God keep you safe Warren

                           Warren Weinstein (Extreme right) at an orange orchard in Sargodha, Pakistan.
It’s been four days now and the sense of shock is no less.

Saturday morning, I got a call from a fellow journalist in Islamabad who informed me that earlier that morning my former boss and good friend Warren Weinstein had been kidnapped from his home in Model Town, Lahore, Pakistan. He sounded apologetic and embarrassed, almost as if he was to blame in some way for what had happened.

I immediately went to my laptop.

According to online reports, eight to ten men entered the premises of Warren’s large residential-cum-office building at dawn. After tying up the security guards, they pistol whipped and beat Warren’s Pathan driver, Israr, forcing him to take them up to Warren’s first floor suite. After the terrified driver identified himself, Warren opened the door, was hit on the head with a pistol by one of the armed men, and was dragged away bleeding to a waiting vehicle by the kidnappers who immediately drove off.

The police say they have made little or no headway, despite help from the FBI in the investigation. The kidnappers have made neither contact nor ransom demand.

Fact is time is running out. Warren is seventy years old. I know for sure that he has blood pressure problems and can suffer extreme asthma attacks. Just a little over two years ago he had heart surgery. Warren’s health has not been what it should for some time now.

The saddest thing is that Warren was to return home to the United States to his wife Elaine, daughter Alyssa and grand children this Monday after having spent the better part of seven years in Pakistan. He would have been home. He should have been home.

It is my fervent prayer that Warren makes it home safe and sound.

Sadly, the media in the United States has pushed Warren’s abduction into the background. The newspapers no longer carry the latest story; the TV channels hurry through updates on his status which is usually just a few words on the ticker.

Furthermore, the feedback and comments on the websites/blogs of TV channels and newspapers have the most disturbing, callous, cruel and uninformed remarks about the whole incident.

The majority of the people commenting haven’t got the foggiest on what Pakistan is about; not the dynamics, not the ongoing battle of conflicting ideologies or the ground realities of what does or does not make Pakistan tick. They have no idea of the religious, political, historical, geographical position or the ethnic diversity of the country. That callous ‘whatever factor’ makes them immune to anything that seemingly does not directly/personally have something to do with them.

But take it from me, it takes immense courage for anyone from the West to spend a single day in Pakistan leave alone live and work there. Warren not only had the guts but resilience to stay in Pakistan for seven long years. Most importantly, his work made a difference… a huge difference at many different levels.

Callous online remarks opine that Warren got what was coming to him. One person, if I recall correctly it was on the LA Times website, went so far as to say not a single cent should be spent looking for him. Others called him crazy. Some wanted to know what an American Jew could possibly find so endearing about Pakistan. Some speculated that he was a CIA agent. Others called him greedy, a grubber!

Various conspiracy theories have been put forward as to what Warren was doing in Pakistan and specifically in the Federal Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), home to tribal Pathans, shadowy extremist groups and their terrorist Arab financiers bent on teaching the ‘infidels’ a lesson never to be forgotten. Was he an arms dealer? Was he providing covert training? Was he promoting and fulfilling a hidden Jewish agenda for Israel?

These exercises in make believe could be true and then again maybe not.

I can only tell you about the Warren I know and the work he did in the two years I worked for him as an employee of J.E. Austin of which Warren was the country manager directing the USAID project, Pakistan Initiative for Strategic Development and Competitiveness (PISDAC). I write only about Warren, the man.

I first met Warren at the Marriott, a five star hotel, in the sprawling coastal city of Karachi in May 2006. I was in search of a job, having finished with CNBC Pakistan as the head of the News & Current Affairs departments earlier that month.

A good friend, who now runs a highly successful media network and NGO, had referred me to him. I spied Warren coming out of the hotel bookshop and recognized him immediately from the description my friend had given me – “Not very tall, slightly roly-poly and a professorial air about him.”

It took Warren two cups of watered down tea, a couple of cookies and some half-hearted questioning to decide he was going to hire me. The only time he disagreed or rather negotiated was about the salary he’d have to pay me for my services. But that was to be expected.

Warren also invited me to join him the next day for a meeting with the then minister of trade and commerce, Hamayun Akhter. I was aware immediately that I was being checked out. Luckily I was able to satisfy Warren’s doubts if he had any.

I learned three things about Warren that day:

1.        Warren was extremely comfortable with the minister. They were on first name basis. The minister was extremely well informed and Warren was even more informed. Lesson: Warren knew his cookies and did not get fazed easily.

2.     Warren did indeed have a professorial way about him and amply demonstrated this by talking about Pakistan’s trade and commerce status in detail and specifically about the Marble& Granite, Dairy and Gems & Jewelry sectors. It was all in his head. He needed no prompts. He knew what to say and how to say it. Lesson: Warren had immense knowledge about his work and went about it with a professorial zeal.

3.        Warren was extremely comfortable with the Pakistani way of conducting business in all its subtle and not-so-subtle ways; Warren knew how to play the game. Most importantly, other ministers, industrialists, government and private sector officials and representatives also knew that Warren was not a pushover. He was tough and knew what was needed to make these sectors become economically competitive. He was very blunt in pointing out that Pakistan would be the beneficiary of the strategies he and his group of local experts and industrial stakeholders made. Lesson: Warren was well-versed in Pakistani ways.

I accepted the job and would have joined Warren within the week had not another opportunity come up. I spent the next two months in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates before realizing I’d decided wrong.

Back in Pakistan again, I called up Warren from Lahore and asked if he would see me. He said yes. That afternoon, in his office, I asked him if the job he had offered me was available. Warren said no.

However, a few hours later while on my way back to Islamabad, Warren called me up and told me to be at work the next day. I did not inform him that I was halfway to Islamabad.

Next morning, I arrived at 49-J Model Town, Lahore for my first day of work for J.E. Austin and PISDAC. It was a large residential building that had been turned into an office. Wearing just its mat gray cement finish, I learned later that the house had not yet been completed when rented.  Warren said it was not necessary to do so.

Surrounded by an eight foot boundary wall topped with iron spikes, the house had a large gate guarded around the clock by two or three guards armed with shot guns. On two sides were other houses, one was fronted by a narrow road and on the right was a sometimes used soccer field.

The bricked in area in front of the house could park seven to eight cars. At the back of the house were separate living quarters for the company’s drivers, Warren’s personal driver and self-appointed bodyguard at the time, a large Punjabi Christian named Bhatti, and the guards belonging to a local security company.

The ground floor (Americans would refer to it as the first floor) comprised a large reception area which had four work cabins, eight large office rooms, including Warren’s, three bathrooms, a kitchen and a pantry area. There was a conference room in the basement, which I learned quickly enough, was where the weekly office meeting was held and where strategies and plans were made.

Warren lived upstairs in a suite which comprised much the same accommodation as below. There was also a guest room and a separate suite for the other American who lived on the premises, Eugene Miller.

At the end of the first day’s work Warren asked me where I was putting up and I informed him that I had come directly to the office from Islamabad and would go looking for a hotel that was close enough, until I could find a place of my own.

“Nothing doing,” said Warren, “You can stay upstairs in one of the spare bedrooms.”

Warren’s place upstairs was tastefully decorated with rich Pakistani carpets, a lovely rocking chair, large sofas, walnut, brass and marble tables, other indigenous furniture, some fine paintings and wall hangings, plenty of music and plenty of movies. It was a home.

Warren showed me to a room not far from his. “Yours until you find a place,” he said, adding, “If you need anything the fridge in the kitchen usually has something that will do.”

I learned that day that Warren was about to become a grandfather and that he liked ‘Desi’ music. I also found out Warren could speak several languages, not just the six mentioned in one of the online reports I saw today, and that he loved Pakistani mangoes and spicy ‘chappli kebaabs’. Warren also informed me that day that his favorite food was Baba Ganouj, a delicious Arab dip made out of roasted egg plants, tahini and olive oil. He was delighted to find out that I knew what it was and even more that I knew how to make it.

Lesson learned: Warren liked good food, music and movies.

About ‘lesson learned’, in the days ahead I quickly comprehended that it was one of his most frequently used catch phrases. When it came to Warren, there was always a lesson to be learned.

Warren taught well. It took me just a few weeks to know plenty about the six industrial sectors that either came under or were to be part of the PISDAC project. These were Dairy, Marble & Granite, Gems & Jewelry, Surgical Instruments, Furniture and Horticulture (apples, mangoes and grapes).

But there was something even more valuable I learned over time. Warren had the ability to move up and down the social scale to solve problems when it came to the stakeholders of these six sectors. From a craftsman working in the unhealthy confines of a hazardous furnace in the surgical sector to the multi-millionaire exporters of surgical instruments, he knew how to deal with them, what to say to them and how to say it.

Warren is a master at work force and value chain development and he selflessly imparted these values to his local staff, especially to his Strategy Working Group (SWOG) leaders. These were young men who worked hard and were eager to learn. “He’s a guru,” one said.

“I know SWOG sounds like a dirty animal,” but that’s just the nature of the group, Warren once said tongue in cheek.

Warren has a tremendous sense of humor. His favorite joke was about elephants mating. Quick on the uptake, it would take Warren less than a second to have a wicked repartee ready. When he would laugh the entire office could hear him. It’s an infectious laugh, a hearty laugh and one that comes from the soul. There is no holding back.

Indeed Warren’s laughter was so notorious that I one day made a recording on my phone. I saved it as my ring tone. Later that day, about an hour after Warren left for Islamabad my phone rang. The office, which had been pretty noisy till then, suddenly went silent. I walked out to find puzzled looks on the faces of some of my colleagues.

“We thought the boss had left, but he’s still here,” one of them informed me.

“How do you know?” I asked.

The guy looked back at me as if I was a hundred different types of dumb. “Didn’t you hear him laugh just now?”

I had fun with the ring tone that day until I was found out.

One of Warren’s biggest plus points is that he is a wonderful boss. He believes in giving people the space to work and gain experience on their own while making subtle suggestions and nudges in the right direction. He even allowed mistakes. Warren’s analysis on a situation is rarely wrong.

While we’d kid about his eccentric behavior at times (He once sent Israr, his driver, to drive ten miles to exchange an egg), the respect factor for Warren was beyond doubt. He was the teacher; we were the students and that’s the way it was for the entire two years I worked for him until the PISDAC project concluded.

Warren was acutely aware of human pain and problems. Not only did he lend me money once when I desperately needed it, but when my wife had to undergo surgery at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital in Lahore, Warren sent her a large bunch of flowers and for a long time after always remembered to enquire after her.

The most worrisome facet of Warren’s stay in Pakistan, however, was his total lack of regard for security. Warren believed he was amongst trustworthy people. He believed they could never ever cause him harm.

At the drop of a hat, Warren would announce he was going to Islamabad. It would be just him and his driver. Warren would get into the back seat of the Toyota Altis, put down a pillow and lay down. “Israr,” he’d order, “jahaz.” (Fly like a jet).

There were times that Warren would be in three cities at one time. Lahore in the morning, Islamabad in the afternoon and Karachi in the evening! He was well known by the staff at the Avari and Pearl Continental in Lahore, the Marriot and Serena in Islamabad and the Marriot and Avari in Karachi. He was seemingly tireless. And then there were times he looked so tired that we’d get worried.

Warren hates being hemmed in by political correctness and limitations. “I know what I’m doing,” he would say, “My team knows what they are doing.”

The only time Warren made a real mistake was when he failed to realize that the new USAID person in-charge of development, who’d reportedly come all the way from either Serbia or Slovakia, was a lesbian. Warren totally missed it, even though when he was first introduced to her, she came in to the room hand-in-hand with another female. Unfortunately, that day Warren also gave a couple of examples that were of totally masculine nature. It didn’t help. Especially the elephant mating joke.

By the time Warren realized he'd cocked up it was too late. She made it a point of making him an example. It goes to Warren’s credit, he outlasted her.

People will ask so what impact did Warren have on Pakistan, or the people and industrial sectors he worked on?

Well he did. He most certainly did.

Under Warren the Dairy industry was able to set up a public-private company, Dairy Pakistan, through which not only were dairy requirements legislated, but the entire value chain benefitted from small producers to exporters. More products, better products, by-products were introduced. Better packaging, better marketing, better branding was put in place. More opportunities were explored.

The same was the case of the Gems & Jewelry & Marble & Granite sectors. Both established successful public-private sector companies to guide the growth of their respective sectors. Wastage was stopped. New markets found. Better produce introduced. Better machinery introduced. Better marketing strategies implemented and so on and so forth. Women were encouraged to work.

Most of all, Warren was successful to a great extent in bringing awareness on competitiveness, innovation and branding. Where he really worked wonders was being able to make a dent in hundreds of years if wrong practices. Warren advocated and strongly believed in mindset change and to this end, he was more successful than even he realized.

Most daringly Warren’s work in FATA, where Marble & Granite and Gems & Jewelry were his main areas of concern, was where he was in most danger. Warren took to wearing shalwar kameez, he began to speak Urdu and went to the trouble of starting Pashto. He did everything it took to make the distrusting tribals and FATA administration officials comfortable with what he was doing.

Amazingly, Warren said he never felt in danger in this most unpredictable and dangerous area of Pakistan where lesser people have disappeared never to return.

Ironically, Warren considered Lahore to be home and it was from here that he has been taken.

According to his driver, the guards and the police, the kidnappers were dressed in western clothes, shirts and trousers, and spoke Urdu.

How interesting.

I have some questions.

Why would someone in the heart of Lahore speak Urdu? Why not Punjabi?

If they were militants, then you’d expect them to speak in other languages… perhaps Pashto or Baluchi, maybe even Arabic.

Not defending those Godless so-called Jihadis, but could it be someone else? Could it be something more sinister?


In Pakistan, anything and everything is possible.

There is a certain lot of men trained in espionage and complex mind-games, including political manipulations among other nefarious deeds, that fit the bill perfectly. Could it be the ISI?


In one of the latest reports I have read the kidnappers searched his person for hidden traceable chips. Not something your ordinary kidnapper would think of, right?

Is this some kind of tit-for-tat game?

Why was Warren taken just days before he was returning to the States?

Who knew?

To conclude, it’s been four days now. I’m still trying to think straight. Warren is a good friend, a good human being, a productive human being, a family man who enjoys food, music and good things. Most of all Warren enjoyed building relations and friendships. He has many friends and all will be praying for his welfare.

The last time I met Warren was at the heavily guarded Marriot in Islamabad. Warren had called me earlier that day and had just wondered if ti was possible for me to make some Baba Ganouj. My wife made him a roasted chicken to go with it. Warren was over the moon. He carried on and on about how delicious it was.

Then he said, “I worry about you and your family. You are not safe in Pakistan. Try and get out. Do it for your daughters. What are you waiting for?.... You’ve been held up at gun point, you’ve been threatened, your house has been robbed, you worry all the time about the safety of your children…. What are you doing here?”

I promised him I would. Then I said, “Warren when are you going back to the States. I know Elaine was here recently, but when are you going? You know its not safe with all these bombings, targeted shootings  and all. They are targeting the army and especially westerners."

“I’ll be going soon,” he said and laughed.

That was in late 2009.

In December 2009 I called Warren and informed him that my family had got visas. I told him I was getting out of Pakistan.

“Go to safety,” he said.

Now it’s my turn. “Come home safely Warren.”