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Rain on the (#AzadiMarchPTI #Inqilab) Parade

afiasalam by afiasalam
August 17, 2014
Home Stories Politics
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Governance means reading the signs, making projections, extrapolating existing data to forecast trends and make arrangements and adjustments accordingly. It means number crunching, matching available resources to the demographic spread, so on and so forth, etc. etc. etc. That is what the incumbent  government does, and the opposition, which is supposed to be a government-in-the-waiting for whenever the people vote them in, keeps its eye on.

Now, despite the ‘heavy mandate’  barring the very few delusional (also called ‘dheet’ in Urdu) out of the 180 million Pakistanis, everyone would agree, at least in their hearts even if they do not want to articulate, that Nawaz Sharif and his coterie has taken ineptitude, nepotism and bad governance to whole new level.

While they want the nation to do a jig because the Rupee:Dollar parity has been dragged back to double digits, and rejoice at the visible signs of skewed development priorities like the Metro Bus and Flyovers etc, fact remains that the poor are getting poorer, rich richer, marginalized are more vulnerable today than ever before, the vulnerable now stand in the category of the threatened with extinction, the criminals roam free, justice is held hostage to street power etc.

All of the above need, nay, deserve to be changed, so the clarion call of ‘#Tabdeeli’ or change resonates with all and sundry. Raise the decibels, and the degree, and this calls gets another name by another group.. for instance #Inqilab! But look who is giving this call. Is it a case of the pot calling the kettle black? What do we have at the other end of the scale

On one side is a party, Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf, which has a chance NOT to do all that it accuses the Nawaz Sharif Government of PML-N in a province it holds sway in.. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Now to be fair, many a good initiatives have been taken there which can serve as a model for the other provincial governments if they can get out of their parochial silos. But there are plenty of regressive steps in fields that have an impact beyond the here and now; like education, and its basic building block, the curriculum. Now with its band of 30 off Parliamentarians against the ruling party’s 170, all of whom could not have gone past the post through rigging, its leader Imran Khan refuses to settle for anything but the ouster of the Government.

The other demand for #Inqilab or revolution is coming from a person who cannot be accepted as a stakeholder by any stretch of imagination. This flyby Canadian cleric, emboldened by the clout he was able to wield during his last year’s street theatre when the PPP was in power, wants to upchuck the existing system. #TUQ or Tahir ul Qadri of the #PAT or Pakistan Awami Tehreek and/or Idara e Minhaj ul Quran breathing verbal hellfire and brimstone is presenting a total either/or and with us or against us scenario with very little room for negotiations or manoeuvering.

With these two ‘personalities’ set in formaldehyde, and their band of followers with an equally rigid mindset, it will take some going to resolve the current impasse, even if one puts blinkers on and ignores a khaki shadow, coupled with the extremely myopic, and almost panic stricken response of the Government, which was a case of too little too late.

Oh, and while it may disturb the flow of the words, I must of course mention here that we have a little case of a full scale war, given the title of #ZarbeAzb, going on just hours away from where the street show is taking place. Relevant? Maybe!

However, this is not about a comparison of performance. This is more about planning. No matter how dissatisfied I am with the performance of the government in power, how can I ever think of throwing my lot with people who cannot even look up a weather map before planning the biggest disruption to civic life in two major cities at a time.

This is August. The season, despite #ClimateChange and shifting monsoonal pattern, is still a rainy season. If the ‘planners’ within Imran Khan and Tahir ul Qadri’s camp do not trust their own country’s Met department, there are plenty of weather sites that would have told them well in advance that these days would be rainy days. If they had extrapolate the data of the past few years, the result would have been the same.

So if the March Hare and Mad Hatter cannot get this basic information before putting the biggest open air show together, inconveniencing thousands (no, it didn’t turn out to be a Million Man March after all) of citizens of Lahore and Islamabad and all the places in between, then please, you can’t expect me to entrust them with my fate!

Tags: GovernmentImran KhanNawaz SharifNawaz Sharif GovernmentPakistan Tehreek e InsafTahir ul Qadri
afiasalam

afiasalam

  Resume Freelance journalist and Communications consultant A bridge connecting ideas to people & solutions   Name: Afia Salam DoB:  03021957 Nationality: Pakistani Experience: Journalism: I have been associated with the media in many capacities since 1978. ·   Started as Pakistan's first female cricket writer. ·   Worked at The Star, eveninger of the Dawn group of Newspapers. ·   Editor of an Aviation and Defense magazine (Wings) ·    Executive Editor of The Cricketer magazine in the 80's and 90's, ·   Editor of Pakistan’s first Energy publication in 2001(Energy Update). ·   Joined Dawnnews which was launched as Pakistan’s first English language channel. Worked as a senior copy editor, Head of Culture Desk and content in charge of its flagship morning show titled Daily Breakfast@Dawn. ·   Content head of SpeakforChange blog and its associated web channel 247online.tv where I hosted a show and co-hosted another. ·   Communications Consultant for Exponent Engineers on the charged parking component of the World Bank-Government of Sindh KNIP project ·   Project lead for #C4CC (Conversations for Climate Change) Media capacity building project of High Commission of Canada in Pakistan and UNESCO ·   Project Lead for UNESCO supported  #MIL (Media Information Literacy) for Climate Change Stories from Pakistan, a nationwide media support project I contribute articles as a freelancer to many media outlets eg: Dawn, Tribune, Newsline, Aurora, The News on Sunday, Thirdpole, Nayadaur, The Friday Times. GEO English and Pique magazine.   Advertising: Worked almost 15 years as Creative head and Director Special Projects of three different advertising agencies, Blazon, Argus, and Blitz. From 1991 to 2005.         Development Sector: ·       Headed IUCN-Pakistan (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Education, Communications and Outreach Unit, and also briefly headed their Business and BioDiversity portfolio to kick start engagement with the corporate sector and industries to promote sustainable practices. ·       Served as Sindh coordinator of the newly formed Imran Khan Foundation to provide relief, rehabilitation and resettlement to the victims of 2010 floods in Sindh and of 2011 Badin cloudburst.   Socio-Cultural/Education Sector: ·       Project Manager for Pakistan for Google Cultural Institute  2014-15 to showcase Pakistan’s cultural and historical assets through digital exhibits prepared according to the GCI template.  ·       Communications Lead at Badal Do, a school and education reform programme ·       Visiting faculty at IoBM, having taught courses on Media Law and Ethics, and Environmental Journalism. Training: I have been involved in media development through training of journalists in reporting on environment, climate change, gender, labor, digital security, election reporting, effective use of social media and media ethics. ·       These trainings were held across Pakistan on behalf of organizations such as Pakistan Press Foundation-UNESCO, Intermedia-ILO, IRADA, Civic Action Resource- Solidarity Center, Intermedia-Democracy Reporting International, IUCN Pakistan-Oxfam-GB, LEAD Pakistan-HBS, LEAD-WWF, Green Media Initiatives- GNMI, Pakistan Water Partnership, CEJ-IBA. ·       Have also been a conducted trainings of school teachers, college and university students, and Government officials on the subjects of Environment, Climate Change and Media matters on behalf of IUCN Pakistan,  LEAD Pakistan, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Greenwich University, Institute of Business Management, Heinrich Boll Stiftung, Islamic Relief Pakistan, , High Commission of Canada in Pakistan ·       Have held media management training for Marie Stopes Society , Unilever Pakistan, Uber- Pakistan and KElectric for their middle and top management.   Authored a commissioned researches on: ·       Needs Assessment for Promoting Ethics and Transparency in Pakistan Media  for Pakistan Press Foundation/Internews ·        Effect of Covid-19 on Journalism. commissioned by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung   Official Nominations: ·       Working Group on Climate Change and Security formed under the National Security Division and Strategic Policy Planning for the preparation of the National Security Policy ·       Member of the National Climate Change Council under the Federal Ministry of Climate Change ·       Multi-stakeholder National Coordinating Body of the Ministry of Climate Change, Government of Pakistan to set up Marine Protected Areas in Pakistan and am part of the team that saw through the declaration of Astola Island of Balochistan as Pakistan’s first MPA. ·       Curriculum Review Committee of Government of Sindh to assess gender balance and pluralism in primary school textbooks of 3 subjects ·       Review Committee to assess Climate Change content in Science and Geography Curriculum being developed under the Single National Curriculum ·       Consumer Protection Council announced by the Government of Sindh ·       Baaghban Core Group of Karachi Municipal Corporation’s Horticulture Department. ·       Focal Person and Communications lead for the unique “Art for Climate Change” initiative began under the aegis of Ministry of Climate that has broadened outreach of Climate Change through the art community by taking them on retreats and exhibiting their outputs. Was part of the retreat in 2018 to Naran, and to the Sindh Delta under Government of Sindh banner in 2020. ·       Member of the Gender Based Violence Sub Committee of the Sindh Commission for Human Rights ·       Member of Fact-Finding Committee for the archives verification at National Museum, Karachi ·       Was a member of the first ever rafting expedition on the river Indus which traversed from its entry point into Pakistan to where it drains into the Arabian Sea     I have moderated seminars, Panel discussions, Roundtables, Inception report launches etc for UNDP Small Grants Programme, UNDP Climate Finance in Bangkok, WWF Pakistan, IDRC/Kings College London/IBA Karachi, World Bank ‘Pakistan @100’ launch in Karachi to name a few.   Have ghost written, edited and translated several books and reports of some leading personalities and organizations.   Have also done third party qualitative assessment of projects.   Fellowships:   ·       Fellow of Lead Pakistan (Cohort 16) under its Leadership Development Programme on the subject of Green Economies and completed an additional Fellowship on Indus Basin Benefit Sharing. ·       GRID graduate, which is a leadership development course. ·       Completed a course from on Water from  LUMS Water In Technology School ·       Received scholarship by International Labor Organization for an online course on Gender from its ITC in Turin, Italy. ·       Am an IAF alumni, having completed a course on Liberalism, Environment & Property Rights. ·       Participated in a short course in Women in Executive Leadership at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia on a fellowship from Australia Awards. ·       Was an Journalists Exchange Programme participant of US Consulate on CVE (Countering Violent Extremism)   Memberships and Associations: ·       Advisor for National Forum for Environment & Health, Bolo Bhi, a digital rights research policy and advocacy organization ·       Member of  WWF Pakistan, IUCN Commission on Education and Communications, and IUCN CEESP Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy. ·       Core Group for Water Energy & Food Nexus for Sindh and Universities for Water Network created by the Hisaar Foundation ·       Think tank on Hoga Saaf Pakistan   Member Steering Committee: ·       Alliance on Diversity and Pluralism in Media, ·       Urban Forest Coalition Civil Society Organizations: Trustee and Chair of Board of Indus Earth Trust, a rural development organization Trustee of Helpline Trust, which focuses on consumer and civic rights Trustee of Saneeya Hussain Trust that assists in girls’ higher education, as a President Executive Committee of Baanhn Beli Founding Board member and Vice President Salman Sufi Foundation Member Advisory Committee of FFOP (Faith For Our Planet)     My website is being redone and will be accessible at www.afiasalam.com Some information of my work is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afia_Salam   I have traveled to Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, India, UAE, Kenya, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, France, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, UK, USA, and Australia in an official as well personal capacity.                                                                                                                                                                        

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Karachi: Beware of an earthquake; never mind the Tsunami.. yet!

Comments 1

  1. Farah Usman says:
    9 years ago

    We are a cursed nation… this I have started firmly believing in since last night! Even God is enjoying our misery… because we so deserve it… I guess!!!!

    Reply

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Afia salam

Media consultant and trainer, content developer/editor, documentary concept and script writer, presenter/producer.
Currently working as free lance journalist and media trainer, especially in the field of Environmental journalism.

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