KARACHI: Official junkets can be tricky. For starters, there is a constant nagging feeling that one might compromise on one’s (limited) journalistic independence and possibly tick off the sponsors if one calls it like it is. But then again, these trips do often provide genuine opportunities for your average self-respecting hack to see the other side of the issues and gain a better understanding of things by seeing the situation on the ground.
With this in mind, I packed my bag the night before an early morning flight for Lahore, as part of a media delegation that was proceeding to the Punjab capital, in a trip put together by the Sindh government. The entourage, led by Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri, consisted of about 30 or so Karachi-based print and electronic media journalists. The trek up north was made to ostensibly promote inter-provincial understanding by exchanging notes with media-men and politicians there on current issues.
As this writer had not been to Lahore in over a decade, quite a few surprises were in store. The first was the impressive structure of the Allama Iqbal International Airport, for as soon as we stepped out of the Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 777 a little after 10am on the morning of May 30, one got a small inkling of the hard work that had gone into transforming Lahore from a chaotic provincial city to a somewhat modern metropolis. And one feels the Brothers Sharif deserve a pat on the back – despite all their political acrobatics – for what they’ve done to the Punjab capital.
From the airport, the delegation was driven straight to Data Darbar, the last resting place of Ali Al-Hajveri, better known as Data Sahib, in the heart of the city as Ms Marri wished to begin the trip from there by paying her respects. The way was cleared as we were led up to the enclosure containing the mystic’s tomb by provincial religious affairs ministry types, while bewildered people looked on, wondering what was going on. Fateha was offered and each delegate was presented a chador.
After checking in to our hotel and lunch, the delegation visited the Lahore Press Club. It was good to see the Lahore press corps was just as unruly as their counterparts in Karachi. In a chaotic press conference (standing room only) Shazia Marri faced a barrage of questions mainly about the Kalabagh Dam. The minister said dams were things of the past and we should look beyond to alternative energy sources, while reiterating that the purpose of the visit was to bridge the gulf between federating units that was exploited by a ‘dictator.’ Little did we know that Kalabagh would be the dominating factor throughout the trip.
Dinner on Friday night was at the Governor’s House and sure enough, the hacks had the knives out for Salman Taseer. Seated in one of the opulent halls of Governor’s House, Taseer matched the media-people blow for blow with sharp, confident replies. Concerning his comment about wanting to make Punjab a Pakistan People’s Party bastion like Larkana, he said – rather unconvincingly – that he was talking about the ‘spiritual’ link between Lahore and the Bhutto hometown. Perhaps the Sharifs would disagree.
When a journalist – pointing to a picture of President Pervez Musharraf – asked why the portrait of a ‘dictator’ was still up on the wall, Mr Taseer shot back that as per the ground reality, the former general was still president. He emphasised that the sooner economic issues are tackled, the better and that countdowns – reverse or otherwise – would help no one. He stated he was ready to visit Raiwind – which might happen sooner rather than later – and that it was not a matter of ego for him.
Strange bedfellows
Saturday, May 31 began with a visit to the Punjab directorate of public relations. This was followed by a lunch hosted by PPP Lahore president Haji Azizur Rehman Chan, who lost the NA-123 seat to the Pakistan Muslim League-N’s Javed Hashmi on Feb 18. The Punjab government’s Senior Minister Raja Riaz, who holds the portfolio of irrigation and power, as well as the PPP’s provincial presidency, was also in attendance and his indiscreet discretions revealed just how fragile the PPP-N League coalition is in the Punjab.
He candidly told journalists that come election time, the Punjab is a “battlefield” for both parties and differences between the two go down to workers on the street level in the province. He admitted there was pressure from within the PPP’s Punjab wing in favour of building the Kalabagh Dam (even though the federal minister for water and power, himself a PPP man, had recently said the dam was history).
When he said the PPP had alliances with regional parties in every province, a sharp journo immediately pounced and asked him if he considered the PML-N a regional outfit. Raja Riaz simply smiled and told the hacks to make whatever they wanted of the statement.
The architectural marvel that is the Punjab Assembly was next on the itinerary. Though the meeting with Speaker Rana Mohammad Iqbal had obvious political overtones, he avoided hardcore political questions as he said he did not want to comment on political matters as he had resigned from his PML-N party post before donning the speaker’s robes. He mainly talked about the assembly, the construction of its new wing and of inter-provincial harmony, while Ms Marri reciprocated. Before the delegation proceeded to the reception with former Punjab Chief Minister Dost Mohammad Khosa – the last official engagement of the tour – a visit was paid to the house that Pervez (Elahi) built: the 48-room new Chief Minister’s Secretariat, which the new Punjab government has pledged to turn into a women’s information technology institute.
Opulence is too small a word to describe the place. In a nation suffering from pockets of chronic poverty, this seven star hotel was designed so that the chief minister may serve the public in the lap of luxury. Only in Pakistan. In a very Big Brother moment, a smiling picture of Mr Musharraf met us inside. Perhaps pictures do speak louder than words.
‘Kalabagh decision made in haste’
Meeting Mr Khosa in a subterranean chamber of the city’s former Masonic lodge – which was quite lavish itself – was an interesting experience. It is a pity he was simply keeping the seat warm for Shahbaz Sharif as he came across as a capable individual. But that is how the personality-centric version of Pakistani democracy functions.
He spoke about the wheat crisis and was mildly critical of other provinces’ efforts in controlling wheat smuggling, saying he was doing what he could. As for the water shortage, he said some districts of Punjab faced a severe shortage and that he did not have a magic wand, able to fix things overnight. However, when it came to the ubiquitous issue of Kalabagh, it became clear that the case for the dam was far from closed. Mr Khosa said the decision to shelve the project was “made in haste” and that Punjab should have been taken on board.
Aside from the political revelations received on the trip, this writer was totally bowled over by the marvel that Lahore has turned into. There seems to be civic sense amongst the people, there are no mounds of garbage, no overflowing sewers, no rampant cell-phone snatchings and carjackings and no monstrous traffic logjam. If it can happen in Lahore, why not in Karachi? Perhaps the commissars of this city could do with a crash course on city management conducted by the folks who call the shots in Lahore.
But to give the devil his due, the Chaudrys of Gujarat had maintained what the Sharifs had done and did not undo the work of their political opponents. That’s not to say Lahore doesn’t have its problems. I’m sure it does, but the way its administrators are tackling them seems like a model that Karachi may do well to follow.
After the protocol had disappeared into the ether following Ms Marri’s departure on Saturday night (our flight was Sunday afternoon), I decided to play tourist and see the city like a normal nobody. I decided to revisit Data Darbar minus the apparatchiks, with a stopover at the famed Karbala Gamay Shah.
Even though the delegation had hobnobbed with some of the most powerful men in Punjab, it was in the serenity of the night at Karbala Gamay Shah and upon seeing the sheer zeal of countless devotees at the Data’s Darbar, that I came face to face with the real kings of Lahore.
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