Appna

Written by : Syed Mansoor Hussain.
Shared by :Syed Ehtisham
 VIEW: APPNA, Advani and the plaque —Syed Mansoor
 Hussain
 The vast majority of the members of APPNA left
 Pakistan before the winds of enlightened moderation
 had swept the land and are thus entirely
 uncontaminated by them. They are still very much the
 victims of the indoctrination they had endured in
Pakistan
 The Association of Pakistani Physicians of North
 America, recently renamed as the Association of
 Pakistani-descent Physicians of North America but
 better known by its whimsical acronym, APPNA, is in a
 state of turmoil. Before going any further I must in
 the interests of full disclosure state that I happen
 to be a life member of this organisation. A little bit
 about APPNA first. The organisation is almost three
 decades old and has the distinction of being the first
 major organisation representing members of the
 Pakistani Diaspora in the US. Today, it has almost two
 thousand dues-paying members, which is an impressive
number for such organisations.
 Over the years, APPNA has evolved and like most of us
 has become an entirely confused desi organisation
 without much direction. However, of the many competing
 purposes that have emerged over the years, three seem
 to take precedence. The first being its fraternal
 function, second being the need for doing good work in
 the home country and third, the need to help its
 members in the professional and social milieu they
> live in. This has often produced considerable tension
> within the organisation requiring an intricate
> balancing act by the leaders that have been elected
> over the years.
>
> APPNA was founded and initially run by people from the
> Punjab, primarily physicians from King Edward Medical
> College (KEMC) in Lahore and their few friends from
> other institutions. Whatever people might wish to say,
> this is even true to a great extent today, as is
> obvious from the fact that of APPNA’s last five
> presidents, only one has been from an institution
> other than KEMC. The Karachi people from Dow and other
> medical colleges, though in a majority, were perhaps
> always too cosmopolitan to become involved in such a
> parochial organisation and most of them went on to
> other bigger and perhaps better things.
> Somewhere along the line, APPNA was discovered by the
> Government of Pakistan; affectionately know as GOP in
> APPNA circles. This first happened in the 1980s when
> the need to do good things for the home country became
> APPNA’s primary self-validating purpose. The previous
> ‘general president’ of Pakistan evidently had a
> particularly soft spot for physicians, especially
> those from the US. And, as the Punjabi doctors met the
> Punjabi general-president, it was love at first sight.
> In those days, the people running APPNA like most
> Pakistani expatriates were consumed by their need to
> return to Pakistan. Frequent trips were subsequently
> made by APPNA delegations and they were treated as
> VIPs on arrival in Pakistan. Grand plans about
> reforming Pakistani healthcare were presented and
> accepted but nothing came of it. Though a single visit
> to Pakistan with an APPNA delegation could get a
> Pakistani American physician a few plots ostensibly to
> build a clinic or hospital, and we all know how
> important plots are for Pakistanis.
> Since that time APPNA’s leaders have been close to
> almost every government of Pakistan or at least those
> that were dominated by Punjabis. The present
> government initially posed a minor problem but that
> was easily overcome. Punjabis, as we well know, love a
> man in uniform. And, the present prime minister
> happens to be one of our own, a real unvarnished
> Pakistani American expat, and a Manhattanite at that!
> Also, the chief of the ruling party is about as
> Punjabi as they get. So, the relationship between
> APPNA and the GOP became close once again.
> After 9/11 when the Pakistani American community was
> in great need of leadership at the local level, the
> leaders found it easier to concentrate on Pakistani
> issues. After all what sane Pakistani-American-Muslim
> would want to take on tough issues like the Patriot
> Act and institutionalised discrimination against
> Muslims? Some desultory attempts were made and are
> still being made by the leadership to offer at least
> lip service to problems facing the Pakistani American
> community. However, when the much bruited peace
> process between India and Pakistan came onto the
> scene, it presented a perfect way out for APPNA
> leaders.
> Always ready for a good time, they decided upon taking
> a large APPNA delegation for a “good will” trip to
> India. For some reason that is still entirely shrouded
> in mystery, during this trip the president of APPNA,
> in a function sponsored and probably paid for by the
> current opposition party in India, decided to give a
> plaque of “appreciation” to the BJP leader, Mr Lal K
> Advani. The man responsible for the destruction of the
> Babri Mosque is obviously not quite a hero for the
> mostly Muslim membership of APPNA. When the news of
> this award to Mr Advani got back to the US, questions
> were raised about the appropriateness of this
> decision, and worse, about the possible role of our
> beloved GOP in this unfortunate action.
> It might be appropriate to mention at this point that
> the vast majority of the members of APPNA left
> Pakistan before the winds of enlightened moderation
> had swept the land and are thus entirely
> uncontaminated by them. They are still very much the
> victims of the indoctrination they had endured as
> young people while in Pakistan and thus tend to think
> of most Indians as devils incarnate.
> The latest leaders of APPNA after coming in frequent
> contact with the latest GOP have however been
> completely transformed. As such the trip to India and
> the plaque was for them a perfect opportunity to
> demonstrate their new found enlightened moderation and
> spread it on to some ordinary members also.
> Unfortunately for the leadership of APPNA, after
> living in the US, most of the ordinary members of the
> organisation have actually started believing in
> bizarre concepts like participatory democracy and
> accountability of elected leaders. An electronic media
> campaign started by some such misguided members
> demanded an explanation from those responsible. There
> were even some calls for resignation. The president
> first tried to defend his actions and then apologised
> for giving out the plaque, using the “mistakes were
> made” formulation. Other members of the leadership and
> organisers of the trip rapidly distanced themselves
> from this entire matter acting as if they knew nothing
> about anything.
> It would now seem that somehow the mysterious plaque
> of appreciation with its unknown message was
> manufactured in the US and then schlepped across three
> continents without anybody, not even the president of
> APPNA finding out about it until “a hidden hand”
> forced him to present it to Mr Advani.

Asians Face Widest Income Inequality Among U.S. Ethnic Groups.

Shared by Sabrina Elahi

Asians remain the most financially successful racial and ethnic group in the U.S., on average, according to new data from Pew Research Center, out-earning white, black and Hispanic adults at almost every level.

But the new research also points to gaping income inequality among Asians in the U.S. The fastest-growing ethnic group in America, the Asian community includes both longtime residents as well as newcomers from East Asia, the Indian subcontinent and the Pacific Islands.

“You’re looking at different cultures and languages and characteristics and different motivations for coming to the U.S.” Rakesh Kochhar, senior researcher at Pew and co-author of the report, said. “Asians are often pictured as the highest-achieving group in America, but it’s clear they are in fact the most economically divided ethnic group.”

The gap between the highest- and lowest-earning Asians nearly doubled from 1970 to 2016, which Kochhar described as “connected entirely to the Asian immigrant experience.”

After the Vietnam War ended, thousands of refugees and displaced persons moved to the U.S. Compared to Asians already living in the U.S., a large share of the new immigrants had fewer skills and less education, Kochhar said. Changes in immigration policy that favored highly skilled immigrants again shifted the demographics of more recent Asian arrivals.

Immigrants make up a majority of the 20 million Asians living in the U.S. In 2016, 78 percent of Asian adults in the U.S. were foreign-born, up from 45 percent, according to a Pew study .

Income inequality is rising overall in the U.S. In 1970, people in the top 10 percent of the income distribution made 6.9 times more than people in the bottom 10 percent. By 2016, that gap had widened to 8.7 times.

Read Asians Face Widest Income Inequality Among U.S. Ethnic Groups on bloomberg.com

Pakistan Election Latest Gallup Polls

It seems PTI and PML-N will get about equal seats and PPP will play a king maker role. Recent charges of corruption against Zardari ( Judiciary gave him clean bill of health before becoming the President) is perhaps indication that he will be pressured to support PTI in formation of National Government, just in case PTI does not get clear majority. Zardari will gladly agree to it to avoid jail. PML-N will be stopped at any cost.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/337125-elections-exclusive-how-will-pakistan-vote

posted by f. sheikh

Pakistan: Election or Revulsion against hall of shame

Pakistan: Elections or Revulsion against Hall of Shame

Are the Pakistanis living in a Fantasy World?

The logic of July 25 parliamentary elections in Pakistan is questionable as being a ceremonial stunt to undermine the reality of a highly corrupted and disoriented political culture.  For decades, Pakistan lacks systematic working capacity to organize fair and honest election campaigns representing the interest of the masses. Foremost, the intent to hold elections on a short span of time. Why the interim government was not formed a year or at least six months ahead of the planned elections?  Given the extreme hot climate and the month of Ramadhan in between, it should have been a rational discourse. This should have helped to organize the necessary systematic mechanics of an election body to plan and organize all facets of the complex elections. For the missing political accountability and fearful of the on-going legal actions against Sharif brothers, the whole scenarios of hurriedly arranged interim government tells a lot.  The Sharif regime had no interest and priority to hold fair elections or to transfer power to another legitimate political party. They were all sadistic maniacs full of greed and mismanagement to dehumanize the Pakistani masses. Leaders are supposed to enjoin a vision of the future, creative thinking and selflessness, ethical character, a sense of positive thinking and commitment to serve the interests of the people. None of such profiles exist of any politicians in the recent history of Pakistan.  Pakistan needs a major change in its constitutional framework, political systems and the role and responsibilities of the political establishments. None of this is available in any rational context. If Pakistan is to spearhead as a sustainable democracy, it needs Major Planned Changes – a New Constitution, a Presidential system of governance (elected directly by the people), new political institutions enriched with young, educated and people of new generation having proactive vision of articulating a sustainable socio-economic and political future for the country. This rebuilding of the Nation cannot be done by just one group or one party already operative under highly charged corruption and dysfunctional political legitimacy. Have you ever read “Pakistan- Enigma of Change”-1999;  “Pakistan: Leaders or Political Monsters” 2015, and “Pakistan in Search of Political Change”, 2015 by this author?  Our nation has been robbed by its own so called political leaders- Bhuttos, few Military Generals, Zardari, Sharifs and Musharraf.  Truthfully, none were leaders except being military backed opportunists and thumb lickers who could be used for all purposes in all seasons – legitimate or illegitimate – this is the Pakistan’s junk history for the last 50 or more years. How could you imagine regaining that precious time and opportunities for change and development for socio-economic, political, moral and intellectual   infrastructures to sustain the present and reconstruct the Nationhood?  Could this forthcoming July 25 elections make any remedial work for what is required to be undertaken by hundreds and thousands of thinking people, strategic planners and political experts? Those who imagine miracles out of nothing, must be living in a self-engineered fantasy world – a world that does not corresponding to the prevalent realities of the 21stcentury.

Could Pakistanis Learn from others and the Challenges of Time?

South Korea sentenced to President Park to 20 years or more on corruption charges. It was done in a visible systematic legal framework. Why could Pakistanis not hold Zardari, Ms. Bhutto, Sharif and Musharaf to the same legal criterion action?  Is Pakistan a legally dysfunctional State? See how Brazilian legal system dealt with the past two presidents. Now, see how Malaysia handled Najib Razik’s corruption scandal and being held for a court trial.  If the Pakistani political elite and judiciary were honest and effective, should they have not taken tangible measures to exercise the legal accountability in a public court of law against so many political gangsters?

Nawaz Sharif has been sentenced to 10 years on corruption charges but he will not serve the sentence because he already fled the country. Why did the higher court allow him to leave the country? Were the Supreme Court judges ignorant of the fact that he could leave the country and avoid all measures of legal accountability?  This was nothing new in Pakistani political culture.

Rationality and truth has its own language. Everywhere blame game is used by the corrupt politicians to cover up their cruel impulses. The insane egoism does not recognize its own incompetence, criminality and failure. Across the nation, agonizing situations warrant urgent attention to deal with insecurity, conflict prevention and conflict management, Pakistani Taliban’s terrorism, problems in responsible governance, disdain trade and commerce and to revitalize sustainable national unity. The dismissed PM Sharif and his colleagues amassed wealth, stolen time and opportunities for political change and killed peaceful civilian demonstrators. They react like paranoid and maniacs as if masses are the problem. If conscientious Pakistanis living abroad are concerned about the decadent political culture and rebuilding of the moral, intellectual and economic-political infrastructures, the ruling elite will ensure to deprive them the opportunity to be heard at a national level. When people are forced to live in political darkness, they lose sense of rational direction.

 They demonstrated a dehumanized gutted culture of naïve politics, be it inside the Higher Courts, National Assembly or the political powerhouses, it makes no sense in a 21st century knowledge-based

age of reason and political accountability.  People’s tormenting pains,, political agony and continuing sufferings cannot be transformed into a single portrait to show to the global audience. All of the political monsters have stolen time and looted the wealth and positive energies of the masses. At a glance, Pakistan appears to be reaching at a dead-ended political discourse. The political misfortunes needs a high power jolt of intervention to pave a smooth way out of the stagnated political culture of the few. People are the legitimate force for change if there is any glimpse of democracy still operational in Pakistan.

Leaders or Monsters of History – Pakistanis should see the Mirror

The military dictators, Bhuttos, Zardari and Sharifs could never have come into power unless the whole nation had lost the sense of rationality, purpose and meaning of its existence. These sadistic and cruel monsters have institutionalized chaos and fear, demoralization of a moral society and dehumanization of an intelligent nation and have transferred these naïve traits and values to the psychological-social-economic and political spheres of the mainstream thinking hub of the nation.

For further reading click bellow.

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