I was really honored to take part in a dynamic discussion today on BBC Radio’s “World Have Your Say” program, where the topic was, “Will the world be a more dangerous place now that Musharraf is gone?“ The discussion started off a bit catty with PPP politician Syeda Abida Hussain insulting my accent and saying my name wrong (for the record, I somehow got my accent from being in the international school system in Pakistan and was unable to lose it), but I think some of the points made by the callers were interesting. Anyway, visit this link and download the episode for August 18 near the bottom of the page to listen.
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As a senior politician who’s been a part of the government/cabinet on several occasions, I was surprised to hear Ms. Hussain judge someone by their accent.
Thanks O – It wasn’t even me that was slighted, believe me I can handle the criticism, it was the fact that Ms. Hussain was patronizing and demeaning to every person that contradicted her point of view. I think the key to healthy discussion is not resorting to personal attacks and insults or the “my view is better than your view” tone, but to engage those people – these are your constituents, like it or not, and to be as condescending as she was, accomplished nothing.
@O – I agree with you, I don’t understand since when “phonetics” were used as a basis of credibility. And if they are – I wonder how Benazir Bhutto with her heavily accented Urdu was deemed fit for term in office twice. Ironies.
Kalsoom – excellent job. you were extremely professional and articulate, and respectful of everyone’s opinion. I thought your responses, despite being impromptu, were so rational and to the point.
The interview just demonstrated how far removed our politicians are from the current generation of Pakistanis. sigh. let’s see what happens!
Hats off to Syeda Abida Hussein for illustrating what the problem with politics in Pakistan is. Instead of discussing the issue at hand she decided to resort to a personal attack on Kalsoom.
Ms. Hussain carried on to discredit one of the callers (Sophia) on the line by saying “I assume you are MUCH younger than me” implying that the younger generation has no credibility when it comes to playing a role in the country.
Kalsoom, you did a great job of addressing what the youth of the country is thinking about and concerned with regarding the rule of the coalition government thus far.
Abida Hussain is a nasty old feudal *****. Sorry to use an expletive, but it’s true.
Don’t worry. You made more sense.
She has no soul. She has been all over the place politically…just to protect her family’s ketchup monopoly. Oh no, wait, “it’s a question of phonetics.”
When her family is penniless, Pakistan will be a truly democratic country.
I thought Abida Hussain’s behaviour was appalling! Not only did she insult you and the other caller Sophia, but she also insulted the intelligence of the voting public! (I can’t remember where exactly, but she said “well, not everyone is an intellectual in Pakistan” or something like that). What an embarrassment.
I have not heard your interview but I can assure you that Abida Hussain has been always like this; proud of her heritage and family. Very arrogant. She thinks they are gift of God to this land and other people are born to serve her family. No surprises there. I have downloaded link and would listen to it while driving to work. Hope it is worth it of all these efforts
Hahaha, I just listened to first few minutes and I can’t stop my laugh believe me. Abida Hussain could not accept that she was interrupted. To me, it was hard to make sense of her accent. You were fine; I thought you sounded like a person who was raised in US and not in Pakistan. Sophia sounded like so much Wales that I really wanna move to England.
By the way your name does not go with your accent, I always thought you were some lady who would sound like Red Mosque gals. Ah my perception … funny world ..
Yeah, I don’t even think my family knows where the accent comes from…watching Full House reruns or American movies when I was younger in Pakistan or abroad? Who knows
Ultimately, though, the accent is beyond the point – I was amazed that someone who is so much older could be so undignified and resort to personal attacks of that nature. But, then again, maybe I’m not too surprised.
Mushy stepped down, let’s see if this elected govt & its Coalition partners step up in the coming weeks. The Awam is impatient & will not give them too much time. Unfortunately, these are not Political Parties but more like Cults. You can clearly see from the way they operate & I mean all of them. Looting, Plundering the poor country at will.
Your interview was great. Keep it up young lady, don’t let that old Feudal Fart discourage you. Out with the old & in with the new young fresh lot. It was very refreshing to hear you young people. Thank you BBC Radio for not inviting the usual (old) suspects.
Proud 2B A PAKI.
Kalsoom….excellent job!! Your approach was mature, objective and rational. Abida Hussain was obviously threatened by your “accent” and the fluency and honesty with which you and most of the young enlightened adults dealt with the questions on BBC’s ‘Pakistan without Musharraf’. Ms. Hussain’s “speech” on the success of the democratic process in Pakistan was a load of hogwash. She, along with all the other political “has beens” are a sad reminder of what Pakistan is presently facing. With Musharraf (the only shred of security) gone, the country is scarily in the grips of two of the most corrupt men….the same men we booted out in the past. Such are the ironies!!
Oh it was nothing of her rude attitude, you have not heard the real Abida. She is the prime example of people who are still living in the 19th century and think they are born to govern. She surprises me the most because she and her family are very highly educated and have been to the best instiutes like Oxford and Harvard.
@ I have some technical difficulties to catch that ” famous”
accent, can anyone tell me how is it ? American slang,
British “wobbling” London accent or cockney, but what
about Begum Sahiba’s own pinglish accent, a horror
among horrors, I know her since she adopted PPP’s
accent, before she had PML’s, now carrys a very round
LOTA (loti) accent among Punjabi Unionist Politicians,
All lota party.
Kalsoom, you should have made her ” CHUP”
We the team of Pro Pakistan fully support what you said and we were honored that you represented the true voice of the youth in the face of the feudal politicians of Pakistan. Ms. Hussain should be ashamed of her behavior and i am even more ashamed over the fact that she is considered an intelligentsia of our country.
It is people like her who always give a bad name to our country.
oh man i downloaded the whole thing and listen to it, great Job Kalsoom
she was bit stunned how come a Pakistani is speaking english so fluently or not in her accent 
it was actualy funny when the anchor asked her to not make speeches 
Thanks everyone for your comments and support! It was secretly pretty fun to go toe to toe with a self-righteous Pakistani politician.
Kalsoom, I don’t know who Abida Hussain is, but she is obviously very insecure to make a personal attack on your accent. She should be encouraging the younger generation by making positive comments.
My comment is based on the other comments above. Downloading is taking a long time, but I am very proud of you because I know you have done a great job!!
Nice, Kalsoom. With all this support, you should consider running for office. And if not, throw your political weight behind me. I want to be the next President. I bet I can do a better job than Mushy and Zardari put together.
Excellent job Kalsoom! It is time that the old lady was made to hush-up. Your english is fine and no need to apologize for your accent.
If you don’t like Abida Hussain, don’t buy any Mitchell’s products. Her family owns it. Everytime you eat her ketchup, you support the enslavement of Pakistanis.
Kalsoom,
Did you do research on Syeda Abida Hussain prior to the BBC program? Reading the remarks of Dushman-e-Abida prompted me to do some more research. Here is a link from the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/11/15/DI2007111500635.html
All I can say is that, she is quite colorful in her lies.
You might get a laugh out of this, did you know that one of her daughters name is Umme Kulsum Imam? Now how come Bibi Abida could not pronounce your name?
What you should really do on this site is explore the biographies of the corrupt leaders of Pakistan. This may not win you friends back in Pakistan but it will certainly help understanding these personalities.
Good luck and keep us updated.
Regards
Tariq-
I actually had no idea who was going to be on the show until I spoke to the producer in the studio. I basically got an email requesting me to be a part of the BBC discussion and had about three hours to prepare. So I actually went in there knowing very little about Syeda Abida Hussein, although I knew she was PPP and her name sounded familiar. My father did tell me that her daughter’s name was Kalsoom as well after I was done, which was pretty amusing!
In terms of the bios of the personalities of corrupt people – I kind of delve into it once their names come up, but I’ll definitely take your suggestion into consideration. Of course, if you would ever like to contribute a piece on any official, or on the issue of corruption in Pakistan, I would be happy to work with you and post it!
Thx again,
k
Kalsoom,
My name is not Imran…:)
It is okay, you must be tired.
I do have knowledge on many of the political leaders in Pakistan, and if you need assistance on the bios, I will certainly help.
Keep up great work!
Regards
Sorry!! I am really tired and out of it right now – I never get enough sleep running CHUP. My apologies, and I fixed it above!
It is okay. The last few days have been a roller coaster with events in Pakistan. You have done an excellent job trying to keep up.
Just remember that the key with maintaining an excellent blog is quality than quantity of articles. That will set you apart from others.
All the best!
@ Nasreen Sattar,
too many Kalsooms, Kulsums, Kalsums could spoil
the broth, somebody from the blog “rumored” that
Mrs Nawaz Shareef be nominated for Presedent as
her name is also Kalsoom.
Abidah was in PML.Q next to Mushahid Hussain, she
changed the floor during Horse trading (Mere) ,
@ Well, if you boycott Mitchel’s ketch-up does’nt change
anything, they have now another junk,
Chaudry-Mushy ketch-up, very spicy, hot !!!
Kalsoom–you were great on the program. Abida Hussein has a habit of resorting to personal attacks (I speak from experience) when she has nothing accurate to say. It is amazing what she and her family will do to come back into power.
Kalsoom, I would just echo some of the comments from above – you held your own very well, were articulate, and were actually one of the only ones on the line trying to expand the discussion into the future, and talk about what’s next and how we’re going to get there. It’s hard mediating a discussion on a day when a 9-year long dictatorship ends – every caller dials in with their preconceived notions and either stick to “I think he was awful” or “I think he was great”. In the end, nothing substantial is actually discussed, unfortunately.
My favorite Abida moment:
“I thought I heard someone say something about long speeches”
Hahahaha
the link has gone, any other way to hear the programme?
Godzilla,
I’ve contacted BBC – I’ll see whether I can get a link to the archived material. Thanks for your interest!
k
Here’s Abida attacking a policeman:
There goes that Abida! This was on camera and in public. Only God knows what she does to her servant in private.
Her plastic surgery makes her look like a little old man.
did i hear right in that clip? did she denegrate him by telling him in public that he eats halva?
She’s a fat feudal
hello there, just like to inform you that the link provided by kalsoom for BBC Radio’s “World Have Your Say” is not working, could you plz fix it or help me find the audio of that indterview?
regards.
waseem