Open Letter from Ansar Abbasi to CM Punjab

The Chief Minister
Government of Punjab
Lahore
Dated: 14th April, 2009

Subject: The plot politics for a selected few.
My dear Shahbaz Sahib

I hope this writing of mine would find you in the best of health and spirits. First of all let me congratulate you over the restoration of your government because of the Supreme Court intervention. I do expect from you and your government to exhaust every possibility in attempting to achieve the very goal of bringing positive change in the lives of the people by ensuring justice, fair play, merit and rule of law and institution building.

The purpose of my writing to you is to touch a personal issue, which not only has a collective dimension but also concerns the public interest that you are under oath to safeguard at all costs. In this case, however, for the benefit of a selected few including myself, you seem to have ignored the greater public interest.

Sir, I am one of the recipients of a residential plot in the journalist colony at Loi Bheer, Rawalpindi. Like some other cities of Punjab, this colony was launched for media persons and is now being developed as part of the Punjab Journalist Housing Foundation. Though every member of this society is supposed to pay a few lacs of rupees to get his/her plot, I have learnt that the Punjab government has provided state-land worth Rs 3 billion free of cost for the Rawalpindi journalist colony. In addition, it is learnt, more than Rs 1 billion have been provided by the provincial government for its development.

As a matter of fact not only every member of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad press club has been provided a plot in this society but several others including government officials and “fake” journalists were too blessed with this largesse.

As a journalist from Islamabad, I am also entitled to get a plot in the federal capital. Hundreds of journalists have already benefited from this scheme in the past and even several have been allotted plots in the federal capital during the recent weeks and months. Of late, I was also offered one but I rejected the offer for which I am really thankful to Almighty Allah, Who has infused in me the feeling that this is all wrong, unjust distribution of state-resources and institutionalized corruption to say the least. And let me assure you that if the journalists’ plot allotment issue is probed by an independent body, it would show how the governments use the state-land to bribe media men. I personally know several journalists in Islamabad, who licked the boots of the political masters to get plots in violation of the declared policy and merit and still claim to be independent and talk of principles in their columns. Moreover, I failed to comprehend as to why the governments gives free of cost commercial plots worth billions of rupees to media owners, most of whom are filthy rich. Dear Chief Minister, I have also failed to understand as to why a few selected classes of the society including Army officers, civil servants, judges, journalists and in certain cases parliamentarians are entitled to get state-land on throw-away prices. Each one of these class is influential and well-connected. It means that the policymakers and governments in Pakistan have focused on a selected few classes while for poor and needy there are only rhetoric and mere lip service.

In Islamabad already a federal secretary or a BS-22 officer is entitled to have two residential plots and one house while there are several who even got more plots; a judge of the Supreme Court is allowed to have two residential plots whereas a journalist gets one plot. The parliamentarians in the past were allotted residential plots in the capital city of Pakistan and now we have heard of the launching of another residential colony in Islamabad for parliamentarians. Out of the state-land transferred to the GHQ in different parts of the country including Punjab, the major beneficiaries remain the Generals.

The trend of plot politics shows that the mighty and powerful get more and more. As you become senior and influential, you get more whereas the juniors get less and less and in most cases nothing whether it’s civilian or military bureaucracy or the judiciary.

I have written a lot in my newspaper about this plot politics, which vociferously talks of the government’s policymaker’s focus on the well being of the powerful and influential segments of the society. The media is considered a watchdog for any society. We are supposed to Point out the loopholes in the government policies for safeguarding public money and greater public interest. But I wonder if we too get ourselves involved into dirty plot politics, who would safeguard the greater public interest and the interest of tens of millions of those, who are shelterless, jobless, needy and poor, who perhaps deserve far more than those for whom the floodgates of the taxpayers’ money see no limit.

I don’t know whether you agree with me or not, but to be honest with you being a recipient of a plot in the Rawalpindi journalist housing society I have always found it as a burden on my conscience. I, therefore, surrender my plot to the foundation and request you to direct the concerned authorities to refund me the deposited money. I conclude with the wish for a change in the plot politics in favour of the poor and needy of this society instead of the mighty and powerful, and recommend to you to consider a change in the policy to ensure just distribution of resources amongst the people of Pakistan. It would be great if you dare to cancel all allotments made at throw away prices if I am not asking for moon.

I am also forwarding the copy of this letter to Federal Information Minister Mr Qamaruzzaman Kaira with the hope that the federal government would also do something to stop this institutionalised loot and plunder of state resources especially his ministry’s unending recommendations to the federal housing foundation for allotment of “dreamy” plots to a chosen few journalists.

With best dua’as

Ansar Abbasi
Editor Investigations
The News
40, Jang Plaza, Fazle Haq Road
Islamabad.