Upheaval in Punjab

Why in the world should line officers, particularly senior judicial officers such as members BoR be posted out?

By golly the frenetic activity we see in the country as it, praise be to the Almighty, heads towards a general election on May 11, Insha’allah. As I have noted before, the very best thing is that the elected governments handed over power gracefully to civilian caretakers without “help” from the jackboot.

If there have been some aberrations as in some ROs asking weird and absurd questions of the candidates, there are good judges as in His Lordship Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the LHC who has ordered that good sense should prevail. Respect to him.

If some prominent and good people were rejected by an RO, as in the case of Ayaz Amir, one of the very best English columnists in the country, there are “literate” lawyers like Salman Raja, and sensible election tribunals that have helped overturn the RO’s judgments. In short, we are off to a good start.

Now then, caretaker CM Najam Sethi and newly posted Chief Secretary Javed Iqbal are good men, both of whom I know: Najam for decades, Javed for some few years as a good friend of good friends. Both are highly intelligent, urbane, good people: Najam people know through his brave journalism, and Javed as an upright civil servant who has always stood up for the right thing — and sometimes suffered for it over the years.

But they have also created a needless upheaval in Punjab by ordering the transfer of 70 senior officers within the province and repatriating 12 even more senior officers to the federal government. Amidst all of this turmoil, one has to ask two questions: 1) is the election only going to be held in Punjab, and 2) was Punjab not the best run province in Pakistan?

If the answer to the first question is “no” and to the second, “yes”, why is the Punjab care-taker government the only care-taker government in Pakistan that has ordered this massive reshuffle which will affect not only the officers but their school and college going children; their spouses who might be holding jobs at the places of their posting, etcetera. No other province has, not even misruled Balochistan, whose CM was found on most days whizzing about on his motorcycle in Islamabad the Beautiful, and where civil servants ran the show.

Again, if Punjab was the best run province in the country, the civil servants at different posts should also have been the best of the lot, no? Now, before the opposition to the former government get their knickers in a twist, let me say that the posting of three or four or five of the close aides of the former CM is understandable if only to stop tongues wagging as to their loyalties lying with him. But why in the world should line officers, particularly senior judicial officers such as members Board of Revenue (with dockets of cases numbering in the hundreds) be posted out?

Some, like the Social Welfare Secretary and the DG Sports, are also repatriated, charged in press reports with “holding key positions during the PML-N regime”. Er, how in the world are the Social Welfare and Sports Departments “key” to anything at all please? In another instance, the Secretary Excise and Taxation has been posted as Secretary Irrigation. Er, the Secretary Irrigation’s job is more “key” than Excise and Taxation when it comes to “favouring” people, particularly farmers, for, if he is so inclined, he can “help” favoured people far more in his new post.

In any case, should repatriating officers to the federal government be the caretaker’s job, whose only endeavour should be to keep the seat warm — controlling law and order and conducting fair elections — for the next elected government to take over within 40 days from now? Should they be taking far-reaching decisions such as career planning for senior officials? Also, there is a great cost that postings entail: TA/DA, one month’s salary; baggage allowance; renting/allocation of residences and so on and so forth.

I would be failing to report the truth if I did not mentions at least one (former) Senior Member BOR; one (former) Commissioner (of Rawalpindi); and two (former) DCOs/DCs (of Rawalpindi and Lahore) who I saw at close quarters. Most effective officers they were; always doing the right thing by the people, by the government, and the country. I do not think one of them would act badly against anyone because they had served in key positions in the last government.

Sami Saeed, the former SMBOR, is an upstanding officer who I have seen in many meetings with CM Shahbaz Sharif on the Doongi Ground scandal (when Saeed was Chairman P&D), never saying anything incorrect. Indeed, Noorul Amin Mengal the former DCO Lahore, a Baloch officer mark, excelled in the conservation of this beautiful old city which has suffered neglect and ruin from unthinking people and governments over the years. He was the only one who took an uncompromising stand against lawbreakers and Qabza Groups. Also, I saw him announce excellent security and other arrangements for the PTI’s recent jalsa on TV, as a good servant of the people should. Kudos to him.

Indeed, Imdadullah Bosal and Captain Saqib, the former Commissioner and DCO/DC respectively of Rawalpindi, are excellent officers too and did not deserve the short shrift they got from the caretaker Punjab government. For, even if they were otherwise inclined, which I am sure they are not, they would not act against the law and their conscience. I have known both officers for many years now, Imdad for five; Saqib since he was AC Taxila 12 years ago! The Punjab government (caretaker) is the poorer for losing their services.

The question to ask is why this massive upheaval only in Punjab, by a caretaker government? To please the tantrum-throwing Bacha party? To pander to the media? Or do Najam Sethi and Javed Iqbal know something we don’t?

Having said which, I wish them both the very best in running a good ship; and us, a fair and transparent election.

P.S. Barrister Nabeel’s name comes to mind too: another good man sent back to the federal government. Saw him as DCO Gujranwala help so many poor and needy people ...

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2013.