Bilal Zuberi and Adil Najam

It is the end of the year – a good time to reflect on the past and imagine the future. One could make an argument that, here at ATP, we do try to do that all year.

From one of our earliest posts on ‘Imagining Pakistan’ to our many disucssions on Jinnah and his image of Pakistan (here, here, here, here, here and here) the question of what Pakistan we want to see in the future has been central to ATP discussions. At its cores, this question is also behind current ATP Poll on the key events of 2006 and their impact on Pakistan’s future. In reality, what would have most impact on Pakistan in 2007 is the way in which our society will learn, adopt and change itself in light of the events of the past.

It is in this context that we wanted to share some of ideas presented by Prof. Pervez Hoodbhoy during his commencement speech at the the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in Karachi. Many of you would have seen this already, it has been featured in a number of Pakistani blogs, including here. However, we have waited to the end of the year to highlight this because this is a time when many begin pondering on what has been and what will be in the future. Hopefully, this can generate a broader conversation of what our ‘three wishes’ might be.

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Adil Najam

One of the great untold stories of 2006 may have been how economic existence for poor and middle class Pakistanis continued to become harder (here, here and here) even as a number of macroeconomic indicators seemed to do well. Some would say that eventually the benefits of macroeconomic growth will trickle down. But eventually can come too late for some.

A survey conducted by Dawn in Islamabad reports that “the prices of 36 daily-use items witnessed an upward trend compared to last year [2006].” (click on image for larger view)

…the prices of pulses registered a phenomenal increase during December 2006 over the corresponding period last year. The prices of moong (washed) went up by 32 percent, mash (washed) 43 percent and gram (washed) by 48 percent. This increase was despite the government’s subsidies announced a few months back to stabilise the rates of the commodities in the market.

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Adil Najam

Both the cartoon and the qata are from Jang (28 and 29 Decemeber, 2006, respectively). Both are about Eid; but both areabout more than just Eid. Niether needs further comment. Eid Mubarak to all!