Are housing societies to blame?

In 1987 after several failures to get a plot of land through balloting by CDA, 57-year old Muhammad Ashraf decided to buy a 10-marla piece of land in E-11 sector through a housing society which was then run by a senior official in the federal government. He had hoped to be able to build and then live in his very own house on this plot of land a few years later, after completing the instalment payments.

Seventeen years later today, 74-year old Mohammad Ashraf still has not gained possession of the land that he bought. Rather, he was told some four years ago, that his 10-marla plot had been reduced to 7 marla due to inflation and delay in development, and that if he wanted it to remain as 10 marla, he would have to invest Rs200,000 more.

Mohammad Ashraf didn't want to "waste" any more money on a plot which he couldn't build a house on. Meanwhile, he and his family have been living in a rented house all along, and their rent has increased from Rs3,000 for a whole house in 1980 to Rs15,000 for only an upper portion today.

Had CDA, or the housing ministry, launched home ownership schemes for the public 20 or 30 years ago, I could now be the proud owner of my very own home instead of wasting my hard-earned money on rent all these years, he complained.

Many who are living and working in the Capital share Mohammad Ashraf's plight. Are the housing societies to blame, or CDA? On the one hand, CDA has been slow to meet the demand for middle-income and low cost housing in Islamabad. Development of new sectors by CDA has been stuck up for well over a decade.

The stereotyped excuses that have been cited for the delay in development include financial irregularities, particularly in I- 14, I-15 and I-15 sectors, and controversy over compensation by CDA to the original landowners and thus, long-drawn litigations, in the case of other sectors like D-12, D-13 and E-12.

On the other hand, neither CDA nor the ICT administration has been helpful to the genuine housing societies in acquiring the necessary land for development and then facilitating them in initiating development and construction.

Since the first housing societies appeared on the scene in the Capital in the first half of the 1980s, most of them have failed to realize their projects (especially those in Zone-II of Islamabad).

In those areas of the Capital which are not divided by CDA into the alphabet-cum-number series sectors (in Zone-V), some 10 housing societies have long managed to complete their development work and houses have been constructed. But CDA insists that it had not issued NOCs to these societies!

Despite occasional pledges of action against fake housing societies by the authorities, the latter have generally turned a blind eye to the apparent illegality of many of these housing societies, eventually allowing a total of 80 housing societies to be registered with the registrar of co-operative societies. (This figure was quoted by the interior minister to the National Assembly in October 2003.)

During the past year or so, the government has been trying to show that it is finally taking firm action against the illegal societies. The actual number of such illegal societies, however, has varied.

Last week, it was reported that NAB had started investigations against a list of 21 housing societies in the federal capital. In July 2004, CDA named and declared separately two housing schemes in the Capital as illegal.

In the same month, the interior minister had informed the National Assembly that action had been taken against 18 housing societies, with inquiry being conducted against nine and show cause notices served on another nine.

In October 2003, CDA had issued a list of illegal housing societies totalling 41 in number. In the same month, it was also reported that the accounts of three housing societies had been frozen.

The above action against the fake housing societies notwithstanding, "plot owners" like Mohammad Ashraf are none the wiser about the fate of their respective housing society's schemes.

The upshot of the government's campaign against illegal housing societies has been that genuine real estate buyers are now more wary than ever before about private real estate developers (with the exception of those apparently related to the armed forces), while speculators in real estate and property dealers remain undeterred in their activities, sending the prices of land and housing in Islamabad spiralling higher than ever before.

Had the government and CDA equipped themselves with the necessary statutes and laws to regulate and monitor the housing societies when they first appeared in the Capital, this would have enabled the authorities to distinguish between those housing societies which are genuine real estate developers and those who are mere real estate speculators trying to make a fast buck. Perhaps then, "plot owners" like Mohammad Ashraf would not be without a house of their own today.

As had happened, not only did consecutive governments failed to set CDA in order and encourage it to spear ahead with the development of new sectors, the Capital administration's attitude towards the private housing societies had the effect of facilitating many of them to drag their feet on their projects, much to the disappointment of genuine property investors like Mohammad Ashraf.

A silver lining, however, is the report last week that the ICT authorities are "streamlining" the affairs of the societies and will now act as a facilitator to help the genuine societies get the necessary NOCs from CDA so that they can get their land development projects and housing schemes off the ground.

Last week also, the new prime minister was reported to have directed CDA to focus on developing housing (and shopping and food centres) for the people in the Capital.

The PM was said to have asked CDA to speed up the development of new sectors to meet the housing demand and also to encourage the real estate developers to help in this respect. But such directives from the top and pledges of action by the authorities concerned are nothing new, claims Mohammad Ashraf.

The problem throughout has been in translating such directives and pledges into practical action, and homes. Hopefully, this time round, Mohammad Ashraf will be able to live in his dream home after all, if it is not already too late for him.

An ardent advocate of democracy

We lost Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan exactly a year ago. In him we lost an ardent advocate of democracy. He was a symbol of political dissent. He built bridges between political foes and challenged governments.

The Nawabzada's ancestors came from Tajikistan and settled about 1750 on the right bank of the river Chenab just before it fell into the mighty Indus in a small village known as Khangarh in district Muzzafargarh.

His father, Nawab Saifullah Khan, married five wives and had six sons and three daughters. Nasrullah Khan was the fifth son from the youngest wife of Saifullah Khan. He studied at the Emerson College, Multan, but left college in the third year to look after his property.

The Nawabzada Sahib married the daughter of Ghulam Mohammad Khan Khakwani in 1931 who bore him 10 children, five boys and five girls. He was a gifted person as far as his understanding of the Urdu language was concerned. He was a soft-spoken person and with great humility he would give his point of view, when asked.

He was like an open book you could read it at your own convenience. He was available to all, irrespective of whether they were ordinary people or men of standing. He never made any guest feel unwelcome.

Hardly anyone made an appointment to see him. His presence at 32, Nicholson Road, Lahore - his office-cum-residence - would attract a stream of visitors. If guests came at mealtime they would be made comfortable and asked to join the table.

There was hardly a secret which could be kept in the Nawabzada's office, as every friend, foe or government informer visited at will. His day would start with morning prayers followed by scanning of all the daily newspapers and listening to the BBC.

After Zuhr prayers he would go into session with political personalities and media persons till late at night, day in and day out. The number of guests depended upon the political atmosphere in the country.

Many foreign representatives would call on him to find out the opposition's point of view on national issues. Nawabzada was forced to put on a sherwani, unbuttoned at the collar. The simple and security-free office would impress everyone.

The Nawabzada started his political career in 1940 when he joined the Majlis-i-Ahrar. He was mesmerized by the fiery orator, Ataullah Shah Bokhari, the head of the movement.

He contested his first election in 1946 on the Ahrar ticket, but lost to Unionist minister in the Khizer Hayat cabinet. Before 1947 he had an opportunity to conduct a political dialogue with Nehru, Patel and Maulana Azad.

After independence, he joined the Muslim League, contested the 1951 election and was returned to the Punjab Assembly. He later developed political differences with Daultana and Liaquat Ali Khan and left the League.

He joined and worked closely with Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy and formed the Jinnah Awami Muslim League. The Nawabzada would fondly recount many of anecdotes about Mr Suhrawardy.

The Nawabzada was nominated party convener and later became president of the West Pakistan Awami League. He was a member of the National Assembly in most parliaments of Pakistan.

He brokered and then headed a number of movements against Pakistani rulers like Ayub Khan, Gen Yahya, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Gen Ziaul Haq, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. He was a firm advocate of parliamentary and a truly democratic and representative government with full autonomy for the provinces.

He was supportive of Gen Musharraf's take over but eventually differed with him on his political plan for Pakistan. He started to make an effective alliance against him, the ARD, but his death left his agenda unfinished.

When Pakistan's history is written Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan will figure prominently as a leader who influenced the political course of events. He will be remembered as an individual with practically no political party of his own or a large following among the people, but one who yet carved out a role for himself and was a pivot around which all major alliances were formed. He was also a poet and a lover of poetry - an urbane, cultured politician of which we have so few.

To be or not to be in Khaki

Yes. That is the question facing Gen Perveiz Musharraf today. Even US Secretary of States Powell says that the matter of the Pakistan president's uniform is a pretty complicated sort of thing. Actually, it is a simple matter, Qazi Husain Ahmad and others like him notwithstanding.

You see, there are politicians who insist that the president must take off his uniform by Dec 31. To my way of thinking, it is not obligatory for the president to take off his uniform on New Year's eve.

All that he requires to do is to issue an ordinance tomorrow, making it mandatory for all adult Pakistanis to wear uniforms on Jan 1, 2005, or face imprisonment or heavy fines or both. When all Pakistanis are in uniform, he can then take off his Khaki and get into mufti.

At this, there will be a national uproar. "The president of a nation in Khaki cannot be in mufti," we shall all say and demand that Perveiz Musharraf must get into his discarded Khakis and throw away his muftis.

This is, to my way of thinking, a simple solution to what Colin Powell thinks is a complicated matter. Mr Powell should think about the wall Israel is building or Iraq or Palestine or Afghanistan. Or perhaps he will not be required to do so after the US elections this coming November. President Musharraf can be in Khaki or in mufti. That is his own sweet will.

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On Saturday, I watched the finals of the ICC Trophy at The Oval in London. It was played between England and the West Indies with the latter all but down and out at 147 for 8, chasing 218 for victory. Nevertheless, the ninth wicket pair of Bradshaw and Browne put on a record 75 to win the ICC Trophy and a major one-day tournament for the first time in 25 years.

The pair were offered the light at 180 but they decided to continue to bat until the last pulsating moments in conditions which would have required head lights if you were driving a car.

This reminds me of another unforgettable match between the West Indies and Pakistan in the 1975 World Cup. If anything, it was even more exciting than the one at The Oval on Saturday. This is how Wisden 1976 describes the game:

At Birmingham, June 11 (1975) West Indies won by one wicket. The winning run being scored off the fourth ball of the last over. A magnificent match hung in the balance till the end and the West Indies could not have been confident when their eight wicket fell at 166 and their ninth at 203.

The last pair, Murray and Roberts, who came together in the 46th over, scored the necessary 64 runs for victory. The Pakistan batsmen followed Majid's example, punishing anything not on a length and going boldly for their strokes, but Mushtaq and Wasim Raja were unfortunate to play on when both threatened to dominate the bowling.

The West Indies batsmen showed almost indecent haste and, with the exception of Lloyd and Murray's brand of discipline and the courage of Roberts eventually carried them to victory. Tom Graveney named Sarfraz Man of the Match.

SCORES: Pakistan: 266 for 7 in 60 overs (Majid Khan 60, Mushtaq Mohammad 55, Wasim Raja 58) West Indies: (Clive Lloyd 53 D.L Murray 61 not out Roberts not out 24, Sarfraz Nawaz 12-1-44-4).

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At long last, the Punjab government has decided to keep an eye on private housing colonies by amending the Local Government Ordinance or by making suitable rules under it. This has come not a moment too soon.

The one question that bothers me is: to what extent can we allow the city of Lahore and other metropolitan areas to grow? Lahore, for example, has been expanding in all directions without proper planning.

Quite obviously, Lahore cannot be permitted to become a huge slum from end to end. Most of the city is ugly, unmanageable and totally uninhabitable. Civic amenities have been stretched to the limit. Our roads are a jungle of chaos and confusion.

Health facilities are non-existent, especially for the poor. There is grave water shortage in most localities. The day is not far off when private tankers will be in business as they are in Karachi. Pollution is increasing by the hour and so is morbidity.

Education is becoming more and more expensive and is out of reach for the children of the dispossessed. As in medicine, there is much quackery in teaching. Anybody who is anybody at all can set up a school or a college and no questions asked. The city government is government only in name because it does not think of the morrow. It is incapable of so doing.

New housing colonies apart, there is this issue of vandalizing old settlements like Model Town. Some very influential people are trying to commercialize the open spaces between various blocks which serve as lungs for Model Town.

There is even a move for constructing a bus stand for a private company on a large chunk of the Linear Park. Why don't the residents of Model Town stand up and shriek and shout? Or have they decided to give in to the Gospel of Mammon?

A bizarre confluence of hostile partisans

Dogmas, Mao Zedong once said, were more useless than cow dung. It is an irony that several million idealists straddling India and Nepal who go by the generic name of Maoists are actually seen merely as dogmatic Marxists by their leftist rivals and by their more entrenched rightwing critics.

At another juncture in his chequered revolutionary career, Mao declared: "We are opposed to the die-hards in the revolutionary ranks ... We are opposed to the idle talk of the left." Take them for what they are, but Chairman Mao's thoughts seem to have brought about a bizarre confluence of traditionally contradictory, even mutually hostile partisans in the heartland of South Asia.

The United States of America and the Peoples' Republic of China may seem like contradictory poles of the post-Cold War world, but they are together with the Kingdom of Nepal, the government of India and, surprise of surprise, the Communist Party of India (Marxist, CPI-M) who all appear to have resolved their mutual differences on that one crucial issue: that the self-styled Maoists of India and Nepal are to be dealt with sternly, even snuffed out, if necessary. The Indian government calls these groups 'Naxalites' after their origin in West Bengal's Naxalbari region in the early 1960s.

The reported death sentence handed to two Nepalese Maoists by a Chinese court in Tibet is perhaps the most ironical of the ideological shift. The ground for the surprising death sentences was laid in June when Nepal had appealed to the communist republic founded by Mao for help in putting down the rebellion by Maoists.

The chief of the Royal Nepal Army, General Pyar Jung Thapa, was quoted at that time as saying during a visit to Beijing that China would provide military help in subduing the Maoists, whose guerilla campaign seriously threatened King Gyanendra's government.

Beijing refers to Nepal's Maoists as 'anti-government groups' rather than 'terrorists', the label used by India and the United States. Both have provided arms to the Nepalese army recently.

In a meeting this year with Nepalese academics, Chinese government advisers reportedly urged Nepal to tackle the root causes of the rebellion and try to bring the insurgents into the political mainstream.

In a speech on May 28, China's ambassador to Nepal, Sun Heping, indicated a specific gain in mind from the turmoil in Nepal. According to the ambassador, China's main concern in Nepal was the hostile activities of the Free Tibet movement, including the presence of a representative of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and a reception centre for Tibetans secretly crossing the border to join the exile community in India.

Nepal is hoping for an economic boost from closer ties with China. It is also trying to position itself as a gateway for international tourism into Tibet.

It would be tricky to say if the Chinese perception of Nepalese Maoists is determined more by the fact of the ideological dogmatism of the latter or by China's pragmatic needs, for example, to secure Tibet from US-backed supporters of the Dalai Lama. It is also not easy to glean the Chinese nuance of silently, imperceptibly agreeing to the US military presence in Nepal to sort out the Maoist issue.

Nepal's Maoist rebels are known to be using small arms smuggled from China. The rebels have been fighting to replace Nepal's monarchy with a communist state. The insurgency has already claimed more than 10,000 lives. Yet, China's approach to the Maoists is bound to hearten the Americans and the Indian government alike.

For it was in 2001 that 10 Maoist groups from South Asia first came together on a common platform called the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA). Maoist groups from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka are its members who seek to "aid and abet" each other's movements.

The Peoples War Group (PWG), the largest Maoist group in India, maintains a string of bases in remote and inaccessible areas and currently runs virtual parallel government in some 'liberated zones', particularly in the tribal southern areas in the Dandakaranya belt in Andhra Pradesh.

The outfit at present is active in parts of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar. It has been making attempts to establish and expand its presence in several other states such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka in southern India and Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan in northern India.

It may seem perplexing to some, but the fact is that Andhra Pradesh's decision to talk to the rebels has not gone down well with the West Bengal authorities who say such a decision is aiding political insurgents in states like theirs. It is perplexing because Andhra Pradesh is ruled by the centrist Congress party, and West Bengal has had a CPI-M led Left Front in the saddle since 1977.

West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya went so far as to say: "Andhra Pradesh is the problem. Their policy is damaging us." As proof, Bhattacharya says, they have found that Maoists rebels operating in the jungles of southern and western West Bengal speak in Telugu, the language spoken in Andhra Pradesh.

West Bengal is raising a paramilitary special operations group (SOG) to take on the growing might of the rebels in the state's countryside. The state is also worried about the growing nexus between the Maoists of Nepal and their Indian counterparts. Serious analysts regard the problem as even more intractable than the Kashmir issue has so far proved to be.

The sheep in George Orwell's Animal Farm, the acerbic fable rooted in the Russian Revolution, would parrot: "Four legs good, two legs bad." But when the pigs in the Animal Farm, who had led the beasts in revolt against their human tormentors, themselves acquired some habits of humans, including strutting on their hind trotters, the sheep promptly changed their tune to: "Two legs good, four legs bad." Those among the animals who didn't learn to change with time were swiftly eliminated. That was a fable about Russia. The Chinese story may offer a different conclusion.

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'Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, Maratha, Dravida, Utkal, Vanga.' This is how the Indian national anthem, penned several years before independence by Rabindranath Tagore, identifies the land expanse of India.

After 1947, the province of Sindh became part of Pakistan, making the Indian anthem sound somewhat inaccurate. Last Monday, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking deletion of the word 'Sindh' from the national song. The court told petitioner Sanjeev Bhatnagar, an Asian Games athlete, to draw the attention of the central government to the issue.

Warring politicos

Even in government, the Sindh chapter of the Pakistan Muslim League is not without its crises. So many people are believed to be the real power behind the throne that local party cadres get confused and throw in their lot with various leaders, thus creating further divisions in the party.

Just when the provincial PML-Q thought it had weathered the crisis stirred up by Pir Pagara, it encountered another one in the form of a tussle between Sindh PML-Q president Chief Minister Dr Ghulam Arbab Rahim and his minister Imtiaz Shaikh, who is secretary-general of the party's provincial chapter.

The confrontation took an ugly turn when, at a first party meeting in Nawabshah, Ghulam Rasool Unar, a supporter of Dr Rahim, and Farooq Awan, who backs Mr Shaikh, came to blows with each other after an exchange of allegations. Their followers joined in the brawl.

Shortly afterwards, the chief minister lifted a ban on transfers and postings in all government departments except the revenue department, which Mr Shaikh heads.

When it was sensed that, if left unattended, the discord would turn nastier, party high ups summoned the warring politicians to Lahore where PML-Q supremo Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain is reported to have urged them to sink their differences and work together.

Meanwhile, the provincial PML-N cannot also claim to be free of fissiparous tendencies. The appointment of Imdad Chandio by Sindh PML-N president Syed Ghous Ali Shah, who lives in London, as his deputy in 2002 angered other aspirants for the post so much that they rushed to Shahbaz Sharif for redress.

Instead of finding a permanent solution to the problem, the party command appointed Mian Ejaz Shafi as organizer of the provincial PML-N, thus creating another centre of power in the province.

Mr Chandio resigned ostensibly in protest against some decisions which had been taken by the party without taking him into confidence. Based in Islamabad, the chairman of the PML-N, Raja Zafarul Haq, then sent two mediators, chief coordinator Ahsan Iqbal and information secretary Siddiqul Farooq, to Karachi. They spent a couple of days in the city, but reportedly were not able to resolve the issue.

Fat holidays, fatter weekends

"Gajar ka halwa", "jalebis", "haleem" with oily "tarka", "dhaga" kebabs, etc. No wonder poor weight watchers fear winter, especially the holiday season, when relatives troop down to Karachi to enjoy the city's pleasantly mild climate and good partying.

But a recent report from the United States on obesity makes a lot of sense for all of us. The findings show that weekends are as much to be feared as holidays because it is during weekends that most people on a diet consume a lot of food unwittingly.

A regular weekend for most Karachians starts Friday evenings with excessive eating and drinking and ends after a late Sunday family lunch followed by a nap, a luxury not available on weekdays. Little wonder then that people get their Monday blues and start planning for the following Friday, vowing to stay clear of extra pounds and the contributing girth.

Many among us who pump iron on weekdays give their bodies a rest on weekends and thus are burning less calories than taking in over the weekend. For those who are not party animals weekends mean dining out (the cooks normally take the day off) and eating fatty, greasy food.

A lot of times parents prefer to take a quick grab of fast food to save time once the weekend is coming to a close. And children forever are game for the treat. As an indulgence, many times parents have the meal up-sized. So next weekend, shouldn't we be going for the greens instead of mouth-watering "nihari"?

Students' concession

Whatever happened to the students' fare concessions available on government-run buses not too long ago? While the transport department used to be in financial straits most of the time, government buses used to allow students to travel at reduced fare.

One old-timer recalls that he used to pay 10 paisa in return for a yellow ticket as other passengers looked on enviously. Often, the conductor would reprove a grown-up man for showing what was known as a student pass in order to pass himself off as a college-going person. The student would explain, sheepishly, that he had resumed his studies after a gap of a couple of years.

Government buses disappeared, of course, giving place to privately operated coaches, mini-buses and fast-moving vans. The operators are said to be obliged to allow students to travel at reduced fare, but they flout government directives openly.

In Aug 2001, the city government took over but did nothing to restore the facility previously available to travelling students. Apart from the fact that now students have to pay more as they travel to and from their educational institutions, passengers no longer get to enjoy that exchange of caustic remarks between censorious conductors and artful 'student' passengers which in the past made travelling in a packed bus a less dreary exercise.

Smelling a crisis

Karachians may not be prepared for a spell of water shortage following lower than expected rains upcountry, but it seems that water suppliers are already cashing in on the possibility of a crisis.

Water tankers have started charging over 20 per cent higher rates for domestic water deliveries, particularly in Clifton and Defence. This is expected to increase further in the coming months.

One enterprising dealer in drinking water has advised his clients to pay a six-month advance so that they are assured a supply through the critical period. His sales clincher is that if a crisis hits the city, he won't be able to promise supplies to people who pay on a weekly basis.

What is most annoying, however, is the indifference of the various people and agencies to water wastage in the city. Many house owners still insist on washing their driveways and verandahs with huge amounts of water and that too on a daily basis.

Aside from the criminal waste of water, such activity causes damage to roads as the water ends up on the street. Furthermore, water continues to be used in amusement parks and fountains, and this only helps deplete the fast-shrinking water reserves even quicker.

email: karachi_notebook@hotmail.com.