Analysis, Side Feature, South Asia

Pakistan Headlines – 25 May 2018

Headlines:

  • Neither PTI nor PML-N Can Deliver that which the Khilafah (Caliphate) Can
  • Only the Khilafah State will Increase Local Manufacture and Escape the Debt Trap
  • Placing Mineral Resources under Private Ownership Deprives the Muslim Community of Wealth


Neither PTI nor PML-N Can Deliver that which the Khilafah (Caliphate) Can

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that provision of basic facilities to the people of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) was more important than merging the region with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Addressing a tribal gathering at Jamrud sub-division of Khyber Agency on 23 May 2018 after inaugurating a 132kv grid station, he said that better education and health facilities, road infrastructure, gas and electricity and all other basic facilities enjoyed by the residents of major cities of Pakistan was also a basic legal and constitutional right of the people of Fata.

The PML-N central federal government is directing a jibe at the PTI provincial rulers of Khyber Pakthunkwa. The truth is that neither PTI nor the PML-N can deliver because both are committed to the man-made law that led to the neglect of the affairs of Muslims that is rampant in Pakistan. Taking care of people’s welfare is a basic duty that must be enjoyed by all citizens, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:

«مَنْ أَصْبَحَ مِنْكُمْ آمِنًا فِي سِرْبِهِ مُعَافًى فِي جَسَدِهِ عِنْدَهُ قُوتُ يَوْمِهِ فَكَأَنَّمَا حِيزَتْ لَهُ الدُّنْيَا» “Whoever wakes up secure in his family with a healthy body, having food for the day, it is as if the entire world is given to him” (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi and others). And it is well known that the provision of transport, gas, electricity, health care, and clean water to the citizens, is one of the fundamental duties of the state. The Prophet ﷺ said, «الإِمَامُ رَاعٍ وَمَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ» “The Imam is the shepherd of the people and is responsible for his flock.”

The purpose of the man-made system is not to secure the education and health but to secure the personal wealth of the ruling elite. It is a capitalist system that ensures the wealth of the society circulates mostly amongst the richest. It concentrates wealth through a variety of mechanisms, including interest, private ownership of energy resources and across the board massive taxation that does not account for hardship. To add salt to the wounds, in preparation for elections, PTI, PML-N and others are now spending freely on transporting people from all over the country to beef up numbers in their rallies, whilst turning a blind eye to attention to their duties, including the provision of health and education.

The Khilafah (Caliphate) State on the method of the Prophethood is the effective remedy for the decades of neglect of our affairs, because it is the state of care that implements the provisions of Islam. It will ensure the circulation of wealth, abolish Riba, unjust taxation and ensure the energy and mineral resources are for the benefit of all the citizens. The ruler is the first to starve, the last to become full, and the first to respond to crises. The Prophet (saaw) said, «إِنَّمَا الإِمَامُ جُنَّةٌ يُقَاتَلُ مِنْ وَرَائِهِ وَيُتَّقَى بِهِ» “The Imam is but a shield, behind whom the Muslims fight and by whom they are protected.” (Agreed upon).

 

Only the Khilafah State will Increase Local Manufacture and Escape the Debt Trap

Pakistan has once again turned to China for help in avoiding a foreign currency crisis by borrowing $1 billion from Chinese banks in April on “good, competitive rates”, the Financial Times (FT) reported on 23 May 2018. State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Tariq Bajwa confirmed the loans were made by Beijing-backed banks on good rates. According to the FT report, prior to last month’s loan of $1bn, Pakistan had borrowed almost $1.2bn from Chinese banks since April, 2017 and more loans might follow.

The trade deficit of Pakistan stands at 27 billion dollars and the government has actually failed to address excessive import dependence and insufficient local production. When deficits in the balance of payments occur, i.e. when the revenues are insufficient to cover the payments, the states adopt temporary solutions to meet the deficit in their currency reserves through curbing imports, providing incentives for exports, devaluing the currency or opting to finance the deficit through foreign loans. As rightly intimated by Mushtaq Khan, a former SBP economist that “China factors importantly into this financing, but that doesn’t really solve our problem — it only postpones and exacerbates the issue.” As an example of the import dependence, the import of telecom equipment’s including mobile phones has witnessed growth of 11.9pc year-on-year amounting to $1.3bn. This illustrates, that despite its huge potential, Pakistan is unable to produce heavy machinery or high tech equipment, which are continuously widening the trade deficit.  Certainly, unless Pakistan’s industry is strengthened to a substantial strength, including engine, electronics and heavy machinery manufacture, the pitiful situation will continue.

Taking more interest based loans to balance payments is not a remedy, but has started a  new  phase  of  the crisis, which  is  entering  into  the  debt  trap. Colonialists, whether American or Chinese, collaborate with corrupt rulers to take huge loans for projects, such as CPEC, that colonialist economies benefit from. Whilst foreign companies take control of resources and markets, the local economy is crippled to destruction. Clearly, the current Democratic system will never allow Pakistan to escape from either the debt trap or dependency on interest based loans, whether under the current rulers or future ones. Nothing short of the complete implementation of Islam through the Khilafah on the Method of the Prophethood will ever break the begging bowl. Islam compels the government to conform to the Quran and Sunnah in income and expenditure, and this is the real solution to government financial management.

By smashing the begging bowl, the Khilafah will rally the indebted nations to reject further repayment to colonialist financial institutions on the grounds that principals have been paid, but countries remain in debt due to the evil of interest. Allah (swt) said, وَأَحَلَّ اللَّهُ الْبَيْعَ وَحَرَّمَ الرِّبَا “They say that Riba is a form of trade. But Allah has permitted trade and forbidden riba.” [Surah Al-Baqarah 2:275]. The Khilafah will abolish foreign and local private ownership of Pakistan’s immense energy and mineral reserves, which are valued to the order of hundreds of billions of dollars as Islam has mandated these as public property, thus stopping the burden of profit repatriation of foreign companies. And through the abolition of the capitalist stock share company, the Khilafah will end the dominant private ownership of capital intensive enterprises, such as heavy industry, large scale construction, transport and telecommunications. Instead, the Khilafah will implement Islam’s own unique company laws, that limit the scale of private ownership of capital intensive enterprises, allowing the state to dominate large scale sectors, so that it is better able to look after the people’s affairs and prevent the huge import bills by producing heavy machinery and hi-tech equipment locally. Thus, only the Khilafah will prevent the need for colonialist loans and completely resolve the inherent weaknesses in Pakistan’s economy.

 

Placing Mineral Resources under Private Ownership Deprives the Muslim Community of Wealth

The planning work, including the financial model, for building the country’s first ever local iron-ore steel mill at Chiniot has been finalised and the government is ready for holding a road show for international and local investors. “The spadework for the mining, processing and (building) a steel mill complex at Chiniot has been completed and is ready for exposure to the world,” said Mines Secretary Dr Arshad Mahmood on 23rd May 2018, who is also the head of the Punjab Mineral Company, which is carrying out the project. “And our consultants have declared the available deposits in Chiniot (are) sufficient to provide the raw material to the (planned) steel mill for 33 years.”

Despite Pakistan being blessed with abundant mineral resources, they are being wasted, either by not utilizing them or handing them over the local or foreign private sector. These mineral resources have a potential to provide immense wealth for the public so that the state can use it to provide facilities to the people. However, under capitalism, private ownership is given preference over all other forms and polices always favor the wealthiest in the society, so that they can increase their wealth through ownership of mineral resources. Pakistan does not only have one iron ore site alone. It has others in Kalabagh and Baluchistan. If Islamic rulings were applied, the state would be awash with revenues. However, without Islam, the rulers privatize mineral resources and then extract back breaking taxation from the people.

Islam has mandated the Islamic state to supervise mineral resources as they are public properties, which can neither be privatized nor state owned. Mineral resources which cannot be normally depleted, are a public property and should not be possessed individually due to what At-Tirmidhi narrated from Abyadh ibn Hammal, أنه وفد إلى رسول الله ، فاستقطعه الملح فقطع له، فلما أن ولّى، قال رجل من المجلس: أتدري ما قطعت له؟ إنما قطعت له الماء العِدّ ، قال: فانتزعه منه “That he came to the Prophet and asked him to grant him a salt laden land, and he granted it to him. And when he left, one person in attendance with the Prophet said, ‘Do you know what you granted him? You granted him the uncountable water (Al-‘udd).’ He then took it away from him.” In this Hadith salt is compared with the uncountable (Al-‘Udd) water, because it does not deplete. So this Hadith indicates that the Prophet ﷺ granted the salty mountain to Abyadh ibn Hammal, which means that it is allowed to grant a salt mine. However, when he ﷺ realised that it was of the permanent or continuous mines, which are non-depleted, he reversed his grant and took it back, thereby prohibiting its ownership by individuals as it is a public property. So the Khilafah will ensure that the public benefit from mineral resources, which will also enable to provide cheaper input material for industry.