NOBODY has suffered more than the millions of Pakistanis, who have been driven below poverty line, because of misgovernance, greed and an incompetent mediocrity that has been at helm since 1956. Whilst, they literally went from rags to riches, the country suffered. Despite several attempts to delay the scheduled general election, it was finally intervention of SCP, which astutely managed to force both President of Pakistan and Chief ECP to agree upon 8 February 2024. By now, all major political parties should have come out with their plans to salvage the economy by widening the tax-net, stop the institutionalized pilferage, brain drain and tax evasion that has been going on for several decades.
The situation is so precarious that even MD IMF has publicly called upon GoP, to tax all those who earn enough and pay subsidies only to the poor, instead of the affluent elite. It is common knowledge that Black Money is parked in real estate profits, which are exempt from taxation and the biggest tax evaders are Retail/Wholesale traders, big landlords, tobacco industry, sugar and fertilizer cartels etc. There is not a single political leader from PPP, PMLN, PTI, JUIF. MQM, PMLQ etc, who has come out with any plan, or manifesto, to widen the tax-net. All that we hear is the usual rhetoric of increasing salaries, giving plots, houses, subsidies, motorways etc. Nobody is informing the people from where the State will obtain financial resources to fulfil these electoral promises. Will this country take more foreign loans and further jeopardize state sovereignty, which is linked with economics, more than other capability. The electorate must stand up and call off this bluff. They must ensure that they are no longer fed with lofty promises.
There should be a concrete plan for the national exchequer to have fiscal space and revenues generated from within the country, through direct taxation, to steer us out of the woods. Firm commitment must be made to boost our agriculture growth and complete ban on conversion of green agriculture pastures, fruit orchards etc. to concrete jungles for housing projects. All this can only be achieved, if the state prioritizes human resource development, by investment in education, health and research. There should be a complete ban on appointment of semi-literate cronies to SOEs. All employments, promotions, postings etc., must strictly be on merit and not recommendations. If the affluent political elite want to rehabilitate their political cronies, they can hire them in their own privately owned enterprises. Once elected, this practice of multiple camp offices in a city, where state guest houses exist, must be strictly banned. Austerity must start from the top, to be effective.
Pakistan was created through a political and constitutional struggle and it has suffered humiliation, dismemberment and surrender, when this political process was disrupted in 1971. Unfortunately, no lessons were learned and we repeated disruptions in the political process, with disastrous consequences. The Constitution should have been adopted by 1950, as was done by India, but this was delayed because of short sighted political ambitions of a few. Their lack of intellect and vision, hindered them to realize the gravity of the impact, this was to have on Pakistan. Finally in 1973, having suffered the tragic events of 1971, we finally managed to adopt a Constitution. There may be a lot of issues with ZAB, but he left behind two legacies, namely 1973 Constitution and the decision to have an Effective Nuclear Defence Deterrence (ENDD). He will always be remembered for that. However, this MAD (Mutual Assured Deterrence) capability did not go well with a super war and Kissinger is on record that they will teach him a lesson.
As for the humiliation of political leaders, it was Madr-e-Millat, who was harassed, abused and subjected to a slanderous campaign. She stood like a rock, supporting the Father of Nation. His trusted few personal doctors kept his terminal sickness, a secret, so that the Muslims could live and breathe freely in a separate sovereign country as first-class citizens, with members of other faiths, all enjoying equal rights, free to practice their faith and beliefs, in accordance with their religious beliefs. What MAJ managed to achieve, was unique in modern history. Stanley Wolpert describes this as “Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. MAJ did all three”. Yet, despite all this, the minions who lacked in commitment and vision, went on to transform the “modern democratic welfare state” into a country ruled by likes of Iskandar Mirza, a direct descendent of Mir Jaffar. History is testimony to the fact that a nation that fails to protect vision of their founding fathers, suffer humiliation and debacles. Pakistan has had more than its share of misfortunes.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Lahore.
Email: [email protected]
views expressed are writer’s own.
