CASHLESS SOCIETY: It is high time the government transformed the country into a cashless society. The use of cash over a certain amount must be prohibited.  The government should reward those who pay their utility bills via cheques or make online payments. Unfortunately, there are some banks that charge a fee on online payments. I started paying my credit card bill online and was shocked to find that the receiving bank charged a rupee for every thousand rupees on electronic transfers. Needless to say, this encourages people to make payments by cash, which is surely not what the government wants. Or is it?

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

May 6, 2024

https://www.dawn.com/news/1831716/school-status

I never went to East Pakistan when it was part of Pakistan. In fact, there was some talk of sending me to Chittagong a month before the massacres of Memons and other West Pakistanis began (yes, it was the Bangladeshis who started it). Fortunately my bosses decided I was needed in Karachi. In the month that the rebels had held Chittagong, almost all the Memons (including a distant relative) were slaughtered. Some managed to escape to West Pakistan and it was from them that we learned that the situation was really very bad (contrary to what the Establishment was telling us at the time). When I went there twenty four years back, I met a few who were staunchly pro-Pakistan but most hated it. This was because they'd grown up believing that millions of their countrymen had been killed deliberately by Pakistanis in the civil war that preceded the break-up of the country.

I met a former civil servant who had served in Islamabad before the break-up. He was now based in Canada, and asked me why Pakistani leaders were not apologizing for the so-called genocide of Bengalis. I asked him what proof there was that there had been a genocide. 

I met another Bangladeshi who quoted a discredited Pakistani journalist (Tony Mascarenhas) who had claimed that millions of Bengalis had been killed. I met a waiter in Dhaka Club whose father had been shot by a soldier. 

Perhaps a few thousand may have been killed, but then there were an equal number from our side who had also been slaughtered by them. I remember two Memon girls (both students in a medical college) who were taken away by the rebels and were never seen again (their mother went mad).

So, in my opinion, as atrocities were committed by both sides, the question of apologizing does not arise.

 

 

Friday, May 03, 2024

Six months ago, I was perfectly happy with my 4GB internet package and 125 minutes of talking time. Then suddenly, the mobile network operator/company changed my package to 10GB internet, with a talking time of 3200 minutes and 3000 messages. When I protested, I was told that this was the minimum package for postpaid customers.

Since then, they have increased the monthly charges twice (the last one was just two months back) by Rs100 per month each time. Their representative told me that this will go on happening without giving me any reason for it. Is there anyone who can stop them from doing so?

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

https://e.thenews.com.pk/detail?id=303440

 

 By now Nawaz Sharif should have learnt a lot from his past mistakes. After all, he's over 70, and in three stints as prime minister, he had plenty of opportunities to know what went wrong after he was removed by the establishment. But no, it looks like he didn't learn anything, judging from his recent step to make Ishaq Dar the deputy prime minister, in addition to being the foreign minister (for which he has no experience).

I'm sure, there are millions of people in the country who think Imran Khan is a big fool. But it seems that Nawaz Sharif is a bigger fool. He can't trust his own younger brother even though the latter is more capable than him. Shehbaz Sharif, being the younger brother, has proved himself to be loyal to Nawaz, having served as chief minister of Punjab thrice and as prime minister for a few months before the last elections. By now, Nawaz Sharif should know that his younger brother is utterly reliable. Yet Nawaz imposed his own daughter as chief minister of Punjab (even though Shehbaz's son Hamza was more suitable). And now, with the appointment of Dar as deputy prime minister, he's made sure that Shehbaz is without any powers and is simply a messenger. It's a pity, really. Shehbaz is a born diplomat and gets things done. But the poor chap will now have his hands tied up.

 

 

Raid the evaders

April 27, 2024

This refers to the news report ‘FBR mulling options to penalize unregistered traders’ (April 25, 2024). While the imposition of an extra tax of 10 to 15 per cent on unregistered traders appears feasible, it is not likely to succeed unless smuggling is curtailed.

Since most of our traders are unregistered, they will simply buy from smugglers. There are many markets in Pakistan where smuggled items are sold. It would be more beneficial for the country if such shops are raided and the seized goods are auctioned off.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1182644-raid-the-evaders