Raja's Rental Rule
Posted on June 23, 2012
Good Morning by Manzoor Ali
The people fear that the new elected Prime Minister Raja Pervaz Ashraf of Rental power fame, may be carrying the habit of his previous profession. He may look at Pakistan as a huge chunk of real estate and sell or rent the whole country.
The fears of Pakistani's in this regard are not well-founded. There are only two instances in history where rulers brought a hangover from their previous profession into government matters.
One was a Tajik bandit known by the name of Bacha Saqa (Saqa in Persian means water carrier) who stormed and captured Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. He ruled for a few days. It is said that during his short rule, he issued leather coins as a mark of fondness for the main equipment of his previous trade: goatskin in which he used to carry water to the homes of the rich.
There is also another instance in our history in which another temporary ruler issued leather coins. The Moghul Emperor Humayun had promised Nizam Saqa a one-day rule of the Moghul Empire, after the water-carrier had saved the him from drowning in a river. In his one-day rule, Nizam Saqa had ordered to issue leather coins.
The newly elected prime minister is by profession a real estate dealer; so one cannot blame him for evaluating every piece of land, every building in terms of money. But to assume that he would either sell or rent the whole country thinking of it as just a piece of land or a collection of buildings is a little unreasonable.
However, many say that like the two water carriers whose reign was very short-lived, the rule of former real estate agent, Raja Pervaz Ashraf too may not last long. They also point to another fact of Raja Pervaz Ashraf's life and that is that he tried to hold the power generation system of the country hostage to rental power producers and not only very liberally gave money in advance to those who did not have power generating units but just promised to establish these in the near future. The rates given to these units were so high that this country would had to put itself on sale to pay for the electricity it used from these rental power stations. We can thank God and the Apex Court for not letting the deals go through.
Some people also say that the idea of rental power stations was a hangover from Raja Pervaz's previous profession when he used to act as an agent between the house owners and those who wanted to rent these houses.
Many say that the US needs Pakistan's territory so much that it is ready to pay an exorbitant price if Pak land is put on sale or pay ridiculously high rent if it is offered for rent.
People say that Raja Sahib having been a real estate person in his previous life might be so excited by the liberal US offer of buying or renting the county that he may forget that Pakistan is not just a huge chunk of land or a collection of buildings. He might forget that he is not just selling the land and building but also its people and sovereignty.
When the two hundred and eleven MNAs voted, including Faisal Saleh Hayat as well as MNAs of PML-Q, ANP and MQM, they must have made sure that he would not play rental with the whole country. There seems little doubt the MNAs would somehow have made sure that he does not resort to the habits he picked in his profession when ruling the country.
Still doubts exist, for like the rule of the two water carriers, it seems the rule of our new prime minister will also be a very short one. Even this similarity, which could just be a coincidence, is bugging the people.
[email protected]
http://www.thefrontierpost.com/article/167998/
Posted on June 23, 2012
Good Morning by Manzoor Ali
The people fear that the new elected Prime Minister Raja Pervaz Ashraf of Rental power fame, may be carrying the habit of his previous profession. He may look at Pakistan as a huge chunk of real estate and sell or rent the whole country.
The fears of Pakistani's in this regard are not well-founded. There are only two instances in history where rulers brought a hangover from their previous profession into government matters.
One was a Tajik bandit known by the name of Bacha Saqa (Saqa in Persian means water carrier) who stormed and captured Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. He ruled for a few days. It is said that during his short rule, he issued leather coins as a mark of fondness for the main equipment of his previous trade: goatskin in which he used to carry water to the homes of the rich.
There is also another instance in our history in which another temporary ruler issued leather coins. The Moghul Emperor Humayun had promised Nizam Saqa a one-day rule of the Moghul Empire, after the water-carrier had saved the him from drowning in a river. In his one-day rule, Nizam Saqa had ordered to issue leather coins.
The newly elected prime minister is by profession a real estate dealer; so one cannot blame him for evaluating every piece of land, every building in terms of money. But to assume that he would either sell or rent the whole country thinking of it as just a piece of land or a collection of buildings is a little unreasonable.
However, many say that like the two water carriers whose reign was very short-lived, the rule of former real estate agent, Raja Pervaz Ashraf too may not last long. They also point to another fact of Raja Pervaz Ashraf's life and that is that he tried to hold the power generation system of the country hostage to rental power producers and not only very liberally gave money in advance to those who did not have power generating units but just promised to establish these in the near future. The rates given to these units were so high that this country would had to put itself on sale to pay for the electricity it used from these rental power stations. We can thank God and the Apex Court for not letting the deals go through.
Some people also say that the idea of rental power stations was a hangover from Raja Pervaz's previous profession when he used to act as an agent between the house owners and those who wanted to rent these houses.
Many say that the US needs Pakistan's territory so much that it is ready to pay an exorbitant price if Pak land is put on sale or pay ridiculously high rent if it is offered for rent.
People say that Raja Sahib having been a real estate person in his previous life might be so excited by the liberal US offer of buying or renting the county that he may forget that Pakistan is not just a huge chunk of land or a collection of buildings. He might forget that he is not just selling the land and building but also its people and sovereignty.
When the two hundred and eleven MNAs voted, including Faisal Saleh Hayat as well as MNAs of PML-Q, ANP and MQM, they must have made sure that he would not play rental with the whole country. There seems little doubt the MNAs would somehow have made sure that he does not resort to the habits he picked in his profession when ruling the country.
Still doubts exist, for like the rule of the two water carriers, it seems the rule of our new prime minister will also be a very short one. Even this similarity, which could just be a coincidence, is bugging the people.
[email protected]
http://www.thefrontierpost.com/article/167998/
