Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
oooooops my mistake.
we dont own them any more.
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
I suppose it depends on what you are looking for, I've met Imran, quite a few of the JI lot and people from the National Party lot, meaning the ones linked to the National Democratic Party and National Awami Party. As well as some of the old true blue Muslim Leaguers (not these ever green ones). Imran was quite likable as were the old guards in the NAP/NDP and Muslim League. They definitely had a presence to them and were all people you could dislike politically but did not doubt their belief in their cause. Amongst the JI lot the few i think were intellectuals ..Prof Ghafoor and Maudoodi
The problem with meeting both ZAB and Jinnah (not that they are of the same league) is that if you ask people, they will tell you both were quite unapproachable and in some ways quite reserved (in Jinnahs case cold, in ZAB's probably paranoid) in one to one meetings. So having a cup of tea would be a very quiet affair!
Amongst the Fauji politicos, probably Zia, as from what I know he was extremely polite and chatty to people (even before he imprisoned them for a few years). Even if he didn't say much in reality..he was a fascinating character, a profoundly cunning man. Ayub comes across as smart and sincere if unintelligent and patronising towards East Pakistanis. While Musharraf increasingly sounds arrogant in tone, Yahya I doubt was able to talk for long sobre.
Amongst the bureaucrat/politicians none other than Ghulam Ishaq Khan on the condition that he'd say all..being the most influential civil servant in paksitans history he must have known a lot!
As a side note I've always been fascinated with the Nawab of Kalabagh and Shaheed Surhrawardy. I'd have also said Sherbaz Mazari but since his book I doubt he has much to add :D
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
Yes, I have also heard Jinnah was a very reserved person especially in the mid-later half of his life Zakk, thanks for pointing that out, but I do not think we can say the same for Bhutto. I knew some friends grandparents, some of them have had the chance of meeting him and they said he was always open to new ideas and suggestions from anyone who had something good to offer.
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
I am getting increasingly impressed by thiis Fraudia’s sharp wit! good one dost.
I think Pakistan’s history is more impacted by leaders with great potential that did manythings right but a few things terribly wrong. Therefore any such person I meet the question will likely be “why this hell did you…”. To ask that question my wish list in that order would be:
Jinna
PM
ZAB
BB
Zia
in that order
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
I have tremendous respect for Imran as an athelete and as a humanitarian. I dont think he is a good politician. The man has serious dictatorial tendencies, that was evident in his role as the captain of the pak team, and while that worked for that team at that time, if i want democracy, I dnt want to put a dictator in the office.
Imran is a good person, with very strong views, he also seems extremely inflexible, very rigid, so in a good way he is a man of principle, in a bad way, I dont know how well he will be able to work with all the diff political groups in Pakistan.
As I have mentioned before, I had been in correspondence with tehrik e insaaf in the early days because I like their mainfesto, I personally admire Imran, and I did so when it was politically risky to do so, when ppl were concered about his sincerity and zionist influence, but there are things that troubled me then and that trouble me now.
here is a link if u want tto become a member of tehrik e insaaf. scroll to the bottom and see the oath..
http://www.insaf.org.pk/member/registration.aspx
*I agree to join Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf having full confidence in its manifesto and in the leadership of Imran Khan and as a member of the party I will abide by its rules and regulations. I will cast my vote in favour of a candidate supported by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. *
so u cant join if u have any issue with any part of the group’s manifesto, and why is the party synonymous wit Imran, is it the same as PPP and benazir? the party should be bigger than the man, not vice versa..
and lastly i cant commit to voting for any party unless I know who the candidate is and what their views are and all.
so its a little strange the mr champion of democracy is showing his own dictatorial tendencies right there.
It does not change the respect I have for him as an athelete and a person and a humanitarian, but he needs to adapt to be a good politician a good PM. I mean if just being a good person was the qualification to be the leader of Pak, I would like to draft edhi. I like Imran Khan, I dont doubt his sincerity one bit, I would like to see him as the leader. I just dont think he has placed himself in a position to be someone who can be a PM or prez in pakistan…and sadly, I dont think he is listening. I am disappointed..I had reached out to PTI in its early days, because I agreed with what was being said, I liked what I heard, i wanted to be a part of it and to contribute…but got discouraged and disappointed and still am.
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
Jinnah ofcourse then there are some that I really want to meet and ask few questions:
a) Liaqat Ali Khan: what made him decide going to USA and rejecting Russia's offer when Russia invited him.
b) Ayub Khan: I admire some of his economic polices and the development under his govt. I think, I can learn a lot from him. I'm not talking about politics - am just talking about Economic Policies. Yes, PK achieved a lot under his govt.
c) Bhutto: why did he nationalize everything. What was in his mind that not only broke public's interest but also created all the business fuss.
d) Zia-ul-Haq: ok. what he did for Afghanistan was fine but why stayed in govt for years and years. It just wasted so much of nation's time.
e) Banazir: why did she give those lists to Indian PM Rajive Gandhi. It just was so stupid. Why does she make stupid statements all the time and then change em. Why does she yell in her jalsaay jaloos and use all the bad language. She needs to keep her female integrity. She leaves men behind during her public speeches.
also why does she wear flip flops and open sandles. Its just not professional.
f) Nawaz Sharif: Again like Ayub Khan, I admire his economic polices, Infrastructure etc. Why did he decide to seize those foreign currency accounts and bring that Supreme Court issue. Apart from these 2 issues, I admire his gvot. Much better than those drama politicians.
g) Imran Khan: He is one of the best cricketers - actually players around the world. One of the best Social Worker. Why did he decide to become a politican. Being the best in one thing doesn't mean that you can be the best in everything. I've atually met him but didn't ask at that time. But I really admire him - he talks so good.
H) I can't think of his name but he was a Foreign Minister for like the longest period of time in Zia's govt as well as some other govts. I think, his Foreign policies were waay better than our other ministers.
I) Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz: I really wanna ask, was it really a bad luck for Pakistan when both of you were born.
Sorry, but its hard to pick just one
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
sahibzada yaqoub khan ...
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
^^
yes, thank you.
I couldn't think of his name
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
btw imran talks a lot of nonsense, challenge is that he cant back his statements up.
its good banner fodder, but scratch teh surface and he himself does not know. Any single interview of this guy that i have seen where he is asked to describe his stance he gets agitated and goes on attack against others, fine..but tell us what do u stan for, and more than that how would u do things differently..and wat exacrty would u have done, and then when questioned about weaknesses of your own plan dont turn all red and offended...
He is the anti establishment, aray bhai...fine you are anti estabishment, aside from that what are you.
criticize something as much as u want, but have your own answer, and when your answers are critiqued or further elaboration is asked, then no need getting hot under the collar.
Can we please just have him run cricket board and maybe even other sports programmes and help set up hospitals.
I mean why not edhi for PM, his sincerity can not be doubted, he speaks well, he showed how things can get done and can be sutained etc etc.
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
Hi dear companion,
You have arised a very good suggestion for giving one's views about the so-called politicians of our country. Being a Pakistni its our right to make accountable of our politicians. Its the duty of pubic to acquisit of our politicians.
If I find an opportunity to meet Mr. Rasheed, who is the fedral minister of Pakistan Railways, then I'll ask him that, he should give the permission of the family of Railway Employees to travel in trains with half fair, because it is the right of his family to travel in trains with half fair. Except Pakistan Railways, all the other companies that provide transportation service are giving this consession to travell in the company service with less fairs. Like PIA and others etc.
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
proofread ur posts please!
i wanna meet benazir 
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
hey hey now, u cant be really sure that it was a typo on his part, respect his beliefs even if you dont agree with them 
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
its good banner fodder, but scratch teh surface and he himself does not know. Any single interview of this guy that i have seen where he is asked to describe his stance he gets agitated and goes on attack against others, fine..but tell us what do u stan for, and more than that how would u do things differently..and wat exacrty would u have done, and then when questioned about weaknesses of your own plan dont turn all red and offended...
He is the anti establishment, aray bhai...fine you are anti estabishment, aside from that what are you.
criticize something as much as u want, but have your own answer, and when your answers are critiqued or further elaboration is asked, then no need getting hot under the collar.
Can we please just have him run cricket board and maybe even other sports programmes and help set up hospitals.
I mean why not edhi for PM, his sincerity can not be doubted, he speaks well, he showed how things can get done and can be sutained etc etc.
Well, he is a good speaker when it comes to cricket/sports and social work.
He is not a good political leader but I think atleast he is sincere - better than majority there.
Edhi would be the similar case. A good social worker can't necessarily be a good PM. Running a govt is one of the most complicated things in the world.
It requires a lot of things in a person. Only sincerity doesn't do.
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
as I said earlier looking at the current list of possible contendors I would rather vote for Kafeel Bhai.
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
I myself thinking of some future there too.
How about me. Do I qualify. Would I get enough votes (other than my own vote - my family won't vote for me)
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
If I meet a Pakistani politician (and I find myself in a position to ask freely), I would ask that (any) politician that contests election with their own money, that where they get that money to contest election and even if they have money (because they are filthy rich), when they spend so much to contest election, after winning the election, how they recover that money? And if they do not recover, why they do not go bankrupt, rather get rich every year?
Individually (some of the many questions I would like to ask): I would ask Nawaz that since he claims he was forced to go to Saudi Arabia by Musharraf, why he never criticised Saudi King of not deporting him back to Pakistan. Obviously, no one can go to Saudi Arabia without the permission of Saudi government even if Musharraf wanted to send him to Saudia (Note: At that time, Saudi kings and USA that were openly putting pressure on Pakistan not to execute Nawaz were very close to Nawaz, more than Musharraf, rather USA was upset with Musharraf).
Secondly, why Musharraf would send Nawaz to Saudia and did not kept him in prison, as he was already convicted (at the moment, he is convicted person, and thus illegible to contest election anyhow).
Thirdly, when Nawaz says that he would like to go back to Pakistan, does he mean going back to Pakistani jail, where he is suppose to be and has not completed his prison sentence, or that he would like to go back to Pakistan but not go to prison in Pakistan (from where he went to Saudi Arabia). Obviously, when he got convicted and was serving prison in Pakistan, he left to Saudi Arabia from prison, is it not right that when he comes back to Pakistan, he should be sent to prison and serve his sentence there? Is it not right that, if he thinks that he is innocent, he should not expect that government should forgive him, rather he should hope and expect that courts acquits him.
For BB (and Z): question I would like to ask is that, how long she thinks she can fool Pakistanis? She claims that cases in Pakistan against her on corruption charges are false and people of Pakistan have wrong perception about her being corrupt, then how can she explain the cases of corruption against her in Swiss court, UK court, Spain court etc? Plus, how can she explain American senate report on her corruption (and money laundry) presented to American senate for their own purpose of enacting their banking laws?
Third thing I would like to ask her is that, why throughout he kept absconding from Pakistani court in all her corruption cases? She left Pakistan for limited time but never returned to answer any cases in Pakistan.
I would like to ask Imran Khan that when he disowned his own child from Rita White (for whatever reason), how reliable anyone can consider him? Throughout his life, he was always selfish, self serving, never believed on merit rather on personal like and dislike, then how come if he ever come to power (that is long shot chance), even if he says so differently, why he would really change and would start believing selflessness, serving others and on merit? Is it not true that when he did not get much from Musharraf government, for his interest he is now willing to shake hand with all he always called devil and accused of corruption (like NS and BB)?
If I met Qazi and Fazlu, I would ask them ….. errrrrrrrrrr … but are they capable of listening or answering anything? I am sure that if I would ask them anything, they would say that not to ask anything, because according to them, what they do, it is nothing to do with them, but it is will (marzi) of Allah. For them, they can even do Zina and that would be nothing to do with them, but ‘marzi of Allah’, hence they are never guilty of anything. [For them, whatever they do is will of Allah and whatever others do is due to misleading by Shaitan]. Who know, if I ask them any question, they would start calling me Kafir :).
[Actually these people (MMA) are lost in time: Yea wohan hain jahaan say inn ko bhie khud inn kee khabaar nahie aatie].
If I met president Musharraf, I would ask him that when most in Pakistan politics are corrupt and all Pakistanis know that, then with over a million armed men under him, why he has to have election, rather he should have kept crude martial law in Pakistan for foreseeable future, until country really got educated and developed to deal with democracy, then only he should have held election in Pakistan.
If I met chailay chamchay politicians of MMA, NS and BB, that wants Musharraf to shed his uniform or resign, that why they think Musharraf should shed his uniform or resign? If they have enough support and strength, they do what ever they like and see what they can do? I would ask them to challenge Musharraf government on the street of Pakistan.
Actually I would be glad if they do so, as these days they just keep yapping all over the place (TV, media, forum, etc) and Musharraf is willing to let them yap. It is a rare type of dictatorship-cum-democracy in third world environment. But when these chailay chamchay would come on street, government would get pushed to use force, that means new martial law and in process, Pakistan would get rid of some corrupts within government too. Maybe, that might push country into quicker development.
Though sometime I am not sure that complete dictatorship (martial law rule) would be better for the country or this type of dictatorship-cum-democracy, where people have freedom to pent hot air of their frustration within them. For that, Musharraf has given media freedom and permission of plenty media outlets so that chailay chamchay of political parties pent their frustrations easily on these outlets.
Another question I would like to ask them (chalay chamchay politicians of NS and BB) that when they say that they are weak without their leader, why they say so? Plus, why they insist that their leader should be able to contest election or even try to become Prime minister? Is it not true that, another leader (Altaf Hussain of MQM) does not mind leading his party from abroad, does not even contest election even when he was in Pakistan (hence do not need to be in country) nor want to be minister, prime minister or hold any government provincial or national ministries (posts). Why their party leaders (NS, BB, Z) are so much concerned of returning to Pakistan, having parliament membership and post (especially Prime Minister post)? In history, many true leaders led their party from prison or abroad without any problem, why their leaders (if they are really leaders) could not?
Well, if they want to go to Pakistan, obviously no one stops them, they should go and face the tune of law, no one is really bothered. I and many People are only concerned when they want to make deal, as people want them to face the court and do not get away by making deals.
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
Oops 
I missed that detail 
Not math teacher but maybe the long pending trip to the eye doctor is due now 
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
Ive met Imran a few times too but those were the pre-politics era, where he was solely interested in Shaukat Khanum. He used to come to our school quite alot back then, after the world cup, and would always be dressed up in a black suit and talk in English. However, something really happened to him after 93 I think, he started coming wearing a white starched shalwar kameez and started speaking in Urdu, and you could tell he wasnt happy about something that really bothered him by the way he spoke. I guess that was the time when he started thinking politics, he couldnt pull it off with his english style, since he was no Jinnah or Bhutto.
Yup Spock you're right, all these general rank officers have similar bearing and style and behave in an identical way to some extent when interracting. They have a certain warm manner yet keep their comfortable distance.
And you're right abt Imran too, during his hospital campaign days I remember him in a black suit, gelled hair, and a reserved stance each time we came across him. I think just about the time he married Jemima he took to the 'people's man' look with shalwar kamez etc. I remember a picture of few days after his wedding and he was even wearing a 'thob'!
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
wait till he starts sporting lungi banyan
Re: If you could meet a Pakistani politician?
Haris, Im glad you noticed that too. Seriously, if someone meets Imran, he should ask him about this. I felt he was unhappy about something, you could clearly tell by his face, and lets hope we get to know why. I respect Imran as a great human being though, he loved his mother and struggled alot to make sure that atleast some poor people suffering from cancer get operated. A noble effort indeed.
Coming to some of the lesser prominent politicians, there is one man in particular that I would love to meet, that is Aitezaz Ehsan. The guy is brilliant and is more of a constituitionalist/lawyer than a politician though, on the lines of Jinnah.