Right to information remains off limits to many
By Zahid Abdullah
More things change, more they remain the same. This cannot be more applicable to anything than our bureaucracy. Perennially subservient to its masters, whether political or dictatorial variety, it refuses to be open and transparent in its functioning. This is ostensibly done on the pretext of following rules and obeying the dictates of the rulers. Loot and plunder the public money and then cite the rules if the information is sought about the way public money is spent seems to be the order of the day as far as the nexus between the corrupt is concerned.
Preoccupation of print and electronic media with putting to microscopic scrutiny deeds of politicians has resulted in devoting far less attention to those of the bureaucrats. While politicians as elected representatives will always have greater visibility and accessibility, and, therefore, will be subjected to greater level of public scrutiny, we will have to find ways and means for greater public accountability of invisible and elusive bureaucrats.
One way of promoting public accountability of elected and public representatives is putting in place right to information law under which a mechanism laid down for providing information to citizens on demand as well as making information public through proactive disclosure. Over 100 countries have enacted such laws.
Closer at home, Bangladesh and India have enacted effective information laws, especially the one in India is being used as a powerful tool to make politicians and bureaucrats accountable and check corruption. Our bureaucracy could not remain aloof to the demands for an information law. However, it came up with a very weak law in the shape of Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002 and whatever effectiveness it had was watered down through its subordinate rules which were framed in 2004.
Whenever yours truly sought information using this law, bureaucrats denied information requests paddling excuses which one does not know whether to call them flimsy or pathetic or both. Same happened to the information request filed by Mukhtar Ahmed Ali, a citizen based in Islamabad. On January 13, 2010, he filed an information request to Federal Bureau of revenue (FBR) under Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002 asking the FBR to provide certified information about the names, addresses and the fee paid to the lawyers by FBR to represent it in courts from January 1, 2004 to December 21, 2009. On February 22, 2010, FBR provided an answer in one liner: "The required information does not come within the ambit of section 7 of Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002".
On the intervention of Federal Ombudsman, FBR explained its position on March 4, 2010 and took the plea that the requested information was part of file noting which were exempted under the FIO. (Interestingly, the requester had sought access to the contracts between lawyers and FBR and had never demanded file notings in the first place). FBR also maintained that "it invaded the privacy of the individual. "The constitution of Pakistan gives protection to the privacy of individuals and the complainant is desirous of violating this fundamental right". No one can claim right to privacy when paid from public funds but look at the great lengths FBR bureaucracy is willing to go, even invoking constitution of the country, to protect information about the fee it paid to the lawyers from public funds.
No wonder, the Federal Tax Ombudsman after hearing both parties on May 10, 2010, in its finding said, "The requested information falls in the category of public record," and that "FBR is wrong in presuming that complainant is requesting information which is excluded under section 8(a) of FOI Ordinance." Since decisions of Federal Tax Ombudsman are recommendatory in nature, therefore, it recommended FBR to provide information to requester within 21 days. Instead of compliance, the FBR chose to file representation to the President of Pakistan and prayed him to set aside the information request "in the name of law".
A similar information request was submitted to the ministry of law and justice by yours truly in May 2008 asking certified copy of the list of names and addresses of the lawyers hired by the ministry to represent the Federal Government in the Supreme Court and the fee paid to each lawyer. The grounds on which the requested information was denied were even flimsier. The Ministry commented to the Ombudsman that "if the required information is provided to the applicant, the same would create unnecessary problems and will open a Pandora's Box…" The information request was termed as "indirect interference into the working of the government".
Politicians need to make bureaucratic functioning open and transparent by making bureaucracy subservient to the will of people. The government is moving in the right direction as it is in the process of finalising the draft of Freedom of Information Bill 2010. Bureaucracies in Bangladesh an India, still prisoners of the past and living in colonial era, resisted the enactment of right to information laws and our bureaucracy is not going to be any exception.
The challenge for politicians will be to sift bureaucratic shenanigans from legitimate concerns as they finalise the Freedom of Information Bill 2010. Their counterparts in India held bureaucrats at bay and sought an acted upon expert advice from the right to information activists. Congress party is still reaping dividends for enacting a powerful right to information law and hopefully this fact is not lost to the present government.
Oct 24, 2010
Out of sight
Floods cannot be the only excuse for not achieving the MDGs
By Afshan Ahmed
The Millennium Declaration to attain development goals (MDG) in 2000 was a milestone in the international cooperation, inspiring 192 UN member states including Pakistan to improve the lives of billions of people around the world. Pakistan is lagging behind in achievement of these goals and the Government of Pakistan, in its report to MDG secretariat, gives more excuses and reasons to lag behind rather than proposing a viable layout and solution for future. Current floods in Pakistan have destroyed most of the social and civil infra structure in almost 75 districts in Pakistan and would require another decade to put the life at normal track, making achievement of MDGs even difficult.
Out of the above mentioned 75 districts, 24 districts of KP have been adversely affected. According to the Provincial Education Department's initial assessment almost 1000 schools have been completely destroyed during the flood in KP only. Here it is pertinent to note that the education system in KP is already marred by terrorism turning many girls schools into ghost schools. Education sector in Sindh is also hit badly due to recent floods where actual loss is still being estimated. This would hamper Pakistan's efforts in improving gender disparity index in Pakistan resulting into increased social exclusion of girls with low enrollment ratio especially at secondary education level.
Floods cannot be the only excuse for not achieving the MDGs. One needs to look into government allocation and spending on education sector too. Even before floods this sector was hit by governance disaster with only 2.05pc of GDP allocation; 10.9pc of exiting schools were without building and 37.7 percent were without a boundary wall besides lacking other facilities such as drinking water, toilet and electricity. No wonder we failed to achieve our MDG target on education so far.
Reduction in infant mortality is another MDG that we missed badly. Pakistan has one of the highest infant mortality rates in region even worst than Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. The progress report on MDG fourth series shows only 1 percentage point increase under Fully Immunized Population Proportion between 2004-5 and 2008-9. Except for Punjab, all the remaining provinces have shown a decline in percentage in immunization coverage. The situation will be further aggravated by floods where according to UN, almost 3.5 million children are at risk of deadly diseases in the flood affected areas.
Towards the goal of improving maternal health Pakistan needs to achieve fifty percent more in next five years what it has done so far. Due to current damages health delivery system has been also affected and life of hundreds of pregnant women is at risk. In many flood-hit areas, hundreds of patients have reported with skin infections, diarrhea, gastro, mental stress, anxiety, high blood pressure and dehydration.
Floods have already destroyed and would continue to destroy the livelihood assets of almost 20 million people. Majority of them were dependent on daily wages or cash crop sale. They have not only lost their livelihood assets but operating markets and institutions too resulting in increased vulnerability and deepened poverty.
One million tons of wheat stored at railways platforms or in flourmills has been destroyed and the price of the commodity has already risen by Rs125 per 40 kg. The supply of vegetables, fruits, and grains is badly affected. Rice crop in Sindh and sugarcane crop in KP is completely damaged, all of this would not only result into severe food crisis in months to come but also be a major blow to Pakistan's efforts towards reduction of hunger and poverty by fifty percent.
Pakistan's record in not very impressive as far as progress on MDG 7 (environmental conservation) is concerned. Area under administrative control under provincial forest departments (irrespective of the fact whether it has any plantation or not) is considered as forest. Even by this definition there is no significant increase in area under forests since 1990-2009. It is widely assumed that massive deforestation was one of the root causes of floods in KPK. Progress on conserving biodiversity was bleak too. Pakistan has been allowing the Arab princes to hunt black tiger and other threatened species for last many decades. Due to floods many of these species including Indus dolphin suffered even badly and are further threatened.
GDP per unit of energy has been adopted as a proxy for measuring energy efficiency which is highly irregular since 2004. Pakistan has the largest fleet of vehicles running on CNG in South Asia and seems to meet at least one of the indicators on sustainability of environment. However, the challenge is to ensure the provision of demanded fuel at reasonable cost especially after the disrupted transportation system. A national Environment policy has been formulated along with well equipped national center for drought and early warnings but it has to be integrated with zoning of land to deal with any future calamities.
Pakistan's environmental fragility can be assessed due to current rains which are also being attributed to global warming. Usually countries doing better on MDG1 (poverty reduction) face a failure on MDG7 as it is often perceived that development leading to poverty reduction would have negative affects on environment. However, in our case we are failing on both ends.
In November 2010, the world leader will gather in New York to review the progress towards MDG. Perhaps the delegation of Pakistan would be looking at bright side of the floods -- an excuse for not delivering on MDG goals. However, one needs to remind the policy makers that natural calamity can be avoided turning into human disaster by right priorities and in our case MDG never seemed to be our first priority to begin with. We need to think of development beyond millennium development goals and for that particular purpose need to build not only our case for international community but also need to mend our acts at domestic front.
By Afshan Ahmed
The Millennium Declaration to attain development goals (MDG) in 2000 was a milestone in the international cooperation, inspiring 192 UN member states including Pakistan to improve the lives of billions of people around the world. Pakistan is lagging behind in achievement of these goals and the Government of Pakistan, in its report to MDG secretariat, gives more excuses and reasons to lag behind rather than proposing a viable layout and solution for future. Current floods in Pakistan have destroyed most of the social and civil infra structure in almost 75 districts in Pakistan and would require another decade to put the life at normal track, making achievement of MDGs even difficult.
Out of the above mentioned 75 districts, 24 districts of KP have been adversely affected. According to the Provincial Education Department's initial assessment almost 1000 schools have been completely destroyed during the flood in KP only. Here it is pertinent to note that the education system in KP is already marred by terrorism turning many girls schools into ghost schools. Education sector in Sindh is also hit badly due to recent floods where actual loss is still being estimated. This would hamper Pakistan's efforts in improving gender disparity index in Pakistan resulting into increased social exclusion of girls with low enrollment ratio especially at secondary education level.
Floods cannot be the only excuse for not achieving the MDGs. One needs to look into government allocation and spending on education sector too. Even before floods this sector was hit by governance disaster with only 2.05pc of GDP allocation; 10.9pc of exiting schools were without building and 37.7 percent were without a boundary wall besides lacking other facilities such as drinking water, toilet and electricity. No wonder we failed to achieve our MDG target on education so far.
Reduction in infant mortality is another MDG that we missed badly. Pakistan has one of the highest infant mortality rates in region even worst than Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. The progress report on MDG fourth series shows only 1 percentage point increase under Fully Immunized Population Proportion between 2004-5 and 2008-9. Except for Punjab, all the remaining provinces have shown a decline in percentage in immunization coverage. The situation will be further aggravated by floods where according to UN, almost 3.5 million children are at risk of deadly diseases in the flood affected areas.
Towards the goal of improving maternal health Pakistan needs to achieve fifty percent more in next five years what it has done so far. Due to current damages health delivery system has been also affected and life of hundreds of pregnant women is at risk. In many flood-hit areas, hundreds of patients have reported with skin infections, diarrhea, gastro, mental stress, anxiety, high blood pressure and dehydration.
Floods have already destroyed and would continue to destroy the livelihood assets of almost 20 million people. Majority of them were dependent on daily wages or cash crop sale. They have not only lost their livelihood assets but operating markets and institutions too resulting in increased vulnerability and deepened poverty.
One million tons of wheat stored at railways platforms or in flourmills has been destroyed and the price of the commodity has already risen by Rs125 per 40 kg. The supply of vegetables, fruits, and grains is badly affected. Rice crop in Sindh and sugarcane crop in KP is completely damaged, all of this would not only result into severe food crisis in months to come but also be a major blow to Pakistan's efforts towards reduction of hunger and poverty by fifty percent.
Pakistan's record in not very impressive as far as progress on MDG 7 (environmental conservation) is concerned. Area under administrative control under provincial forest departments (irrespective of the fact whether it has any plantation or not) is considered as forest. Even by this definition there is no significant increase in area under forests since 1990-2009. It is widely assumed that massive deforestation was one of the root causes of floods in KPK. Progress on conserving biodiversity was bleak too. Pakistan has been allowing the Arab princes to hunt black tiger and other threatened species for last many decades. Due to floods many of these species including Indus dolphin suffered even badly and are further threatened.
GDP per unit of energy has been adopted as a proxy for measuring energy efficiency which is highly irregular since 2004. Pakistan has the largest fleet of vehicles running on CNG in South Asia and seems to meet at least one of the indicators on sustainability of environment. However, the challenge is to ensure the provision of demanded fuel at reasonable cost especially after the disrupted transportation system. A national Environment policy has been formulated along with well equipped national center for drought and early warnings but it has to be integrated with zoning of land to deal with any future calamities.
Pakistan's environmental fragility can be assessed due to current rains which are also being attributed to global warming. Usually countries doing better on MDG1 (poverty reduction) face a failure on MDG7 as it is often perceived that development leading to poverty reduction would have negative affects on environment. However, in our case we are failing on both ends.
In November 2010, the world leader will gather in New York to review the progress towards MDG. Perhaps the delegation of Pakistan would be looking at bright side of the floods -- an excuse for not delivering on MDG goals. However, one needs to remind the policy makers that natural calamity can be avoided turning into human disaster by right priorities and in our case MDG never seemed to be our first priority to begin with. We need to think of development beyond millennium development goals and for that particular purpose need to build not only our case for international community but also need to mend our acts at domestic front.
They need our help, now
The launch of the British Pakistan Foundation in London was a glittering affair that raised over 200,000 pounds for flood relief
By Murtaza Ali Shah and Beena Sarwar
It was certainly something to write home about: a black tie affair, fundraising dinner with a heart, attended by a glittering galaxy of the who's who of Britain's Pakistani community and their friends. The occasion: the high profile launch of the British Pakistan Foundation (BPF) at London's Hilton Park Lane hotel last weekend.
Guests were welcomed at the entrance by eye-catching women in white with British and Pakistani flags, balancing on stilts. The dining hall inside, packed to capacity, testified to the desire of expatriates wanting to contribute to the home country, particularly in the wake of the floods that have devastated Pakistan.
"We didn't expect so many people to buy tickets," said Kashif Zafar, a banker, one of the organisers, who has recently moved to London from New York with his Indian-born wife Sujata. At GBP 150 a plate, his initial apprehension prior to the event was understandable.
"Now we are worried we will be over capacity," his friend and fellow organiser Faisal Mir told The News at the opening reception. Also a banker based in London, Mir worked in his student days as a journalist with The Frontier Post in Lahore and is also, coincidentally, married to an Indian woman.
Pakistani born bankers and hedge-fund managers like Zafar and Mir bought the bulk of the 10-12-seater tables crammed into the dining hall. Over 700 guests are estimated to have finally attended the event that had an initial seating capacity of 600.
At the launch, BPF Chairman, the charismatic British-Pakistani entrepreneur, television personality (from BBC's hit series 'Dragon's Den') and philanthropist James Caan (born Nazim Khan in Lahore, 1960) told the audience how the Foundation had started, inspired by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi -- along the lines of the American Pakistan Foundation that he had earlier encouraged, launched in 2009.
The Foreign Minister, suave in a black sherwani, was present, accompanied by the High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan and other members of the Pakistani mission in London. Seated at the main table with Qureshi was British Foreign Minister William Hague, along with Baroness Saeeda Warsi and several other front-benchers from the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties.
They listened intently as Caan spoke simply, and from the heart, about the devastation caused by floods in Pakistan. He spoke from personal knowledge, having just returned from a trip to the flood-hit areas where the James Caan Foundation (JCF) is working on a just launched, ambitious 'Build A Village' project. "I have to tell you about a man I met near Nowshera. He told me how he saved his 80-year old blind mother from the flood waters and in the process, lost his 13-year old daughter, who was swept away, never to be seen again. This is just one of so many tragedies caused by the floods."
He drew inspiration from the dedicated hard work of volunteers in the affected areas. "I'm proud of our community and what we have done," said Caan. "I can't explain the devastation I saw, traveling with the US Army, seeing a land mass the size of the UK under water. The level of tragedy is beyond anything I have ever seen. Once an issue is out of the media spotlight, it gets forgotten."
But we can't afford to forget this tragedy, he stressed. The BPF, being launched at a critical moment in Pakistan's history, is dedicated to improving the socio-economic condition of the people of Pakistan, he said.
Caan, who has been active in raising awareness about the plight of flood affected victims in the mainstream British media, believes that the British Pakistani community can be a potent force for development for Pakistan through remittances and philanthropy, as well as through the promotion of trade, investments, knowledge and technology transfers. "Please be generous, please donate because they need our help, and they need it now," he concluded.
His speech was followed by brief addresses by Mr Qureshi and Mr Hague, who stressed the need for Britain and Pakistan to work together to further strengthen socio-economic and cultural ties at the government and the people-to-people level. Shah Mahmood Qureshi said he was inspired by the enthusiasm of young British Pakistanis. Commending those at the forefront of starting the BPF, he termed the launch as a turning point for relations of two countries, as it testified to the desire of expatriates to be part of the process to strengthen Pakistan, rejuvenating hopes about the country's future.
"British Pakistanis are the ambassadors of Pakistan and an integral part of the close relations between the countries," he said. "We all have stakes in a strong and prosperous Pakistan. A deep partnership exists between the UK and Pakistan and it is made possible by the over one million strong diaspora of Pakistanis who have given back to Pakistan on every difficult occasion. The people of Pakistan are deeply appreciative of the generosity of the British people in flood relief efforts."
He appreciated the visits of senior British political figures to Pakistan's flood affected areas. "They have helped Pakistan raise awareness about the true scale of the disaster," he said, detailing the scale of the devastation caused by the floods. He appealed to the British government and public to continue supporting Pakistan's recovery and rehabilitation efforts.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague announced British government's "100 percent support" to BPF and its vision of helping the socio-economic development of Pakistan and its people. "Pakistanis are talented and rich in ideas. They have contributed greatly to life in the UK. Their intellectual ability can be utilised to engineer the prosperity and development of Pakistan but it needs help from friends of Pakistan abroad. The role of diaspora Pakistanis is crucial in this regard."
"Pakistan," he added, "is a young democracy beset by complex problems which could have taxed the resources and stability of any state in the world. The human toll exacted by the challenges demands our concern and our passion."
Hague said Pakistan was a key strategic partner to Britain in the region. "Britain will always help Pakistan wherever it can, whether during natural calamities such as the recent floods and 2005 earthquake or advocating for concessions to Pakistan at the European level."
"Pakistan needs the support of the international community over a long term," he said. "Britain will be the staunchest supporter of Pakistan's democratic future." He referred to the recent meeting of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan where Britain strongly advocated the case of Pakistan. He also spoke about the dire need to bring necessary reforms to Pakistan's economic structure.
The event was attended by leading Pakistanis from the field of sport, business, music, film, politics and entertainment as well heads of major NGOs, mainstream journalists, heads of financial institutions, key figures of the three main parties and heads of international banks and other financial institutions. They included Lyse Doucet of the BBC and the legendary Shoaib Sultan Khan who pioneered the rural support programmes that have done much to alleviate the lot of the rural poor in Pakistan. Hitan Mehta, Director Operations of the British Asian Trust (one of The Prince's Charities) was also there, eager to help with Pakistan flood relief.
The speeches were followed by dinner and then a live auction taking up from where the silent auction had left off. Carolinne Oliphant, the experienced auctioneer from Bonhams, coaxed and lured the audience into bidding higher and higher amounts for the dazzling array of art works and memorabilia donated for the fundraiser.
A "Bismillah" engraved in Swarovsky crystal, went for GBP 5,000 (way over the reserve price of GBP 1,200). A limited edition print titled 'Red Silks 4' by Nusra Qureshi (donated by Green Cardamom Gallery) sold for GBP 3,000 (reserve price GBP 800). A series of M. F. Husain's 'Mother Teresa' prints went for a steal -- GBP 10,500 (reserve GBP 7,000). And so it went.
By the end of the evening, the BPF netted over GBP 2,25,000 (they are still calculating the profits) to be given as donation for Pakistan flood relief.
Typically for a Pakistan event, it went way over the original closing time. The auction itself ran past midnight, and was followed by the popular rock band Strings, flown in especially for the fundraiser. Strings mesmerised the diverse crowd with their hit songs for some two hours before calling it a night. And what a night it was.
By Murtaza Ali Shah and Beena Sarwar
It was certainly something to write home about: a black tie affair, fundraising dinner with a heart, attended by a glittering galaxy of the who's who of Britain's Pakistani community and their friends. The occasion: the high profile launch of the British Pakistan Foundation (BPF) at London's Hilton Park Lane hotel last weekend.
Guests were welcomed at the entrance by eye-catching women in white with British and Pakistani flags, balancing on stilts. The dining hall inside, packed to capacity, testified to the desire of expatriates wanting to contribute to the home country, particularly in the wake of the floods that have devastated Pakistan.
"We didn't expect so many people to buy tickets," said Kashif Zafar, a banker, one of the organisers, who has recently moved to London from New York with his Indian-born wife Sujata. At GBP 150 a plate, his initial apprehension prior to the event was understandable.
"Now we are worried we will be over capacity," his friend and fellow organiser Faisal Mir told The News at the opening reception. Also a banker based in London, Mir worked in his student days as a journalist with The Frontier Post in Lahore and is also, coincidentally, married to an Indian woman.
Pakistani born bankers and hedge-fund managers like Zafar and Mir bought the bulk of the 10-12-seater tables crammed into the dining hall. Over 700 guests are estimated to have finally attended the event that had an initial seating capacity of 600.
At the launch, BPF Chairman, the charismatic British-Pakistani entrepreneur, television personality (from BBC's hit series 'Dragon's Den') and philanthropist James Caan (born Nazim Khan in Lahore, 1960) told the audience how the Foundation had started, inspired by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi -- along the lines of the American Pakistan Foundation that he had earlier encouraged, launched in 2009.
The Foreign Minister, suave in a black sherwani, was present, accompanied by the High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan and other members of the Pakistani mission in London. Seated at the main table with Qureshi was British Foreign Minister William Hague, along with Baroness Saeeda Warsi and several other front-benchers from the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties.
They listened intently as Caan spoke simply, and from the heart, about the devastation caused by floods in Pakistan. He spoke from personal knowledge, having just returned from a trip to the flood-hit areas where the James Caan Foundation (JCF) is working on a just launched, ambitious 'Build A Village' project. "I have to tell you about a man I met near Nowshera. He told me how he saved his 80-year old blind mother from the flood waters and in the process, lost his 13-year old daughter, who was swept away, never to be seen again. This is just one of so many tragedies caused by the floods."
He drew inspiration from the dedicated hard work of volunteers in the affected areas. "I'm proud of our community and what we have done," said Caan. "I can't explain the devastation I saw, traveling with the US Army, seeing a land mass the size of the UK under water. The level of tragedy is beyond anything I have ever seen. Once an issue is out of the media spotlight, it gets forgotten."
But we can't afford to forget this tragedy, he stressed. The BPF, being launched at a critical moment in Pakistan's history, is dedicated to improving the socio-economic condition of the people of Pakistan, he said.
Caan, who has been active in raising awareness about the plight of flood affected victims in the mainstream British media, believes that the British Pakistani community can be a potent force for development for Pakistan through remittances and philanthropy, as well as through the promotion of trade, investments, knowledge and technology transfers. "Please be generous, please donate because they need our help, and they need it now," he concluded.
His speech was followed by brief addresses by Mr Qureshi and Mr Hague, who stressed the need for Britain and Pakistan to work together to further strengthen socio-economic and cultural ties at the government and the people-to-people level. Shah Mahmood Qureshi said he was inspired by the enthusiasm of young British Pakistanis. Commending those at the forefront of starting the BPF, he termed the launch as a turning point for relations of two countries, as it testified to the desire of expatriates to be part of the process to strengthen Pakistan, rejuvenating hopes about the country's future.
"British Pakistanis are the ambassadors of Pakistan and an integral part of the close relations between the countries," he said. "We all have stakes in a strong and prosperous Pakistan. A deep partnership exists between the UK and Pakistan and it is made possible by the over one million strong diaspora of Pakistanis who have given back to Pakistan on every difficult occasion. The people of Pakistan are deeply appreciative of the generosity of the British people in flood relief efforts."
He appreciated the visits of senior British political figures to Pakistan's flood affected areas. "They have helped Pakistan raise awareness about the true scale of the disaster," he said, detailing the scale of the devastation caused by the floods. He appealed to the British government and public to continue supporting Pakistan's recovery and rehabilitation efforts.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague announced British government's "100 percent support" to BPF and its vision of helping the socio-economic development of Pakistan and its people. "Pakistanis are talented and rich in ideas. They have contributed greatly to life in the UK. Their intellectual ability can be utilised to engineer the prosperity and development of Pakistan but it needs help from friends of Pakistan abroad. The role of diaspora Pakistanis is crucial in this regard."
"Pakistan," he added, "is a young democracy beset by complex problems which could have taxed the resources and stability of any state in the world. The human toll exacted by the challenges demands our concern and our passion."
Hague said Pakistan was a key strategic partner to Britain in the region. "Britain will always help Pakistan wherever it can, whether during natural calamities such as the recent floods and 2005 earthquake or advocating for concessions to Pakistan at the European level."
"Pakistan needs the support of the international community over a long term," he said. "Britain will be the staunchest supporter of Pakistan's democratic future." He referred to the recent meeting of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan where Britain strongly advocated the case of Pakistan. He also spoke about the dire need to bring necessary reforms to Pakistan's economic structure.
The event was attended by leading Pakistanis from the field of sport, business, music, film, politics and entertainment as well heads of major NGOs, mainstream journalists, heads of financial institutions, key figures of the three main parties and heads of international banks and other financial institutions. They included Lyse Doucet of the BBC and the legendary Shoaib Sultan Khan who pioneered the rural support programmes that have done much to alleviate the lot of the rural poor in Pakistan. Hitan Mehta, Director Operations of the British Asian Trust (one of The Prince's Charities) was also there, eager to help with Pakistan flood relief.
The speeches were followed by dinner and then a live auction taking up from where the silent auction had left off. Carolinne Oliphant, the experienced auctioneer from Bonhams, coaxed and lured the audience into bidding higher and higher amounts for the dazzling array of art works and memorabilia donated for the fundraiser.
A "Bismillah" engraved in Swarovsky crystal, went for GBP 5,000 (way over the reserve price of GBP 1,200). A limited edition print titled 'Red Silks 4' by Nusra Qureshi (donated by Green Cardamom Gallery) sold for GBP 3,000 (reserve price GBP 800). A series of M. F. Husain's 'Mother Teresa' prints went for a steal -- GBP 10,500 (reserve GBP 7,000). And so it went.
By the end of the evening, the BPF netted over GBP 2,25,000 (they are still calculating the profits) to be given as donation for Pakistan flood relief.
Typically for a Pakistan event, it went way over the original closing time. The auction itself ran past midnight, and was followed by the popular rock band Strings, flown in especially for the fundraiser. Strings mesmerised the diverse crowd with their hit songs for some two hours before calling it a night. And what a night it was.
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