Readers kindly note that the topic has been closed now.
The good, the bad and the Ugly -letter17
I am
thankful to all those who participated in the debate generated
by the article under reference. Contributions by the victims,
the perpetrators and the bystanders have greatly helped to clear
the haze and the conflicts and would hopefully pave way for
conflict solution which is in the heart of development. My
especial thanks go to those who expressed kind and encouraging
words, which would inspire me to devote more time and efforts to
promote good causes and best practices in institutions in line
with the vision of His Highness. Participation by Col.
Ikramullah, Dr. Faizi and Dr. Tariqullah have raised the level
of debate on issues which are very vital for the meaningful
development of Chitral, although in the heat of discussion more
relevant issues were glossed over.
There is no denying the fact that AKDN has done a lot for
Chitral. However it could have done much better given correct
leadership, right balance between establishment cost and
development outlay and fair salary dispensation without
discrimination. The fact that few projects and institutions are
sustainable speaks volumes for the faulty strategy. Had no funds
been provided for the repair of its hydel stations, as
compensation after the earthquake, many would have been closed
by now. No meaningful financial and performance audits of
projects and institutions have been carried out to ensure
transparency and accountability which have given rise to the
culture of impunity and widened credibility gap.
A French philosopher, while giving asylum to a fellow dissident
once said, ’although I do not agree with what you say but I will
defend your right to say it even if it costs me my life’.I do
not agree with the view that only people in formal positions
have the monopoly over understanding the vision of His Highness.
In fact I even dispute their credibility to do so at all for the
reason that most of the leaders do not have the right mindset to
understand the vision.
I want to thank Asif Fancy for not encouraging me to join AKESP.
Had he not done so I would have stood condemned for the death of
Doulat Bhai and Vilayat and for the plight of many more,
including my friend from Madaklasht who is fighting depression
to cling to life and my teacher, ‘Fidayyee’, who was given
peanuts in pension after 30 years of service and is now
suffering from mental problems. As compared to this, blue eyed
boys are given fabulous retirement benefits after much less
service. Unfortunately all my learned friends have side tracked
these issues and some have made it personal. The injustices
mentioned above would not have happened, had the Imam’s vision
been understood and applied. If leaders born and groomed in low
caste Hindu mindset having anthropomorphic or pantheist mindset
choose to take over a Touhidi Muslim sect and its institutions,
the result would be what it is today. Such leaders would try to
take vengeance for all the historical wrongs done to them by
high caste Hindus, which psychologists call catharsis, resulting
in individual and group behaviour amounting to ethnic cleansing
or forced assimilation. This individual and group ailment could
have been cured through good education and intellectual
development which only a few could muster and they were not
allowed to make much impact and those born and groomed in the
mystic traditions of Central Asia, who gave enormous sacrifices
for its preservation were turned into bystanders and community
institutions were taken over by new converts from Hinduism, who
were attracted to the belief system because of its egalitarian
appeal.
They did so without intending to change their mindset. That is
why the then Imam advised the Badakhshanis to keep away from the
new converts as their purity might be infected and instead help
their Imam to introduce the new converts to the true faith. In
one of his interviews, when the then Imam was asked as to why
the new converts were worshiping him as god, His Highness
replied that earlier on they were worshiping cow and it was an
improvement that they have at least risen to worship a human
being and soon they would understand Allah, for which they
should be given time. They took a long time to shed Avatar
worship, thus creating problems for the followers of Touhidi
tradition. They used their money power to create forced
assimilation resulting in serious consequences for the numerical
strength of the community. Their population in Chitral shrank
from 70 to 30% and elsewhere in Punjab and NWFP 80% left the
community.
The emergence of Zikris and Namazi Ismailis are sufficient
proofs of this policy of ethnic and mindset cleansing. The
belated effort to restore the creed to its pristine purity is
being delayed, if not resisted.
Another area where my article has ruffled feathers is the NGO
sector. During a recent Geo T.V talk show a prominent civil
society representative categorized NGOs as either having been
funded by indigenous philanthropy or foreign corporate sector.
She accused NGOs like RSPN of being henchmen of the global
corporate sector out to impose global agenda of promoting
consumerism and alien cultures by destroying indigenous cultures
and social fabric. This thesis was borne out in a LSO meeting,
which had not held its AGM for many years, thus violating the
law which required it to hold the meeting annually. This
violation was done to escape public accountability. This belies
claims of creating awareness. The proceedings of the meeting
created a lot of embarrassment for the management in as much as
it had indulged into many irregularities with impunity which
will bring it into conflict with the law resulting in
confiscation of property, jail and fines. My impression of the
meeting was that some NGOs had stolen the innocence and
simplicity of Chitralis in return for a false hope of
development, which is only cosmetic. Instead of development they
are being run into trouble with the law. Many people would lose
their government jobs for joining the NGOs without departmental
approval, which is the requirement of law, about which they were
not guided...
I do agree with my friends that AKDN has done good things but my
point of view is that AKDN was meant to be the best because it
carries the name of His Highness, which is the global trade mark
for quality. AKESP can be given credit for quantitative
development of female education but in today’s competitive world
it is the quality that matters and with it is attached the name
of His Highness. Unfortunately AKESP can not take credit as far
as quality goes. The fact that AKDN fared below the inefficient
District Government of Chitral for utilizing billion rupees
worth of Norwegian fund speaks for itself. Unlike the Edhi
Foundation, which attracts billions of rupees in indigenous
philanthropy, AKDN still depends on the goodwill of His Highness
and is of late using his name to appeal to the community for
donations, without making allowance for their level of
impoverishment, which in the first place it was supposed to
ameliorate instead of indulging in jobbery and personal
aggrandizements of incompetent leaders.
Regarding my perception of institutional vision and that of Ms.
Tahira it is my words against hers. She can not lay exclusive
claim to wisdom to understand this vision. My interpretation of
institutional vision is that of efficiency, effectiveness,
transparency, accountability, meritocracy and sustainability
which are simply missing in the present working dispensation. If
there is no sustainable institution there should be reasons and
in my view the reasons are that 80% resources are spent on
establishment and 20% on service delivery, which has resulted in
jobbery, jealousy and blackmail causing great disunity in the
community. It is unbecoming of a learned person to dismiss a
research paper without going through it. If she cares to dig
into the archives of her flawless institutions I am sure she
would change her views provided she can rise above the cultural
bias and self righteous mindset, which is the bane of our
community life today. As far as my desire or that of Rehmat Wali
for executive positions in any community institution is
concerned, let me inform her that after having been driven out
of AKES, Rehmat Wali is well placed in SAARC Islamabd. As far as
I am concerned, I was driven by altruistic motives because at
that time I was comfortably placed enjoying perks and prestige
that Ms. Tahira and her ilks can only aspire for. Having worked
with four presidents for twelve years in important positions
including that of speech writer , and seven years as Director in
Ombudsman’s Secretariat exercising powers equal to a judge and
representing Pakistan in global forums and working for three
years as Director Training responsible to train officers upto
grade 20 with opportunities of extensive travels abroad I had
nothing to gain by joining any community institution except to
be able to translate the vision of His Highness which no one
else except Ashiq Ali Hussain, Tajuddin Manji and few others
were able to understand and implement. I knew that by doing so I
was running a risk as I may well have lost my goodwill if I was
hamstrung by the all knowing , infallible and self righteous
leaders sitting in Karachi which at hindsight I am now able to
comprehend. It is a blessing in disguise that it did not happen.
My good friend and brother Dr. Tariqullah will bear me out that
he offered to find me a place in Islamic Development Bank, which
I declined with thanks.
When people like Ms. Tahira started insinuating motives to my
inclination to join community institutions, I wrote a letter to
the then National Council President disavowing my desire to ever
join any of the institutions and instead contribute my share of
service to the Imam in my own individual capacity which I will
do despite all the discouragements like the one that the letter
under reference intends to convey. For Ms. Tahira’s information
let me say that I resigned from an honorary regional position in
a community institution when I came to know that I had no power
to change time table of a night school without approval from
Karachi .
In my worldview, His Highness stands for global standards in
every thing that he does. That being so then why is there so
much gap in the salaries of those working in Karachi and the
North and vertically speaking between the lowest and the
highest. Why the Minimum Wage Act not being implemented not to
speak of the ILO standards? Are the Chitralis lesser human
beings or they deserve to live in sub-human conditions?
Regarding Ms. Tahira’s advice to my daughter how can she keep
rishta with the shajar when the maali of the shajar is out to
spoil it and is presenting all is well picture to the owner.
This shajar can only flourish when the owner gets the correct
information about its well being and the present maalies are
just doing the opposite and that precisely is our tragedy .So
please let us have courage to accept our mistakes, encourage
critical input and do not shy away from making corrections. That
is the quality of a human being and that makes a human being and
an institution improve itself to meet future challenges and
become role model .That is my only objective. So please, please
don’t twist and put words into my mouth and intention into my
heart which are not there, because that would be a sin and I
don’t expect a learned lady like Mrs. Tahira to be so ignorant
of a cardinal teaching of Islam. Moreover in this information
age we can only hide our heads in the sand to our own peril. It
is time to wake up before it is too late.
Islamuddin
Garam Chashma,
Chitral.
15 may 2010.
The good, the bad and the Ugly -letter16
In the last couple of years, almost 10 female
students from Sore Laspur appeared in the competitive exam to
enter the finest medical colleges of our Province who were
students of AKESP Schools. Thousands of students from Chitral
are studying in different universities of the country on
scholarships of AKESP. Several teachers have been trained by
professional trainers arranged by AKESP. Numerous teachers have
studied in Aga Khan University Karachi for M.Ed sponsored by
AKESP.
Hundreds of schools are opened in remotest
villages of Chitral and Gilgit, of course by AKESP. In an online
essay competition where more than 900 institutions participated
from all over Pakistan a student of Agha Khan School System
secured third position. In an Inter Provincial Science and
Technology competition, where different institutions from all
districts of the province participated, Agha Khan Higher
Secondary School stood second. These are some achievements of
AKESP that I know, and I am proud of the organization and the
people who are working tirelessly to provide education to our
future generation. Yet, we complain that the management is
incompetent, the teachers are under paid and under stress and
what not.
“The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” was a 1966 Italian movie and
considered one of the greatest movies ever made. However in the
movie, the term, “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” refer to three
characters of the movie who are thugs, outlaws, killers and
opportunists. Using such a name for a respectable institution
like AKESP was uncalled for and it must have hurt the feelings
of so many people who appreciate AKESP’s efforts in the area.
The honourable writer should have avoided using this term for
AKESP.
M Farooq
Balim, Sore Laspur,
15 May 2010.
The good, the bad and the Ugly -letter15
Chitralnews.com being one of the leading forums is visited by
almost every internet literate Chitrali. The recent hot debated
topic, 'the good, the bad and the ugly'
has been a thought provoking discussion. The views of all the
writers on both sides of the debate are respected and
appreciated.
It was indeed shocking news for a civilized society that a
teacher had committed suicide. Mr. Dulat Bai, may he rest in
peace, was a teacher of AKESP. Mr. Islamuddin in the light of
our religious teachings has rightly put it as the death of
humanity. But our religion also says that suicide is forbidden
in Islam. The discussion should have ended at that point. It
could have depicted the respect our society shows to the
deceased soul. Unfortunately it took off from there. Attributing
the suicide of a teacher to a single factor i.e. AKESP’s
policies becomes a hasty generalization of facts. There could
have been another discussion initiated to redress the so-called
unfriendly policies of AKESP.
The intelligentsia of Chitral participated in the discussion
robustly. Many of the aggrieved individuals who had been
laid-off by AKESP due to one reason or the other availed this
opportunity to release their frustration. The injustices done to
them are not related to the suicide of a teacher. Quite a few of
them admitted the fact that they had been groomed professionally
by the said organization. Instead of accusing the AKESP’s
management or the honorary set up these highly qualified
individuals must utilize their talents to uplift the education
system in Chitral. The AKDN again has been deliberately dragged
into the discussion. The AKDN and its subsidiary organizations
have brought about unprecedented socio-economic development in
the area. It must be known to those who highlight the
shortcomings of AKDN that it does not serve interests of
individuals by offering them jobs etc. but it believes in
serving the humanity in general. Such a myopic approach must be
replaced by enlightened vision to help Chitral prosper in
future.
Education being crucial for the development of Chitral must not
be politicized. Even if someone tries to do that the educated
lot must discourage such a notion. Moreover, the human dignity
must not be compromised for petty issues. I really feel sorry
for the departed soul of Mr. Dulat Bai and his family. The good
could not prevail if we continue to be bad and situation becomes
ugly when the dignity of human life evades.
Syed Gohar Ali Shah,
Islamabad.
14 may 2010.
The good, the bad and the Ugly-letter14
After going
through the different letters of our valued and learned writers
on the subject cited above I wish to submit my view point as
under:-
It is accepted that in delivery of services and discharging any
type of obligation nobody can claim to be 100% perfect. Having
characteristics of human- being everybody can make mistake and
commit irregularities. So if we apply this phenomenon to AKDN
institutions, there might be some shortcomings and
irregularities committed on their part. We feel sorry for what
has happened with some of our brothers either in case of removal
from service or violation of rules and regulations in
appointments (as per our learned writers’ letters). We have our
deep sympathies towards them. They have the right to express
their grievances. In my opinion it could be much better to probe
into the matter thoroughly, interrogate it, sit with the
concerned people, bring the issue on the table, talk to them,
and negotiate with them and get the problem properly addressed
before lodging complaint and bring it into the notice of global
village.
As regards Institutions with the exception of few irregularities
(If any, as mentioned) I think these are doing their best. It is
not an easy job to give time, money and knowledge but those who
are doing this noble job need to be appreciated and
acknowledged. It is by virtue of the institutions that most of
us reached the highest positions either in govt or non-govt
organizations. It is because of AKESP,s initiatives that our
daughters in both the sister communities are getting education
with great zeal and enthusiasm and took the female literacy rate
higher than any district in KP province. It is because of AKESP
that many of our brothers and sisters did their M.Ed and
rendering their services in different academic institutions. It
is because of institutions that many of our brothers and sister
became nurses, LHVs, physicians and surgeons who are rendering
their services in govt and non-govt organizations. It is by
virtue of these institutions that burden on govt hospitals has
reduced tremendously and our sick get treatment at their door
step. It is only because of institutions that our infants get
vaccines on time and get rid of different fatal diseases and
mortality rate in children has come down to the minimum.
It is only
because of the institutions that we separated our cattle-pans
from our houses. It is the institutions that introduced toilets
and wash rooms in our houses almost 25 years ago while there is
still no conception of these things in the rural areas of Sindh
and Punjab which are considered more developed provinces. It is
the institutions that educated us about the importance of clean
drinking water. It is the institutions that gave us education
about the dangers of smoke and introduced local cooking stove (Manqal)
in our houses. It is the institutions that introduced siphon
irrigation system and cultivated our barren lands. It is the
institutions that introduced local hydel power stations and now
when the whole country is running through crucial load shedding
there is 24-hour electricity facility in our Sore laspoor( If I
am not wrong).
At the end it is my humble request to all our valued and learned
writers and readers not to take any thing personal and give
their valuable suggestions and recommendations to the
institutions for their improvement and reforms to get them on
the better track. It is only by our positive ideas we can make a
difference and make the institutions good, better and green and
more beneficial for its inhabitants.
Zahir Uddin,
Canada.
13 may 2010.
The good, the bad and the Ugly-letter13
This is with
reference to the comments of Dr. Faizi on my humble views on the
topic under heated discussion. Before I respond to Dr. Faizi’s
comments, let me assure the valued readers that I am not a born
cynic who cannot see the positive side of the picture. Dr Faizi
despite being a highly learned individual has faltered and has,
presumably, failed to appreciate my viewpoint. I don’t believe
in beating about the bush. My views are based on reading of the
ground situation and valid reasoning. My intention was not aimed
at belittling and decrying the role of AKES,P—a subsidiary
organization of AKDN. AKDN is really doing a marvelous job in
terms of improving the mass literacy rate, basic healthcare and
in many other ways which speak for themselves. What all I wanted
to highlight was to urge the Karachi-based AKES, P senior
management to reconsider its approach towards education, and
frame policies which could fit into the rapidly changing
requirements keeping in view the latest development taking place
in the field of education. There is a need to contextualize the
approach and policies to local requirements of Chitral.
I understand that the prime objective of AKES,P Chitral a few
years back was to enhance the mass literacy rate, and being
successful in achieving that objective, AKES,P Chitral has the
reason to celebrate it and even perhaps feel proud of it. In
order to achieve that objective, the management engaged plain
matriculates offering a paltry sum as salary, but to continue
with the same approach ignoring the changing environment would
be no more valid today. What is required now is the quality
education in today’s competitive world which can only be ensured
if AKES,P senior management brings some drastic changes in its
policies in order to harmonize them with the changing
requirements. It is my firm belief that the honorary set up
functioning in the system is not capable to deliver because it
is predominantly composed of non-professionals and they prefer
to engage those individuals as paid employees who are not
familiar with the nitty gritty of education but prove to be
pliant and humble subordinates.
If the management is really sincere in fulfilling the vision of
High Highness then there is no other way except revamping the
entire system, engage true professionals, give them a free hand
to frame policies and implement them,
minimize its interference and limit its role to provide
necessary guidelines and financial backup. The culture of
favouritism, nepotism and personal liking and disliking must be
replaced by meritocracy, professionalism and competence.
Col (r)
Ikram Ullah Khan,
COMSATS
University,,Abbottabad,
12 May 2010.
'The good, the bad and the
ugly'-letter12
A number of
recent happenings and the memories of my past in Chitral and
especially with Mr. Islamuddin have dragged me into this
somewhat boggy discussion.
Here is the first set of pull factors for writing these lines.
First, few days ago a young lady who has recently done her PhD
in the UK on architectures and civilizations sent me a BBC video
clip of Major Geoffrey Langlands asking me if I was also from
Chitral, which in her words “looks like a paradise” in the
video. She came to know about Chitral during the early days of
her research and perhaps misunderstanding that Chitralis have a
significant contribution to Islamic architecture! Second, in
March this year there was the World Conference of Muslim
Philanthropists in Doha. A German friend of mine who attended
the conference told me about “an amazing presentation of civil
society developmental works in Chitral and Afghanistan” regions.
Third, although BCG was adopted by the Health Committee of the
League of Nations (predecessor to the WHO), in 1928, millions of
families all over the world are still deprived of it. In the
community-based “health centers” in Chitral BCG was started as
early as 1963 when at that time only elite families in major
cities in Pakistan might have had an access to it. Fourth, male
as well as female literacy rates are very high in Chitral as
compared to many other districts in Pakistan. The above are some
of the positive indicators for which Chitral is often cited in
research works on development policies. It is well known that
these achievements are driven by the voluntary (Waqf) sector
development institutions.
On the top of the second strand of affairs for which I am in
this discussion is the letter of Ms. Humaira Islam. She calls
for her father’s friends to step in. I am the proclaimed friend
number one of her father! My advice to him would be to calm
down.
I found that in his letter my friend Mr. Islamduddin tries to
separate institutions from personalities. On the other hand, as
a highly learned student of institutional political economy he
knows that any meaningful work can only be done through
institutions. If for some reasons he is not able to work with
certain institutions, in my humble understanding the best
strategy for him would be to call it a day. No one individual is
perfect. Therefore, it would be unrealistic for institutions to
be perfect specially being an amalgamation of imperfect
individuals. Keeping that in mind, institutions are utilized by
any benevolent leader as his eyes and ears.
Finally, I absolutely agree with the positive approach of Dr.
Faizi of Balim and Ms. Namdar of Karachi. That positive approach
shall be the way forward in building further the established
landmark of Chitral as a successful example of human development
in some of the world’s most hardship hit areas.
Tariqullah Khan,
11 May 2010.
'The good, the bad and the
ugly'-letter11
This is with
reference to the letter of Col (r) Ikramullah Khan on the
subject. The learned writer has based his arguments on the
foundation laid by Mr. Islamuddin and endorsed the letter’s
views in toto. I am a born optimist and I firmly believe, in the
saying “ even behind the darkest clouds, the sky is always
blue.”
This is true that (AKDN) Aga khan Development Network is not an
employees friendly network. I agree that AKDN derives corporate
social responsibility and causes depression to the employees in
many ways. How ever I also see many good things happening due to
the efforts of AKDN. Rising literacy rate, particularly among
the female and decreasing infant mortality rate in Chitral is an
outcome of AKDN initiatives in the region. As for as weaknesses
and anomalies are concerned, these are not due to the fault of
global leadership or Karachi based hierarchy.
The
weaknesses are due to the inefficiency, and weakness of the
regional and local honorary set up. I would like to make a
comparison between the leadership of Chitral and Hunza right
from 1946 to date. The Hunzakuts never complained against Khoja
leadership. They know how to go about and how to deliver in a
highly pressing and challenging environment.
There are
two famous lines from an Urdu poem “ Me Kuch bhi Nahi Karta Who
Aram Karte Hain, Me apna Kam karta hun who apna kam Karte hein”
This is very true of a traditional Chitrali Mindset, and I fear
my learned friends are doing the same through sharing blame game
in a society notorious for mud slinging and leg pulling. Both
the learned writers can do better service to the community in
hundreds of other ways.
Dr. Inayatullah Faizi,
Balim, Chitral.
11 May 2010.
'The good, the bad and the
ugly'-letter10
"Goodness I
call the habit and goodness of nature the inclination. This of
all virtues and dignities of the mind is the greatest; being the
character of Deity and without it man is a busy, mischievous,
wretched thing, no better than a kind of vermin. Goodness
answers to the theological virtues, charity and admits no access
but error". (Sir Francis Bacon)
These golden words of famous English Philosopher and eminent
writer Sir Francis Bacon struck my mind when I read Miss Humaira
Islam’s letter published in your esteemed online. My humble
suggestion to her is to stay steadfast and keep restraint,
because her father is on a noble mission to accomplish.
Islamuddin is a perfect embodiment of the above quoted lines of
Bacon. He prefers the well being of the down trodden people of
society over his personal perks and benefits.
It is
clearly evident from the fact that he made the death of a
teacher of AKESP his own pain. He is crusading against the
injustices and irregularities prevalent in our society in
general and in the Institutions of AKDN in particular. He has
taken up the responsibility of purging the prestigious
organization of our beloved Hazir Imam of sycophants and
toadies.
I disagree
with the contention of the learned writer that her father is
fighting a lost battle and Ismailies are incorrigible to be
mended, as there are hundreds of young Chitralies who are
adhering devotedly to his point of view and are ever ready to
toe his line.They are literally fed up with the sycophantic and
snobbish attitude of functionaries of the developmental
institutions.
Moreover, Ismailies are a docile, polite and flexible community
in the world. What we expect from Humaira is to lend a helping
hand to her father and encourage him, as he is a man with
revolutionary ideas, enormous energy and talent. Right now if
his friends and well wishers request him to call it a day, he
would certainly pay no heed to their requests as he is a man
with nerve of steel, who would not falter in trials and
tribulations of life.
It is my committed hope that he would not rest on his laurels
and would carry on his crusade against those bringing a bad name
to our Imam's institutions.
Alia Akhtar,
Chitral.
09 May 2010.
'The good, the bad and the
ugly'-letter9
Having read
the letter of Mr Islamuddin on the topic followed by a number of
other letters particularly the two letters--- a narrative of the
veritable jeremiad of two learned individuals, i e Mr Rehmat
Wali Khan and Alhaj Muhammad Khan really arousing one’s pity and
ange, I chose to add a few points to urge the AKES, P top
management to wake up from their deep slumber and reform the
institution before it is too late as much water has already
passed under the bridge.
Mr. Rehmat Wali and Alhaj Muhammad Khan’s grumblings appear to
be genuine and are underpinned by a spate of blunders and
injustices allegedly committed by the management of AKES,P
Chitral. The management has miserably failed to deliver as it is
infested with a band of incompetent, non-professional and
inexperienced dilettantes who are occupying the driving seat.
The top management based in Karachi having no knowledge of the
local problems and requirements measures them with the
instrument which is faulty lacking both validity and reliability
characterized by abysmal ignorance. It heavily relies on what
the local management feeds them thereby presuming that
everything is going well and to their entire satisfaction
whereas the reality on ground is diametrically opposite to belie
their spurious belief. It is not that the top management sitting
in its comfortable offices in Karachi is too simpleton so as to
accept all the rubbish presented to them in the form of monthly
or quarterly progress report. It is just because it feels
comfortable with the incompetent lot as it suits their
temperament. They cannot accept and accommodate competent
professionals who could stand up to them with their chest out
and look into their eyes because it goes against their interest.
Since the Karachi-based management comes primarily from business
background, they treat education as a normal business venture.
They lack vision and intellectual acumen as for as education is
concerned though they may be very successful in their parent
field. They fail to appreciate that AKES, P Chitral operates
under a different set of circumstances which should be kept in
view while framing policies. The incongruity of the management’s
policies has invited criticism not only from the educated class
but from the general public as well thereby making a serious
dent in the institution’s reputation which runs counter to the
vision of His Highness. So the outcome is writing on the wall.
Their idiosyncrasy does not fit into the system because their
approach to and modern concept of quality education are poles
apart.
One of the major factors responsible for the deteriorating
standard of education in AKES, P Chitral could well be
attributed to the lack of understanding of educational
priorities. The root cause of the problem lies in the inability
of the management to appreciate the situation in its totality.
The problems facing the teaching staff of AKES, P Chitral are
very conveniently ignored by the management. The major factor
responsible for the widespread discontentment prevailing among
the AKES, P Chitral’s teaching staff is the poor salary package
and absence of a proper service structure compounded by the lack
of job security. When the management offers a salary package
ranging from Rs.3000 to 8000 to a teacher and that too with no
job security, and expects him to impart quality education, I am
afraid we are befooling ourselves. We must understand that in
order to impart quality education we ought to ensure that the
principle of meritocracy is strictly followed and highly
qualified and professionally competent individuals are engaged:
this can only be possible when the management judges a candidate
purely on merit and offers a handsome salary package to him
commensurate with his qualification and experience besides
providing proper service structure and job security. But it does
not suit those who are at the helm of affairs. Major chunk of
the donors’ fund is being lavishly spent on the salaries, perks
and privileges of the managerial staff. The way the teaching
staff is being treated, no individual with even a modicum of
self-respect would be ready to serve as a teacher. Even the
serving teachers who did their M.Ed from AKU-IED under the
sponsorship of AKES, P are forced to leave the institution due
to the shoddy treatment meted out to them. It is highly
demoralizing that the hardworking and talented teachers have
been supplanted by a fleet of sycophants and incompetent staff.
It is very unfortunate that the very purpose for which AKES, P
Chitral was established, has been defeated in the hands of a
handful of self-serving individuals.
It is high time that the Karachi-based top management took
necessary corrective measures to control the damage already
caused and put this great institution back on track without
upsetting the apple cart and by engaging true professionals
rising above their personal liking and disliking if they are
sincere in fulfilling the vision of His Highness though I
understand, it is very hard to swallow the bitter pill. The
institution needs to be purged of the undesirable and parasitic
elements. There is a need to run the institution in a
transparent manner instead of running it like a personal
fiefdom. The performance of all and sundry associated with this
great institution should be subjected to a severe scrutiny. I
hope sanity will work and better sense will prevail.
Col (r)
Ikram Ullah Khan,
COMSATS
University,,Abbottabad,
09 May 2010.
'The good, the bad and the ugly'
-letter8
Reference to
the letter by Ms Tahira Namdar on the subject, I have the
following observations to make.
The worthy lady, referring to earlier writers on the subject has
pointed out that three of them were declined jobs in the
organisation. Obviously those been declined jobs (unjustifiably,
according to their contention) would be critical of the
organisation. Those comfortably employed are not expected to be
criticizing their organisation (until after they have left the
organisation, in many cases!). The writer should not have
focused on who is criticizing, but rather on what is being
criticized.
The writer says the critics have not given solid proposals for
improvement of the organisation. If the critic writers were that
accomplished to give solid proposals for improvement of the
organisation they should have been sitting on high managerial
chairs, drawing hefty salaries and not crying over being
rejected for primary school teacher jobs. Pity the poor
teachers!.
About Mr Islamuddin, worthy Ms Tahira has aspersed that he is
more rather philosophical than practical in his approach and
should seek to look at ground realities. It is most unfortunate
that those who speak the truth today are accused of ignoring
ground realities. Has God's ground become so stained, that truth
has no place on it and ground realities mean compromising with
corruption and wrong doings only.
It is with
all Govt departments, NGOs and Multinational companies, that any
one wanting to point out their weaknesses is pounced upon by a
battery of ever ready 'supporters' of the organisation,
killing the effort there and then and snubbing the critic
instead of trying to improve themselves. Mr Islamuddin is a ray
of hope in a society dominated by mafias of sorts, who have no
soft corner for the true and the upright. If there were enough
people like Islamuddin in Chitral, we would have been living in
a much better place.
Faridul Haq,
Chitral.
08 May 2010.
'The good, the bad and the ugly'
-letter7
This is
apropos to the letter written by Mr Islamuddin on the above
topic. I am a regular reader of his essays and stories because
he has the ability to separate realties from unrealities and
truths from untruths that is his strength of height of knowledge
and intellectual depth. The learned writer has been
conspicuously and courageously encapsulating the ground
realities prevailing in the field of politics, economics,
development, health and education in Chitral over the years. He
has been using the language of truth which obviously and
culturally does not serve the interests of few who believe in
selfism.
His recent
writings on the tragic death of an
AKESP
teacher and the organisation itself is another matter
worth discussion. As a former employee of this organisation I
owe much to it for my professional growth and personal
development. I also carry with me some sweet and bitter memories
associated with this organisation which are now history for me.
I belief that this organisation has an incredible potential and
ability to change the face of woman education in Chitral being
the first organisation to introduce some innovations in
education such as parental education, early childhood education
and community education at large, provided it strives to
assemble more able people who can spearhead the ship practically
as is envisioned by His Highness for the ailing humanity and
expected by the people from AKDN institutions.
To the
contrary, the writings of the learned scholars tell volumes of
nepotism and favoritism that can potentially kill the ultimate
purpose of the establishment of this in a underdeveloped area
like Chitral. According to the learned writers the organisation
is infested with paper tigers who can only pile up files but not
results and productions. This is a highly sorry state of affairs
for those who pin hope on this for better education for Chitrali
people.
It is an
established fact that organizations are known by people and not
vice versa. But, the experience and observations shown have
surfaced that unfortunately in
AKESP an
astonishing gap exists between performance of core duties and
abilities to perform. This thesis and inference of mine may
clash with the self-proclaimed and idealized philosophy of work
of some of my former nears and dears but the adage goes that
truth is always bitter to swallow. If the told stories are based
on truth, then the organisational merit, functions and the
procedures of selection of employees for the organisation need a
REVISIT.
If there is
truth in the views of Mr Islamuddin, then, the experiences of
some of my competent friends and former colleagues carry weight.
Apart from this, here, I must also take this opportunity to
request some of the honorable off-Chitral so-called scholars to
not to self-hypothesize their philosophies by concocting and
distorting realities developed merely on hearsay or weak
knowledge of ground realities of institutions in Chitral sitting
either in Karachi or abroad.
Mr. Islamuddin has had the honour to be a former civil servant,
competent, bold, and upright, so what, if he was not selected
and I would say more rightly, elected for an executive position
in AKESP some years
back. To his credit, he has served in various coveted positions
as an honest person more honorably and is still doing well as
the faithful son of Chitral by spreading education in Chitral
after saying good bye to a very lucrative position in the high
echelon of power and authority. Hats off to Mr. Islamuddin for
providing a food for thought to many Chitrali writers and
scholars to highlight the problem of Chitral by knocking at the
door of discussion to untie the realities and truths choked for
years and to lay the foundation for better future for the
deprived and oppressed of this land called Chitral.
Iqbal Shahnavi,
Visiting Faculty NUML, Lahore.
09 May 10.
‘The good,
the bad and the ugly'
-letter6
This is with
reference to the letters appearing in Chitral News on the
subject “the good, the bad and the ugly”. I confess that I don’t
have a good idea about the exact nature of what the writers are
talking about and the factual standing of the claims made in
their letters. My observations are based only on the analysis of
the contents of the four letters.
First, everyone has the right to express her/his feelings and
Chitral News is commended for providing such an opportunity
to the people of Chitral. Expressions of feelings can also be an
effective healing process for ailments of individuals,
institutions and societies. Therefore, the writers are also
commended for using the mode of writing in expressing their
emotions.
With respect to the contents of the letters, there are two
central themes common in the four letters – that the three
writers were declined jobs in the organization in question and
that the four persons don’t offer any positive and actionable
suggestions that can address the alleviation of the alleged
problems in the organization.
The letter of Mr. Islamuddin shows that he is emotionally
attached with his own version of the philosophy of life, faith
and organizational behavior of government and civil society
institutions. This type of an attitude could be that of an
intellectual but to stand ground it must be supported by
credible facts, figures and objective analysis. On the contrary
managers of organizations must primarily understand the visions
and missions of the organizations they aspire to work for. Once
they are inside the organizations they can be the “movers and
shakers” not by writing self sponsored research papers or news
paper columns but by changing the strategies and policies of the
organizations from within.
Despite the fact that the three writers were competent they were
not able to enter the said organization. Why? Because they have
their own pronounced visions and missions and these are in
conflict with vision and mission of the organization. Primarily,
managers are selected to implement the visions of the
organizations as agents and not for implementing their own
individual visions. It is my advice to aspiring young
professionals to understand that such considerations are an
integral part of merit-based human resource development policies
of modern organizations.
In case of Mr. Islamuddin the conflict between his
self-proclaimed vision and that of the network of organizations
in question are apparent from the very title of his 1986 “self
sponsored” research. It is not at all surprising that he was
rejected for an executive position entry – in his research paper
he perhaps wants to change the global and highly complex
environment of his community, instead as a professional he is
expected to pursue the vision of the organization and achieve
its set measurable goals and targets of educational development
at local, regional or national levels. The conflict is also
apparent from the motives behind his self proclaimed sacrifice
for servicing Chitral at the tremendous cost to his own
profession and family. He alleges that the organization is
question is taking away good students from private schools. I
would only conclude that he arrived in Chitral with an objective
to run schools that can compete with those run by the
organization in question. The goal of competition is commendable
as it improves services rendered to the society. Other private
schools must also be facing a similar situation of competition
and these schools really need support. But it is unfair to blame
others for one’s own emotional decisions and the resultant
failure of actions.
Mr. Islamuddin as a well educated, competent and motivated
person and the like can do better by putting forward specific,
positive and actionable suggestions for qualitative change. On
the contrary if they remained entangled in their own past and
their self-styled doomsday scenarios for the future, their sigh
and cry would not have any positive impact on the faith or fame
of their community. Nor can any good be done to serve the
society and humanity or even one’s own family.
To Humiara Islam, you are the future - start life with all the
good and positive thoughts and please, "paiwasta reh shajar sey,
umaid –e-bahar rak"!
Ms. Tahira Namdar,
Karachi.
07 May 2010
‘The good,
the bad and the ugly'
-letter5
First of all I thank Mr Islamuddin for speaking
the language of many subjugated people by writing the letter
under discussion. It is the true story of hundreds of other
people (who will probably open their mouths in the times ahead)
including me. Everybody knows that AKES,P Chitral has become a
torture cell for many individuals. Favouritism, nepotism,
professional jealousy, gang formation and leg pulling have
become virtues of the system. The word merit has become
gobbledygook and violation of merit a normal phenomenon. I tell
these on practical grounds because I served this institution for
more than four years with some bitter experiences with the
blue-eyed staff inside it.
I am thankful to the institution to the extent that I was one of
the beneficiaries for doing M. Ed. But why my potentials were
not utilized later after even getting top scores at the AKES,P
Chitral so-called recruitment test? If merit was there, then I
would also have been somewhere in the organization. But I am
not! Not because I refused to serve, but because the gang
thought of torturing me so that I can never stand up as a
developed individual. I had ambitions to serve this esteemed
institution but the trained leg pullers had already planned to
throw me out. Unfortunately these people are still working in
paid as well as honorary setups within AKDN.
I know many of the AKESP Chitral pseudo-professionals entering
the institution without being qualified for the positions as per
advertisements of that time. They made it because they had
strong backings and relations. The ridiculous attitudes of these
officials are enough to make an individual rebellious or commit
something wrong, as happened in the particular teacher’s case.
To me, all of the AKES, P Chitral officials have a share in
killing this teacher, the most honoured individual in any human
society especially the Islamic one. It is not the death of late
Doulat Bhai, it is a death of all the teachers around the world,
and as Islamuddin has rightly mentioned, the “death of entire
humanity”.
I have witnessed many such instances, in which His Highness’s
Name was used as a tool to serve one’s vested interests of
making points by deceiving the poor teachers. I am not opening
this all to the media now and I may do so if counter arguments
to this letter arise. It is very clear that the institution is
not in the hands of honest people and the higher-ups should
seriously think about it. It is doing disservice to the society
killing the sole purpose of its establishment. These feedbacks
should reach somewhere and the public of Chitral has to make
this institution accountable because they are the stakeholders
in it. Otherwise there are many lives at stake because of the
injustice and inefficiency prevailing in this institution.
I acknowledge and appreciate the efforts made by Mr Islamuddin
who is doing a marvelous job in bringing reforms in institutions
working in Chitral by highlighting the core realities and issues
which have almost become taboos for some reasons. It must be
clear to the readers by now that the written stuff is not
against the creation of AKES,P in Chitral but the unsuitable
staff running it. They have to either struggle for amendments in
the policies if those are not in line with our context or ensure
fair implementation of the existing policies without
compromising on merit.
Rehmat Wali Khan,
Ex-Teacher Educator,AKESP, Chitral.
06 May 2010