Making a living out of writing book reviews was never a childhood dream; on the other hand refusing the editor is definitely not a career progressing move for anyone harbouring dreams of conquering journalism's food chain. . And why did the editor solicit another review, hopefully because he was ecstatic with the quality of the previous one, or on the downside nobody else wants the job! Can't blame the others though; a professional critics' job is fraught with threats from disgruntled authors all the time, and worse, the possibility of ever authoring a book is reduced to zero, because that only provides the previously criticised an opportunity for payback.
On a more serious note, writing book reviews has been a productive experience, particularly because it provided an opportunity to read stuff outside the normally preferred topics. Additionally the objective is to provide productive feedback from an independent perspective, which, it is hoped, is digested positively, and in the right spirit; with this preamble, on with the review.
At the outset, the book was not available in the Islamabad Rawalpindi markets, which can suggest a number of things, it's a huge success and the bookshops were sold out, the author did not feel the market was big enough or the market did not find the book good enough; whatever the reasons, the key principle for marketing success, Dikhay gee to Bikay gee, seems to have been ignored. Once a copy was finally at hand, first impressions were not superlative; the packaging left a lot to be desired. In general first impressions make a huge difference and particularly in the case of the publishing business can mean the difference between being quickly selected for the checkout counter or an elongated shelf life. Starting from the cover design, the quality of the paper, the print layout all the way down to the type fonts, everything was, well average, if not below!
Considering this is not the author's first attempt at writing and the resources available at beck and call, inattentiveness to detail is curious. For those wondering what, if anything, does packaging have to do with a book review; ever puzzled over why even best-selling writers first bring out a beautifully designed hard cover for every single literary endeavour? If the hardcover never gets sold, the paperback might never be born and the fickle reading populace will soon strip the author of his best-selling pips. Marketing is as critical as the content in the life of a book.
For every columnist, at one time or another, a project which collates previous columns is something to look forward to, and this book is a collection of Yusuf Shirazi's writings and talks over apparently the past few decades; perhaps the reason why packaging flaws are a mystery, blasts from the past demand, over and above the rest, a golden album. While it is impossible to discern between interviews and articles, they all appear to be articles, the bigger problem is that none of the entries are accompanied by details of publication, critically the date of publication.
Dates are all the more important, in fact critical, when the writings are on economy, for in their absence it is impossible to make sense of core content and key ratios. This was the reason why the reading became laborious at certain points, since a lot of effort was spent figuring out therelated time horizon, and in cases where the conclusion was that the article was published more than two decades ago, try as one might, the interest simply waned. For the record, this critic did justice to the profession by reading the entire book.
Notwithstanding the above views on the hardware, let's get to the software, the content, the substance! The clarity of the author's thoughts and views on national economy is refreshingly evident in all his articles, which also unabashedly contain policy suggestions for the Hakim-e-Waqt. His opposition with the nationalisation of the 70s is crisply articulated in his writings of that era, which is quite commendable; criticism post regime change is easy and common, critique of the government in power is extremely rare, even today when speech is supposedly freely jumping with joy. To venture a guess, the author's columns must have played a very important role in convincing the then government to open the banking and insurance sector to the private sector, which he repeatedly propagated in most of the articles in the book. And most definitely, in the case of auto engineering and the insurance sector, it can be said with surety that his writings have had a profound impact on policy decisions over the past many years.
Shirazi repeatedly highlights the necessity of facilitating the domestic entrepreneurs, which is prescient irrespective of the debate on trickledown economics; he quotes the Japanese ambassador as follows "the foreign investor will invest only if the local investor will invest". Even back then he passionately propounds the necessity of enhancing saving, investing in manufacturing, encouraging domestic entrepreneurship and focusing on exports; the current government would do well accepting this advice. On trade with India, he is again very clear, "Pakistan must focus on importing raw materials and machinery not produced in Pakistan instead of finished goods...otherwise Pakistan's economy on the whole will be hit hard".
Alarmingly, many years ago Yusuf Shirazi pointed out that, "Pakistan's main problems are savings, deficit financing, trade imbalance and inflation"; fast forward today, these continue to be the main problems. What have successive governments been doing all this time?
Many of his articles presciently feature the under taxed component of Pakistan's economy, improving which has now become a condition precedent of the IMF programme, but his most important insight is the need to focus on education in Pakistan. He points out why education is important while at the same time exposing a fundamental risk to the national economy then and worse, even more today, "The satisfaction of having the largest foreign exchange earnings from repatriates should assume a negative consideration and be seen with extreme dissatisfaction...Our productivity can be improved through utilisation of our most educated, trained, hardworking manpower. Export of manpower is cheap no matter what price we get for it".
One is not clear of the author's current view on privatisation. While his writings clearly evidence his inclination towards a free market with a low level, but necessary, regulatory oversight, he appears to have a cautious approach on the subject of across the board privatisation. An extract from one of his older articles mirrors his then frame of mind, "However, the reality is that Pakistan somehow obsessed with liberalisation, deregularization, and privatisation- the mantra of the developed world and US influenced academics".
In conclusion, Mr Shirazi's view are extremely thought provoking and pertinent, and while one was previously unaware that he was a part time columnist, going forward there is a commitment to follow his readings in real time, rather than wait for part II of Safeguarding Sovereignty. And let's hope it's packaged brilliantly!
On a lighter note, here are some extracts from the book relating to the yester years, mostly from around late 80s and beginning 90s, which will amuse and trouble at the same time:
-- The US continues to exploit Pakistan and leaves her high and dry as it deems fit in its own interest.
-- Why then is the investor shy? Uncertainty!
-- The rupee may be floated down to about Rs 13 to the dollar, a devaluation of about 30%.
-- Our workers, in fact, are amongst the best paid in the region.
-- Every production unit may not be in a position to buy a generator.
-- Our debt repayment is now more than our expenditure on defence.
-- Are we better than the colony that we were before 1947?
Wonder who should answer that!
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Book : 'Safeguarding Sovereignity'
Author : Yusuf H. Shirazi
Publisher : Ferozsons
Pages : 269
Price : Rs 895/-
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