Any prominent person visiting Pakistan from India receives instant attention. And if he has received international acclaim, he is greeted with greater enthusiasm, and that is all the more so when that person is a young lady.
This time it was Arundhati Roy, who won the much-publicized Booker prize of the UK for her book, The God of Small Things, which brought her instant fame. She has added to it by fighting for human rights’ causes, standing up for justice for the poor and deprived and opposing nuclear arsenals in the region. This was her first visit to Pakistan, which began with Islamabad where over a thousand people listened to her on Independence Day. As she came down from Islamabad to Lahore, public response to her speech increased. The crowd swelled further in Karachi where people occupied not only hundreds of chairs at the Avari Towers pool side, but also squatted on the ground and occupied any available space. They gave her repeated ovations, sometimes even wrongly in their over-excitement.
Students and teachers of English-medium schools, particularly of O and A levels, were in full strength there. So were Parsi young women. And they all came very early and stood in very long queues for fear of being shut out, as a notice in the newspaper said that latecomers would not be allowed to enter.
The function was organized by the publishers of The Daily Times, Lahore, with a brief introduction by the publisher, Salman Taseer, and the mission statement by the editor, Najam Sethi, and his wife conducting the proceedings with a firm hand.
The supporting cast from India was also strong and included Shekhar Gupta, editor of the Indian Express and M. Ram, editor of Frontline Magazine. Both have a long record of fighting for freedom and peace in South Asia.
Hamid Haroon, president of the APNS, welcomed the visitors from India whom he knew well, and lauded their efforts for peace. He also said that the practice of acquisance in whatever the government was doing in either India or Pakistan should come to an end, and those who stood for freedom and peace should assert themselves. Quoting from William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, he said our fate was in our hands to make and not be moulded by others. He took the visitors on a tour of Mohatta Palace where they saw the lifetime works of Sadequain which deeply impressed them.
If Arundhati Roy was serious in her approach to the topic of peace and freedom in South Asia and said at one point she would rather declare herself an independent one-person republic rather than defend the militaristic policies of India, Shekhar Gupta sought to convey the same through his sense of humour.
He said that these were days of conspiracy theories. One of his theories was the current crisis which made everyone in the region fly to Dubai before reaching Karachi, Mumbai or Delhi and the handiwork of Emirates Airlines which was transporting most of the passengers.
When he was discussing the prospects of war between India and Pakistan, someone said that democracies don’t go to war and another said countries which have McDonalds do not fight each other, and both have McDonalds in plenty. Shekhar Gupta said that he met a man in Almaty who introduced himself by saying that he was from Lahore. He said now that our forces are on the borders, “war ho jai” and as both have nuclear arms, “nuclear war bhi ho jaye.” Gupta told him that although he was not from Lahore, he agreed with him in utter frivolity. He said that 17 years ago, when he came here as a reporter, he had to pass through a tedious process of police reporting. But now, he didn’t have to. But the chances of peace between India and Pakistan then were better than now.
Ram, though a severe critic of the government of India, has won the highest civil award of Bharat Bhusan, along with a host of other decorations for independent journalism. He suggested India and Pakistan should follow the Rajiv Gandhi example of seeking peace with Beijing, and seek peace despite the Kashmir dispute. He spoke strongly against the futility of nuclear arms.
The former foreign secretary and ambassador to many countries, Shaharyar Khan, said that when he wrote a book on Rwanda, where a million lives were lost, he learnt more about diplomacy than in the 30 years of his service in the foreign office. He recalled his visit to India as manager of the cricket team, and the tremendous reception given in Chennai when Pakistan won the match.
Salman Taseer said how, when he asked a general who is a friend why we are wasting so much money on the Siachin Glacier, his reply was that India is spending five times more. In the same strain, Shekhar Gupta said that Pakistani officials argue that if fifteen air routes of ours across India were closed, thirty six routes across Pakistan were closed for India.
Ram also scoffed at the two-track diplomacy indulged in by retired generals and diplomats who had spent 35 years of their service life on promoting conflict and planning wars. Shaharyar Khan seemed to agree with him, although he did not say so openly.
Arundhati Roy was strong in her opposition about nuclear armaments which she said offered no protection. She said that if India fired a nuclear missile, she would be here to receive it. When someone asked why she does not stop it from India itself, she said she was not in the government and they would not tell her when they would fire the missile. She read an extract from her essay The End of Imagination, which she wrote immediately after India exploded its nuclear devices. The end of the extract was so moving it brought tears in many eyes.
She scoffed at the political success of Abul Kalam who has become president of India, and said that the nuclear men were opposed to God as they wanted to destroy what God had made. She has written a second book, The Algebra of Infinite Justice. The Oxford University Press of Pakistan chief, Ameena Saiyid, who was there, said she has signed a deal with Ms Roy to publish her books in Pakistan.
Funding the IBA
Salahuddin Haider, whose VIP Estate has become Century 21 USA (real estate consultants), is one of the busiest men in the city with two or three mobile telephones hung around his neck.
He is always online wherever that line may be. He loves entertaining friends and keeping them amused. All that means good business even in a depressed property market.
But Salahuddin Haider is not all entertainment. Recently, he held a dinner in honour of Danishmand, the new director of the chequered IBA, to raise funds for the premier business school of Karachi which is facing financial stress.
One hundred and seventy persons turned up, including Mohammed Chaudary, MD, Adamjee Insurance; Humayun Bashir of IBM, Aziz Memon, King’s Group and Zakaria Usman, president of Plastic Manufacturer’s Association.
The only specific offer came from Mujib Khan, the MD of New Hampshire Insurance, of funding a chair at the IBA, subject to his company’s approval in the US.
The guests thought a larger offer would come from Mohammed Chaudary as chief of the largest insurance company in Pakistan, but he was not budging. Several others made various offers of help, but it remains to be seen how many of these offers become a reality.
The IBA was founded in 1955, and to-date 2,441 MBAs have passed out, 419 specialized MBAs have graduated, and a total of 280 admissions are given each year.
IBA’s finest product is the finance minister, Shaukat Aziz, whose name is mentioned in IBA circles only too often.
Danishmand has not only been a teacher at the IBA but also the managing director of Suzuki motorcycles. While his new efforts in IBA are being appreciated, there is severe criticism in some quarters about extending the MBA course to six years or the BBA course to four.
He is needlessly too dismissive of O and A-level courses in highly-performing institutions whose A-level studies are far better than the intermediate studies in other schools.
Any prominent person visiting Pakistan from India receives instant attention. And if he has received international acclaim, he is greeted with greater enthusiasm, and that is all the more so when that person is a young lady.
