Thursday, February 12, 2009

Mustafa Kamal Does It Like Nobody Else

Inspire people that is, or at least try to do so.

Daily Times reports that on Wednesday, the mayor invited a delegation of students and teachers from the Institute of Business Management (IoBM - which used to be CBM) to his office and spoke to them about issues afflicting the city and what he's doing about it. He gave them a presentation on the city government's master plan and then showed them around the various offices of the CDGK.

This is honestly the first time that I've heard a Pakistani government official inviting university students over and showing them how government really works. Perhaps I'm being unfair and there have been others in the past, maybe some in the present, but surely such instances are rare.

Who knows this trip may inspire a few of these students to make a difference by working in the government? And even if that isn't the case, these students will have a better idea of how government, albeit the city government, really works, which surely is a good thing.

14 comments:

Atiya Herekar said...

You know, party affiliation aside Mustafa Kemal is actually doing a good job.

Some changes might just be cosmetic but atleast he's doing something rather than just doing nothing on government's time and money.

Anonymous said...

I've heard that MK was shipped out of the country by the MQM after he committed a murder or three in the 90s. He got educated abroad and then returned to Pakistan. Anybody know if this story is true?

Anonymous said...

Don’t know about the murder bit but i heard he was presumably a telephone operator for MQM. That speaks volumes for the dude and a bit for political party…. At least It breaks the feudal monotony.

AKS said...

@ F-Machine

I don't know about murder allegations against MK. Israt ul Ibad on the other hand was certainly charged with murder but later (after becoming governor I think) exonerated.

MK does claim to have attended a Malaysian university, as well as the University of Wales.

@ Taha

I've heard a similar story - in his youth, MK apparently used to work as an operator at MQM's Rabita Committee (which is like a help desk / complaint center situated at Nine Zero). That may explain his affinity with call centers and help desks?!!

Anonymous said...

lol, he really has put some thought into it hasnt he? i hear he is planning out a building solely for the project;)
ps: recently being following your blog.. its a real collage of information, fun and smartness..

Anonymous said...

Hi,
First of all aks are u on the payroll of mqm.What development has he done inspite of the fact that mqm was give a blanket authority by pervaiz musharraaf.compared with karachi,inspite of political uncertanities shahbaz sharif and even pervaiz elahi did a pretty good job.Mustafa kaml just complains and does no work.Lokk in punjab and lahore specifically what shaba sharif has done in such a short p[eoid of time.the amount of work done by sharifs in their short tenure and despite a lot of leg pulling is amazing but u people keep propping Mustafa kamal who has been a failure in managemnet of karachi.Give karachio to shabaz sharif and also the blanket authority which was given to mqm and he will make karachi even better than lahore in2 to 3 years time.Karachitie just complain they dunt have political will to do anyting and just blame punjab for everything.

Ahsan said...

Anon307:

Well, AKS is Muhajir, so I have no doubt he's on MQM's payroll. We actually tried to kick him off the blog last year but the sector in charge of my area gave me a polite visit and ensured that AKS stayed on. The results are there for you to see.

SAP Arbeiter said...

Comparing Karachi to Lahore is probably a case of comparing apples to oranges. Karachi has different problems/issues/opportunities and at a different scale than Lahore or any other city for that matter in Pakistan. Also, I have recently read somewhere that MK does not have the blanket authority that one may think he does. Karachi is divided up among different authorities so the mayor does not have authority over every inch of Karachi.

Majaz said...

I remember interviewing him when he was the minister for IT. That was 2005. And when I met him I couldn't believe he was an MQM guy - most of them are goons. Here was a smart, educated, seemingly together fellow. And when I asked him what he intended to get out of IT when people were dying of digestive diseases due to lack of clean water - I remember his answer vividly. He said we can't solve all problems in one day but we do have people who are educated and who need this department, who need to help Pakistan stay on the map where IT was concerned.

Smart guy. Totally non-MQMish.

AKS said...

@ Ahsan

Can't argue with that.

@ Anon 307

"Mustafa kamal who has been a failure in managemnet of karachi"

If you say so.

"Give karachio to shabaz sharif and also the blanket authority..."

Wise!

-----

I actually appreciate the work Shahbaz Shariff has done in Punjab. From your comment it seems that you know a bit about him so I wanted to ask you something that I've been wondering: Is he as much of an Islamist populist as his brother (i.e. is he interested in the whole 'ameer-ul-momineen' thing)?

Anonymous said...

@aks
well i know shabbaz sharif becuz of all thw wok he has done and the potential he can achieve if he is given a free hand.he can make and make sure the implementaion of infrastructure projects.all the beaurecrats are disciplined under him adn everybody and i mean everybody comes to work at 8:00 be it the chief secfertary or the thanedar.as far as karachi is divided so is lahore we also have dha and cantonemnt boards but dunt sort of problems that mqm says never comes up.in the end it all comes down to good will.if mqm and mustafa kamal were genuinely interested in improving karachi the eight years of musharraf was the golden chance they would ever get.i mean if mqm was not busy in burning lawyers alive and threatening everybody who opposed them maybe then karachi would be even better place.they couldnt even get the pay of doctors incresed wheras in punjab the pay has been incresed twice.people from karachi and sindh come and do jobs here becuz of high pay but ofcourse they blame punjab and lahore for all their ills.if sindhis and karachities esp mqm want to remain backward and blame punjab for their ills they shouyld continue.the reality is mqm wants it members to remain poor and backwarsds becuz if they increased pays and increased development they have the twisted notion that they would loose votes.that in my opiinon in the feudal mentality.

i dunt recall nawaz sharif saying any such thing kindly give refernce so i can comment on that.and whats wrong in being an islamist populist.nawaz sharif stills is liked in urban areas for his development activities.and so is shahbaz sharif.

Admin said...

@ anonymouse
The difference b/w Lahore and karachi is like difference b/w a pind and a city, karachi population is estimated around 22 million while lahore can't even cross 10 million till now, Karachi has huge influx of people from up country increasing the problems of people permanently living in karachi and for the gov as well.

Kindly note Shahbaz is Chief Minister of Punjab and own Lahore as his own city, but Karachi is like a step son of all the chief ministers as Karachi never give mandate to PPP nor PML so they do the same with karachi, it is only MQM and their mayors like Farooq Sattar and Now Mustafa Kamal who built this city and done alot of work for this city.
And Mr Anonymouse enough is enough the crap and lies you are spreading here about burning lawyers kindly name only 2 that had been burnt by MQM, if you have the balls only 2 names of lawyers burnt.

that is an open challenge for you, you sick fact twisting lies spreading lair.

Anonymous said...

we can never bind as one nation can we? we will always be sindhis,punjabis,pathans,balouchis. *sighs*
if shahbaz sharif is doing something than kudos to him and high time for him to do something now is it not?
MK got to be the second best mayor in the world shouldnt you feeel good about it. its for *PAKISTAN* for heaven's sake!
we would never be able to co exist and that is real shame..

Anonymous said...

Yeah I don't get the idea of dragging Shahbaz Sharif into this discussion from out of nowhere as it was only about an act done by MK and was not actually a comparative analyses.Shahbaz is doing good at his place and i think MK will not be as successful overthere as he is in case of Karachi (vice versa!) As far as managing Karachi goes, it really takes balls to come at the front and do what MK has done and is doing. Its just not simply praising him but he really deserves it and we know cuz we have seen Karachi at its worst too.What I like about his way of working is his keen interest and sharpness in managing and developing his P.R. , he does and takes credit for the work done which is really appreciable and that s why when there was this recent controvercy about his world ranking, citizens paid no heed at all for they knew that be the 2nd or the 60th, it will not change MK's style of working and his efforts to make Khi a better city. I don't agree that these are only cosmetic development, it is a change in people's life that we never even dreamt of before this city government.