By Muhammad Javed
Some of our Talqeen Shahs very innocently “Allhamadolliah” do not let any chance gone by from disbursing their pearls of wisdom in rendering their free advice. One such Mr. Qudrat Ullah from Lahore often blesses the letters to editor pages and has the other day appreciated how just on advice of Raja Muhammad Anwar, Chairman Chief Minister Taskforce on Elementary Education Punjab, the students of Government High School Sadohwalla collected themselves Rs. 35,000 for their class furniture. Similarly students of the Government Elementary School Aima Qazian collected Rs. 70,000 and the students of Government High School Tehsil Narowal from their pockets purchased school furniture on the self help advice from the visiting Raja Sahib. Raja Sahib could not bear seeing the students sitting on bare floor and prescribed this prescription of “self help”. Now Talqeen Shah Qudrat Ullah noting that 64,000 government schools in Punjab lacked basic infrastructure, 99,000 teachers have no chairs, 2500 school buildings require repairs, 12000 educational institutions lacked basis bare necessities, advises all of them to follow above suit and help themselves.
We often get such advices from rulers as well as their well wisher Talqeen Shahs. For example it was, now proved wrong, a general belief that when the Overseas Pakistanis who had experienced good governance abroad will come into power they would do the right “Government”. In the public gathering in the community club in a middle east country the visiting Senator Tariq Azeem was complained by a huge crowd that in case a photo copy was needed for any consular service the people had to walk about 4 kilo meter away for a copy as Pakistan Embassy refused to make it on their official machine despite charging a huge fee as consular service plus pick pocketing additionally in the name of community welfare fund. The Pakistan Embassy reiterated its stance that its copying machine was for official use only and not for copying of the Pakistani applicants visiting the Embassy. At this a semi literate Pathan stood up and announced that he would buy and give a photo copying machine to the Pakistan Embassy as a community service. I can never forget the wording of the good-governance-seen the visiting Minister Tariq Azeem who himself hand-clapping on this announced uttered the word “thank you, you relieved me from this headache”. It was shameful from an educated long term Overseas Pakistani that he was opening a new door of corruption. Senator Tariq Azeem had not had the guts for a logical question that if a member of public today gave photo copying machine, tomorrow the same Embassy would ask people to provide their own stamp pad, own paper for issuance of a Receipt etc. Talqeen Shah by praising the wisdom of Raja Sahib in fact widening more the door of corruption did not answer a million worth question that admitted the Government provided budget could not fetch wooden class furniture but where are at least the jute-mats which this budget can provide? Raja Sahib as well as Talqeen Shah feel no shame that students were sitting on bare floor showing that even that limited available budget was being spent elsewhere. So under this advice now Raja Sahib and his Talqeen Shahs wish students to arrange at their own chalks, water, sewerage cleaning, attendance registers, salary of the teachers, painting etc so Raja Sahib and his tribe could pocket that which a bit perforce is practically unwillingly goes towards schools.