and
well-read person and had tried to qualify in Central Superior Services (CSS)
examination a few times. In the late 60s, he eventually passed the
examination, and was given a grade 16 position as Income Tax Officer. As
soon as he finished his training, he reappeared in the same examination and
qualified to be posted as grade 17 officer in Pakistan Railways. Khadium
Hussain fell highly confused as which position to choose. On one side was
the slot of Income Tax Officer with lavish side income, on the other, was
Assistant Transportation Officer (ATO) in Pakistan Railways which did carry
so many facilities but no side income. Khadium Hussein turned to my father
for advice as he was his teacher and mentor. My father told him that if he
wanted to live an honest life he should join Pakistan Railways; and if he
was greedy for money and wanted to live by illegal money, throughout his
life, he should choose Income Tax Department. Khadium Hussein chose Pakistan
Railways and rose to the position of Divisional Superintendent and later on
retired as Principal Pakistan Railway Academy Lahore. Khadium Hussein, along
with Zafer Qureshi, was among a few Sindhi officers who joined Railways and
rose to the peak in the department. Khadium Hussein maintained his honest
way of living and remained busy in serving his department. During Z.A.
Bhutto’s time, he worked as PRO to the Minister Communications, Ghulam
Mustafa Jatoi, and was posted as First Secretary at a Pakistan Embassy in
Nigeria. Though Khadium Hussein reached to the peak, he entertained very
little contribution in helping people of his region in spite of loads of
chances. I traveled with Khadium Hussein quite frequently from Karachi to
Peshawar and our friendship remained very healthy until I migrated to the
U.S.A. I have not met with Khadium Hussein for the last 15 years though I
met with one of his former subordinates who concurred to me about his high
degree of honesty and integrity in the department.
Khalid Channa, Karachi
In the late 80s, while I was operating three
travel agencies, one of my offices was set up as a multiple service center.
This center catered for all services like mailboxes etc. in addition to the
One-Hour Photo laboratory and full travel services.
During a picnic organized by local Sindhi
Association of North America, Jawaid Sheikh of Houston introduced me to Dr.
Khalid Channa. Jawaid’s and Khalid’s wives were cousins. Khalid’s family had
stayed with Jawaid for the last six months without any luck in finding some
work. Jawaid practically begged me to get a job for him as Khalid had two
little children who were very wild. Jawaid was also not very strong
financially and had been bearing expenses for an additional family. I
invited Khalid to visit me. I not only offered him a job as Manager of
One-Hour Photo Lab but helped him to move to Pasadena. I got him an
apartment and lent him some furniture and many accessories to help start a
new life. Khalid did not have a legal status; therefore immediately after
offering him an appointment, I proposed to file H-1 Visa petition for him.
He declined my request and told me that his farmer Visa petition had been
approved and his green card would be issued shortly. As time passed, he
could not provide me with any documentation for his legal status; as a
result, I started pressurizing him. One day, this very while, my wife
receievd a call from the U.S. Immigration Office asking for Rubina Memon,
owner of the Dairy Queen. My wife Amber told the officer that she was the
owner and not Rubina Memon. The officer told her that he was interviewing an
individual named Khalid Channa who claimed to have worked at the Dairy Queen
for five years and a letter had been signed by a Rubina Memon to endorse his
employment. My wife told the officer the truth that Khalid had never worked
at the Dairy Queen and that he had never been offered a job with my
establishment.
The next morning, Khalid, very angry, came
to my office and blamed my wife for not supporting him. I told him that we
would never support his fraudulent dealings by which he had forged an
employment letter to get his status changed. His cunning tactic was exposed
and he was ordered to leave the country within 30 days. I immediately
withheld my job offer from him. He stayed in Houston area for a few more
years but eventually was deported to Pakistan.
I believe if he had followed my advice and
applied for H-1 Visa through our company he could have been a U.S. citizen
today. His fraudulent actions disheartened me so much that I decided to
close the One-Hour photo lab and advertised to sell the equipment. A few
days later, I received a call from an Attorney from Atlanta advising me not
to sell the machine until I met with him. Upon his advice, we filed a class
action against Kodak due to faulty machine and a written memo sent by the
Kodak President and CEO not to sell those machines. After about one year
struggle, I received $ 107,000 in settlement for a $ 35000 machine. The
details of this legal action are given in the chapter about my legal cases.
To me, this was my reward from God to help
this family though they left no stone unturned to get me out of business by
forging certificates of employment from my companies.
Khalid Channa on the other hand borrowed $
40,000 from his brother in London and re-opened a closed restaurant and lost
all his investment in four months. In my view this was his punishment for
cheating us and eventually he was deported to Pakistan. His whereabouts are
unknown to me but my faith is very strong in the conviction that if you
leave your complaint to God Almighty he will reward you for good deeds and
punish the cheat.
Khalid
Pervaiz Memon, Larkana
Pervaiz Memon is son of my father’s first
cousin, Nizamuddin Memon Advocate, Larkana. His mother and my mother were
sisters and we were very close to each other in our childhood. His mother
was very kind to me and I always treated and loved her more than my mother.
Every year when she took a trip to Quetta during summer time, she would
offer me to accompany her children and we enjoyed the trip for a couple of
times. His father had helped me in getting a job in PIA that opened doors
for me to migrate to the U.S.A. and stand financially independent.
Pervaiz was academically mediocre and could
not pursue higher education on his own till he got a breakthrough. He got
admitted to Pakistan Marine Academy and with lot of struggle and help from
many of his instructors, he passed out and joined merchant Navy and left the
profession after a few voyages.
In the late 80s, my cousin Ali Nawaz visited
us from Washington DC and informed me that Pervaiz had moved to Houston. I
was very surprised, since after all he was our close relation, why he shied
away from seeing me. To find him, we got it announced via the local radio
station. Ali Nawaz was very eager to see him due to his close relationship
with him too. Interestingly, just a few days after Ali Nawaz’s departure, we
found Pervaiz. My family and I visited him at an apartment and were shocked
to see with nothing but a blanket and pillow and a few of his belongings. I
told my wife to arrange for a start up kit for him that included all the
basic things of daily use and took three boxes to his apartment. Upon our
arrival he was not available in his apartment therefore we left the items
with his next door neighbor. That evening he left me a nasty message and
asked me to take away my things as he could make it on his own. When we
brought the boxes back, most of the expensive items were missing and items
of less value were returned. I therefore did not pursue my relationship with
him and wanted to give him a chance to settle down on his own.
A few months later, Pervaiz phoned me saying
that he wanted to start some business and asked me to lend him $ 5000 for
the startup. He also called Ali Nawaz for help. Ali was very generous to
send him $ 1000 within a few days. I pinned $ 4000 and also arrived at an
agreement with him to start the business in joint name that as soon as the
principal loan was paid off, I would transfer the business in his name. We
purchased eleven vending machines to cater BankOne building at Houston
Downtown and started our business. Pervaiz was in charge of servicing the
machines and I was providing the financial help. After four months, I found
that the machines we were merchandising, $ 100 worth goods, were giving us
return of $75 instead of 40% profit. Pervaiz always complained for workload
and could never convince me how we were losing money rather than making any
money. At last, he gave up the business and left the lease of 11 vending
machines purchased on my credit. It caused me a loss of approximately
$17000.
This episode imparted to me another lesson
of my life: not to co-sign any loans and lease agreements on behalf of any
friends and relatives who have no investment in the business. Eventually
people walk out and innocent people like us fall into the trap of the burden
of repayment of loans as well as earn bad repute in community circles. Just
because of Pervaiz’s negative attitude, I lost money and my relationship
with his family went awry. I never regret to have helped Pervaiz because it
was his father who had helped me in getting a job in PIA that opened ways
for me to migrate to the U.S.A. and become financially independent. I wanted
to return the favor I owed to his father but Pervaiz never realized the
generosity and has always been at odds with my family and me. After living
about 10-12 years in the U.S.A., Pervaiz finally went back to Larkana. He is
presently living a secluded life with no family of his own and no financial
assets. I wish he would have worked a little harder as the U.S.A. is the
land of opportunity for the people who want to work hard.
Khalid Iqbal Memon, Larkana
Khalid Iqbal Memon is son of my father’s
first cousin, Nizamuddin Memon Advocate, Larkana. His mother and my mothers
were sisters and we have been like brothers since our childhood. Khalid and
I have about 21 days’ age difference so we grew up at the same time. He
attended grammar schools and English medium educational institutions whereas
we attended public schools. Khalid followed his father’s profession and
after completing B. Com., he attended Law school and became attorney and
took over the 35 years old practice left by his Uncle Abdul Fatah Memon and
father Nizamuddin Memon. During last elections, he got elected as Member of
Pakistan National Assembly on the Pakistan People’s Party’s ticket from
Larkana and has been serving the people very passionately.
 Khalid was picked up by Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto to serve in the Prime Minister’s Secretariat during the mid 70s.
However, he returned to Larkana to continue his legal practice. The main
reason was a very small salary by which he could not support his family
living with the traditional honest ethics adopted by our family including
his father. During Bhutto’s time, our family could have made a lot of money
but chose to stay honest. People like Abdul Razzaque Soomro and Chaker Ali
Junejo, both Assistants to my uncle, made enormous amount of money while
serving the Pakistan People’s Party and are enjoying a very high standard of
living; whereas, my uncles, unlike others, have been living a very modest
life with no fleet of cars or large parcels of land. Following his elders’
footprints, Khalid is also serving his constituents without taking any undue
advantage of his political position. I hope he and many others who follow
the principles of honesty and integrity would be rewarded in this world and
thereafter.
Khalid is a very low profile, humble person.
He keeps matters inside his heart. He is not very open-minded which might
have caused him a lot of grief and suffering but I have never heard that he
has offended anyone. During our college time we stayed together in Metha Ram
Hostel in Karachi and had the best time of our life along with two of my
brothers: Shabir and Irshad, and Cousin Shukat Memon. My major complaint
from him is for his poor communication: he stays confined to his world. He
could do a lot if he becomes friendlier and more open minded.
Ustad Kisha Ram,
Headmaster,Qazi Habibullah High School Shikarpur
During the mid 60, my father decided to
station the family in our hometown Shikarpur to avoid any interruptions in
our education. I attended Qazi Habibullah School, a private school
established by the Qazis of Shikarpur. Ustad Kisha Ram was the headmaster of
the school.
Shikarpur was the business hub for upper
Sind and there was a dense population of Sindhi Hindus still living there
after the partition. Interestingly, the Muslims and the Hindus were so much
mingled that we never thought of any difference except that we attended
Mosques, and they prayed in Daramsalas or Mandirs (temples). On the social
front, there was no difference and we lived like one whole community.
Ustad Kisha Ram asked my father for some
favor. My father took care of his major problem hence he always asked my
father if he could return the favor. One day Ustad Kisha Ram suggested to my
father that I should attend his tutoring classes to improve my English and
Mathematics skills. My father accepted his offer and I started attending
three consecutive of his tutoring classes and learnt basic English language
and practiced mathematics so extensively that I always achieved 100% marks
in my mathematics examinations.
When I evaluate my life, besides my parents,
I acknowledge three people responsible for my success. Ustad Kisha Ram, who
taught me English and Mathematics imparting me real insight at an early age
to strengthen my educational foundation. Then Professor Abdul Jabbar, who
taught me Mathematics, Chemistry and English in my college days that made me
eligible to get admission to an engineering college. The third one is my
uncle, Nizamuddin Memon, whose recommendation, through Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto, facilitated for my job in PIA which became my gateway to the U.S.A.
I wish people would be as lucky as I, who met heroes who took me to the peak
for which I will always remain grateful to both God Almighty and these very
people.
The Sindhi Hindus are very low profile but
loving and polite people. They are excellent businessmen like the Gujrati
Memons. They had full control over all the business activities of Sind in
pre-partition time. They scattered all over the world after Pakistan’s
coming into being. With all the commotion created by the Indian Muslims
having migrated to Sind, many of the Sindhis feel that they were better
treated while working with Sindhi Hindus. The local Hindus were honest and
men of word who never harmed anyone without a genuine cause. They promoted
Sindhi language and culture; whereas the Muslim immigrants used unfair means
to usurp assets left by the Sindhi Hindus. They also destroyed small towns
to achieve their financial goals. The Sindhi Hindus always regretted that
they were never given any pasture as their homeland in India and look back
to Sind as their homeland even now. Whenever I met any Sindhi Hindu, he paid
enormous love and respect to me.
In grade eight, I had a verbal fight with
one of my teacher who used abusive language with me. That time it was a
highly tabooed action for a student to raise his hand over the teacher.
Ustad Kisha Ram, being a close friend to the family, followed the rules and
expelled me from school. This was the standard of honesty and integrity:
with all our political and governmental influence no one could save me from
the punishment even though in this case the teacher was at fault by speaking
an abusive tongue to me. I had to spend the rest of my academic year in
Khairpur Mirs where I stayed with Syed Ghous Ali Shah and his family to
complete my schooling. After one year, my father, many of his friends and I
went to see my teacher Shukat Soomro and personally apologized for my
actions; hence I was readmitted to school with a punishment to apologize in
front of all the students and teachers in the morning assembly.
One can imagine the level of respect and
honor paid to teachers in our times. As of today teachers are scared of the
students and there is no nobility left in the teaching profession. Mostly
the mediocre students, who have no vocational education, join teaching
profession and it is hard to find teachers like Ustad Kisha Ram, Professor
Abdul Jabbar Gupchani They rendered extra attention to students to help them
achieve excellence in their careers. I am a living example of the outcome of
such teachers’ hard work and I know I would never have achieved my goals in
life without my teachers.
Dr. Lee P. Brown, Former Mayor, City of
Houston
 In the mid 80s, while operating three travel
agencies in Pasadena and Houston, I met with Justina Ashley. She was
instrumental in getting me Travel Account of Texas Southern University.
Then, Dr. Lee P. Brown was serving as a Professor in the University. Besides
he had served as New York City Police Commissioner from 1990 to 1992; as
Police Chief of Houston, Texas from 1982 to 90; and as Atlanta, Georgia’s
Public Safety Commissioner from 1978 to 82. Dr. Brown received a Doctorate
in Criminology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1970; a
Masters in Criminology from the University of California at Berkeley in
1968; a Masters in Sociology from San Jose State University in 1964 and a
Bachelor’s in Criminology from Fresno State University in1961.
One day he phoned me requesting for some
arrangements to be made for his wife to visit South Africa. He told me that
his wife was very sick and wanted some comfortable flights to reach to South
Africa. I made the arrangements and personally carried the travel documents
to his house where he treated me very well. Just after their return, his
wife passed away and I attended her funeral and visited his house with
flowers for which he was very thankful. Since then we have kept in touch.
Soon after that he was appointed as Drug
Czar in President Clinton’s cabinet and moved to Washington DC. On August 9,
1993 I lost the most important person in the world: my mother left me. Just
a few days before her death, she had asked me to fulfil her two wishes: help
my brother Shahid to get married and take the youngest brother Aamir to the
U.S.A. with me. I promised her to do my best. Before going to Pakistan I
called Dr. Brown and left a message in his office in White House. In about
30 minutes I got a call back and I requested Dr. Brown to write me a letter
of recommendation for the US Ambassador in Pakistan to issue a visa for my
younger brother. He told me that he would call me back after consulting the
White House Counsel to confirm whether or not he was authorized to write
such letters. Just hours later, he phoned me and informed that by law he
could not communicate with the Ambassador. He further informed me that
though he was guest at the Ambassador’s house just a few weeks ago, while
taking a classified mission to Pakistan, he could not help me in this
regard. I was so impressed from his honesty and promptness to resolve the
issue and in my heart his respect was more deeply rooted. Upon my arrival at
the US Embassy, I ran into an old friend of my wife’s grandfather who, in
the end, helped my brother to get a student visa in one day and he
accompanied me on my return flight. I helped my brother Shahid to get
married and was lucky to fulfill both wishes of my mother.
Some time in 1996, I heard the news that Dr.
Brown resigned from his position as Drug Czar. I immediately phoned him and
said: “Mayor Brown, welcome to Houston, congratulations I am sure we are
going to make it.”
He was kind of surprised that I had already
sensed his intentions that he would be running for Mayor of Houston. As soon
as he arrived here, he joined Rice University as a professor and called me
to have lunch with him. I was one of the twelve people who started his
campaign and I was the only south Asian on board.
 In the next few weeks, we had an exploratory
meeting in the office of former Mayor Hofizenier where only 50 people were
invited. We made five groups consisting ten people each. Each group came up
with their recommendations. As a group leader of one of the groups, I said:
“Dr. Brown, I know you are man of principle and integrity. You follow the
rule of law and go by the book. You are an honest bureaucrat but now you
want to be a politician. In politics, the basic principle is I scratch
your back and you scratch mine. So if you are ready to abandon your
rigidity of principles and mellow down, you should run for the position,
otherwise not.”
In subsequent days, I found Dr. Brown did a
three-dimension justice with his position and acted as the man who followed
the rule of law as well as acted a very successful politician that even
sitting President’s endorsement could not displace him until he was termed
out.
Dr. Brown was elected the first
African-American mayor of Houston on December 6, 1997 and served three
two-year terms. He is married again and his wife Francis is a teacher in
HISD. His major achievements include Light Rail, Minutemaid Ball Park,
Toyota Center, Hobby Center, Hilton Americas Convention Hotel, Extension of
George Brown convention center, Downtown roads (particularly starting
controversial SPUR road connecting downtown with Highway 59). He changed the
infrastructure of the entire city, particularly the downtown area, for which
we all will never forget him.
Brown’s propensity to take frequent and
often criticized trips abroad, paid for by the taxpayers’ money, earned him
the nickname “Out-of-Town” Brown. But he created opportunities for the
international businesses to extend their ventures in Houston. Media and
people were never impartial and did not see his vision to converge Houston
into an international city.
In 2001, Brown narrowly survived a
reelection challenge and runoff against city councilman Orlando Sanchez who
campaigned against Brown’s handling of Houston roadways. Sanchez‘ supporters
made the issue of poor street conditions, campaigning that the “P stands for
Potholes,” referencing to Brown’s middle initial. Today when someone visits
the Downtown, he/she sees top class streets and a revitalized Main Street
and Bayou area that make the person wonder what was Houston Chronicle and
other TV channels were doing by criticizing Mayor Brown. Why did we all
forget about his hard work that we are enjoying now? Someone has to take the
initiatives and make things happen: that is what Brown did. Sanchez himself
used a Hummer adorned with the banner “With Brown in Town it’s the only way
to get around” as his campaign vehicle. Sanchez used the media publicity
where a Houston firefighter’s death in the line of duty resulted in
endorsements from the fire/emergency medical services sector. Still, all
negative campaigning by Sanchez failed.
The Brown-Sanchez election produced heated
rhetoric and involvement by several national political figures. Brown
received the endorsement of former President Bill Clinton while President
George W Bush endorsed Sanchez. The contest also produced racial undertones
as Sanchez, a Cuban-American vying to become the first Hispanic mayor of
Houston, challenged Brown, the city’s first African-American mayor. Brown
drafted the family members of murder victim James Byrd Jr. for taped
political ads accusing Sanchez of racial insensitivity towards the Blacks
for failing to support a hate crime law. Sanchez, in turn, accused Brown for
playing the race card against Hispanic voters. The latter allegation
prompted another Hispanic City councilman, John Castillo, to withdraw from
the Brown camp and endorse Sanchez much later in the campaign. Voting split
heavily on racial lines with a majority of Hispanic and Anglo voters
supporting Sanchez and a majority of African Americans supporting Brown.
Brown narrowly won reelection by a margin of a single percentage point
following heavy voter turnout in predominantly Black precincts, compared to
a relatively light turnout in Hispanic prescient. Brown’s success was
predominately due to arrangement of 50 vans equipped with volunteers who
provided transportation to the minority voters to go to polls, which changed
the outcome of the election. South Asian communities played a key role in
Brown’s campaign too that he acknowledged by opening a gateway to our
communities in the City Hall. Unfortunately, Mayor White never appreciated
the help from our communities and refused to recognize any need for any
programs, jobs for our communities. For this we will always miss Mayor
Brown.
On the day of last election, Lutfi Hassan
and I organized a group of people who worked outside different shopping
malls to morally force people to go back to vote not only themselves but to
call a few of their friends along with them to help Mayor Brown. Just at
Sharps Town Mall, Lutfi Hassan and a few of us sent hundreds of people back
without shopping by telling them that their vote would be the vote to get
Brown elected. All precincts in that area cast 95% plus votes for Brown. I
can never forget the victory speech made by Mayor Brown where he said: “Our
opponent was endorsed by Papa Bush, Mama Bush, Brother Bush, and Baby Bush,
but no one could help because people have spoken two more years for Brown.”
For the South Asian Communities, Mayor Brown
opened the City hall and approved my recommendations to form Mayor’s
Advisory Board for International Business development MABIA-D, South Asia.
The same while, I initiated an annual event: Mayor’s Iftar Dinner, at City
Hall. This has become a regular feature at the City Hall.
The South Asian communities were very
fortunate to have Brown as Mayor and Chief of Police CE Bradford in the post
9/11 era. Houston did not report a single discrimination and profiling case
from our community and Houston was considered as most desirable City for
south Asians.
During his tenure one night three Pakistani
store clerks were murdered in Houston. Masrur Jawaid Khan, who later became
first Pakistani Muslim City Council Member, called Shah Haqqi, an assistant
to the Mayor, at 1.30 a.m. to seek help. His response was that it was too
late to call anyone and asked Masrur to come and see him in his office at 9
a.m. Frustrated Masrur, who was President of Pakistani Association of
Greater Houston called me, as well as asked Mian Nazir to call me around
1.45 a.m. for help. As I was very close to Mayor Brown, and had his private
numbers, I immediately dialed his home number. Mayor’s wife Francis Brown
picked up the phone and I requested her put to me through to the Mayor. She
told me that he was traveling to San Francisco to attend a funeral of his
close friend. Once she came to know about the urgency of the matter, she
gave me Mayor’s contact in San Francisco. I left a message for the Mayor and
a return call came within a few minutes. I briefed the Mayor about three
murders of Pakistani store clerks that caused a huge roar of panic fear
among the Pakistani storeowners. He told me to wait for the Chief of Police
C.E. Braford’s call shortly. Within minutes I received call from the Chief
Bradford who asked me as
 to what we should do to calm the community. I
suggested forming a task force to search for the murderer and arrange a
meeting with the community leaders the next day. In the meeting, at the
Chief’s Office, various items were discussed including how to protect
storeowners and stop robberies and murders. The next meeting was scheduled
after two days on a Friday after funeral of the victims at 3 p.m. to review
the progress of the police in the case. Just before the meeting, I received
call from the Chief of Police informing that the murderer was arrested. But
we still needed to attend the meeting to brief the media about this case. I
still recollect ABC news correspondent’s comments: “You folks have a lot of
pull in this city that you got the murderer arrested within 48 hours.” For
me this was a big achievement of our community. Subsequently, a big memorial
rally was organized by the community well attended by all the politicians
and full media coverage was received. Due to this incident the Police
started patrolling stores more frequently and a Robbery Prevention Video was
developed to educate store owners as how to protect such robberies and
murders. This video was later on provided free of cost to store owners and
the crime in stores was reduced tremendously. Thanks to the then Chief of
police and Mayor Brown who changed the policies and brought positive
results. Since the new administration of Mayor Bill White, the policy has
not been followed so vigorously and the crime rate in stores has again
escalated for which the community members must raise their voice.
 Similarly, one day I called the Mayor about
a person who was mentally challenged and was picked up by the Houston Police
for creating disturbance at a local store. Mayor Brown intervened right away
and instead of sending the boy to jail, he arranged for his transfer to
mental health institute where the victim received sound treatment and
therapy and is now living a normal life. Had this boy been jailed, we would
have had an additional criminal on the street. We need people like Dr. Brown
who has the vision to help people at the time of need.
After Shah Haqqi, the only Pakistani
representative in City hall and who was asked to leave, the community has
faced a vacuum as who to look for any help. One day I visited Mayor Brown
with some one’s resume to request him to appoint that person in place of
Shah Haqqi. Mayor Brown told me that the position was abolished and there
was no budget to appoint anyone. Upon my concern he asked me if I would
serve as Advisor to Mayor for South Asian Affairs for $ 1 a year salary and
cater my community. I told him if he would approve MABIA-D South Asia
(Mayor’s Advisory Board) I would be pleased to work for free for as long as
he wished me to. Mayor Brown not only provided me with all the facilities
but also gave me written instructions to help my community as per my
preference. His trust and commitment to our community can never be forgotten
by many of us. In return I also bestowed upon him the lifetime Achievement
Award for Public Service during my oath ceremony as President Pakistan
Chamber of Commerce-USA with Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and
Congressman AL Green besides me. There was dual purpose to give this award.
Brown deserved many awards like this for the service and commitment he
showed to our community; the other purpose was to send a message to the new
Mayor Bill White that if he served our communities, he would be honored the
same way. Unfortunately, he has done nothing of such value that can qualify
him for a community award from us.
 Houston Media, particularly Houston
Chronicle, has never been fair with Mayor Lee Brown. In my view this was
mainly because of his color that Houston Chronicle would always write
editorials against him and his programs. Houston Chronicle never gave credit
to Mayor Brown for what he did for the city and the vision he had to perform
in future that at the end transformed it to a world class city. One day
after so many of my letters to Viewpoint, something was at last printed in
favor of Mayor Brown and he publicly appreciated my efforts and told me that
he wished there would be some more writings about his achievements. But Due
to black out by Houston Chronicle, Mayor Brown never receievd the respect
and credit to upgrade the city. To me, Mayor Brown was not as cunning as
Mayor White who hired a few of Houston Chronicle editors and TV persons on
his staff who were to make sure nothing got printed against him except the
praise and glory of this administration. I have always been disappointed
with the attitude of Houston Chronicle, which has never showed any concern
for the minorities and poor people of the city but have always catered for
the needs of the rich and famous.
 Mayor Brown was lucky to ride the first
Metro Rail on the last day of his last term, which will eventually be
considered the best thing happened to Houston. It is regretful to say that
the Metro Building, supposed to be named after him, has not been considered
for this naming as yet just because he was a minority mayor. I would fully
demand to carry out the Metro board’s decision to name the building after
his name.
I always complain to mayor Brown that upon
his recommendation our community and particularly I helped Bill White to get
elected as Mayor but he never treated me fairly only because I worked for
him. He always responds: “Manny, I gave you the winner but never gave you
any guarantee how he is going to turn out.” According to him, before
election Bill White used to call him almost every day for guidance and after
getting elected he called him after six months and that was also for some
favor. Politicians should never forget that loosing friends is a double
loss. They should keep in touch with their supporters at all times as the
clock ticks very fast and one day when they come back to civil life they
would never get the respect the way we give to Brown who has been there for
us yesterday, today and will be there tomorrow.
Dr.Brown is leading an international
security firm located in Houston and he is still considered as political
power center. I foresee him to be Cabinet Secretary if Hillary Clinton is
elected as President of United States Of America.
Dr. Liaqat Ali Shah, Khairpur Mirs
During my primary education in
Khairpur, Liaqat Ali Shah, son of Syed Qaim Ali Shah, former Chief Minister
and PPP leader, was also our classmate. Liaqat, Dr.Talib Shaikh, Imdad Dogar,
and I were four very bright students from early childhood. We have remained
friends since then and have been in constant touch with each other.
When I started studying in an
engineering college, Liaqat was pursing B.Sc. Honors specializing in
chemistry. Imdad Dogar was my classmate in the engineering college and Talib
was admitted to medical school. We four used to meet on regular basis and
kept our friendship alive.
Liaqat is one of the most humble
people I have met in my life. Even his father rose to high positions and
served as federal minister and chief minister of Sind. Liaqat always treated
us as his close friends and never showed slight arrogance which is very
common when people come in power.
During 1974-75, while his father
was serving as federal minister, one day he drove in a Mercedes limousine at
my residence a government hostel at Garden Road Karachi. He told me to hop
in for a ride in the Mercedes Benz. This was my first ride in a Mercedes and
I never knew that God would bless me with two of those. However, I was never
jealous of his having a Mercedes and kept my goals based on honesty and
dedication and today I own two Mercedes cars and two BMWs.
Liaqat, after doing his B.Sc., was
lucky enough to join medical school. A specialist in eye disease, he has
served in Civil Surgeon of Khairpur Mirs Hospital, which was one of his
dreams. Liaqat and his elder brother Muzafar were very low-profile sons of
Syed Qaim Ali Shah and never came in public life. When Qaim Ali Shah
remarried to the sister of a renowned lawyer, A.K. Brohi, he was blessed
with a few more children of whom Asad Shah became the Finance Minister for
Sind Government during Benazir’s tenure as Prime minister of Pakistan.
Qaim Ali Shah himself is a good
and honest man and handled power with modesty and paid high respect to
others. This is the reason he has never been touched by any government.
It was 1958. My father was serving
as Deputy Collector Khairpur Mirs. One day leaving his office he saw three
well-dressed people in black coats, under arrest by the police brought in at
him while he just sat in his official vehicle. It was a Friday afternoon and
the police had conveniently arrested them to be remanded in police custody
for the weekend until they could arrange for bail. Sensing some suspicion,
my father refused to sign the remand papers and returned to the office and
convened the court to hear the bail request of these three people. These
three were Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Syed Ghous Ali Shah, former Chief Minister
and Defense Minister, and Ghulam Kadir Soomro, who became District Session
Judge later. This case was a fictitious one and my father not knowing these
three men gave them bail upon their personal cognition and let them go
loose. Due to this gesture of goodwill all these three people remained
friends of my father and respected him always. Qaim Ali Shah even being my
father’s minister used to call him Sir and gave him highest regards any
minister would have given him.
I think this is another example of
people who are honest and live modestly. They are respected by others and
people do not take revenge from such individuals. Qaim Ali Shah and his
family have been dedicated to Pakistan People’s Party and Benazir Bhutto and
have kept their faith in the party whether in or out of power. This is the
reason he has earned a high reputation in the political arena of Sind and
Pakistan.
A few years ago I visited Liaqat
at his Khairpur residence. We walked through all the streets where we had
spent our childhood days. He was a fantastic host and was so generous that
he opened for us his own bedroom, which had air conditioning. The next day
my younger brother mentioned to me that this was a great honor that Liaqat
let you spend night in his home as Syeds generally do not allow outsiders to
come in their Havelli (Quarters). I later on realized that Liaqat always
showed great humility and acted like a true friend and was a fantastic host.
He and his family are also one of the few honest people I have seen. I have
heard of no negative remarks about their immediate family members
Lutfi Hassan, Houston/ Dubai
I have known Lutfi Hassan ever since 1988,
when he was owner of a travel agency; the same while I was operating three
agencies in town. Lutfi subsequently started Insurance business and has
accumulated significant assets during last two decades. Lutfi was one the
few well-dressed south Asians I have ever seen. He was very a polite person,
a slick and excellent host. His motto was that he could buy anything and
anybody with money and he was pretty successful in not only making money for
him but also for lots of his friends.
 Lutfi Hassan drew closer to me during Mayor
Lee Brown’s first election campaign at a Finance Committee meeting. Mayor
Brown formed a 50-member Finance committee that raised approximately 2-3
million dollars each election cycle. Lutfi as well as most of the members of
the committee joined and raised funds for taking full business advantage
from Mayor Brown. Lutfi took his involvement in a high gear and surpassed
core people like me to get close to the campaign staff and Mayor Brown. He
both invested his money and raised significant funds from south Asian
businessmen and women. I learnt a lot from him as how to penetrate the
political circles and worked very close to him to support Mayor Brown. The
only difference between Lutfi and me was he came for business and I came to
serve the community. As soon as Mayor Brown was elected, he tried to secure
city insurance contract and helped many of his friends to get city
contracts. Truthfully speaking, Lutfi showed the community as how to
penetrate the political balloon and make money. Though Ghulam Bombaywala has
been involved in mainstream politics since President Regan’s time, he did
not let the community come forward to be part of the mainstream politics.
With all wrongs, Lutfi did but no one can deny the fact that he and I both
initiated the process of today’s political awareness in our community during
Mayor Brown’s tenure as Mayor.
The biggest problem with Lutfi was avarice
and greed for money as he started receiving kickbacks to facilitate
contracts for his friends and acquaintances. In one case he almost got into
trouble while pushing someone and soliciting money from a businessman to
secure a city contract. Also his gold plated china gift sets sent to all the
council members and Mayor backfired on him and created big embarrassment for
our community as well as Mayor. In one case, he asked a successful
businessman in front of me that he would help him in his project if they
would make a joint venture and he would get 40% of the profit from the
contract.
Lutfi Hassan is very cunning and sharp. He
always supports people who scratch his back. Mustafa Tameez is one good
example whom Lutfi sponsored and brought into mainstream. In one incident, I
was informed that Lutfi would refer people needing city contracts to Mustafa
Tameez, who would be hired as a consultant and receive remuneration for the
work. Lutfi would use his contacts and get the job done and the money would
be funneled to Lutfi through another company where both Lutfi and Mustafa
were partners. In American political system, this is a common practice but
in my view Lutfi consumed the community trust and used our resources and
money to achieve his personal financial goals. The pressure from the
community was always on me while I worked at the Mayor’s office since I had
to spend my time without any salary to serve the needs of the community. On
the other hand, Lutfi was making money from right to left. I kept the Mayor
informed of the rumors spread around the City Hall for his activities but he
could not pinpoint enough evidence to take any action.
One day, during an event at Hyatt Regency
Downtown, Ghulam Bombaywala, Masrur Jawaid Khan, Zafar Tahir, Lutfi Hassan
and I greeted the Mayor. I made the following statement to Mayor. “Mayor
these are our future politicians and pillars of our community”. His response
was “Manny I can see four of you as politicians but Lutfi only needs money.”
I was surprised to hear such a negative and derogatory statement made by the
Mayor. But this also clearly indicated that Lutfi only pursued money and
money related affairs; whereas, we were all working to bring the community
into mainstream politics. The outcome of our efforts succeeded when Houston
elected first Pakistani City Councilman in a post 9/11 era.
After establishing Mayor’s Advisory Board
for International Business Affairs and Development (MABIA-D) South Asia, I
recommended Lutfi Hassan to chair the board. Lutfi made a strategic error
and appointed the vice chairs of the board and committee chairs without
consulting me, the founder and Liaison for the board. He announced the names
in the meeting. During our break time, I confronted Lutfi and told him that
he was an ungrateful person. I challenged him that he could not achieve
anything under the umbrella of that board. Due to his arrogant and
unilateral decisions, I made the board so ineffective that for next two
years he could not meet any of his agenda goals. Whereas I, being Advisor to
Mayor, continued my service to the community and carried the message to the
public to ascertain and be part of the mainstream political front.
One day I warned Lutfi to keep an eye for
his dealings, as we did not want him to be Ben Reyees of the Muslim
community. (Ben Reyees, a powerful Hispanic city council member, was jailed
for receiving kickbacks for city contracts). I am glad that Lutfi was not
caught in the middle of any scandal, which could have put an honest man like
Lee Brown in a bad spot. Since then our relationship has been stranded and
we have been working on different platforms. I wish Lutfi had the pain for
the community so that we two would have made a big difference for the south
Asian communities.
Any time I met Lutfi he told me that he was
doing something new as he was not consistent in his business dealings and
was a high roller with big spending habits on lavish travel and
entertainment. This might be the reason that his net worth may not be very
much. Some of his very close friends are disgusted and hate him because of
some deals he made that went sour and his friends lost a lot of money. In my
view, people with straight dealings and consistency in business ventures
bring success. However, people like Lutfi may reach to the peak for
temporary but always fade out. During his time, Lutfi was the limelight of
the community and was highly respectable even to the President Clinton,
First Lady Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and John Edwards and many local and
national politicians whom he used and moved on.
At the end of the day, people did come to a
conclusion that he was there for money only and used the community and their
resources and moved on leaving his supporters stranded. One thing I have
learnt that even though money is very important, people who kept the money
making as their prime goal were never mentioned in history. In contrast,
people who served the communities are always remembered and appreciated.
During the time when Lutfi was on the political stage, he made millions. On
the other hand, I worked for free for so many years, gave at least $40,000
in political contributions and at least ½ million dollars worth time and
resources to Mayor Brown and Mayor Bill White receiving very little
appreciation from the community. Again I wonder: “Is honesty the best
policy?”
Maqsood Sheikh, PCS, Shikarpur, Sind
Maqsood Sheikh, a college lecturer from C& S
Government College Shikarpur, qualified in PCS and joined as Assistant
Commissioner in 1963 (as a trainee) with my father who was serving as
Additional District Magistrate Jacobabad. Since I was the only family member
staying with my father in the government bungalow my father offered free
lodging and boarding to Maqsood. Maqsood and I became like fast friends and
he stayed with us for almost 6 months. Maqsood, just like most of the
Sheikhs of Shikarpur, was very polite and humble. Most of the Sheikhs in
Sind are converted Muslims from Hinduism; therefore they carry most of the
Hindu norms and customs. Most of this conversion happened just before the
1947-partition so that those people were saved from having to leave their
homeland. As Sindhi Hindus were more advance in education and trade, they
were greatly committed to supporting their fellow Sheikhs. Consequently, it
produced an enormous number of public servants in Sind.
Maqsood was from a very small family of
middle class status. As I can now recollect, his father was a schoolteacher.
As soon as Maqsood joined as full-fledged Deputy Collector, he started
milking money and his living standard suddenly jumped to high economic
status. He not only oozed benefits for himself but for his family and
brothers and so became a hero among his close friends. He made so much money
that after 1971 war, when Pakistan banned the old currency, he had bags of
currency notes that he was begging people to go and deposit in their name to
get the new currency. He lost a lot of money during that time because he
could not disclose more than designated amount because it could have made
the government suspicious about his acts.
My father and Maqsood had maintained cordial
relations until my father was appointed as an enquiry officer to investigate
a claim by a Mukhtiarkar who bribed Maqsood by check to get some favor.
After the enquiry, it was found out that
Maqsood had a Volkswagen then being maintained by his subordinate staff like
Tapidars and Muktiarkars. In one occasion, one of his subordinates, a
Mukhtiarkar, paid a bill for repair of his car with a personal check. When
the two of them got on odds with each other, he was reported to the
Commissioner Agha Rafique CSP. He appointment my father, then the Additional
Commissioner Khairpur Division, to investigate and submit recommendations.
Maqsood wanted my father to waive the
charges and get him clear out of the mess. Everyone knew that he was corrupt
but he had knitted a network that brought the black money of bribe through
check which might be a unique case in the history of Pakistani Bureaucracy.
My father, as usual, visited Modern Motors Karachi and confirmed that he
accepted the cost of repairs as bribe; he then sent his recommendations to
the Commissioner who passed them on to the Chief Secretary. Somehow Maqsood
managed to survive and not only that, he subsequently received rapid
promotions and at one time was holding a higher-grade position than my
father. He thereafter rose to the level of Federal Secretary and retired a
few years ago.
Whenever Maqsood met me, he complained about
my father because he stopped talking to Maqsood due to his devious and
corrupt ways of life. Recently, when I met Maqsood in a plane ride from
Sukkur to Karachi, he was full bearded and told that he had turned to be a
true Muslim and works in various welfare community projects. Maqsood is a
very nice prototype of people who make money from illegal means and become
pious at the last phase of their lives. They fool people by posing to be a
philanthropist. Unfortunately, people also have very poor cognition. They
accept crooks as their leaders and consider them nice and clean guys working
for the sake of their community. All I perceive is that they buy their way
to achieve their personal goals and agenda.
This is again a classic example of how
people easily tread the path of corruption and rise to the peak. My father
who stood guard over the honest values, stayed low not only on monetary
grounds but was never acknowledged nor was ever entitled to high profile
positions that he so gravely deserved. This makes me wonder: “Is honesty
the best policy.”
Masrur Jawaid (M.J.) Khan, Member Houston
City Council
I met Masrur Jawaid (M.J.) Khan in 1968
while he was attending NED College and I was studying in D.J. Science
College, Karachi.
My brother Irshad Memon knew him more
closely because they were part of two different rival groups. M.J. was a
very active worker of Islami Jamiat-I-Tulba, a chapter of Jamit-i-Islami and
we were affiliated to Pakistan People’s Party, which was just breaking its
ground.
M.J. belongs to a lower middle class family
of Hyderabad and lived very modestly in Shewakunj Hostel at Pakistan Chowk.
I did not have direct interaction with M.J. but my brother always mentioned
about his aggressive activities and involvement in student politics.
 I met M.J. again about 10 years later but
never got close to him until he appointed me as Trustee for Pakistan Center
while he was serving as President of Pakistani Association of Greater
Houston: PAGH. Masrur is a very intelligent, skillful, ingenious and tactful
politician and a very successful strategist and demagogue. My appointment as
Trustee was due mainly to my involvement in mainstream American politics and
close affiliations with Mayor Lee Brown. Masrur had fully planned to make
use of my influence and skills for his future political ambition to be the
city council man. Masrur was involved in Pakistani politics while Lutfi
Hassan, Ghulam Bombaywala and I made a strong ground in American politics.
Two years serving as Trustee with Masrur, I found him very selfish and
self-centered who had no care for the community except for his own agenda.
His style can be summarized in three words: Me, Myself and I. He was
over-confident about himself and had created an inner core group that
consisted of Zafar Tahir and a few intelligent individuals.
During a board meeting, I told the PAGH
executive members that Mayor Brown had made a commitment to approve a $
500,000 community grant for construction of Pakistan Center if we could
raise matching funds. Masrur made a bold statement that he could raise $
500,000 within one month and asked me to start working on the processing of
the grant. I made a very blunt statement to him also and told him that PAGH
had no such standing in the community that people would donate $ 500,000, I
further told him that I doubted if we could raise only $ 50,000. I never
invested any time to process the grant and by the time Masrur completed his
tenure, PAGH was almost bankrupt with approximately $11,000 in liabilities
and no cash assets.
Masrur never helped any poor people of the
community and if he was contacted for some favor, he would always pass the
buck to those who could do his dirty work. For example, once a widow was in
trouble because she was being evicted from her apartment. She called PAGH
for help. Masrur passed the buck to me and I met with the lady and paid her
the rent. However, it was never reimbursed by PAGH. In his tenure as
President of PAGH, major legal cases were filed and the orgnization lost so
many resources and his actions brought PAGH at verge of bankruptcy.
I know most of us are media conscious and
love to be photographed and interviewed. But Masrur loves media attention
to an extent of a psychopath who would do anything to get his picture
printed. Just after 9/11 a Goodyear Store owned by a Pakistani was torched.
Masrur was the first one to reach the scene. Without investigating the cause
of the fire, he made a bold statement of racism profiling with Houston
Chronicle and proudly took a picture with the storeowner, which was printed
in Houston Chronicle. Unfortunately, next day it was found out that the
Pakistani storeowner was responsible for the arson and had deliberately
caused the fire to get insurance money. Masrur never apologized nor felt bad
because he was only interested in getting his picture in the paper.
Similarly, he brought huge embarrassment to all Pakistanis on the day of his
oath ceremony at Miller Outdoor Theater when he would not leave Mayor Bill
White’s hand until all the newspaper photographers took his picture. Whereas
Mayor shook hands with every councilperson very casually and no one asked to
be photographed.
The night three Pakistani store clerks were
murdered in Houston, Masrur called Shah Haqqi, who was working in the
Mayor’s office as Assistant to the Executive Assistant to Mayor. Shah
responded that it was too late to call anyone and asked Masrur to see him in
his office next morning at 9 a.m. Frustrated Masrur, then the President of
Pakistani Association of Greater Houston, called me. As I was very close to
Mayor Brown and had his private numbers, I immediately dialed his home
number. I located Mayor in San Francisco and briefed him on three murder
cases of Pakistani store clerks that was causing panic and wave of fear
among Pakistani storeowners. He told me to wait for the Chief of Police’s
call shortly after. Within minutes I received a call from the Chief
Bradford. He asked me as to what could be done to calm the community. I
suggested forming a task force to put a search of the murderer and arrange a
meeting with community leaders the very next day. I invited Masrur and many
other prominent community leaders and we discussed many issues including how
to protect storeowners and stop robberies and murders. To review police
progress, a meeting was scheduled at Police Head quarters after two days on
a Friday after the funerals of the victims. Just before the meeting, I
received a call from the Chief of Police informing that the murderer had
been arrested but we still needed to attend the meeting to brief the media
on this case. After the meeting I made one of the biggest political mistakes
of my life that instead of leading the press briefing, I told M.J. Khan to
lead media interview. It opened for him the gateway to start his political
career. I still recollect ABC news correspondent’s comments: “You folks have
a lot of pull in this city that you got the murderer arrested within 48
hours.” To me this was a big achievement of our community. If we had
continued working together as a team, we could have achieved a higher
position in the political arena. Unfortunately, we cut each other’s throats
and never let others climb the ladder. We spend more time in intrigues to
bring people down than to indulge in some positive work. To get more
political benefit from this incident, Masrur suggested holding a procession
against the city to protest violence at the convenience stores. When Mayor
Brown found out about the protest rally he suggested to organize a memorial
for the victims at the City Hall. Most of the storeowners closed the shops
for three hours and a big memorial ceremony was observed where Masrur took
all the media coverage.
His media craving can be clearly visualized
from another incident. Just a few months after his oath ceremony, one day he
phoned me in the Mayor’s office to accompany him to visit a Muslim robbery
victim who was shot by a burglar. When we got to the parking lot, he asked
me to leave my car and drive his car as he had forgotten to carry his
driver’s license. We met the victim at Ben Taub Hospital and were leaving
when Masrur got a telephone call. He moved aside, took the call, came back,
and told me to leave, as the parents of the victim wanted to meet him. He
suggested me to take the metro train and walk to the City Hall as I was
supposed to escort Mayor at an event. As soon as I boarded the train, I
received a call from Officer Muzafar Siddiqui from Houston Police
Department. He asked me why I left. He told me that it was Muzafar who told
Masrur that all the television channels were coming to interview the two of
us. Ironically, Masrur made sure to eliminate me from the scene and took
pride in being solely interviewed by the media. During Katrina and Rita
Hurricanes, he was always stood behind the Mayor to be photographed or
covered by the television. At an occasion, he did not get the right position
and, like a little child, started stealing inch by inch to come to fit in
the frame of the TV cameras. Highly funny, this showed that he lives only
for media coverage and not to serve the people. Since this incident I lost
respect for M.J. and decided to avoid him as he was no one’s friend but
believed in self only.
During my tenure as Advisor to the Mayor,
Masrur visited me in my office regularly and asked for advice as how to
become City Councilman. Upon his request, one day I took him for a meeting
with Mayor Brown and requested him to guide Masrur how to achieve his
political ambition as well as asked him to ensure that Masrur would get
Mayor’s endorsement. Mayor Brown was very generous and guided him and
promised to endorse him and he kept the promise.
During election campaign, Masrur always
asked for help and I heartily supported him. I got him his major
endorsements from sitting Mayor and Kase Lawal, vice Chairman Houston Port
Authority. Kase, a billionaire, not only endorsed him but also got him all
the Nigerian votes in the district and donated a hefty amount as a political
contribution.
In another case, he came to see me wanting
to hold a joint rally of Pakistani and Indian communities to send a message
that the public were against war between rival countries and want peace. A
joint peace rally was held at the forefront of City Hall. Masrur had planned
all this to get the support of the Indians by posing to be a peace loving
person. This was more of a political stunt that certainly went very
successful for him. No doubt Masrur is one of the best political
strategists. He knows how to drag a situation and people on to favorable
grounds at the time of need. However due to his poor interaction and lack of
mobilizing all groups on one platform, he has lost his creditability.
At the time of his campaign, Ghulam
Bombaywala was serving as President of PAGH and was not supporting Masrur.
As a trustee, working with Ghulam, I always tried to persuade him to support
Masrur and eventually made him agree. It was for the first time that all
Pakistanis supported the first Muslim candidate running for Houston Council
Seat. Due to a joint stand Masrur, won the election and defeated the son of
the former Mayor of Houston. This was a big achievement for the Muslims and
Pakistani community after 9/11.
During Masrur’s election and before his oath
ceremony I always observed a special protocol for Masrur and always
respected him and expected that he would serve all the people of Houston and
would attend to problems faced by the Pakistanis as well as Muslims in
general. However, as soon as he took oath his first target was to get me out
of the City. Masrur is one of those people who want to keep everyone, even
his friends, one step behind due to his inferiority complex and fear of
loosing grip on power. My position as Advisor to Mayor always kept me in the
limelight at the community events and Masrur could not accept the fact that
someone could share the stage with him. He wanted to be the solo leader for
the Muslims and Pakistanis. To achieve his objective, he, accompanied by
some of his gang members, started a systematic campaign against me to force
me to leave the City Hall. After so many efforts, Masrur failed to get me
out until I decided to meet with the Mayor Bill White to remind him of his
election promise to give access to our communities. I was very disappointed
to hear a statement from Mayor White that our community was not his priority
and he had more important things to do for the City rather than caring about
a small minority. He further told me that Masrur did not want me to serve
and his council vote was more important for him. He wanted me to level my
differences with Masrur if I wanted to stay on my position. I knew the only
differences we two had: he could not share the stage with me. I therefore
decided to leave the City Hall as Mayor White demonstrated his arrogance and
insensitivity for the Muslim community and us. However, before leaving the
City, I did send a letter of resignation to Mayor outlining his poor
handling of our community. This letter can be found in the book in the
chapter, American political System.
As soon as I left the City, its doors were
shut for most of our community members except for members of Masrur’s inner
circle and members of the MQM (Mohajir Quomi Movement). Masrur got exposed
that he used the community to get elected but would cater only for the
selected people. Most of his major contributors left him and formed
alliances to unseat him in the next election which he survived due to a very
organized and the most expensive campaign for any city council seat. He also
survived many allegations during his election including paying cash money to
New Orleans Katrina victims to get registered as Houston voters and made
them vote for him; using the City property phone system, E-mails and
Blackberry to raise funds for the election campaign, which is considered
unlawful. One of his inner circle members has been alleged for selling FEMA
vouchers given to M.J. Khan’s office to be distributed to New Orleans’s
Katrina evacuees. In about three years of his tenure he has not been able to
get any capital project approved in his district F which is considered the
poorest progress among all districts of Houston. He has not attended any
community events hosted by community organizations like PAGH and Pakistan
Chamber of Commerce. However he has sponsored and openly served the MQM and
its affiliated people and served the need on ethnic lines not on the
Pakistan level or in the interest of the Muslims.
Masrur could have been very famous in our
communities if he had helped the young generation to get internships and
jobs in the City. During my tenure, I hired 12 south Asian kids as interns
and a few of them joined the government jobs later on. Masrur could also
have supported the affirmative action program and got lucrative contracts to
minorities instead of joining hand with Mayor Bill White who has sidelined
affirmative program guaranteeing 30% contacts to minorities. In his tenure,
this program has been put aside and most of the contracts are awarded to the
Anglo contractors who have supported Mayor White’s election campaign while
filling their campaign accounts periodically. Masrur got a chance to serve
the people but he served himself to achieve his goals. He will always be
remembered as a part of the establishment and not people’s person. He may
rise to a higher level but in my view he will be regarded as failure for our
people.
Masrur’s main strength comes from his wife
who, a successful cardiovascular practitioner, has financed his election
campaigns. Sometimes I wonder about M.J. It seems that his behavior is more
towards trying to prove that he can do things in life. To me, this is due to
a major disparity between the couple. One layer reveals that his wife is a
major success and well respected both in the medical profession and in the
community for being very humble and soft-spoken. The other reflects that
Masrur has never been able to hold a steady job. He has been more of
custodian of his wife’s finances than a self-earning person of the family.
A person’s character is always open to
interpretation when in power. It is the very time when one can see in the
looking mirror and ask this question from self: “If God gave me power, what
good did I do to people then?”
The biggest failure of Masrur is in the
following evidence that came to pass after my departure from City two years
ago. His son’s father in law once came to me for help. He bluntly refused
to go to Masrur for any help whatsoever. Moreover, our community still looks
at me for help as Masrur never returns any one’s call except of his close
associates. His staff in the City has been very discontented and upset with
him as he reduced the salaries of the staff and increased his remuneration.
A multimillionaire cut short the poor staff’s livelihood only for his own
sublimity shows the character of this man.
The biggest disfavor done by Masrur is that
of working against the only Pakistani community organization: PAGH. He has
damaged the major project of establishing the first Pakistani Community
Center in North America. Due to his negative tactics, this project has been
delayed and has undergone loads of hindrances. However, I am optimistic that
this project will eventually come to a full realization; God-willing, under
leadership of Ghulam Bombaywala this center shall start functioning by the
end of year 2006. To speak of the worst, if this project fails, its 100 %
responsibility shall be on the shoulders of Masrur who has played a defiled
role in derailing this project for the only reason that he wants to keep
shining as the hero and the only one who is worthy of achieving any goals
for the community. I hope he will come out of this psychopathic behavior and
work with all the community members, hands in hands. This can glide him to
the highest peak of his political career. But if he chooses to opt for the
cunning policy of divide and rule, he will never rise higher than the level
he presently is.
Addendum 2007: In a way I want to thank
Masur for creating conditions for me to leave the City Hall which gave me
inspiration to devote my time to build the first Pakistani American
Community Center. This center has been build in M.J. Khan’s district F but
he has worked against the community cause and has never visited the facility
due to his dreadful nature. He has been elected to serve his last term and
is looking to seek political assignment in State Department or to run for
City Controller which will be a hot run contest for him.
Masrur
Jawaid Khan: Addendum 2007
City Council Members get a
specific budget for salaries and all office expenses. Just after his second
term, MJ Khan reduced the salary of his chief of staff, Dionne Roberts, who
leaked copies of bad checks of his opponent before Election Day which gave
him an easy victory by default. Dionne was very furious with her demotion
and the sad part was that MJ, being a multi-millionaire, gave a pay increase
to himself. One day she phoned me to meet with her for lunch. I invited
Bombay to join in but he missed the meeting. Dionne unfolded to me the
details of many irregularities and illegal activities happening during the
2005 election, a time when Khalid Khan, a Pakistani, had challenged MJ.
Dionne did not want to be the whistleblower and asked me to turn the
material to the Inspector General for investigation. For the past year and a
half, those detailed facts are sitting on my desk and I have been debating
whether I should turn him in or not. I did not want fingers to point out to
M. J. Khan, like Ben Reyes, a powerfull Hispanic city councel man who was
condemned and jailed on account of illegal activities. On the other hand,
everyone knows that MJ was not a resident of District F and forged his
residency to get elected from a district with a heavy South Asian
population.
Looking at all these things
I wonder if honesty is the best policy. People like MJ who became community
leaders by default and employed dishonest means to get elected still enjoy
high positions in the political arena; whereas people like us were sidelined
because we stood for honest and righteous ways of life. Mayor Bill White
associated with him to get his vote in the city council meetings and
condoned all of his illicit and dishonest activities, contrary to his
election slogans of honesty and clean politics.
In a way I want to thank
Masur to establish ground for me to leave City Hall because it inspired me
to devote my time to build the first Pakistani American Community Center.
This center has been built in MJ Khan’s district F, but he has worked in
opposition to the community cause and has never visited the facility due to
his dreadful nature.
He has been
elected to serve his last term and is presently looking for political
assignment in the State Department or an opportunity to run for City
Controller which will be a hot run contest for him. I wish he would have put
some of his energy to do something positive for the Muslim and Pakistani
community in general rather than support his ethnic MQM well-wishers.
Eventually, I cannot find a single initiative on his credit for the welfare
of the common man and for his own community members who worked tirelessly to
get him elected in the public office.
Mohammed Ameen (Mini Bhai), Houston, Texas
Mini Bhai and I met in 1990 when I purchased
a new house. He was our neighbor living on the same street. Mini Bhai serves
as President Muslim League (Nawaz Group) Houston, Texas.
One day Mini Bhai came to me. He told me
that Ahmed Raza Qusuri, presently working as Foreign Minister of Pakistan,
is staying with him as a guest and wanted to meet me. I was surprised to
know that because Qusuri was a friend of my Uncle Abdul Fateh Memon, who
served as General Secretary Sind Muslim League. Upon my arrival at Mini
Bhai’s house, I asked him which college he had attended. Mini Bhai very
slowly said “have done masters in mopology” I thought he said
metallurgy and further asked him if he attended University of Lahore. He
very politely replied “Mopology” not metallurgy.
Later on he told his story. He was not
highly educated. Upon his arrival at Houston, his brother in law put him and
his wife to run a Dairy Queen store starting as cleaning person. I was so
impressed from his vividness and honesty. I always enjoyed about his way of
telling me that he has done masters in mopology.
Mini Bhai, irrespective of having no formal
education, has class and is always helpful to people. He rose from a
cleaning person to the owner of several successful businesses. I found his
wife also very humble and very hospitable. She attended school and is
operating a beauty saloon. He is a classic example of American dream.
Without any formal education, he not only became a successful businessman
but also a seasoned politician as he was appointed President of Pakistan
Muslim League (Nawaz Group). I always wondered what the party had seen in
him to give a leading role to him until I visited his home and saw his
library with thousands of photographs, hundreds of audio and video tapes
belonging to different Muslim League activities. Most probably he has
impressed the leaders by the documentation of the party events. I have never
seen any one whose party leader’s portrait hangs above his bed. He proudly
showed this to everyone. Unfortunately, he got into trouble with FBI when
some insensitive person reported that he had affiliations with Al Qaida and
had a picture of Osama Bin Laden over his bed.
One day he wanted to send an e-mail to
Benazir Bhutto to congratulate her on her husband’s acquittal from Pakistani
jail. I was astonished to know that he did not even know how to send an
e–mail. Hence I was the one who wrote it and sent to Benazir Bhutto. Being a
leader of opposition party, he did have the courtesy to send an e-mail to
Benazir to share her happiness. This plainly showed the political finesse in
him. Looking at his profile make me feel ashamed of those community
politicians who, though with high education and vast experience, have not
succeeded in creating goodwill and organization of a party as compared to an
uneducated person who has raised himself to a prosperous career.
Mohammad Ashraf Abbasi, Houston
Ashraf Abbasi and I have been living in
Houston since twenty five plus years but I never got a chance to get
aquatinted with him until I started working in the Houston Mayor’s office as
Advisor to Mayor for South Asian affairs.
 One day a young man came looking for a job
in Mayor’s Office. I reviewed his application for the position of an intern
in the office. I did not know that he was son of Ashraf Abbasi. Due to his
good credentials, I immediately put him on the staff and started training
him. Asad, a very handsome and intelligent young man, started handling my
day-to-day affairs very efficiently and professionally. During this time,
Asad introduced me formally to his father and I found out that he had been
involved in main stream American politics and community service for so many
years. Thus our friendship grew stronger.
One day he called me to have my opinion
about leading Pakistan Chamber of Commerce, USA (PCCUSA) as the President
Elect. I told him that I was very busy in the Mayor’s office and would not
be able to justify the position. However, he convinced me that I had to take
full charge of the chamber after two years when my tenure in the Mayor’s
office would be over. After some discussion we agreed and I was proposed by
him to be the President Elect. Just before they finished deliberations to
elect me as the President Elect, I received a call from Mr. Abbasi. He asked
me if I would accept the position of Senior Vice President which I declined
as I could not take an active role in the chamber while I was already
serving in Mayor’s Office. Somehow he managed to convince his colleagues and
I was chosen as President Elect. I should have sensed that a group within
the chamber did not want me to supercede their positions and this eventually
made my life difficult during the presidency.
Looking back after serving as President of
PCCUSA, I evaluate as to why I was chosen over other existing members to
lead the organization. I think Abbasi was very wise who did not see any
potential within the existing executive membership to take the chamber to
the mainstream level. Abbasi chose me mainly because of my affiliation with
the local and national political leaders particularly local mayors,
senators, state and federal legislators. In my political career, Abbasi took
full use of my contacts and not only took image of the chamber to the next
level but served some of his ends along with the Senator Azam Swati’s agenda
items who also happened to be his brother in law. I never regret that some
one would unduly use my contacts and services but in return I expected that
he would stand by his own commitment. Mr. Abbasi however fell in a trap and
did not let me work independently as President nor did he let me complete my
two years tenure as President. Due to lack of his support and my sticking to
my style of working, he somehow changed his strategy and supported my
opponents. The worst condition he dragged before me was to serve second year
as President only if I would resign from the position of Trustee of Pakistan
Center Project. I have a feeling that Mr. Abbasi was scared by my full
circle involvement and wanted to restrain me to work under his leadership
which I politely refused and disassociated myself with PCCUSA. In my view,
Pakistan Center Project was more important for the community. I had
confidence that I could achieve that goal instead of wasting time to
continue being President of an organization that had made no efforts to
promote business activities and was more involved in personal goals and
media coverage. Being a goal-oriented person, I preferred to work under the
leadership of Ghulam Bombaywala, President of Pakistan Association of
Greater Houston (PAGH) as Trustee rather than serving as a dummy President
of an organization which could never serve the people what it was preaching
for.
Abbasi, as a person, is very humble and hard
working but is more of a solo player like me. He likes to do most of things
by himself and in my view he has done an excellent job. He has served as
President of PAGH many years ago but his tenure as President of Pakistani
American Congress (PAC) might be the best one on the capital hill. On the
other side his success became his own enemy when Mohammed Sadiq, Deputy
Ambassador of Pakistani Embassy in Washington DC, became his adversary and
created a replica organization to undermine PAC and was quite successful in
scaling down Abbasi’s influence in the political arena. On the other hand
Abbasi had a style of being a nice guy: friendly to every one. This made him
no one’s friend and caused mistrust within many community leaders.
Unfortunately, our political circles demand
people to be on one side rather than try to balance two opposition groups.
Abbasi had always tried to bring harmony and balance between two rival
groups in Pakistani community of Houston. This, he could not achieve and
lost his creditability with both the groups. I still remember a wise man’s
advice to me that it is better to have a few friends true to you rather than
many untreatable with trust. Abbasi was caught in this dilemma and lost grip
of his political influence. He supported wrong people and wrong causes and
never stood up for the truth therefore lost his creditability in the
political arena.
On the other hand, his contribution to
support so many of his community members is commendable. His services to
help so many of his community members to get settled in USA are
praiseworthy. However during his tenure as President PAGH, his rivals
triggered some issues particularly about some mysterious circumstance of a
major embezzlement from a Pakistani United Bank in Peshawar where he was
serving as Manager. Though these allegations were not proved to be
authentic, they did raise questions about his integrity. Working with him
for several years I found him very honest and loyal to his cause and
witnessed him spending enormous amount of money to serve the community.
During recent devastating earth quake in NWFP Province in Pakistan a few of
his associates; Gul Faraz Khan, Mumtaz Khan, and he raised approximately
$ 70,000. However, the disbursement of those
funds to the needy has been questionable and so far people have been talking
silently about it but no uproar as to how those funds were used. I hope
they have kept some records and it would be wise to show a detailed report
to community to keep his name clean.
Abbasi has a wonderful family: three
well-mannered sons and a humble and very hospitable wife. He was given
Father of the Year award by PAGH few years ago.
To me, Abbasi is one the few people I have
met and who has impressed me by their all-round personality. We all have
some weaknesses and we all have done few wrong things in our past. Therefore
one should also acknowledge the strengths of people like Abbasi who
tirelessly serve people and should stand for the truth and support virtuous
causes and avoid politics.
Senator Mohammad Azam Swati,
Abbotabad/Beaumont, Texas, U.S.A.
I became acquainted with Senator Swati in
2003 after getting elected as President Elect Pakistan Chamber of
Commerce-USA (PCC-USA). He is married to the sister of Ashraf Abbasi who was
instrumental in getting me in the PCC-USA.
 At present, he might be the richest
Pakistani businessman within State of Texas. He is one of the few Pakistani
successful entrepreneurs who have reached to the peak. However, people,
familiar with him since his early days, do not carry high regard for him due
his financial dealings.
A few years ago, he surrendered his U.S.
citizenship and got elected as Senator in Pakistan Senate. Perception is
that the election of Senate in Pakistan, voted by the members of the
provincial and national assemblies, is always for sale to the highest
bidder. Senator Swati, with his financial backing, has been successful in
getting elected as Nazim and later on Senator. As politics in Pakistan is
manipulated more by financial resources and personal acquaintances rather
than by talent, people who have a little competence and huge money, can be
very successful in the corrupt society of Pakistan.
Word has been that after losing his seat in
Senate in year 2006, Senator Swati paid approximately Rs. 140,000,000 to
various MPAs and MNAs to get himself re-elected.
People always wonder why candidates spend
high money to get elected for positions that carry only fraction of amounts
in their salaries. I would say that it is more for appetite of power,
satisfaction of personal ego that drives people towards politics.
 Senator Swati has been instrumental in
getting several people from his hometown and surrounding areas settled in
the U.S.A. To my critical eye, his business strategy not only became
advantageous for him but also made so many success stories from his
hometown. I think we must learn business tactics from him and how to be
financially independent and successful. He supports community and religious
organizations generously. He prays regularly and is engaged in religious
services on a constant basis. As the tradition in tribal and Pathan
territories, he is an excellent host and throws lavish parties at his
residence in Beaumont, Texas, about 80 miles east of Houston. Politically he
is very connected due to his constant financial support to the political
candidates. The local public officials like Mayor, Congressmen, Judges and
County Commissioners are regular guests in his lavish parties.
Senator Swati exploits the local political
system very effectively and makes right use of his wealth to achieve his
political and financial ambitions.
Senator Swati’s one significant contribution
was during gubernatorial election of State of Louisiana. Now Congressman
Bobby Jindal, from Louisiana, made a cynical remark about the Muslims during
his first speech on campaign trail while running for Governor. Congressman
Jindal said: “My name is Bobby Jindal and I want to tell you that I am not a
Muslim.” Senator Swati became very furious about his comments and decided to
support Governor Kathleen Blanco, that time a very unknown candidate.
Senator Swati and many others, including Ashraf Abbasi, spent three months
on the campaign trail and succeeded in getting Kathleen Blanco elected as
Governor defeating Bobby Jindal who was a favorite candidate of the
Republican Party. Unfortunately, Bobby lost the chance to be the first South
Asian Governor due to impecunious selection of words. This also reflected
the strength of the Pakistani community who was successful in getting an
unknown candidate, with not much financial support, elected on such a
prominent position.
During recent crisis within the Pakistani
community, Senator Swati was asked to be the mediator to resolve the
problems. He held several meetings and submitted a written resolution of the
problems mutually agreed by the two groups in Houston. However, his efforts
failed as a group led by the MQM and Councilman M.J. Khan refused to adhere
to the agreement and the community is still suffering from the political
polarization.
 While I was serving as Advisor to Mayor of
Houston, I was asked to present him an honorary citizenship certificate.
When I processed this request, it was rejected due to his vocal and negative
attitude towards the U.S. Government. Lately he has been very vocal in
criticizing the American media and politicians along with the government of
Pakistan. Rumors are circulating that he has been indicted by US government
for some illegal activities which might be the cause of his permanent move
to Islamabad. Though he is not a very exemplary speaker, he does convey his
message and speaks the truth rather than show hypocrisy like many of our
Pakistani politicians who heartily stick to the rising sun. So far I have
not been able to assess his political affiliation as he keeps on changing
his tone towards the Pakistani leaders. In my view, he wants to be appointed
as federal or state minister and all his energies are converged to this
goal. This time around, he has not been able to achieve a very high position
and merely shuttles between Pakistan and the U.S.A. I predict that he will
achieve some high profile position in the future as he has all the
ingredients one needs to have to be a successful politician in Pakistan. He
needs to improve his speaking skills and avoid making long and repetitious
speeches. This will surely improve his image.
Dr. Mital Vakassi, St. Louis Missouri /
Mitiari, Sind
Dr. Mithal Vakassi, specialist in
cardiovascular diseases, settled in St. Louis Missouri, first time met me
during annual gathering of Sindhi Association of North America (SANA). His
pleasant personality and vigor to serve his people was very discernible and
which brought us close to each other. Dr. Vakassi’s giving nature is hard to
find in many people particularly people from Sind. Most of the people
visiting from Pakistan to the U.S.A. do visit him where he is the best host
as well performs free medical check ups to all his friends. Any time anyone
went to him for a favor he never left any stone unturned and helped the
person. Dr. Muneer Abro, as mentioned above, received a $5000 grant from
him. Akhtar Wakko, a young man from Mehar Sind, was working with him when
the Mr. Mital’s business had to be written off. But Dr. Vakassi made sure to
send him to me and got him settled. He has been working tirelessly to create
Shah Lateef Academy in St. Louis, which will be the first institution to
promote the Sindhi poetry and culture. He is frequently holding literary and
other such formal gatherings by inviting people like Rasool Bux Palejo and
many renounced scholars. Dr. Vakassi was very active in SANA and SAMNA
(Sindhi Association of Medical doctors) and served very honorably to make a
difference. He was not like many of our leaders who believe in slogans and
come round the podium to make long elegant speeches only and never deliver
any support to their community members. Mithal, as his name means “sweet,”
has been one the best people I have ever met. His recent project to produce
curriculum on Videocassettes and distribute within small villages for
self-education can revolutionize educational system in interior areas of the
country. I hope one day this system will change course of the poor villagers
who suffer because of poor quality of education and lack of knowledge
possessed by the rural teachers. If I ever want to go back to Pakistan, I
would try to carry this project in small towns and give chance to brighten
students from villages to prosper. I salute to him for his vivid ideas and
wish we could produce a few more people like him who can certainly change
the course of our nation.
Capt. Dr. Mohammad Talib Shaikh, Khairpur
Mirs
Dr. Talib Sheikh and I have been
friends since 1958 when we studied in primary school in Khairpur Mirs.
Talib’s father Dr. Ghulam Kadir Shaikh was friend of my father who was then
serving as Deputy Collector Khairpur Mirs.
 Once my father was transferred to
other station and we moved to our native town Shikarpur in 1961. However we
kept in touch with Talib and his family. Then we came to Jamshoro. I started
studying engineering and Talib pursued degree in medicine. We have always
been in connection and have been associated on family level since then.
Later, I moved to Karachi and
started working in PIA. He was a regular guest at my house and treated us
as his family. He visited USA twice and we were very glad to host him at our
house.
After migrating to USA whenever I
visit Pakistan I find him a hospitable host who takes care of my lodging and
boarding. His family treats me like a family member and respects me as if I
am one of them. He has obedient sons and daughters. His wife is one the most
hospitable lady I have ever seen in recent times. Talib is one of the few
people with whom I share all family and personal secrets. His advice and
comments are always very direct and honest and look sour sometimes, but his
straight forwardness and honesty are not sensed by many. Some time back even
his family told him that he was rude. They made very harsh comments for
which he asked my opinion. I told him that I found him very honest in his
opinions as I felt and gave my honest opinion, which might look harsh to
others, but it is from the bottom of one’s heart.
 In today’s world people always try to speak
what is politically correct and if you tell them the true feeling you are
labeled rude and harsh. I assured Talib that he should continue to follow
the path of honesty and dedication and not try to change himself on account
of others. Talib is a very hard working individual. He is an eye specialist
at Government of Sind hospital; he also runs a private clinic in Mehran
Clinic Sindhi Muslim Society. On Saturdays and Sundays he dedicates lot of
his time to charity and works with different organizations to help the poor.
He is one of the few Pakistanis I have seen who believe in giving. And God
has rewarded him with a wonderful family. His two sons are working in USA
and one daughter is married in Canada. According to me, he is one the best
people I have met in my life and he is successful merely because of his
strong religious beliefs and honest dealings. In today’s time it is hard to
find people like Talib.
Mukhtiar Ahmed Junejo, Retired Justice Supreme Court Pakistan
Mukhtiar Ahmed Junejo met me in 1975 when I dwelled in Government Hostel
located at Ghandi Garden, Karachi. Junejo was then serving as additional
Sessions Judge at Karachi. He was one of the most delicate and behaving
people who carried a very honest reputation as a judge. He was not only a
good judge but a friendly person who, ultimately, rose to the position of
Justice of Supreme Court. During Benazir Bhutto’s tenure I was guest of Pir
Mazhar ul Haque, then Sind Minister for Housing and Law. Mazhar asked me if
I would like to accompany him to congratulate two new judges of the Supreme
Court. When I heard the names, I did not tell Mazhar that I knew both of
them very well. On our first trip, we met Justice Hafeez Memon, elder
brother of my close friend Ashfaque Memon who perished in Taif PIA plane
crash while working as flight engineer. As I was a daily visitor to
Ashfaque’s house, Hafeez Memon was very excited to see me and gave me a lot
of love and respect. Our next meeting was with Mukhtiar Junejo, also was
very glad to see me. Pir Mazhar could not resist the following comments:
“Manzoor, how is it that you live in the U.S.A. but when I take you to meet
two Supreme Court justices, both of them know you so well?” Justice Mukhtiar
Junejo replied to him instead of me and said: “After God, we loved Manzoor
because he was the in charge of the officer’s mess and we cannot forget him
for all the tasty food he provided us.”
As I was very close to my father, I always accompany him while visiting many
of his friends; that is how I enlarged my circle of acquaintances and
friends. Additionally, I always kept in touch with people through letters,
Eid cards, Christmas cards and e-mails to keep my relation healthy and the
circle of friends larger and influential. I have learnt one thing in my
life: pay respect and give love to people, they will return the favor in the
same fashion. The people from good family background always reciprocated in
equal or greater way. In my experience, people who come from lower family
backgrounds do not carry the same values and use the people at the time of
the need and forget the favors. I always judge the people with the attitude
they show to me and always avoid people who do not respect others. I have
more complaints from the new generation who do not carry regard for elders
and for the people who have somehow helped them.
Mukhtiar Ahmed Mugual Advocate, Karachi
Mukhtiar belongs to the Mugual family of
Shikarpur who migrated to Karachi during the early 50s and started business
in Karachi. His family might be considered as one of the oldest Sindhi
entrepreneurs of Karachi. Due to our old friendship my father and all of us
were always in touch with them.
Mukhtiar met me the first time during my
stay in Metha Ram Hostel while I was attending D.J. Science College. We had
a lot of common friends like Deedar Qureshi, Shamis Samo, Deedar Soomro and
many more. Mukhtiar was very close to Deedar Soomro, who later on became a
district session judge. Mukhtiar pursed his career as an attorney and made a
lot of fortune while Deedar Soomro was Rent Controller in Karachi. As Deedar
passed away at a young age, Mukhtiar paid back to his friend and always
supported his family. This was a very unique quality I found in Mukhtiar
that after his friend died, he took care of his friend’s house and children.
Mukhtiar has always been very hospitable
whenever I visited him. After living in Karachi, he has become more of a
businessman type than a friend. While my service in Pakistan International
Airlines, he came to see me with his brother to help them to get PIA Uniform
Tailoring contract for their company. I was a little disappointed when they
offered me a cut in the contract which I declined but did help them to get
the contract through a friend of mine. Fortunately, their company has
maintained the contract since 1975 that holds good till today. It simply
shows that they must have made enormous profits. This was another example
when I could take a cut or make myself a partner in their business and make
a lot of money. But as usual like my elders I helped them to get the
contract but never took any advantage from them. During early 2000-2001 time
I asked Mukhtiar to handle some legal matter for me and I thought he would
try to reciprocate the favor. However, he charged me for his legal fees that
I paid without the slightest of ill feelings: I showed my character to help
him and this was time for him to show what class he had. I lost respect for
him and has ever since avoided seeing him; he has also not made any effort
to call me which he always did while visiting the U.S.A. to meet with his
children.
Mukhtiar is a classic example of such type
of people who have always baited our family including my father and me but
were never there for us when we needed him. I am so proud of my father who
told me a long time ago about Mukhtiar that he was not my friend but was
there only to bait us. At that time I thought Mukhtiar was a close family
friend and I kind of overlooked my father’s assessment. But now I realize
that I should have respected his evaluation. I have no regrets that at the
time of need I helped him and in return God Almighty always showed me the
right way and gave me success in anything I did.
Dr. Muneer Abro, Islamabad
About ten years ago, I received a
call from an unknown person. He introduced himself to me as Dr. Muneer Abro
from Larkana region and asked me if I could help him to get admission in his
Ph.D. program in Public Health. I did not know him even then I asked him how
I could help him. He told me that he needed a loan of $ 15,000 based on that
he would be guaranteed enrollment to the Ph.D. program. He also mentioned
that he had received a grant of $ 5000 from Dr. Mithal Vakassi, one of my
best friends practicing cardiovascular diseases in St Louis, Missouri.
I discussed the matter with Dr. Vakassi and
came to a conclusion that giving $ 15000 to a stranger would not be a wise
step; however, I asked him if I could give him a letter of guarantee for the
same amount instead, would it help to get the admission? After negotiations,
he convinced the Dean of admission and I furnished a $ 15,000
guarantee-letter for him and he moved from New Orleans to Houston and
started attending his classes. During that time frame we started meeting at
social level. I found him pleasant and knowledgeable and had a very nice
family. The same while, he was also exploring the possibilities to purchase
a business that could give him grounds to stay over. He asked me to do a
purchase-cost evaluation of a grocery store, which I suggested him not to
buy due to low returns. To my amusement, he still went ahead and purchased
the store and within a few months asked me to help him to sell it. I told
him that it would be very difficult to sell this store due to poor yielding
factor. When I went to Pakistan once, he met my brother, Aamir, who was
managing my store, and one of my employees, Ali Nawaz Pathan; he somehow
convinced them to buy the store from him. Also he put one condition that I
should not be told about this transaction. When I came back, my brother and
Ali continued working in my store on an alternative basis and managed their
store without informing me. However, the day I arrived, my other employees
told me that Ali and Aamir had bought a store and they intended to keep it
secret from you. I therefore expanded my security system and found out that
Ali Nawaz Pathan who was nephew of one of my old friends since 1974 was
moving groceries from my store to his. At one time he stole 62 cartons of
cigarettes, which caused his termination. I later on asked my brother to
leave and continue his business. They both lost their jobs with me. As the
new business was not producing enough, they started fighting and eventually
broke up the partnership. Ali bought out Aamir’s share with very little
investment and Aamir was working at minimum wage again. During their tenure
one of their night employees was shot dead and a major robbery occurred in
the store. This was one of the reasons Aamir got scared and split from Ali.
Muneer did the same thing as many have done
to me. The return of favor was reciprocated by defrauding my brother to
achieve his goal. My brother Aamir was very young at the time and was always
ambitious to own a business but lost his savings due to Muneer’s
selfishness. Ali Nawaz Pathan, on the other hand, was persistent in running
the business and grew his business and achieved his ambitions. In my view
Ali Also created conditions for my brother Aamir to leave the business so
that he could achieve his goals in which he was very successful. In today’s
competitive world, friendship, integrity and honesty is superseded by
selfishness and personal ambition and Ali was a good example. He used my
resources as well as my brother’s capital to achieve his financial
independence and used my friendship with his uncle Ghulam Sarwar who at one
time worked in Pakistan Embassy at Washington DC. Aamir kept on struggling
and it took him almost 10 additional years to get settled. The poetic
justice was that Ali suffered a back injury and has remained in pain since
then. Muneer Abro had no guts to keep any contact as he knew that he cheated
on us. I wonder how far he could progress in his career.
Muneer Ahmed Umrani, Hyderabad, Sind /
Dallas, Texas
 Muneer has been a childhood friend of my
beloved brother Irshad Memon. After Irshad’s sudden death, most of his
friends like Pir Mazhar ul Haque, Muneer Umrani, Ashfaque Memon, Aijaz
Memon, Shakoor Memon, Jan Mohammed Samo, Deedar Qureshi, Shamis Samo, Deedar
Soomro, Khadium Hussain Memon and many more became my friends and I always
kept a close relationship with them. Muneer was two years senior to me in
Sind University Engineering College where he always helped me due to his
contacts with his seniors. Muneer was a regular visitor at our home
particularly when my brother Irshad visited Hyderabad. At times, he and his
friend Aijaz Memon would come and get help from my brother who was very
sharp academically.
After acquiring his degree, Muneer joined
Karachi Electric Supply as Assistant Engineer Meter Section. As we had
several common friends, we were always in touch with each other.
After completing my degree in electrical
engineering I joined Karachi Shipyard and later on joined PIA. In about
1978, while I was serving Assistant Engineer (Electrical) in Public Works
Department of PIA, I received a call from Colonel Kafeel, an Administrative
Manager to the Chairman PIA, Anwar Jamal. He told me that the Chairman
wanted to see me right away. I was very surprised as to why the Chairman
summoned me because there was a hierarchy of command under which he would
ask Director Administration who would ask my General Manager and then I
would be contacted. Surprised, I reached the Chairman’s office and was
amazed to know that Anwar Jamal wanted a favor from me. He told me that he
had moved in a town home at Clifton Area (Karachi) and had been trying to
get a 3-phase electric connection for the last three months. He had
requested Sami Qureshi CSP Chairman Karachi Electric Supply Corporation but
so far no electric meter was installed. As the summer was approaching, his
German wife was very worried how she would sustain the heat. He told me that
he had heard that I had a lot of contacts and that if I could look into the
matter to help him. As my father was serving at a high profile position,
everyone knew that I can help to expedite their issues. I made a promise to
him that I would do my best. I took the company vehicle and went straight to
Muneer, then in charge of Meter Section. I told him that this was a chance
for me to get close to the chairman. He was so generous that he put other
things to a seizure and made an electrician accompany me with a 3-phase
meter. We took it straight to the Chairman’s house. I got it installed and
commissioned the air-conditioning units within two hours. As soon as I
returned to my office, my secretary told me that Chairman wanted to see me
again. His first impression was that I bribed someone to get it done so
quickly. However, I had to really convince him that it was done merely due
to my friendship. He was wondering how come the chairman of KESC could not
do something in last three months and I got the issue resolved within a few
hours. In Pakistan it is called the magic of friendship and Muneer showed
the enchantment which was very helpful to me. When I was getting married, I
invited Chairman Anwar Jamal who not only attended my wedding but invited me
at his house with 56 general managers of PIA myself being the chief guest.
He showed his greatness and treated me so lavishly that I would never forget
his generosity and love; it was not encircled around the dinner only,
however, he presented an extravagant gift for me and my wife. In my life he
has been one of the few bosses who have won my heart and I could have done
anything for him.
In about 1979, Muneer moved to ARAMCO and we
lost touch with each other until he moved to Houston a few years ago. In
college days, Muneer was very aggressive and his emotional level remained
the same even after so many years. He always tried to impose his thoughts
over others and talked without giving anyone an opportunity to express their
views. During his stay in Houston, he asked me to help him to get his
family’s green cards process expedited. As his eldest daughter would have
been disqualified to get a green card, he wanted to get them legalized
before certain a timeframe. As he was very frustrated with the company
attorney who was handling his immigration matter with no results in two
years, he looked to me for help. Upon my request, Congresswoman Sheila
Jackson Lee requested the Director of INS and his immigration case was
approved within two weeks of our request. Once the case was approved, I
asked Muneer to send a letter of thanks to the congresswoman so that he
could remain in touch with her in the future as well. Muneer, instead of
acknowledging our efforts, stated that his case came through in the regular
process and no help was extended from the Congresswoman’s office. I was very
upset with him and told him that he was being ungrateful. This is a common
habit in our people that after getting their issues resolved, they try to
avoid giving credit to the people who have helped them at the time of the
need. On the other side, whenever I introduced him to someone, I recollected
the story of Chairman PIA Anwar Jamal and gave him credit for what he did
for me. Helping him to get his family legalized was not to get any credit
but to pay back for the favor he extended to me with a hope that he would
acknowledge it that he ultimately denied. Due to this incident, our
relationship got strained and inspite of many moves, he has sidelined
himself though his family and children are in touch with my family.
Muneer has some strange habits. He keeps
fasts for all thirty days during the holy month of Ramadan and prays five
times including Taravih. He very proudly says that he does not drink alcohol
during Ramadan; however, he drinks all the rest of the time. In my view, God
Almighty is the judge of our character but there are some religious and
social norms which one should abide by. Rest is all the decision of God
whose actions are accepted and whose sins are forgiven and we should not
judge the person on the visual actions. I always have regards for Muneer
mainly because he is a childhood friend of my dearest brother and I always
looked at him like he is my brother too.
Officer Muzafar Siddiqui, Houston Police
Department
During the election campaign of Mayor Lee
Brown, Officer Siddiqui met me and as soon as I joined the Mayor’s office as
Advisor to Mayor for South Asian Affairs he got close to me. He would call
me every day and furnish a comprehensive report of the City and particularly
about activities within South Asian communities.
 Upon strong recommendations from Ghulam
Bombaywala, Shah Haqqi, and I Mayor Lee Brown designated him as Liaison for
South Asian community where he served very elegantly. We also supported him
and accredited him everywhere and with all the recommendations he was
bestowed upon with so many police and law enforcement awards including
Policeman of the Year as well as some national awards.
During Ghulam Bombaywala’s Election Day, he
was supposed to be working at the polling station. However, I felt that he
was not acting fairly and was prone to support the MQM group. I shared my
observation with Ghulam who, at that time, did not agree with my perception
until after so many years. As long as I was in the Mayor’s office, Muzafar
always extended full protocol and helped me for which I have always been
thankful to him. However due to his biased attitude, he lost his
creditability in the community and particularly with certain groups. The
community leaders who used him for their personal agenda gave him so many
awards that he always expected one during every event and he got used to the
praise and pampering.
During the last few years, he bluntly came
up to supporting the MQM cause rather than serving the whole community.
Several community members raised some allegations of corruption and use of
excessive police force for personal gain and lodged complaints against him.
So far he has survived and is still working in the department but not on a
high profile position like the one he was holding during Mayor Lee Brown’s
tenure. Perception is that he was also a victim of Masrur’s vindictive
nature when he was transferred to the head office and no longer served as
Liaison to the South Asian communities. This could be true as the two of us
are now out of his way. This means an open stage for Masrur to be the solo
representative and leader of our communities. Certainly, this was a short
sightedness on part of Masrur. If he had joined forces with us, we would
have been at a higher ground in mainstream American politics.
I always suggest people who come in public
life to be fair with all groups to retain their integrity. This will not
only prolong their tenure at high profile position but also give them
recognition in the community. As soon as you sideline one group, your
creditability is minimized and complaints start surfacing to dislodge and
oust you. Masrur Jawaid Khan and Muzafar Siddiqui both got an excellent
opportunity to serve all the communities but they chose to cater only for
one ethnic party they were affiliated with. But they lost their opportunity
to rise taller.
Comparing myself to Masrur, I still admire
Muzafar that at the time of my tenure at the Mayor’s office he extended all
the help and was completely fair and never tried to back stab me as Masrur
did.
Dr. Muzafar Hussein Memon, Hyderabad
 Dr. Muzafar is my younger brother
born in Tando Allahyar in 1958 when my father was Mukhtiarkar. He graduated
with Bachelor’s degree in Dental Science from Liaqat Medical College and is
presently serving the institution as Assistant Professor Dentistry as well
as doing private practice at Kotri since 1980.
Dr. Muzafar was very lucky to get
admission in dental school when our Uncle Nizamuddin Memon was asked to give
some applications for admission due to shortage of candidates. As I was
close to Uncle Nizam, I gave him applications of three candidates including
Dr. Mansoor Memon s/o Azizullah Memon and Dr. Sirfraz Memon s/o Mohammad Bux
Memon working in Washington DC. This timely action was taken to streamline
careers of these three individuals for which all the credit goes to Uncle
Nizam.
Dr. Muzafar was lucky that as soon
as he came out of college I had enough capital to pay for establishing a
dental clinic for him that he is still running.
 Dr. Muzafar’s biggest contribution
in our family was to take care of our mother who suffered from diabetes and
many other petty illnesses. Muzafar really served mother more than any of
our brothers and God will reward him for his services. On the other hand, he
is very sensitive and emotional. This has caused him a lot of grief. He had
been very helpful to support two younger brothers, Shahid and Aamir, and had
served honorably to help their family. In return, he has never been
appreciated and has always been complaining. I have always told him that
today’s world is very selfish and one has to become self-sufficient first
before helping others. Inside Muzafar is a good human being and has brought
some beautiful and smart children who are going to reduce his frustration
level and make him happier in life.
Najma and Anwar Memon, Toronto, Canada
Najma is the only daughter of my uncle Abdul
Fateh Memon. She is married to Anwar Memon, son of Fakir Mohammed Memon from
Fakir Jo Pirah Hyderabad. Fakir Mohammed had been acquainted to my father
since 1956 while serving as Mukhtiarkar, Hyderabad. He lived very close to
our official residence. Anwar met me first time while he was serving as
Lecturer in Civil Department at Sind University Engineering College,
Jamshoro. Just after serving there one year, he was married to Najma and he
was awarded a scholarship to pursue Masters in Civil Engineering in London.
After completing his education, instead of
serving his college as promised by him in writing before he went for the
scholarship program, he moved to Canada and is presently managing a huge
Environmental Engineering Company in Toronto, Canada. Najma supported Anwar
and has been responsible for his success that he seldom acknowledges.
Najma has been like an elder sister to me.
She treated me like her blood brother since I met her. She is one of the few
cousins who have always kept contact with all the relatives.
Anwar, on the other hand, was
very aggressive but has mellowed down since his kidney failure that has kept
him under the weather. They are blessed with two sons. One is Danish, an
Environmental Engineer; the other is Mashal, a Computer Engineer. During
Anwar’s studies in London, they were forced to leave their children in
Pakistan who were raised by their grandparents. This created some kind of
vacuum between the parents and children and has since kept them at odds with
each other. Unfortunately, children do not realize the fact that for the
middle class people like us we have to sacrifice so much to achieve the
heights in our professions. Our children do not appreciate the ready meal
they get with all the amenities of life and never imagine how we provide for
their needs. We have always been grateful to our parents for their hard work
but do not see the next generation giving us the credit for providing them
the best in the world. Anwar and Najma when met with my family became very
close to my children particularly my daughter. Anwar has helped most of his
brothers and sisters and contributed a lot to their lives. As his father
married twice, half of his brothers and sisters are from his stepmother.
Yet, he has also treated them well and for his good deeds one of them
donated a kidney to him which was transplanted to him giving him an extended
life.
On the community side, Anwar has made no
significant contributions except that he is very effective in giving ideas
as what to do for the betterment of the people. Unfortunately, most of us
hitting higher ground of success once forget our motherland and do not
contribute towards the upliftment of our community. I think Anwar could have
done much more and joined forces with people to upgrade life of many people.
I found Anwar and Najma both making biased
decisions and shying away to take the stand for the truth when at an
instance he fell short in his judgement which sidelined me from their
family. In my view one should be honest to those who are confidants. Instead
of avoiding the veracity, one should stand by the genuineness and support
the virtuous and true people even if one of their dear ones is on the
opposite side. A person’s right and unbiased decision demonstrates the
person’s strong character.
Dr.
Naveed Saleem Chairman (MIS), University of Houston, Clearlake
Dr. Naveed got aquatinted with me
through Syed Shameem Ahmed, one of my best friends, my tennis teacher and
religious affairs mentor. Shameem and Naveed were neighbors at times and we
started playing tennis periodically and have continued for the last fifteen
years.
Dr. Naveed is a born Christian
from Lahore. But if he does not disclose his identity he is more
knowledgeable about Islam than many of us and due to his Muslim name he can
never be recognized as a practicing Christian. Naveed is one of those
special people presiding in my heart who always stood for the right. He is
a man of principles and a very dedicated and hardworking teacher.
His noblest quality, which I found, was his
care for his parents. His father suffers from throat cancer and his mother
is old but Naveed takes the time to make sure they are healthy and happy. I
think his rise and cause of happiness is due to his dedication to his
parents, his family and his students.
Dr. Naveed and I always discuss
various issues and I always found him always giving me right advice hinged
on very strict principles. He is one of the few people who constantly remind
me that honesty is the best policy which may not take you on the peak
but does make you a first class human being and Naveed is more than first
class. I wish we had teachers like him who could help the students round the
clock and serve them rather than being bossy and arrogant like many teachers
who achieve higher positions in their academic life. Naveed teaches extra
classes to earn additional money which he donates back to a scholarship fund
to help the poor and needy students. His generosity towards his students,
his family and friends is hardly to find in many human beings. If I had to
give a humanitarian award Naveed would be on top of my list for the best
teacher and best human being.
Namatullah Bhutto, Shikarpur
Namatullah Bhutto, son of Habibullah Bhutto,
both schoolteachers in Government High School Shikarpur, was aquatinted to
us through a distant relative Ghulam Haider Memon. Habibullah Bhutto retired
as Head Master of the school and carried a very high reputation in all
genres of his field. Namatullah became a family friend and during 1966-67
when I was just in 9th grade, we decided to publish first digest
ever published in Sindhi language. Few of us contributed financially and
edited Mehran Digest and issued twelve monthly issues distributed in major
cities of Sind. During that time there were only a few Sindhi periodicals
like Sohani by Tariq Ashraf, Naeen Zindangi by Shamsheer Haideri, and very
shallow amount of literary books was published in Sindhi. Mehran Digest can
be called the first of its kind published in the format of Reader’s Digest
giving people of Sind the information which could not previously reach to
them due to language barriers. I wish the educated Sindhis take this task
and publish some literary and educational periodicals to promote Sindhi
language and stop complaining that Urdu is promoted by the government.
It is the Urdu-speaking people who are
taking the pain to promote their language and why not the Sindhis who are
more interested in slogans drag their energies to promote their language.
People like Namatullah need financial
support from all of us to promote our language and we need to start making
honest efforts for our mother tongue otherwise it will be buried in the
heavy pressure of other languages which are being promoted on a higher pace
than that of ours.
Dr. Nazir Mughal, Former Vice Chancellor,
University of Sind
Dr. Nazir Mughal and I got aquatinted during
SANA convention and were immediately connected due to my involvement with
Travel business. During 1986-1992 I owned and operated five branches of IATA
approved travel agencies in Houston. Dr. Nazir Mughal was serving as Dean of
International Studies at Edinboro University at Erie Pennsylvania. In my
travel business, he was my top client and he not only diverted his personal
and university business but also referred his friends to me too.
I also served him with first class service
and made sure that his trips were arranged with high quality and precision.
Dr. Mughal used to take groups of international students on foreign trips. I
(for this I can never forget him) made all the ticketing and related
arrangements.
Dr. Nazir was also very sociable. He invited
several educationists and prominent people from Pakistan to lecture his
students and finally the government of Pakistan appreciated his talent and
he was appointed as Vice Chancellor Sind University where he served
honorably for several years.
Dr. Nazir has been instrumental in settling
so many Pakistani boys and girls whom he helped to get admission in Edinboro
University and subsequently got them jobs and sponsorships. In my view, he
is one of the very few people who have served his country and people. I wish
many of us follow his footsteps and help our people to upgrade standard of
living of a few of the poor families. Dr. Nazir is a practical person and
knows how to make things work for him as well as for others. We must learn
his tactics to be successful in practical life.
During my visit to Pakistan, when I visited
him, he forced me to stay for a night at his official Vice Chancellor
quarters. This was a unique experience when I sat on the same chair where I
sat about twenty years ago to discuss with the then Vice Chancellor Hassan
Ali Abdul Rahman the plan to ouster Dr. A.Q. Afghan. The detailed story is
narrated in paragraph written about Dr. A.Q. Afghan.
The most inspiring memory of this trip was
my morning walk from his bungalow to Mehran hostel where I lived for several
years during my engineering education. When I visited grave of Allama I.I.
Kazi, founder of Sind University, I prayed for his soul. As soon as I turned
towards the University, I felt as if God showed to Allama Kazi the new
version of the university through my eyes. I knew that Alama Kazi could not
see the final product of what he started several decades ago when only a
single unit was built to commence the university. Now it has evolved into a
large town. We forget the contributions of those who have the vision to
build the educational institutions that consequently change the course of
our nation.
I will urge affluent and influential people
to please support your educational institutions and let education spread to
the poor people to encourage the less privileged to upgrade this nation.
Dr. Nazir has been my friend since then and
has always been in touch with me. He is a wonderful host and excellent
friend. After serving as VC Sind University he has lost touch with the
U.S.A. yet has been constantly taking educational assignments in Pakistan
where he can be better utilized by our people. I wish our government can
create programs through which talented professors from Pakistani origin are
encouraged to take teaching jobs to upgrade educational standards in
Pakistan. The biggest dilemma our country has been undergoing is the brain
drain due to the opportunities foreign countries provide to out people. This
takes away all the high-class talent. I wish our government cut down their
budgets from feeding a gigantic army and spend it for education to upgrade
our lives.
Nizamuddin Memon Advocate, Larkana
 Nizamuddin Memon is my father’s first cousin
and my uncle from mother’s side being married to my mother’s younger sister.
Ada Nizamuddin, as we all call him, is one of the best people of our family.
He was a good looking, intelligent as well as a very honest man. He was
always overshadowed by his elder brother Abdul Fateh Memon who was always in
the limelight until he settled in Karachi after returning from Saudi Arabia
where he served as Pakistani Ambassador. Nizamuddin handled most of the law
practice while his elder brother was busy in politics and once he took
charge of the political reins, he shined like a star. His children also
always silently felt that the joint family system did not give them an equal
opportunity and their cousins became more successful and they were left out.
Though there was little truth in their feelings but one has to work hard and
overcome hurdles to open new doors so that one can achieve success.
According to my experienced analysis of life in common and particular,
jealousy and laziness do not bring success to people but hard work and
positive attitude.
As soon as Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto came
to Larkana in the mid 50s, there was a family meeting held at our house.
This meeting was attended by Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto, Z.A. Bhutto, Sikander
Bhutto, Uncle Abdul Fateh, Uncle Nizamuddin, cousins Dr. Ghulam Ali and Ali
Nawaz Memon. During this meeting two families joined political forces
together and decided to support each other. However, Nizamuddin and Z.A.
Bhutto clicked louder and remained very close friends till the end.
 During the historical trip taken by Bhutto
to UNO where he tore off the agenda and walked out, Nizamuddin was on his
side. They played bridge together and partied at the Larkana Gymkhana till
Bhutto was appointed as Industries minister in Ayub Khan’s regime. Bhutto
was a regular guest at our home when we were very young. As Nizamuddin was
very close to me, he shared so many intimate details about him and about so
many politicians (some of which cannot be mentioned here for the sake of
secrecy). It did show to me how close he was to many of the top politicians.
During Bhutto’s tenure, he was assigned an undocumented position as
political advisor to Prime Minister and a Toyota Land Cruiser was assigned
to him with Prim Minster’s Seal on it. The Land Cruiser was usually left
parked at my residence in Karachi and I was his driver on the weekends when
he would fly from Larkana. During weekends we would meet with various
political leaders and officials and he would prepare a policy making report
for the Prime Minster. I used to send that report to the Prime Minister via
PIA cargo. Prime Minister Bhutto had issued orders to seek for Nizamuddin’s
consultancy while making any major decisions to formulate policy of Sind;
however, he never accepted any remuneration for working for the Prime
Minister the same I did working for the Mayor of Houston. During second term
election, Nizamuddin was the in charge of elections in Sind province and was
custodian of millions of rupees to be spent on the election. This time
around, Nizamuddin ruined his law practice and was almost broke but he never
accepted any political assistance in any form.
Nizamuddin is the symbol of honesty in Sind
politics where he held so much power but did not take any financial
advantage and is presently living a very modest life in Larkana. Looking at
the people who worked beside him at a very lower level and who have
accumulated large assets by using their political influence I always wonder
“Is honesty the best policy?” People like Chaker Ali Junejo, Abdul
Razaque Soomro, Abdul Waheed Katper and many more are the ones who used
their political influence and became very wealthy as well as enjoyed high
political positions in subsequent governments. Contrarily, Nizamuddin was
never asked to take any role after death of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. The
main reason was that he had no financial backing that he could spend money
to be part of the new political system prevailing in our country where money
plays the key role to achieve positions. After so much hard work finally
Pakistan People’s Party assigned a national assembly ticket to his son
Khalid Iqbal who won the seat inspite of a government-backed candidate
running against him for the same seat.
Some of the stories of his honesty have been
mentioned in this book with relation to others but few of the stories are
repeated here.
During Bhutto regime, the government was
issuing permits to purchase a new Corolla car at a government-fixed price.
Many of the people acquired the permit and sold the permit in the black
market and, without even buying a car, made ten to fifteen thousand rupees
on the spot. During one of his visits, I asked him to get me such a permit.
He asked me if I had the money to purchase the car and I told him no. He
told me that it meant I would sell the permit in the black market and this
would stain our family’s honor. Even though he got around 110 permits issued
for the political workers of the PPP, he never got one for him or any of the
family members.
Bashir Moriani, a Secretary of Industries,
delayed my appointment as Assistant director in Industries department. He
appointed one of my friends, Nisar Channa, on the same position after
hurling into his pocket a sum of Rs. 50,000. This incident was reported to
the Prime Minister who dismissed Moriani on the spot and referred me to PIA
for the job. This was the foundation, a gateway to success for me: I married
Amber and migrated to the U.S.A. where I not only achieved my financial
independence but also earned so much respect and learnt about political and
human relations. I always considered him one of my heroes who was
instrumental in getting me to the higher ground.
Nusrat Hassan CSP, Member, Board of Revenue,
Sind.
After abolishing one unit when West Pakistan
was divided into four provinces, Sind achieved partial independence. This
change brought my father to serve as Secretary Revenue in newly established
Board of Revenue Sind. Nusrat Hassan CSP, an ISS officer, was before
partition appointed as Senior Member Board of Revenue. Syed Qatib Ali Shah
PCS was appointed as Member Land Utilization in the board. Considering my
father’s position, he was in charge of all the administration of the board,
responsible to hire the new staff and procure every thing to operate the
board. All the Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, Deputy
Collectors, Mukhtirkars and other revenue staff came under direct control of
this board. However, the appointment and transfers of senior staff was under
the control of Chief Secretary Sind.
My father advertised all the vacant
positions in the board and held written and oral tests and hired all the 119
employees on merit basis without letting even a single person with any other
influence but genuine merit. Just before the written test for the first time
my father took my advice to create a Performa to be filled by all
candidates. This form was created by me to investigate the domicile status
of the people who never lived in Sind. During this process we found hundreds
of forged domicile certificates and rejected their applications. At the end
of the day all 119 positions were filled by the native citizens of the Sind
province. I wish our bureaucrats appoint the people with genuine domiciles
and do not cheat the local people by hiring employees with fake documents.
The biggest complaint the locals have with the federation is that people
with fake domicile certificates not only take their jobs but also rule them
by making policies in favor of their interest. Baluchistan, Frontier and
interior Sind have been aggravated with the federation because the right
share in all the jobs opportunities is not granted to the local people. This
results in frustration among the people and a full-fledged movement is ripe
to break the federation if these problems are not addressed soon.
Nusrat Hassan was considered one of the most
honest CSP officers but what we saw while being close to him will give the
reader an insight account as how the CSP officers operate and still maintain
an honest posture for the outside world.
All CSP officers start as Deputy Collector
and quickly travel to higher ranks. Most of the lower staff like
Mukhtiarkars, Tapidars, etc. are the ones who collect the money from the
general public and pass on to the superiors; therefore superficially only
the lower staff is considered corrupt. Most of us do not know that the money
collected by the lower staff is in substance passed on to the senior staff
and cut backs are given to the top level personnel including the Ministers
of relevant departments. In this complex game of cunningness, most of the
senior staff is portrayed to be very honest while they milk millions without
getting the slightest of the common man’s notice. Most of the senior
officers choose their subordinates of their confidence and use them as their
agent to attract and make illegal deal with the clients who have major
problems. By this way they milk easy money. Nusrat Hassan was in this
category where at one occasion he received a gift of 200 acres of fertile
land and at another, a new Toyota Carolla Car in recognition of his
services. On the academic side he was a very weak who could never make a
decision in black and white but always gave verbal orders to avoid any
consequences. He never liked my father because any time his verbal orders
were given; my father would send him a summary and practically forced him to
issue orders with his signature. Most of the files sent to him in routine
traveled back with notes like “Pl. speak” or “Pl. discuss”. Once I myself
saw my father getting at least thirty files with Pl. speak
instructions and waiting for him to issue orders. I told my father that was
an insult for a high-ranking officer like him to wait for Nusrat and get his
blessings on each file. Unfortunately, this was the procedure and my father
had to follow it and eventually when Nusrat Hassan found out that he could
make more money if some corrupt officer was brought at my father’s position
he had my father transferred as Additional Commissioner Hyderabad. Looking
back to such happenings, I often wonder the fact that Nusrat Hassan not only
remained as one of the most honest officers on roll call of CSPs but also
rose to high positions as Chairman Cotton export etc. Most of the CSP
officers belong to the underground interest circle with an honor code to
support each other and praise everyone showing that they are the most honest
breed of the Pakistani bureaucracy. In truth, they have been responsible to
promote corrupt culture in the country which has made this country hollow
from inside. These officers who are part of the background establishment,
with help of army have created conditions to take control of all financial
and official institutions. They have become an elite ruling class using all
the resources for their personal gain with no national pride and no fear of
God that one day they have to answer for depriving the poor people of the
resources misused by them.
During my tenure as Assistant Engineer
Public Works in PIA, I encountered a boss like Nusrat Hassan who would write
the same note “Pl. speak” on half of the files. The same way he would make
me wait in his office and would issue verbal orders and sign a few of the
files and make me do different unnecessary research work for the other
files. Every time he would make me stay in his office for hours to get the
projects approved which needed to be finished on a certain schedule. One day
I experimented a trick on him and changed the summary with his notes to
speak to him and send him the files with the new files. To my amusement he
signed several of the files he wanted to speak to me about and wrote the
same note on the rest of the files! Since then I stopped going to his office
and every time he would send back some file to me, I would change the
approval summary and the file would be approved. In about three years time I
had to visit his office only once to discus with him about a very important
project otherwise he approved each and every file and never noticed that he
wanted to talk to me about those files. This was the caliber of the officers
who claimed to be very competent and honest but were very hollow inside.
Pir Mazhar-ul-Haque, Dadu
Pir Mazhar-ul-Haque is grandson of Pir
Illahi Bux, a close associate of Qaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and first
chief Minister of Sind. He is also grandson of Kazi Akbar of Hyderabad on
the mother’s side. Mazhar luckily followed his paternal grandfather’s
footprints and has been a man of principle and commitment. He has been a
dedicated member of the Pakistan People’s Party from the early days of the
party and has served as Law Minister and Minster for Housing during the last
two governments of the PPP respectively. In my view, he deserves to be the
best chief minister Sind if given an opportunity due to his commitment to
his constituents and poor people.
 Mazhar was childhood friend of my elder
brother Late Irshad Ahmed Memon. After the sudden death of my brother,
Mazhar could be the only of his friends who filled the gap and always
treated me like one of his brothers and loved me like Irshad. Mazhar has
several brothers. Muzafar is operating a school after serving in Pakistan
Air Force and National College of Engineering at Karachi. Munawar is a
Mechanical Engineer; Mukkarum was Chairman of Pakistan Printing Corporation
now an entrepreneur. And Moizim, a Custom Officer, is more known as a TV
actor who has performed in many drama series.
Mazhar pursued his degree in Law and joined
Sind University as Public Relation Officer to the Vice Chancellor, Hassan
Ali Abdul Rehman, in 1968. During my third year in engineering, Pir Mazhar
asked Ghulam Nabi Morie and me to come and meet the VC but at an early dawn
time so that our meeting was kept in secret. In the house of the VC, Hassan
Ali Abdul Rehman, we were told that the government had approved to upgrade
Sind University Engineering College to a University of Engineering. We were
told that Dr. A.Q. Afghan, the Principal Sind University Engineering
College, had been working against this cause as he knew that he would not be
appointed as VC of the new university. He was certainly being selfish and
was working for his own interest. He stood as a barrier in the way of an
opportunity our people could have in the form of an engineering university.
Hassan Ali Abdul Rehman wanted something to be done to eliminate Dr. Afghan
from the scene. I told him that it was practically impossible and we could
be in danger if he found out that we were making any move to dislocate him.
During the discussion, the Vice Chancellor gave us a lot of ammunition to
attack Dr. Afghan but Ghulam Nabi was not ready to make any move which could
put our lives in danger. After deep contemplation, I decided to take action
without telling anyone. My father was serving as Registrar Co-operative
Societies for Sind at headquarter office situated in One Unit Building,
Hyderabad. I went to my father’s secretary and took him in confidence and
asked him to type up a questionnaire addressed to Dr. Afghan for his
activities. He made me 500 copies of the flyer and I distributed them very
systematically and carefully by leaving 10 copies of flyer in each rest room
of the Sind University. This was done between 2 to 4 a.m. when all the
students were asleep. The next day the flyer was in every one’s hand and I
left a copy of the flyer in Pir Mazhar’s office without his knowledge. Dr.
Afghan could not handle the allegations and Vice Chancellor asked legal
experts to hold an enquiry against him to prove authenticity of the
allegations. However, on the third day, Dr. Afghan tendered his resignation
and within the next month, the government announced appointment of Dr. S.M.
Qureshi as Vice Chancellor of the new Mehran Engineering University. If Pir
Mazhar had not brought me on the scene I would never have achieved the
result that opened doors of opportunity for so many locals.
During General Zia’s regime, Mazhar was
under attack by the army and establishment. So he came to the U.S.A. and
stayed with us for a few months. This was the time we drew ever closer and
he became part of our family. Though Mazhar had some weaknesses but was very
caring and loving person. He prayed very sincerely and was always helping
poor people and respected his elders.
During his tenure as Minister Law and
Housing, one day when I was with him in his office at Sind Assembly
building, Kazi Abid who was brother of Kazi Akbar (Mazhar’s grandfather on
the mother’s side) came to see him with his son. Mazhar was very respectful
to him and took care of him before doing anything else. Subsequently, he
went all the way to the parking lot to see him off. I knew that Kazi Abid
was not very fair in his dealing with the family of Mazhar when they were
growing up but even then he showed high regards for him which was very
impressive. One should always respect elders and guests who visit you since
your treatment to them reflects the class of character you have.
He paid high respect to my father. One day
when he visited my father at Hyderabad in summer, he asked someone to buy an
airconditioner and get it installed in my father’s room. My father became
very angry with him. It was after a lot of persuasion that he was friend of
Irshad and like his son and that he should accept his gift, he let the unit
get installed. During his tenure as Minister of Law and Housing, Mazhar was
given 10 positions to fill for his district. Upon my recommendation, he gave
one position to my brother Shahid Hussein, who is still serving as Assistant
Engineer at Hyderabad Development Authority. Due to this he was harshly
questioned from his constituents as to why he let one Dadu seat go to a
resident of Shikarpur. Mazhar stood firm on his decision and Shahid is still
working in H.D.A.
Upon my visit to Karachi, during his tenure
as Minister, Mazhar treated me like a VVIP guest and took me on a tour of
whole Sind; I visited so many places and met my old friends. In my whole
life, I have never been treated as lavishly as by him during that time. This
shows the class of the person that when he was not in power I treated him
well and when he got the chance he reciprocated the favor. Now also whenever
I visit London, he always extends full hospitality and lets me stay in his
room and does not hesitate even if he has to sleep on the floor. Such
mannerisms and treatment reflect a person’s family background and training;
they impress everyone if observed as loftily as by Mazhar and consequently
win a person’s heart for ever. In my view Mazhar has been one of the top
class persons I have ever met and the one who practically filled the gap of
my late brother Irshad by giving me love and respect. His family and
children are also very respectful and always very cordial. He has three sons
and two daughters. His two sons have finished Bar at Law and his daughter
married to a prominent PPP leader is also serving as Member of Sind
Provincial Assembly from Dadu, their native hometown.
Pir Syed Rashid Shah Pir Sahib of Pagaro,
Pir Jo Goth
My first meeting with Pir Pagaro happened
when I was only 7 years old. Following the government protocol, my father
who recently them took charge as Deputy Collector Khairpur Mirs, had to pay
visit to Pir Pagaro at his residence located at Pir Jo Goth. My father and I
had to pass through seven different channels to reach his drawing room
including the one where everyone had to bow down to pass through a low
height door. I was too young to form any opinion about him then, but later
on I met him two times that revealed to me more about his personality and
political wisdom.
Just before 1970 general elections (the only
fair election ever held in the history of Pakistan while Yahya Khan was the
President), one day I visited Kingri House official residence of Pir Pagaro
in Karachi accompanied by Syed Ghous Ali Shah. I still remember that he was
sitting behind a large desk about 6-12" higher than the other chairs and
sofas. Soon after our arrival a discussion about up coming elections
started. The role of the PPP and its leader Bhutto in the politics of
Pakistan also came underway. Pir Sahib made the following remarks to Ghous
Ali shah: “Shah Sahib if Bhutto wins more than 20 seats, I will shave off my
beard.” Unfortunately he did not know the street power of Bhutto who swept
the elections in West Pakistan. This showed the political wisdom of one of
the top leaders of Sind.
A very interesting thing happened on
December 20 1970. The time Bhutto was sworn in as Chief Martial law
Administrator and President of Pakistan; I was staying at Syed Ghous Ali
Shah’s residence at Khairpur. The servants announced that Pir Sahib was
there to meet Shah Sahib. Both of them embraced each other and conveyed
sarcastic congratulations and made the following statement: “Shah Sahib now
that Bhutto Sahib had become the President, we have nothing left but to hunt
teeter” (a bird very favorite to the hunters in Sind due to its
delicious meat).
The next day, when all the local newspapers
were on the breakfast table, I saw a small news item at the bottom of Daily
Ibrat, a Sindhi newspaper: “First ordinance Bhutto issues: ban on
teeter hunting.” I immediately showed the news to Ghous Ali Shah and
told him that last night there must have been someone in the company who
reported Bhutto about the teeter hunting episode and Bhutto made sure
to ban it for Pir Sahib.
During Bhutto’s time Syed Ghous Ali Shah put
so many efforts to unite Pir Pagaro and Bhutto but due to intervention of
Yahya Bukhtiar the reconciliation meeting never materialized. Sind politics
could have been at a different juncture if these two leaders would have
mended their differences and worked together and done something for the
common good of people of Sind. It was very sad that close associates of
Bhutto like Yahya Bukhtiar (Attorney General of Pakistan) did not extend
their 100 % sincerity and integrity to Bhutto. If Bhutto and Pir Sahib had
worked on the same grounds, it could have changed course of democracy in
Pakistan. It shows that the Punjab never wanted to see Bhutto too strong to
govern the country for long. With Pir Sahib’s support, Bhutto could have
survived longer and did not have to face the horrible end. Also this could
have brought a lot of prosperity and development to Sind.
By nature, Pir Sahib is an aristocrat who
always speaks for the establishment and army and has been a favorite of any
non-democratic government due to his strength in his area. Bhutto was the
only political leader who broke his political power and a time came that Pir
Sahib's followers confronted him and told him that he was only their
spiritual leader: their vote belonged to Bhutto. It was very surprising that
his candidates lost election miserably. People of high caliber and strong
political background like Syed Ghous Ali Shah lost their seats to weak
candidates like Syed Qaim Ali Shah mainly because of Bhutto. One day, Ghous
Ali Shah confided in me and told me that his biggest regret was that people
always rejected him. I know that he was much superior in every aspect to
many of the leaders from his area but he was rejected due to his affiliation
with Pir Sahib. On the other hand, Ghous Ali Shah acquired most of his high
profile positions with Pir Sahib’s recommendations. The political power
acquired by Pir Sahib has slowly been diminished; yet any backdoor
government uses him and his associates, from time to time, to share the
power. Unfortunately, Pir Sahib has done no concrete work for the people of
Sind and in particular for his constituents. Person of his status who has
enjoyed unlimited power since the creation of Pakistan should have had high
achievements listed under his name. But history will remember him as a
failure, though as a leader and politician. I wish he could have taken
stance for the rights of Sind and got fair share in various fields of life.
He could have at least established a few educational institutions to upgrade
the standard of living of local people or installed some small industry in
the interior part of Sind which could have created jobs for people.
Unfortunately, feudals spend most of their time to secure their own
positions and are scared to improve the infrastructure of their
constituencies. They are afraid that if education and development will occur
it will break their power base. However, they are wrong as history only
remembers those in golden words who have constructed institutions and have
helped the poor people. Bhutto is the best examples as he is still in the
hearts of the people for giving them a sense to live a respectable life.
Despite being a feudal, he promoted development of infrastructure. He
established some educational institutions and built some industrial units
that changed the course of the nation and the poor people whom he gave due
respect and ego to stand up. People of Pakistan always remember him and his
fame will grow for his invaluable services done for the good of his people.
People like Pir Sahib, on the other hand, always stood on high grounds
looking down upon people as inferior creatures; a time will soon come that
such people will completely vanish from the history.
The entire history, stretching as far back
as into the times of Homer, reveals that for political leaders it is
essential to leave some positive legacy that is the only way to remain in
the memories of their people. Sadly and helplessly, I would say: “In the
context of Pakistani politics, I do not see many to mention for such a great
person.”
My advice to the senior community leaders is
to encourage younger people and help each other so that we can rise and
carry our community to a higher level.
Qaiser Yusuf & Shama Yusuf, St. Louis
Missouri
Qaiser Yusuf is my mother in law’s
stepbrother. Born in 1946 in India, Qaiser is the only son of Syed Akhtar
Yusuf. He migrated to Pakistan and was raised in Hyderabad. Syed Akhtar
Yusuf married several times and had one child from each wife. Qaiser has so
many stepsisters: Dr. Jamal Yusuf (my mother in law) lives in Karachi and
Rezm Lodi and Anjum Maqbool live in the U.S.A. Qaiser joined Pakistan army
and was promoted to the rank of captain but left the army and came to the
U.S.A. He is working in computer programming. Qaiser Yusuf was married to a
Punjabi girl but she divorced him in 1976. Qaiser Yusuf’s mother was a
college professor. She divorced his father after finding out that he was
maintaining a bunch of wives. She also left Qaiser who was raised by one of
his step mothers. Qaiser always suffered from inferiority complex and felt
neglected. His relationship with his father was not very healthy.
Jawaid Maqbool, his brother in law, also
sponsored Qaiser to migrate to the U.S.A. in the late 70s. In 1979, when he
visited Pakistan, he told my wife that he was involved with a white girl in
Phoenix, Arizona who was carrying his child. She wanted to marry Qaiser but
he wanted to marry a Pakistani girl. When he went to his father, he was told
that the family would not take any responsibility and would not help him to
marry. He wanted me and Amber to find him a girl to marry. Amber had a
friend who was a distant relative of hers. She was also abandoned by her
father who went to England and married an English girl; the girl’s mother
left her with her grandmother and married someone else. She was from a
scattered family and was looking for some break through. I proposed my wife
to try to associate these two and see if they could click. Three days before
Qaiser’s departure back to the U.S.A., we invited Shama and took both of
them to the Drive in Cinema in Karachi. I briefed them and gave them three
hours to discuss the possibilities of marriage while my wife and I watched
the movie. In the end, they decided to marry and my wife and I carried the
marriage proposal to Shama’s grandmother. She was not ready to accept the
proposal until Qaiser’s father would take the responsibility. I told her
that I could bring anyone from Chief Minister down to anyone who could take
the guarantee but his father would not come. I knew she wanted to settle
Shama and after a little persuasion she agreed and we decided to perform
their Nikkah the next day. My wife gave her a bridal dress and jewelry to
Shama and she was married to Qaiser the next day.
The following day, Qaiser left for the
U.S.A. leaving all the responsibility of Shama on us. I got her identity
card, passport and did all the paper work to send her to the U.S.A. For the
next four months, Amber and I supported her financially and treated her like
a family member. Qaiser had promised that all the expenses incurred to send
his wife to the U.S.A. would be borne by him. Keeping aside the time spent
to settle them, I spend approximately $ 1200 over her necessary arrangement
like ticket etc. Surprising was the thing that when we reached Phoenix,
Arizona; the couple was well-settled but they never offered any help to us
and we stayed in a hotel until I got our apartment and job. Upon my arrival,
I gave all the payment receipts to Qaiser and asked for reimbursement of the
funds used to send his wife. To my utmost resentment, Shama disputed over so
many charges and Qaiser refused to pay the money. How disgraceful it is that
we spent so much of our time and resources to take this girl from Gatos to
bring her to the U.S.A.; but she plainly lied in front of us and made us
look like absolute fools. As I had receipts of each expense laid on her, I
took those to Qaiser. I was so furious that I threw in his face a couple of
heavy punches and commanded him to bring the money by next morning;
otherwise, he would have a harder time. I felt sorry to have used very
conventional method of recovery. However, to my amusement, the money was
returned the very next day.
This is how ungrateful people return favors
but, as I must say, by such actions of the unwise, all the good between
people flows down the drain staining confidence. This is one of many
incidents of our help to people in which they backfired on us and caused us
pain and grief.
It is my biggest regret in life that people
whom I have helped have been unfair to me; and instead of reciprocating the
favor they have given me financial loss and mental anguish. Qaiser is so
selfish a person that he never took care even of his family, particularly,
his father and stepmother who raised him. While they lived in poverty he
never helped them financially though at the same time living a very lavish
life. Upon his father’s death, he came to Houston and paid the funeral
expenses which every body appreciated for his acting like a good son. After
a few days, he found out that his father had saved money for his funeral; as
such, he demanded his money back and took the money instead of leaving it
with his mother who is living a poor life. Qaiser is one of those sons who
never take care of their family particularly parents. I do not see him
successful in any walk of life.
Qurban Panwhar, Hyderabad Sind
In 1956, when my father was serving as
Mukhtiarkar Hyderabad, we lived in Hirabad Mohalla about two miles from our
schools. My elder brothers Shabir, Irshad and I were students in Training
College Primary school at Tilik Chari, Hyderabad. After school time, we used
to wait for our servant to pick us up from Qurban Panwhar’s home. His father
and some other relatives knew my father. Qurban was my elder brother’s
classmate; his younger brother Roshan was Irsahd’s classmate. Our friendship
continued and we have been friends since then. Qurban completed his degree
in electrical engineering in 1968 and was serving as lecturer electrical
engineering when I entered the engineering college. Roshan also finished his
degree in civil engineering and pursued a career as politician and organized
the Sind People’s Student Federation, a student orgnization of the Pakistan
People’s Party. Later on, he was appointed as Public Relations Officer to
Mumtaz Bhutto, who served as Federal Minister of Communications in the first
cabinet set up by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Roshan could not rise higher in
politics and married an Urdu-speaking girl and was practically forced to
leave politics and has been out of touch for the last 20 years.
 Qurban Panwhar was both my teacher and
mentor. He became more of a friend and helped me greatly in my college days.
As most of my brother’s friends were his friends too, his house served as a
common meeting place for all the friends to gather periodically. Ashfaque
Memon, CSP; Shakoor Memon, District Sessions Judge; Jan Mohammad Samo,
Contractor; and many more would gather and socialize at their home. I was
like one of his family members. His mother was a very close friend of my
mother. She was like a real aunt to me. His sisters always loved me like
their younger brother. Qurban’s family was one of the few early time
families who pursued higher education. His sisters were teaching at
university level when common Sindhi girls were behind the closed doors. In
my view, this family, like a few other families, shattered the barriers and
led the Sindhi girls to come out and work shoulder to shoulder with men.
Qurban’s mother and father gave full opportunity to their kids but were a
little disappointed that their children did not reach to the peak.
They faced some tragedies. For instance, one
of Qurban’s brothers in law, Mushtaq Baluch, a flight engineer in PIA, died
at a young age leaving behind a few children. Qurban came on slant terms
with the administration of the university and his services were terminated.
His case is still pending in the High Court or Supreme Court without a
decision. Last time I met Qurban, I was almost in tears to see him sitting
on the footpath and doing nothing. In all our friends, Qurban is the only
unlucky person who is living a very sub standard life. He was in love with a
girl and could not marry her, reasons unknown to me. This in part
contributed to his downfall. Qurban was very close to Dr. A.Q. Afghan,
principal of Sind University Engineering College Jamshoro. But after his
departure and making of Mehran Engineering University, Qurban could not
carry himself. Rumors have been that Qurban and Roshan had some involvement
in the case missing of a Hindu lecturer, Ashook Kumar, an excellent teacher
in the electrical engineering department. Unconfirmed news stated that
Ashook was an Indian agent who was either killed in an encounter with the
agencies or ran away to India. Many think that his killing happened because
of Roshan and Qurban but nothing is confirmed. I hope this is not true but
looking to the Qurban's failures, I always wondered if he had anything to do
with Ashook’s killing. I firmly believe that God does not excuse men who
take life of their innocent fellow men. God always punishes them in this
world. I wish I could talk to Qurban to get this matter cleared but some
times people live in denial and never accept the truth that keeps haunting
them. It is very difficult for them to accept the truth and confess the
crime they have committed.
In my view, Qurban has been the biggest
waste of our nation as he could have been a very successful administrator
and could have done a lot for the Sindhis.
Rakib Manzoor Memon
 Rakib
(Rocky) my first and only son was born on January 22, 1979 at 11:59 p.m.
just a minute away from the next day. Interestingly, just after we checked
in the hospital, I received a call from my office about a fire in the DC-10
PIA Hanger at Karachi Airport. Because I was in-charge of electrical systems
of PIA Hanger areas, I had to leave my wife in labor pains to attend the
duty. I worked until 11:30 p.m. and returned to the hospital right after
Rocky came to this world. My sister in law brought him out of the delivery
room and filled my lap with the most precious gift of God. Rocky was a very
healthy baby and being the first boy in the second generation of the family
was loved and cared by everyone.
After moving to the USA, he
went to various schools until we moved to Deer Park. He graduated from Deer
Park High School in 1997. However, at the age of 13, he started working at
Dairy Queen, my first business venture, and since then he has been managing
the store.
Rocky has some special
qualities which today only a
 few
people have. He is very honest and is away from the worldly glamour. He has
never asked me for anything. Although sometimes he carries only a few
dollars in his wallet, but he never asks for money or any material comfort.
Unfortunately he is a man with serious mood, and cannot make new friends.
However, he is all the same: honest and always generous for the poor.
Anytime he sees a homeless individual, he wants to give a dollar to help
them.
Unfortunately, during his
high school days some bullies made his life miserable which left bad scars
on his heart and mind. This discouraged him to go to college. However, he
has been busy in managing the family business and is very well contented.
Rocky’s special gift is his computer skills; he is an encyclopedia of music
and movies. Evaluating Rocky makes me admit the fact that God Almighty is so
perfect; He bestows people with a variety of characteristics necessary for a
balanced society. One should always try to look for strong areas in
different people and try to work with their drawbacks and make use of their
God given gift.
Luckily, he has married a
girl from a modest family who had become an orphan in her early days: the
two of them clicked. I pray for their happy life together.
Dr. Sana
Manzoor Memon
 Sana,
my only daughter, was born on September 13, 1980 in Karachi. My family had
taken a trip in May, 1980 to explore the possibilities to migrate to the
USA. As soon as Sana was born, we started to sell all of our assets and
moved to the USA in October, 1980, when she was just 40 days old.
Unfortunately, my wife Amber
got sick as we came to the USA. Therefore I took the responsibility to
nurture both the kids and learned to be both a mom and a dad. Since then I
have dedicated my life to my children and worked hard to provide all the
luxuries of life to them that my parents could not provide me. I thank God
to engrave in me the potential to be financially independent and to provide
all the luxuries to my kids; Sana made the most of my resources by going for
higher education.
During one of her school
days, she came and told me that she wanted to join choir, an extracurricular
activity. I somehow discouraged her that choir was a Christian thing and she
would have a hard time to excel and get a prominent place owing to her
Muslim heritage. At the end of the school year, my wife told me to accompany
her in a school event. In the school auditorium I was astounded to see Sana
leading the choir which brought me to tears and I regretted my earlier
advice to her.
Since then I have always
encouraged her to go after her dreams and she has always been an honor
student. She graduated magna cum laude from Deer Park High School in
1998. She also graduated magna cum laude with University Honors and
Honors in Biology from the University of Houston Honors College. She has
been awarded with many distinctions, awards, and scholarships.
Side by side her
distinguished academic record, she has inherited a political instinct and
has been serving at different student union positions since her high school
years. She served as the first Muslim Pakistani student to get elected as
President of the Honors Student Governing Board at The Honors College,
University of Houston. She has been serving as Vice President of her class
at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy since her second year. We
are always proud of her multifarious talents and her time management to
balance her studies and extracurricular activities. She has been in the news
since her kindergarten.
Besides, she has been
blessed with a gift similar to her mother: to screen people and read faces.
My wife Amber always consults to her in her cases and amazingly her analyses
have been very accurate. The only thing she needs to do is to meditate and
sharpen her skills in this area. This can be very helpful in her
professional life.
Sana has taught me a
life-long lesson to not restrain one’s children to take part in activities
of their choice; however, it is essential to monitor children’s activities
and keep an eye on their progress to ensure their success in every endeavor.
Sana possesses the same
qualities as my son does: honesty and generosity. She always helps the
homeless and supports a number of young children of our store employees and
encourages them to go for higher education.
During the disastrous
hurricane Allison, Sana was attending a medical school program at UTMB
Medical Center in Galveston, Texas. The day after the storm I called Mayor
Lee Brown to offer my services. He told me that one of the major county
hospitals, Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) Hospital, had a severe shortage of man
power due to flooding in various low income areas. He also told me that his
wife Francis Brown was already on her way to help the hurricane-struck; he
also asked me to see what I could do to support the community. I called Sana
and asked her for help. She vowed to meet us at the LBJ Hospital in the
shortest possible time. To my surprise, Sana had arrived at the hospital
with eight students from the summer program. With her leadership qualities
and my efforts, we ran the hospital for about a day until things got better
and the hospital staff took charge. I never forgot the comment made by
Francis Brown. She asked me, “Manny, have you ever managed a hospital
before?” “No”, I replied, because I knew only how to manage people and
business. I was proud of my family including my wife and son who worked
tirelessly to help the sick and needy on the day of the natural disaster.
The only drawback in Sana I
see is that she is too loving and judges people from her personal viewpoint.
However, she has never given us a chance to complain and has kept our chins
up and I pray that she be the source of our happiness in the future.
Sana has
devoted most of her time to be a high achiever and seldom enjoys life. We
always preach to her to be friendlier with people and to be joyful. Sana is
a perfectionist which reflects in her everyday life. I always preach her to
be more flexible with people but she has rigid standards of loyalty and
expects total loyalty from her friends. In today’s society, total loyalty
and honesty are hard to find.
Rafique and Ashfaque Safi, Sukkur
Rafique and Ashfaque Safi are originally
from Sukkur. Their father, a Sindhi married again with an Urdu-speaking
lady, had these two talented sons. Nisar Munshi, a CPA living in Houston, is
their half brother. The Safi brothers were one of the top debaters in Sind
and won hundreds of debate competitions in Pakistan. I met both of them in
Sind University Engineering College from where both of them earned their
engineering degrees. Rafique was hired as a lecturer and Ashfaque joined a
company. When I joined PIA, Rafique had joined Karachi Electric Supply
Corporation as an engineer and was living at government hostel located at
Garden Road Karachi. He was deeply involved in politics and had received the
only handwritten copy of the book written by Shaheed Bhutto: If I Am
Assassinated. Due to his immaturity, he revealed this secret to a friend
of his who was a retired colonel and security in-charge at Karachi Electric
Supply Corporation who reported the matter to ISI (Inter Services
Intelligence Agency). One night Rafique was quietly picked up by the army
and put behind bars where he stayed for almost 10 years till Zia’s regime
came to an end. This is a classic example of injustice on part of the army
that Rafique was arrested only because he had a copy of Bhutto’s book. This
showed the fear of Bhutto to the army personnel; sure enough, the innocent
shed of Bhutto’s sacred blood is still haunting over them even now. Rafique
lost ten years of his prime youth but was finally rewarded when he joined
Karachi Port Trust as General Manager.
Ashfaque worked with various major
corporations and visited Houston a few years ago. Upon my visit to Pakistan,
he took me for a lavish lunch at Karachi Club and after that time he
migrated to Australia. The Safi brothers, though from an intermarriage,
learn fluent Sindhi and always fought for the rights of Sind and were a few
of the smart people I have, to date, met. Unfortunately due to political set
backs they did not flourish and did not rise to the level they deserved.
Rafique Ahmed Memon, Hala
 Rafique Memon is married to my only sister.
Rafique was classmate of my elder brother, late Irshad Memon. We used to
live together in Metha Ram hostel, opposite D.J. College. As soon as he
graduated in electrical engineering from NED College, he proposed to marry
my sister through Irshad Bhai. Unfortunately the proposal never reached to
the family due to sudden death of Irshad Bhai. Rafique was very hesitant to
pursue the issue but finally one day he approached me and I convinced my
family that even being from a poor family Rafique carried a strong character
and could support his family. By this time, he started working in a private
firm and after I finished my degree, I sent his application to the then
Prime Minister Bhutto for his appointment at Karachi Shipyard. Luckily he
and I both were selected to work together in the same department and worked
as design engineers for LALAZAR, a 13500-cargo ship manufactured for
National Shipping Corporation. After one year I was offered a job in PIA
upon recommendation of Premier Bhutto and Rafique stayed back. In 1979 he
got an opportunity to serve in Saudi Arabia and he worked there for more
than twenty years. He had two sons: Kashif an engineer working in Saudi
Arabia; and Saqib, who met a fatal motorcycle accident and died in front of
his parents – a second tragedy hit our family.
Rafique is a very intelligent, honest, and
down to earth person though he talks very sarcastically to an extent of
hurting others’ feelings. After returning from Saudi Arabia, he is now
teaching religion at different institutes and living a retired life in
Karachi. If given an opportunity, Rafique could have proved to be a top
class talent but never got a chance to show his caliber.
Rashid Yusuf CPA, Houston, Texas
Rashid and I met for a short while in 1968
when we both attended D.J. College. After one year I was sent back to
Shikarpur and he continued his education and graduated in engineering and
migrated to the U.S.A. I met with Rashid in Houston in 1986 through a common
friend and we have been friends since then. Rashid stays on top of the list
of the best people I have ever met in my life. He is not only a friend but
has been my CPA and financial planner and given me invaluable pieces of
advice form time to time. Rashid’s high quality, besides being a topnotch
CPA, is that he is always content with what he has and never showed any
human greed I have noticed in almost every person I have ever met. With so
many qualifications, Rashid was working on a very modest salary, working as
financial controller with Steward and Stevenson Company in the mid 80s when
I persuaded him to leave the job and work for himself. He took my advice and
started a computer sales business at one of my locations and eventually
moved close to his house while continuing his CPA practice. Due to his
utmost honesty and dedication, he is not a very successful businessman but
lives a decent life. After knowing him for 20 years I see him always happy,
helpful and honest. I hardly find people like him.
Rasool Bux Palejo Hyderabad, Sind
 I knew Rasool Bux Palejo’s name for a long
time but met him for the first time a few years ago in St. Louis. He was
invited by Dr. Mithal Vakassi to give a lecture on Sophism and the poetry of
Shah Abdul Lateef Bhatie. Poetry has never been my favorite subject but the
way Rasool Bux Palejo narrated Shah Sahib’s poetry it groomed my vision and
forced me to take interest to learn more about sophism and poetry. I was so
electrified by Palejo’s academic achievements that I invited him to Houston
and had a privilege to be his host for a week. We arranged a lecture by him
that was highly admired by the intelligentsia of Houston. His cognitive
powers dazzled people and they witnessed the other side of Palejo, known
more as an advocate of the Sindhi rights in the political circles.
Palejo and his party have been tirelessly
working in the interior Sind to mobilize people to rise for their rights. In
my view he has the guts that can change the public opinion about the rights
of Sind only if his resources permit him. To me Palejo is the only Sindhi
leader who is working for the rights of Sindhi people in a practical way
though he has not been very successful in achieving his goals. The Pakistani
establishment and agencies have always been after his case but he is still
active to accomplish his goal.
After discussions with many people I always
wondered why nationalist leaders like Sain G.M. Syed, Ali Ahmed Talpur,
Rasool Bux Palejo, and many more could not achieve much in their life to
upgrade the standard of living of the Sindhi people. Ali Ahmed Talpur
eventually joined a non-democratic government and became Defense Minister.
Sain G.M. Syed, though gave a vision to Sindhi people, did not give any
practical solutions of their problems. Insiders reveal that G.M. Syed helped
the MQM and trained their workers in Sun, his hometown, to fight the
establishment. If it is true then he did not have the political vision that
the MQM would become a giant political power in Sind and will snatch the
remaining rights of the Sindhis. Today the Sindhis, a majority in Sind
politics, are being ruled by a minority: the MQM. I think what the Sindhi
leadership lacked was: promotion of education among their people; get them
involved in industrialization and entrepreneurship to acquire economic
power; and then trying to get their rights. Most of the feudalistic
political leaders discouraged establishment of educational institutes in
their constituencies to keep their power unchallenged. Most of the
industrial permits receievd by the Sindhis were sold in black market and the
money was used in satisfying their sinister wants. On the other hand non-Sindhis
mobilized their financial assets and established them and their families and
started controlling the local politics. Then MQM is an exemplary case as
they collected enormous money by using illegal means like blackmailing,
robberies and forced donations but invested their assets in their party.
Unofficial estimates reveal that the MQM is worth six billion dollars with
investments in all major cities of the U.S.A. and Europe, and the party
operates its programs from its profit receievd from those investments. In my
view the MQM is the only political party of Pakistan that has systematized
its operations and has emerged as the biggest political power in Pakistan. I
wonder where our leaders who claim to be very poignant and heartfelt were
while a regional party amassed and accumulated so much wealth to become the
cardinal part of every government. This is the reason that every ordinary
member of the MQM claims that no one can form a government in Pakistan
without the MQM being their partner. The Sindhi leaders as well as other
political parties must assess their actions and follow their footprints.
The only negative thing I heard about Palejo
was that at a time he worked with the ISI and received funding from the
establishment to satisfy their needs. As this was revealed to me by a top
politician I could not help writing it. However, so far his actions have
proved to be contrary to what I have been told. I think he needs to address
the issue as most of the opposition leaders are exploited by the
establishment that they are hungry for money.
I have had some dealings with his son Ayaz
Palejo, also an emerging leader to raise the voice for the Sindhi people’s
rights. However I found him very shallow in handling people and found him
greedy and not a man of his word. Leaders have to rise above common level
and show a strong character before leading people. Their dealings with
people decide their place in society and if they have been honest and have
maintained high degree of integrity, they rise; otherwise, such people
always go in the black holes of history.
Rehman Baig, London, England
 Rehman Baig was introduced to us by my
wife’s aunt Rezm Lodi, wife of late Faheem Lodi, flight Engineer PIA. Rehman
had been a very close friend of Faheem since their childhood. In the mid
90s, I took my family for a vacation to London when he was asked to help us.
We thought that he would situate us and leave us to visit London but he
accompanied us for all four days we stayed in London and treated us in a
most amiable way. I was so impressed by his hospitality and since then we
have been close friends and visit each other frequently. After meeting and
staying with him for a night and two days or so in London, he has been on my
regular schedule while visiting Pakistan. Rehman’s hospitality has always
been warmer and I have seen only a few people like him who take pride to
have a guest in their home.
Rehman comes from a broken family and moved
to England at an early age. Rehman married a British woman and had two
children. Rasheed his only son works for Scotland Yard as a police Officer
and daughter is married but has never met us. After so many years of
marriage, Rehman and his English wife broke off and since then Rehman has
married three times but has not been lucky in maintaining nuptial bonds.
After death of Faheem Lodi, my wife’s aunt
was proposed by so many people to marry her but she was very committed to
her four children. Finally after 10-12 years’ struggle she got her three
daughters married and her son was independent then she decided to marry.
Rehman was interested in marrying her and he kept on visiting the U.S.A. to
pursue his wish. During that time Rezm asked a loan of $ 3000 from Rehman.
He had already lent her some money in the past which was never paid back;
this time Rehman was skeptical to extend credit to her. Rezm convinced my
wife Amber to take the guarantee for the payback from Rezm within three
months and tricked Rehman to give the money to her. The loan was never paid
after six months and Rehman always joked at Amber that money was paid upon
her guarantee. One day I wrote a check to him and asked him to take the
money but he refused to take my money but asked me to help him in getting
the money. As Rezm practically refused to pay back the loan, I suggested
Rehman to file a small claim case against her. After so many trial dates
finally she appeared before a local Judge, Molly Maness, whose daughter went
to school with my daughter and I knew her due to my political affiliations.
To my amusement, when she appeared on the witness stand, she claimed that
the money was given to her as a gift because Rehman wanted to marry her. I
told the judge the true story that I was an eyewitness when this transition
occurred for which a receipt with Rezm’s signature was produced before the
court. Rezm’s attorney took a new twist and pleaded to the judge to vacate
her from the case because she was friends with me. I have known Judge Molly
Mannes for the last 20 years and have found her to be a very fair judge.
Though she was upset with this pleading but she had to follow the law. By
this time Rehman had spend almost $3000 in travel expenses so he made a
request to the judge to make sure that justice was done on his current trip.
Judge Molly Manes immediately arranged a court date with a new judge in
Glena Park and transferred the case for disposal on the next day. Upon my
arrival to the new court, I found out that Judge Ditta, who was a regular
judge in the prescient (not known to me), had taken a day off and a
substitute judge was presiding the court. To my delight this judge was known
to me more closely due to my working in Mayor’s office and being active in
the Democratic Party. During trial he never showed that he knew me and after
looking at the evidence he gave judgement in our favor. Rezm Lodi was also
very conceited and ingenious and she filed an appeal and after so many
hearings she lost the case in the county court and had to pay restitution.
The reason I wanted to narrate this story is to make a point that one must
deal with people fairly and if one has taken a guarantee for something it is
his or her moral duty to support the victim and not his/her relatives or
close friends. In my case I went against my wife’s aunt and made sure the
justice was served and victim got his money. Financially, Rehman was a loser
though; in this case, he spent more than $ 3000 to get principal of the same
amount. But he fought for the right and achieved a moral victory. I feel
satisfied that I supported him to get justice. Rezm was a bigger loser. She
spent court and attorney fees to avoid paying a genuine loan she took. She
always thought that we would support her and not be witness against her but
I was proud to be the witness and stood for justice.
Rehman is one of the best people I have met
but his weakness about women always puts him below on my list. However, due
to his past life and family problems I can see that he has no respect for
women; he treats them as toys. This has caused him pain and misery in his
personal life. Yet it might be too late to change his habits.
The self-made who suffer from young age
trauma always lose faith in life and act slightly abnormal. Lost love is one
of the biggest traumas that make humans act very weird. It is my personal
experience that I loved some one for twelve years but due to family pressure
I could not unite with her but the feeling of loss always remained in my
heart. After coming off with her, I met so many women but could not carry
the same feeling for them. Luckily, I got married to a wonderful woman who
also became my close friend and I always shared my feelings with her about
my lost love. It took me several years to get out of that trauma of losing
my first love.
Rehman also went through a huge trauma in
his early age particularly from his parents. This made him hard in life
outwardly but he is a very soft and loving person and a kind hearted soul
from within. As a friend I always trust him and I am pretty sure he will do
anything for me and I will reciprocate for him too.
Dr. S.M. Qureshi, Vice Chancellor, Mehran
University of Engineering
After the resignation of Dr. A.Q. Afghan,
Dr. S.M. Qureshi was appointed as Vice Chancellor for the newly established
Mehran University of Engineering and Technology. Dr. Qureshi began casting
his spell over the management of the university and raised it to a high
level for which all of us should be grateful to him. Dr. Qureshi established
Sind Science Society to promote science and technology to arrange for the up
coming generation to participate in technical know how. Dr. Qureshi and I
interacted during my third year of engineering when he organized first Sind
Science Fair where many talented students displayed their small inventions
and projects in the exhibition. Dr. Qureshi always appreciated talent and
always encouraged people like me to work harder and achieve excellence. Dr.
Qureshi and I organized few programs in American Cultural Center Hyderabad
and he always supported me in publishing monthly technical bulletin, The
Engineer, for which I was the editor in chief. Also he was instrumental
in raising funds for the annual college magazine which was issued after a
three-year gap which was also edited by me. Dr. Qureshi was not only a good
teacher but also a high-class administrator. The proof is that he took the
new university to a high level of excellence to match its educational
standard compatible to other higher educational institutions of the country.
He subsequently moved to Islamabad where he served as Federal Secretary
Science and Technology and held other many high profile positions. Dr. S.M.
Qureshi has been one of the top educationists of our country and I salute
him for his services for his nation.
Whenever I visit Dr. Qureshi, he always
treats me like his own son and recently when I was staying at Qasir-e-Naz, a
government circuit house, I met him and was so delighted to see him still
serving the country.
On the personal side, Dr. S.M. Qureshi
suffered a lot due to his son’s illness who developed some liver disease for
which he struggled for years to get some successful treatment. He spent most
of his life savings to save life of his son. I always wished that the
government would have helped him in getting some treatment for his son. It
is so sad that people like him who have touched so many lives and have
dedicated their entire life to educate our new generation, do not get any
appreciation and financial incentive for their hard work. This is the reason
most of the new generation shy away from noble profession of teaching and
try to solicit lucrative jobs.
After my father, Professor Abdul
Jabbar Gupchani, and Ustad Kisharam, Dr. S.M. Qureshi takes the place as a
person who lifted my life to a higher level for which I will always remain
grateful to him
Syed Sajjad Ali Shah, Retired Chief Justice
Supreme Court Pakistan
After retirement as Chief Justice Supreme
Court of Pakistan, Sajjad Ali Shah was sent to the U.S.A. to get in touch
with the Pakistanis there and bring some feed back. I was invited to meet
Sajjad Ali Shah. It was about six years ago when he visited Houston. As soon
as I was introduced to him we clicked for he knew my father and many other
relatives. He never met my father for the reason that they both worked at
opposite stations; however, he did know about his honest and daring attitude
while serving the government.
 The day I met with Sajjad Ali Shah, the
Pakistani community had organized a public meeting to get feed back from the
local public. During the question and answer session, I sent him the
following question: “You claim that Pakistani judiciary is impartial but
still any time army generals have held back democratic institutions, the
Supreme Court has always rubberstamped the decision. It never helped the
democratic institutions to flourish. Why is it so?
His answer was very honest and true: “If you
are in your house getting robbed by ten gunmen and they ask you to hand over
your safe keys to them, would you like to take a bullet or give the keys?”
Indirectly he called the army dictators
robbers who steal the democratic ethos from us by force of their gun power.
On my next visit to Pakistan, when I called
Sajjad Ali Shah, he invited me at his house with a few friends including
Farooqi, DIG Police, and Moula Bux Bhatti. We had a five-hour
lunch–discussion about sophism and other religious school of thoughts. I saw
a different side of Sajjad Ali Shah that a very few might have seen. After
reading his autobiography “Law Courts in a Glass House,” I found a lot of
common grounds between his life and that of my father’s who also carried a
daring posture all through his career.
When mentioned this to one of the top
politicians who knew both Sajjad Ali Shah and my father, he disagreed with
me and told me that my father had a unique quality that made him superior to
Sajjad Ali Shah. According to him Sajjad Ali Shah was not as brave as he
claims to be and made political decisions and did not care for the people
who supported him.
During Benazir Bhutto’s first tenure as
Prime Minister of Pakistan, she invited all the politicians on a roundtable
conference. The day before the conference, I was guest of Syed Ghous Ali
Shah, former Chief Minister Sind. Sajjad Ali Shah phoned him at least four
times to talk to him if opposition leaders should participate in the
roundtable conference. I found it very inappropriate for the Chief Justice
of Supreme Court to interfere in political process as to whether they should
attend or boycott the roundtable conference. During his visit to Houston,
when I asked him what role he played in that conference, he even denied ever
talking to Ghous Ali Shah on this subject. I think he did not know that I
was sitting next to Ghous Ali Shah when his phone calls were announced and
he was interfering in the political process that he should have avoided to
honor the court he was representing.
On the personal level, I have met him
several times and he has been an excellent host. He attended my son’s
wedding though he was indisposed. Unfortunately, judges and bureaucrats have
to indulge themselves in politics to safeguard their positions and some time
in life they consequently compromise for their integrity. Sajjad Ali Shah
became the victim of this phenomenon and faced humiliation during Nawaz
Sharif’s tenure as Prime Minister of Pakistan. His family also had to suffer
a lot due to negative tactics adopted by our politicians.
Sajjad Ali Shah, if weighed as a judge,
would score very high due to his honesty and character; however, due to his
indulgence in politics he lost some of his creditability. This eventually
ended with appointment of an incompetent and inferior judge, Justice Irshad
Ahmad to replace him that was a vile blow to the judiciary of Pakistan.
Unfortunately, my opinion about Pakistan judiciary has always been low since
people have never receievd justice from the honorable courts. Their
decisions have been biased and controlled by the establishment. Hanging of
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was one of the worst and damaging decisions carried out
by the Pakistani judiciary and his blood can never be wiped off the High
court Lahore and Supreme Court which upheld a wrong decision made against
all international laws.
Saeed Sheikh, Houston, Texas
Saeed Sheikh got aquatinted with me after I
was nominated as President Elect for Pakistan Chamber of Commerce-USA (PCC-USA).
Then he served as General Secretary of the orgnization.
Saeed Sheikh is one of the few people I have
met who served as the General Secretary of our orgnization very efficiently
despite with very little education and computer knowledge. His record
keeping and knowledge of the rules, parliamentary procedures and regulations
were all excellent. Saeed Sheikh would have been very prosperous had he
pursued higher education. Saeed, besides being a good entrepreneur, is a
cunning and skillful politician by keeping consanguinity with every group
and is well recognized by all parties in Pakistani community of Houston. One
of the major reasons of Saeed’s success is his smart and ambitious wife who
knows the art of making friends. Saeed and his wife are superb hosts and
invite friends of common thought process exclusively. They maintain
relationship with almost everyone in town. Politicians should learn a few
tricks from Saeed as how to carry themselves in a polluted atmosphere of our
communities with so many factions based on ethnicity, language and religious
beliefs. Saeed’s one quality which I have seen in only one other person (Mian
Nazir, former General Secretary Pakistani American Association of Greater
Houston) is that he takes charge of the situation and extends his full
support at any special occasion. Most recently someone asked me as to why
Saeed Sheikh was honored by Counsel General of Pakistan Mr. G.R. Baluch? My
response was: “Saeed goes an extra mile to help people. He serves them when
there is no one else for them. This is mostly the time when we shy away
fearing to get our hands dirty.” Throughout my tenure as President of PCC-USA,
I found Saeed to be very helpful and respectful to others when he served as
my General Secretary. Besides raising ample funds for community projects, he
participated in almost every initiative even though his financial conditions
did not permit him to invest personally. Saeed is a very determined
individual. He carries more load than his capability. This usually puts him
at odds with many; but at last he stands successful and tactfully
manipulates situations to his own advantage. Like everyone of us he is also
very media–conscious. Due to his round-the-clock activities with each group
he gets extended media coverage which makes many of his friends very
jealous. He gets all the attention without feeding any media people. This is
based on his work and is unlike a few of our community members who buy the
media attention by encouraging envelope culture. Once again if Saeed had
been more educated, he could have been at a higher level politically and
financially.
During the end of my tenure as President
Pakistan Chamber of Commerce Saeed played some cunning and negative role to
get elected as President of chamber from back door. This is typical of Urdu
Speaking people to use unfair tactics to grab the power for which I have
written a lot in this book. His Character reminds me of Justice Irshad as
portrayed by Justice Sajjid Ali Shah who got appointed as Chief Justice of
Pakistan through back door.
Sajjad Ahmed Siddiqui, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania
I met Sajjad Siddiqui, son of Jamal Siddiqui
from Sukkur Sind, through Badur Sheikh (From New York), in 1987 in an annual
convention of Sindhi Association of North America (SANA). Sajjad had just
finished his MBA and was looking for some sponsor to work with and get the
green card. Sajjad is nephew of late Abdul Kadir Siddiqui, married to my
cousin sister. Therefore I immediately offered him a job as well as a
sponsorship and moved him to Pasadena, Texas to work for me.
In 1989, he received his green card married
the daughter of Kadir’s sister. I loaned him $ 5000 to take care of the
wedding arrangements and he came to Pasadena with his wife. After marriage,
his expenses started rising and he started steeling from the company where
he was in-charge of the finances. He started using third party credit cards
and pocketing the cash. Subsequently, he was caught. Once FBI contacted me
to investigate about some illegal activity going on in my travel agency
where third party credit card |