Now that the Pakistan elections have taken place and the results are in, it is important to think about what the country has learnt from this election and the direction it may be heading towards.

The Electoral Process

How transparent and organised the elections were, depends on where one decides to look. The Economist reports that “a tour of polling stations among wheat fields in rural Punjab, and then in Lahore itself, revealed no evidence of confusion, ill-preparedness or rigging.” Then again, thousands of protestors blocked the main arteries of Karachi, the country’s largest city, to notify the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of those exact violations taking place there. The ECP has already agreed to postpone one National Assembly seat and to re-poll 43 stations in another. Apart from the allegations of rigging, voters had to wait for hours for the ballot boxes and ECP officials themselves to show up. Balochistan had different, more serious issues. An unofficial voter turnout of less than 10 percent – in contrast to a country average of 60 percent – suggests a far more intimidating atmosphere for voting than the rest of the country. Reports of damaged and tampered, not to mention delayed, ballot boxes also emerged. More than anything, this disparity and the ECP’s mixed success at organising, suggests a disjointed effort. The new Prime Minister ought to address these issues immediately, rather than in the weeks before the next elections. That said, a high voter turnout does highlight that faith among the populace in the democratic process, which is not a given, persists. This was despite the very real threat of the Taliban attacking poll stations on election day.

Social Media

Based solely on Facebook and Twitter posts, it would seem that Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would have won this election by a landslide. Khan, in attempting to appeal to young voters, deserves credit for running a slick viral campaign that touched everyone with an Internet connection. The problem is, only a minority of Pakistan has one. In this way, it seems that social media, while critical in raising Imran Khan’s profile (Muhammad Hanif quips, “If all the world’s magazine editors were allowed to vote for Imran Khan, he would be the prime minister of half the English-speaking world”), obscured Nawaz Sharif’s imminent victory and gave Imran Khan’s supporters unreasonable expectations of their own. That said, social media did prove instrumental in highlighting election fraud, turning every frustrated voter waiting in line, into an election observer. The ECP has received mounds of evidence in the form of photos and videos taken at poll stations and are currently investigating.

The Pakistan Muslim League (N) [PML-N]

Third time’s a charm. Despite two attempts at the helm of the country, the second one ending in catastrophic failure – a gun to the head and then exile – Nawaz Sharif has yet again emerged as the man to lead Pakistan. There is reason to believe that this tenure will not end in failure. Democracy has strengthened since the last time Sharif was in office, and judging on this election, the military has retreated from its meddling in the electoral process. At least in Punjab, Sharif is tremendously popular. Punjab has also largely been free of terrorist attacks. But all that might change. Given Sharif’s adversarial relationship with the military, he needs to think carefully about how he intends to deal with it. He needs to make sure that mutual distrust does not become outright confrontation, which may be more costly to him than to the military. Now that he will be Prime Minister, he needs to address terrorism. Given his cuddly relations with the religious parties, certain banned ones included, it will be interesting to see his approach develop. Lastly, he will work on the Indo-Pak relationship. A businessman at heart, Sharif finds potential in increasing trade and diplomatic ties. While he has the support of other political parties, the real challenge comes back to the military, which may halt the peace process as is its wont to do.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)

Disappointment at not winning every parliamentary seat contested, has taken the shine off Imran Khan’s electoral success. He shall be forming the government of Khyber-Pakhtunwa (KP) and won seats in Punjab and Sindh. Given this base, he has every opportunity to gain even more seats in the next elections. That said, as any incumbent can tell you, governing is nothing like campaigning. Now that he will be running KP, the province most affected by terrorism, he may have to reconsider his policy to negotiate with the Taliban, or at least put it into effect. Khan should congratulate himself for his party’s showing in this election. But he has to prove himself in the next stage of his party’s development, i.e. governance.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, the outgoing Prime Minister, exemplifies the PPP’s election outing. He was trounced by a margin of almost 4 to 1 in the initial results that came out of his own contested district in Rawalpindi. Presiding over rampant corruption, a weak economy and the rise of the Taliban, an abysmal five years in power have ensured that the PPP’s constituency has shrunk to its base in Sindh. Both, fear of the Taliban and knowledge of their own grim prospects, meant that Zardari’s party barely campaigned, and were restricted to the young son of the slain Benazir Bhutto and Co-Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari sending out home-made videos from Dubai. They showed little eagerness to win, and followed up with a limp showing in the polls. This gives them time until the next elections to rebuild and re-organise, which they must do. Bilawal will be older and will have more control over the party, not to mention he will be old enough to run for office himself. If the PPP are looking to retake their position as Pakistan’s leading party, then they will have to do more than simply cling to the ghosts of their dead leaders – they will actually need to govern.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)

The party is accused of being primarily responsible for the alleged election irregularities that took place in Karachi on election day. Altaf Hussain, the UK-based leader of the party, issued thinly veiled threats to the citizens who attended a PTI-led protest, which backfired. The protest itself was dispersed after gunshots were heard. The MQM’s dark history of political violence has prompted many of Karachi’s middle-class citizens to turn to the PTI this election, threatening MQM’s hold on the city. That is the reason, PTI supporters say, MQM rigged the vote. In an obvious effort at damage control, Altaf Hussain today said his statements were being distorted. Belatedly, they also accepted that rigging had taken place and requested the ECP to re-poll certain districts. In any case, it seems that the MQM’s previously iron-fisted rule in Karachi is loosening. This only bodes well for democracy in Karachi.

Despite the impediments, the people have spoken. That their voice was heard is in itself an achievement. Now it is up to the officials that they have entrusted, to provide them with the security and prosperity that they have been longing for.

As the voices get shrill over porn and prostitution, there needs to be a moment of sanity check. There are several schools of thought here, and the debate seems to be veering off topic yet again.

In my view, porn and prostitution are important subjects to be debated, however it is quite difficult to say that they have an impact on rape. On the face of it, it may seem that watching porn “gives people ideas”, but the world is hardly barren on ideas when it comes to sex. Porn also has spiced up the sex life (or the absence of it) for many by virtue of giving ideas or providing an element of fantasy.

Before we jump in, there needs to be an evaluation of facts.

Does porn cause rape? Tough to say. There are studies that have found co-relations, there are other studies that have found none. Generally people choose the study that makes the point they want to stress as the sole truth.

If it is a simple matter of “giving people ideas”, the highly graphic profanity found on the streets alone, ought to suffice. Particularly since it is in the ready form of a threat as opposed to a video of people engaging in sex both enjoy. There is an abundance of highly graphic verbal imagery that is pretty much founded in the idea of rape but no one seems to be talking about banning that.

If it is a matter of objectification of women, I would say that an item number designed to use a woman to titillate men seems to convey a far more dangerous objectification than a couple enjoying sex in what obviously is content with a very specific context. There may be a lot of merit in banning child porn or rape porn or other kinds of porn that promote violent, harmful, illegal ways of sex or assault – I lack enough knowledge, but surely it can’t be so difficult to identify and remove such content than saying that all porn needs to be blocked, particularly since it is tough to prove that with our dismal internet penetration, online pornography is causing the widespread rapes across class, caste and religion. Obscene videos being shared locally will hardly be prevented like this in any case.

The objections to prostitution seem to be about saving women from exploitation. This has to be a massive joke. It is no secret that while prostitution is a big destination for human trafficking, it is hardly the only way women get exploited. Trafficking of women and children happens for domestic labour and mining as well as prostitution. We have politicians owning mines where kids work, which never get any attention unless a few die, like it happened last year. We don’t we have anyone banning maids yet, so why the extra horror on prostitution? It is hardly as though marriages in a male dominant society are free from sexual exploitation of women. But no one is banning marriages, are they?

This also reminds me of the arguments put forth when the dance bars in Mumbai were closed. The girls were exploited, it seems. They were used for sex. Immorality. It was not a good environment for girls. Encouraged crimes against women. We banned the girls from dancing and countless families lost their sources of income. Countless girls went from being at risk from predatory men to broke and at risk of starvation in addition to predatory men.

Yet, for all our seeming concern for the safety of our women and kids, no one is touching the issue of child marriage, which continues to carve exceptions into laws designed to protect women. We want to block all porn because child porn “causes child rape”, yet I cannot remember offhand the last serious discussion I heard about shutting shop as a child sex tourism destination.

What is common about pornography, prostitution and the dance bars is that women command attention as individuals for their sexual behaviour, and they get compensated for providing themselves as fantasies (or sexual partners). This bugs the patriarchal mindset, which sees sexual enjoyment from women to be a right, and the woman’s duty.

You will not find such strong disapproval and clear calls to end child marriage once and for all and arrest all those who organise such marriages for trafficking. You will not find it for the men who patronise brothels and exploit prostitutes, though disapproval for prostitutes getting exploited is abundant.

Whether porn or prostitution, the woman is desired and pursued and the man is one of many. The woman sets her terms for providing sexual enjoyment that must be met. THIS is a problem. Women in positions of setting their terms of the transaction essentially means they are out of the control of men. Whether choosing her own career, or a life partner, a woman making her own choices causes alarm to those who want male domination and control over women (usually for “benign” reasons like “for their own good”).

Cue panic.

Greetings from New York City.
Just did a light run through Soho (exercising FIRST thing in the morning has been such a game-changer). You owe it to yourself to try it for 7 days.
Now I’m settled into creative mode. Great Colombian coffee. Book-filled room. Fresh flowers. (Another tip: your environment dramatically influences your creativity).
So, I wanted to share some more good information with you in my ongoing OBSESSION to help you Lead Without a Title + build out a life THAT MAKES HISTORY.
I’m often asked which books are most transformational for people like us who want to do fantastic work and lead our best lives.
So here are 10 of the best. Read them. Share them. Study them. LIVE them…

Jonathan Livingston Seagull. By Richard Bach.
With lines like: “Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation,” this book will move you deeply. I re-read it in Thailand. Still amazingly good.

Think and Grow Rich. By Napoleon Hill.
Fantastic book. Not so much about financial wealth as it is about the making of a rich life. You’ll learn how important it is to have a burning desire (this galvanizes your focus and causes the release of your creativity) + the imperative of setting clear goals + the value of “a mastermind alliance”. This book truly changed my life when I was starting out as a self-published author with nothing but a dream in my hands. Times were tough. This book got me through.

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. By–well, Marcus Aurelius.
Marcus Aurelius was a warrior—who then became a Roman emperor. He wrote his lessons on greatness and a life well lived during a multi-year military campaign. Someone got his notes. And put it into this book. I go back to this book often. It strengthens my character. And resolve to help more people.

Steve Jobs. By Walter Isaacson.
One of the best books I’ve ever read. Period.

Long Walk To Freedom. By Nelson Mandela.
Nelson Mandela’s one of my heroes. Noble. Courageous. Focused. A visionary. If I could be 1/100 of who he is, I’d be overjoyed. This is his autobiography. You’ll walk with him through his days as a lawyer, his time as a disruptor, his prison years and his period as the positional leader of South Africa.

Stop Acting Rich. By Thomas Stanley.
Thomas Stanley became famous for “The Millionaire Next Door”. But this book–not so well known–is exceptional. He explains the concept of “The Glittering Rich”, shares how too many of us live beyond our means and how to create true financial freedom. Like most of the books I read, I listened to it.

As You Think. By James Allen.
Maybe 10 times. That’s at least how many times I’ve read this book. And like all great books, it seems better+wiser and deeper every time I read it. Of course, the book hasn’t changed. Just my ability to grasp the information. And understand the concepts. This book is all about the power of your daily thinking. And how it drives your life’s behavior. As you know so well: your behavior shows us your beliefs. And this awesome book will inspire you to build new ones.

The Magic of Thinking Big. By David Schwartz.
Uber-practical. Tons of value. Great concepts, like “Go Through Life First-Class.” Every student, teammate and human being should read this book (along with “How To Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie–that work should also be on my list. True.).

Talent is Overrated. By Geoff Colvin.
Read this one a few years ago. Changed the way I viewed Genius. Confirms a lot of the work of exceptional performance researchers like the famed Anders Ericsson that talent is less about natural gifts and far more about devotion to a skill, relentless practice and patience. Another superb audiobook.

Spark. By John Ratey.
One of the best books I’ve read in years. I’m on my 3rd reading. Shares the latest (and so fascinating) research on how exercise transforms the brain, our performance, our productivity and even builds a new type of brain that is excellent at resisting stress. Please do your life a giant favor. And read this book. Today!

Ok. So there you go. Some of my favorite books. Go study them. And use them.
Please remember, ideas–flawlessly translated into reality are the keys to breathtaking success. And you becoming more of who you truly are.
Oh–and definitely make some time each day to read. Small little advances in your knowledge base lead to quantum improvements in your performance over time.

Sarabjit Singh was an Indian national languishing in a Pakistani jail since 1992, convicted of being a spy. Sanaullah Ranjay was a Pakistani national languishing in an Indian jail since 1999, after being convicted under TADA provisions for having connections with the terrorist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen.

Sarabjit was attacked brutally by inmates, and later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital across the border. And in what seems to be a tit for tat response, Sanaullah was attacked at a jail in Jammu, and succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital.

The outcome from these acts on both sides of the border was nothing. Nothing was achieved, nothing was dismantled, no political or military mileage was gained and no political or military mileage was lost. Only two men, with somewhat ambiguous pasts, were killed, leaving behind families who only saw them on their death bed.

The problems between India and Pakistan are not new. The knowledge of Pakistan sponsoring terrorism in India is not new and both the nations do share an unfortunate and violent past based on deceit, unwarranted aggression and lack of trust, which in many cases, were for good reasons. However, in all aspects, India needs to be careful as to not become completely obsessed with Pakistan and its doings, both in the government and public discourse.

Post Sarabjit’s killing, his sister vented through a vivacious war-cry-like speech in front of TV cameras, asking the people of India to come on to the streets, take up arms and teach Pakistan a lesson. However, she decried the death of Sanaullah, saying it was wrong and not what she wished for. As these events unfolded, TV news rooms in both countries became ‘deployment zones’ of nationalistic jingoism which did not provoke any debate, but only added to the cluster of noise of both countries going against each other, as they have, for decades. Such rhetoric is now getting rather old and cumbersome.

Pakistan, with all its well-known deficiencies and challenges, is still our neighbour. This is a geographical fact, and what happens in Pakistan matters to Indian security. With the current Pakistani government becoming the first civil government to complete a full tenure in the country’s history, it shows that while this achievement of stability is worth a notice, the fabric of Pakistan as an idea remains challenging. A failed Pakistani state is a much bigger threat to India, than a Pakistan which indulges in cross-border terrorism. The positive part is that enough people in Pakistan are determined to forge an acceptable and democratic fate for their country.

Largely, the problem arises via the Pakistani Army and its control of the country’s external agency, the ISI. The psyche that the Pakistan Army seems to subscribe to is that it thinks, as a military, it “has” Pakistan. The Army believes that it has a country based around it, and not the other way around. However, current signs pointing towards a possibility of stable civil governance (questions relating to longevity an all-together different challenge) in Pakistan are welcoming, and India should commit to engaging with sectors of Pakistani polity working towards setting the country on the correct path.

India and Pakistan, even with all their differences, should also work towards areas such as creating a framework which enables an exchange of compromised spies and general prisoners. Even during the height of the Cold War, erstwhile Soviet Union and America exchanged spies with each other regularly. In most intelligence agencies, one of the pivotal codes is to do everything to save your agents. As recently as 2010, US and Russia exchanged spies in Vienna, Austria, committing to the security of its men and women working under such circumstances.

During the Cold War, venues were selected by both US and Soviet Union where spies were exchanged, without any conundrum or bloodshed. A popular venue for such swaps was the Glienicke Bridge, which was situated between Berlin and Potsdam in what used to be East Germany. One of the most famous Cold War era spy swaps took place at this bridge in 1985, when 23 Westerners jailed on charges of espionage in and around Eastern Europe were released to the US in exchange for four eastern bloc spies, including the famous Polish sleuth, Marian Zacharski.

There is no doubt that serious challenges remain, and will remain for the foreseeable future, between India and Pakistan. However, a more inclusive public and political discourse between both countries should remain as a priority towards a long term commitment of solving historical problems.

Meanwhile, both India and Pakistan need to show maturity and initiate bilateral understandings in areas such as prisoner exchange. It is repugnant that such crass systems exist today that keep prisoners, many whom are poor fishermen and herdsmen, locked up for decades without trial on both sides of the border.