'Attack is the best form of defence' - this old maxim has been trotted out by many a man down the ages, from Charlemagne to Changez Khan, by saint and sinner, by those on the back foot and those on the front foot, and undoubtedly by several of the chiefs of our own grand army. The originator of this well-used proverb is unknown, as is the wise man who coined the other so accurate old saying: 'a bully is always a coward.'
The retired colonel of the Pakistan Army, Afzal Khan, 29 PMA, batchmate of many prominent soldiers - Pervez Musharraf for one, and to name but a handful, Ali Quli Khan, Khalid Nawaz, Nasim Rana - who has now found fame in Pakistan Steel Mill is a sound tactician. He has of late become a regular feature in the national press.
'No interference in Pakistan Steel: PM' read a headline on the front page of the July 3 issue of the Daily Times. Reportedly, Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali, the previous day, had assured the Steel Mill management that as long as 'the policies were in the right direction' they would be left alone to get on with their job. In the presence of Chairman Afzal Khan and Industries and production minister Liaquat Jatoi, Jamali assured everyone that 'there was no reason for him to interfere in the affairs of an organization which was being managed properly and enjoys good governance.'
In the July 4 issue of the Business Recorder, Afzal appeared in a photograph witnessing the signing of a Steel Mill ore supply contract together with Leonard Dean of Sesa Goa Ltd (of India) and Adil Jaffer, son of Kader Jaffer, our erstwhile high commissioner in London who is now on his way home after having solidly held the Pakistani fort.
On July 13 and 20, he featured in my columns, both concerning the affairs of the Steel Mill, and rather than issuing a statement rebutting or confirming what I had written, or giving his own explanation of what I had termed a 'scam', Col Afzal decided to hold a 'catch as catch can' press conference on July 21. His statement was carried the next day by all the leading newspapers under a variety of headlines.
Dawn: 'PS chief defends selection mode : iron ore suppliers';
The News: 'PS says iron ore tender free of irregularity';
Business Recorder: 'Pakistan Steel chief refutes corruption charges' [who had accused the man of corruption?];
Jang: 'Increase in production and sales in last 3 years, no ghost workers, iron ore contract is legal: Col Afzal';
Nawa-i-Waqt: 'Scam in Pak Steel contracts - inquiry started against contractor Zia Khaleeli';
The Nation: 'Probe in embezzlement in Steel Mills begins.'
The report in The Nation opens up: 'The Chairman PSM, Col Afzal Khan, said that investigations have started against Zia Khaleeli who was involved in the supply of iron ores .... the Chairman said that ... Zia Khaleeli was representing MMTC (of India) ... was not a mine owner...". Attack is the best form of defence?
My story began with a visit from a man I had never met, Jamil Ansari, a tenderer of one of the iron ore supply/transport contracts, shortly after the signing of the Sesa Goa-Jaffer contract. He was an angry man - so angry that he was rude until he gained control of himself. After he calmed down, he politely attacked me for continually and wrongfully maintaining that the Musharraf government was not corrupt. I corrected him: my contention had been that at Musharraf's level his government was not corrupt, but I had always maintained that at the lower levels corruption was flourishing as it always had. However, since the placement of the non-functional elected government things were different. Corruption had returned to the top levels with a vengeance - even Musharraf had tacitly admitted this by saying that he knew his selection was not quite kosher but that he had very little to choose from and could only sift out the best from the worst.
Ansari had come to cry about how he would have won one of the iron ore supply contracts and how he had lost it when Colonel Afzal arbitrarily moved the goal posts and turned the criteria upside down. Had I heard about this, he asked. Yes, I had heard rumblings, but was not aware of those who had lost out. Well, he told me, Zia Khaleeli, who represents MMTC, is another one who lost out.
Young Zia I have known since he was a toddler, clinging on to his mother's hand. Abbas Khaleeli, his father, came to Karachi in 1947. An officer of the elite Indian Civil Service, and a fine human being, I had the pleasure of knowing him from the time he arrived in Pakistan until the day he died in 1995 at the Aga Khan hospital.
(President General Pervez Musharraf would have done well had he been able to rustle up ministers with the integrity and experience and ability of men such as Khaleeli, of men who did not even know the meaning of corruption and self-service.)
So I summoned Zia, who regularly entertains me with his Irish sense of humour, and asked him to bring all his papers and documents. He arrived with a bulging file of copies of correspondence, not at all his usual cheerful perky self, but a subdued and unhappy man.Chairman Afzal Khan of the Steel Mill, according to an item in the Business Recorder of July 22, 'has rejected all the allegations of corruption being put on him in a section of the press nowadays and held Zia Khaleeli, an iron ore tenderer, responsible for creating all the mess around him.'
Now, the good col reminds me of Nagardas Laxmishanker Vyas, my third-standard Gujerati teacher at the BVS. We seven-year old boys were, as are all boys, a mischievous lot, and Vyas, a good teacher, had a short fuse. Whenever he caught a boy doing what he should not be doing he would reach for his cane and wield it mercilessly. When his victim cried, his reaction was: 'Beat you I will, but how dare you cry?'
Afzal has claimed that MMTC, not being a mine owner, cannot qualify as a supplier. If the colonel were to read his files, he would find a letter from the ministry of commerce, Government of India, wherein is stated:
"As per the export-import policy of Indian government, MMTC is the sole canalizing agency for export of iron ore with 64 per cent Fe and above. MMTC is not a mine owner."
The sole canalizing agency, MMTC, has the monopoly of the export of high-grade ores (above 64 per cent Fe) from India for more than thirty years.. The private Indian parties are allowed to export only low-grade ores (below 64 per cent Fe). If PSM wishes to import high-grade ores from India, it has to do so from MMTC.
Who was it that pre-qualified MMTC in the first place? It was the Price Negotiation Committee of the Steel Mill. Who is the Chairman of the PNC? Why, Colonel Afzal Khan himself! Were the colonel an officer of an army commanded by Gen Tojo he would have to consider falling upon his bayonet. This, of course, I would not recommend as in all fairness he would firstly have to bayonet generals Bokhari, Sabeeh Qamar-uz-Zaman, Hayat Khan, all previous chairmen who had also pre-qualified and signed up with MMTC.
Pakistan Steel Mill belongs to the people of Pakistan, and its shareholders are the people. Two of the people's watchdogs on the board of directors are Syed Ali Raza, president of the National Bank of Pakistan, and Tariq Kirmani, chief of Pakistan State Oil. They have been aroused, and after much effort have managed to get hold of the copies of the report of General Mohsin's enquiry committee (appointed in May 2003) that confirms that there have been 'lapses' and 'flaws' in the tendering procedure and recommends that tenders be re-invited.
Afzal, who wears the multiple hats of chairman of the mill, managing director of the mill, chairman of the price negotiation committee - the proverbial chief cook and bottle washer - has by his own admission accepted the veracity of the Mohsin report released in June. He made an attempt, as late as at the end of June, to extend the existing contracts ostensibly to have time to re-invite bids. But then, why did he wait until these contracts had almost expired? Why did he not seek extensions when the flaws were detected and the committee appointed in May - a month earlier?
As reported in the press, Col Afzal has stated that by signing with Sesa Goa-Jaffer he has saved the Mill some 1.5 million dollars. In actual fact, so far PSM (i.e. the people) has lost ten times that figure.
Should he require proof, he may contact me.