Currency Bills
By Col . Riaz Jafri (Retd.)
Westridge, Rawalpindi
There was a news report that the State Bank will no more print five rupee notes as that was not viable. Strange! The type of paper and ink used in printing the current currency bills is of such a low quality that the printing of a note even for one paisa should pose no problem to the State Bank.
Every time I get some notes back from a gas station or even a bank they look so badly mauled up and faded in color that I have to take extra care in sorting them out according to their denomination to put them in my wallet. The sparkle, the crispiness and the beautiful colors that once were the hallmark of the legal tenders are alas no more.
Is the age-old practice of periodically withdrawing old ragtag monetary bills and destroying them by burning still in vogue by the State Bank of Pakistan? No wonder, no one accepts our currency abroad, the very looks of which proclaim its worthlessness.
Political Leaders
Mr. Anjum Aqeel MNA, PML(N) was shown being taken to Adiala Jail on a TV channel. What really surprised me was that he was not only smiling and waiving to the crowd, as if he had committed an act of great bravery and political triumph, but also looked totally oblivious of the severity of the crime he had committed. Any body else in his place would have worn a face full of gloom, remorse and shame. Of what genes our leaders are made of that not an iota of repentance, embarrassment or disgrace seems to have entered their soul and mind? They look and feel proud even for having committed a crime involving deceit, fraud, perjury or outright cheating!!
