"The CPLC" was the heading of my column printed in this newspaper of record, on Friday, November 20, 1992, excerpts from which read:
"However much one may disapprove of some of the actions of our former Pipian governor, Fakhruddin Ebrahim, he must be given full marks for having been mainly instrumental in the formation of this very fine force, the CPLC, effective in the face of tremendous odds. Credit also goes to successor governor, Mahmoud Haroon, and to three corps commanders, Lt Generals Asif Nawaz, Arif Bangash and Nasir Akhtar for their furthering of support to this valuable agency.
"The affairs of the committee are managed on a purely voluntary basis by Nazim Haji and Jameel Yousuf, members of my fraternity - businessmen and industrialists .....
".... the people of Karachi owe a debt to these two gentlemen, to Nazim and Jameel, who devote most of their time to the public interest - to the real and genuine public interest. Half of this time is, of course, spent combating governmental impediments. Their bravery has been recognized by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan who has awarded to both the Sitara-e-Shujaat for the apprehension of, and dealings with, criminals in and out of power. We must help sustain them."
Friend Mahmoud Haroon was succeeded by Hakim Mohammad Said (later to be murdered by that well known fully identified 'hidden hand'). When Hakim's term ended, Mahmoud Haroon was again called upon to assume the office of governor of the tired province of Sindh.
All went well until the 1993 entry into our Governor's House of Kamaluddin Azfar, fully conditioned into the ways of his party, the ruling PPP, despite the fact that he had grown up well in the house of Mohammed Azfar, a fine man and an ICS officer of renown. Loyal to his queen, he abided by her bidding - infiltrate Pipians into the CPLC.
On September 11, 1995, a letter written by Nazim Haji to the editor of Dawn was published, and Kamal found an excuse to pounce. Nazim had written in response to one of my columns, differing with me. Were the country to slide at the speed at which it was then sliding, he maintained, we would be lucky to celebrate its 50th anniversary. (It luckily turned out that we were lucky.) The clipping was brought to the governor's notice, and he wrote thereon, "This is malicious rumour-mongering. We can't have such an ill-mannered person heading the CPLC." When news leaked out to the public that he was trying to unseat Nazim, there was an outcry in the press and Kamal felt it wise to back down.
Good, we all thought, all is well with the CPLC. But no; some days later Nazim rang telling me that his entry into the Governor's House compound had been banned. Humiliated, he wished to resign. Calming him, I said that what mattered was the survival of the effective organization built up over a period of six years of gruelling work. Kamal Azfar was but a passenger, unlike the CPLC, and was dispensable.
But a disgusted Nazim resigned. Those who cared for the people of Karachi were unhappy, naturally. Nazim still retains their respect, goodwill, and thanks. Kamal does not. Jameel survived and our good wishes were with him and the CPLC.
In due course of time, following the parliamentary dissolution of November 1996, Kamal departed and retired Lt General Moinuddin Haider was appointed governor. Next came Mamnoon Hussain and then Air Marshal Azim Daudpota. Two officers and gentlemen, and one a caring gentleman - all three had sufficient self-confidence to enable them to do what they felt was best for the people of the province. They lent their full and grateful support to the CPLC, and to Jameel Yousuf who headed it and who spent his entire time looking after the affairs of the organization and of many of the problems of the citizens of Karachi.
Daudpota was succeeded by a complexed Mohammadmian Soomro, who, on being promised a seat in the Senate, made way for Ishratul Ibad, the nominee of the Pir of London, MQM chieftain Altaf (Bhai) Hussain. Ibad was sent to us from London and it is to London that he looks for orders and advice. He is there right now, consulting with his Leader.
The accounts of the CPLC record the generosity of Mohammadmian Soomro. The son of his Forest Minister, Hasan Ali Chanio, was involved in a car accident in which an unfortunate innocent citizen was badly injured and hospitalized. The governor instructed that some Rs.300,000 to cover the hospital expenses be paid by the people. Why?
Lady luck has smiled upon Soomro whose name is now not merely a footnote in the deplorable political history of this country. He is now chairman of the Senate, the upper house of a non-functioning parliament, and as such he is first in the line of succession. An honourable man, can he explain why he felt it necessary to dip into the people's funds?
So we now have Ibad, and with him his MQM home minister, Syed Sardar Ahmad, of whom a tale must be told. On April 23, 1999, Ahmad (former chief secretary of Sindh and later financial adviser to chief minister Liaquat Jatoi) was nabbed by the CPLC staff for using a Daewoo Racer with a fake number plate (AAX-929 under which number a Honda Civic was found to be registered). The car was ordered to be impounded. Ahmad requested that he be allowed to be driven home in it after which he would deliver it to the car pound.
The files of the CPLC record: "It was most unfortunate that a responsible ex-government functionary and a nominee of a political party to hold the office of adviser, finance, till October 1998 chose to send the car to the showroom in the name of Motor Car Company, from whom he claims to have acquired the same."
The next day the police were constrained to file an FIR against this 'responsible ex-government functionary', an FIR that remains on record.
Another gentleman, another member of our political classes, MQM MNA Kunwar Khalid Yunus, also has little reason to be overtly fond of the CPLC. In 1992, the then honourable member of the National Assembly (as he now is again) was caught driving a stolen vehicle. He of course shouted and screamed, claiming immunity etc, but to no avail. The CPLC had the car impounded and sent to the Corps Reserve Depot in Malir.
Now back to 2003. One fine day, Governor of Sindh Ishratul Ibad paid a visit to the CPLC office and was shown the computerized records of all the FIRs registered against the worthy criminal components of our society. Computer literate and curious, he keyed in his own name, found it first recorded in 1988, and ordered a printout of all the FIRs filed against him for his alleged misdoings. Surely, he exclaimed, all cases registered have been withdrawn. That may be so, he was told, but the FIRs cannot be obliterated from the records.
On the afternoon of March 22, whilst Jameel's deputy chief, Sharfuddin (Bobby) Memon, was in Islamabad to receive his Pakistan Day 'chand' from the president, the governor struck. That afternoon he summoned to his mansion three of the five CPLC district chiefs - Saifuddin Akberali, Zubair Habib and Shaukat Suleman.
He met them all separately, asked various questions, the common one being whether there was any financial bungling for which Jameel could be held responsible, and each was individually firmly shown out and into his car so that there was no chance of them conferring together. On their own later admissions, each confirmed having denied the possibility of any irregularity.
The governor chose well. Zubair Habib was the man selected to do the dirty work. That night he was again summoned and ordered to go to the CPLC offices, and without informing Jameel, to lock and seal his room and ensure that no files or papers disappeared. An order of dismissal was to be sent to Jameel, at his home, later that night. The instructions were duly followed by the man Habib, who is keen to step into Jameel's shoes and who has worked with Jameel as a deputy for some ten years.
The experience garnered by Jameel over fourteen years of successfully handling and dealing with kidnappers, crooks and thugs is of a high order and could not have been learnt at any forensic school. Credit must go to him that even after the disgraceful and demeaning treatment meted out to him, he is still willing to aid any citizen in distress who may call upon him. With the hard work he has put in for the CPLC, and with most of the men still loyal to him, he can surely now still request the organization to do his bidding. The citizens of Karachi are grateful for what he has done for them - a finer tribute than any 'chand' or 'sitara' that any of our governments could confer. Our best wishes are with him and his ever-helpful wife.