Category Archives: Politics

Young people in politics, Part 2; Writer Fran Singh on her love of Labour.

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For the next article on young people in politics I interviewed talented and beautiful writer Fran Singh, 23. She has some great stuff to say.

1) Why did you get involved in politics and why Labour?

I got involved in the politics because of my parents. My dad is a nurse and has been in trade unions all his life and has been BME officer and treasurer for South Wales branch of Unison. My mum was a local politician (council and ran for AM in Welsh Assembly for Labour). The reason Labour was because it’s what I’ve always known, though there was a time when I was a teenager I shunned it entirely precisely because of that fact. As I grew up and began to form own opinions I realised Labour was where I naturally belonged even it wasn’t very rebellious. I just think being from South Wales, and growing up the way I did made me choose Labour. I think there is quite a big poor rich divide in Swansea, and a lot of snobbery about people who rely on benefits. We lived on a council estate in my teens and I soon came to realise not all these people were the dole scroungers you read about in the Mail and were victims of inequality. The Labour party in my view are the only party truly connected with the needs of working class people and have tackling inequality at the top of their agenda.

2) How do you think we get more young people involved in politics?

I really don’t know what can be done to engage more young people in politics. At the end of the day Westminster can be quite scandalous, but on the local politics and the day to day administrative running of national politics can be very dry and often boring. I think better representation in parliament would be the best start. Younger MP’s, black and ethnic minority candidates, more women and people from different backgrounds. Until people in parliament start looking a bit more like the general public and talking on the same level of the people they represent, people will switch off. I think young people will start to become more politically engaged now we are in a coalition come the cuts and rising unemployment which will directly start to impact on their lives.. They sort of woke up a bit at the last election.

3) What is the best thing about being political?

Everything is political. Everything you do, even most mundane things such as paying your gas bill has been shaped somehow from all that really boring stuff that goes on in parliament so I think it is really important people are political and take an interest. The best thing about it is the debate. It feels nice to have an informed opinion and be able to argue your point well. Everyone loves a good row in the pub with their Tory friend. If you know about politics you know a little bit about everything which makes you a good all rounder.

4) How do you feel about Ed Milliband as Labour leader?

I like Ed but I can’t say I was thrilled. In fact I think and I sat in shock shaking my head for about an hour until my colleague asked if I was alright. To me it felt like we were signing ourselves for longer out of power, but I really hope to be proved wrong. I am quite cynical and can’t get swept up in this new generation stuff. I don’t believe the media narrative that he is Red Ed, but you could see the label coming a mile off. Doesn’t matter if it is true or not if it can be used by the media and opposition it will be and shouldn’t be underestimated.

Last time the Tories were in power we had what was represented as a very left wing party and were out of power for ages. I think the people who voted him first choice (I voted DM) were wrapped up in idealism (which is by no means a bad thing, you need to have some optimism, core values and vision) but they neglected the reality. People in the Labour party are generally quite socialist and left wing, but they forget the country isn’t and you can’t make proper changes in opposition. Like the Red Ed tag David was branded a Blairite, everyone forgets Blair saw Labour be in power for three elections. A leader of the Labour party was always going to be left wing, they just need to not be an easy target and have cross party appeal and appeal to non Labour voters. The loyal labour voters are only a small part of the electorate.

5) Can you give me a good canvassing story?

Hmmm, haven’t been out canvassing in ages, slack at election as was during my finals. I went out during election with Emily Thornberry’s team in Islington and David Miliband came along. I knew then I wanted him to lead the Labour party, he was so charming and captivated the room when arrived, everyone just couldn’t stop looking at him. There was a big young crowd out for that too. Did have a rather embarrassing moment. My friend was filming me for a documentary she was making on young people and politics for the election. I was microphoned up and didn’t realise was recording and had my own Gordon Brown Gillian Duffy moment when I realised I’d been recorded for about 10 minutes talking about the then foreign secretary’s arse.

That’s so funny. Thank you Fran.

We're not at Home to Champagne Charlie {Politics}

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As has been widely reported, this year’s Conservative Party Conference, like its predecessor, will feature a ban on what many might see as the Tories’ beverage of choice – champagne, naturally. We are told that at last year’s conference, the drink would have been seen as a premature celebration of victory – and it’s true that nothing is punished by the British public more swiftly than perceived arrogance; just ask the Labour Party after their narrow loss against John Major’s Conservatives.

At this year’s Conference, the mood (or at least the mood the Party wants to project) is sober and business-like. The past few months since the election could be seen, perhaps, as a ‘phoney war’, a kind of hiatus – up until now, cuts have been discussed, options tabled, and Ministers have argued for the necessity of continued spending in their Departments. Now, within two weeks, the axe will begin to fall in earnest and the public will begin to see what 25% cuts in Government spending actually look like.  Accountancy firm BDO and other experts have warned that the cuts are likely to push the country into a second recession, as businesses make their own cuts in anticipation of shrinking markets. Against this background, it would be foolish, indeed, to celebrate too overtly in front of the cameras.

Yet the Conservatives, in fact, have much to celebrate. Of course, winning the election, for one thing, even if the result was the Coalition. Perhaps even more important is how smoothly the Coalition formed and how harmonious it is for the most part – It’s been said of David Cameron that he prefers consensus to confrontation, and he seems to be thriving on it.

But it’s not just about consensus – this is a radical Government – if anyone had missed that point, it was made clear by David Cameron’s invitation to Margaret Thatcher to visit 10 Downing Street in June. Margaret Thatcher herself was the leader of the most revolutionary administration since the Welfare State was born in 1945 under Clemet Attlee.  Thatcher’s revolution, of course, was about shrinking, not enlarging, the State, and David Cameron intends to complete it.

Under Thatcher, the State got out of the business of running industries. Under Cameron, the State will continue to provide the essentials to those who have no alternative, but it will no longer be a viable option for those who prefer not to work to rely on the State as a lifestyle choice. The planned cuts in Housing Benefit for the long-term unemployed are part of this strategy; while they may sound harsh, Ian Duncan Smith’s intended radical reforms to the welfare system will ensure that taking work always pays and that the culture of warehousing people on benefits for life is brought to an end.

The process will undoubtedly be painful, particularly for those State employees who lose their jobs in this process. But we should remember one thing – while the 1980s were also painful for many as the economy changed from State Socialism to free enterprise, by the mid-1990s Britain’s economy was rock-solid, house prices were reasonable, and levels of employment were increasing.

David Cameron’s rejigging of the economy is unavoidable, not least because the country is broke – but people may be pleasantly surprised to see what emerges from the process.

It would be hard to blame Conference delegates for taking a discreet swig of champagne from a paper cup, given the circumstances.

Stephen Canning is the editor of The Tory Boy ( http://www.thetoryboy.com ) one of the fatest growing online political news blogs. He is also the Chairman of the Braintree Conservative Future and is actively involved in local, regional and national politics. Join him on Twitter (@StephenCanning) for regular political news and information.

Young people in politics, Part 1: Young Conservatives & Zac Goldsmith strike gold at Kingston University.

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I recently joined the Richmond Park Conservatives and Zac Goldsmith at the Kingston University Fresher’s Fayre. Their aim? To start a Kingston Conservative Society. No mean feat since most people, when they are young, are incredibly left leaning. They need at least 10 members, or no go.

None of this is helped by the fact that, directly opposite, is the Socialist worker’s party, The Marxists and, less worrying, the Liberal Democrats. The Socialist Worker party chant, rather inaccurately “No Tory cuts!” When I point out to them it’s “coalition cuts.” I get a blank look.

Left to right: Editor Catherine Balavage, Zac Goldsmith, Ben Howlett.

The Project manager of the event is Gus Magalhaes. I interviewed Gus, 22, who”s Richmond Park CF is Canbury Ward Chairman and is policy formulator. He had some interesting things to say.

1) Why did you go into politics and why conservative?

I went into politics because I was passionate about making a difference in people’s lives and I felt politics was a good way to do this. I am a firm believer in giving individuals the opportunity to shape their own futures and this ties in well with the Conservative way of thinking with ideas such as meritocracy and entrepreneurship.

2) How do you think we get more people involved in politics?

I feel that in order to get more people involved in politics we need to engage them in issues that are relevant to their lives – a bottom up approach as opposed to a top down outlook. The best way this can be achieved is by inspiring localism as opposed to ‘big government’.

3) Tell me about setting up the Kingston Conservative society.

Setting up Kingston University Conservative Society was challenging, and at some points daunting, as in recent years it has failed to get off the ground but it has been worthwhile considering the numbers we have recruited. I am very proud of the society and of everyone who worked with me to achieve it success.

4) How big a help has Zac Goldsmith been to CF?

Zac Goldsmith has played a pivotal role in CF in Richmond as he has taken a keen interest in supporting its objectives and has provided vital support on numerous occasions. Zac himself has made CF a more formidable and respectable force within the Conservative Party.

5) You got 186 members. How does that feel?

Cracking! I am overwhelmed by the amount of students that signed up to the society over the two days of Fresher’s Fayre. This is a true testament to what I said before about engaging people in the right way in politics – you can get people interested in politics if it is presented in the right way. No one would have expected Kingston University to have delivered the biggest Conservative Society in London.

Gus Magalhaes

6) The Socialist worker’s party has been unpleasant. What is your reaction to people who automatically think all Tories are evil?

One of the great things about our country is that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, whichever side of the political spectrum that you may stand. Our challenge as Conservatives should be to continue to try and engage as many people in politics as possible.

7) What’s next?

The first and most important priority is to ensure that Kingston University Conservative Society continues to build on its recent success and build on its membership. After that, I would love to help in making Kingston – upon – Thames a Conservative seat once again.

Gus is joined by Ben Mallet, Nicholas Clarke, Ben Howlett – Who, a few days later, gets voted in to be Conservative Future Chairman-, Carrie Apples Symonds and Charlotte Borg. All young and passionate people who believe in making a difference.

I bring along Frost photographer, Anthony Epes to take pictures and the day ends up becoming an unqualified success. They get 186 new members. None of this is hurt by the presence of Zac Goldsmith. He pacifies the Socialist Worker’s party by listening to their questions and answering them with grace and dignity. He walks around the fayre and gives people his email address, invites them to have coffee with him. His manners stretch to the CF members. They are called ‘tory scum’ for two solid days and give it the contempt it deserves. One wonders why someone’s political believes means that can’t be friends with someone who has different ones. What a dull world that would be.

This is what Zac Goldsmith had to say about the fair: “there was real enthusiasm among students, but even so, I was amazed by the number of new members. I look forward to holding lots of events at the University.”

If you are a young person in politics and have a story to tell, contact info@frostmagazine.com

The Ed Miliband Wagon by Richard Wright {Politics}

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So Labour has a new leader. Ed Miliband. Never mind that he’s 40 years old and he looks like he’s just a work experience party leader getting to try it out for a bit. He’s true Labour. “Red Ed” is how they opposition are choosing to tarnish him. Oh no, socialism in the labour party who would have though such a thing would happen again. Why it’ll be the end of middle Britain as we know it. But Mr Miliband has a tough balancing act to perform and a mighty job to perform. But he’s has the job 5 minutes I don’t need to make my mind up about him just yet do I? Cause I don’t really know that much about him. And there is a reason for that.

This wasn’t how it was meant to go. David Miliband was the Miliband that was meant to be leader, not Ed. But Ed played the game of politics well. With endorsements from Labour Party luminaries such as Neil Kinnock and Roy Hattersley, the younger Miliband was making sure of a traditional support base within the party, a support base that had been ignored by the two previous Labour Leaders and Prime Ministers of our country, trade union members. And what endorsements they are because if it’s one thing Neil Kinnock knows its winning elections. Well, sort of.

As for experience Bob a Job Ed, another age joke there. If not as good an age joke, can boast a record as cabinet minister. He was Secretary of State for Climate and Energy Change, Or Energy and Climate Change. Whichever one has to come before the horse on that particular front. He also spent time as Minster to the cabinet office and Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster. And if you think that job makes him sound like something out of Dickens then you’re not alone. He has spent time around such winners as Gordon Brown and former US Presidential Hopeful John Kerry. So clearly that’s where he picked up his charisma. Or at least realised the importance of it.

His speech to the Labour Party Conference, his first as Leader of the Labour Party, was impressive but if you can’t tell from the tone of this article I’m quite definitively hedging my bets. Because he says we are optimists in this country, and I honestly don’t think we are. I think we like to complain and I think we are ultimately quite pessimistic, and it was fears and pessimism that lead to the Government we have now rather then hope of change. I applaud optimism, I applaud a call for a grown up debate in this country and his comments on the War in Iraq are measured and, I feel, correct. Can Ed Miliband bring about a political atmosphere at Westminster that will lead to grown up debate? I very much doubt it, but we will see over the next 6 to 12 months if Ed Miliband can indeed create a Miliband Wagon and if he can I will be more then happy to jump on it.

Richard Wright

Minister lauches social impact Bond Pilot. { Politics }

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Prisons Minister Crispin Blunt and David Hutchison, Chief Executive of social investment organisation Social Finance, are today visiting HMP Peterborough to launch the Social Impact Bond (SIB) pilot.

The Social Finance run SIB pilot is the first scheme in the world that has used new funding from investors outside government to reduce reoffending with offenders. Investors will only receive returns on their investment from the Ministry of Justice if they reduce reoffending by a set amount.

At a time of tight public finances, payment by results models, such as the Social Impact Bond, can tap into new sources of funding to reduce reoffending and provide value for money for the tax payer

Justice Minister Crispin Blunt said:

“Our priorities are to punish offenders, protect the public and provide access to justice. But we want to initiate a more constructive approach to rehabilitation and sentencing, and re-think whether putting more and more people into custody really does make people safer.

“We want to actively involve individuals and voluntary and community organisations – not just in tackling crime and re-offending but in helping to keep people out of the criminal justice system in the first place. This payment by results pilot is both innovative and imaginative. I am delighted to be launching it at HMP Peterborough today.”

The six-year SIB pilot scheme in Kalyx-run Peterborough prison, run by Social Finance, will prepare around 3,000 short term prisoners for their lives post-release and will work with them to prevent a return to a life of crime

If these services are successful and re-offending drops by more than 7.5 per cent within six years, investors receive a payment representing a proportion of the cost of re-offending. The payment will increase based on the reduction in re-offending with the total cost of the project capped at £8m.

Secretary of State for Justice Kenneth Clarke MP said:

“This Government has a historic opportunity to initiate a more constructive approach to rehabilitation. This means making prisons places of punishment, but also of education, hard work and change. As part of our radical approach to rehabilitation we are considering a range of payment by results schemes like the Social Impact Bond.

“The voluntary and private sectors will be crucial to our success and we want to make far better use of their enthusiasm and expertise to get offenders away from the revolving door of crime and prison.”

David Hutchison, Chief Executive of Social Finance commented:

“The Social Impact Bond aligns the interests of government, charities, social enterprises and socially motivated investors around a common goal. We are delighted to be launching the first such structure in the world here at Peterborough.

Our work is driven by a desire to transform society’s ability to invest in addressing its most intractable problems. Developing the Social Impact Bond market will take years, but we believe that with care it can enable future investment of hundreds of millions of pounds a year in these crucial areas.”

Social Finance has raised capital from social investors that will be used to pay for the services in the prison and outside in the community. It is expected to close the £5 million fund by the end of the year. Initial investors include the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the Monument Trust and committed individuals.

The development of Social Impact Bonds has been supported by a number of partners including Allen & Overy, Kalyx and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough community including the Criminal Justice agencies, Local Authority and the voluntary sector.

Phil Andrew, Kalyx Managing Director, said:

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with Social Finance. Our work is dedicated to preventing future victims by delivering rehabilitative opportunities to prisoners through work skills, educational qualifications, behaviour programmes, substance misuse interventions, and assistance with accommodation and employment.

“This project will complement our work by supporting ex-offenders through the difficult transition from prison to the community, and it will increase the chances of them avoiding further crime in the future.”

Zac Goldsmith on the Environment, Jemima and becoming an MP.

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Zac GoldsmithI met Zac Goldsmith through a friend. I found him so inspiring and genuine that I helped out on his political campaign. Not only did Zac get in, but he has taken time out of his busy schedule to give Frost this interview.

1 ) It has been about five months since you got elected. How are you feeling?

I’m still wondering how it happened, but thrilled to be able to turn promises into reality. There’s lots to do, on so many levels, but I have already seen that it is possible to make a difference as an MP.

2) Has becoming an MP been like what you thought it would be?

There are no rules. There is nothing stopping a new MP flying off to the Caribbean the day after the election, enjoying the salary and expenses, and doing absolutely nothing of any value. That’s why we need a proper recall process, where MPs who have lost the respect of their constituents can be booted out. It is for an individual MP to decide what sort of MP they want to be. I am still learning the ropes and figuring out how to be most effective.

Zac Goldsmith with Frost Magazine editor Catherine Balavage

Zac Goldsmith with Frost Magazine editor Catherine Balavage

3 ) Your sister, Jemima Khan, put on her twitter that voting Tory was ’embarrassing’. Did you tell her off?

No! It was a joke that was picked up by a mischievous journalist. She was a huge help in the campaign, and canvassed regularly.  

4) What is the main thing people can do to help the environment?

What we do at home, at work and in our communities is important. But the real change is still going to come about because of political decisions, so the most important thing we can all do is get involved in politics – at any level. Even simply putting pressure on your MP is useful.

5) What do you think it the most pressing political issue at the moment?

The big long term issue, the cloud hanging over us, is the environment. We are cashing in the natural world and we cannot go on doing so indefinitely. But the immediate, overarching issue is the economy. If we don’t sort the deficit, we will be spending more servicing our debt than we do on education, and we would almost certainly see the cost of borrowing rise – for individuals and for businesses.

6) Why do you think you inspire young people so much? You had lots of volunteers who believed in you.

I had some wonderful helpers, and a magnificent team, which meant that the campaign was vibrant and fun. I was very lucky.

7) Do you think you it would have been harder to get elected without the scarily talented Ben Mallet?

Absolutely. Aged 15, Ben Mallet volunteered to establish a Conservative Future branch. By the time of the election, it was the biggest in England. I don’t know how he did it, but he is a phenomenon and a treasure.

8) Tell me the premise behind your book ‘The Constant Economy.’

Crudely speaking, it’s a guide to creating an economy that puts a value on valuable things, like natural capital, and a cost on pollution, waste and the use of scarce resources. It’s about learning to live within our ecological means. The chapters are organised as ‘steps’. Collectively, they would take us absolutely in the right direction. Individually, none of them would require political courage.

9) What are you first thought about parliament as someone who is relatively new to it.

The ritual, the atmosphere and the process is fascinating and sometimes stirring, but I sometimes wonder how much of real value happens in the chamber itself. When I first raised an issue, after my Maiden Speech, I felt I was shouting at a troop of giggling baboons on the other side.

10) What’s next?

Other than making the most of being in Parliament, being able to campaign on issues from the inside for the first time, I have no plans. I will simply do my best.

Thank you Zac.

http://www.zacgoldsmith.com/

What not to call a posho {Carl Packman}

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When Samantha Cameron gave birth to her baby yesterday I was in an office in Central London. The news spread in that office of course like the news that Julie from HR has brought in some Rice Krispie treats made with cocaine.

While everyone was wincing and speculating on its weight, I was wondering whether the name would have a double barrel – mainly because my politics is stuck in the 80s (80s Cuba that is).

David Cameron has made it clear that benefits, such as that for a child, should not be received by middle class parents such as him (*cough splutter cough* middle class sir? Don’t let Grandad Sir William Mount, 2nd Baronet hear you say that).

But if DavCam is going to be middle class, will he be one of those postmodern middle class people whose names are Plum or Eggnog or something like that, will he stick with his roots and call his child something like Martha Cunningham-Gash or will he go all hug-a-hoodie and call his kid Beyonce or Vodkaandorange (a Dutch name I believe)?

Certainly David Cameron’s identity, back as a shadow leader, was stained by the synonyms of a name. Last year he was said to advise Annunziata Rees-Mogg to insist people refer to her as Nancy Mogg, so as to appeal to the voters of North West Somerset – though some wonder whether it was less about the “poshness” of the name, or whether it was too “foreigny” (that’s right, foreigny!).

Having found out about 30 minutes before writing this small entry I found out, and I think they made a good choice – perfect for postmodernism it has a bit of foreign in there (Cornwall is obviously a bit foreign with their foreigny flag) has a typical English name in there, and has the name of a nurse who saved the world (unlike the Cameron-led budget, which has overburdened the poorest – what a turn up for the books).

That’s right folks, the Camerons have called their latest child Florence Rose Endellion Cameron Rees-Mogg. That about sums it up really.

Pakistan’s Flood. When the Indus became the Yellow River of sorrow By Frank Huzur in Islamabad, Pakistan

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Pakistan’s battle fatal Floodwaters

When the Indus became the Yellow River of sorrow

By Frank Huzur in Islamabad, Pakistan

Ahead of preparing to visit Lahore for the seventh time in three years, my mind was occupied with frightening wave of terror attacks experienced during the previous tour in October-November 2009. Quite a good number of tempestuous terror attacks had continued to bedevilled the life on streets of Pakistan in the intervening months. However, I had not anticipated the sudden death to suicide bombing by the rising currents of the Indus and Chenab. That Indus river will become the ‘Yellow river of sorrow’ and wreak havoc and destruction unbearable than that of suicide bombings was inconceivable until floodwaters raged in terminal fury and wrath in the wee hours of 29 July 2010.

In the holy month of Ramadan fasting, millions of Pakistanis running helter skelter for food, water and shelter evokes the ghostly memories of the bloody month of Ramadan 63 years ago in 1947 when largest migration of Hindus and Muslims bloodied the waters of the Indus river.

In New Delhi, I didn’t have the faintest idea of the tempest I would be up, close and personal shortly after landing in Lahore. News trickling in Indian media about the devastating deluge destroying village after village in all the four Pakistan’s provinces didn’t probably have shocking punch of the enormity of the tragedy. The gargantuan scale of the water-borne human tragedy hit me hard soon when my eyes stared into relief camps, which had sprung up nearly at every traffic corner and market square. Whenever my host’s car came to a screeching halt at the red light intersection, young boys and girls began to knock at the windowpanes with a square paper box soliciting for the suffering millions.

I could sniff screaming silence in the air of Lahore. The city was crying in the month of Ramadan. In a swift departure from suicide blasts days, drivers of vehicles were not reluctant to welcome an advancing band of fund-raisers on streets of Lahore for the idea of a terrorist inching closer in the garb of a mendicant or a hawker was blown away in the surge of floodwaters.

In a fortnight of surging floodwaters, stories of displacement and death began to unravel in cruel mathematics of humanitarian disaster of monumental proportion. Civilisation has thrived on banks of the Indus for over 5,000 years. The deluge of August threatens to devour the sanctum sanctorum of the Indus valley civilisation, Mohan Jadero in Sindh. While 30 million people are languishing in agonising despair loss of home and hearth, daughters and brothers, their lamentation has few takers.

Their President was gambolling in the summery breeze of Paris and London, admiring the frescoes of his castle, fobbing off hurled shoes from expatriates and defending his jaunt by claiming his visit in hours of catastrophe brought more publicity and triggered healthy largesse from the international community. People on streets scoff at President’s appeal and call him ‘Nero of Rome.’

There are many tales of pillage and plight floating like the rickety boat on Indus and Chenab. It was chilling to learn of the dilemma of about 50,000 Hindus in Jacobad, Thund, Sultanpur and Khanpur areas of upper Sindh. A band of university boys from Karachi ventured on the rickety boat to discover the pinch hole. Larkana of Bhutto is however safe and sound, and people of Larkana are sheltering displaced Hindus population.

Majority of Hindus live in upper Sindh area and are affluent traders. However, imperiling their affluent existence is the reported increase in kidnapping of young Hindu girls in age group of 10-16 who are compelled to convert to Islam. Some elders of the community grumble their complaint is not registered at the local police station. Similar is the fate of young Christian girls in Punjab.

The mysterious disappearance of young girls and boys are actual cause for concern in the middle of humanitarian disaster. There are precedents of such atrocious missing and skeptics of minority as well as majority community are feeling the pins and needles of restlessness.

The Sikhs of North West Frontier Province are also living in disquietude and despair. The newly christened province of Khyber has won reprieve from booming sounds of suicide and car bombings but the angst of living through bomb blasts has given way to drag of saving their houses, livestock and their women and men. Not less than10,000 Sikhs are bearing the brunt of the catastrophe. Temples and Gurudwaras in Larkana and Peshawar are transformed into rehabilitation camp and community kitchen.

Christians in Punjab are in equal misery. The scale of tragedy has, for once, blurred the religious divide in Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Communities are reaching out to each other in distressing moments.
Nevertheless, millions of those who found themselves homeless and other millions who are still marooned are candid in confessing that they have lost faith in the democratic dispensation of President Zardari. The entire democratic machinery, the elected representatives across the party spectrum, have gone missing. Maulana Fazlur Rahman, popular as Maulana Diesel, who heads the right wing Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JuI) is performing Umrah in Jeddah. His detractors frown he is scared of making an appearance in his constituency.

The Taliban of Afghanistan is the creation of madrassas run by Rahman across all provinces in Pakistan. His capacity to raise battalion of fighters is his claim to political importance irrespective of ruling party in Islamabad. He is son of Maulana Mufti Mahmood, former chief minister of Khyber Pakthunwa who had defeated Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in the Dera Ismail Khan constituency in the 1970 general elections.

Dir and Swat are the worst-hit in the tribal areas. Swat continues to be cut off from the mainland Pakistan. Landmines and anti-aircraft missiles of terrorists are also flowing in floodwaters downstream from South Waziristan.

The system has crashed. Vivacity in the leadership has gone for a walk and the confidence in the leadership to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of unfortunate population is at its rock bottom. Parliamentarians and provincial legislators of both Pakistan People’s Party and Nawaz Sharif league are afraid of fetching the pump with dirty water. They fear lynching in public should they gather courage to console devastated flood victims.

Umar Khayyam, a Lahore-based advocate and political analyst, sums up the misery of his people. “As the tip of the iceberg continues to swell, the State’s capacity to meet the challenge continues to shrink. To reach out to the people, in a time of crisis, to express solidarity with them while pulling out all the stops in ameliorating their distressed lot is the hallmark of a functional, effective Government. On all these counts the incumbents have failed miserably. While strategic foresight, administrative finesse and political acumen have never been the strengths of the Zardari-led cabal of novices; but never have their failings been exposed as brutally before, as during this dire crisis. Pakistanis are being crunched in the pincer of monstrous calamity coupled with ineffectual and criminally negligent Governmental response. Only a historic and unprecedented aid programme can save millions of imperilled lives, or else Pakistan is all set to plunge into the deepest crisis of its national life.”

It’s anybody guess what the deepest crisis of Pakistan’s national life Umar is pointing at. With the vacuum in leadership right from the onset of the water tragedy, foot-soldiers of extremist organisations have rushed in where angels of Zardari and Sharif are reluctant to tread.

The unprecedented calamity hands Jamaat-ud-Dawa’s dipping stock a much-needed lifeline and an opportunity to redeem itself in the eyes of international community. Hafeez Sayeed receives a major boost, get his cadre swing into action much ahead of the state machinery. The alleged mastermind of Bombay terror attacks, sought by Indian government, floated a new charity organisation, Falah-e-Insaniat to storm the flooded areas.

In a telephonic chat with a popular Pakistani TV channel, when buck-beard Hafeez Sayeed was grilled over the source of funding for his organisation, he raised his voice to boast his funding sources are transparent and regularly audited by professional chartered accountants from Lahore who visit Muridke (headquarters of Jamaat-ud-Dawa on the western outskirts of Lahore) every month. The most wanted terrorist by the New Delhi government also boasted that Jamaat-ul-Dawa’s huge infrastructure and network has beaten all other charities and agencies in bringing relief to the suffering millions.

Hafeez Sayeed is working in tandem with Kidhmat-e-Khalq of Jamaat-e-Islami(JI) in the affected areas.

The New York Times headlined an August 6 article, Hard-Line Islam Fills Void in Flooded Pakistan. The newspaper pondered over the tangibles before sounding the bugle. Hafiz Sayeed is a free man in Pakistan, and he and his boys are saviours for hundreds of thousands of uprooted rural families, from backwaters of Sindh to Balochistan. Even the college students of Punjab University who have volunteered to run relief camps are swearing by the meticulously planned relief efforts of Hafeez’s organisation.

Musha Ghaznavi, 20 years old collegian of Lahore, told me, “Jamaat-ud-Dawa is running community kitchen, medical camp and tarpaulin shelters in over 100 centres across southern Punjab, Sind, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Villagers hail him as protector and benefactor in backwaters of southern Punjab but they also fear his wrath. Mothers lull their crying babies to sleep by chanting in their ears, ‘son, you close your eyes and sleep lest Hafeez Sayeed will appear.”

Leadership vacuum is palpable like the floating rags of poor swept by the bullish rage of Indus. Just as Indus waters began to breach barrage after barrage, it was American military aircraft which flew out of their Dubai airbase, and later Shahbaz airbase in Punjab, airlifting hundreds of thousands to safe banks. Pakistan military swiftly followed. Until now, it has outclassed the democratic government machinery in rescuing record number of marooned civilians. About 60,000 Pakistani military personnel are deployed in the floodwaters-battered areas, providing impetus to the relief and rescue operations.

The growing appreciation of Pakistan army’s role only reinforces the perception outside and within Pakistan that brass tacks still pull the string of power. Growing disenchantment with the democratic government gluts street rife with all shades of speculation over the durability of Zardari government. Observers and some media analyst told me on condition of anonymity that the next 90 days would trigger desperate attempt to dethrone the incumbents. A power storm is brewing in air of the Blue Area of Islamabad, the seat of power.

Will the Indus’s flood fury sink Zardari? This is the open question in Pakistan on streets. Yet, nobody has the million dollar answer as to who would bell the cat?

Still later, nobody is predicting the military coup or affirming hope in the audacity of General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani to boot out Asif Ali Zardari. Instead, observers are hoping for a third alternative, the surprise emergence of a dark horse backed by GHQ, Rawalpindi, minus Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, to clean the pungent odour.

This is a dark omen, and international community has reasons to worry about amidst rising evidence of complete collapse of both provincial and federal machinery. Credibility quotient of President Zardari (Jemima Khan wondered in her column for The Sunday Times, 15 August 2010, how formerly Mr 10 per cent has upgraded himself since his Presidency to 110 per cent) having dipped to alarming level in recent months, the country is struggling to convince donors that $5 billion needed to build homes and hearths of 30 million victims will not fall in the hand of rogue, extremist and terrorist organisations who have pitched in ahead of the state. Turbulence swarms around.

The lukewarm response to the tragedy is further rattling well-reasoned Pakistanis. I was talking to my Liverpool-based activist friend, Shirley Rohan, who was skeptical of her donation reaching the poorest of poor victims in backwaters of Pakistan. She told me, “I fear my money will end up in hands of Taliban. Instead of bringing smiles to faces of innocent country folks, it might fund a suicide vest of a potential suicide bomber. Who should I trust to for my money?”

Unlike Shirley, Nic Careem is clear who he will trust to bring smiles to hapless millions in Pakistan. My London-based friend Nic has booked the West End’s Lyrical Theatre for special performance for his mass hit play, And Then They Came For Me, which features step sister of Anne Frank, Eva Schloss in the cast, in order to raise fund for the Pakistan’s flood victims. Nic told me, “I am inviting Jemima Khan and Imran Khan to the fund-raiser on 17th October, and will contribute the money raised to his newly set up Imran Khan Flood Relief Fund.”

Clearly, the misuse of funds during the previous natural disasters and contingency funds released during displacement of millions of people in tribal areas during Pakistan army’s offensive against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Taliban in tribal areas has been a stuff of local nightmare and international disenchantment.

Ahmed Quraishi, a veteran journalist of Geo TV, blames the democratic dispensation of President Zardari for increasing failure to offer any contingency planning. He said, “Our rains and floods could never have turned into a tragedy worse than Haiti and Kashmir earthquake and the Indian ocean Tsunami combined if not for the manmade factors: an entire government and administrative structure that failed to offer any contingency planning before the tragedy or rapid response after. Village after village, Pakistanis saw how cardboard local administrations raised white flags and handed power over to the Pakistan military (army, navy, and air force) at the slightest hint of challenge.”

Ahmed talks about the video footage of Sindh chief minister who having been alerted by the Punjab government about floods, headed his way, stood before a camera to laugh along with his aides at how Punjab opened the waterways now that there is a flood, a thinly-disguised reference to the water disputes among provinces. The tragedy has virtually pitched people of Balcohistan against powerful landowning families of Sindh and Punjab.
Anarchy is reigning supreme in certain areas where displaced people have begun to blame some powerful families of deliberately breaching the embankment for flooding their farmlands in order to save theirs. Not less than former Prime Minister Mir Jafarullah Jamali took umbrage against some feudal lords of Sindh for flooding a vast chunk of Balochistan. Already Balochs are disenchanted with Islamabad, the fresh wave of realisation fills them with acute sense of alienation.

To top that, food riots are rampant in several areas. Convoy of trucks carrying food materials and clothes were attacked by burqa-clad women in Dera Ismail Khan.

The presidency rubbishes the rumour and conspiracy theories of deliberate flooding of certain areas. Senator Farhatullah Babar told me PPP government doesn’t believe in such theories and is committed to organise speedy relief to victims and efficient use of foreign and local aids.

But even local traders and business magnates are fighting shy of trusting the Zardari government-controlled flood relief agencies. A foreign journalist shocked President Zardari by asking him tongue-in-cheek, “Mr President, your government is riled on streets for massive fraud and corruption. People don’t want to donate because of the malaise. Are you the problem?”

Image deficit and distrust virus is spreading the blanket of gloom in Islamabad. When President Zardari convened a meeting of top industrialists and business magnates in Islamabad, majority of those invited feigned unavailability citing one reason or the other. The talk of introducing Flood Tax further soiled the environment.

Whereas President Zardari is assuming offensive posture in combating all-round attack on his credibility and efficiency, his Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is brutally frank in admission of the ‘Image deficit.’ He was candid in his confession aboard his military aircraft while taking aerial view of the flood-hit areas when he told a television anchor, “My government credibility is lower than that of your channel. You can raise more funds.”

Little wonder, the Prime Minister Relief Fund (PMRF) set up with much pomp and fanfare at the cost of over Rs 10 million worth advertising blitz in national media attracted not more than four million in the kitty. Compare this sum with that of a residential fund-raising centre of Model Town, set up by a local wing of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), they have raised similar amount of money without spending a single rupee on advertising. This speaks volume for the public distrust in Zardari-led Pakistan People’s Party. Similar is the fate of Nawaz Sharif-led party. Nawaz is as much reviled along with his Punjab chief minister brother Shahbaz Sharif for failing to uplift the sordid plight of millions of victims in Punjab.

Shohaib Sherwani, a bubbly young worker of the PTI in Model Town, Lahore, showed me around the relief camps of different political parties. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had set up the camp just alongside PTI. I saw people carrying relief materials, from clothes to food grains and cache of water bottles, giving precedence to Imran Khan’s party camp than that of Nawaz Sharif’s party.

“Three million displaced people are like Atom bombs for Pakistani society. They would find it tough to return to their village, the farmland is wasteland for next couple of years, seed of their harvest washed away. Politicians are occupied with target killings of their opponents in Karachi and Sialkot. These hapless, homeless people are leaderless, and have no faith in the ruling coalition. The leadership vacuum is being filled by religious fanatics and other fringe groups because their foot-soldiers are risking the surging floodwaters, sailing in rickety boats to provide food and tent to the victims,” said Oriyan Maqbool Jaan, a leading intellectual from Lahore who heads heritage conservation centre.

Pakistan needs not less than Rs 150 billion from the world community to plug in rescue, rehabilitation and reconstruction works. It is a challenge considering the whipping publicity about the ‘Image and trust deficit’ Islamabad is drawing not only outside its frontiers but also within.

It is reliably learnt that the government growth forecast of 4.5 per cent will be missed by miles. Agriculture support 60 per cent of $167 billion economy. With nearly half of the country farmland under the ‘scorpion grip’ of Indus deluge, food security is all set to go into the tailspin. Inflation will only accelerate further eventually throwing fiscal discipline in complete disarray.

Questions doing rounds in concerned quarters on the Blue Area of Islamabad are whether International Monetary Fund (IMF) will allow Central Bank of Pakistan to print money to finance the deficit. The IMF had set conditions in exchange for an $11.3 billion bailout in last two years. Islamabad received $7.6 billion loan from the premier credit doling body in 2008 to avoid defaulting on its overseas debt and the credit agreement was increased to $11.3 billion in 2009.

Mashhood Elahi Khan, a Lahore and Atlanta-based political analyst, laments, “Distrust is the deterrence. Tales of corruption abound in the government corridor as one goes back to another monumental catastrophe in October 2005 when over 80,000 people perished in monster temblor of Kashmir. Pakistan’s foreign debt today stands at $53 billion and it coughs up $3 billion in repayment of its loan every year.”

The long-running and all-weather friend of Islamabad, the United States administration earlier pledged to donate $35 million dollar but it has become the largest donor with $250 million. Senator John Kerry announced $200 million in aid upon his arrival in Islamabad. Saudi Arabia is also chipping albeit cautiously with $44 million. Nevertheless, Pakistanis are fuming over the meagre amount released from their most emotional ally. The United Kingdom offered $16 million whereas China has already pledged $9 million. The monetary aid is like a cipher in comparison to $6 billion the world community stepped forward to deliver shortly after the Kashmir earthquake.
When New Delhi, the arch rival, offered $5 million in assistance, the offer was greeted with usual cynicism. A day later, the government sources suggested the Manmohan Singh government offer should be routed through the United Nations. Street harangues mocked the Indian offer as ‘usual suspect’s olive branch’ whereas some folks on streets of Lahore and Islamabad gesticulated that the ‘India Shining’ establishment should cough up more in hours of Pakistan’s Greek tragedy.

Opinions, however, were divided on the streets whether Pakistan should accept the offer. At end of the day, Pakistan accepted the New Delhi offer.

Farrukh Sohail Goindi, a leading intellectual and an editor, told me, “This is embankment floods. They are sudden, destructive and programmed. Barrage after barrage have been breached. Some public intellectuals are arguing over the Kalabagh dam, the completion of which could have prevented catastrophe of this order. But there is no consensus between provinces over the dam. The country coffer has drained down by Rs 50 billion. Seven million acres of land is under water and we don’t harbour any hopes of re-planting for the coming crop season. More distressing is the ravage of one million acre of cotton growing area in Punjab and Sindh. I don’t see solution in the exit of Zardari government. Nature has put us in hellish dilemma to rise above petty politics.”

Muzaffargarh is one of the oldest districts of Punjab in Pakistan. Home to overwhelmingly Seraiki speaking population, this southern district town forms a strip between the river Chenab on its east and Indus on its West. Of the two million inhabitants of the district, only ten per cent of those living in the district town are surviving with their brick and mortar houses intact, the remaining ninety per cent population of the district has been displaced, with their houses washed away in the surging waters of Indus and Chenab.

Alongwith Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan districts are monstrously-hit and account for over 10 million people who are in throes of massive displacement and health emergency. Cholera and other water-borne diseases are now slowly choking their little ones to death.

In the village of Abbas Wala near Daira Deenpanah, Aleena, 16 years of age, was dreaming of a fairytale wedding. The water washed away her dreams and put tears into her dreamy eyes. Her eyes are swollen in flood of tears. Her grief-stricken countenance mirrors the tragedy of a benighted district.

The Indus floodwaters dealt her multiple blows. It blew away her mud house, killed her 57 years old father, Abur Rehman, and if these were not enough to punish the innocent, beautiful girl, her privation compelled her fiancee to call off the wedding scheduled a few week later. The floodwaters demolished the castle of her dreams.
Aleena’s family was preparing for her wedding to Aslam from the neighbouring hamlet. When Aslam learnt that his would-be-bride has been reduced to an orphan without home, he declined out rightly to enter into matrimony with the ill-fated Aleena. Aslam himself in throes of displacement claimed he needed dowry to rebuild his own house.
Amidst the total collapse of the government, the crisis has thrown up a score of middle-class entrepreneurs and young professionals who are battling odds in the surging stream of Indus waters. Confidence powers their resolve to reach the survivors against all oddities. Most of them are aligning either with Imran Khan-led Paksitan Tehreek-e-Insaf or going solo.

Nadeem Muhammad has left his cloistered business in Dubai to return to his native city of Sialkot. He is running quite a few community kitchens under the umbrella of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in worst hit areas of Muzaffargarh. He told me, “The government is full of fraudsters, fake degree holders and proclaimed cheats. Not a single representative of either provincial or federal government is anywhere to be seen. Just alongside my kitchen, workers of two ruling parties, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) set up a medical camp. When Shahbaz Sharif, Punjab chief minister arrived with a retinue of media persons from Lahore in a chopper, all he could do was take a lazy view of the submerged area, pose for a photo and leave hastily. Farooq Sattar, MQM leader and federal minister also appeared to be in a tearing hurry to board a flight to Nine Zero, Karachi. Shortly after the leader left, the medical camp turned silent, with a handful of doctors making no attempt to attend any victims.”

Only to counter the bad publicity over ‘Image and trust deficit’, Pakistan’s largest media conglomerate, Jang Group of Publications which also owns the Geo TV roped in Imran Khan to launch flood relief fund. Imran is undoubtedly the man with sterling philanthropic credentials who has raised over $1 billion for the Cancer hospital he set up in memoriam of his mother, Shaukat Khanum.

Islamabad is famous for more trees on its boulevards than houses. Haroon Rashid, celebrated Urdu journalist told me there are 1.1 million trees in the city whereas there are only 1 million households. Rains are lashing the clean streets of Pakistan Capital where power elites are looking clueless over the titanic tragedy.
I was jostling among the milling crowds of admirers and battery of press persons at Islamabad Press Club on 19 August. There was optimism in the air and the harbinger of optimism was Imran who had returned from a successful fund-raising tour of America.

Imran appeared at the press club in Islamabad in starch white Shalwar Kameez to announce that he was going alone to raise funds through his Imran Khan Flood Relief Fund in collaboration with Mir Khalilur Rahman Foundation (MKR)-Pukaar of Jang Group, because the Pakistan government has failed yet again. He told me, “There is no disaster that can’t become a blessing, and no blessing that can’t become a disaster. I have no faith in the much touted talk of Flood Relief Commission which Nawaz Sharif is trying to push. This national disaster needs a national mobilisation. We should not expect ‘dollar rain’ every time calamity strikes us. There are 30 million Khandan (household) in Pakistan and I am confident these 30 million household can look after 30 million people displaced in the flood fury. I accept total responsibility for the total accountability of every single rupee donated to my account no: 06027900799703, Habib Bank Limited (Toll free number: 0800-00048).”

When I asked Imran whether he would fall back on his celebrity friends in Indian tinsel town of Mumbai for raising funds, he broke into faint smiles. “I haven’t thought of bothering my friends outside as of now. People of Pakistan shall join hands together and god willing, overcome the crisis.” However, Imran agreed to back any initiative of organising India-Pakistan charity cricket match if some proposals is floated by the respective cricket boards.
Imran Aslam, chairman of Mir Khalilur Rahman Foundation said, “Only to counter the bad publicity over ‘Image and trust deficit’ we are collaborating with Imran Khan. We are taking pledge to build every single homes.”
Imran Khan Flood Relief Fund is the brainchild of stocky-looking Nadeem Iqbal, the group director of Geo TV. The bespectacled creative genius Iqbal conceived the MKR Foundation during turbulence of Tsunami and marvelled in rehabilitation of over a million IDPs (Internally Displaced Peoples) during Pakistan military offensive (Rah-e-Nizat) against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Taliban in Waziristan and Kashmir earthquake.

As Umar Khayyam in Lahore noted, these, indeed, are calamitous times for Pakistan; the most humongous deluge in recorded national history has unleashed its ferocity across vast swathes of its land, engulfing huge masses of humanity; swallowing up thousands, displacing millions while devastating over 15 million livelihoods. Natural monstrosities have come visiting this land before too, but this is the mother of all disasters. It has wiped out school after school, electrical transformer, roads and bridges and house after homes. The sheer magnitude of the destruction, the mere scale of wreckage strewn across Pakistan leaves one benumbed. Such is the volume of devastation that despite several days of its unleashing, the monster is refusing to abate to preclude any pertinent damage ascertainment.

Imran’s thought at end of the meet left me with something to ponder about the siege of Pakistan today. “Both optimist and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.” Indeed, Imran is a complex being in his battered country and he does have the reputation of making desert bloom and lakes dies. Once again, Pakistanis are looking up to his philanthropic brilliance to build their homes, children’s school and fire their hearths.

(Frank Huzur is a biographer of Pakistan legendary cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan. His upcoming book, Imran Versus Imran: The Untold Story is expected soon. He can be reached at frankhuzur@falcon-falcon.co.uk. Website link: www.falcon-falcon.co.uk)