By Mehr Naik

Launched in 1948, British automotive stalwarts Land Rover are one of the longest lived four wheel drives in the world and are reputed to produce the worlds finest all terrain vehicles. The luxury automobile is favoured by the likes of Hollywood stars and musicians such as Charlize Theron, Kate Walsh, Pete Wentz, John Mayer and Katherine Heigl – locally, one has caught the likes of Asim Buksh and Shoaib Akhtar cruising the streets of Lahore in their luxury 4X4’S on occasion – in fact it is Asim who brings Land Rover in a big way to the country under the Premium Motors banner – they happen to have Jaguar in their portfolio as well and rumours of Bentley arriving this year are rife!

Before diving into technical specifics, one must acknowledge the business model of the company: This has a strong focus on global business growth and regionally speaking of our geographic area in particular, the Land Rover topped off a successful 60th Anniversary year by winning ‘Manufacturer of the Year’ at the CAR Middle East Awards which was held in late 2008.

Today we are looking specifically at the dynamic sports tourer, The Range Rover Sport which is a full size sports utility vehicle, SUV as its popularly referred to, introduced under the aegis of Land Rover in 2005 –  the automotive giants release a new model of the coveted car annually.  The luxury SUV has it all: extensive leather, wood and metallic finishes that can be customized to the owner’s preference, extensive road safety measures including high tech electronic crash-preventions such as antilock disc brakes, electronic brake assistance, emergency fuel shut-off device, front seatbelt height adjusters and hill-descent control. It not just a stunning but a safe ride too, it would appear.

Talking technicals, the SUV’s 4.2 litre supercharged V8 390hp petrol engine delivers massive torque and effortless acceleration with six-speed automatic transmission with adaptive shift logic that adjusts itself to road conditions and your unique driving style. It also has a Sport’s Terrain Response System to boot which assures the driver will be up to nearly any off-road task which offer five different settings that adjust throttle response, gear changes, vehicle ride height in varying environments, ranging from pavement to sand. Land rover has participated in numerous rallies and has won the Macmillan 4×4 UK Challenge almost every year.

Heading inside the cabin, the interior baffles: genuine wood trim on the floor consoles, doors and instruments panel and genuine leather upholstery for seating.  The Range Rover Sport also offers a versatile selection of superior entertainment with a hybrid digital/analogue TV alongside a sound assaulting Harman Kardon Logic 7 surround sound system. The system boasts 550 watts of power, the 14 individual speakers produce a dramatic 3D effect from a 12-channel digitally controlled amplifier, six CDs can be stored and played as well as MP3 encoded CDs.

Other swanky features include a keyless entry via key fob, panic alarm, 3-Memory adjustments for driver side which include seats, steering wheel and exterior mirrors.

The Range Rover Sport offers the best in luxury and technological advancements in the world of automobiles. Try it out in Pakistan in places such as the deserts of Sindh, the fields of Punjab or the rocky regions of the north. The vehicle is for anyone and everyone who has the taste for exploration without trepidation.

Having watched the speech of Altaf Hussain on his 56th birthday, where he promised to bring the much needed change in Pakistan. He claims that MQM can solve the sugar crisis, the wheat crisis, the suffering of the Kashmiri’s and the Serakis. On a number of previous occasions MQM has lent moral support to their balochi counter-parts.

Most people would laugh off Altaf Hussain and MQM as just another corrupt organization, however out of all the present political organizations MQM is the fastest growing and possibly the least corrupt.

Having made the above statement, in no way do I defend that MQM has no corruption, I am quite sure on its lower levels and unimportant ministers there is wide-spread corruption. This basically means that “people” mis-use the political and street power of MQM for their own personal advantage.

However their are certain leaders within MQM that I have come to respect and admire, Mustafa Kamal, Haider Abbass Rizvi and Dr. Farooq Sattar. Out of the three Haider Abbass Rizvi is one man who whenever he speaks, people listen, he is ALWAYS well dressed, rarely raises his voice and talks about the facts. A number of people when asked who should become the next prime minister of Pakistan unanimously chant Mustafa Kamal, I however beg to differ. Mustafa Kamal as hardworking as he may be does not possess the character and personality of an leader. He can rule, yes. But can he lead? Haider Abbass Rizvi on the other hand, seems always to be well prepared in all his TV shows and speeches and more importantly, he gives the impression that he has a vision for Pakistan.

However, MQM has a long, long way to go before they can be consider presenting a serious candidate and for that they must adopt best practices, modify their organizational structure and spurt out ONE message only. The number of social groups that have sprung up online some official some unofficial seem to project a more racist MQM and a Altaf Hussain MQM only.  The time has come where Altaf Hussain must realize that in order to win Pakistan over, it will take more than a few of his speeches. MQM would need to attract more educated, subject-matter experts into its organization in order to build an efficient government. Political parties in the past have always assigned ministries AFTER they have been elected into power. Its time that MQM sets the stage apart, and highlight key individuals who will run those ministries after election.

Less than 3 years left to find an energy expert, agriculture expert, education expert and a commerce expert.

The clock is ticking, and the people of Pakistan are getting tired and restless. Its time MQM takes the steering wheel with Haider Abbass Rizvi in the driving seat and give Pakistan the “leadership” it so desperately requires.

If they are to win the elections in the coming years, its imperative they penetrate Lahore and to do that, they need to first united Pakistan under one flag. The national flag of Pakistan.

When I moved to Pakistan in May of 2006,  I was quite skeptical of the political parties in Pakistan. Having read the history, the various news articles and hearing ambassadors, business personalities and friends, I had concluded that politics in Pakistan is something I will never take part in.

Living in Karachi the political party that made headlines in the past was MQM. MQM according to people in 2006 was involved in “mobile snatching, land grabbing and other mafia styled activities”. At first, the information was nothing new, ever since I can remember, everyone I knew warns you of MQM, to stay away for some reason or the other. “There dangerous Asif, don’t get involved”.

I heeded to that advice and kept my political thoughts to myself.

My first encounter with MQM was in 2006 “Eid al-Adha” a muslim festival where we sacrafice animals for God to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim who was ready to sacrafice his son for God.

So, every year we have a few cows and goats for sacraficing and their skin which is worth a fair amount, how much I am uncertain. Anyhow in the area where I lived, K.D.A. Officers Society a couple of boys, reasonably dressed approached me whilst I was standing outside and asked if I would be willing to donate the goat or cow skin to them. They presented themselves as workers for MQM and showed the reciepts that they give in exchange. I instantly said “no thank you” and I thought, no way will I help this Mafia organization. God knows they might come back, ask for other things. After I had said “no”, the boys said thank you, wished me Eid Mubarak and went on their way. A few hours later I saw the collecting skin from one of my neighbours so I called them over and donated two skins. What shocked me was the politeness and the manner of respect they had for an unknown individual. I don’t have no Gaurds at home and i’m not rich, infact I consider myself upper-middle class according to Karachi standards and right than and there, my image of MQM started to change.

I did some research, read about Mustafa Kamal, CDGK and Dr. Farooq Sattar. I started reading up more about the history of Karachi, the violence that erupted in the 80s and 90s, the reason why Altaf Hussain and his friends formed MQM, the student movement, the power of the youth, equal rights and above I tried to find out whether MQM is responsible for the torture cells, mobile snatching, target killings etc.

On the Internet I found no supportive evidence of any of the above accusations and having been very impressed with the construction of the bridges and roads by Mustafa Kamal, I decided that if I was to vote, I would vote for MQM.

May 12th 2007, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (whom I don’t hold in very high-esteem) was in Karachi planning to raise more support on his “unjust” firing by the then President Musharraf (who I think was one of the best leaders in Pakistan). Advised to stay at home, I spent the day with two friends watching the news channel for updates. EVERYONE predicted violence and violence there was. How much exacty is uncertain but what IS certain that EVERYONE was involved. MQM, ANP, PPP, PML-N, JI and you name it! Seriously logically speaking, when you have over one million people on the streets all comprising of different parties you are sure to have some kind of spark. The publicising of the attack on AAJ TV was the most stupidest news story out of all of them. They broadcasted for the entire duration CLAIMING to be under attack. Riight, your gaurd(s) with their rusted shot-guns prevented the onslaught right? WRONG. They were not even the target, infact all of them walked out quite all right but you see that was an important milestone in Pakistan. It was the start of “politics” as an entertainment!

The more I spoke to people about MQM the more I realised that they just hate MQM, they don’t have a real reason, if anything went wrong in Karachi the blame would fall on MQM, yet those very people refused to accept the fact that Mustafa Kamal IS part of MQM and his work speaks for himself. “No” they say, it was the previous mayor he made the plan. So my reply to them is that for the last few decades we have had planners, who have talked about the problem, talked about a plan, maybe drafted one, but never really executed it. Mustafa Kamal did the job and a job well done if I might say.

In 2008, the Youth Advisory Council (MQM) launched, I was invited by Ali Rashid to join YAC, take part. I joined the facebook group and was grossly disappointed. Some of the people there were filled with hatred for anyone non-mohajir. (For the record, my mother’s side is Punjabi and my dads side is Mohajir and I grew up in Switzerland, no idea what that would make me)

YAC started its attempt to unite the youth of pakistan, bring them on one platform to “discuss” problems. In 2009, I decided to join YAC as an executive and became part of the “Central Executive Committee”, I designed their website to what its present status is at http://www.mqmyouth.org and I attempted to set a direction and helped with strategy. I believed that there are many more qualified, educated people like myself who are interested in politics and who are interested in bringing about change.

The launch of YAC proved one thing, that MQM was keen to listen. In my very brief interaction with Dr. Farooq Sattar, I concluded that MQM is hungry for knowledge, subject matter experts, people who don’t understand politics but understand their respective fields. They want to bring in people like us, so they can ask us what we think about certain policies or what we think should be done.

That my friends in the three years I was in Pakistan, NO ONE ever asked and I had met a fair amount of people.

So today, although I am no longer living in Pakistan, I still support MQM. I’m not a die-hard supporter, yet I appreciate the efforts that their leaders undertake to make life easier in Karachi. The work Mustafa Kamal did, shortened my travel period to work by 10-20 minutes, depending on the traffic.

When I meet buzzing, energetic people who are over all dismayed with the current political situation in Pakistan, I tell them one thing and one thing only.

Pick a side.

Research what they all have to offer, read up on their past, their present and where possible their future than pick a side. Whether its PPP, PML-N or MQM, when people like us start picking sides, thats when the politics will change.

When asked by a reporter on ARY Digital to Sherry Rehman as to why she left politics she looked up, straight into his eyes and said ” No one decides when to leave politics, politics decides when to leave you”.

The future of Pakistan depends on the actions we as Pakistanis take, we can either ignore everything or we can get involved. If we ignore everything, than I highly doubt Pakistan will ever change and the political dynasties will continue, the corruption will grow and very soon we won’t have a Pakistan. If we take part, who knows where Pakistan will be in the next decade. Our first step should be to drill in our heads that we are Pakistanis first and everything else second!

So I wrote an article about a year back for Wateen which got published. The topic was on luxury in Pakistan.

http://portal.wateen.com/Lifestyle/Luxury101/tabid/525/Default.aspx

Luxury in Pakistan