February 28, 2009
Session of assembly where slogans against AZ boomed super supreme and pmln mnas created storm.
Dunya TV where I reminded all of the same boomings against an earlier president Musharraf who was equally elected. there is no respect for mandates or elected posts in Pakistan. very messy situation and country going towards crisis and more crisis.
February 27, 2009
Delta sub-cttee on environmnet follow up work
February 26, 2009
When I saw the papers this morning I smiled- my line of thinking of Afpakin was being followed- and there was an article on the same- I was happy to note people were following on the same thinkinbg- and FM quereshi was saying what I had publicly said a week back- give us the drones we will handle it ourselves-
Spent whole morning doing paperwork for the development schemes for this year
1- Northern Areas- Rs 5 million
2- Sindh – Rs 5 million
· Water supply scheme Juho, Ghorabari, Thatta – Rs 35,00,000/-
· Manchar water treatment plant, Manhcar lake, Dadu – Rs 15,00,000/-
Went to condolence meeting at PMl President residence.
Got stuck 2 hours in traffic jam since I was obstinate enough not to listen when told not to even try crossing islamabad to pindi road.
maintaining neutral party position- 5 beepers in 5 talkshows-
February 25, 2009
IT cttee meeting in the morning- 3 hours of me and anusha pmln mna blocking state police type legislation- we were an ultimate nightmare for the bureacrats who were trying to do this legislation which would prove very police like- she is the legal mind and i give her backup vocal support- i wld hate to be sitting on other side of the cttee tables. i have received many message emails on this issue- we will put in recommendation to ensure this type of legislation is not enacted again- many mistakes duplications otehr than galring police state objectives-
when we got out of meeting the crisis had begun- mr nawaz sharif and shahbaz sharif had been disqualified- i got in touch with party leadership who was on the way from lhr to isb and got party position- gave the same on express tv javed chaudhry- and to others -
evening went to pml meeting which lasted late till night- rumours were that az was going to show up at their house- funny how whilst my leadership was rumoured to be having dinner with az, we were all having dinner clearly minus az at the pml home. unbelievable media rumours that make it in print-
bottomline… whilst politiking continues jaati and diamir await justice and basic amenities- my travels in teh villages kept me focussed on real issues- i cld not divorce myself from main stream politics because that wld make me more effective to deliver for all my villages-
February 24, 2009
Good flight back – discussion with PMLN MNA on how to get max development schemes approved by PM for my constituency. Very energized.
Coordinating on phone with Sindh on their development schemes.
Went to assembly submit bill on acid with Fakhrinissa Justice of PPP. As promised this responsibility is done. Check bill section.
Speaker GB assembly and ministers and mna came to call on me. They had some issues of BB income support fund forms not being distributed by govt without party bias which I have raised in letter to PM. As well as Khushal Pak fnd disbursal fraud which I have also raised with PM. Plus development schemes of last year havenot been executed. Have written on that to relevant quarters. this years devlopment scheme data is going to be given to me soon. So moved on that too.
the fishermen from manchar called me on my mobile direct- i had given them my card- they pleaded for help- i told them i had done some work on it today and wld not forget them – i wld deliver
Engineers being denied jobs in OGDCL called on me. Have taken their cause up too and have written to PM. Same lecturer type issues. I was particularly touched by their plight because they were such professionals and well deserving youth of Pakistan- when you deny employment you open doors for brain drain or worse.
Waqt TV on political situation.
Salma a teenager from tippun village in the middle of sea/creek of kt bunder thatta called me- i had given her my card when i had visited. i had sewn a few sticthes off her rillee with her on my visit- she was such a joy to speak to- when she called i had just left office and was driving through blue area midst isb- and tehre she was- i cld literally hear the sound of the water and the wind- mobiles had brought us together- she said she wanted to say hello- she told me she had just finished frying fish and was sitting in darkness- i asked her about charging of her mobile- it was clearly borrowed mobile and had been charged on mainland kt bunder. she didnt ask me for anything- that was the beauty of this conversation- she didnt complain- as she knew no better life than her simple living- i asked her to go to school- she said she wld despite the fact that she thought teacher was jaahil! she motivated me so much to work harder on their development schemes- the high i got from her one call- from being direct with the people whom we were meant to serve- its difficult to explain that in words. v energized.
February 23, 2009
Drive from dewan to jaati to see sea incursion. 2 hours of dirt track of desertified land. We got to the china bridge which had been the link betweeen badin and thatta. The lbod drain created a disaster by letting sea water rush inland. Lands got destroyed. People had to flee. Who was responsible for all the 15lac acres of land intrusion. Bad designing. Who paid. No one. What a great accountability system. We stopped. Saw on map. Rangers pointed sir creek. I was visiting all those areas I had fought for. Composite dialogue remember. There was solar panel in rangers outpost. I felt this land had been forgotten. Did nobody care about how much sea had eaten. When I saw it then it hit home. All my speeches on sea intusion and mangrove necessity were finally becoming more focussed. The ngo people and villagers had arrived on spot to brief me. They had read my articles in kahwish. Had heard about my tour activities and wanted to meet. I was becomin malki of these areas. Ownership. They were orphaned for ownership. I was to lead their cause. And nothing made me sadder than the fact that had I not taken this issue in dec there wld hav been contd disaster. Now we wld get bunds made area surveyed and mangrove planted to save our lands from sea.
Being mna was an honor since one cld deliver if one stepped out of regular shell. I felt humbled by their malki they had blessed on me. Honestly. It was first time I didn’t want to return to isb. But then my job was to help by moving things in centre so for that I had to return.
Very emotional trip for me… We were now enroute kt bunder via jaati sajawal. I wld finally enter my ancestral village as mna for first time. One day I wished to be their public representative not just their daughter of the soil.
In jaati town. More like village. Poverty everywhere. Sad. Sad and sad. I was getting calls from gb. Speaker of the gb assembly wanted to see me. They wanted jalsa planned for diamir. I needed to return fast. This pull between north and south was to be my destiny of serving my people. And yes they were all my people because the federation’s strength was our strength. Reality check time to serve without geographical bias.
Also IT cttee meeting tomorw mornin. I had no choice but to return back to base. I wanted to tour each and every affected place but clearly that was impossible.
After 3 hours we reached another area of thatta. From jatti to kt bunder. My ancestral home. I met my family. It was my first time back as mna. It felt good that I was here to improve delta lives. Wwf was hosting this sector. They showed us around creeks on boat. Indus had been swallowed by sea. We went to see villages on sea on creek. Met women children did sewing on rillee with them chatted wth them. Lots of issues. All noted. Back at wwf offices. Saw vocational centre. Announced development schemes I wished to launch from my funds. Half for gb. Half for sindh of which some for manchar treatment plant and rest for solar wind systems. Raised platforms. So much good had come of this trip. I had seen heard and felt so much. I was satisfied with our progress
On way back to kchi I got sindh forest dept to sit wth me in my vehicle so they cld brief me. They had been overshadowed by wwf and I had to keep balance. Every stakeholder was important. All contributions had to be coordinated for maximu productivity.
Some colleagues who were part of this effort of trip to sindh must be thanked: other than the cttee of mnas…kiamkhani ministry of environment, irfan and waqar from epa, assembly ashiq nawaz, rafiq memon from irrigation and sindh’s media. We got so much advice and cooperation. We are grateful.
Enroute kchi to see karachi nazim for dinner. Want to discuss industrial pollutants of kchi coming into delta.
The dinner meeting wth mustafa karachi nazim was very productive. Tayyab myself and mustafa discussed 2 mega projects which were feasibility wise ready and approved in budget but money was not being released. We as cttee wld get their money released and that wld treat all waste before being dumped into sea. Mustafa is one of few people who has energy level which I can associate with. Teamwork for our people wld be our common goal.
February 22, 2009
Feb 22
Started the day early with the entire team picking me up from my kchi home. Palwasha the ppp mna joined us too. We drove to korangi fish harbour where iucn had organized a trip with school kids to plant mangroves. This trip I had envisoned wth dr tahir of iucn on my last trip and today when I saw my cttee members teachers kids from village a,d city schools all planting mangroves it made me smile. It was possible to make forward progress with persistence and a plan. We rode to the spot. The kids got off in the water and planted. When I made a speech and so did ctte members I made rehri village intl school foundation pub lic and st josephs make one too. It was such pleasure to hear the kids speak of their responsibilities. I tried to get the village and city kids to mix and mingle. It was so crucial for coming together for a cause.
Whilst kids picnicked we rode back. Very satisfying to have done this program. We returned to the city to protest side by side wth lecturers. They had gathered wth banners outside press club kchi. It was my first kchi protest! They were so grateful and I felt I was doin my job to b wth them. It was their right.
Went for lunch at my phuppos. Met up with my cousins
We took off for interior sindh at 2pm from kchi. First stop gharo press club where I gave my briefing on our finbdings and also fact that I wld hold industries responsible for their pollution of irrigation channels. Sassi palejo father dropped by to give advice on how gharo creek shld not have been dumping ground for rbod. He gave reference of our family ties and my responsibilities to my district thatta. I was happy to be home. It was my ancestral district but my responsibilities were to my country not just to my district as chairperson. We proceeded to gharo creek zero point for briefing.
Major issues between journalists and consultants on the dumping ground issue. I played refree but bottomline was that there was no communication at planning stage between communities and experts. Now that I had arrived on scene the issues were cropping up. I ate bombay bakery cake and I walked to the site to see how the future damage could happen. Atleast I had got the debate going. I was the malkaini for the locals. I was their voice they said. They were grateful for ownership of their issues. Seemed obvious role I thought but this had been missed earlier.
Next we drove to haleji. And we were able to see how on a ramsor and wildlife protective lake which was a jewel earlier a drain was dug. the rbod side by side wth only road dividing it. Disaster said common sense. Again we got off and there was shouting match between media and experts. I refereed but it was clear that this was an environmental disaster in the making. Madness I thought. A good project but poor planning and implementation. I saw the crocs which I had seen as a kid and I thought of my responsibilities to our kids.
It was late and we drove to our rest house dewan city. Civlization in middle of nowhere. The management gave red carpet wth kids and bouquets etc. Whilst I freshened up for dinner they came in for autographs. I always wrote similar messages… Always serve pakistan.
Dinner wth management was very lavish. Lobster tails fish tikkas and all. I ate and enjoyed. We had planned to call on speaker sahiba who was in her constituency badin and was acting president today. So quickly after dinner We arrived at her palatial grounds by 10. I met her famous husband for first time. She was very supportive. We had second dinner! Palla aani batair sajji prawns. We discussed environment politics security issues in detail. Very important interaction.
I am Back at rest house. We had to hold people responsible for pollution. I hope my hosts were not polluting. Over dinner I touched on this subject!
Long day but fruitful. Our driver mangrio has been incredible for his common sense advice. Its normally the locals who are sanest about such issues. We had enjoyed our trek together tomorw the trek first phase would end but this was a tough subject and report making would take painful sessions sittings trips. Painful only because of lost time
Otherwise what a pleasure to be contributing to the lives of the indus delta people … My people…
Gb nwfp and quetta had called but I had not managed to entertain. I was focussed and needed to concentrate on this task for atleast few days!
Being home was addictive. …home was home.
February 21, 2009
Feb 21—
Flight to isb then 3hrs to gujrat. Spent time wth chaudhry sdahib and his family. Went to graveyard. Met political leaders. PM came at same time. Pushing back to isb airport and back to kchi! Crazy schedule but wil try and rest tonight since long day tomorrow too
February 20, 2009
Feb 20
Early start as I had desired it since we needed to get through dangerous dacoit belt in day hours. Imagine this was sindh province not some b area of balochistan and yet there were such major security concerns. This was an important journey. It was first time that standing committee had engaged in rbod lbod delta issues and willing to travel its entire length by road stopping at each structural point to analyse pollution issues.
We left sukkur and drove through larkana. It was my first time. I was saddened to see the lack of development considering this was prime minisetrail hub so many times. Punjabi towns and cities were on different level. Unbelievable difference in development. We finally arrived at shadadkot kambar. It was the area affected by rbod 3. Villagers were concerned about saline breaches and floods etc. I had asked to meet with them instead I was taken to a point called zero point miroo khan which was converging point with few people around it. In a makeshift shamyana they had arranged briefing. When epa team tried to ask politely about issues the wapda chief engineer tried to be brusque. I was not going to take any such behaviour. I was firm and gave all chance to express themselves.
After briefing I walked over to the few villagers managing their herds. I was a nightmare chairperson. Because I wasn’t going to keep to their fixed schedule. The entire official troup had to walk towards those few villagers. They had issues of waterlogging which they needed relief on. The officials were given the task to solve. To make sure their was accountability of instructions after I left my visiting cards with my mobiles. That had by now after one year become permanent feature of my trips. Villagers had access and they were my first source of information. The power to be direct with the people was certainly a blessing thoguh at times it was too much work as well since balochistan nwfp and gb were all on direct access!
Anyway as soon as we moved from there I got call from my aide in isb saying that villagers were trying to reach me and were waiting at balochistan sindh border waiting for my arrival. They were angry wth officials that I had been kept away from them. I called them up. They were 3 hours away and there was no way our schedule cld handle that kind of diversion. I promised to see them next time and in meantime gave them email where they promised to write to cttee. Plus that area was extra security alert.
Here we were…example of people being kept away from leadership. Prime issues of pak. Who was to blame ..anyway I had found out about them through my accessability and we were so much the better for it.
At this point my aide called me to inform me about my pml president’s mother’s death. I tried to enquire about flights back from closest point. Closest point was kchi and flite that I could possibly make was 7am next morning. Sindh travelling was distant. I felt stranded since I knew I had missed the janaza. this was not just a pml president. I was treated like a daughter of the household and as such his mom was knwon to us. I had often been in gujrat in election days. She was the typical strong punjabi grandma who ruled super supreme even in politics. She was a recognized pml leader of her time by fatima jinnah. I had often had good conversations with her in my faint punjabi. Last I had seen her wsas at a wedding in lhr of their family where she was quite unwell. I knew how lost ch sahib would be without her. I needed to get back fast. Since earliest was 7am flight to isb then 3 hour drive to gujrat I decided I had no choice but to continue moving down south fast. I rearranged ctte program. I would go to gujrat for a day and then return the next day to take on next part of trip. Assembly staff reorganiZed.
Next stop was dadu. I called my colleague talat who was ppp mna who had accompanied me to china. He was most happy to hear from me. Was unhappy that I had not given him previous notice. He was stuck in kutcheri. I had on purpose not given earlier notice. Ecause I didn’t w,t us sitting in palaces instead I wanted to spend precious time roaming dirt tracks and getting to real issues. Anyway I was in his territory and I felt somehow safer. This network of mnas was important in politics. We stuck together irrespective of party affiliation. Dadu wapda irrigationr est house for lunch. I got briefing on rbod 2 there. Fish koftas. Rice chappatis. Saag. I know I mention a lot in my diary pages but it was not just food. It was sawaad wala food made in villages where things were more wholesome. It was my favourite recipees done in my provincial way!
We moved onto manchar. It was the lake which was known for major flora fa,a birds fish and now it was dead polluted saline poisonous. I had read so much about it. We approached it through rbod with us driving on dirt track at raised level. Painfully slow drive. The fisher folk forum were waiting there with their villagers for me. I was eager to reach. I was eager to see my boat people. I knew ab out their suffering. I was mentally prepared. Imagine living on poisonous water. U were bound to be surrounded by disease and discomfort. We finally arrived. I jumped out of the jeep and met the men. I asked about the women. They were inside the lake. Before the officials knew it I had jumped into their boats and was rowing towards their huts on the water. The officials followed! My fellow mqm colleague was keeping great pace and was great support and sport.
We reached the huts and there I held kutchery. I noted their issues and just shared their pain. It is difficult to choose which area of pakistan was more poor which was more immediate crisis struck. Wherever I roamed I found same desparation and poverty. I was their hope and I knew I would deliver for them. The hope had to be transferred to them which I did. No huge promises. Simple commitment to solve their priority needs. They were all human needs.
As I drov e to another open kucthery with thye men I thought of how fortunate we were and yet the upper classes of pak had enough to bicker about. Whe I arrived at the kucthery the officials sat on the chairs around me. There were no chairs left for villagers so that when the aged men arrived I got up and made them sit around me. In sindh u kiss the hands of older people and I ofcourse did that to the oldest man in the gathering. It was probably an important signal for the officials. I asked them to give advice on how they wanted their misery to end. They were sufferers. They would know best. They gave suggestions. My suited booted assembly staff took notes and the officials engaged in conversation on different solutions. Consultations with community were so important. If they had been done the mess ups would not have occured. With all their technical might the villagers had common sense historic suggestions since they understood forces of nature best being born n bred in midst of them.
After this useful interaction where we got suggestions which I knew I would have to balance with thatta needs we moved onto sehwan…
Yes sehwan mazar of lal shahbaz qalandar. Wow. we were following the route of rbod and were concerned about seepage flooding but at the sa.e time we were blessed to be in such religiously historic sites. It was serene place where we drove to hill top to get a view of river rbod mazar. I drove to the rest house for tea and then proceeded for prayers. The officials keenly looked at the politician saying yes all politicians go their to ask for forward movement in their political careers. My prayer was stronger and simpler. I was not much of a mazar soofi type sindhi but dua was dua. We drove in. And were able to do our dua and do what we needed to do after that. The fakirs the ambience. It was such an important part of soofi sindh. I had not expected this on our trip but I was glad we had stopped here. It was all the spirirt of sindh. the colours of sindh. It was my sindh…
We moved onto amri the arche sites on route rbod which were potentially being disturbed. At night when we stopped I could see much so I just walked into the v illage and into a tea shop. And there gathered many people. Took their opinion on rbod. They promised to write in detail their issues.
Arrived by night into Kotri barrage. The famous 10maf downstream kotri for which I had started this cttee. The lights were on and it reminded me of a great historic site with lots of stories underneath its light. We had a briefing by the engineers on the site and then moved onto circuit house hyd at 2 hour delayed scheduled. We got 4 presenattions on lbod manchar rbod. Had great palla machi and sajji courtesy district govt/mqm and then pushed off to superhighway kchi. Reached kchi early morning exhausted. In time for flight to isb…
I
February 19, 2009
Feb 19
Leaving for Sukkur today on a trek to help fight the injustices to the Indus delta people… (sub cttee of environment)
Flight to sukkur was enroute lahore. When we finally touched down in sukkur I realized I had not been for long time. We were welcomed at airport by irrigation bureacrats, epa officials, police. I had with me two officers from assembly and one from the ministry of environment.
We proceeded straight to the Dolphin centre. I had raised the dolphin issue last month and they were eager to show us the centre. We saw on banks some dolpins. Sukkur was famous for its protection of blind indus dolphin.
The epa team was eager to show me waste sewearage being thrown in canal and this was certainly an epedemic in entire sindh. We noted it down.
Finally by evening we arrived at circuit house sukkur where the wapda officials briefed us about the progress of rbod 3. We had as terms of reference environmental impact of these mega projects and we had plenty of investigations to be done. They were defensive and I was aggressive as usual. The mqm mna tayyab who joined us in sukkur was the good cop and I was the bad cop! We went through the maps. I asked them what insanity had led to wapda throwing saline water into freshwater lakes and how could environmental assessment report be accepted from a firm that wapda had backlisted itself.
I had invited ex chairman irsa for consultations over dinner. So whilst I savoured fish, bay and many delicacies that me think “sindhi cuisine was truly ultimate” I also engaged in technical discussions over structural issues of design outlay.
After dinner ieven though it was late a delegation of lecturers who I had rallied for came to call on me and thank me for their support. They had just finished a huge rally in sukkur and they briefed me of their struggle. I had committed I would fight shoulder to shoulder till success with them. I would certainly not ditch them. We planned our kchi rally.
I addressed a Press conf on all current issues and gave my party position.
It was late but day was not over. I had to give a French tv interview. Talkshow with brussels london paris and sukkur! On talibans
Day ended finally. I was happy to be in home province. I was happy to be contributing finally to their lives. It was much delayed but other areas of pakistan had taken precedence
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