karachi mayor mix-up

Did you know that this month, Mustafa Kamal, the 36 year old mayor of Karachi, placed 2nd on Foreign Policy magazine's list of world's best mayors? See here and here. The links are to stories on Dawn and Daily Times, leading English-langauge newspapers out of Pakistan.

But wait a minute.  Actually, Foreign Policy did not name Kamal 2nd on a list of world's best mayors. Here is a clarification from the Foreign Policy blog:

Yesterday, we started receiving e-mails from readers and journalists in Pakistan asking for comment on reports that we had named Karachi's mayor, Mustafa Kamal, "the second best mayor in the world." This would be an understandable query if we had actually said anything of the sort.

At issue is a sidebar from FP's recent Global Cities Index that names Kamal, Berlin's Klaus Wowereit, and Chongqing's Wang Hongju as "mayors of the moment" who have found innovative ways to globalize their cities. The mayors are not ranked, nor are we implying that they are objectively "better" than any other mayors....

And more:

According to the e-mails we've received, the inaccurate story has been widely reported on Pakistani TV, radio, and blogs. Most absurdly, Karachi's city council apparently held a heated debate over whether to pass a resolution congratulating Kamal for the honor we allegedly bestowed on him.

Can I just say, good grief.  Somehow, I am not surprised.  This whole debacle reminded me of a few days ago, when I was mildly annoyed at a post I read on Pakistaniat called "Inspiration Pakistan: We Are a Good People."  The entry was about how an honest Pakistani guy went to lengths to pay for some software that he had erroneously gotten for free two years ago.  Nice story, I thought to myself, but do we really have to claim this guy's personal decency as an indication that Pakistanis are "a good people?" 

Anyhow, this is all by way of saying that at a time when things are not looking up for Pakistan, maybe we are a bit too quick (desperate?) to find a source of inspiration.  Maybe its only natural.

Let me also point out, though, that while the Pakistani governmetn and media exaggerated the story about Kamal, there is something to celebrate in his acheivement.  Foreign Policy did single him out as a mayor who found innovative ways to globalize his city.  That's not a small recognition.

A final thought:  Initially, when I thought Kamal actually was named the world's second best mayor, I did a double take because I am just not used to reports of competent public officals in Pakistan. One reason for this, I now realize, may be that I tend to only read national news.  But since national-level politicians seem incapable of addressing the major problems, it is not surprising that maybe local governments are pressured to be even more enterprising in the face of a national political stalemate.  Maybe news about Kamal's real acheivements shouldn't be that surprising.