'Country does not stand anywhere despite having huge reserves, nuclear power'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has the second largest gold and copper reserves, third largest coal reserves, fourth largest cotton producer, fifth largest producer in milk, sixth largest rice producer, seventh largest wheat producer in the world, and is a nuclear power, but still it does not stand anywhere due to lack of leadership and feudal mindset.

This was stated by renowned analyst and chairman Pathfinder Group Ikram Sehgal, while speaking at the launching ceremony of 12 volumes of his articles titled, "A Personal Chronicle of Pakistan", held at a local hotel, on Thursday.

"A Personal Chronicle of Pakistan" is the compilation of Ikram's articles published in different newspapers during the last 40 years.

People belonging to different spheres of life including former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former federal minister Sartaj Aziz, former federal minister Mushahid Hussain Syed, Inspector General National Highways and Motorway Policy Kaleem Imam, and Lieutenant General (retired) Ali Kuli Khan attended the ceremony.

While dignitaries including President World Economic Forum Borge Brende, Senior Group Advisor Meinhardt Group, Singapore Dr Iftekhar Chowdhury, journalist Owen Bennett-Jones, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of France Yves Manville, Director Global Security and Resilience Projects Dr Marc H Siegel, President American Foreign Policy Council Dr Frederick Starr, and Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence UAE Sheikh Nahayan Bin Mubarak Al Nahayan also shared their recorded views on the author's compilation .

Sehgal said he appraised Prime Minister Imran Khan about a lot of things and about inflation, adding the prime minister acknowledged the issues.

"I talked about law and order and justice. I told him there is a need to talk about the spirit of the law and wording does not matter and if you do not apply the spirit of the law and criminals function in the name of justice, justice becomes a crime. To me, it does not matter to which political party a person belongs to, to me the individuals matter, what he can achieve for Pakistan matters what he does for Pakistan matters," he added.

Sehgal said the country needed right leadership to move forward.

He said that some people were a part of every cabinet and what kind of loyalty they had. Such people did not have loyalty to one leader and they were continuously changing parties just to stay in the cabinet, he added.

Sehgal said Imran Khan would be a great leader, was a great leader, and he sincerely hoped that Khan succeeded for the sake of Pakistan but he had to do something about the people around him, as some of them were self-serving.

The only thing they thought about was themselves and not about the country, he added.

Sehgal said Pakistan had a tremendous potential, which needed to be untapped for a better future of the country.

He said the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) was the blackest law in the history of the country, which was legitimised by General Pervez Musharraf (retired).

Sehgal thanked all the people who made it all possible, saying without the support of his family and friends, publisher and others, he would not have been able to accomplish the gigantic task of printing the 12-volume chronicles.

Abbasi said Ikram Sehgal was a witness to history and done great services by printing his articles in the shape of a collection of books.

"He is a brave man because most of things he writes in an article come out not to be very factual and the analysis generally come out to be wrong, so he has taken a lot of courage to publish the books and give us a view of history."

He further said that Sehgal had a lot of courage to write those articles because "we have a unique country in the sense that what you read is generally not the reality.

"The reality is often invisible and mostly comes out through articles later in history on what happened in that particular period.

"Sehgal provides a great of sense of what happened in those periods."

Sartaj Aziz said the book would be a reliable source for researchers and students, besides touching upon the services rendered by Sehgal, while holding various government positions.

Mushahid Hussain said Sehgal was always close to the corridors of power but was never part of the power, and fortunately, he had a powerful independent pen and who had the courage to speak truth.

Imam said Ikram Sehgal's publication was an unprecedented accomplishment as he chronicled Pakistan's last 40 years in 12 volumes.

Speaking via a video link from the UAE, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the Minister for Culture, Youth, and Social Development of the UAE, said the book clearly signified what "we all know about Sehgal's dedication, commitment and his outstanding contribution to public discourse".

Dr Frederick Starr, the president American Foreign Policy Council, Washington, said Sehgal was not a polemicist but a true educator who deserved to be recognised, adding the 12 volumes of Ikram Sehgal's collected essays were worth celebrating.

Dr Marc H Seigel, president and CEO of M Seigal Associate LLC, said he found it fascinating the chronicles of history of Pakistan, the surrounding areas and the rogue politics spanning over 40 years, very interesting.

"The beauty of the chronicles is that these are written from the perspective of a person who truly loves Pakistan. He [Sehgal] doesn't write a book that is glowing as he's very critical regardless who's in power and who are the political parties [...] he gives a fair and honest assessment of Pakistan and geo-political situation of the region," he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021