The space here is limited so I wrote a post - ‘Pakistan’s problems and the solution.’ I hope you find some answers.

musharraf will be remember for

a person who doesnt deserve to be a councellor of any street
is in full power as president

well……….we think he is the badmash of the country
saab se bara badmash

The argument is that the whole system is rotten to the core. Mr Lakhani gave proof supporting his point and i added some more. Can you give any proof against it?

As far as “your” perception, and its unique to you in my opinion, things are nowhere near as bad as you portray them. I do not deny the existence of such ills, those that are ills, but it is by no means the predominant status of our people and their affairs.

There is no cowardice in looking towards a better tomorrow. What you acknowledge as bravery is indeed brave, but it does nothing to solve the problem, very little if you must. It takes greater courage to acknowledge the problem and then set out on a path of good virtue to rid society of such ills. There is no better example of this than the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H).
So be brave and say “I will make things better, I will do what it takes to make Pakistan the great nation state that it ought to be!”
If you cannot bring yourself to do this, then you know better than I who is rotten to the core.

Evil exists everywhere but the amount of evil that exists in this country is unbelievable.

There is nothing good happening in this country. Everyone is busy selling and buying drugs in one form or another. Whether it is in the form of rishwat or interest or whatever it may be. Money has become the drug of the east. Everyone needs rishwat because people dont understand that Allah puts barkat in halal income which becomes enough even if that money appears to be less. Allah puts nahoosat in haram income and even if it may outwardly appear to be more it will never be enough. More rishwat and interest is the result. Allah said in the Quran that those who take (or give) interest wage a War with Allah. Does man think that taking interest will make his money increase?

It is only the strength of eman that will enable man to be honest due to the fear of Allah. Even the people who used to be honest become corrupt once they get power and money. Because their is no eman, their is no fear of Allah. Forget about the power of eman, just ask any policeman, judge or politician the last time he prayed and he will tell you he doesn’t remember.

Forget about politicians and people in power. Look at the common man.

Lying, backstabbing, cheating and fraud is the trait of the common man. Common men are rapists. Common men are murderers. When a poor muslim girl ends up having to work as a prostitute to feed her small children the entire whore house gets filled with muslim men.

Brothers have become enemies over money or a piece of land,
children dont care about old parents, their is no namaz, no roza, no decency, no humanity. Nothing.

Mr Lakhani said the whole system is rotten to the core. I say the whole country is rotten to the core.

Contrary to your belief, the system is not rotten to the core, there are a few individuals within the system who are corrupt and are the cause of the problems. Such people must be brought to justice. The system must be allowed to work. Speak up when you see injustice. It only thrives when no one is looking

I agree that an independent and impartial judiciary is the need of the hour. However, recent events brought the impartiality of certain judges to question, of which the former chief justice was of key note. Was it not obvious to you that his antics were more political than they should be?
When a judge tries to become the aggrieved, the suspect, the judge, the jury, and the executioner, he or she is clearly a despot. Such was the case. A free and fair judiciary is one that stands by its decisions, fulfills its obligations, interprets the law and that is about it. When judges want to run the state, they too are attempting to take the right of suffrage away from the citizen. So when you say a free judiciary is needed, I agree. But that does not mean that a judiciary should operate beyond its prerogative.

You and I can do a lot; let’s start by being pro active citizens as opposed to hyper active complainers.

Mr. Ghumman, this discussion is by no means baseless as proposed by your comment. Whether a discussion is baseless or not is determined by its participants, the subject under debate, and the facts available to tell the truth from the untruth. I feel that your own participation along with the rest of us clearly points to the fact that the participants do have an interest in discussing this, the subject is pertinent, and the facts are available. Therefore, only you and I can make this as baseless or basic as possible. I choose the latter.

It appears that Mr. Akhter is unable to make a sound argument or sentence. His last sentence has an ambiguous subject referral where one cannot tell if the innocent creatures are the gentlemen he despises or the animals he refers to. Kindly make this distinction and then we may enter into debate.

Now, coming to Mr. Lakhani’s point in question. Yes indeed, the price of land has experienced a tremendous spike in the past few years. However, I don’t view this as a negative. Most economics books and experts would reassure you that a rise in real estate prices indicates greater demand, thus greater purchasing capacity, and quite evidently a booming economy.
The rise in prices has not stopped people from buying land. In fact, quite the opposite phenomenon is taking place. The fact of the matter is that there isn’t enough land to go around and the excessive demand is resulting in an extraordinary price hike. Don’t believe me, just visit DHA’s office and witness the chaos over files let alone existing plots. The sheer number of real estate dealers is also clear evidence of strong business. Such are the dynamics of a free market economy. Should you want the government to intervene in all affairs of the market beyond fair regulation, then I suggest that you apply for a Cuban passport or start your own socialist movement.
I do agree that the extraordinary rise in the prices has made it very difficult for people to buy land. Having said that, this phenomenon has also resulted in a rise of value for all land, which includes land previously owned by Pakistani people. The high value of land is not just limited to DHA or new developments, if you visit any part of any city, the value of land has gone up by nearly the same percent. Lahore, for example, is nearly the same value in Samnabad, as it is in Defence when you actually go for a purchase.
We can indulge in an extensive debate on how high real estate values are a positive indicator for a growing economy, but in the interest of keeping you interested, think about places like NYC, LONDON, TOKYO, MUMBAI etc. Where there is business, money, and potential…people want to be there. They want to own a piece of it. There isn’t enough for everyone, and thus the prices rise. Any idea how much a kanal of land costs at Mumbai or Manhattan?
Now, about the flour shortage. There is no doubt that the shortage of flour following a bumper crop in a country that is based on an agrarian economy is a hard fact to swallow. The authorities can sugar coat it all they want but the fact is that flour was not available to the Pakistani people where there was no justifiable reason for it. Having said that, we must recognize the truth that there were a number of factors at play that resulted in this phenomenon. Poor management was one of these factors, yet it alone was not responsible.
First things first. The government is responsible for the provision of basic staples amongst other things to its people in any respectable country. By government I mean all functionaries from on street regulators, to policy makers. Clearly, a number of them were not doing their job. These people should be reprimanded for their incompetence and lack of civic as well as professional responsibility. Therefore, I agree that if the president is to claim progress based on facts and figures, those responsible for those facts and figures must be brought to question when the facts and figures clearly reflect incompetence.
Another key factor in this crisis was the flour mill owners. Apparently, half these so called mills don’t even physically exist and they are shams for buying wheat at government regulated rates only to be sold in the black market or for smuggling. Once again I would like to emphasis on the fact that how could this be allowed if there was proper governance and people responsible were doing their job diligently? The fact is they were not. It’s pretty obvious.
However, I would also like to question the ethics of those people who smuggled wheat/flour to Afghanistan, India, etc. These people sold out their own countrymen. People starved while they made a few more rupees than they would have if they sold the same flour in the local market. Yes, Pakistan has the lowest price for flower or wheat in the region, but sometimes one has to conform to ethics over profit. It is just sad that these people couldn’t care less about their fellow Pakistani and his/her hunger.
However, the sadness does not stop there. The other day I went to buy “attaa” and found that my local shopkeeper was selling it at a higher price than indicated by the government. When I realized that he was charging substantially more than government orders, I questioned him and told him that I’d report his attempt at making a quick illegal buck. He immediately cut the price to the government regulated amount. The point I hope that I have conveyed is that everyone is out there to make a quick buck and we seem to have lost a sense of ethical or moral responsibility. I would also like to highlight the fact that my questioning of the gentleman resulted in his return to temporary honestly in business. Thus, you are correct in pointing out that in a country claiming economic success, based on an agrarian economics with a bumper wheat crop, one should not be facing such issues. But the fact is my friend that we all are responsible for it at some level. We, at the end of the day, have to make it work. You and I may not be President of Pakistan anytime soon, but we are its citizens here and now. So let’s do our part. Let vote and get everyone we can to do the same. Let’s question ill doings in our country, and let’s debate its future course. Things have been far from rosy and I would be the first to admit that. But let’s do things better from here on. I don’t know what it is that you do for a living but I am sure you have friends and family as well as peers around you. Do your best to get the best out of them. If you and I just try to do our jobs honestly to the best of our ability, and we make the right choices for our future, things will get better.
D@$n it, you made me sound like an optimist again