Overseas Pakistani Friends

Since long more particularly from the era of Shaukat Aziz a tendency erupted that the government organizations having huge funds started investing in “not-so-safe” ventures.  In as much as the newspapers alleged a few years back a Registrar of a superior court having kept official money in his personal account or perhaps investing the same in a bank where it was almost lost.  A fortnight back the serious newspaper Daily Jang and The News carried an article disclosing how allegedly corruption was prevailing in some of the organizations named therein.  One such an organization which collects regular monthly prescribed contributions from the industrial employers for payment to labourers as pension, was alleged to be trying to invest the funds in purchase of a five star hotel in Islamabad.  Continue reading »

It appears every authority worth of its salt has today taken as guaranteed to take the ordinary citizens of Pakistan as completely fools. This tendency is more particular amongst the so called monitoring or regulatory authorities like SECP, NEPRA, SBP etc.  I recently asked the Muslim Commercial Bank to convert my account into a Basic Banking Account.  The Branch informed me that since my account was a “Branchless Account” hence my request can not be accepted.  A “Branchless” account?   I first time listened this word.  My Account is PLS from the day one with the same Branch situated at Hassan Square and account is as was opened within the 4 walls of the same Branch so how it became a “Branchless”.  Against this I approached the Banking Mohtasib who without reverting back affording me any opportunity to submit my counter argument as is the universal practice in any justice system even in any banana state, forthwith agreed with the contention of the MCB and informed me the Bank was right and should be satisfied.  Had I been satisfied with the reply of the Branch why the hell then should I had spent time and money on filing a complaint not less than an ombudsman.  The SBP Banking Policy Department instead of taking the matter as it being a monitoring and controlling authority to evaluate what the account holder contends and what the Bank says and then arrive at its own decision,  merely informed me that the Bank has informed that my account can not be converted into a Basic Banking Account BBA and ombudsman hoped I would be satisfied now.   What the hell it is?  I reminded the SBP that it was a regulatory body hence it is not supposed to tell me what the bank “says” rather its primary duty was to examine the views/arguments both of the complainant and the Bank and then judiciously declare its verdict keeping in view the official prescribed rules  on the matter.   A columnist rightly a few months back stated the “national shame” today was no word in our dictionary.

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By Muhammad Javed

The learned Dr. Farooq Sattar the Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis has recently told that in order to give representation and a voice to the Overseas Pakistanis (OPs) in the parliament, 04 seats would be reserved for them.  The question is, are the OPs already not in the Parliament? And what even the remotest better than the local people’s representatives have till today these already present shown?  In the parliament for the last quite some time always there are quite a number of Pakistanis who are living abroad, doing their business abroad, keeping all their savings abroad, have permanently settled abroad, have obtained foreign nationalities but are one way or the other present in the Assemblies in the name of serving the homeland.  Continue reading »