Pakistan was created seventy years ago on the basis that it would break free from British colonial rule and Hindu oppression and was the culmination of decades of effort by Muslim thinkers and activists who channeled the desires of the Muslims of the sub-continent to live under Islamic rule as an independent Muslim majority state. Such was the Islamic fervour and zeal that drove the formation of the new state of Pakistan, that the chosen day of independence of 14th August 1947 coincided with the highly revered date for Laylatul Qadr or the night of power (in which the Holy Quran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (saw)), falling on 27th Ramadhan 1366 Hijri.
During the seventy years that followed, Pakistan has fluctuated between cyclical rule of direct or pseudo military rule and democratic rule. The powerful military of Pakistan, the only nuclear armed force and largest and most capable of the Muslim world, presided over the corridors of power directly for half the country’s existence, with the other half being dominated by various political parties that formed government.
But whether ruling in the country was delivered on the basis of strength of ballot or bullet, the track record of key economic and developmental indicators have remained abysmal. Pakistan today stands in almost a quarter of a trillion dollars of debt, as per the State Bank of Pakistan’s latest figures for 2017. Indeed every incumbent government’s primary fiscal policy hinges on begging for loan after loan from international loan sharks of the likes of the IMF and World Bank. In return for the bailouts, which mostly end up in offshore bank accounts of Pakistan’s ruling families as the recent Panama Gate scandal exposed, the country’s assets are sold off to multinationals for a pittance and the dozens of existing taxes on the people are consistently raised as well as new ones introduced. Coupled with the effect of hyper inflation caused primarily due to the fiat currency system which allows the printing of the rupee freely, the masses daily life remains in abject poverty.
Almost three quarters of the population live on less than $2 per day, with one fifth of the people struggling to survive on just less than $1 per day. The result – majority of the country’s population can only afford one meal per day, and as a recent UNICEF survey found, almost half the country’s very young children are malnourished to the extent that their growth is stunted, with many succumbing to starvation.
At the same time Pakistan possesses one of the largest irrigation river networks in the world (larger than Russia’s) and combined with one of the most fertile lands, makes it in the top ten producers of countless agricultural produce and meat – e.g. in recent history it has produced more wheat than the country consumes, the largest milk production facility in the world has been built in the country by a foreign multinational etc. Its mineral wealth is considerable, possessing both one of the largest gold mine and coal mine in the world as an example.
For a state that possesses such vast resources, the appalling economic reality of the populace is a damning indictment on the secular system at play in the country, that separates the role of Islam from state affairs, taking sovereignty away from Allah (swt) and instead handing it to man via the parliamentary democratic ruling system, giving him the right to derive law.
As a consequence, the nation’s ruling elite, and the foreign powers that pull their strings, have consistently enriched themselves at the expense of the masses and have remained entrenched in power throughout the history of Pakistan, with the democratic system making it impossible to dislodge these looters from power. Even before the current dismissal of Nawaz Sharif on allegations of fraud and corruption, both Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N party and Asif Zardari’s (the country’s most famous plunderer) PPP party were both dismissed twice on allegations of corruption since the 90s. However it was the secular system that came to their rescue, allowing the likes of the dubious NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance) law to be passed that forgave and forgot the crimes and pillaging of these politicians and welcomed them back into the very upper echelons of civilian power in the country. With the appointment of the NAB (National Accountability Bureau) Chairman to be jointly approved by both the PML-N and PPP, democracy in the country will ensure that these seasoned criminals will never be brought to trial, allowing the reins of power to remain firmly in their hands.
Not only have these democratic rulers brought the country to its knees in financial terms, but security wise they have opened the flood gates to foreign agencies and intelligence entities of the likes of the US Raymond Davis and Indian Kulbhushan Yadav networks, allowing these malicious dark forces free access to key institutions, personnel and infrastructure across the country. The result – almost weekly false flag attacks on Pakistan security forces and civilian centres to fuel the environment needed to position the formidable Pakistan Army to fight its own tribal brethren of the North West regions, who otherwise have rendered the US occupation and war in Afghanistan, like the British and Soviet efforts decades before it, useless and in effect defeated.
In conclusion, Pakistan stands as enslaved as ever to foreign powers and the domestic puppet rulers who undertake their bidding for their own vested interests. The dreams for independence of the Muslims of the region can only be fulfilled by installing the correct political ruling system in the country and this can only be none other than the Islamic Khilafah system.
It will be the Khilafah (Caliphate) upon the methodology of the Prophethood that will overturn man made law and will instead place Allah’s (swt) commands firmly in control in the realms of economy, judiciary, social norms, internal and foreign policy, education, etc. This Islamic system will truly deliver a state that exemplifies the concept of effective wealth production in conjunction with outstanding wealth distribution across all strata of society, ensuring that the basic needs of all its citizens are met. This Khilafah state, as per its track record in history, will end sectarianism and foreign interference and will instead build a cohesive society driven with a common vision, transforming Pakistan into a model contemporary state at the forefront of progress and development.
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by Mohamed Asif