Analysis, South Asia

Pakistan Headlines – 2 April 2016

Headlines:

  • Lahore Blasts Consequence of Allowing Raymond Davis and RAW Networks on Our Soil
  • More Treasury Bills Auctioned Means Ever Weaker Rupee
  • Eliminating Kashmiri Mujahideen is Music Only for Indian and American Ears
  • Mumtaz Qadri Protest Reveals Mistrust of Government Regarding Islam

 


Lahore Blasts Consequence of Allowing Raymond Davis and RAW Networks on Our Soil

Bloodshed revisited the Punjab provincial capital after a year on 27 March as a suicide bomber blew himself up in Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park, a recreation facility thronged by a large number of people on weekends, killing at least 70 people, including women and children, and injuring more than 300 others. The powerful blast ripped through massively crowded area of the park adjacent to Gate 1 which houses swings, a train and some other attractions for children. Witnesses said the crowd included a large number of Christian families celebrating Easter. A majority of the dead and injured were children and women, according to the Rescue 1122 and police officials.

The root cause of such despicable acts is the continuous presence of enemy intelligence and private military assets on our soil, such as those of America and India for they are the head of the snake of terrorism. The Raheel-Nawaz regime can resolve this matter if they want to, but for this, they have to abandon their masters sitting in Washington and must erase every sign of US and its new favorite ally, India, which are the masterminds and fund-providers for these brutal attacks.

Even when these foreign mischief makers are caught, they are released. Raymond Davis was arrested on January 27, 2011, after shooting dead two young motorcyclists at a crowded bus stop in Lahore. Davis was captured and records of his cell phones indicated his links with 33 Pakistanis including 27 militants from the notorious TTP and Lashkar-e-Jangvi sectarian outfit. The New York Times reported on 21 February 2011 that Davis “was part of a covert, CIA-led team of operatives conducting surveillance on militant groups deep inside the country, according to American government officials.” “The Lahore killings were a blessing in disguise for our security agencies who suspected that Davis was masterminding terrorist activities in Lahore and other parts of Punjab,” a senior official in the Punjab police claimed to the Tribune newspaper.

Yet, there were no lessons learned and US FBI, CIA and private military continue to operate. This will continue as long as the Muslims have rulers that are subservient to America. Only the Khilafah (Caliphate) on the Method of the Prophethood will eliminate all foreign belligerents from our soil, whether US or Indian and adopt a hostile stance to these open enemies by severing diplomatic, military and economic ties.

 

More Treasury Bills Auctioned Means Ever Weaker Rupee

The government raised Rs49 billion against the target of Rs100bn set for the auction of market treasury bills (MTBs) on 30 March 2016. In the previous auction, the government raised Rs227bn against the target of Rs200bn. The cut-off yield on six-month and 12-month T-bills were slightly changed while the highest amount of Rs34.8bn was raised for the 12-month tenor. Brokerage houses predict a slight increase in Consumer Price Index in March compared to February. This increased inflation is inspite of a 15 per cent reduction in oil prices. The government aims to borrow Rs1.45 trillion through auction of MTBs and Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) in the three months to May. According to the SBP, the government would borrow Rs1.275tr and Rs175 billion through T-bills and PIBs during the March-May period.

Treasury bills (T-Bills) are government debt instruments issued by government to finance the national debt of Pakistan, thus through auction they are a way for banks to acquire government debt, with the promise of profit through interest. A government domestically borrows on interest either from its public, bank & non-bank, or from its central bank. Because such “monetizing” of the budget deficit always leads to the growth of monetary base and of money supply and ultimately inflation, it is often referred to as just “printing money.” Over time the Rupee consistently weakened and so it is costlier to buy goods and services.

Thus, the rupee that was once worth over eleven grams of silver before the British occupation, after over two hundred years of the capitalist system is now worth around one nine hundredth’s (1/900th) of a gram of silver. Before America’s war on Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq…, 30.97 Rupees were needed to buy a single US Dollar, and then during the Musharraf-Aziz regime on Friday 15 August 2008 it rose to 76.9 Rupees with inflation in Pakistan at its highest ever in 30 years. And now in January 2013, under the Kayani-Zardari regime over 98 Rupees are required to buy a single US dollar.  With each passing year, the Rupee is worth less and can buy less with huge increases in prices, such that buying meat is beyond the reach of most, fruit is a luxury and vegetables are becoming a great burden. Today, the Rupee is worth less than a Paisa was a few decades ago. Despite the false reassuring claims of the government to the contrary, the Rupee is collapsing constantly, which is leading to huge increases in prices. Yet, the government continues to print more and more money unheeding of the dire consequences, busily digging a grave for the lifeblood of the economy, its currency.

Asides from abolishing usury (interest), Islam has mandated that the currency of the state is backed by precious metal wealth, ending the root cause of inflation. RasulAllah ﷺ commanded the Muslims to mint Gold Dinars, weighing 4.25g, and Silver Dirhams, weighing 2.975g, as the currency of the state. This is why the Khilafah enjoyed stable prices for over a thousand years. Today the Khilafah will employ exchange of commodities, such as copper, and foreign exchange for gold and silver and will be mindful of net outgoing of gold and silver during international trade, though the Muslim World is self-sufficient in most matters. Moreover, re-establishing gold and silver in international trade will end the unfair disadvantage that America has by imposing the dollar on international trade.

As Hizb ut Tahrir has adopted in its Introduction to the Constitution, Article 166, “The State issues its own independent currency, and it is not permitted for it to be linked to any foreign currency.” In Article 167 it has adopted, “The currency of the State is to be restricted to gold and silver, whether minted or not. No other form of currency for the State is permitted. The State can issue something as a substitute for gold or silver provided that the Bayt al-Mal has the equivalent amount of gold and silver to cover the issued coinage.” In Article 168, it has adopted, “It is permissible to have exchange between the State currency and the currency of other states like the exchange between the State’s own coinages.”

 

Eliminating Kashmiri Mujahideen is Music Only for Indian and American Ears

Security agencies, with the help of Punjab police, extended search operations from main districts to small towns of the province on Wednesday and detained 190 suspects for interrogation out of the 7,618 picked up over the past two days reported the Dawn on 31 March. Sources said 58 search operations were conducted jointly by the army, Rangers and other agencies on intelligence-based information whereas Punjab police conducted 104 operations. A Punjab police spokesman said 61 suspects were arrested from Faisalabad, 39 from Lahore, 33 from Gujra­nwala, 37 from Sargodha, 24 from Bahawalpur, 21 from Dera Ghazi Khan and four from Multan region. The Crime Investigation Agency claimed killing five “high-profile terrorists” in an encounter in Lahore early on 30 March.

After the Army Public School, the regime abandoned its “good Taliban” and “bad Taliban” stance practically, by not discriminating between those elements that are attacking Pakistan’s civilians and military and those that confined themselves to fighting the American occupation. This was relief both to America and India. In the case of America, it provided badly needed support for its occupation of Afghanistan. In the case of India, it provided relief to its occupation of Kashmir on the eastern border, as Pakistan’s armed forces became embroiled in the tribal regions on the Western border. And now, the army is engaged in pursuing the mujahideen that were launching attacks against Indian forces in occupied Kashmir. This is again a relief to both America and India. Indian forces now enjoy the privilege of Pakistan’s forces fighting their war, just as American forces in Afghanistan have done previously. And America is seeing the realization of its plan to hoist a BJP led India as the region’s dominant power, a role it does not deserve to play.

 

Mumtaz Qadri Protest Reveals Mistrust of Government Regarding Islam

After three days, several rounds of negotiations and the deployment of thousands of security personnel in the heart of the capital, the D-Chowk the Mumtaz Qadri sit-in finally ended on 30 April at night without a showdown. At a press conference in the evening, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that the protest had been called off just in time, as security personnel were ready to move in. “There were at least six rounds of negotiation between officials from the capital administration and Sunni Tehreek leaders, which were mediated by religious leaders from Karachi,” sources in the Islamabad administration told Dawn.

Although the stand-off is over, there remains a deep seated resentment within the Muslims regarding the regime’s disregard for Islamic sentiments. It is noticed that the PPP regime did nothing to account the PPP’s governor Salman Taiseer for his comments regarding blasphemy laws and the blasphemy case against Asia Bibi. Yet, even the PPP government did not hang Mumtaz Qadri for taking the law into his own hands. Washington’s pressure to liberalize Pakistan has continued to build and Qadri become an icon for that. The PML-N government caved in and hung Qadri, whilst doing nothing regarding Asia Bib, and now is facing the ire of the people

The sit in over but the resentment is not. It is upon the Muslims of Pakistan to work with earnest to prevent such situations ever arising in the first place and that can only happen through the establishment of the Khilafah on the Method of the Prophethood. Only when Islam is the basis of ruling will each and every ruler be accounted for their implementation of Islam and blasphemy will be given its due weight.