Sharmila Farooqi & ancestors: “Sir do you really watch us on TV?”

Sharmila Farooqi
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As venomous as it gets

Aisha Aijaz on Jul 18th, 2011 // % Comments
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You thought they were liberators, your representatives whom you elected and sent forth with hopes in your heart and responsibilities on their shoulders. You thought they were there because their prime interest was to lead the way towards betterment of the country, and make you a force against all the monstrous problems the country is facing. How naive! No doubt we are always told “jaisey awa , waisey hukmaran”, (like people like leaders). But I must say they probably are worst of us.
Sindh’s Senior minister Mr. Zulfiqar Mirza’s tone and derogatory language, gave us a shock not for the first time. There are many others out there, who hold very important positions but have given us mini heart attacks with their venomous tongues. Mr. Mirza calls the people who migrated to Pakistan from India as “bhookey nangey” and goes on to claim to be a part of people who helped them to get back to normal life. He further attacks the leader of Karachi’s biggest party as ‘badmaash’ and urges the people of Karachi to rise and get rid of them,“In kambakhtoN say Jaan ChhuraeiN”. His eyes, language and words had nothing constructive, nothing to bring hearts close, nothing to work for the better, nothing but hate! So he was bound to be summoned by the honorable President, who must have given him a hard time extracting a quick apology for his most irresponsible speech.

But who would summon Mr President who holds the highest office in political world of Pakistan and whose words and tones were no better than those of an illiterate/uneducated class who have never attended school and have never learnt any manners to get along in society. He makes a funny sound and labels PML-N leadership having mentality of blacksmith (lohaar) and Maulvi; both probably abusive words in his vocabulary, and leaves both his friends and foes shocked.

His obedient servant, Mr. Faisal Raza Abidi in one of the talk shows defended his master in a manner even worse. He adds the term “Burqa” in the list of abusive words which Mehar Bokhari challenged very intelligently. Mr Abidi showed same instincts as his beloved leader and program ended in a furious dog fight (reminds me of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s masterpiece in urdu literature)

The trend is not new or confined to one party. It’s become a norm to attack each other’s human shortcomings or private lives, be it personal or family.
Mr. Chaudhry Nisar, who seems to be a sensible man, in his mission to humiliate MQM’s leadership, discusses Mr Hussain’s medical /psychological problems, his rehabilitation treatment and his ex-wife’s views about him; all unacceptable on religious, moral and ethical grounds.

He gets a response, ten times worse. Mr Waseem Akhtar directly asks Sharif brothers as to “what sort of ‘treatment’, do they keep visiting London for. The nation needs leadership and their problem is hair transplant to hook girls” He warns, “we know whose daughter ran away with whom and we know all about their illegal activities, so they better keep their mouth shut”.

Mustafa Kamal is simply outraged by PML-N’s comments against his leader and in a talk show asks one of their representatives “mard kay bachhey bano”. He asks Jasmine Manzoor to turn off his mic and labels him and his leadership as ‘pimps’ and “jaanwar log “ and again targets PML-N’s leaders’ daughters. He threatens, this PML-N man would never be allowed to enter Karachi and even leave his own house in Punjab if he uses any bad words against his Quaid. Mr Nazim finishes his talk with his favorite term, “Ulloo ka patha” (I could not find a translation for the word, can anyone help?)
Not long ago, Mr Babar Ghauri battles Imran Khan not on a logical or statistical ground but reminds him that he was a playboy in the past (which is between him and Allah, might not be true, he might have repented but Allah forgives, man does not). He waves a child’s picture in the TV show and asks Imran Khan, who her father was, as she resembles him. A cheap shot indeed!
Imran Khan with all the qualities of a true leader holds his anger and talks about real issues on the TV show. But he forgets it’s a YouTube world and his fans and followers proudly posted his unofficial reply on social media where he laughs and makes everyone around laugh as well, with his comments “I can show you thousands of children in Africa who resemble Babar Ghauri”; an equally cheap shot, purely based on Mr Ghauri’s complexion.

And of course we haven’t forgotten PTI Sindh’s representative hurling a glass of water at Chief Minister’s advisor as they exchange abusive language in a live TV show.

Women have been equally vocal in their attempt to be “mardoN kay shaana bashaana” (shoulders to shoulder with men). No doubt they are equally talented.

Dr Firdaus Ashiq Awan engaged in shameful discussion, not very long ago, when Kashmala Tariq teases her about her background and her activities in FJ Medical College. Dr Awan throws this back in a most unacceptable fashion, leaving Javed Chaudhari and Shireen Mazari both shocked and embarrassed. She says that “She is ‘’at least’’ not from Heera Mandi and was not elected through someone’s bedroom”.

Another masterpiece, I remember was Samina Khawar Hayat’s performance in Jasmine Manzoor’s show, where she takes a ‘Lota’ out of her handbag to practically demonstrate why politicians (her opponents, of course) are called Lotas. She spins it like a spinning top (Lattoo) on the desk and as a part of her demonstration breaks a clay pot in studio, the manner in which these Lotas should be taken to task.

Enough of entertainment videos I have provided in this blog to keep you amused for days. But one question we should ask ourselves. Are they liberators? Are they capable of leading us? All they have and all they display is hate, immaturity and non-professional attitude. They widen gulfs between us and divide the nation. Their prime interests are personal or party issues. They spit venom because their leaders are targeted not because you and I are in trouble, not because we are dying every day and not because the main issue of this nation is survival. They are far from goals and far from national interests.

They make and break alliances, they stab and apologize each other, they group and regroup, and they manipulate and maneuver, just to stay in power.

A total overhaul is required. The change needs to come from within. We need to educate masses and choose carefully. Once we are educated/intelligent and sincere to the country, we’ll have similar leaders; educated and cultured for whom national interest would be the decisive factor for making and breaking political relationships.

They are from us, so let’s change ourselves. Change the language, the patience level and mentality of the ones who elect them. We can make a better choice next time, can’t we?

Aisha Aijaz, the writer of this blog, is a medical doctor, specialising in Acute Medicine. She writes about Pakistan politics and current affairs and likes to read Urdu poetry.


Sharmila Farooqi is a Pakistani politician who served Chief Minister of Sindh, information and media.[1][2] She is the maternal grand daughter of N M Uqaili and daughter of Usman Farooqi, who was a bureaucrat and former chairman of Pakistan Steel Mills .She is the niece of Salman Farooqi, a well-known confidante of President Asif Ali Zardari.
[edit] References

^ "SINDH CABINET". Government of Sindh. Retrieved 2011-01-21.
^ Tunio, Hafeez (2010-10-14). "Sharmila Farooqi: Miss Information". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2011-01-21.

[edit] See also

N M Uqaili
Allah Baksh Sarshar Uqaili
N. M. Uqaili was the Finance Minister of Pakistan and chairman of Pakistan Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation (PICIC). He headed the privatisation commission during the Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq government to study the state of the State enterprises and served as the Governor of State Bank of Pakistan. Also he was internationally known as a perstigious and successful business personale having his business throughout the world.

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Allah Baksh Sarshar 'Uqaili was a Sufi poet from the Sindh province of Pakistan.[1][2][3]
Contents
[hide]

1 Early life, education
2 Work
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Early life, education

Allah Baksh was born on January 21 in 1907 in the city of Karachi. After his matriculation, Allah Bux went to the D.J Science College earning a B.A with Honors. During this period he begain participating in Sindhi culture and poetry, in which he had had deep interest since his childhood.
[edit] Work

Allah Bux published his first book, Ramooz-un-Nisa in 1920, his second in 1923, Dawat-e-Islam, in 1924 Manasik-e-Hajj and in 1929 Khalid bin Walid. During this time his poetry and articles used to appear in magazines like Al-Waheed, Sindh Madarisa magazine, Al-Hafiz al-jamia Sindh College. He wrote in Urdu for the magazine Tasawuff, published in Lahore under the pen name "Sarshar 'Uqaili".

He also served as the editor of Al-Waheed newspaper for four years. From 1942 till 1945, Uqaili served as chief Officer of District Local board in Karachi, in the same period he was the president of Rajmikal music club in Karachi and wrote a book entitled as The history of Sindhi Rag (Sindhi mystic folks).

Also, books like ilm-e-hinat (The study of astronomy) appeared in his name. In 1947, when Pakistan and India separated, he was given the office of "food and live stock" in the government of Sindh and used to broadcast historical and literary speeches from Radio Pakistan, and wrote for Nai Zindagi magazine[4].

From 1950 to 1953, Sarshar Uqaili served as City Mayor of Karachi.

In October 1950, he founded a centre for literary studies and served as its President, and served in many other such centres. His affection for Sindh poetry led him to compile a large collection of Sindhi national poems with the title SINDH JO TARANO, which was published by the Sindh Society. In November 1955, he founded the Sindh Library in Karachi and at the same time founded the Bazm-Talib-ul-Mola academy in Hyderabad. Due to all these efforts, Makhdoom Muhammad Zaman Talib-ul-Mola declared him as his vice gerent in 1952.

After that he ran the office of Director of Settlement Services in Hyderabad. Following his tenue at that post, he was designated as Commissioner and District Magistrate of Hyderabad and stayed as chairman of the Sindhi Adabi Board from March1955-September1961

Amongst his other contributions is that he collected his family tree. In his last days, 'Uqaili suffered dacoity at his house in Thatta. His personal library, with all his of writings, was stolen and many of his works were lost. Since then, much of his work is believed to have been plagiarized.

On January 15, 1971, when he was 64, the sufi poet died and was buried in his ancestral graveyard in Thatta, leaving behind a widow, his younger brother N M Uqaili, four daughters and a son who married the grand daughter of Allama Makhdoom Muhammad Hashim Thattvi.


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Sharmila Farooqi: Miss Information
By Hafeez Tunio
Published: October 14, 2010

Sharmila replaces Soomro as govt PR machine gets a facelift

KARACHI: Sindh’s information setup went through yet another shake-up on Tuesday when Sharmila Farooqi, adviser to the chief minister without a portfolio, was given charge of the department. She is the third person to be given the responsibility of media management by Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah in his two-and-a-half year tenure.

Sharmila is a known face on TV and in the newspapers. Not at all publicity-shy, she has been on the offensive from day one of her appointment as an adviser. The niece of Salman Farooqui, top mandarin with President Zardari, Sharmila has been at the forefront of defending the rights and wrongs of the government with such conviction that her appointment does not come as a surprise.

But there are those who doubt her still. She is not seen as a true-blooded PPP supporter, argue critics, who have questioned her appointment. Despite the opposition, Sharmila took charge from Jameel Soomro, who was appointed in January 2010.

Soomro was appointed by Qaim Ali Shah in place of Shazia Marri. Marri who originally belongs to Sanghar, is the daughter of Atta Muhammad Marri and Parveen Marri, both parliamentarians. Despite her political credentials, she failed to keep this high-profile job.

While seen as a popular minister, Shazia Marri was abruptly removed from her ministry under the cloud of various allegations.

Official sources said that she stopped giving advertisements to different vernacular newspapers and issued advertisements to the papers of her choice on her own terms and conditions. A few newspaper owners and employees started campaigning against her and staged demonstration and rallies in Karachi and other districts of the province.

Meanwhile, a senior PPP leader told The Express Tribune that the advertisement issue was actually an excuse to get rid of Marri.

The real reason was that in the provincial and federal capital, Shazia Marri was becoming more popular than the CM himself.

On one occasion President Zardari criticised all Sindh cabinet ministers but appreciated Shazia Marri and Sharmila Farooqi, saying that these two “are very active and know very well how to fight the party case. I watch them on television.”

As the president completed his sentence, Sharmila Farooqi exclaimed in obvious delight, “Sir do you really watch us on TV?” To this, Zardari looked away and ignored her. But he meant what he said.

Party insiders say that while Sharmila Farooqi continued to work under the CM’s command, after the public endorsement by the president, Shazia Marri became more independent and this led to her dismissal by the CM.

In her place came Jameel Soomro, who had started his career as an activist of the Sindh People Students Federation and later he was given the responsibility of media in-charge of Bilawal House. After the assassination of Benazir Bhutto he became close to the president and worked at the media section of President House in Islamabad until he was given the information ministry in Sindh.

However, Soomro was not a PR man and soon complaints surfaced of his inability to keep the media happy. There were also stories of advertisements being given to favourites. The last nail in the coffin was the fact that Soomro could not ensure prominent publicity for the president during his long stays in Karachi.

Now with the appointment of Sharmila Farooqi as the de-facto information minister of Sindh, there are questions about how the media set-up will be managed in the province. Farooqi is a Zardari loyalist and knows how to be on the right side of the president’s sister Faryal Talpur, who onec scolded her in a meeting for her inability to deliver. Many predict she will last longer than both her predecessors.

DESIGN: AMIR MIRZA

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2010.