The Pakistani Spectator

Few changes are being speculated after induction of some personalities, each expert in his field, in Dera Ismail Khan’s socio-political spheres. Within a short time of few weeks the newly arrived District Police Head has brought the city out of bloodshed which was merely a routine prior to his arrival with daily sad news of attributing an innocent’s death to blood-ravenous assailants fleeing from the scene intrepidly.

Having remained totally successful in his mission, his initiatives like indiscriminate search operations for suspects and ban on pillion-riding, to name the few, have turned the city, a bleeding ground once, back to peaceful routine. The efficacious results in a short time-span by Gul Afzal Khan Afridi won him great applaud and a great support from public was observed when some political elders, afraid of losing their pseudo-authoritative political prisons, approached higher officials, to boot him out. Though abortive in the devilish attempt, the very politicians are still enjoying their past practice of impious behavior as proved by tons of trash lying at every second corner under the city’s Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA). Besides, their obsequious hands with the city’s MNA and holder of an important slot in National Assembly’s speaker-office encouraged him to join their bird-hunting journey, an open criminal offense against the conservation of wildlife and the worst crime for someone having the reputable duty of sustaining order among the country’s Members of the Parliament.

The celerity of fame and aroha for Faisal Ali Khan, a young foreign qualified Derawal blood often clad in tralatitious Shalwar-Kameez and Turban, in common circles speak volumes about his acceptance as a new leader and true-soother of the public’s unjust wounds, something which the people cherished since long. Eager to spend his potential for Dera’s prosperity, the young leader’s ancestral mansion “Dera Wala Di Jha” (meaning “Place for people of Dera”) is a center of philanthropic activities and noble developmental plans for bringing the city in pace with other developed cities. With no pecuniary targets or conventional goals of becoming a popular warlord, Faisal, who’s also head of FIDA NGO, considers the improvement of life-quality here his moral obligation. Though the efficacious results in a short span may not assuredly prognosticate his success as a leader, his swift popularity and devotion of serving his hometown seems betting so.

Moreover, the arrival of Prof. Dr. Mansoor Akbar Kundi, a famous political scientist and academic at University of Balochistan, as the Vice Chancellor (VC) of Gomal University also omens the achievement of city’s long-felt demand, elimination of corrupt elements from the university and upkeep of transparency in projects. After having assumed his charge as the Vice Chancellor, the professor, a stickler academician from the beginning and a product of meritocratic culture, has started implementing his well-disciplined reforms by discouraging the conventional sycophantic culture and indiscriminate treatment of his subordinates and university students.

The mafia of corrupt elements, having acquired the shape of gang adept in producing their desired upshots, perceiving the new boss the cause of their ultimate ill-fate started conspiring to overthrow his Vice Chancellorship and thus restore the Ex-VC. Yet unsuccessful, the mafia still expects to leave no chance of impeaching the VC get wasted. Gomal University, once the famous and sole seat of imparting higher education in the southern areas of NWFP, has been badly played by political interference since its inception. Dr. Kundi, whose professorship spans over twenty years combined with international exposure and media experience, considers the betterment of university’s image a part of his mission to serve his hometown. In addition to boosting the university’s image, the professor seems to continue his quest of contributing toward the cause of quality education in Balochistan by developing linkages between both provinces’ institutions and thus bridging the gap within.

In a rapidly digitizing world where Next Generation Wireless Networks, which promise ubiquitous wireless connectivity, are being tested on experimental basis, Dera has, after pillion-riding, witnessed ban on cellular-phones’ services. Such digital amputation, as can be termed, might have produced good results, but by banning some common and necessary public activity, institutions seem avoiding their responsibility of maintaining order whilst observing active social life. Had the statement been baseless, curfew would have been the effective cure of every crime, either major or minor.