Lahore Metblogs » S A J Shirazi

Trees of Lahore

S A J Shirazi — Sun, 12 May 2013 07:07:01 +0000

Until the 1970s some one hindered and sixty species of birds were listed in Lahore. While the city had such green spaces as Lawrence Gardens, Aitchison College, the cantonment and Model Town, farm and forest on the outskirts began where Defence Society or Allama Iqbal Town and the innumerable societies now sprawl in south and east Lahore. Also, houses along main thoroughfares were constructed on plots of four or five thousand square yards or more, giving every residence a large garden with trees, shrubbery and flowers.

The conversion of suburban farm, forest and scrub land to housing estates led to large scale deforestation. Over the years it was observed that not just government agencies, but private developers as well as individual home owners are clearly repulsed by trees. The first thing anyone does is remove the forest cover, even when the trees do not get in the way of construction. Wherever indigenous forest was destroyed, the grid of new roads was bordered with eucalyptus.

With the development of these housing estates and soaring real estate prices, the standard plot size was reduced to 500 square yards. Most of the palatial homes (save those in Gulberg) were evacuee property taken over after partition and because Pakistan of the 1950s through the 80s was a country of single generation riches, the properties began to be divided as the families grew. The homes and gardens of Model Town and Gulberg were progressively cut up into smaller and smaller plots. The tree-shaded bungalows of downtown roads like Temple, Abbott and Davies were demolished to make way for high-rises. Nowhere was an effort made to save so much as a single tree.

The house with the garden was no more. Now people lived in blockhouses covering the entire plot save the thin sliver that had to be left unpaved by law. There was no more room for the spreading neem or pipal in the matchbox garden that was now the norm. The 1980s saw PIA air crews bringing home all sorts of exotic plants from the Far East. Though restricted under law, customs officials connived while those of the Plant Protection Department that controls import of exotic species remained spectacularly negligent. The activity went on unchecked, flooding the country with useless species of ornamental flora. This was in tune with the requirements of the new matchbox gardens and ignorant homeowners lapped up the supply.

With the diminishing forest cover of Lahore, birdlife began to disappear. Red avadavats, munias, Tickell’s and Paradise flycatchers so common in Gulberg and Shadman were the first to go. Golden orioles, those elusive streaks of black and gold, flashing among the foliage on Davies Road and The Mall were restricted to Canal Bank south of the Punjab University. And this is to name only a few species to permanently migrate away from Lahore.

Now, even twenty years before all this started to happen, self-serving foresters had begun to plunder the ecology of Lahore – indeed of the rest of the country as well. Pressured by their political masters to increase forest cover, they went for the one sapling that had a hundred percent survival rate. With help from an Australian botanist, Dr Prior by name, the Forest Department raped Pakistan with six of the six hundred sub-species of the water-guzzling eucalyptus. Since birds and animals kept away from this alien species, it grew where the survival of indigenous saplings was limited to about thirty percent.

Consequently, from about 1960 onwards, from Jivani in the south of Balochistan to Chor in the Thar Desert to the mountains of northern Pakistan, only eucalyptus was planted. New localities like Township in Lahore where a huge swathe of the historic Lakhi Forest was cleared to make way for roads and housing, was replanted with this new darling of the Forest Department. Simultaneously, there was an aggressive campaign to promote this alien tree. It continued to 2005 when the Punjab government banned its plantation – for the second time. Undaunted rogue Forest Department officials still encourage it.

Now, in the past, urban forestry was the responsibility of the Forest Department. In the 1980s Lahore Development Authority (LDA) raised an in-house Parks and Horticulture Department and entrusted it with the task of giving Lahore its green canopy. Since it was managed by ignorant low level bureaucrats, never by a specialist who understood the word ‘ecology’, Lahore now began to be destroyed full time. Wherever an indigenous tree was lost, the replacement was an exotic shrub.

In the late 1990s, a self-serving and glib mandarin well-versed in the arts of slick talk and sycophancy, out of favour with the government of the time, already having blighted a part of Lahore with date palms in place of old spreading mango trees, saw his chance. To the Chief Minister, Punjab, he presented the idea of turning Lahore into a garden so that he may be remembered as a second Shah Jehan. And so it was that the department within LDA became a separate Parks and Horticulture Authority under the glib one as its first Director General.

The man may have known about flowerbeds, but he hadn’t the faintest clue about ecology. As is the norm in this benighted land, he was followed by a procession of general duty bureaucrats, utterly uneducated in matters of environment, who enacted a sordid game of corruption coupled with the wholesale destruction of the Lahore’s ecology.

Now, in a country where the words ‘environment’ and ‘pollution’ continue to remain beyond the comprehension of politicians and the bureaucracy (both civil and military), a holistic understanding of ecology is still wanting. First of all, none of the mandarins who steered the sullied ship of PHA understand that trees are sinks that sequester atmospheric carbon to control global warming. That the larger the bio-mass of a tree the more carbon it will hold is simply beyond their grasp. Consequently, when the tons of bio-mass of a mature banyan or pipal is destroyed, the replacement is a shrub.

Those who do favour trees are singularly incapable of understanding that ecology can only be kept in order with indigenous species of flora. Devoid of the capacity to commune with nature, they do not realise that alstonia, another alien to Punjab and now a favourite, is fastidiously shunned by all bird species. Even after years of it becoming a familiar sight in Lahore, not a single alstonia has ever harboured a roosting leave alone a nesting bird. But for the babus of PHA, this is just specie with which to replace the city’s indigenous trees.

In 1980 yet another bane struck Lahore. A young man with connections to the dictator through his politician mother became ‘Horticulturist by Appointment to the President.’ Beginning with a free run of the President’s House in Islamabad which he, needless to say, destroyed ecologically, he added another nail to the coffin of Lahore’s ecology. Without any education in the field, the man a landscape artist promoting only exotic species in the city. Needless to say that this was accomplished at considerable fiscal profit to the man.

Though he seems to have grown intellectually and has done some good work in a couple of housing estates in south Lahore, he admits that as a landscape designer, his earning comes from promoting expensive and exotic flora. ‘I cannot possibly sell a neem for Rs 1000 when everyone knows they can have it from a good nursery for a couple of rupees,’ he says. He admits that he is guilty, together with PHA, of promoting exotic species to the detriment of indigenous ones for the huge profits to be raked in.

Thirty years of brainwashing by persons with no specialised training and no understanding of ecology masquerading as environmental engineers, has led to a near catastrophe. On the one hand, indigenous trees have lost out to exotic ones. On the other, the total carbon-sequestering bio-mass of Lahore is now only a fraction of what it was in, say, 1975.

In its twelve years, PHA has remained a den of sleaze and incompetence with only a couple of very short clean interludes. (The sordid tale of PHA and the multi-million rupee-annual hidden income of its incumbents is a separate mind-blowing story). The current director general, another general duty bureaucrat, is choking Lahore with thousands of ficus and the kulfi tree called Asoka. So far as this man is concerned, no other tree exists. The greatest eyesore yet created by this man’s ignorance is the vast open space in front of Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore. The list does not end here, however.

Choc-a-bloc with all sorts of exotic dwarf palm trees and shrubbery what could have been a delightful sylvan retreat promises to be a shadeless hell in the blistering heat of the Lahori summer. The standard argument trotted out will be that the danger of bird hit precludes the planting of large trees in this spot. This holds no water because the distance between the hundreds of trees in the cantonment and the old runway is about the same as the distance on this side.

A PHA insider reveals that working on the Arain clan network, the DG is directly making wholesale procurements of ficus and Asoka from an Arain-owned nursery in Pattoki outside Lahore. The man claims to have cut down on expense by removing the middleman, but allegations about his own fiscal misdemeanour run rife in the corridors of PHA. Despite repeated attempts to contact him, Abdul Jabbar Shaheen remained out of reach, however.

Meanwhile, the nursery operated by the Forest Department in Ravi Road, Lahore is a lonely place. With thousands of saplings of over two dozen indigenous species of trees sold for no more than two rupees a piece, the nursery is unknown to the people of Lahore. With freelance landscape (con) artists and pseudo horticulturists promoting all sorts of exotic rubbish in place of the trees of Punjab, a whole new mindset has emerged. A day will come when the children of Lahore will not know what a pipal or a neem looked like. The same way as they today do not know what a firefly is.

A retired judge, resident of Judicial Colony in south Lahore, commented on the absence of birdsong in his locality. When told that it was because of the forest of non-local species that grows in his estate, he was nonplussed. Despite being pressed to get the management of the colony to phase out the alien and bring back the indigenous, he has done nothing. He only laments that there is no birdsong.

With every prejudice against nature, we have turned Lahore green, but it is a green desert. It is a desert where few birds sing and which does nothing positive for the overall ecology of the city and the country. We have to be thankful that this land was once ruled over by the Brits who planted The Mall, Lawrence Gardens and the cantonment and that there were good Hindu and Sikhs who gave us Model Town. These are the only places in Lahore today where a bird watcher can find woodpeckers and hornbills.

The beautiful mating song of the red avadavat, the mellifluous whistle of the golden oriole, the eerie call of the spotted owlet, the incredibly soft yet crowded orchestra of a single chiffchaff are gone. We do not realise, but we are the poorer for the loss of birdsong. One day, we the people of Lahore, will die from this resulting loneliness of the soul in a landscape ravaged by a desert of exotic greenery.

From Here

The Lahore that I grew up in was a great place

S A J Shirazi — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 16:01:06 +0000

I grew up in Lahore. All my life I lived here except for the seven years in the army and ten in Karachi. I returned again in December 1988 and have lived here since. I knew a Lahore that was a very beautiful city. It was a city of people who ere cultured, courteous and with a sense of humour that was sharp without being vulgar. This was a city of the most magnificent Mughal buildings and gardens. It was also a city where you could actually get into the countryside without going anywhere. The urban sprawl of what is now Johar town was a place of mango orchards and fields where one could hear the song of more than a hundred different species of birds.

Lahore was a city where the gates of your house were always open, except when you turned in for the night. It was a city where armed robbery or rape was unknown. Lahore was where a traffic accident did not mean you were lynched. It meant people got out of their cars and quietly resolved who was to pay for the damages. Here a young man and woman could walk hand in hand without being accused of ‘obscenity and vulgarity’.

The Lahore that I grew up in was a great place to live in. But we have cut down all the indigenous trees and replaced them with useless asoka and ficus trees where birds do not roost because these trees do not belong to this land. And now we are blighting this once beautiful city with palm trees. The Chief Minister says he will turn Lahore into Paris. For crying out loud, please just turn this urban lifeless jungle once more into Lahore [From Here].

Odysseus Lahori

S A J Shirazi — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 14:36:34 +0000

Fellow of Royal Geographical Society, Salman Rashid is author of several books including jhelum: City of the Vitasta and The Apricot Road to Yarkand, Riders on the Wind, Between two Burrs on the Map, Prisoner on a Bus and Sea Monsters and the Sun God. He is the only Pakistani to have seen the North Face of K-2 and trekked in the shadow of this great mountain. His work – explorations, history, travel writings – appears in almost all leading publications. Salman Rashid blogs here.

Odysseus was a very simply choice, says Salman Rashid, “He travelled, either driven by storms or by his will to discover strange and wonderful lands where he met all sorts of people. Though I never met a Cyclops, I too have travelled to wonderful places across the length and breadth of Pakistan. The Odyssey lasted twenty years, mine is still ongoing – though it is not in one stretch and there is no danger of returning home and not being recognized by anyone. It was Odysseus’ spirit of adventure that made me adopt him name.”

Follow Salman Rashid on Twitter, also find on facebook.

Towards Accelerated Economic Growth in Pakistan – Its NeedandFeasibility

S A J Shirazi — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:29:14 +0000

The Lahore School of Economics will be hosting its Eighth Annual Conference on Management of the Pakistan Economy on May 16-17, 2012 at its Main Burki campus. The focus of the Conference will be Towards Accelerated Economic Growth in Pakistan: Its Need and Feasibility. The discussion on “means and channels” through which accelerated growth could be sustained will include international competitiveness, regional trade relations as stimulus to economic growth, and promotion of investment activity and enterprise development.

The Conference will encompass seven sessions over the two days with each session focusing on a major theme for accelerated economic growth. The sessions on 16th May will focus on A Heterodox Strategy for Stabilisation and Economic Growth, Economic Growth-Employment-Poverty Nexus, International Competitiveness for Sustainable Growth and International Perspectives. The areas covered in the sessions on the second day of the Conference include Pakistan’s Strategic Importance and its Trade Relations, Immediate Constraints and Longer-Term Triggers for Economic Growth and Making Provincial Devolution Work. The conference will end with a panel discussion on the Key conclusions from the Conference.

The Conference will bring together distinguished economists, academicians and policymakers from both the national and the international spheres. Some of the notable speakers include Dr. Ashwani Saith, Professor, Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Dr. Rashid Amjad, Vice Chancellor, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics; Dr. Irfan Ul Haque, Special Advisor, Financing for Development, South Centre, Geneva; Dr. S. Akbar Zaidi, Visiting Professor, School of International Public Affairs, Columbia University; Dr. Moazam Mahmood, Director, Economic and Labour Market Analysis Department, International Labour Office; Dr. Matthew McCartney, Lecturer, Wolfson College, University of Oxford; Dr.Ijaz Nabi, Country Director, International Growth Centre, Pakistan; Dr. Hafeez Pasha, Dean, School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, BNU; Mr. Asad Umar, Former CEO Engro Corp; Dr Kamal Munir, Senor Lectutrer in Strategy, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, Dr Syed M. Turab Hussain, Assistant Professor, School Humanities and Social Sciences, LUMS; and Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Dean and Director, Institute of Business Studies.

Dolls, Toys and More launched

S A J Shirazi — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:40:21 +0000

Dolls, Toys and More by S A J Shirazi was launched in Lahore on April 28, 2012. here is a foreword by Khalid Javaid, the Executive Director, Lok Virsa

Pakistan’s folk culture is a living tradition practiced by a dominant majority of its people. Pakistanis, therefore do not have to go looking for folklore, it is all over. In fact, it is so common place that an average rural Pakistani may have no awareness whatsoever of his folkloric culture and the richness of his folk heritage, just like a fish in water.

Pakistan with its rich and varied heritage has a craft tradition of more than 9,000 years dating back to the Mehergarh civilization in the Balochistan province which reveals the earliest evidence for pottery production. The Indus valley civilizations of Moenjodaro in Sindh and Harappa in Punjab, 5,000 B.C. indicates impressions of woven cloth production from cotton and wool. The dominant historical influence still to be seen in the form, design and colour of Pakistani handicrafts is essentially Islamic, a fusion of Turkish, Arab, Persian and the indigenous Mughal tradition.

The crafts represent a valuable material heritage, which forms a tangible part of our historical and contemporary culture. Unlike the west, most traditional crafts in Pakistan is neither a profession nor a hobby, but an essential component of the diverse cultural patterns – a product of the ethnic and communal attitudes and practices. As such crafts have meanings and definite social context in traditional society. However, the onslaught of the industrial age is erasing this craft heritage, even in rural areas. But there is a recent trend towards the use of crafts as art objects in urban homes. Historic forms and designs are being revived both by the increasing number of trained craftsmen and by designers for the tourist and export trade.

Pakistan is noted for some of the most beautiful handicrafts of the world. Whether it is the elaborate dress of a bride or a simple household utensil, it is designed and created so artistically that it becomes an object of art. The different regions, towns and cities specialize in their particular handicrafts. This is why there is so much diversity and variety in the crafts of the country.

The indigenous skills of Pakistan have evolved over centuries through communal practice and therefore constitute the most authentic representation of Pakistan’s traditional art

The National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage, popularly known as Lok Virsa, is a pioneering national organization at the federal level striving hard since its inception in the This task is being done in a professional and systematic manner in close association with a vast network of provincial and regional cultural institutions, non-governmental organizations and community-based bodies, who are actively engaged with the practitioners of the traditional culture at the grass root level.

Lok Virsa has been working closely with Thatta Kedona for the last many years. They have undertaken a number of initiatives in the village Thatta Ghulamka Dhiroka in Punjab for the promotion and preservation of traditional culture including activating the village women and resumption of the tradition of making dolls and ethnological research resulted in creating ethnic dolls dressed up in the traditional costumes of various provinces and minorities. In pursuance of their objectives, they give training to village women to make international quality products, to generate income and thus becoming an effective part of the society. They also collaborate with the Export Promotion Bureau of Pakistan to introduce their products abroad.

Their present publication of Thatta Kedona will also go a long way in maintaining the traditional culture and creating on its basis a foundation for good quality artisanship. We wish them success in their endeavours [Also here and here].

Why I have moved to sajshirazi.com

S A J Shirazi — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 09:33:36 +0000

I’ve been blogging for long time now but have never really, until last week, looked into “buying own domain.” I have been using Blogger, and always assumed that “I am doing at BlogSpot what others are doing with own domains. It did fine for me. Was I handicapped?

Friends and fellow bloggers have been telling me that getting your own domain name is a must for a long time. Reasons: You don’t really own your Blogger blog (as per Blogger’s ToS, the domain and the platform are properties of Google though you own content). And it has serious consequences. Having your own domain gives you more credibility (and yes, an ego boost – sajshirazi.com looks much better). And of course it gives you more flexibility.

Above all else, here is another reason. Those who are looking forward to making money from blogs now need own domain. Initially BlogSpot used to be the best way to get your adsense account approved, but later now it’s getting harder to get your adsense account with blogspot. News is that Google may pull down all adsense account on BlogSpot blogs any time. Similarly other paid posting platforms are also offering less and less on free platform blogs.

While I move to sajshirazi.com, I owe big thanks to all my awesome readers. Many thanks to you all for reading, sharing, liking and leaving valuable feedback that kept me going since 2003. Do please come and join me there. Internet (and blogging) is so lonely without friends.

Lahore School Convocation 2012

S A J Shirazi — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 08:38:33 +0000

S A J Shirazi

Lahore School of Economics’ Ninth Annual Convocation was held at the main campus on Jan 14, 2012. Sardar Latif Khan Khosa, the Governor Punjab conferred degrees and awards to 809 graduating students of MPhil, MS Economics, MSc Economics (11), Masters in Business Administration (180), BSc Economics, Bachelors of Business Administration (600) and Master of Business Administration (Executive). Sardar Latif Khosa lauded the role of Lahore School of Economics in core specilization of Economics, Finance, Business Administration and related fields of studies including Social Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, Environment, Media Studies and Art and Design. The Governor also notes the Lahore School of Economics Research Program that is focused on improving the economic well being of the people of Pakistan.

Earlier, Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry, the Chairman and the Rector Lahore School of Economics presented annual report of the School and highlighted achievements during the academic year.

The Lahore School of Economics, Chartered in 1997, has the distinction of being the first private sector not-for-profit degree granting institution established by the Government of the Punjab. Since then we have matured to be an established institution of higher learning with a wide range of academic disciplines encompassing economics, business, finance, social sciences, media studies art and design, mathematics, statistics and environmental sciences at both the undergraduate and post graduate levels. The Lahore School has currently 3266 students in these disciplines with 66 doing their M.Phil and Ph.D, 457 doing their masters and 2643 completing a 4 years bachelors degree.

The Lahore School’s faculty and student body are also engaged in undertaking important research. The Lahore School publishes a two academic journals viz. a leading economics journal – The Lahore Journal of Economics – and an important policy studies journal – The Lahore Journal of Policy Studies. It is engaged in a number of international research studies including with Colombia and Yale Universities. The Lahore School also has hosted since 2004 an “Annual Conference on the Management of the Pakistan Economy” with the 8th Annual Conference now scheduled for May 2012.

The Lahore School’s Annual Conferences on the Management of the Pakistan Economy are significant in that they provide the theoretical basis for policy making. As an example I would like to place on record that it was at the Annual Conference in April 2008 that the Lahore School recommended that an appropriate security blanket for the poor would be an old age pension scheme of Rs.1000 per month for widows. A number of influential policy makers were at the conference and we would like to believe that it contributed in a small manner to the development of the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) introduced in 2008-9 and which is widely acclaimed the world over. Incidentally that conference also recommended a school feeding and health care program in the field of education and hospitalization insurance coverage for serious illnesses in the health sector to complete a social security blanket for the poor. We hope sir, that you will consider these remaining two policy proposals to benefit the ordinary people of Pakistan in the future.

The Chairman thanked the Lahore School Board of Governors for their guidance and support. Dr Shahid Amjad Chaudhry also placed on record the services of Mr. M.A.K Chaudhry, who served as the Chairman, Board of Governors for 16 years and who recently passed away. His contributions to the development of this institution were immense.

The campus was very tastefully decorated and the Convocation was attended by a large number of parents.

Second Annual Pakistan Blog Award 2011

S A J Shirazi — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 09:14:56 +0000

Set aside the usual blogosphere buzz, rabid trolls, rants and ramblings and you will notice that the Pakistan blogosphere has matured into a wider and more dynamic community. Associated with blogging since it started in Pakistan, I have gladly followed the rise. Given my personal love for those who have been doing a good job blogging different subject and addicting the local context and content online, I have been pointing out top Pakistan blogs, bloggers and the post every year at Light Within. It is such a difficult task to sift through the burgeoning Pakistani blogosphere and pick out the best.

Thanks to CIO Pakistan, IDG got together with Google Pakistan that they launched the Annual Pakistan Blog Awards in 2010. The award has become an annual feature and all Pakistani bloggers and readers to look forward to. This year, blogs related to Pakistan either through the topic, language or audience can context in Pakistan Blog Award 2011. The theme for 2011 is “Colors of Pakistan: Celebrating the New Media Spaces” and it aptly shows on the blog award site. Nomination will close by Monday morning (November 21, 2011). Voting will continue through November 25, 2011.

Lahore School Blog has been nominated here. Show your support for the blog by voting, rating and or leaving comments. Look for golden little star and click on the last one. Your vote is done. Check the image below for more help. Also leave your comments at the bottom of the page. Your comment and feedback matters a great deal.

Click here to vote

Junior World Entrepreneurship Forum Pakistan Conference 2011

S A J Shirazi — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:53:46 +0000

Happening Now, July 27-30, 2011

Management of the Pakistan Economy

S A J Shirazi — Fri, 06 May 2011 06:36:42 +0000

The Lahore School of Economics Seventh Annual Conference on the Management of the Pakistan Economy [May 4th, May 5, and May 6th] concluded at the Burki campus today. The theme of this year’s conference was “Financial Sector Development and Management’. The conference brought together a group of distinguished researchers and policymakers from across Pakistan and internationally. The underlying objective of the conference is to promote discussion on key policy issues in financial sector development and in macroeconomic management. The conference was opened by Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry, Rector Lahore School of Economics. Mr. Shahid Kardar, Governor State Bank of Pakistan will deliver the inaugural address. Researchers from PIDE, Quaid-e-Azam University, NUST, IBA Karachi, IBM Karachi, LUMS, Lahore School of Economics as well as a number of international universities participated in the conference.

The conference span three days and consist of five sessions. The first session covered matters concerning macroeconomic management and the role and effectiveness of instruments of fiscal and monetary policies in controlling inflation while ensuring growth. The second session included papers that evaluate the impact of financial sector reforms on the efficiency and effectiveness of financial intermediation and in reducing financial repression. The issues of the linkages between financial sector performance and monetary policy were the focus of the third session, while capital markets, their governance and performance were discussed in the fourth session. The last session brought together a group of international academics to discuss development experiences in other growing countries and their relevance for Pakistan.

The papers presented at the conference and the discussions held shed light on the policies and practical measures that can help the country to develop an effective monetary management system and an efficient and inclusive financial sector, for supporting sustainable growth in the future. [On the side line of conference]