If you listen to the Inspector General of Police, Sindh, Kamal Shah, speak on the police for 20 minutes, you may feel no better about the police force than you do now. But if you listen to him for almost an hour, you may feel that the police in Sindh have more problems than you have or you are aware of.
The 21st Century Business Club gave Kamal Shah 20 minutes to speak on ‘Policing Karachi in the 21st century’, but he took almost an hour, beginning with the assertion that a police force was first organized by Hazrat Omar, and adopted by all Muslim rulers till the Ottoman Empire. The Muslim rulers of India devised a similar system because of their interaction with the Ottoman rulers. The first Police Act was passed in 1961, and since then, 25 Police Commissions have been set up to reform the police, but only their marginal recommendations were accepted, while fundamental changes were avoided — hence the malfunctioning of the police.
He said, with many a consul-general listening attentively, that the local police force was small in number, grossly underpaid and recruited in the past on a political basis. There was not enough money for investigation of cases, a DNA test cost as much as Rs30,000, post-mortem and other formalities cost Rs15,000, the department did not have the money, and the police could not ask for these expenses to be met by the dependents of the deceased.
The police have very heavy VIP duties, including guarding them at home, in their offices and as they move around. Quite a few policemen guard police officials themselves.
The Motorway Police that was paid twice as much and had treatment facilities at the Aga Khan Hospital was very efficient and had served tickets to him, a High Court judge and the Nazim of Hyderabad, Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman.
Jameel Yusuf of the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee was all praise for the police chiefs in the city and said the IG, at times, worked at until 5am, and was then in office again at 8am.
The IG was all praise for the performance of the new Madadgar force. He was delighted to report that no sectarian crime had taken place after July last.
Four barristers
It is a family of four barristers. The father is a barrister and so is the mother, Shahida Jamil, and the two sons. Shahida is the only non-practising barrister in the family. To compensate, she became the federal law minister. Earlier, she also headed the S.M. Law College.
In fact, the entire family is an ethnic mix. Shahida is the granddaughter of H.S. Suhrawardy, former prime minister of Pakistan from Bengal, whose only daughter married the son of Sir Shah Sulaiman, the famous mathematician from UP, India. And Shahida, their daughter, has married a Punjabi Chaudhry, Jamil.
Recently, the elder son, Zahid, got married not to a barrister but to an Allawala — Kiran, the daughter of Aslam Allawala and his wife, Neelo.
Ex-federal ministers, Moinuddin Haider and Nisar Memon, were there at the ceremony, and so was the Corps commander, Lt-Gen Tariq Waseem Ghazi. US Consul-General, John Bauman, was prominent and was greeted by a great many guests. Japanese Consul-General, Kanji Hanagatta, was there along with those of France and Switzerland. Shahida enjoys a special relationship with the Japanese. She is president of the Pakistan-Japan Friendship Society for long and attends its functions regularly. To supplement it, a Pakistan-Japan Business Council and a Pakistan-Japan Cultural Association has been set up. All the three are active, in addition to the Ikebana Society that continues to bloom and flourish.
The Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Dr Ishrat Husain, was there meeting businessmen, bankers in particular. Dr Ashraf Janjua, veteran of the State Bank and its senior advisor, was there talking of the new trends in economy.
Industrialists Yusuf Shirazi was talking to the Japanese Consul-General, who also happens to be his neighbour. Most of his business — making cars, motorcycles, batteries and banking — is with Japan. He also loves visiting Harvard University as often as he can, both to lecture and to listen.
Protecting lives
Mumtaz Rahim, head of the former security agency, Brinks, now Phoenix after he took over total ownership of the company, protects not only the lives and assets of clients, but also loves to entertain them from time to time. When he does, he does so on a grand scale and offers his best. Many of the heads of companies he protects and chiefs of diplomatic missions are there.
V.A. Jafarey, former advisor to Benazir Bhutto as prime minister was present. He was being persuaded by some of his friends to write a book. He has been hesitant, like his mentor, Ghulam Ishaq Khan. But Jafri who does write articles for newspapers on the economy of the country, at times. He may yet surprise us with a book, sometime later.
Javed Jabbar was there, delighted by the Supreme Court verdict permitting him to contest the Senate elections. The British Deputy High Commissioner, David Pearey, was there along with the consuls-general of Italy and Switzerland. In spite of the very large premises Britain has in the area, he has an elaborate security system within and outside on the road. The Italian Consul-General, Fabrizio Nicolettei, was there in a shalwar kameeze and a dark Sadri, looking very much like a Pakistani. He was being felicitated by many Pakistani guests on his Pakistani garb in which we may see him more often.
Farooq Rahmatullah of Shell Pakistan was there, too. He is now coming out with schemes to help train young Pakistanis face the technical challenges of the day. Tariq Kirmani of PSO was also there.
Former Sindh Governor, Moinuddin Haider, was greeted by his many friends. Also there was Brig Kamal Zeb, Director General of Nadra, who said he was trying to get the new ID cards issued as fast as he could. But the four million Bengali illegal immigrants were delaying the process.
Golden wedding anniversary
The three sons were celebrating the golden wedding anniversary of their famous and popular parents, Sardar Sherbaz Mazari and his wife, Suraya, with a large guest list.
The eldest son, Sher Azam, had flown in from Singapore where he is working for the Standard Chartered Bank. He was earlier with Citibank in Karachi, and then in Istanbul. Later, he moved to Dubai and joined SCB.
The second son, Shehryar, who helped his father write his autobiography, was receiving the guests with the younger brother, Sher Afzal, at a properly-seated dinner as becomes the golden-jubilee celebrations.
Most of the guests invited were friends whom the elder Mazaris had known for the last 30 to 50 years or more. They included Khawaja Zafar Hasan, former chairman of Pakistan Tobacco, who now looks after Layton Rahmatullah Benevolent Trust that runs a chain of free eye clinics in the country.
Plenty of flowers were brought in by the guests. Until recently, Suraya Mazari used to complete in flower shows in the city and win prizes for her garden, but now she has given up so that new entrants can bag the prizes. She prefers social service.
Sardar Sherbaz, who once contested the presidential elections against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, became famous for breaking the sartorial tradition by wearing his Sadri over his shalwar kameez, while the regulations prescribed lounge suit. For the dinner in a posh club, the guests were given the option of lounge suits or national dress.
There was a brief meeting of Adamjees there, including Hanif Adamjee, who heads Adamjee Insurance; Razak Adamjee, Hamid Adamjee and the younger, Gaffar Adamjee. The guests wondered whether they were discussing the future of the embattled Adamjee Insurance that Mian Manshah may be trying to take over.
Doctors were aplenty at the dinner, including heart specialist, Dr Shaukat, who had treated many of the elders. The youngest among them was Dr Altamash, the popular dental surgeon. Although the Mazaris are very friendly with the diplomats, no diplomat was there, only very old friends and their wives.
