Scam artists put in as much time in picking their mark as much as the play itself. Some innocent souls yield greater returns for lesser work, others require more work, others still wouldn’t let the angel of death snatch away his due without a sweat.
Which is why there must be some level of professional pride for a Karachi businessman who fled the country recently. The gentleman in question appears to have run away from a multi-storied mega mall project in the city with the former president’s brother’s money. Now the brother in question is the one who many people claim can be, at times, more powerful in the Sindh government, than the chief minister himself. And that, even if that weren’t the case, the guy is a tough cookie even if he were in opposition without any government leeway.
All of the above makes it unlikely that the now-in-hiding businessman had planned all this to happen. Just tough luck? Not a good enough explanation for the fuming politico, who is said to have switched on his bounty-hunter goggles.
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According to reports, amongst one of the first directives given by the new army chief after taking over was ordering for work on a couple of DHA projects in second-tier cities to be sped up. A little unfair to single this directive out and not mention the talk of operational improvement, yes, but the whole generals-and-property cliché has a comedic value that shouldn’t ever be left unmilked.
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The previous army chief Kayani is said to have raised the morale of the army, which had been sagging during the Musharraf years. That’s a good thing, especially for an army at war. What is problematic is the corresponding increase in pomp and show. You can’t argue for military budget cuts in times of war, yes, but for building up a force de frappe, not frills. Too many luxury cars, planes, fluff and what-have-you.
