Pakistani lawmakers have always displayed an inferiority complex but the statement in the National Assembly by MQM lawmaker Sajid Ahmed made the suggestion the height of ridicule. He suggested that the flagging Pakistan Railways should be handed over to former Indian Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav if the government of Pakistan was unable to tackle the state-run entity’s numerous problems.
What I would like to say is that he was elected by thousands of votes who put their trust in him to make sure that he makes decisions for the betterment of Pakistan. If he was so kind to Pakistan and wanted to give the railways to India why don’t we invite Manmohan Singh to come and run the country as the president has failed miserably in doing so?
I am a retired railway employee with 42 years of experience in almost all the wings of the railways. I started my career from a lower grade employee and rose to the rank of Inspectorate post. I am also, for the last 30 years the correspondent and represent four international railway magazines coming out from UK, France, USA and Switzerland. I have been working with the grassroots categories like the peons, coolies and also with the ministers of railways and parliamentary secretaries.
There are so many people to be blamed for the failure of this establishment, all the MNA’s MPA’s, students, unions and everyone who buys a ticket from the black market. Countries whose people are corrupt on all levels will see their institutions crumble down. When a whole country is corrupt the few honest people are either kicked out of shuffled from one post to another with no advancement.
When Musharraf made it compulsory for any elected member to be a graduate, he wanted a better breed of educated people to take charge of the government, but what we saw was different. As usual Pakistanis found short cuts, in fake degrees as well as other means, to be elected. There are graduates one a penny in Pakistan with no jobs, people with experience and education are jobless while corrupt elected members with no experience hold Ministerial and MD and CEO posts in our country.
Being an international railway journalist I know many of the world railways going down but they never talk of handing the country’s esteem or independence over to others, but look for solutions to resolve the problems.
Naeem Qureshi,
Lahore, November 19