Headlines:
- Privatization has Ruined Pakistan’s Power Sector
- Democracy Incites Ethnic Rivalry through its Neglect of the People’s Affairs
- The United States Feigns Innocence over Carnage in Balochistan
- Neglect of Economy Leads to Money Excessively Leaving Pakistan
Privatization has Ruined Pakistan’s Power Sector
Dawn Newspaper reported on 22 August 2016 that Pakistan’s power sector receivables have crossed the Rs684 billion-mark, the highest they have ever been, despite a drastic 27 per cent cut in generation costs. On top of that, the amount of the power sector’s payables also surged 44pc to Rs300bn on June 30, 2016, up from Rs207bn three years ago. This rise comes despite the Rs480bn paid by the government to power producers and fuel suppliers. Receivables include amounts outstanding against power sector consumers and recoverable by the distribution companies, while their payables are amounts owed to independent power producers (IPPs), fuel suppliers and the Water and Power Development Authority.
Far from saving Pakistan’s economy, privatization of Pakistan’s energy sector is weakening it, leading to ever increasing costs of gas and electricity and power shortages. The IMF, the World Bank and the Raheel-Nawaz regime work together to continuously raise the prices electricity, in order to guarantee strong profits for the new private owners, even though it causes great hardship for the people. This shows that the privatization is occurring of the profitable of companies and this is not in the interest of the Muslim Ummah in addition to the violation of the “Hukm Shari’” in which electricity, oil and gas are public property. Also the constant raising of oil and gas prices ensures that the people will take on more of the burden of ensuring profits. Privatization has also led to crippling power shortages of several hours every day, because private owners are under-producing when they cannot make good profits
Through decades of privatization of the energy sector, private companies are continuously securing great profits, whilst local industry and agriculture falters and collapses, unemployment soars and the backs of the people break with every increasing costs of electricity and gas. As if this were not enough, having deprived Pakistan of huge sources of revenue, the colonialists through their agents greatly increase taxation on the population, further strangling the economy. This is done in order to raise revenues to pay back foreign interest based loans, even though Pakistan has paid back the principle sums of such colonialist loans many times over. It is this colonialist trap, which is designed to prevent Pakistan from ever escaping and rising as a power.
The cure to Pakistan’s economic illness does not lie in privatization, foreign investment or colonialist loans for they are the disease itself. The only cure is the implementation of Islam’s economic system, which alone would generate more than enough revenue to revolutionize the economy. Unlike Capitalism and Communism, Islam has declared that energy is neither a private nor a state property but a public property for all the Muslims. RasulAllah ﷺ said, «المسلمون شرکاء فی ثلاث الماء والکلاء والنار» “Muslims are partners in three things: water, pastures and fire” (energy)” [Abu Dawood]. Thus, although the Khilafah state takes charge of managing the public property and state property, it is not permitted for the Khalifah to grant the ownership of the public property to any private party, whether an individual or group, as it is a property for all Muslims. Revenues are for the public, looking after its affairs and securing its interests, and not for the state. This applies to all the abundant wealth of public property, whether energy, such as petroleum, gas, electricity or replenishable minerals, such as copper and steel, or water, such as seas, rivers and dams, or pastures and forests. Indeed, the entire Ummah is known to possess the lion’s share of the world’s energy and mineral resources, but without Islam’s economic system, the Muslims are drowned in poverty and the Ummah carries no weight in world affairs, even when compared to states that possess a small fraction of her material wealth.
Democracy Incites Ethnic Rivalry through its Neglect of the People’s Affairs
A day after Muttahida Qaumi Movement Chief Altaf Hussain’s diatribe against the country, in which he described Pakistan as a cancer, the Pakistan-based leadership of the party on 23 August 2016 distanced itself from his comments and decided to strip him of organisational powers for an indefinite period. Without condemning or criticising the MQM supremo, senior MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar announced, “We have decided that [from now on] all decisions will be taken by the MQM-Pakistan… If there’s another MQM which believes in Pakistan-bashing, then let us know so we can form another party or take a new flag.” The entire issue of ethnic based parties, such as the MQM which represents Urdu speaking Muhajir, is a prickly and long-standing one. On the one hand, such parties enjoy strong and sometimes fanatical commitment from their respected ethnic support base but at the same time, there is an element of concern over consequential ethnic discrimination. On the one hand supporters eschew the apparent neglect of the rights of Muhajir under the current system, whilst on the other detractors voice concern over armed mafias of competing ethnic parties that have made Karachi a theatre of a prolonged and violent turf war.
The competing and conflicting concerns cannot be resolved by under the current system Democracy, because Democracy itself is the root of the problem of both neglect of minorities and the ethnic rivalry. Democracy in reality only secures the interests of those in power, as they decide what is right and wrong for everyone else. So, on the one hand, it leaves the entire population in neglect, immersed in problems. On the other hand, it gives those in power protection for their usurping of the rights of others or other criminal actions. In Karachi, criminal elements and gangs enjoy state protection through political patronage. This patronage comes in the form of influence over state machinery, like police and judiciary, and writing laws in the assemblies and issuing executive orders. Thus democracy encourages a nexuses of powerful interest groups and state legislatures and government machinery. It is no surprise that criminals operate openly and with impunity in Karachi. The need for people to group together, especially ethnic minorities, is also a trait common in democracy because the needs of the majority factions are given preference over the minorities. These ethnic groups fight with other groups for rights and a share of the state’s attention and revenues. This encourages and fans animosity between different citizens of the state consolidating divisions amongst the society. Karachi has been burning in the fires of ethnic rivalry for decades.
Like the troubled and divided people of Yathrib that only saw peace and prosperity when they embraced Islam and became Madinah, the first Islamic State, Karachi will only ever know of peace under Islam. Islam is what is common to all Muslims, regardless of their ethnicity or school of thought and the Shariah is the law that is based on their Aqeedah, Islam. It is the commands and prohibitions, as revealed in the Quran and the Sunnah. The Khilafah does not favor the ruler over the ruled, or one ethnic group or school of thought over another. Unlike democracy, which focuses development in the seats of power in the regions, where the rulers themselves reside or where those upon whom the rulers depend for support live, the Khilafah will look after the affairs of the entire society in a manner it deserves. So it will not only ensure the development of Karachi and other neglected large cities, but also it will ensure the development of the smaller cities and villages, preventing the need for continual migration to the larger cities for essentials such as health and education, leading to huge overcrowding. Allah بحانه وتعالى said,
وَاعْتَصِمُواْ بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعاً وَلاَ تَفَرَّقُواْ وَاذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُم أَعْدَآءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَاناً وَكُنتُمْ عَلَى شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِّنَ النَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُمْ مِّنْهَا كَذلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ ءَايَـتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ
“Hold fast, all of you, to the cord of Allah, and be not divided. Remember the blessing of Allah upon you: When you were enemies to each other, and He brought your hearts together, so that, you became brothers through His blessing. You were at the brink of a pit of Fire, then He saved you from it. This is how Allah makes His signs clear to you, so that you may take the right path.”
(Aali-Imran, 3:103)
The United States Feigns Innocence over Carnage in Balochistan
The United States categorically assured Pakistan on 23 August 2016 that it did not support independence for Balochistan. In an earlier statement, the US State Department shared with Dawn its general commitment to Pakistan’s territorial integrity and distanced itself from India’s effort to stir an international controversy over Balochistan. But on 23 August 2016, the State Department shared another statement with Dawn, removing all ambiguities about its stance on an issue that many Pakistanis fear can be exploited to endanger the very existence of their country. “The US government respects the unity and territorial integrity of Pakistan, and we do not support independence for Balochistan,” said a State Department official in the statement shared with Dawn. But the official also expressed US concerns about the human rights situation in the province where Pakistan is fighting a simmering insurgency by both separatists and religious extremists. “We do have concerns about the human rights situation there, and have reported that for several years in our Human Rights Report,” the State Department official said. “However, we have consistently urged all parties in Pakistan to work out their differences peaceably and through a valid political process,” the official added.
As usual the US tries to appear as a detached, well-meaning, “third party” mediator wherever carnage appears, when as usual, the reality is far from that for Baluchistan is firmly in the US sights for its interests. America has economic interests within Baluchistan. During the time of Musharraf, the US Presidency announced America’s desire for foreign companies to exploit the huge resources of Baluchistan through Reconstruction Opportunity Zones. And these companies have only accelerated their activities under the Raheel-Nawaz regime. In addition, America has strategic interests within Baluchistan and in neighboring Afghanistan. America must maintain its military footprint in Afghanistan, despite its claims otherwise. America recruited its Afghan puppet Karzai whilst he lived in Baluchistan’s capital, Quetta, and it has deployed marines on the Chaman border. Its intelligence has presence within the region and its military have used bases within Baluchistan for air forces and drones.
Moreover, as usual, the US tries to appear as innocent of the carnage, though its hands are involved in orchestrating the chaos for its own ends. Its Raymond Davis network reaches this region and supervises assassinations and bombings and through its Karachi consulate it has strong ties with violent Baluchistan nationalists, separatists and insurgents. America requires assistance from Pakistan’s armed forces in order to secure its presence within Baluchistan and neighbouring Afghanistan. so it has created an atmosphere of Fitna within the province to provoke security forces into deployment within the region.
The implementation of Islam will end the colonialist presence in Baluchistan which is the cause of the unrest. Regarding the foreign hostile presence in Baluchistan, the Khilafah (Caliphate) on the Method of the Prophethood will end it decisively and permanently by closing all American consulates, embassies, bases and deporting all of its officials. It will end all contacts with officials of foreign hostile powers to cut off any disruptive influence.
Neglect of Economy Leads to Money Excessively Leaving Pakistan
More than $7.9 billion has been taken out of the country through foreign currency accounts in the last five years, National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance was informed on 24 August 2016. The law allows individuals to take dollars out through these accounts whereas special permission is needed to remit money out of the country for investments, the committee was informed by an official of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). He added that individuals were granted permission to bring, hold and take out money under the Protection of Economic Reforms Act 1992. The description by the official brought in a barrage of queries, prompting the committee chairman to inquire if any foreign currency account holders can buy dollars from the open market and remit it out of the country. “There are certain barriers in the process but legally the account holder can do so,” Director SBP Irfan Ali said in his reply to the committee. And in addition to this large amount of wealth leaving the country, there are is the departure of wealth through purchasing of imports that Pakistan is still unable to produce for itself despite seventy years of existence, from machines, engines, pumps, electronics, generators, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, chemical good, ships, boats and vehicles.
Rather than merely managing the departure of large amounts of wealth from Pakistan, an enlightened leadership would examine the causes. Money is excessively leaving Pakistan due to the regime’s neglect of the economy and failure to provide adequate education, stable environment for business, supportive infrastructure for manufacturing and strong local industry for providing jobs and essential goods. So people are being forced to close down industry, in some cases after generations, so as to make the switch to trading in goods on international markets. Others are being forced to invest in business abroad due to the rampant corruption and excessive taxation. Yet, others must send offspring abroad to be educated, sending money for education fees and livelihood during their student days, in the hope that one day they can find well-paid jobs on merit abroad in substantial industries. This pitiful state of affairs is because the current rulers do not care for the affairs of the people. Their sole focus is to secure as much material benefit for themselves and the Panama Papers is a window into this vast world of corruption.
Only the Khilafah (Caliphate) on the Method of the Prophethood will reverse such a flight of capital abroad. Only the Khilafah will mobilize the immense resources of the Muslim Lands so as to establish a powerful economy, which was a source of envy for the world’s nations for over a thousand years. Only the Khilafah will establish an industrialization policy so that the Muslims achieve technological and military superiority again, as they achieved for centuries during the era of the Khilafah. Only the Khilafah will establish a world leading education environment, such as the Muslim enjoyed during the era of Islam, through which the Europeans languishing in their dark ages considered that the sign of an educated man was his access to the Arabic language. And only then will the Muslims bask in the blessings of implementing that which pleases Allah بحانه وتعالى. And Allah بحانه وتعالى said,
وَابْتَغِ فِيمَا آتَاكَ اللَّهُ الدَّارَ الآخِرَةَ وَلاَ تَنسَ نَصِيبَكَ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا وَأَحْسِنْ كَمَا أَحْسَنَ اللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ وَلاَ تَبْغِ الْفَسَادَ فِي الأَرْضِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يُحِبُّ الْمُفْسِدِينَ
“But seek the abode of the Hereafter in that which Allah has given you, and do not neglect your portion of worldly life, and be kind even as Allah has been kind to you, and seek not corruption in the earth. Verily, Allah likes not the Mufsidun (those who are mischief-makers, corrupted).”
(Al-Qasas 28:77)