CREATING A GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS

(Written on 03^rd October 2011 at 2345 hours)

As this email reaches you in the early hours of Tuesday, 04^th October 2011, some of you may be sleeping, some half asleep or awake in their offices but by that time representatives from a strategic investor group will be visiting the 8^th floor of AWT plaza to hold talks with the C.F.O and hierarchy of A.W.T for the transfer of management control of Askari Commercial Bank.

In another 3/4, months time the process of scrutiny, due diligence and deliberations will be held from both the sides and the management control of Askari Commercial Bank will be taken over by that strategic investor another breed of my ex-brother in arms now the largest corporate entity of Pakistan.

What happened?

From a high price share value of Rs.126/- in 2006 / 2007 to the present share value of Rs. 9 plus, the share price of Askari bank has tumbled down like a house of cards, like a sand castle or like a single solitary feather thrown from the top of a high-rise building like the 9^th floor of Army Welfare Trust plaza.

This has happened not over night, but over a period of 3/4 years when the present incumbent hierarchy headed by Mr. M.R Mehkari took over Askari Bank in 2008, at that time the share price was about a Rs.100/- Plus and the NPL’s were about 5 Crores plus.

Just in a matter of 3/4 years Askari Bank has crumbled down like house of dominoes, thanks to the malfeasance, incompetence, mismanagement, nepotism, corruption, rapacious and nonchalant attitude of the Board of Directors and the incumbent President Mr. M.R Mehkari.

For the past 12 years or so since the inception of Askari Bank, I as a humble shareholder have been on record trying to give a sense of direction to the minds of the B.O.D, and hierarchy of Askari Bank, but there were always impediments to my humble, constructive and sincere suggestions in the form of Zafar Alam Khan Sumbal with his malfeasance, facetious, esoteric and his negative feedback to the Chairman AWT about my good and constructive intensions he dubbed me like an anathema faced against an Iconoclast.

Zafar Alam Khan Sumbal along with his coteries of scullions, minions, psycho pants, joy riders and short term myopic directors having sinecure jobs who had just shed of their uniforms and joined the Askari Board by virtue of their only qualifications that they were Ex-Brigadiers in the Pakistan Army, painted a very orchestrated, fictitious and presumptuous pictures about my capabilities in order to hide their incompetence and misdemeanors. Thus I was labeled as a mischief monger, having bellicosity and made the scape goat of all the ills that prevailed in the sisters concerns of A.W.T of which I was a share holder.

Time has proven that all along the past decade of my continuous lone handed, clamorous struggle, boisterous, Brouhaha, vociferous and articulate emphasis on the internecine calamitous and devastating path taken by the board of directors and Presidents of Askari Bank which has to this date led the bank to reach its present perdition state of high NPL’s and colossal Human Resource problems that I was right and the Board of Askari Bank was wrong.

Now much to my consternation, Derision, Chagrin and indignation it pains to inform my friends that the bank for which I strived and struggled for along with dedicated founding members, Executives, Officer and Employees of Askari Bank will be going under the hammer and may be sold for a song…

What happens to the present hierarchy, executives, officers, employees and other members of the Askari Bank Family remains yet to be seen, but what is my prescient belief that new management will bring in competent, professionals and dedicated team which may salvage the bank from an abysmal, complete fiasco and collapse on the Stock Exchange as the quarter ending 30^th September 2011, 9 months results will show that the Banks equity is more or less eroded and after the 30^th December 2011, closing the bank may not be in a position to meet the Capital Adequacy Requirement (CAR) which is looming over their heads like the sword of Damocles as laid down by the State Bank of Pakistan and to conform to the Basle –II, protocol requirements.

Please take a note of the competency of the incumbent president Mr. M.R Mehkari that 18, high Executive officers were shuffled with out following the norms of logic and internal competency control as these Executives officers were thrown about like dust in a whirlpool. Never before in the history of Askari Bank such a thing has happened that such mass postings were held in such a short time thus increasing the level of in competency and trampling upon good governance and merit.

Just to quote an example: A person who was a failure in operations was posted to bring the flexi cube system into smooth operation. Little realizing that person has got no experience in IT. The less I say about flexi cube the better it is. Please the links

http://punctiliouspakistani.blogspot.com/2011/03/oracle-takes-askari-bank-pakistan-to.html

http://punctiliouspakistani.blogspot.com/2011/05/oracle-creates-miracle.html

Similarly a person who has been heading the HR for long time has been sent to look after the international division and another person from HR was sent to look after the agricultural division. I leave it to your imagination to fore cast what results these people will deliver and what value added services will they provide to their respective departments for which they no experience, training and exposure.

It is an irony of fate that placcable, yes men who are inefficient, incompetent and above all dishonest are serving as Country head in the hierarchy of Askari Bank head office worst example of this is Country head establishment.

The greatest blunder and rape of merit was done when the norms of internal succession planning were not adhered to as a new entrant the R.G.M from Karachi Khursheed Zafar who is an EVP was posted above SEVP Haseeb Saulat who was one of the founder stalwart’s of Askari Bank.

This was done to make the EVP from Karachi to succeed the incumbent president in year 2013.

There were repercussions and resentment and the S.E.V.P resigned followed by the RGM of Islamabad followed by the area manager of Islamabad and list goes on.

Why has this happened?

If you do not follow merit, transparency and fair play adopt obstreperous and Braggadocio attitude then matters will go from bad to worse no matter what subterfuge measures you adopt as it has happened now.

Mr. President have a heart spare this poor bank from further losses and from becoming another Pakistan Railways or Mehran Bank.

If you have even an iota of self respect, conscience and dignity please resign from your post as president Askari Bank immediately before you are booted out by the next management.

There is a saying it is better to go in grace than to go in disgrace…. The decision is yours and yours only………..

Now you will be wondering what has happened to my style of writing because the caption says something of setting up a new Guinness Book of world record……. Whereas the gist of the whole article has nothing to do with a world record.

Please pardon my style of writing and my deviation from the main topic as I have talked about the doings of the present management of Askari Bank may be due to my decrepitude state of mind to remember what I wrote in the first place but now finally it has dawned upon me that the present management of Askari Bank is striving and vying to setup a new record which may find a place in the Guinness Book of world records for………………………………………….. INCOMPETENCE.

DR. BABUR ZAHIRUDDIN

Shareholder