BOOK: The 'Chingari' from Sholapur - The Life & Times of S.M. Muneer by Adil Ahmad

CONTENTS

Author’s Note

Chapter 1 - Laws of Nature

Chapter 2 - Pucca Karachiite

Chapter 3 - Championing trade with India

Chapter 4 - DIN Group of Industries

Chapter 5 - Striking Back

Chapter 6 - Championing Tanners

Chapter 7 - Honouring commitments at all cost

Chapter 8 - Learning from scratch and blazing a trail

Chapter 9 - Proactive participation in the Nation's Health

Chapter 10 - Proactive participation in the Nation's Education

Chapter 11 - Seasoned Traveller

Chapter 12 - Staying in circulation

Chapter 13 - Countries Progress when they have Democracy

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of knowing Mr. S. M. Muneer for an entire lifetime thanks to the Karachi Gymkhana Club, more than just a second home for its members. For the most part it has been a formal relationship, the kind characterized by respect and admiration that juniors have for their seniors. Over the last one year or so that it has taken to write this book I came to know Mr. S. M. Muneer in depth as he entrusted me with the story of his life and times. He is a man who knows his stuff and is on top of his game, and clearly ahead of the curve. I found in him a man who practices the mantra that success and happiness are journeys, and not destinations. Mr. S. M. Muneer is gifted with a great sense of humour, as evidenced by his playing along with friends who insist on celebrating his birthday every month. By this measure he should be well over 100 years old. The key to his success in life lies in the pleasure and joy that he takes in his work, in particular his philanthropic work that consumes a big portion of his time and energies. Traditionally, work has been taken to mean that which one hates doing, but must do nonetheless to earn one’s living. That is why there exist the concepts of holidays and retirement. But should work be a joy to do, and fun as well, then one attains the ultimate in win-win outcomes. I do believe that is what Mr. S. M. Muneer has succeeded in doing. He has found Nirvana. Allah be praised.

Adil Ahmad
3rd May, 2013

ONWARD & UPWARD

The Life & Times of S. M. MUNEER

CHAPTER 1 – LAWS OF NATURE

S.M. Muneer was born in Sholapur in the Indian province of Maharashtra near Mumbai, on the 17^th of April 1945, to Chinioti parents.

His father was an intrepid businessman, and traveled far and wide from his ancestral home of Chiniot in the Punjab, famed for its entrepreneurial class.

As the new born lay on his mother’s side, prayers and blessings of the extended family and vast Chinioti brotherhood were forthcoming in generous manner.

A new entrepreneur had been born in their midst, and as is the case with every new entrepreneur born, future hopes and expectations of the well-wishers were limitless.

Bhaijan, as he came to be known in later life to both friend and foe, was a bundle of joy for his mother, and her blessings came from a sacred place in her heart reserved for mothers of every new born. S.M. Muneer would reach for the stars and set the world right.

The Partition of the subcontinent was around the corner, and the world was weary and weakened by the Second World War. Far more than the warrior, the entrepreneur was now needed on the ‘battlefields’ of industry, trade and commerce. This entrepreneur just born had been spared the trauma, the trial and the tribulation of the era just past.

S.M. Muneer’s era would be a different one, with a new breed of entrepreneur in the driving seat, born into a separate homeland for the Muslims of the Subcontinent, driven by the pure passion that only a higher purpose can generate, spurred on by technological advancements that would reduce the world to a global village.

S.M. Muneer’s would be a different kind of war, not of the exploding canons variety, but one that took place in boardrooms and various corridors of power, no less critical for the freedom and prosperity of the people.

Upon this new born entrepreneur and those of his generation would hinge the future hopes and aspirations of a proud nation, driven to the brinks of despair by a flawed leadership that had allowed domination by external forces.

It is people who make or break a nation, depending upon whether their motives are noble or selfish. It is people who do business, not bricks and mortar, and machines.

Pakistan has been on quite a rollercoaster ride since its inception over six decades ago, the noble intent of its founding fathers usurped time and again by the selfish, nay evil, intent of secret agendas and selfish motives.

Fortunately, the laws of Nature have prevailed, and for every action there has been a not always equal and opposite reaction, but generally of sufficient force and in the right direction.

In the ultimate analysis evil is time barred by definition while the forces of good are eternal and destined to prevail.

That is not to say that the battle between good and evil is not waged on a daily basis, in each nation’s and each individual’s mortal life time. Often the forces of darkness and despair appear to prevail, and an aura of doom and gloom pervades the masses.

Common sense of Life

Just when all seems to be lost, a person somewhere refuses to roll over and ‘die’, and sounds the battle cry to rally the forces of optimism and hope onto redoubled endeavor. There is a surge of positivism in the rank and file, and the common sense of life flows forth uninhibited.

Like the man said, and it doesn’t matter who the man was: “You cannot compromise on the merit of the case, each one of us one day the ‘committee’ must face; Keep your back straight and your head held high, there's a lot of merit in suppressing the sigh;

There's no one beyond hope the message is clear, to our Lord, the Creator, each one is dear; Uncluttered minds are the order of the day, unclouded thoughts must have their say; Let's work together and set the world right, let's make humanity for sore eyes a sight.”

And the man continued: “You drop the pretense, you kill the hypocrisy, time for sane thought not social lunacy; You unwind, sort out your mind, think about life, your children and wife; You are no longer a fool, you are nobody's tool, the way to the top lies in being cool;

You've been to the mountain top and seen the light, the virtues of balance have set your mind right; Too much is too bad, as also is too little. Exalting is so sad, as is to belittle; What good is it all, if amongst your own you are walking tall? To your family and friends you are unkind; at home you have no peace of mind.”

And the thoughts that the man proffered were definitely worth a penny: “It is not the dollar, it is not the cent, it is not the profit, nor the monthly rent; It is the passion and zeal with which you feel about the intangibles in life, the lame dog on the street, the maiden in distress! The giving of alms with sincerity and finesse;

At the end of the day that is what makes for a rigid, straight back and a head held high, no one dare challenge or ever question why; So now you are on the top again, no feeling of remorse, no feeling of shame; Your number’s on, there is a job to be done, no preening and strutting, just a battle to be won.”

Fearlessness of an Honest Person

The above stanzas are a fairly accurate depiction of the phenomenon that is S. M. Muneer. High praise, some would say.

When a man decides to go public with his life he bares his soul for the entire world to see. It takes a man of considerable courage to do so, driven by the fearlessness of an honest person, especially in times as radical as these that we have today.

Most men would hunker down and keep their heads low, below the radar as it were, and let sleeping dogs lie. When you fly your story up the flagpole people will either salute, or shoot.

Intrepid Entrepreneur First Class

S. M. Muneer is an intrepid entrepreneur first class who has made his mark on the fertile hunting grounds of leather, textiles and banking.

But the making of money and the running of an expanding and prosperous enterprise has been a small part of his lifetime’s achievement.

His greater contribution to Pakistan’s trade, commerce and industry has come from his ability to organize and lead his peers in search of collective progress and prosperity.

His advice has been valued and sought by the pinnacles of power, irrespective of their ideological shades. Across frontiers S.M. Muneer has made enduring alliances cemented in his solid reputation for integrity in business.

That is not to say that he has not seen the hard times up close. S.M. Muneer has burnt the midnight oil as a matter of routine, and toiled and labored like a man possessed to recoup the losses that sometimes accompany principled stands, and built from his efforts a formidable business empire that trades globally and acts locally.

Never once has he thought of setting up shop overseas, and neither for that matter have his siblings or sons. Pakistanis to the core, they have proudly show the Pakistan flag in their forays overseas, and been driven by a burning desire to add value to their own Homeland.

Fortune favors the brave, as indeed it also does the prepared, and S. M. Muneer has been a stickler for doing his homework meticulously.

Fortune has smiled on him very generously indeed, and blessed him with untold riches and a large and loving family, with his wife functioning as the extended family’s matriarch.

It’s a well knit and closely bonded very large extended family that works together and eats together, and nurtures a respect and regard for each other that garner for it divine blessing.

CHAPTER 2 – ‘PUCCA’ KARACHIITE

Fully Integrated Joint Family

S,M, Muneer is one of five brothers[1] and two sisters[2], with him as the eldest. Amongst them they have produced a dynamic new generation comprising 85 vigorous and intelligent young men and women who have gone on to have their own children.

S.M. Muneer’s mother[3] and father[4] passed on to their eternal abode, may Allah rest their souls in peace, and his siblings treat him like their father, and his wife Saeeda Parveen as their mother.

It’s a fully integrated joint family, and ten members of the next generation, seven nephews[5] and three of his sons[6], have joined the family business.

  

Marriage Made In Heaven

S.M. Muneer was born one year and eight months before the birth of his wife on the same bed in the same hospital in Sholapur, and they were engaged to be married even before she was born. Marriage amongst first cousins was pretty much the norm, and when S.M. Muneer was born his father promised to wed him to his sister’s daughter as and when she had a daughter.

In 1948, when he was two years old, S.M. Muneer’s family relocated to Pakistan from Sholapur in India by ship. Hailing from Chiniot, his father had traveled a long distance to the south of India and set up a business in Madras, and then moved to Sholapur.

The restless trailblazing spirit of the pioneer had driven S.M. Muneer’s father, and he had left the comfort of home and heath in search of his fortune, visiting S.M. Muneer’s mother in Chiniot every few months.

That was how it was in those days, with the families settled in the comfort and safety of Chiniot, and the men folk traveling all over the subcontinent in search of their fortune and slaying dragons as it were.

The entrepreneurial genes have transferred from father to son, and S.M. Muneer has spent his life crisscrossing the globe and not just the subcontinent, subduing many a dragon, and on occasion being singed by the dragon’s fiery breath.

In all fairness, technology has expanded the extent of S.M. Muneer’s world, with jet propulsion and the Internet major additions to his arsenal.

Given the technology available to his father, that of the steam engine and telegram, his setting up shop over a thousand miles away in Madras, and then Sholapur, was an accomplishment of gargantuan proportions.

Despite his extensive forays and travels overseas, S.M. Muneer’s base has remained firmly in Karachi since 1947, the time of his arrival from Mumbai, and he describes himself as a ‘pucca’ hardcore Karachiite.

In 1947, upon first arriving in Karachi, S.M. Muneer’s father found accommodation in Thatai Compound, the area behind the Lighthouse Cinema, an iconic Karachi landmark in the heart of the bustling city and business district.

School Life

S.M. Muneer was admitted in the Mary Collaco School, and studied there from Kindergarten to High School. It was run by Qureshi sahib and has since closed down.

General Pervez Musharraf was his classmate in the 3^rd and 4^th grades before the future General left to join St. Patrick’s School.

S.M. Muneer fondly remembers Dr.Mumtaz from his days at the Mary Colaco School. Dr.Mumtaz was the vice-principal, and since S.M. Muneer was very mischievous he got routinely punished by him.

Bunking classes to go and watch movies was S.M. Muneer’s favourite pastime in school. It is said that such mischievousness is often interpreted as rebelliousness, and seldom seen for what it is - Initiative taking!

Initiative taking is the hallmark of future leaders in the making, a vibrant manifestation perhaps of the spirit of inquiry and critical thinking and an urge to get out-of-the-box and explore the wider world.

But it’s a big bad world out there, or so teachers and parents would have you believe when you’re at that age. The bane of student life is parental underestimation.

While this mischievous extra-curricular activity may have negatively impacted S.M. Muneer’s academic grades, they reinforced his leadership attributes, and S.M. Muneer was both Class Monitor in School, and Class Representative in Government Commerce College from where he graduated.

S.M. Muneer’s athleticism was manifest in Boxing and the 100 meters sprint, events in which he won prizes. Nothing quite like knowing how to use one’s fists and feet to engage with the adversary, or beat a hasty retreat!

Photography was his other interest, and it pointed to a curious nature, and a desire to save cherished memories for posterity.

S.M. Muneer wanted to go in for his Master’s, but his father insisted that he join the family business after finishing his Bachelor’s in Commerce.

His father’s ill health had deprived him of his earlier robustness, and he was eager for S.M. Muneer to relieve him of some of the work pressures. There was a lot of hard work involved in the leather business.

Moving House

As fortunes improved the Muneers moved to the posh residential district known as PECHS that stood for Pakistan Employees Cooperative Housing Society. There they lived in a rented house on Tariq Road.

This was the new emerging center of trade and commerce, and while Elphiston Street and Victoria Road in Saddar held sway as the glamorous Karachi centers where the city’s elite went for shopping, and where wholesale businesses exchanged vast fortunes on a daily basis, Tariq Road and PECHS were where things were beginning to happen in a very big way.  

Al-Hamra Society had a good feeling to it for the Muneers, and all of S.M. Muneer’s four brothers constructed their individual houses on the same street, facing each other.

S.M. Muneer wears a contented look on his face as he travels down memory lane. Karachi was a great place to be in those days, he says. It was safe and secure, and its streets used to be washed.

Preparing successors

All the five brothers are grandparents now, and have grown old together. Their children have gone in for higher education overseas, opting for studies in business administration and leather technology.

S.M. Muneer’s eldest son S.M. Tanveer is heading the textile business in Lahore along with his youngest sibling S.M. Imran who looks after the production and export of cotton yarn. The middle sibling Irfan Muneer studied leather technology and looks after the production of finished leather in the Karachi factory.

S.M. Muneer’s nephews are fully integrated into the Family business as well. Brother S.M. Naseer’s sons Shahzad Naseer and and S.M. Naveed; Brother S.M. Jawed’s sons Fawad Jawed, Faisal Jawed, and Faraz Jawed; and Brother S.M. Tariq’s sons S.M. Farhad and S.M. Raffay, all occupy positions of responsibility, and assist in running the sprawling Din business empire on a day to day basis.   

S.M. Muneer feels that the new generation is doing a better job than his own, and it makes him very proud.

[1] S.M. Muneer, S.M. Naseer, S.M. Javed, S.M. Pervez, S.M. Tariq

[2] Parveen Usman & Yasmeen Pervez

[3] Hameeda Begum

[4] Shaikh Mohammad Din

[5] Shahzad Naseer & S.M. Naveed (Sons of S.M. Naseer); Fawad Jawed, Faisal Jawed &

Faraz Jawed (Sons of S.M. Javed); S.M. Farhad & S.M. Raffay (Sons of S.M. Tariq)

[6] S.M. Tanveer, Irfan Muneer & S.M. Imran

CHAPTER 3 – CHAMPIONING TRADE WITH INDIA

Donning the Garb of a Diplomat

It would be fair to say that during the course of his lengthy and very eventful innings S. M. Muneer S.M. Muneer has pretty much seen it all and done it all.

Having set in motion the wheels of a massive and self-perpetuating enterprise, if he were to choose to hang up his spurs and boots no one would grudge him his retirement.

S.M. Muneer would be seen as having done his job, and set the stage for his future generations to soar further a field, reaping accolades which we today may not even be able to fathom.

The S. M. Muneers of this world do not retire, health permitting. Even when faced with adverse health they plough on, their minds ablaze with energy and a childlike enthusiasm for discovering that which as yet remains unknown.

It is just such an enthusiasm that possesses S. M. Muneer S.M. Muneer these days in his capacity of President India-Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry as he goes about mending fences and restoring trade ties between two erstwhile sworn enemies.

S.M. Muneer is in full flight as the leading Track-2 diplomat, striving to accomplish a harmonious and mutually profitable coexistence amongst neighbors, that which the formal organs of state have failed in doing.

To say that S.M. Muneer has his fingers in many pies would be in the nature of a considerable understatement. In both his business and worldly pursuits he is engaged with his fellow men and women at multiple levels, testifying to a naturally extroverted and gregarious person.

Genuine Love for fellow Mankind

An abiding fear of his Creator coupled with a genuine love for his fellow mankind, has brought to the fore within S. M. Muneer a tight and ever-expanding embrace of philanthropy and social service.

His keenly perceptive insights into what ails society have caused him to devote a considerable chunk of his time, energy and money to promoting health and education amongst the less privileged segments of society, working through the aegis of the Chiniot Anjuman-e-Islamia of which he is the Chairman.

He is very conscious of the fact that his efforts in the service of Mankind are what have blessed his business dealings with huge success, and protected from misfortune his affairs in times of economic distress.

As elected president of the India-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (IPCCI) S.M. Muneer is working on oiling and greasing the wheels of a socio-economic regeneration that promises to arrest and reverse the alarming rate at which the populations of India and Pakistan have been slipping and sliding beneath the poverty line.

To my mind this is perhaps the most important role of his entire considerable career, and a role in which success will guarantee for him a leading and enduring mention in the histories of India and Pakistan.

S. M. Muneer refutes the impression that opening trade and commerce with India will be bad for Pakistan’s economic health. It is a view that has permeated the psyche of a people born and bred on subsidies and protectionism.

The fear is not entirely unfounded, for while Pakistan has celebrated import driven conspicuous consumption, India has embraced austerity and a genuine building of economic muscle through a relentless program of import substitution.

Today India stands as a leading industrialized nation of the world alongside Brazil, Russia and China, all members of the elite BRIC nations.

Pakistan’s budget making, on the other hand, remains dependant upon overseas largess. So the fear is not entirely misplaced that Indian goods, inexpensive and mass produced, will swamp Pakistan in the manner of an overwhelming tsunami.

But S. M. Muneer is unconvinced and undeterred. He can see further downstream than most, and says that while India will get a market of 180 million in Pakistan, we in Pakistan will get a market of 1.2 billion in India.

Two Way Street

He is convinced that Pakistan will stand to benefit in a very big way, with great savings on transportation. What Pakistan buys from Europe for 2 dollars it will get from India for a dollar and a half, and vice versa.

Movement of goods through the Wagah border will greatly facilitate trade. There are a few political parties that are against doing business with India and oppose giving it MFN (most favoured nation) status.

But it is a two way street, and India gave Pakistan MFN status in 1996. It just means that Pakistan will treat India in the same way that Pakistan treats its trade partners in Europe and the Far East. Earlier there were only 1994 items that Pakistan could import from India.

The Din Group over which S.M. Muneer presides is one of the biggest importers of raw cotton from the Indian Punjab through the land route via Wagah. When routed through Mumbai the cost increases by over 200 rupees per maund.

Earlier there were 2000 items on the positive list that could be traded between India and Pakistan, and the negative list had around 6000 items.

One of the hurdles to trade with India is that a proper Customs House has yet to be built on the Indian side at Wagah. It’s under construction in Amritsar at a cost of a few billion rupees, but it is behind schedule.

The other issue is that Indian trucks bearing goods for Pakistan unload on the Pakistani side of the border, while S.M. Muneer would like to see them unload within Pakistan at the destination that the goods are bound for, and save the unloading and reloading time and expense. Agreements to this effect are being drafted between the two countries.

People are finally talking about supply chain instead of just talking of procurement. Efficiencies today lie in the seamless movement of products. ‘Collaborative’ and ‘integrative’ are buzzwords of great consequence.

The financial and commercial challenges facing us for the foreseeable future means we can no longer rely on the old ways of doing things. 

Every element where a cost arises in the supply chain cycle must be challenged and managed to optimize value for money if meaningful prosperity is to be achieved across the board. 

This requires for some a radical shift in thinking, approach and culture. We do not have the luxury to be complacent when our futures are at stake.

Many a Slip between the Cup and the Lip

Also on the cards is the opening of the Munabao sector rail link with India down south. All of this bodes well for the future, but the fragility of the peace process with India is an unfortunate reality, and just when traction has been achieved the odd kick in the gallop rears its ugly head.

S.M. Muneer was elected president of the India-Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry in November 2008 in Delhi in the presence of the Indian commerce minister and over 1000 delegates, followed by a grand dinner.

Following that he flew to Mumbai and held a very successful press conference there, and returned to Karachi.

Brimming with justifiable pride in what he had accomplished, S.M. Muneer was all set to take the Indo-Pak trade process to a different level altogether, when a few weeks later the Taj Hotel terrorist attack took place in Mumbai and everything came to a grinding halt, including the exchange of emails.

It testified to the deeply rooted distrust and suspicion with which India continued to view Pakistan. Aside from the wars that they have fought, the two countries have pulled back from the brink of war several times, and there remain unsettled many a volatile issue that can destabilize and run off the rails any peace and trade initiative.

In such circumstances it is reassuring that there remain society leaders on either side of the border determined that harmonious coexistence be achieved in the name of alleviating the poverty and suffering of the masses.

Now leaders on either side are finally beginning to pick up the threads where they had left off in 2008. According to S.M. Muneer businessmen have a slogan that politics and trade should be treated separately.

That’s a tall order since politics and economics are intrinsically linked. Enemies who view each other over the barrel of a gun cannot be expected to align in matters of trade.

So before Pakistani and Indian businessmen can engage in profitable commerce they must first don the garb of diplomats, that of the track-2 variety, and help settle the thorny affairs of state between the two countries. 

High-powered Exchanges with India

S. M. Muneer points to the fact that for the first time in the history of Pakistan the Indian commerce minister has visited Pakistan, leading a very high powered delegation of 120 Indian businessmen.

India has understood that it has to stop fighting with Pakistan and start working with Pakistan. But is there sufficient understanding between the two countries to prevent negative fallout from any plots that the spoilers of the game may have up their sleeves?

While easily excitable raw emotion remain discernible, with the passage of time the leadership, and indeed the people of the two countries have matured considerably, and are seeing things in the context in which they exist and are less easily manipulated.

S.M. Muneer accompanied Pakistan’s commerce minister Amin Fahim to India, and they were very well received by the Governor of Delhi and the Governor and Chief Minister of Maharashtra, all of whom held grand banquets in their honour.

There the Indian commerce minister told the Pakistani delegates that if Pakistan extended one hand of love and friendship then India would extend two hands of love and friendship.

Visas for cities

Indian visas have always been problematic. On a bilateral basis Pakistan and India are the only countries in the world that issue visas for individual cities to each other rather than for the entire country.

Pakistanis get visas for three Indian cities, and it takes six weeks for the visa issuance process. The Pakistani High Commission in India, to its credit, issues the Pakistan visa in one day to genuine businessmen vouched for by their chambers of commerce.

Under the new agreement with India the genuine businessmen of Pakistan will get the Indian visa for one year, multiple entries for ten cities, and with no police reporting requirement. This agreement has now come into effect.

S.M. Muneer is pushing for the visa to be valid for the entire country and not just ten cities. The huge trust and confidence deficit between India and Pakistan is now being bridged.

The Indian minister, Mr. Sharma, who came to Pakistan for the first time in 65 years, is minister for commerce, industries, and textile, and a very influential member of the Indian Cabinet.

Gaining Traction

Nearly 100 Indian and 350 Pakistani business leaders at the 2nd Aman ki Asha Indo-Pak Business Conference strongly endorsed the peace process and efforts to build close economic and trade relations.

Exciting developments are underway in wake of the Conference held in Lahore on May 7^th and 8^th , 2012, a landmark gathering of some of the most influential Pakistani and Indian business and corporate leaders in the game. 

They all agreed that the Pakistan-India peace process is vital for the prosperity and welfare of the people of the two countries. They recognized that in the post-MFN scenario many sectoral adjustments and realignments may need to take place.

The consensus was that while some sectors may be adversely impacted, the overall impact of a freer trade regime would be overwhelmingly positive for traders and consumers of both countries.

In fact, participants expected a five-fold increase in the Pakistan-India trade volume from the current $2.4 billion level to $12 billion by 2015.

Delegates called for the economic integration of South Asia and urged both governments to take "all steps necessary to realize the tremendous potential of the region".

They resolved to aggressively push the agenda for peace and economic cooperation. The Conference took several decisions, foremost among which was the agreement to set up a dedicated group comprising Pakistani and Indian business leaders to lobby with their governments to provide a facilitative regulatory framework to allow for greater economic collaboration.

The delegates reiterated that the six sectors identified in the Delhi Declaration 2010 constituted low hanging fruit and had the greatest potential for collaboration.

These were textile, energy, information technology, agriculture, healthcare, education, and skill development. Committees on the information technology, textiles, health and education sectors are already active and delegates agreed that the remaining committees should be formed as soon as possible. They also saw strong potential for cooperation in the chemicals sector.

Delegates at the Conference decided to strongly push for easing the visa regime and urged both governments to open all the trade routes that had existed prior to 1965.

They also strongly recommended that restrictions on cell phone roaming facility should be removed, and banking relations should be established immediately.

The capital market committees in their meetings resolved to push for cross-border equity investments, listing and trading of scripts.

In its issue commenting on the decision of the two neighbours, the ‘Economist’ said the bilateral trade in 2011 was $2.6 billion, while trade between New Delhi and Beijing in the same period was $100 billion.

Imports of Pakistani cement are now soaring. A smart new customs post at Wagah is speeding the flow of goods. Other crossings may open.

Investment in each other’s economies is at an advanced stage of formalization.

Moreover, economic pragmatism is beginning to appear between India and Pakistan. Both governments are daring to break with history. It is a difficult and brave thing to do, the leading British magazine concluded. ‘Difficult’ and ‘brave’ challenges are what comprise the daily diet of entrepreneurs like S. M. Muneer.

CHAPTER 4 – DIN GROUP OF INDUSTRIES

S.M. Muneer is the Allah fearing Chairman of the Din Group of Industries, so named in remembrance and celebration of S.M. Muneer’s father, the late Shaikh Mohammad Din.

The Din Group of Industries is a formidable enterprise engaged in the Textile and Leather industries, and amongst the leading exporters and foreign exchange earners of Pakistan.

The Din Group is Headquartered in Karachi at Din House, 35-A/1, Lalazar, on Maulvi Tameezuddin Khan Road, formerly known as Queens Road.

The unassuming structure sits opposite the old worldly Beach Luxury Hotel in a quiet and leafy up-market neighborhood of Karachi. It’s a short drive from here to the Karachi Harbour, the powerhouse that pumps the heart of Pakistan.

Increasingly Karachi’s fortunes have taken an upward swing, and erstwhile graceful neighborhoods that had fallen into a state of neglect and abandoned by the government, have experienced paradigm shifts as the private sector has taken courage and moved in to reclaim Karachi’s lost glory.

Port Grand is less than a minute’s drive from Din House. Also in its immediate vicinity is the Karachi Boat Club where the business elite congregate, and an enduring symbol of Karachi’s rowing culture that has made the Chinna Creek a vibrant venue for sporting excellence.

Within hailing distance of the Karachi Boat Club is the Karachi Club Annexe, another coveted watering hole of the business elite, whose recent grand refurbishment has added further luster to an already illustrious neighborhood. 

Din Leather (Private) Limited is the leading exporter of finished leather from Pakistan with a modern tanning unit in Karachi. Din Leather had a turnover in 2011 of about rupees 2.5 Billion.

Din Textile Mills Limited is one of Pakistan’s leading exporters of different types of valued added Yarns produced in four modern spinning units in Lahore, operating a total of 79,008 spindles that obtained for it a turnover in 2011 of about rupees 8 Billion.

In 1991 S.M. Muneer S.M. Muneer ventured into the financial sector and bought an interest in the Muslim Commercial Bank Limited, and serves as its Vice Chairman up to the present. Between the 5^th of June 1995 and the 27^th of June 1997 he served as the Chairman of Muslim Commercial Bank Limited.

Marriage in the Family

As I enter the reception area of S.M. Muneer’s offices, I find it completely taken over by people busy putting invitation cards into envelopes. Not surprising, considering this is the beginning of the Karachi winter season when the weather is at its most benign and all manner of celebrations are afoot.

I have a prior appointment and am immediately ushered into an office that would rank as Spartan given the status and financial worth of its occupant.

We begin proceedings with me asking him about how he has spent this day, and inquire about the invitation cards that seem to have taken over his office!

“There is a wedding in my family,” says S.M. Muneer. “My family is getting bigger by the day by the grace of Allah. My younger brother S. M. Tariq, who has grown up in front of me, is also my ‘Samdi’ with his daughter married to my son. Now S. M. Tariq’s son is getting married. It is my desire that all my friends share in my happiness. I have nurtured only love and I have no enemies in this country.”

Book Writing a Tedious Job!

It’s 4pm and S. M. Muneer appears fresh as ever, almost as if he was just starting his day. Clearly he enjoys what he is doing, and is good at it.

“It’s very easy to say that a book should be written, but I know that book writing is one of the most tedious jobs there is in my opinion! Over the years many friends have tried to coax me into penning my thoughts, but I have always managed to slip through their fingers! But now I feel I should cooperate with you and help you complete this assignment.”

Tedious job? I reflect for a moment on what it is that I do as a researcher and writer, and fail to find the tediousness in my professional pursuits!

But then, I am sitting in front of a person who is a champion of multi-tasking, and whose mind works at lightening speed, much like that of an F-16 fighter pilot who measures his time in nanoseconds.

For such people the slow moving pace at which in-depth interviews are conducted would seem tedious indeed! 

Micro & Macro Matters

S.M. Muneer’s day in office begins at 8am as per his usual routine. Invariably there is a long line of people who have come to have their problems resolved.

In his capacity of Chairman of Chiniot Anjuman-e-Islami S.M. Muneer runs an impressive nationwide network of educational, medical and health facilities, amongst which is the Chiniot General Hospital and also two Maternity Homes[1] in Karachi. People who cannot afford treatment are taken care of for free no matter what the cost involved. This is an integral part of his daily routine.

That afternoon S.M. Muneer chaired a meeting of all industrialists affected by the Karachi Electric Supply Company’s (KESC) load shedding.

“Now after I am through with this interview I shall sort out all these invitation cards that you see lying in front of me,” he says.

Perplexing Power Conundrum

KESC is in bad shape, but they have genuine grievances he says. KESC cannot deliver the necessary electricity output in the face of gas load shedding. Furnace oil is far too expensive an option. Sui Gas was supposed to provide 182 million cubic feet of gas, but is only managing to provide between 105 and 110 million cubic feet.

Industry is naturally suffering, and he says that he cannot understand what the government is doing about rectifying the situation.

Previously the government was incurring a loss by subsidizing the purchase of furnace oil. Now with the private sector in charge, and in the absence of subsidy under IMF pressure, the new owner Abraaj Capital is not willing to incur a loss.

With industry suffering from an unprecedented energy crisis, Pakistan’s export and revenue targets are not going to be achieved, fears S.M. Muneer, and one can detect more than just a hint of exasperation in his voice.

Industrialists are protesting right across the country, and as we speak the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) members are staging a protest march he has just been informed.

Electricity, gas and water are the basic requirements, and in their absence how can one expect the country to flourish?

Accolades Galore

As testimony to what Pakistani entrepreneurs are capable of should they find a conducive operating environment, Din Leather (Pvt.) Limited has received the Best Export Performance Trophy on several occasions from the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry for highest exports, as well as the Gold Medallion Award in recognition of its export achievements by the International Export Association of the U.K.

Din Textile Mills was twice awarded the Top 25 Companies Award by the Karachi Stock Exchange in 2000 and 2001, with the prime minister of Pakistan present in person to congratulate the recipient. Such is the importance attributed to the export sector that brings in precious foreign exchange.

In 1984 S. M. Muneer was awarded  the  Best Business Man Of The Year Award  by The Federation  of Pakistan  Chambers  of  Commerce  & Industry.

In textiles Din Group has gone in for value addition in a big way as witnessed by the proliferation of international level fashion weeks in Pakistan.

They make some of the finest finished leather for making shoes, and export to the top shoe manufacturers in the world. Ninety-eight percent of Din Group’s production is exported.

S.M. Muneer’s business has expanded to include four textile mills and a dyeing plant in Lahore. In Karachi Din Group exports leather and are one of the biggest leather exporters in the country, buying raw goat skins from all over the country and then processing them to highly demanding international standards.

Shoeless in Pakistan

Unfortunately Pakistan has not made much progress in shoe making from an export perspective. The previous governments did not listen to his advice in setting up the necessary facilities.

The Indians were smart, and every leather factory has a shoe factory attached to it. Pakistan has been left far behind and it is too late now. Pakistan does have some factories producing good shoes but not in the bulk quantities needed for export.

Top Order Recognition

The President of Pakistan conferred the Sitara-I-Isaar on S. M. Muneer on the 30^th of June, 2006, in recognition of his outstanding services for the cause of humanity, as well as the Sitara-I-Imtiaz on the 14^th of August, 2007.

On the 29^th of January 2012 S. M. Muneer was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award in the City of Markham in Canada by its Mayor, Mr. Frank Scarpitti. The Award was in recognition of his services in bridge building between Canada and Pakistan for the promotion of business and friendship.

On the 27^th of August 2012 the President of Pakistan, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award on S. M. Muneer at the President’s House in Islamabad.

The Institute of Business & Technology (BIZTEC) has conferred the Honorary PHD degree of Doctorate of Philosophy upon him at its convocation held on the 30^th May, 2008.

The Indus Institute of Higher Education also conferred upon him the Honorary PHD degree of the Doctorate of Philosophy at its convocation held on the 19^th January, 2009.

S. M. Muneer’s engagements with the cause of good governance have come in the form of his Membership of the Federal Parliament (Majlis-e-Shura) in 1984-85, and since 2008 he has been a Member Advisory Board of the Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC).

S.M. Muneer has served as President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), as well as Federal Minister of State & Chairman Pakistan Trade Fair Corporation.

Alongside, he has served on innumerable high-powered committees set up by the Federal government of Pakistan, and traveled across the seven seas with heads of government, providing them with invaluable advice on how to gain competitive advantage in an increasingly hostile business landscape.

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[1] Chiniot Mother & Child Hospital (Nazimabad) and Bakht Bhari Chiniot Hospital (DHA).

CHAPTER 5 – STRIKING BACK!

In the context of the broader business world, Pakistan has had a rather less than illustrious history of enlightened governance, and the management practices and policy making of its ruling elite have often defied comprehension. In fact, it would be fair to say that the road has been rocky and bumpy in the extreme.

However, as per Divine reassurance, there has indeed been a silver lining in this turbulence. When faced with coercive and insensitive ruling elite, the champions of trade, commerce and industry have closed ranks, and resisted the advance of the dark ages.

Turning the FPCCI ship around

S.M. Muneer served as President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) during the period January 1994 to March 1996.  

During this period he established a bit of a love-hate relationship with the government, standing his ground and donning his warrior robes when the interests, indeed survival, of his constituency, the business community was threatened, and traveling the extra mile with warm hearted cordiality whenever the government moved to level the playing field.  

S.M. Muneer’s unique ability to get to the heart of the matter no matter how complicated that matter might be, and to resolve it to the satisfaction of all concerned, has won for him hearts and minds on both sides of the divide, and he has served as a member of the government as well as Federal Minister of State & Chairman Pakistan Trade Fair Corporation in 1997 in his capacity of non-political technocrat.

What was common to both his stints, with the FPCCI and as Federal Minister, was that S.M. Muneer did not derive any benefit from the FPCCI’s resources, nor from the National Exchequer, in the form of salary, or car, or petrol, or driver, or any traveling allowance, paying for everything out of his own pocket.

This self-accountability was the source of his empowerment no doubt, along with his business acumen and an instinctive draw towards generating win-win solutions.

S.M. Muneer saw his involvements as a service to the nation, and took his honorary status seriously. In doing so he set a fine example for others to follow.

Whether others followed his fine example is clearly open to question, keeping in view the national pastime of billing everything to the government or organization.

One thing is sure, however. S.M. Muneer would not have won any popularity contest in the parasitical bureaucracy that permeates every aspect of national life.

Sincerity Lives!

Nevertheless, S.M. Muneer insists that there are many sincere, honest and competent officers in the rank and file of Pakistan’s civil service, and he has had the privilege and pleasure of knowing a number of them.

Aside from rendering valuable advice to the head of government, and presenting the viewpoint of the country’s business community, S.M. Muneer also stabilized the affairs of the FPCCI itself.

When he assumed the FPCCI President’s office the nation’s premier business body was in debt to the tune of 25 million rupees, and the title documents of its impressive head office building in Karachi were held by Habib Bank.

At the end of his tenure the FPCCI had not only paid off the debt of 25 million but had a surplus of 15 million rupees in its accounts, and the title documents were back in the FPCCI’s own vault.

S.M. Muneer attributes his success to good management, and a freezing of all non-essential expenditures of which there had been many.

He never charged the FPCCI a penny for his overseas travels which were many. He paid for his own airline tickets and hotel expenses out of his own pocket.

The only thing S.M. Muneer billed the FPCCI for was the tea he had on the job.

With the president setting the right example from the very top, everyone else fell in line double quick, and wasteful expenditure was brought down to zero, resulting in considerable savings.

S.M. Muneer also aggressively encouraged exporters to do more, and instituted new ways and means that added tremendous value to the Export Trophy that now had a variety of categories. Exporters enlisted in droves for the competition, and the FPCCI bank account swelled with entry fees.

Going on Strike!

Through such acts that clearly established him as a selfless and dynamic supporter of the business community, S.M. Muneer garnered the respect and admiration of his business constituency, and that was manifest in the nationwide business strike that he called for in protest of a Budget presented by the government that he termed the worst Budget in the history of Pakistan.

All businessmen, whether big or small, were down in the dumps. Exorbitant taxes had been imposed. S.M. Muneer and his colleagues at the FPCCI tried to convince the government that they would have to amend the Budget document and that it was too draconian and bad for business. But their pleas fell on deaf years.

What happened next was unprecedented in the history of Pakistan, and signaled the coming of age of Pakistan’s private sector.

All the trade and industry bodies that were members of the FPCCI, over 100 associations and 50 Chambers, were invited for tea to the Pearl Continental Hotel in Karachi.

According to one observer this Karachi Tea Party drew parallels with the Boston Tea Party of old.

During the meeting the delegates unanimously empowered S.M. Muneer to call a national strike. The entire country was closed for two whole days.

Total Shutter Down

This was the first strike of its kind called purely by the business community. It had no support from any labour union, nor any support from any political party.

From the Khyber to the Arabian Sea, the Pakistani business community went on a complete and total shutter down. It was the first time ever that the business community had called for a nationwide strike on the call of a business leader, and not a political party or labour group.

All clearing activity ceased at the Port and there was not a single entry passed in the Custom House, whether inward or outward.

S.M. Muneer’s daughter went to buy a carpet a day before the strike and asked the vendor to deliver it the next day. He flatly refused, telling her that S.M. Muneer had called for a strike on that day, not knowing that he was speaking to S.M. Muneer’s own daughter!

Some people in the government were of the view that should there be any fatality or untoward incident during the strike then S.M. Muneer should be booked by the police under Section 302 of the Pakistan Criminal Procedure Code.

When a bus was burnt due to reasons not associated with the strike, the Inspector General of Police was asked to arrest S.M. Muneer, but he refused to do so.

He argued that to begin with S.M. Muneer was not the reason for the bus’s burning, and secondly, should he arrest him then Pakistan would shut down once again!

Dealing with strike breakers

The FPCCI appointed people in all the industrial estates of the country to report back if any factory was violating the strike. Understandably the government bureaucracy was exerting its pressure upon industrial units within its sphere of influence to break ranks with the strikers.

News came that two major industrial units in Korangi, one manufacturing a leading soft drink and the other making ice-cream, had not ceased their operations.

S.M. Muneer called up the people concerned at both places, but they took a hard stand and said they would continue production.

As mentioned earlier, this was the first ever time that the business community had united in this manner and taken direct action that challenged the writ of the government. There were people in their ranks who doubted the FPCCI’s ability to pull off a successful strike and get their demands accepted.

S.M. Muneer says that he was left with no choice but to inform the strike breakers that he would be calling a press conference to make public that they were violating the strike, and their sales were guaranteed to suffer as a result.

After half an hour of this conversation both gentlemen concerned had ceased production at their factories, and were sitting in the Chairman FPCCI’s office.

Acrimony and Hostility

The strike culminated in S.M. Muneer being removed by the government as the President of the FPCCI, along with two of the Vice Presidents. The FPCCI went into a huddle and decided that no one would occupy the President’s chair until S.M. Muneer returned.

There would be an acting President to run the FPCCI’s affairs. For the next two months the President’s chair remained vacant. There was acrimony and hostility in the air.

Less than august roots

Pakistan’s business culture has traditionally been based on a system of patronage, inherited from the British, and the Mughals, and all the other rulers of the Subcontinent before that.

Undivided India was ruled by Emperors and Maharajas, and petty potentates who enforced their will with an iron hand, and rewarded loyalty through the grant of land and power over the people that settled there.

There were enlightened rulers in their midst who admired merit and encouraged pride in craftsmanship, and caused the Indian Subcontinent to flourish in a manner that drew people of all shades from the four corners of the world.

Then there were those with limited vision and vile in their hearts, who plundered and looted their subjects, inflicting misery and a wretched life upon the land.

On aggregate it appears that at the time of the Subcontinent’s Partition, the people of Pakistan inherited more than their fair share of rulers with limited vision and vile in their hearts, and the talk has always been about Pakistan’s potential, with nary an effort mounted towards achieving that potential.

Enlightened rulers appear to have stayed back in what became India, as evidenced by that country’s phenomenal rise in the world’s hierarchy of nations.

Bondage named ‘Independence’

Even in the darkest of hour there is a glimmer of hope, and in Pakistan’s case it lay in its people, a technically free people with their own independent homeland, but a people too un-empowered to do very much with their freedom and independence.

The patronage culture flourished with a vengeance in Pakistan, and the educated bureaucracy became the new rulers and princes, and petty potentates. Between the civil and the military bureaucracies of Pakistan the country came to its knees, with the feudal political class adding a third dimension.

Pakistan’s ruling elite formed a closed club in which the God fearing had no place. Government policies were driven to enrich a few, and keep the rest subjugated. There was no room for merit in this dispensation.

The Lord works in mysterious ways, it is said, and the fruit of patience is sweet.

In search of the Promised Land

The enlightened and God fearing fled Pakistan’s shores in droves to countries across the seven seas that nurtured civilizations based on merit and fair play, and the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom, and where justice was a fact of life and not just an empty slogan.

Brain Drain became a much bandied buzzword, and the émigrés were castigated at home as greedy and unpatriotic, with no thought given to the underlying reasons for this brain drain.

Loot and plunder became the order of the day, and the God fearing silent majority hunkered down and did the best they could in the way of earning a respectable livelihood, a pursuit that became increasingly difficult, and continues in that manner even today.

Lucratively unemployed

The few thinking and empowered right minded people who stayed behind in Pakistan spent much of their time playing golf! There being little else to do by way of conducting meaningful business without compromising with the warped system.

It was an idyllic life in the midst of Nature on the fairways and greens of the many golf courses that dot Pakistan’s landscape, meticulously maintained by the same ruling elite with ‘limited vision and vile in their hearts’, zealously protecting their life of ease and privilege.

But even within their ranks there were dissenters, God fearing people born into the lap of luxury with a strong desire to spread the good life to the greatest number across caste, colour and creed.

Worried Dissenters

These were a worried people, needless to say, for they could see the disastrous impact of this wanton selfishness of the elite upon the future progress and prosperity of Pakistan.

For them their wealth made light of the hardships that Pakistan’s roller-coaster trajectory inflicted upon the rest of the populace.

And they spread their wealth around, creating an informal safety net for the impoverished masses. But they were as yet in a tiny minority, and the masses were getting more desperate by the day.

As they drove, chipped and putted under the weight of their worries, the Lord’s mercy was forthcoming, and realization dawned that help was on its way.

Cavalry’s coming!

Six decades and more into its life, and Pakistan was receiving a steady stream of those enlightened and God fearing citizens who had fled Pakistan’s shores in droves to escape rulers with limited vision and vile in their hearts.

They had done very well for themselves in their adopted lands, both in terms of education and wealth creation. The grass across the fence had indeed been greener and more lush.

But with the passage of time even there in their adopted homelands, rulers with limited vision and vile in their hearts had ousted the enlightened rulers of old, with these societies become increasing acrimonious and hostile towards émigrés, specially those who professed Islam as their faith.

This turn of events of the world’s stage came as a boon for Pakistan, with the country coming closer and closer to critical mass in its educated and empowered population.

Let the good times roll!

The disbanding of the corrupt patronage culture became imminent as the average Pakistani citizen increasingly found his and her voice, and stood up against injustice, and demanded that merit be the foremost consideration in the allocation of the State’s resources, and humility and noble poverty the trademarks of its rulers. The advent of enlightened governance could no longer be stalled.

It is with this background in mind that the FPCCI nationwide strike by the business community has to be seen.  

The government came under pressure from world bodies and international organizations for denying the business community a legitimate right to protest and strike work.

S.M. Muneer excelled in his role as diplomat and negotiator. Having shown the position of strength that the business community had newly acquired, he turned on his charm offensive. His natural inclination for win-win outcomes got a few right thinking ministers to persuade the prime minister to restore S.M. Muneer to the FPCCI’s President-ship.

Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto Shaheed was one of the finest heads of government Pakistan has had, says S.M. Muneer, and blames vested interests for ill-advising her.

He traveled extensively with her on 13 overseas tours, and was accorded special protocol, with a place at the head table.

Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto Shaheed was quick to recognize the weight in S.M. Muneer’s words, and made him her federal minister of state in the capacity of technocrat.

CHAPTER 6 – CHAMPIONING TANNERS

At the grassroots level S.M. Muneer has been elected Chairman of the Pakistan Tanners Association seven times, and takes the credit for initiating the Leather Shows in Pakistan. These went a long way in developing the value added market for Pakistan’s leather industry, with Pakistani leather pants, skirts, and jackets adorning many a super model and gracing the many high fashion catwalks of the world.

But while we met some very stringent quality control criteria of overseas buying houses, Pakistan somehow never managed to produce a global leather brand of its own. This task has now fallen to the incumbent and future generations to accomplish.

Speech making blues

At the first Leather Show General Zia-ul-Haq, the Chief Martial Law Administrator, was the chief guest. As Chairman of the Tanners Association that night S.M. Muneer was due to make the first public speech of his life.

He was a very nervous and worried man, and practiced his speech time and again, standing in front of the mirror. He was so nervous that he says he felt like running away! One can only guess at the reason for S.M. Muneer’s nervousness.

There were present over 700 guests at the poolside of the Marriott Hotel in Karachi that night. These were the movers and shakers of the industry, each one a champion of the game. There was also the realization that he would have the undivided attention of the most powerful man in the country, and what he said, and how he said it, would have a profound impact upon his own future.

Federal chores

S.M. Muneer says that he hurried through his speech, or so he thought, eager to leave the limelight. His considerable knowledge of the business, coupled with his incisive analysis of the past, present and future of the leather industry, made enough of an impression on the General for him to offer S.M. Muneer membership of the Majlis-e-Shura, the Federal Council.

S.M. Muneer was at a loss for words momentarily, and asked the General if he was joking! A very serious Zia ul Haq told S.M. Muneer that there’s was an acquaintance of very recent origins, and he would not take the liberty of joking with him on a matter of such seriousness!

S.M. Muneer’s God gifted ability to serve a purpose higher than his own, and his penchant for achieving win-win outcomes, saw him elected Chairman of the All Pakistan Tanners Association (Central Zone) seven times in 1969-70, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1985-86 and 1993-94.

S.M. Muneer has organized the Pakistan Leather Show since 1979, and served as Chairman of the Export Promotion Committee for Leather and Leather Garments between 1981 and 1986.

CHAPTER 7 - HONOURING COMMITMENTS AT ALL COST

S.M. Muneer’s career in business has been a trial by fire and ice, and even as he enjoys the well earned benefits of his hard work, he has vivid memories of when the family business was struck by disaster. It was a self-inflicted disaster, some would say, caused by the resoluteness of his father who refused to default on his commitments though the market situation may have warranted it.

Those early years of his induction in the family business left some profound impressions upon him, and shaped his thinking and core values that gave rise to the substantial prosperity that his business empire enjoys today.

Going broke

S.M. Muneer came into business in 1963 while still an undergraduate, and went on to graduate in 1964. His father was not keeping well and needed his presence in the office. So after attending college S.M. Muneer would join his father and take the business load off his shoulders. In business he was a hard worker and learnt many things from his Dad, the most important of which perhaps was the honoring of one’s commitment.

In 1964 S.M. Muneer got married, and in 1966 the family business was completely bankrupted. S.M. Muneer’s father had made large prior commitments that he was adamant on honoring, and the procurement costs went up by almost double, while he was committed to sell at the old price as per the contract entered into by him.

Shaikh Mohammad Din was adamant on honouring his commitment, being of the firm view that a promise that is made, even in a dream, is a promise that must be honoured.

Raw & Wet Blue Skins Blues

In 1965 the government had introduced the Bonus Voucher scheme according to which the government was giving 40% on value added goods. So exports worth 100 rupees received 40 rupees in bonus vouchers. Those 40 rupees bonus vouchers were sold in the market for a huge premium of 180 rupees, and against these imports could be made. There were no free imports in those days. If you wanted to import something then you had to purchase the bonus vouchers.

S.M. Muneer’s father was not making value added leather. He dealt only in raw skins. The cost of raw material went up, and S.M. Muneer’s father was adamant on honoring his prior commitments.

S.M. Muneer told him that they would be finished as a business, and Abbaji replied that would be fine. A promise even in a dream is a promise and must be kept, was his life’s philosophy as already stated above. So S.M. Muneer proceeded to honour his father’s commitments and they suffered a huge loss, going completely bankrupt in 1966.

Banks had to be repaid. They sold all their cars and traveled in rickshaws and taxis. They sold their real estate plots at ten rupees a yard. They paid back every penny of what they owed to Standard Chartered and other banks.

Nobody in Pakistan or anywhere else in the world can stand up and claim that S.M. Muneer or his father have ever defaulted on their debt or cheated in business in any way.

The making of a reputation in business is a long and arduous journey, and once made successive generations can live off it only if they subscribe to it in letter and in spirit.

Self-employment at all cost

S.M. Muneer had a friend at a very senior position in the national airline, and he offered to get him a job in PIA. Abbaji was sitting one night in their old home on Tariq Road when S.M. Muneer mentioned his employment plans to him.

Abbaji listened intently. The Chinioti entrepreneur in him, driven by an emotional attachment to his trade, was heartbroken to see his son throwing in the towel in what was quite obviously a case of admitting defeat.

But Abbaji liked S.M. Muneer’s strategic thinking. A job in PIA offered economic security, and the opportunity to be part of a ‘biradari’, a brotherhood, that transcended borders in the high-tech and rapidly growing field of commercial aviation. His son was thinking big and maintaining an eye on his immediate needs.

Be as it may it would still constitute an incalculable loss of face to exit the leather industry on such a dismal note. Abbaji was reassured where S.M. Muneer was concerned. The lad would be able to survive no matter what. His education would come to his rescue. But now was the time to develop within his son that special alloy that makes for steel, forged through a trial of fire and ice. 

Softly but firmly Abbaji told S.M. Muneer that seeking employment was out of the question, even if it meant that he would have to sell chickpeas on the roadside. What Abbaji meant was that S.M. Muneer’s mother should boil the chickpeas at night and S.M. Muneer should set up a stall on the footpath in the morning and sell them. Abbaji was fast tracking S.M. Muneer’s growth in flat out fashion!

S.M. Muneer glosses over this episode in cursory manner, perhaps unaware of its full significance, and eager to move on to the next story, the next episode of his action packed early life in business. But I have identified this particular episode as the turning point in S.M. Muneer’s life.

While appreciating his son’s strategic thinking, Abbaji was cautioned by what he sensed as S.M. Muneer’s attraction to ‘afsarshahi’, or officerdom, and the razz-ma-tazz of a jet set work environment. The merciless mentor in Abbaji brought S.M. Muneer straight back to earth for what must have proved to be a bit of a bumpy landing.

There was no shame in selling chickpeas on the footpath in pursuit of an honest living. It was a grassroots enterprise, and should Allah bless it, then S.M. Muneer could well go on to rule the chickpea market of the world, Allah be praised.

It was learning most profound that the son learnt at the feet of his father. Entry level is where one had to excel no matter what the field. One had to get one’s hands dirty in the dirt, because diamonds and other gems did not grow on trees, and even if they did, the gem trees would first need to be planted.   

CHAPTER 8 – LEARNING FROM SCRATCH & BLAZING A TRAIL

S.M. Muneer learnt his lesson well that night. He had nothing against pursuing a career in chickpeas, and had only considered the airline job because it would help in paying the bills. Now he saw quite clearly where his father was coming from.

Trading was a time honoured pursuit of his Chinioti brotherhood sanctified by the Prophet (PBUH). Trading, and by extension manufacturing, was where his livelihood had to come from, no matter how attractive a position in PIA might appear to be at the moment.

S.M. Muneer mentally geared up for what he knew was a fight for the physical survival of his family, but also a battle that he must win for the pride and honour of his clan. Father had burnt his boats. Employment elsewhere was not an option.

The way forward was quite clear. The family business had crashed because it was not export driven and did not add value to the leather it dealt in.

Blood, sweat & tears

S.M. Muneer went out and took a leather factory on rent to manufacture wet blue leather that qualified for the precious Bonus Vouchers. Fortune smiled on his unrelenting determination and hard work.

S.M. Muneer went to work like a man possessed, often working through the night, selecting the wet blue leather himself. There is acidity in the processing of blue leather, and his hands would often be burnt. When he finally returned home at 4 in the morning his wife would apply ointment on his hands.

He traveled in a rickshaw, and put in his blood, sweat and tears into rebuilding the business. On sales visits to Europe he traveled on trains by night and saved on hotel expenses, and when he had to stay the night he booked into half star hotels.

His hands were scarred from carrying heavy and damp wet blue leather samples on customer visits. Soon S.M. Muneer was operating five factories on rent.

French connection

S.M. Muneer started from scratch, and in 1967 flew to France for the very first time in his life. His agent in France joined me on the plane in Paris and they flew to Toulouse, now the home of the Airbus. It had over one thousand leather factories. It was the first time in his life that he gone on a sales visit.

His agent spoke in French with the customers. S.M. Muneer had spent three months learning French in Karachi at the French Cultural Center. He had a rudimentary understanding of the language and knew the numericals.

S.M. Muneer soon discovered that his agent was selling his stuff for 32 Cents and tell him he had sold it for 24 Cents, and on which he was taking commission as well! He took notes of all their meetings, and when they returned to Paris S.M. Muneer confronted his agent with his dishonesty.

The Letter of Credit condition was 70 percent at the time of its opening and the balance 30 percent at the time of delivery after inspection. His agent said that Pakistanis were no good and perceived as crooks. S.M. Muneer lost his temper and screamed at him not to say anything against his country. He says he has never tolerated people talking against Pakistan, and nobody should either.

Having shown him that he was no fool, S.M. Muneer retained his French agent, and sold a lot of wet blue leather through him. The great thing was that not even one of the letters of credit deducted any amount after inspection and he got paid in full every time. His goods were always as per specification.

Changing times

Quite a few times S.M. Muneer received letters from his customers which said ‘Mr. Din! Your quality is so good it deserves a premium. We are sending you a cheque of 10,000 dollars!’ Such were the kind of customers he had the privilege of making. Today the customer will always manage to find some fault or the other no matter how true the quality, he says.

In those days people were truthful and purer in their approach, he feels. “Today when the market is rising all your customers are your best friends, and when the market drops they don’t open your letters of credit, and don’t even recognize you.”

He can speak endlessly on the occasions that he has been let down and defrauded. These were also priceless learning opportunities where he learnt to recognize people for what they were.

Spartan living

S. M. Muneer has traveled millions of kilometers on business. In the early days he would stay abroad for months on end because he did not have the money to keep shuttling between Europe and Pakistan. He would be on the roads for two months at a stretch, traveling at night either by bus or by train to save money on lodging.

After his sickness in 1966 S.M. Muneer’s father regained his health and rejoined the rejuvenated family business with great gusto. S.M. Muneer had a good team back in Pakistan taking care of production led by his father, and then joined by his younger brother S. M. Naseer. Then his younger brother S. M. Javaid, who had gone overseas for his education, joined the family business as well. Then younger brothers S. M. Pervaiz and S. M. Tariq joined the family business as it grew bigger and added momentum for further growth, each brother bringing with him a unique energy and Divine blessing.

Today all three of S.M. Muneer’s sons have joined the business, as well as seven nephews.

His leather exports today are worth 2.5 billion rupees, and textile exports worth 6 billion rupees, and the turnover exceeds 10 billion rupees.

“I do not steal electricity and pay all my taxes. I look people in the eye, and I am only afraid of God. I bought back for 2000 rupees per square yard all the plots that we had sold for 10 rupees a yard to repay our debts. They had borne the name of my father and I bought them all back. Now they’re probably valued at over 50,000 rupees per square yard,” says S. M. Muneer, clearly seized with emotion at reclaiming the family honour.

CHAPTER 9 - PROACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THE NATION’S HEALTH

Outside of the world of business, S.M. Muneer is making a profound impression upon the social sector of health and education.

He is a Trustee of the Fatimid Blood Foundation, and a Member of the Board of Governors of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust. He is also represented on the Board of Governors of the Institute of Behavioral Sciences.

His sensitization to the stress that the conduct of business can generate, especially so in Pakistan, has caused S.M. Muneer to take a broader interest in the subject, and he is a Founder Life Member of the Pakistan Hypertension League, as well as a Member of the World Hypertension League.

As Patron-In-Chief of the Friends of the Burns Centre at the Civil Hospital Karachi, S.M. Muneer has contributed to its modernization into a centre for excellence in a critical area of healthcare.

He is also a Founder Member of the Trust for Vaccines & Immunization, again an area of vital importance to the nation’s health.

S.M. Muneer’s engagement with society’s health agenda has seen him Chair the Aiwan-e-Tijarat-o-Sanat Hospital Trust, Karachi (1997-1998), and assume the responsibilities of Member Board of Governors Police Hospital Karachi & Hyderabad (2006-2009), as well as that of Vice President Pakistan Red Crescent Society Sindh (1998-2002).

Din Group has come to the nation’s aid in times of its need and donated rupees ten million to Earthquake Relief and rupees ten million to Flood Relief. S.M. Muneer is a Trustee of the Legend Trust, and has come to the assistance of renowned artists and sportsmen who have fallen upon hard times.

S.M. Muneer is also Director Make-A-Wish Foundation International (USA) since the 18^th of September, 2008 that fulfills the wish of terminally ill children.

Chiniot Anjuman Islamia (CAI)

Working at the grassroots level S.M. Muneer is an active Member and Chairman of the Chiniot Anjuman Islamia, a general welfare organization registered under the Societies Act XXI of 1860, and founded in 1983. The Chiniot Anjuman Islami has 33 Trustees, and they are some of the country’s most renowned businessmen belonging to the Chiniot Sheikh Baradari who have rendered great service by establishing welfare institutions, schools, hospitals, maternity homes, dispensaries, and wayside inns for travelers.

Chiniot Anjuman Islami serves the needy and deserving class of people regardless of caste, colour and creed, and spends 50 million rupees every year on its many projects, contributed by the trustees, friends and well-wishers.   

Chiniot General Hospital, Korangi

The new Chiniot General Hospital in Karachi’s Korangi district is the most recent and very impressive feather in the Chiniot Anjuman Islamia’s cap. It has 165 beds, and a team of over 500 professionals providing the health care needs of both the privileged and less privileged.

In both a personal and professional capacity I have had an abiding interest in the social sectors of health and education, the basic building blocks of civilized society. I decided to pay Chiniot General a visit and see for myself how the private sector manages things differently from the government sector.

Getting an appointment with Brigadier (R) Dr. Hamid Hussain Khan, the Medical Director of the Chiniot General Hospital, I was in for a very big, very pleasant surprise. Located in Sector 41-B of Korangi ‘Dhai’ (two and a half), and spread over 22,000 square yards (5 acres), Chiniot General has state-of-the-art facilities that service the health needs of a vast working class district comprising mostly lower and lower-middle income groups.

It is aided in its noble mission by another private sector philanthropic enterprise, the Indus Hospital, situated within a mile of it. Having been to Indus Hospital, I couldn’t help noting the similarities between the two when it came to cleanliness, wide open spaces with ample greenery and shade, an an orderly flow of patients, and very user-friendly in terms of signage and direction boards that guide the 500 to 600 Out-Patient-Department patients on a daily basis.

I am told that most patients come with pediatric, child delivery and allied issues, and require support from the Zakat fund. Future plans at the Chiniot General include the setting up of a Psychiatry Department, as well as a Nursing School. Eye care in the area is more than adequately taken care of by the Layton Rehmatullah Benevolent Fund (LRBT) Hospital, also in the vicinity.

Stress is a major issue in the population that leads to ulcers and the need for endoscopy, says Brigadier (R) Dr. Hamid Hussain Khan who also has to his credit a Masters-in-Science degree in Medical Administration from the Quaid-e-Azam University in Rawalpindi, a two years course. “We are very particular that waste and waste management are ensured on scientific lines,” he says.

Chiniot General creates an enabling environment for its doctors by providing them pickup-and-drop services, as well as in-house training, being recognized by the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan as a post-graduate training institute. Chiniot General has three state-of-the-art Operation Theatres where the laminar flow of air is ensured, as well as a Neonate ICU with four Ventilators. For the paying clientele it has 10 Deluxe Rooms.

Medical Records of current cases are maintained in hard copy form, while records that are five years or older are scanned and computerized. Tuberculosis investigation, consultation and treatment is free, and there has been a marked reduction in the number of patients turning up with this disease.

On the advocacy front spitting in public and the ‘Gutka’ culture are in the cross-hairs where Brigadier (R) Dr. Hamid Hussain Khan is concerned, and to tackle these downsides to human behaviour he feels it’s necessary to develop an alliance amongst the city’s hospitals, the media and other stakeholders in society.  

The Chiniot General Hospital operates on a no-profit, no-loss basis. It accepts payment from patients who are able to pay, and even so its charges are substantially lower than comparable hospitals. The hospital administrator is fully empowered to waive payment from hardship cases. Along with its own hospital, Chiniot Anjuman Islami helps patients seek treatment at Indus Hospital, the Aga Khan University and Hospital, and Zubeida Medical Center.

Chiniot Mother & Child Hospital, Nazimabad

Along with the Chiniot General, the Chiniot Anjuman Islami also runs in Karachi the fully equipped Chiniot Mother & Child Hospital in Nazimabad. Established in 1987 on 1700 square yards of land, this facility is a 60 beds maternity hospital specializing in obstetrics, gynaecology, and paediatrics.

Chiniot Mother & Child Hospital provides free treatment to the less privileged , and has over 400 patients visiting it every day, with 4800 live births recorded in 2011-2012.

Bakht Bhari Chiniot Hospital, Azam Town

Established in 1992 and spread over 500 square yards, this facility is also a maternity hospital with 25 beds that also provides the full range of healthcare and medical facilities. It has on average a daily turnover of 125 patients, and recorded over 1000 live births in 2011-2012.

Islamia Hospital, Chiniot

Established in 1986 and spread over 20,000 square yards, the Islamia Hospital has 80 beds and is a major value addition to Chiniot’s quality of life. It is a full fledged hospital equipped with state-of-the-art equipment that serves more than 150 patients on a daily basis.

Chiniot Diabetic Center of Excellence, Faisalabad

Established in 1993 and spread over 800 square yards, the Chiniot Diabetic Center of Excellence is a renovated Dialysis Center situated in the city’s Jinnah Colony. The latest and most innovative techniques are used to diagnose and treat diabetic patients, and served over 8,000 patients in 2011-2012.

CHAPTER 10 - PROACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THE NATION’S EDUCATION

On the education front S.M. Muneer has an equally impressive record.

Since 1997 he is Member of the Board of Governors College of Business Management (CBM) Karachi that has over 4000 students on its rolls.

He is Member Board of Governors University of Management & Technology (UMT) in Lahore since 1996. The UMT has over 4300 students on its rolls.

Since 1998 he is Member Board of Governors Greenwich University, Karachi with over 1000 Students on its rolls.

He is Member Advisory Council Institute of Business Administration since 2009.

He is Member Board of Governors Professional Education Foundation since 2010.

Chiniot Islamia School, Karachi

S. M. Muneer is Chairman Board of Governors Chiniot Islamia School, Karachi, established in 1984 and spread over 10,000 square yards (2 acres), offering both Cambridge and Matric streams of education.

With an enrolment of 1857 students (up to December 2012) populating classes from Montessori to Class 12, the Chiniot Islamia School has 58 rooms that include three fully equipped science labs and two state-of-the-art computer labs. In 2011-2012 it achieved 100% results in both the ‘O’ Levels and SSC Examinations, with 96% in the pre-engineering and pre-medical sections, ranking it amongst the 7 schools that achieved this distinction out of 185 schools.

I was drawn to investigate further this private sector initiative in the field of education, and sought an opportunity to meet with Mr. Abdul Rehman, the School’s Principal.

Situated opposite the Safari Park in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal district, the Chiniot Islamia School, runs a morning and afternoon shift, and boasts of a cumulative pass percentage of 99.7% over the last 22 years, with only 12 kids having failed. The students are divided amongst three sections for boys and one for girls.

There is an Alumni Association under organization, and the Principal is quite excited about maintaining linkages in later life with students who have passed through the portals of the Chiniot Islamia School. Two of them that he knows of have gone on to complete their PhD from France, and another has won a prestigious international poster competition.

The importance of an alumni association cannot be overemphasized, for it will provide the role models for the newer generations of students, he says.

The Principal despairs the prevalence in our education system of a relentless focus on grades through rote learning, even in subjects like mathematics. He says that this is akin to starving the roots and watering the branches. Raising the self-esteem of teachers is imperative in his opinion, and I cannot agree with him more.

The stark contrast that I find between a private sector run school and a government school is one of ownership. In the case of the Chiniot Islamia School the ownership of the venture is pronounced and clearly visible in the high state of maintenance and upkeep that the premises enjoy. The students are smartly turned out and have a spring to their steps, as also does the staff, and they clearly appear motivated and looking forward to their in school.

The situation is quite the reverse in the last government school that I visited, and a more wasted piece of land I have not seen. The electricity had been cut off, the desks and chairs were broken, as well as the window panes, and no more than 5% of the teaching staff was present, and that too in a highly dispirited state. The ownership of this government school was conspicuous by its absence.

Din College for Girls, Chiniot

In Chiniot S. M. Muneer is Chairman Board of Governors Din College, a modern girls College working since the 12^th of January, 2004 under the auspices of Chiniot Anjuman Islamia, with over 560 students on its rolls.

The school is fully equipped with the latest learning tools in 8 classrooms, 1 Main hall, 2 spacious Libraries, and 13 Laboratories that cater to the disciplines of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Zoology, Botany, Computers, Home Economics, Health & Physical Education, Geography, and Psychology.

The students receive scholarships, and in the last academic year the College produced 100% results in Commerce and Pre-medical, 98% in Arts, and 77% in Pre-medical.

Din College for Women Chiniot was established by S.M. Muneer in the year 2003 on the express desire of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan (Nishan-e-Imtiaz & Hilal-e- Imtiaz). The College premises cover an area of 4 acres that includes the main building which takes up 30,000 square feet.

The College has added a third floor named the Hameeda Begum Block and donated by the Din Family in the year 2010 in memory of the late Din Matriarch. It has introduced post graduate classes offering the Master’s degree in English, Urdu, Islamiat, and Economics, as well as M.ED, B.ED, and Senior Diploma in Physical Education.

The College’s co-curricular activities include the Students’ magazine, excursion trips, the College Cafe, the College Transport Facility, teaching of the Holy Quran, the students’ prayer room, play ground, Mini Auditorium, College Dispensary, and the Girl Guides Program.

S.M Muneer’s objective in setting up this College is that not a single female student in the Chiniot District should be deprived of acquiring education merely due to her financial weakness.

CHAPTER 11 - SEASONED TRAVELLER

When I met him S.M. Muneer had just returned from Italy where he attended a leather show. “I have seen the world very well, and traveled overseas over 600 times,” he says, adding that for the last 46 years he is in the air!

Not surprisingly, since his is an export driven business, and establishing new relationships overseas with buyers while keeping the old relationships intact requires a frequent touching of base. His lament, however, is that now, even with his brothers and children joining the business, he still finds that he has to travel a lot.

In the beginning it was a lot of fun and he loved traveling, he says, but now he does not, and prefers staying right here in Karachi, and doesn’t even want to travel to Lahore.

But he is obliged to go to Lahore since he has four textile mills there. Also his kids are in Lahore, and he has to attend meetings of the Muslim Commercial Bank of which he is the Vice Chairman.

So he travels to Lahore two or three times a month. Now his fear is that if he goes to Lahore he might have to catch a ride back to Karachi on a bus or a truck given the sad state of the national airline and railways.

Overseas in overdrive

S.M. Muneer has crisscrossed the globe not just on account of his personal business, but also on the business of state promoting Pakistan overseas and accompanying heads of government in their forays abroad in search of competitive advantage for Pakistan.

As the Leader of the Government of Pakistan’s official Trade Delegation S.M. Muneer has visited India in 1982, New Zealand & Fiji Islands in 1984, Japan and Korea in 1985, and Turkey in 1991.

He was Member of the Delegation led by the Prime Minister of Pakistan Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto to Turkey and Iraq in1989, and again in 1991 he visited Turkey with the delegation led by Federal Finance Minister Senator Sartaj Aziz.

1994 was a busy year for S.M. Muneer as well, and he visited Muscat with Prime Minister of Pakistan Mohtarma  Benazir  Bhutto and signed the Cooperation Agreement between FPCCI and  the Oman Chamber of Commerce.

In 1994 also he visited Germany as President F.P.C.C.I. with the delegation led by Prime Minister of Pakistan Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and signed the Cooperation Agreement between F.P.C.C.I. & DIHT, the German Federation.

He also visited Turkministan with Prime Minister Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto from the 25th to 28th October, 1994.

1996 was even busier than 1994 with visits to Japan, Indonesia, Brunie, Bahrain, Syria, and Korea with Prime Minister Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz drew upon S.M. Muneer’s business acumen and had him as part of his Delegations to Sri Lanka, Maldives and India in 2004, and Lebanon, Turkey, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Malaysia in 2005.

In 2010 he visited Turkey with Chief Minister Punjab, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, and was part of Federal Commerce Minister Mukhdoom Amin Fahim’s delegation to India in 2011.

S.M. Muneer is a business technocrat to the core, and this is a fact that different governments of differing ideologies have acknowledged by keeping him by their side and seeking his advice on the all too important issue of the private sector economy and its flourishing.

CHAPTER 12 - STAYING IN CIRCULATION

The private sector economy is not just organized around the chambers of commerce and industry. No doubt that is where substantial work is done at the official level, but there are other forums where the exchange of money making ideas continues late into the night.

Being elected bodies these chambers have an unmatched vibrancy, specially the Pakistan Federation Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, both of which hold an abiding interest for S.M. Muneer.

The conduct of business, however, does not end once business hours come to a close. It is carried on, albeit informally, in the many social clubs that dot Karachi, and Pakistan’s landscape.

Deals are made and alliances forged, and the future brainstormed over a cup of tea, or a barbequed chicken tikka, or even a glorious multi-course meal.  

Then there are the walking and jogging tracks that have become an imperative for every social club worth its salt. While jogging is not conducive to talking, walking is, and small groups of tycoons are evident in the evenings burning calories even as they ponder ways and means to improve prosperity at both the collective and individual levels.

Socially S.M. Muneer has remained active, some would say hyperactive, with his memberships of the Karachi Gymkhana Club (President 1991-92), Karachi Club, Karachi Golf Club, Defence Authority Marina Club, Arabian Sea Country Club, Faran Club International (President 1987-88), Bath Island Lions Club, Karachi Muslim Gymkhana Club, ACACIA Country & Golf Club, and Karachi New MJF Lions Club.

He is also the Convenor of the Quaid Foundation dedicated to spreading the message of peace and tolerance espoused by Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan.

CHAPTER 13 - COUNTRIES PROGRESS WHEN THEY HAVE DEMOCRACY

Preparing for baton exchange

Have you groomed a successor to take over from you, I ask?

“My son in Lahore and my nephew in Karachi are very active in business politics. They have developed very good contacts. In this country one needs contacts, not to circumvent the law or indulge in illegal activity, but to be of assistance to some poor man or woman who comes asking for help. In my opinion, there is less recourse to merit in our Country, and therefore everything requires recommendation. Those who want to circumvent the law bribe their way through and achieve their ulterior motives.”

But the honest people in our society need recommendations before their work gets done, says S.M. Muneer with a resigned expression on his face. “I don’t believe in corruption and have never paid a bribe. This fact is known all over the country and is the reason why people respect me. In this country, as indeed in the rest of the world, there are bad businessmen and there are good businessmen. Similarly, there are bad government officials and there are good government officials.”

S.M. Muneer feels the government is extremely weak in matters of the economy, and says that the government must put up people from the business community to sit with them and advise them. He says he is not interested in any ministerial position. He was offered the chairmanship of the Steel Mills a couple of years ago, but declined.

“I am not interested in heading an organization that used to earn 5 to 10 billion rupees until a few years ago and is now running at a loss due to political interference. I want to help the government. I don’t believe in dictatorship, and I do not want any military setup. I believe that countries progress when they have democracy.”

We have democracy in Pakistan today, says S.M. Muneer, but wonders about the kind of democracy we have wherein water and electricity have disappeared. “It was claimed that we had trillions of cubic feet of gas. Where is the gas? Without gas new industries will not come up, and if we don’t set up new industry the employment situation in the country will become worse than it already is. Each new factory provides employment for 500 to 1000 people.”

Force Majeure

“We are mass producing MBAs without any planning for their absorption in the economy, and similarly for other youth in the education system. In the banking system non-performing loans account for 550 billion rupees and this figure is going up and will touch 700 billion in the next few months. These are not just politically sanctioned loans. Force majure has set in across the board. My son-in-law in Faisalabad had export orders for his factory but he did not have gas to run his plant. He had to sell his factory. There are plenty of other such examples. The government has to do something right away if it wants to make this country economically strong.”

Integrity and Diligence

“I want the prime minister and his cabinet members to sit with us businessmen, and I do not want any bureaucrats sitting in those meetings. Let us speak heart to heart and state our problems. The problem is that the political leadership doesn’t have time for us. There should be a committee of businessmen who meets with the prime minister every month. The soil of Pakistan has enormous strength, and will yield phenomenal rewards provided it is ploughed with integrity and diligence. If we work together we can change the scenario of the economy of Pakistan.”

Need for Enabling Environment

Can entrepreneurship be taught? Or is it genetic and dependant on the support of the ‘biradari’?

“Entrepreneurship is genetic to the extent that if you are born in a business family and are brought up in that environment then you learn automatically the finer points of doing business. But it can also be learnt. I know so many people who had no business background and started a small business and today are big businessmen. But for that to happen you need an enabling environment. If today you invest 10 million rupees and people don’t honor the credit you have extended to them then what will you do? You will be called a failure, although you are not a failure, the environment in which you are operating is a failure.”

To what extent is it true that a bank only lends money to those people who do not need the money?

“The bank loans money to those people with whom its money is secure. Your idea and business plan is not bankable by itself. If your business feasibility meets with the scrutiny of the bank’s experts, then the bank will check what security you have to give. If you have no security then the bank will not lend you any money.”

Then how will entrepreneurship be promoted?

“By proceeding slowly to the extent that your strength permits. Go with organic growth by reinvesting your earnings. The government could come up with a scheme wherein it provides interest free finance for new start-ups. The operating environment has to be enabling. If everybody is making money then it acts as an inducement to encourage new start-up ventures. But if everyone you meet is shutting down his shop then why will you start a new business? When the water is flowing in the river everyone benefits. But when the water stops flowing then it becomes stagnant and unhealthy, and starts breeding mosquito and disease. Our economy has become stagnant. Money has stopped changing hands.”

Badly Stuck

“To make money you are not allowed to print notes. To make money you buy something and sell it for a few rupees more. That’s how money is made. Just printing notes adds to inflation. That is why the mark-up rate is not coming down. We were hoping that this year it would come down by 1 percent but that didn’t happen. The State Bank is lending to commercial banks at a minimum of 12 percent, and the commercial banks are lending to investors at 14 to 16 percent. How does the businessman make money if he has to first pay the bank 16 percent? The mark-up rate in India today is 8 percent and in Bangladesh its 10 percent. How can we compete with them? Add to that all the other problems that we have of electricity, gas, water, and law and order. We are badly stuck.”

Strong and Unshakable Faith in the Future

“But I have a strong and unshakable faith in the future, and I am sure that these bad times will pass as well. Good times are coming and I am optimistic. I feel that this country has a huge potential, and the time is coming when everybody will make money in Pakistan. I remember during the prime minister-ship of Shaukat Aziz people from Jodia Bazaar were amazed that whatever they dealt in they made money. The wheels of trade, commerce and industry were greased and moving smoothly. Today those wheels are grinding to a halt. Most of the Businessmen are suffering due to shortage of Gas and Electricity and they are losing money.”

As I wrap up this narrative on the life and times of S.M. Muneer the general elections are around the corner, in less than two weeks as a matter of fact. The future of Pakistan is at stake, and the youth is being courted and mobilized in no uncertain manner by all the political parties in the fray. Never before has the mass media, in particular the plethora of television channels, been mobilized to such a high pitch to get the voters primed and ready to cast their vote. The voting age youth, the college kids, show clarity of understanding that is impressive and way beyond their age as they participate energetically in public debate on television talk shows. There is an air of urgency and great expectation. The battle lines are drawn, and there is no place for the timid and faint of heart. Allah Ho Akbar.