A grim tragedy -Mr. Himayatullah's suicide

A grim tragedy – Mr .Himayatullah’s suicide.

It happened one Sunday evening in September-October 1958 . The evening was pleasant . The entire Cadet College was enjoying a fascinating football match between the College with visiting team . We were fully absorbed in the match proceedings because our College was winning .A shot rang out : the sound of a double barrel gun . I thought that one of the teachers , Mr.S.A.S.Zaidi , was enjoying hunting in the valley outside the College’s campus.

The next day , while we were waiting for Mr. Himayatullah to take his class Mr. Khalid Amin , another teacher entering the room . I was in tenth class .He made a shocking announcement that Mr. Himayatullah blew his brains out the previous evening . He used a double barrel gun and pulled the trigger with his great toe . His discussions with his colleagues was enough to make a folk lore. After classes and lunch , we trooped to his room . It was a very grim to behold . Blood and his brain spattered the room.

Mr. Himayatullah was a quiet man . He did not enough clothes . In the summers , he wore white shirt and trousers while in winters , he wore a green blazer with his trade mark white dress. His green blazer was torn at the rear . Cadets used to say that he wore a tail coat .

His funeral rites were held at night behind the Jinnah Wing shortly after his death . None of the cadets was informed of it because we were very young . But we felt that something was going there . Subsequently , after his burial pieces his clothing was there for some days till they were removed . However , my dear friend , Tariq Ikram, haunted me every night . I had a difficulty sleeping .

The motive of his suicide remained a mystery because we were very young to understand . There were two rumours : one was he had been jilted by his Swiss girl friend and had married another man and two he was the son of some Indian nawab . his father died followed by Partition . After Partition , the family was in deep financial straits

THE MAD HATTER’S TEA PARTY-A REMINSCIENCE.

                       

                          THE MAD HATTER’S TEA PARTY-A REMINSCIENCE.

I wish to be a Lewis Carroll ( of “Alice in Wonderland's” fame ) so that writing becomes easier for me and I get a grand premium on them . However ,a long time ago , I learned the use of an idiom ‘if wishes were horses , the beggars would ride.” (I hope it is an idiom )

I live in a naval colony where the top brass of the armed forces have built or are in the process of building, their houses . Some of them are  big conceited asses that they look like buffoons . It so happened that the residents , included yours truly , get a notice from the sole supplier of power (electric and not an authority ) to shell an amount of Rs 50000/-  for the installation of a new meter and blah ,blah . I went to the site office to sort out the matter because at the moment of building my new house , I paid Rs 13000/ for an electric connection . I immediately arranged a meeting on Sunday , the 31^st March 2013 , at 10.30 AM to discuss the problem  with my neighbours. Honestly I had no intention to pull their collective legs  today because , according to Dr. Shahid Masood , the All Fools Day has been shifted to May 11 this year(the date of the elections in Pakistan) .  

My wife took leave of absence from her job being a housewife and took off for Lahore taking my daughter along to attend her nephew’s marriage leaving Saad , my son , and I to hold the fort .

Yesterday , after finishing  breakfast when we had a tidy meal , the father and the son got to the job , arranging plates of dainty eatables and tea cups , pressed my clothes and making a bouquet of sweet peas . By 9.30 AM , everything was ready .  

The first guests to arrive came at 9.45 AM  and asking me for the time  the meeting was scheduled .I waited and waited for the remaining invitees  . My guests also left  . After they left , one elderly guest , we have too  become elder citizens  , came followed by two brothers  , all civilians. They were closely followed by a retired Colonel . But there was no sign of the top brass .

We five discussed the problem and had tea .  The most they could offer  me was that I should  write to the authorities concerned ( the four guests were unaffected by the problem because the network is being installed in phases) explaining it. Then they left thinking ‘ to write or not to “ .Thus the problem remained for me . Meanwhile , I had been discussing it with my Cadet College friend and senior colleague , who retired as the Chief Economist , WAPDA ( the electric corporation , itself a white elephant multiplied by two ) . He told me that the amount asked for by WAPDA is reasonable and genuine . So I was back to square one ie Rs 13000/- . I thought should I pay the amount by the due date and I also write a letter , there are bright chances of my letter thrown in the waste paper basket .

Please forgive my digression .Once my boss in the Ministry of Commerce and his friend went to Murree (a hill station) for drive . En route , the boss went to see his farm . They commenced their journey after 2 PM . They reached Murree after 4 and soon they began their drive home . The next day some friends asked their mutual friend about the trip . He replied in Urdu “ Uss ne angraizi mein suffer kia aur mein ne Urdu mein suffer kia” ( He traveled in English and I traveled in Urdu –my poor translation ).

My predicament was almost similar .

Mahfooz ur Rahman

Islamabad

April 01 , 2013      

LYING

I was watching a programme  on lying aired by the Dunya TV this morning .

There was a time when Muslims did not lie . Indeed , it has been reported that before the partition of India and Pakistan that disputes occurring between Hindus were  amicably settled by involving Muslims because they never lied . What happened between the past and present day Muslims .

  I think the answer lies in the following :-

·        “Lord Macaulay's address to the British Parliament 2nd February , 1835
'I have travelled  across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is the beggar , who is a thief .Such wealth I have seen in this country , such high moral values , people of such caliber, that I do not we would ever conquer ...this country , unless we break the very backbone of this nation , which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore , I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system , her culture , for if the Indians think that all that is foreign is good and greater that their own , they will lose their self esteem , their native culture and they will what we them , a truly dominated nation”

·        I also refer to the statement of Winston Churchill in the same House a century later .

“ Winston Churchill’s arguments against the grant freedom to India and Pakistan was that power will go to the hands of thieves , rogues and freebooters : all leaders will be of low calibre. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts .They will fight amongst themselves for power and  India and Pakistan will be lost in political squabbles . A day would when even air and water would be taxed .”

 He wrote that 64 years ago and incredibly we have worked hard to prove him right. What happened within those 100 hundred .Why the character of the Muslims has undergone a sea change ?

·        The Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him ) told his followers that the nation  of each Prophet had a fitna (mischief) and wealth would be fitna (mischief) for his followers .

 This is a food for thought for today .       

Pakistan and America

 Pakistan and America

There is saying that knowledge is power. Analyze the basic differences between the forms of governments. To say that the form of government is parliamentary in Pakistan whereas the form of government in the USA is presidential is immaterial . We tried the other system too with unpleasant results, the Agartala Conspiracy case against Sheikh Mujib and the Awami League and the loss of East Pakistan. American Civil War which happened about two centuries ago is history now ,But nothing works in Pakistan .

The other day , while following the results of the US elections , I realized the importance of Education and Commitment much more than before .Added to these is Acceptance of the results . Anyone doubting the results can go to the Court as did Al Gore in the US Election of 2000. However, the Judiciary in Pakistan was a handmaiden of the rulers in the past and when it became independent in 2009 through a massive struggle; none of its judgments are being accepted by the current Government because those hurt the ruler’s interests.

The transition between the old Government to the new one is smooth in the USA .The former President George Bush briefed the then President –Elect Barack Obama on serious matters. As a matter of fact, important issues such as foreign policy are rarely touched successive administrations. Most members of the American Congress are qualified to become Cabinet Ministers . Two names come to mind , John Kerry and John Mccain . They contested the US Presidential elections and occupy important positions in the Senate: the former is the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Policy Committee and is likely to become the next US Secretary of State.

However , in choosing the prospective appointees , homework is done to shortlist the names .The best of the best are appointed. Each appointment is made on the basis of their qualifications and experience . Experts in their respective fields  appointed as members of the cabinet and the government.   It may be mentioned the USA boasts of having more than 8000 Universities .The search is not confined the country . Some are educated in European Universities .

There are  almost 450 members in the two houses of Pakistan’s Parliament . Added to them are members of the Provincial Legislatures . An overwhelming majority of them are dumb. Many of them boast ‘fake’ degrees. Their only interest lies in pleasing the head of the party or in their perks and privileges. They are unscrupulous.  Rarely we have a full quorum in the Parliament and the Provincial Legislatures. They do not  seriously debate any issue which the country faces .Such is their commitment .Appointments of either ministers or members of the bureaucracy are  not made on the basis of their expertise in respective field e.g. Dr Asim Hussain ,who was President Zardari’s physician and friend , but on personal whims of the top man . 

Each member of the American community from the highest to the lowest strives to make the country strong and prosperous unlike us. They are committed whatever they are doing . Wealthy Americans to strive to help the more unfortunate ones in the society . Many of them, e.g.  Carnegie, Henry Ford, Bill Gates have become household names in poor countries like Pakistan.  

Poor countries like Pakistan are caught in a vicious circle: those who have the means to ameliorate society are not pushed whereas those who desire and have commitment do not have the means.

MAHFOOZ UR RAHMAN

ISLAMABAD

Dated November 08 , 2012

Give handicapped persons a chance to succeed in life .

Subject: - Give handicapped persons a chance to succeed in life .

Dear Mr. Editor,

David Blunkett , a member of the Tony Blair’s cabinet , was born blind . But he rose to become Britain’s Home Secretary, equivalent to our Minister for Interior.

Born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, Blunkett grew up in an underprivileged family and in 1959, he endured a family tragedy when his father was gravely injured in an industrial accident in which he fell into a vat of boiling water while at work as a foreman for the East Midlands Gas Board and died a month later. This left the surviving family in poverty, especially since the board refused to pay compensation for two years because he was working past retirement age (67).

Blind since birth, and educated at schools for the blind in Sheffield and Shrewsbury, Blunkett's chances in life seemed limited. Following his father's death, he was sent on assessment to the School for the Blind in Worcester (New College Worcester), where he failed to gain entry. His failed assessment is said to be partly deliberate, due to his rebellious nature and dislike of public schools. He later attended the Royal National College for the Blind in Shrewsbury. Indeed, he was apparently told at school that one of his few options in life was to become a lathe operator. Nevertheless, he won a place at the University of Sheffield, where he gained a BA honours degree in Political Theory and Institutions; He entered local politics on graduation. He worked as a clerk typist between 1967 and 1969 and as a lecturer in industrial relations and politics between 1973 and 1981.

What have our handicapped done that they are denied chances to succeed in life? The parents are the bigger criminals. The handicapped is considered a curse. They are considered a liability. The blind eke out their existence teaching the Holy Quran to the young boys and girls of their locality.

I appeal to the Government of Pakistan to draw up concrete plans for the handicapped rather than giving alms to the handicapped so that they can contribute their bit to the country. For a start, the Government can make a database of all handicapped in the country. Simultaneously, I appeal to the well to do like Mr. Ardesher Cowasjee, who has a great record of helping the deserving persons and bodies, to join to pool their resources in this regard. Pakistanis have a great record in alms giving. But this kind deed is not recorded anywhere. I was going by train once in London. Two young girls boarded the train collecting donations for the Imperial Cancer Fund.

Yours truly


Mahfooz ur Rahman