Afghanistan quake

dawn.com/news/1696279/afghanistan-quake

June 23, 2022

FOR the hapless people of Afghanistan, the list of miseries just

doesn’t seem to end. The latest catastrophe to hit the country has
been the 6.1 magnitude earthquake that struck early on
Wednesday morning. The worst hit has been the eastern
province of Paktika, which borders Pakistan. The devastation is
believed to be considerable. At the time of writing, the list of
fatalities was at least 1,000, with several hundred injured.
Unfortunately, the casualty numbers are bound to rise as more
information comes in from remote, mountainous villages. Shocks
were felt as far away as India. In Pakistan, the tremors were felt
in many parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as Islamabad,
while the KP Disaster Management Authority said a man was
killed in Lakki Marwat in a roof collapse incident linked to the
quake.

The immediate priority for Afghanistan’s neighbours as well as

the international community should be to provide medical help
to those who critically need it. Over four decades of war have
resulted in little by way of a proper emergency management
system in Afghanistan, while the present cash-strapped Taliban
rulers are also not equipped to respond to a disaster of such
magnitude. Speedy international efforts are therefore required to
help ferry the injured in remote locations to hospitals where they
can be provided emergency care as the Taliban have appealed to
aid agencies to participate in the relief effort. Moreover, food,
shelter and medicine need to be provided to survivors of the
disaster. In particular, those states that have spent trillions of
dollars on waging war in Afghanistan must now spend liberally
to provide succour to the suffering Afghans in their time of need.
And considering the frequency of earthquakes in Afghanistan
and the high human toll they take — over 7,000 people have been
killed in quakes over the last 10 years, as per the UN —
international experts should come forward to help put in place
mitigation measures that can save lives when disaster strikes.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2022

Opinion
Budget debate - Newspaper - DAWN.COM
dawn.com/news/1696280/budget-debate

June 23, 2022

WITH the economy teetering on the precipice of a major crisis,

one would have expected that public representatives in
parliament would be deeply invested in debating the federal
budget for fiscal 2023 before it is put to the vote. Instead, both the
government and the opposition have only managed to make
themselves look even more dysfunctional, while the ironing out
of the budget — traditionally parliament’s job — seems to have
been left to negotiations happening behind closed doors with the
IMF. Since Finance Minister Miftah Ismail’s budget speech on
June 10, the general debate on budgetary proposals has been
marked by absenteeism and hollow speeches. In the National
Assembly, the first session saw the government-friendly leader of
the opposition deliver inane remarks to a nearly empty House.
There was only one other speaker that day. The next day, only
four lawmakers participated. In both sessions, the treasury
benches were almost empty — a stark reminder of the mockery
the democratic process has been turned into in the absence of a
genuine opposition. The same sorry state of affairs was seen in
both Houses in subsequent sessions, so much so that even
lawmakers from government-allied PPP protested the
government’s complete lack of interest.

In whatever discussion that did take place on the budget, the

focus of most speeches was on bashing former prime minister
Imran Khan and the PTI government. The rambling, unintelligent
‘explanations’ for the causes behind the present crisis show that
many lawmakers still have not grasped the root causes of
Pakistan’s economic ills. We can, therefore, expect them to repeat
their past mistakes in the future as well. On top of that, the
indecent unwillingness of anyone — government, ally or
opposition — to take responsibility for the economy’s structural
issues, the main reason why we are repeatedly in crisis, is quite
galling. Finally, it must be asked why, instead of making their
own recommendations for the budget through the debate, our
parliamentarians left final adjustments entirely to the finance
ministry and the IMF? After years of complaining loudly about
IMF ‘influence’ on government policies, one would have expected
them to take more ownership of the process. It is, after all, a key
responsibility of parliament to review budgetary proposals as
well as scrutinise government spending in the outgoing year.
Having ceded this space, they cannot now complain when the
revenue measures agreed to with the IMF cause pain in the
future.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2022

Opinion
Cake, naan and fruit
dawn.com/news/1696285/cake-naan-and-fruit

June 23, 2022

IS Rs1,400 the real price of a two-pound chocolate fudge cake sold

by a good bakery? Not according to economists. This is the
nominal price. The real price is what you are foregoing by buying
this cake. This is known as the opportunity cost. For example, you
could have bought seven kilograms of delicious mangoes, at the
nominal price of Rs200 per kilo. This means that the real price of
1kg of mangoes is one-seventh of the fudge cake, or the real price
of the cake is 7kg of mangoes. Instead of buying this cake, you
could have bought a 6kg basket of fruit consisting of 1kg each of
mangoes (Rs200) peaches (Rs150) cheekoos (Rs150) cherries
(Rs300) apricots (Rs350) and apples (Rs250) at their current
prices. I now ask a simple question: are we looting fruit-growers,
or are they looting us? Is the baker looting us, or are we looting
the baker?
The answer is simple: no one is looting anybody. Market prices
are a strange phenomenon. They emerge because of many
factors, including our preferences for cake over fruit, or vice
versa, that translate into prices through equilibration between
demand and supply of cake and fruit. If we keep on preferring
cake over fruit, the relative price of the cake will rise. Baking will
become more profitable compared to growing fruit. More bakery
shops will emerge than fruit shops. The relative price has given a
signal to entrepreneurs to invest more in designer bakeries
compared to the natural bounty of delicious fruits. Is this a
distortion brought about by our preferences? Fruit-growers are
not rewarded as much as bakers. Look at our fruit-sellers and
ourselves. We do not stop haggling with the poor fruit-seller
standing with his pushcart over Rs10 or Rs20 per kilo of fruit,
and yet buy a cake for Rs1,400 without demanding a discount.

The fact that I have chosen the example of cake over fruit
indicates my own preference for the former. A poor (or a low-
income) person would have thought about a more useful relative
price; the real price of a Rs1,400 cake is 93 tandoori naans (at
Rs15 per naan.) Do we ever think about this comparison when
we buy a cake? Perhaps not. But economists base their analysis
on relative prices or opportunity costs. We often lament the
inadequacy of investment in our fruit sector. One reason (among
many others) of this inadequacy is that relative prices of fruit are
lower compared to the relative prices of cakes. If we all start
preferring fruit over cakes, fruit prices will rise and
consequently attract more investment. Fruit here is just an
example. It could be any sector of our economy.
Some may object to this analysis saying that it will cause fruit
inflation, and poor people will not be able to afford it. But if the
income of the poor rises in this process (an increase in the
relative price of fruit, and more investment, leading to more
employment and income) fruit will become affordable. Hence,
economic policies that are directed towards keeping prices at
lower than market rates are inferior to policies that promote
income, investment and savings. Should we always look towards
the government to increase the income of the poor? Many a time,
we can do this ourselves with simple changes in our behaviour
and preferences. For example, if we stop the unnecessary
haggling with the pushcart fruit-seller, it will raise his income. By
not haggling, and trusting the fruit-seller regarding the price of
his ware, we may lose Rs10 or Rs20. It will not mean much to us
but add a meaningful amount to his income in a month.
We seldom think of a tandoor as an enterprise where naans are baked.

We think of bakeries as an enterprise where cakes, bread and

biscuits are prepared. We seldom think of a tandoor as an
enterprise where naans are baked. Have our tandoors been
modernised compared to bakeries? While you may laugh at this
question, the fact is that our tandoors are operating under much
the same conditions as they did decades ago. They seem to have
received much less investment compared to bakeries. Why?
Simply because the relative price of bakery products is higher
compared to tandoor products. Relative profitability is higher in
baking cakes compared to baking naans. Our preferences are not
only determining the price of products, they are also guiding
investments. Can we increase the relative price of naan without
increasing its nominal price? Yes, by reducing the price of cakes.
How? By following the exact opposite of what Marie-Antoinette is
said to have recommended: ‘Let them eat cake.’
Our tandoors’ main product is the standard naan. Poor tandoori
bakers sweat over extremely hot, circular, grave-like pits and for
a few seconds, their heads seem to sink into the furnace when
they place the circular dough in the lowest depth or take out a
crisp naan. They operate in inhumane conditions in front of us
while we wait impatiently to receive our order. There has been
no innovation in the production techniques of baking naan.
Why? Because naan prices had been much more attractive for
consuming rather than producing it. The relative price of naan is
low and does not give rising profitability signals to investors.
Consequently, even a slight improvement by changing the grave-
like oven into a horizontal one does not take place. Are we living
happily seeing the poor tandoor baker making naans? I am sure
he is living in horrid conditions, almost the same as prevailed
before independence.

So, what is the solution to this low-level investment trap? How to

improve the living conditions of the poor baker? How to get
investment in any productive sector? ‘Solution’ is a simple word.
Many of us regard solutions as the key or set of keys that unlock
the doors to prosperity. We live in a world that demands struggle.
There are no keys to sidestepping this. We have all witnessed,
experienced or heard about the last 75 years of struggle, which
has given us some progress but not widespread prosperity. It is
our economic policies of keeping prices artificially low in various
sectors that has led to low investment. It is our bad policies that
are looting and fooling all of us.

The writer is a former deputy governor of the State Bank of

Pakistan.

rriazuddin@gmail.com
Crisis slide - Newspaper - DAWN.COM
dawn.com/news/1696284/crisis-slide

June 23, 2022

GAME theory is described as “a branch of applied mathematics

that provides tools for analysing situations in which parties,
called players, make decisions that are interdependent. This
interdependence causes each player to consider the other
player’s possible decisions in formulating strategy”.

While game theory is primarily a mathematical framework, it

has found application in many fields to make optimal rational
choices, given a set of circumstances.

If global warming is regarded as an existential threat, then it

should be used as the pivot around which all decisions are
weighed and made in order to avoid known causes of planetary
warming or greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and to prepare
coping strategies to deal with the projected impacts of climate
change (adaptation).

From the Stockholm Convention 50 years ago (1972), and the

Earth Summit in Rio 30 years ago (1992), it took the global
community another 23 years to finally reach an agreement at the
Paris Summit (2015) on recognising that climate change is the
result of human activity and requires urgent action in reducing
emissions to save the planet.
If human security is predicated on the state’s ability to meet the food, water
and energy needs of the people, then we need to reset our priorities.

However, despite the formal process of negotiations that started

in 1995 with the first Conference of Parties (COP1), we are
nowhere near keeping temperature increases within the safe
threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius. While the parties talk, emissions
keep increasing and now climate change has outpaced
negotiations. At COP26 last year, the critical questions of ‘loss and
damage’ and ‘climate finance’ were left as unfinished agendas to
be taken up at COP27. This does not mean that money is not
available for climate correction. It is only an indication of the
competing demands on global finance and strategic investments
as demonstrated by the assistance for Ukraine — US ($40 billion),
EU(€2bn) and UK (£33.5 million).

While reducing GHG emissions is a global compact, the fact

remains that the future of the world is in the hands of the top
seven emitters: China (10bn MTCO2 or metric tons of carbon
dioxide), US (5.4bn MTCO2), India (2.5bn MTCO2), Russia (1.7bn
MTCO2), Japan (1.2bn MTCO2) Germany (0.75bn MTCO2). The
scientific community agrees that climate change is occurring
faster than anticipated, and between ocean acidification, land
degradation and threat of extinction to a massive number of
species, the future of the planet hangs by a thread.

What does this mean for Pakistan, which faces up to $3.79bn

annually in climate-related losses and is routinely ranked among
the top 10 countries most vulnerable to climate change? With a
population of 220m, growing at a rate of two per cent and a total
fertility rate of 3.5, the population is projected to reach 257m by
2030. Meanwhile, our economy is on a downward spiral and
inflation is at an all-time high. The per capita water availability
has fallen to 900 cubic metres and contribution of agriculture to
GDP has dropped to 19pc. The predicted future decrease in the
138MAF (million acre feet) in the Indus that derives 40pc of its
water from snow and glacial melt can trigger a food and water
scarcity crisis.

The total groundwater potential of Pakistan is about 68 billion

cubic metres (bm3) of which 60bm3 is currently exploited,
indicating that the groundwater resource is almost exhausted.
Though facing the threat of food and water scarcity, we continue
to produce high-water-consumptive and low-value crops, with
four major crops accounting for 80pc of the water but
contributing less than 5pc to GDP.

The energy deficit continues and is likely to increase as a result

of the gap between supply and demand. Our reliance on fossil
fuels constitutes 86pc of the total supply and will require a
monumental effort to decarbonise. Hydro-metrological disasters
remain a recurring threat and are projected to increase in
frequency and intensity between now and 2040. The lack of
investment in human capital and the slow pace of gender
mainstreaming with a high prevalence of stunting, climate-
induced migrations and rapid urbanisation are other factors
hindering the symbiotic relationship between climate resilience
and sustainable development.

The outbreaks of forest fires and ranking of three Pakistan cities

(Jacobabad, Sibi, Nawabshah) as the hottest places in the world
this year are manifestations of a warming world. As part of the
Global South, we demand climate justice but game theory
requires that we play out the possibility of not getting the monies
that we have indicated in our 2021 Nationally Determined
Contributions to meet Pakistan’s mitigation and adaptation
needs. Presently, we are largely looking at external finance
($7bn-14bn annually) to cope with adaptation and $40bn
annually to meet NDC mitigation targets. Such heavy reliance on
external finance may necessitate looking at foreign policy
through the lens of climate change. An unfriendly upper riparian
and a dangerously fractured mosaic in Afghanistan add to the
volatile mix.

Sri Lanka is an example of how quickly things can go south if

politics and policies are mismanaged.

If human security is predicated on the state’s ability to meet the

food, water and energy needs of the people and providing them
with protection in times of crises and fragility, then Pakistan
needs to reset its national priorities. Without getting into a
political contest on climate performance, we need to look at the
mathematical equation of population and country capacity for
meeting the basic needs of 257m people in 2030.The findings can
then be used as tools for analysing the likely social and economic
outcomes and developing a comprehensive strategy at the
national, regional and international level to build resilience.
On a crisis slide, there is a point of inflexion beyond which
recovery becomes irreversible. Pakistan is fast reaching the
tipping point and must take stock of its policies and priorities on
adaptation. Presently, vulnerabilities are increasing at a
disruptive pace that can challenge our capacity to manage
uncontrollable chaos.

The writer is chief executive of the Civil Society Coalition for

Climate Change.

aisha@csccc.org.pk

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2022

Funding expectations
dawn.com/news/1696281/funding-expectations

June 23, 2022

THOUGH still one step short of a staff-level agreement, the deal

reached between the government and the IMF, after weeks of
painful negotiations, has brought the country closer to the
revival of the stalled $6bn Fund programme and, with it,
financing from other multilateral and bilateral lenders to fund
projected payments of up to $40bn in the next fiscal. It should
also settle the wave of uncertainty that has taken over the
economy and investors due to the delay in coming to an
agreement. There have been conditions, of course: the
government has consented to impose additional taxes of
Rs436bn, gradually implement a petroleum levy of up to Rs50 a
litre, besides rolling back some fiscally irresponsible measures
proposed in the original budget 2022-23. The changes in the
proposed budget to be passed by parliament will help the
government target the primary budget surplus of Rs152bn and
overall fiscal deficit of 4.9pc of GDP. That makes the FBR’s job a
little more challenging, with its enhanced tax collection target of
Rs7.4tr requiring a growth of 24pc. Any shortfall would force the
government to cut down on its essential expenditure to stay the
course.

On its part, the IMF has stepped back from its demand to impose
a petroleum levy of Rs30 a litre in one go and has foregone 10.7pc
sales tax on petrol and diesel. Once the ‘prior actions’ are
executed through changes in the proposed budget, and monetary
targets finalised with the State Bank, the staff-level agreement
will be approved by the IMF and the nearly $1bn stuck-up
tranche released. Pakistani authorities hope the Fund will
increase the size of the bailout package to $8bn and extend its
duration to June 2023.

The government’s claim that a large part of additional tax

revenues will be achieved by taxing affluent individuals and
firms earning Rs150m and above a year, and that the tax cuts on
annual income below Rs1.2m will not be withdrawn is debatable.
There is no way the inflation-stricken low- to middle-income
households, already crushed by massive fuel price increases and
bracing themselves for an enormous surge in power and gas
rates from next month, will escape the impact of additional
taxation. Thus, it is imperative that even when the agreement
with the IMF is finalised, the authorities here must make deep
structural changes for long-term sustainable growth to protect
the people from repeated economic busts and future global
shocks — and chart an effective long-term economic plan so that
they do not have to turn to the lender again and again. For now,
IMF funding, along with that expected from other lenders, should
help improve macroeconomic stability and boost investor
confidence in Pakistan’s ability to execute reforms. The next few
months will show how serious the government is about
executing reforms and putting in place measures to strengthen
the country’s debt management outlook.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2022

Opinion
Until the end - Newspaper
dawn.com/news/1696283/until-the-end

June 23, 2022

ANYONE wishing to understand the machinery that drives Queen

Elizabeth II should turn to its designer — her redoubtable
grandmother, Queen Mary.

The consort of King-Emperor George V, Queen Mary came from

peripheral royal stock. Her mother, the portly Princess Mary
Adelaide, although a first cousin of Queen Victoria, had difficulty
finding a husband. Eventually, at the age of 30, she married an
impecunious German prince, Francis of Teck. Habitually short of
funds, she appealed to Queen Victoria for handouts, which were
usually denied.

Queen Victoria, though, despite the insularity of her royal

existence, remained a shrewd judge of character. She selected
her poor cousin’s daughter May (later renamed Mary) to be the
wife of her grandson, Prince Albert Victor. He died prematurely
in 1892 (the year after he visited Lahore). Not to be thwarted,
Queen Victoria arranged for his younger brother, George, to
marry May.

Over time, Princess May (later Queen Mary) consciously

perfected the image of monarchy. She dressed the part, carrying
a queen’s ransom of jewellery on her ample person. She restored
the palaces and she pursued and recovered furniture and
paintings from the royal collection that had been dispersed.
Above all, she gave the monarchy a singular glittering pre-
eminence, like the golden apex that once adorned the pyramids
at Giza.
Today, after 70 years on the throne, Elizabeth II is herself a matriarch.

From 1936, when Queen Mary knew that her eldest son Edward’s
decision to abdicate was irreversible, she applied her prodigious
energies to support her second son, now King-Emperor George
VI. Of paramount importance to her was the continuity of the
monarchy.

To this end, she commenced a rigorous programme of training

for her granddaughter, Elizabeth, to become the next queen
regnant. She organised tutorials in British history, in its
constitution, heraldry, and royal traditions. She took her to
stately homes, museums and art galleries. She made her an
expert in royal etiquette.

She died in 1953, before Queen Elizabeth II could be crowned. In

the last year of her life, though, she imparted her knowledge and
unique experience of three coronations — that of her in-laws in
1902, her own in 1911, and her son’s in 1937. And to dress her for
the role, she bequeathed her treasure trove of jewellery to the
young queen.

Today, after 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth is herself a

matriarch, a great-grandmother. Like Queen Victoria and Queen
Mary, she has been photographed as the centrepiece of a tableau
displaying four generations of British monarchy.

It is the same reverence for the institution of monarchy that has

sustained Queen Elizabeth II throughout her 70-year-long reign
— the longest in the UK since Queen Victoria’s. She is the second
longest reigning monarch in history after the French King Louis
XIV, who reigned for 72 years. But then, he ascended the throne
at the age of four and began his personal rule only 19 years later.

Queen Elizabeth II has lived through the turbulence of her

uncle’s abdication; the Second World War; the dissolution of the
British Empire; the fractured marriages of her sister Margaret
and three of her own children; the anti-monarchist wave that
followed the death of Diana, Princess of Wales; Brexit; the
sexploits of Prince Andrew, and now the betrayal by Prince
Harry.

She has outlived her critics — Lord Altrincham, who derided her
style of speaking as “a pain in the neck”, and the playwright John
Osborne, who described the monarchy as “a gold filling in a
mouth of cavities”.

She has met countless world leaders, including revisionist

Russians and communist Chinese, and every US president (bar
one, Lyndon B. Johnson) since Dwight D. Eisenhower. During her
two visits to Pakistan in 1961 and 1997, her hosts were Ayub
Khan and Farooq Leghari, although Benazir Bhutto pointedly re-
minded her that it was at her invitation, not Leghari’s.

Sportingly, she played her part in a James Bond spoof for the
Olympic Games 2012, and had tea and a marmalade sandwich
with Paddington the Bear to mark her Platinum Jubilee
festivities. She will never, though, make a guest appearance on
the television series The Crown.

Having performed her duty, she is training the Duchess of

Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge to perpetuate the
monarchy.

Although 96 years old and frail, she will never abdicate. Forced
into incapacity, she might appoint Prince Charles as Regent, but
she is determined to reign as long as she can. She has the
example of her grandmother Queen Mary before her.

In her final years, the ailing Mary mused to Lady Shaftesbury: “I

suppose one must force oneself to go on until the end.” The
deferential reply was also a cruel reminder that a queen is
wedded for life to the crown: “I am sure that Your Majesty will.”

The writer has been the honorary British consul, Lahore.

www.fsaijazuddin.pk

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2022

Until the end - Newspaper
dawn.com/news/1696283/until-the-end

June 23, 2022

ANYONE wishing to understand the machinery that drives Queen

Elizabeth II should turn to its designer — her redoubtable
grandmother, Queen Mary.

The consort of King-Emperor George V, Queen Mary came from

peripheral royal stock. Her mother, the portly Princess Mary
Adelaide, although a first cousin of Queen Victoria, had difficulty
finding a husband. Eventually, at the age of 30, she married an
impecunious German prince, Francis of Teck. Habitually short of
funds, she appealed to Queen Victoria for handouts, which were
usually denied.

Queen Victoria, though, despite the insularity of her royal

existence, remained a shrewd judge of character. She selected
her poor cousin’s daughter May (later renamed Mary) to be the
wife of her grandson, Prince Albert Victor. He died prematurely
in 1892 (the year after he visited Lahore). Not to be thwarted,
Queen Victoria arranged for his younger brother, George, to
marry May.

Over time, Princess May (later Queen Mary) consciously

perfected the image of monarchy. She dressed the part, carrying
a queen’s ransom of jewellery on her ample person. She restored
the palaces and she pursued and recovered furniture and
paintings from the royal collection that had been dispersed.
Above all, she gave the monarchy a singular glittering pre-
eminence, like the golden apex that once adorned the pyramids
at Giza.
Today, after 70 years on the throne, Elizabeth II is herself a matriarch.

From 1936, when Queen Mary knew that her eldest son Edward’s
decision to abdicate was irreversible, she applied her prodigious
energies to support her second son, now King-Emperor George
VI. Of paramount importance to her was the continuity of the
monarchy.

To this end, she commenced a rigorous programme of training

for her granddaughter, Elizabeth, to become the next queen
regnant. She organised tutorials in British history, in its
constitution, heraldry, and royal traditions. She took her to
stately homes, museums and art galleries. She made her an
expert in royal etiquette.

She died in 1953, before Queen Elizabeth II could be crowned. In

the last year of her life, though, she imparted her knowledge and
unique experience of three coronations — that of her in-laws in
1902, her own in 1911, and her son’s in 1937. And to dress her for
the role, she bequeathed her treasure trove of jewellery to the
young queen.

Today, after 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth is herself a

matriarch, a great-grandmother. Like Queen Victoria and Queen
Mary, she has been photographed as the centrepiece of a tableau
displaying four generations of British monarchy.

It is the same reverence for the institution of monarchy that has

sustained Queen Elizabeth II throughout her 70-year-long reign
— the longest in the UK since Queen Victoria’s. She is the second
longest reigning monarch in history after the French King Louis
XIV, who reigned for 72 years. But then, he ascended the throne
at the age of four and began his personal rule only 19 years later.

Queen Elizabeth II has lived through the turbulence of her

uncle’s abdication; the Second World War; the dissolution of the
British Empire; the fractured marriages of her sister Margaret
and three of her own children; the anti-monarchist wave that
followed the death of Diana, Princess of Wales; Brexit; the
sexploits of Prince Andrew, and now the betrayal by Prince
Harry.

She has outlived her critics — Lord Altrincham, who derided her
style of speaking as “a pain in the neck”, and the playwright John
Osborne, who described the monarchy as “a gold filling in a
mouth of cavities”.

She has met countless world leaders, including revisionist

Russians and communist Chinese, and every US president (bar
one, Lyndon B. Johnson) since Dwight D. Eisenhower. During her
two visits to Pakistan in 1961 and 1997, her hosts were Ayub
Khan and Farooq Leghari, although Benazir Bhutto pointedly re-
minded her that it was at her invitation, not Leghari’s.

Sportingly, she played her part in a James Bond spoof for the
Olympic Games 2012, and had tea and a marmalade sandwich
with Paddington the Bear to mark her Platinum Jubilee
festivities. She will never, though, make a guest appearance on
the television series The Crown.

Having performed her duty, she is training the Duchess of

Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge to perpetuate the
monarchy.

Although 96 years old and frail, she will never abdicate. Forced
into incapacity, she might appoint Prince Charles as Regent, but
she is determined to reign as long as she can. She has the
example of her grandmother Queen Mary before her.

In her final years, the ailing Mary mused to Lady Shaftesbury: “I

suppose one must force oneself to go on until the end.” The
deferential reply was also a cruel reminder that a queen is
wedded for life to the crown: “I am sure that Your Majesty will.”

The writer has been the honorary British consul, Lahore.

www.fsaijazuddin.pk

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2022