The final straw came when THE HINDU,a prominent news paper in india,wrote a story last week about the bizarre practice in Pakistan of plane loads of politicians heading to dubai every time there’s a crisis in the country,and the PPP and PML-N choosing to meet either in Dubai or London to try and resolve thier differences over the judges.The writer asked how the Indian people would respond if Sonia Gandhi called Congress leaders to Rome to discuss political issues rather then meeting them in Delhi as she does.Dozens of articles have been written in the last few weeks questioning Mr.Zardari’s strange travel itinerary,which has included Turkey and Greece,and seems to be wondering around like a headless chicken,the PML-N leadership seems equally disorganized and confused.Not to mention the military that has taken one step forward and another two backwards.The bureaucracy which hasn’t been efficient or bright for a few decades now also doesn’t seem to know who’s incharge and what they should be doing other than buying expensive four wheel drives on regular basis.

Volumes have been written about whats wrong with Pakistan for decades but i think that the problem lies with the air and water supply of Islamabad.It seems to breed ineptitude,incompetence,and a general disconnect from the real pakistan;and perfectly bright people who have done well otherwise seem to go into a complete tailspin.We’ve seen how over the past five years Islamabad has started to resemble the rest of pakistan with strikes,bombings,loadshedding(depending who u live next to or dont),shrinking public spaces,qabza group,and a decline in law and order.But still it isn’t as gritty and real as the rest of Pakistan.Since we’ve tried just about everything else,it might be time to actually think about moving the capital from Islamabad and moving it lock,stock and barrel to say-Dubai?There isn’t a politician or bureucrat worth his/her salt who doesnt own property in the Gulf State so there would be absolutely no housing problems.The Gulf State known for its prowess at building cities can immediately start a Pakistan City project to house the parliament and other offices.The diplomats who are unlucky enough to be posted to Islamabad would be most pleased as they’d be reunited with thier families since for the last couple of years it has been declared a non-family posting for most foriegn missions.lets also think about all the money the pakistani tax payer would save with not having to foot the bill for the constant streams of flights heading to Dubai.

I’m sure there are plenty of detractors out there who”l want to shoot down my cunning plan on the basis of jingoistic national pride and all that good stuff.But seriously lets be practical and pragmatic of 60 years of our existence.Setting up capital in Dubai has a lot of advantages.Our leaders wil be closert o the royal families of UAE who we regularly go with a begging bowl to.We’l also be closer to Riyadh which is the other epicenter of charity for the Pakistani state.Imagine the savings to the pakistani tax payer when the free umrah junkets only have to go from Dubai to Riyadh and not from Islamabad/Lahore/Karachi to the Holy Kingdom?Foriegn aid agencies which have ineffectually been in pakistan since inception and form the backbone of funding also wouldn’t mind moving to Dubai from Islamabad given it’s location,and most importantly freedom and lack of cultural baggage when it comes to women.

There are some problems with my plan though and the biggest one bieng the inability for our politicians or bureucrats to get VIP treatment in Dubai.Sure they’l drive nice cars on our money just as they do now,but there’s no question of the out rider and armed gunmen following.And there will be none of the black tinted windows either because in Dubai they’re only for the locals.There’s also quite an adherence to the law unless you belong to the royal family.So the twelve year old son of a minister wont be able to take the land cruiser out for a spin with an armed escort.Niether will begum sahiba be able to go shopping with twenty armed guards clearing traffic and finding parking spots for her to comfortably.I see a deal breaker bacause as we know you really aren’t anyone in pakistan if you dont have a few escort cars and an out rider none of which are paid for by yourself.I appeal to the powers that be that it is time to give islamabad up and shift capitals because i am convinced that your brains will work better and you might just be able to do something for this country and its millions of poor citizens

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