All posts by Zubeida Mustafa

Loss of dignity

Administration, Constitution, Culture and the Arts, Defence and Disarmament, Development and Poverty, Economy, Education, Foreign Policy of Pakistan, General, Health, History, Politics

By Zubeida Mustafa

A FRIEND sent me his greetings on New Year with this verse: “Apnay haathon say dastar sumbhaloon kaisay/ Donon haathon mein kashkol pakar rakha hai.” (How should I hold up my turban when I hold the begging bowl with both my hands?)

The truth of this verse hit me when a news item in this paper reported the proceedings of the Senate recently. The government had come under fire from a PTI member for piling up external and domestic debts to such proportions that servicing them was becoming impossible.

One should not dismiss this as political gimmickry to embarrass the ruling party. After all, which party in Pakistan has even attempted to be self-reliant by adopting austerity as a policy to reduce the government’s dependency on loans? With few parties remaining in office for too long, every ruler spends money with abandon knowing that the chickens will come home to roost when he will not be around to cope with the problem. Continue reading Loss of dignity →

Tributes to Sister Mary Emily

Education, Notable Personalities
Sister Mary Emily

I remember Sister Mary Emily as ever humble and a sympathetic figure in the St Joseph’s College and Convent.     Dr Hamida Khuhro

My association with her goes back to the fifties when I joined the SJC as a student. Then after finishing with the University I came back to join the college as a lecturer. I was always so impressed by Sister’s efficiency and thoroughness in every thing that she did that probably some of it rubbed off on me as well and has stayed with me all my life unto this day..  That is the greatest tribute to sister Emily that any student can give. On learning of her passing away last night I spent a long time pondering over my association with the college and with Sister Emily and felt that they had been such wonderful years. May her soul rest in peace.  Rashida Wasti (nee Hasan) Continue reading Tributes to Sister Mary Emily →

Sister Mary Emily

Children and Youth, Education, Notable Personalities

Sister Mary Emily
Sister Mary Emily

By Zubeida Mustafa

IT was 1957 and we had returned to college after a restful summer

vacation. We had braced ourselves for the discipline that was the hallmark of the St Joseph’s College for Women (SJC) under the watchful eye of Sister Mary Bernadette, who was the principal.

As I entered the college premises, I saw a petite figure in the nun’s white habit walk briskly before me. It wasn’t the principal, who moved slowly with a stoop that comes with age. We didn’t have to wonder for long. At assembly we were introduced to our new vice-principal, Sister Mary Emily. She sailed into our lives like a breath of fresh air and departed equally quietly last Sunday.

Sister Emily revitalised us. But more than that she infused dynamism into this premier institution that she was to head four years later. For me it was the beginning of an association that lasted 60 years, during which she guided not just me but also several generations of Karachi’s young women through stormy times giving us a sense of security and stability. A recipient of the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Sister’s wisdom, her scholarship, her tact in handling students, her administrative skills and above all her humanism, made her an institution in Karachi’s academia. Continue reading Sister Mary Emily →

A hill station in decay

Environment, General, Guest Contributor, Health
The snow covered Thandiani mountaintop in the background can no more be seen from a point of one's choice due to buildings like this one.
The snow covered Thandiani mountaintop in the background can no more be seen from a point of one’s choice due to buildings like this one.

By: Nasser Yousaf

guest-contributorAbbottabad. The name sounds romantic. But romantic it is no more. The small hill station, named after its first district administrator, is not even a shadow of its former glory. Sir James Abbott had been so greatly enamoured by the pristine beauty of his place of posting and temporary abode that he wrote an emotional poem in its praise. Continue reading A hill station in decay →

No trashy issue

Administration, Environment, Health, Human Rights, International Politics, Labour
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By Zubeida Mustafa

TWO seemingly insignificant events could amount to the writing on the wall for our municipal administrators all over the country. It is plain, the public will no longer turn a blind eye to poor sanitation. People are now beginning to understand the implications of environmental pollution.

Recently, the inhabitants of a village in Fatehjang tehsil (Punjab) protested against the garbage dump which the district municipality had created near their homes. Some of them actually travelled to Islamabad to meet the director of the National Commission of Human Rights to lodge their complaint. They were not happy with the odour that pervaded their homes. Even more encouraging was the fact that the inhabitants of neighbouring villages refused to allow the DMO to pile garbage near their homes when he tried to shift the dumping site. Continue reading No trashy issue →