Loud Thinking August 01, 2013 at 12:29PM

An old but still relevant letter to Mr. Ban Ki-moon Secretary General of the UNO

H’able Mr. Ban Ki-moon,

Secretary General,

United Nations Organisation,

New York,

U.S.A.

Dear Sir,

Your statement ( at the Major Economies Forum. L’ Aquila, Italy, on 9 July 2009. ) that we stand at a historical crossroads. Business as usual is no longer viable, has motivated me for this writing. I am convinced that the secret of future world peace, lies to a very large extent, in the total re-building of Pakistan, on the same model on which Japan was re-built after WW II.

However, this help of Pakistan will require a very well planned & concerted long term commitment of the entire world, including all the neighboring countries.

One thing is for sure; Pakistan will never improve, develop & change with the current world policy of helping it through loans & aid plans. Mainly, because this model of help is riddled with corruption, inefficiency & the vested interests of the donor countries/agencies, wherein, up to 90% of the loan amount is wasted & the poor people are forced to pay back the loans with added interest, without getting any benefit. This breeds abject poverty to the extent that increasingly people here are committing suicides on daily basis, (although suicide is strictly prohibited in ISLAM) to get relief from their economic woes. This poverty phenomenon is being easily & increasingly exploited by the terrorist organizations.

We can easily understand how gradually & steadily this area is being pushed towards extremism by the poverty, which to a large extent, is the result of the current economic model of aid/development through loans.

Under the circumstances UNO under your dynamic leadership, is the most competent & relevant organization to develop a ten year re-building model for Pakistan, which must broadly include the following strategy.

Immediate writing off of the entire foreign & domestic loan of Pakistan.

Allowing 100% duty free imports of Pakistani goods in all the countries.

Revamping of entire Pakistani educational system on modern lines.

Providing of world class health care system.

Development of world class transportation infrastructure.

Focus for development on small & medium size industry.

Development of agriculture, livestock & dairy sectors on world standards.

Settlement of Kashmir, water, Siachin & all other issues between Pakistan & India.

Building of Maximum possible dams on the river system.

Development & exploration (as per world standards) of natural resources.

Development of wind energy to the maximum potential of the country.

Development of a modern Social Welfare set up.

It is hoped that the UNO will truly live up to the message of your above quoted statement & lead the world in attacking the menace of terrorism, directly at its roots i.e. abject poverty. Moreover, the above plan may not even cost more than two years war expenditure of NATO in Afghanistan.

Best Regards,

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad
Lahore – Pakistan

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