Lahore Metro Train : Orange Line

[Med911]

Re: Lahore Metro Train : Orange Line

@Jolie

I’m not asking for dictatorship here, so please can you please stop excessively dwelling on it.

Patience does not mean lethargic stagnation, and complacent and anti-intellectual mindset that relies on time to fix everything instead of encouraging nation to always analyse things and strive for better. People will only fix democracy when they realise that democracy needs to be fixed, and the ways it could be fixed. If they don’t have the knowledge of what a functional, quality and transparent democracy looks like – how will they strive for it? How on earth we will have debates and exchange of ideas on democracy – if opposition to bad practices are considered a threat to democracy?

Yes today people are more politically aware (thanks to a military dictator, ironic right?) because a certain fraction of society has refused to adhere to that uninspired mentality - they really do believe that things could be be better and they would only get better if they raise their voice. If your house tap is leaking, would you try to fix it as soon as possible, or sit there and think that as long as there is no flooding in the house, it is okay if the tap is leaking indefinitely- at least we have a tap. So yes that attitude has to be dumped, and thankfully there are people who are shunning this attitude.

Middle East was far more developed than Pakistan can be in the next 50 years. They had the best roads, never ending highways, biggest housing blocks, tall buildings, massive population, natural resources, rich elite, and affluent middle class, utmost pride in their language and heritage, but unfortunately it was their complacent mindset with mediocrity, corruption, inequalities, secrecy, injustice, bad governance and Human Rights issues that became their downfall. Exactly the kind of mentality to fund in large section of Pakistanis.

So the point is, if concrete development and building of highways was everything, then Middle East would have been a heaven on earth today, and yes, likes of Saddam, Assad and Mubarak held ‘elections’ too.

I love your response. Classic. Typical stuff they say for rape, child abuse and virtually every crime in Pakistan. Name the crimes that actually gets ‘proven’ in the court in Pakistan.

I didnt say anything about a dictatorship…

Yes we need a strong opposition… But an opposition that is pragmatic and reasonable. Dharnas and threats are not conducive to the promotion of democratic norms. And being antagonistic about everything, just for the sake of it, isn’t helpful either. The metro bus for example, is something that is needed… Why oppose something that is clearly of benefit to the masses? Besides, even the KP govt is now ready to build a similar BRT system in Peshawar, despite having heaped scorn on the same in Lahore.

There are two factors needed for development… They work in unison. You need social, political and economic stability, and you need the physical infrastructure to facilitate that process. You cant have social integration without motorways and rail. Cities can offer employment but only if they can integrate and manage the people that live in it.. you cant have that without mass transit. Likewise, you cant build physical infrastructure without sociopolitical stability… Case in point, Balochistan has neither sociopolitical order, nor infrastructure. When they try to build the infrastructure, security becomes a deterrent. When the try to imporve the social factors, the lack of infrastructure is a deterrent. So another words, you need to have both to function.

As far as the arabs are concerned, many would be envious of Pakistan. They have built a lot of infrastructure, but because they havent evolved politically, and havent empowered their own people, they remain backwards despite their world class infrastructure. Look at the Saudis, you know their worried about what will happen once their oil dries up and they can no longer afford to pay their people…

And whether you like it or not, all crimes, from electoral fraud to rape and abuse, also have to be proven… Assuming guilt without evidence or a trial,negates the very purpose of having a Judiciary. I mean its simple stuff, if you assume others guilty of something without evidence, what to stop others from assuming the same of you? Its what seperates civilization from barbarity. Should we just reinsitute the old trial by ordeal stuff if you think Pakistans courts are inefficient? You know, if she burns then she be a witch!