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Mumtaz Hayat Maneka · #1 Saturday, February 21, 2009

My css 2008 INTERVIEW

I entered the room, Asalam o Alekum sir.

Gen. Sb: Walekum Salaam, Tashreef rakhiye.

Me: Thank you sir.

Gen. sb: So, what should we call you? Mian sahib, Maneka sahib or what? (As I have a fairly long name)

Me: sir, Mumtaz

Gen. Sb: (smiling) acha ap ka naam Mumtaz hay. Hmmm

Gen. sb: okay Mumtaz introduce yourself.

me: I introduced myself, family background, educational background, qualifications etc.

Gen sb: well Mumtaz, you have an excellent record, now what should I ask you? Should I ask you an easy question or should I ask you a difficult one?

Me: some thing easy would definitely help.

Gen.sb: smiling okay, a question which is not so difficult but not so easy as well, tell me about Russia?

Me: sir Russia? (First ball bouncer wasn’t ready for that, bamboozled).

Gen. sb: yes Russia, how do you see its policies over the years?

Me: well sir, since the Soviet Union was dismembered, Russia has been trying to develop its economy and strengthen its regionalism. Russia has formed a number of regional alliances and has been vary of western influence in its backyard. Russia is trying to woe all the central Asian states to her side and monopolize over the natural resources of those countries.

Gen. Sb: Bus itna hi?

Me: sir I have tried to explain the situation in broad outlines if you want to ask something specific you are welcomed to ask.

Gen. sb: ok, leave it. Mumtaz you people are the rulers of the country, why do you want to come from the ruling side to the one being ruled?

me: sir, for how long have the politicians ruled this country?

Gen sb: smiling, not many.

Me: then how can we say that politicians are the rulers of this country, Most of the times Pakistan has been ruled by military dictators and what little time the politicians were allowed to rule, they were not free. Secondly I don’t want to join politics just because my father is a politician, I want to make my own identity my own name and I think css is the best platform available in Pakistan to do that.

Gen. sb: ok…do you think that Isi was involved in Bombay attacks?

Me: I don’t think that isi would be so reckless to do such a thing at the time when Pakistan is trying to portray a softer image abroad and when we are actively involved in the war against terrorism and specially when our foreign minister was in India at the time of the Bombay attacks.

Gen. sb: but they are saying this?

me: well sir, India has been always blaming isi for all the wrong reasons. actually the thing is that isi plays a pivotal role in the national security of Pakistan. this is what irks India and hence they keep on blaming isi to weaken in and hence weaken Pakistan in the process.

gen sb: but there are some in Pakistan who say that isi is a rouge element?

me: I don’t think it is the case, what little criticism isi has drawn over the years is because of the political role it has played since the tenure of zulfiqar ali Bhutto. But when it comes to isi’s role in the national security of Pakistan, the nation as a whole fully backs and supports isi and praises its role. Now that the chief of army staff has disbanded the political wing of isi, I think that little criticism will also end.

Gen. sb: oh really, is the political wing closed?

me: sir the prime minister and the chief of army staff have both said this.

Gen. sb: The prime minister is saying this or the COAS has said this?

me: sir the prime minister has said this and the coas has reiterated it time and again.

Gen. sb: what do you think about the national security of Pakistan?

me: I think that the national security situation of Pakistan is fine, since the time Pakistan detonated her nuclear weapons durning the time of Mian nawaz shareef we don’t have to fear our main adversary India. Security of Pakistan is not threatened by external elements but by elements from with in namely extremism and terrorism.

Gen. sb: but we get one call from India and our president and prime minister go haywire we start sending our Dg Isi to India what is that?

Me: that was not because they were afraid or something, I think that was because they wanted to show how sincere Pakistan is in this fight against extremism and terrorism and that Pakistan had nothing to do with the Bombay attacks.

Here Gen. Sb referred me to the first member Syed tariq Ali bokhari.

Bokhari sb: it is said that history is all about recording of past events? what do say?

me: this could be said about history probably till 1920’s but not now. There has been a paradigm shift in the study of history. New schools have sprung up like subaltern school, feminist etc. Historians are writing the histories of culture, common people, role of common men, peasants in making and breaking of empires. so we cannot say that history is merely confined to recording of events.

Bokhari sb: do you think that feudalism exists in Pakistan? if it does what are its implications?

Me: feudalism as an academic concept has eroded away from much of Punjab and N.W.F.P, however it still remains in some parts of sindh and balochistan. But I think feudalism is a mentality, it is present not necessarily in the rural areas but also in urban areas, the industrialist and in certain institutions. The implication of this mentality is absence of plural culture, lack of tolerance and lack of democratization.

Bokhari sb: how do you see the growth of European Union and what are the implications of its growth for the world and America?

Me: sir I think that the growth of European Union is a positive sign. It will be a relief for the world as the states will have another super power to resort to, if they are not at friendly terms with the United States of America. As far as its implications for the United States is concerned, I don’t think it will be a problem for United States because most the countries in E.U have a good relation with the United States and secondly the military might of the United States is far greater than the military might of E.U.

Okay that is it.
Gen. sb referred me to the second member Masood alam rizvi sb.

Rizvi sb: you said that your father is a member of **** assembly, from which party did he contest elections?

me: sir: ***

Rizvi sb: oh, so you have done something really good that you managed to win against the tide.

Me: yes sir alhamdulilah we are loved by our constituency.

Rizvi sb: you have mentioned imran khan as one of your favorite personality, don’t you think that his political views and the political views of your father differ quite a lot?

Me: sir, I am not concerned with his political views all I am concerned is that he is a fellow aitchisonian and that I think that he was the best captain Pakistan’s cricket team ever had. I still remember how joyous the nation was when Pakistan won the world cup under his captaincy. I admired his leadership qualities. And even after his retirement he has done quite a lot for social causes. He established the first ever cancer hospital in Pakistan where thousands are treated free of cost annually. And even if we talk about his political ideas he talks about independent judiciary and rule of law which are indispensable to any democracy.

Rizvi sb: what has he been doing in the past few days?

Me: sir he has started a membership drive.

Rizvi sb: Will he be successful in the next elections?

me: sir it is very early to comment on that. It will take time before he can penetrate the rural areas because the politics there is different than the urban centers. People votes according to one's group, biradari etc but i think in the cities the performance of his party will be better.

Rizvi sb: you have written that Psp has not been tempered with much, what do you mean by that?

Me: what I meant was that after the promulgation of LGO ordinance the old structure of DMG has been dismantled but Psp has been able to retain most of its former self even after the promulgation of Police order.

Rizvi sb: so Mumtaz, it is said that agriculture is a pampered sector and some say it is a neglected sector, what do you have to say about it? And do you think that agriculture tax should be imposed?

Me: agriculture accounts for 24% of our gdp, it employs around 60% of our rural work force but since the day Pakistan was created we have seen no consistent and farmer friendly agriculture policy by any government. Now a days we have no electricity, no water and the prices of fertilizers and agricultural inputs are at all time high, so how can we that agriculture is a pampered sector, I think it is a neglected sector.
as far as the agriculture tax is concerned, I think if the citizens of a country expect facilities from their government like medical facilities, Security, development of infrastructure etc than they should be ready to give something to the country and that can be done through paying taxes. As far as agriculture tax is concerned, 82% of the population having agriculture land have less than 12.5 acres of land ( economic land holding barrier) so they can not be expected to pay for the high electricity bills, exorbitant fertilizer prices etc and then pay agriculture tax as well. Therefore I think that agriculture tax should be imposed but on people who have a large piece of land let’s say who have more than 100 acres or so.

Rizvi sb: what is the reason that India’s cotton production has increased 3 folds and we are still there?

Me: sir India is far ahead of us when it comes to agriculture. They are providing subsidies to their farmers, electricity for tube wells is free they have far better research and technical facilities in ther agriculture field.

Rizvi sb: No gentleman I think you have not understood my point…Have you heard about BT cotton?

Me: yes sir

Rizvi sb: what is it?

Me: it is a hybrid cotton seed and it is yielding enormous amount of cotton per acre since the last few years in Pakistan.

Rizvi sb: Yeah may be that has some thing to do with there increased yield?

Me: This is exactly what I meant when I said that India has better technical and research facilities and help in the agriculture field. What else can it mean.

Rizvi sb: do you think that tomorrow will bring some change in the world? ( My interview was held on the 19th of January and Obama had to take oath on the 20th of jan 2009 )

Me: yes sir, I think that obama’s ascendancy will bring a lot of change in the American policy and the world. He is talking about cordial relations with china, he is talking about the troop cut in Iraq, troop surge in Afghanistan, nominating envoys to solve the disputes of Palestine and Kashmir. so I think we will definitely see some change.

Rizvi sb: what is the controversy regarding 17th amendment all about? I mean what is the main cause of concern?

me: the controversy mainly revolves around the powers of the president.

Rizvi sb: do you think that the Prime Minister should be empowered?

Me: definitely sir, I would like to see the revival of the original 1973 constitution of Pakistan which envisaged a parliamentary form of government with the Prime Minister as a powerful executive. The prime minister is the leader of the national assembly which is elected by the people, so he is the true representative of the people. so I think he should be made powerful.

Rizvi sb: you think it will be done?

Me: yes I think it will be done, because this is what Benazir Bhutto stood for this is what mian nawaz shareef stood for. So I think hopefully the prime minister will become a powerful executive.

Rizvi sb: ok that is it. Thank you.

Gen. Sb: Okay Mumtaz thank you, you may go now.

I thanked them and left the room.

I might be missing some questions, i will update the thread if i remember something. Interview duration was around 25 mins.

Your valuable comments are welcomed.

The Following 62 Users Say Thank You to Mumtaz Hayat Maneka For This Useful Post:
abid.mehmood786 (Tuesday, September 29, 2009), Adnan Ashraf (Thursday, February 26, 2009), aphrodite (Monday, March 29, 2010), AR Hijazi (Monday, August 15, 2011), ASADMAQSOOD (Wednesday, October 10, 2012), aurkn (Sunday, July 19, 2009), ayas (Sunday, June 14, 2009), baazigar (Tuesday, March 09, 2010), brightstar55 (Wednesday, September 26, 2012), Davidd (Saturday, May 16, 2015), Eager (Thursday, December 08, 2011), engrwaseem (Tuesday, June 26, 2012), engr_vilayat (Monday, December 26, 2011), eshal (Thursday, December 02, 2010), fahad khan (Sunday, February 22, 2009), Faraz_1984 (Friday, February 27, 2009), fluent_20 (Sunday, August 23, 2009), Frankenstein of css (Saturday, February 21, 2009), hanna (Thursday, February 26, 2009), hira imam rizvi (Wednesday, March 11, 2009), hzk17 (Sunday, June 17, 2012), imranazeem (Sunday, May 03, 2015), inayatali (Sunday, January 24, 2010), Islaw Khan (Monday, February 23, 2009), Izaz4u (Tuesday, November 09, 2010), javairia (Wednesday, March 11, 2009), jia noor (Thursday, May 14, 2009), Jum (Tuesday, March 10, 2009), kashifilyas (Saturday, October 16, 2010), kashifkhan (Sunday, February 22, 2009), madiha alvi (Sunday, April 14, 2013), maliasghar (Tuesday, August 31, 2010), mangat1 (Thursday, February 04, 2010), Manj (Wednesday, November 03, 2010), Maroof Hussain Chishty (Thursday, October 07, 2010), marwatone (Saturday, February 21, 2009), Maryam Ali (Thursday, February 23, 2012), marycop (Friday, October 28, 2011), mohsin amin (Saturday, March 28, 2009), Viceroy (Monday, February 23, 2009), Muqeet Asim (Tuesday, February 24, 2009), Mz89 (Thursday, March 01, 2012), nabilach (Wednesday, September 26, 2012), Najam Nawaz Saqib (Monday, October 08, 2012), Past Master (Saturday, February 21, 2009), Raz (Tuesday, March 03, 2009), Razzi (Saturday, August 27, 2011), rosh (Sunday, June 20, 2010), rubab umer khan (Wednesday, November 11, 2009), s malik (Tuesday, September 25, 2012), SADIA SHAFIQ (Thursday, October 13, 2011), sanam jehan (Saturday, November 13, 2010), sara bhittani (Tuesday, September 25, 2012), Seemab (Monday, October 15, 2012), shahmeer (Tuesday, January 05, 2010), silza (Friday, October 12, 2012), Syed Ali Rizvi (Saturday, May 23, 2009), Tauqir Mehmood Wattoo (Sunday, February 22, 2009), topsyturvy (Friday, October 05, 2012), Waqas00 (Friday, June 03, 2011), zaigham abbas (Monday, February 23, 2009), Zoyee (Monday, July 20, 2009)