IS the image of Pakistan abroad far worse than it ought to be or can be? Is the international media constantly presenting a distorted image of Pakistan? And is the national media doing the same, and has it become a part of that feeding frenzy?
The issue before the Rotract Club’s national conference funded by TCS, the well-known courier service, was not to promote a better image of the country, but to simply and vigorously market it as modern businessmen do with their products.
But the Rotract Club, comprising junior members of the affluent Metropolitan Rotary Club of Karachi, had curiously most of the speakers from among top bankers, with the Governor, State Bank of Pakistan, Dr Ishrat Husain, as the chief guest. But Zubyr Soomro of Citibank and Syed Ali Raza of National Bank of Pakistan did not turn up. Another banker, Munir Kamal of Union Bank, substituted for them.
The discussion was interesting, though some thought it was too patriotic. But Dr Ishrat and Jamil Janjua of the TCS made up for that with their realistic approach to the complex issue.
Munir Kamal, always a breezy speaker, said Pakistan had done nothing to be apologetic about. Pakistan had helped the West at every critical phase — during President Reagan’s fight against the “evil empire” which was finally dissolved, during the Gulf war and after Sept 11. The West should appreciate Pakistan for its valuable services instead of being critical of it.
Asif Ikram, chief of DuPont Pakistan and President of Metropolitan Rotary, said that when he met the Americans, he spoke of the success story of America in Pakistan, particularly of the success of the over 50 American companies in Pakistan. His own company had improved its business by 50 per cent in Pakistan, last year.
Jamil Janjua spoke of the need of the country to improve law and order, put down sectarian violence and strengthen the economy to better market the image of Pakistan abroad.
There was consensus among the speakers that in these conditions, foreign investment would not come in a sizable amount; but what none of the speakers said was that local investment has not been forthcoming for long. Domestic investors ought to know better and they are holding back.
For a conference discussing the image of Pakistan, none from the media was billed as a speaker. Instead, there was a clutch of three moderators discussing each speech after it was delivered, which was a needless exercise.
In fact, there was a three-way discussion with prominent members of the audience such as Dr S.A. Wahad, former director of IBA and former ambassador, Mehdi Masud being asked to speak and denied the time they needed to be understood well. The sponsors of the afternoon conference were trying to do too much within a short time and project too many persons.
Yusuf Shirazi, part banker, part insurance man and otherwise an automobile manufacturer, does not believe in simply speaking at such a conference ever since he went to Harvard university, and saw how they did things over there. He used plenty of slides to prove his point-of-view and gave the text of his presentation to the audience.
He spoke of the ill-effects of globalization on Pakistan and how the government had been succumbing to the World Bank and IMF pressure. He called for adequate help and protection for the nascent industry in Pakistan.
A slide of how two pilots from Islamabad are trying to fly around the world in a tiny plane was also shown. The plane had evoked great enthusiasm wherever it had gone. The pilots hope the image of the country would improve through their global journey.
Dr Ishrat Husain brought analytical approach to the problem. He wanted Pakistanis to avoid bellicosity in defending Pakistan before foreigners, as well as an excess of defeatism. He wanted Pakistanis to realize the weaknesses of the country and try to remedy that, beginning with law and order. He spoke of how when foreign buyers came here they were given good dinners and lunches, and after sending one or two good consignments of substandard goods, Pakistan’s image was compromised.
He warned Pakistanis to shed their cynicism and negativism and improve the credibility of the country. He said that when a political leader called another a traitor, it produced a negative image of the country in foreigners’ eyes. The image of the country cannot be improved when the country is divided along ethnic, provincial and sectarian lines.
As a member of the audience said later, the country is bound to have a poor image when it is under military rule for the fourth time, and the political shape of the country to come seems so uncertain. It has taken a long time to wipe out the disgrace of 1971, and its reputation for corruption.
The city, which has been experiencing a sustained explosion of private art galleries, is to have three significant art institutions with a museum of modern art as their apex. And an immediate beginning is to be made with a Contemporary Arts Resource Centre which will, among other things, house the large newspaper clippings and other literature on art and art exhibitions in the city and the country, collected by the late Ali Imam. The centre will be named after him, and that will be a valuable source for future writers on art, including foreign authors.
The move to set up the Museum of Modern Art is as old as 30 years. It began when the late A.R. Faridi, then chief of Burma Shell and an avid art collector, set up a foundation for the Museum of Modern Art. The project has been revived following the return from London after over 30 years of Jalaluddin Ahmed who had, against heavy odds, been publishing the impressive magazine, Arts-Islamic World from there.
Now that the magazine has ceased publication and Jalaluddin, who began his career with the Pakistan government publishing its Pakistan Quarterly Magazine, has returned home with his wife, also the co-editor of the magazine. He intends to bring out his magazine from here.
The founders of FOMMA had already paid Rs0.1 million to KDA as full payment for a 4,000 square yards plot in Clifton to set up the museum and are looking for a plot to erect a multistory building. Meanwhile, the nucleus of the FOMMA has begun work from Sunan House, next to the unoccupied Chief Minister’s House on Brunton Road, which belongs to Anwar Rammal of Asiatic Advertising Agency.
Those involved in FOMMA are also setting up FOMMA Publisher and Distributors Ltd as a private limited company to publish art books. The capital of the company will be Rs2 million, instead of the earlier proposed Rs1 million, and its first publication will be on Zubeida Agha by Mussarrat Hasan, who has collected a great deal of material on the outstanding modern art exponent. The second will be a publication on Ali Imam by Marjorie Hussain.
Money does not seem to be too much of a problem for the projects as their backers are ready to be helpful following the indefatigable efforts of Jalaluddin. But the building can cost a great deal after work starts. Nusrat Hasan is a classical bureaucrat who retired as chairman of the then mighty Cotton Export Corporation after ten years. He did not always follow the rules and made his own rules with happy results.
He did the same at the wedding reception of his grandchildren last week. The bride Aamina, daughter of Usman Hasan and groom, Ali, son of Ghazanfar Adil, came early enough at the 9 to 11pm reception. In a city where guests have to wait for over two hours to get a sip of refreshments, the rich snacks were served 20 minutes after the reception started and quite some time before the arrival of the bridal couple.
The guests were free to eat and go in a night of many parties in the city. Those who wanted to chat had plenty of prominent guests, particularly from Sindh, such as former speaker of the National Assembly, Elahi Bux Soomro, and Zulfikar Jamote, former senator and his brother, Dr Shafquate Jamote, former federal minister.
Ali is a bank executive in London who has now joined Mitsui Shipping Corporation. The couple will be staying in London. A large number of senior officials, most of them retired, were among the guests. When you talk of cotton, major consumer Aziz Memon had to be there midway between party-hopping.
At the other wedding reception, the couple were to leave soon after, to work in Saudi Arabia. The bride was Nadia Khan, daughter of Navaid Khan, former president of the Millennium Rotary Club and Dr Sabiha, the live wire of the Helpline Trust of Hameed Maker.
The bride had worked for Tahir Khan’s company, and so his Events Plus lit up the mangroves opposite the Boat Club and the large sheet of water in between, making it look like a dreamland.
Ex-ministers Capt Haleem Siddiqui and Javed Jabbar were there. Javed has shifted his residence from PECHS to the Defence Housing Authority, not because he is in with the military now but as his social action in the evenings is at Defence Society and Clifton. The Gulgees did the same earlier and set up a large museum for his works.
Candyland’s Mifta Ismail who is vice-president of Millennium Rotary Club was there. Akram Sultan was there, greatly slimmed down and more subdued, unlike his ebullient self.
Navaid was once a Karachi University debater and hence ex-debaters were aplenty there, many of them subdued by their eloquent wives.
IS the image of Pakistan abroad far worse than it ought to be or can be? Is the international media constantly presenting a distorted image of Pakistan? And is the national media doing the same, and has it become a part of that feeding frenzy?
