Shafqat Mahmood

The writer is a former Senator and a former federal and provincial minister

smahmood@lhr.comsats.net.pk

Much has changed for Pakistan since September 11. From the periphery of world consciousness, we are now in the centre. From being a backwater ruled by the military, we are now the preferred destination of every Western leader worth his fifteen minutes in the global sun. From being a tattered supplicant knocking on every conceivable door, we have been transformed into the most deserving candidate for military, economic, and humanitarian aid.

Our rupee has gained strength against the dollar for the first time in living memory. Our military President is now being feted in the Champs Elysee, Downing Street and by the American President in New York. Our political analysts, and pundits of every conceivable hue, are listened to with respect on international TV channels. Through the chaos of this war on terror, a nation of 140 million people is being rediscovered by the world.

There was a time not too long ago when a few lines on Pakistan in the Western media, would be reproduced in our press and passed on to each other on the net. Now, it is difficult to keep track of everything that is being written or said about us. Not all is good, but not everything is bad either. It is not an overstatement that a more mature understanding of our country is beginning to emerge. Those fire breathing zealots of the early days are giving way to the other face of Pakistan. A moderate, liberal, and in tune with world, Pakistan. Hopefully, we are now finding a more informed place in global consciousness.

Islamabad now looks and feels like a different place. This is where the news is happening and it is a fairly heady feeling. I have come to this city after many a month and can feel the tingle, the barely suppressed excitement, that is in the air. Developments, as my friend Hafeez would say, have developed. This is partly true because the ministries have their hands full adjusting to the changed scenario but it is also true for another reason. A veritable invasion, what else can one call it, of the international media has taken place and no end is in sight.

I was told that almost nine thousand media people of one kind or another have hit Pakistan. Nine thousand! No wonder the rupee is so strong. Their big budgets must be having an impact. Not everyone, however, is in Islamabad. Some are in Peshawar and Quetta but many are waiting out in Karachi because they cannot get a place in Islamabad to stay.

The Marriott Hotel in Islamabad is in the centre of this storm and full to the brim. Some would even say the cup is overflowing. Those who cannot find rooms have been put up in a tent, yes a tent, next to the swimming pool. Mattresses have been very kindly supplied. I am sad to report that the ladies gym is no more. It has been cleared for western female journalists who have unfurled their sleeping bags and literally sleep cheek by jowl.

I wish the Marriott management would rotate this living arrangement between the room holders and the floor sleepers. This way everyone can get a taste, a luxurious taste, of the refugee situation. If nothing else this would put some feeling into their reporting on the refugee camps. I am also told that the roof of the hotel has been divided into squares and each square has then been parcelled out to international television channels. I am glad that every inch of this hotel is at such a premium because friend Sadruddin Hashwani's other properties in Karachi, Lahore and Bhurban, I am told, are in a terrible slump.

This media invasion has also done wonders for our very own press corps. It is said that every foreign team has hired a local stringer or two to help with the interviews or digging out the news etc. This is doubly good because our younger journalists would get a decent wage for a change and also gain some experience. The other people doing well are interpreters or what passes for interpreters in Pakistan. The daily fees being mentioned are really quite nice. So if you know Urdu, Pushto, Dari, Persian, or Turki and can get by in English, here is your chance.

It is also a good time to buy properties in Islamabad. The war and its aftermath will take a year or so and the reconstruction may take a decade. The press corps is sure to fan out from the Marriott and the aid agencies would come back in force. Already some properties are renting out for many a hundred thousand and a friend told me that people have started to lease out their private cars. I am telling you, this is the place where it is happening.

Government, or what passes for government, as some of you would be keen to remark, is the main activity in Islamabad. This has also begun to change. Everyone is sitting late in the Ministries because there is so much to do and new developments take place every day if not every hour. No more leisurely golf games in the afternoon or a bout of tennis. It is all business now.

Nowhere is this more true than in the Ministry of Finance. If something has to happen to change our economic future, this is obviously the place. Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz has emerged as the leading point man of this government after President Musharraf. He and his team are crisscrossing the globe negotiating loan rescheduling, new loans, humanitarian assistance and what have you. They are also trying to keep a lid on wild fantasies that other people in the government have begun to have about spending and subsidies. With luck they also hope to reach the targets of the debt reduction strategy before 2006. They are at the cutting edge and they know it.

We are a cynical lot as a people and chary of giving praise; as if saying something good about someone else would diminish us. The time has come to acknowledge some of the good work that has been done. September 11 thrust General Musharraf and his team in a very difficult situation. They have negotiated this perilous situation with great dexterity so far. The Finance team, as I said earlier, is busy burning the proverbial midnight oil with some success. Razzak Dawood has been a tough negotiator on behalf of our exporters and some good will come out of his effort.

Moinuddin Haider and his team, assisted by Provincial governments, have handled the law and order situation well so far. From a peak of 200,000, the processions have begun to dwindle and are in the thousands now. The foreign office took a slow start but their briefings are beginning to improve and of course behind the scenes they are busy like hell trying to take advantage of the openings that are coming our way. We may not yet be there but at least a major part of the Federal team is beginning to gel.

These are some vignettes of what is happening in your capital, folks. If you have a day or two to spare, come on up and see for yourself. Don't forget to visit the Marriott Coffee Shop. You will feel that you are in Luxembourg or some other equally foreign place. It is the cheapest, and the safest, way to travel these days.