Analysis, South Asia

Pakistan Headlines – 28 Nov 2015

Spilling Muslim Blood to Secure US Hegemony is a Grave Crime

Dawn reported on 24 November 2015, “Unidentified elements in Pakistan and Afghanistan are major sources of terrorist financing, says a report by the US Treasury Department. “There is evidence that recently some funding via donations has been diverted from Afghanistan and Pakistan to terrorist groups operating in Syria,” claims a similar report by the British government. The report — “Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment, 2015, ties terrorist funding with criminal activities.”

America is beating the same drum all over the world, calling all nations to fight “terrorism”, using conferences, meetings, travel alerts and reports of different shades and colours to raise a hue and cry. In fact, America is the world’s biggest terrorist nation that has militarily intervened in countries for material gain and then when faced with resistance from the people, calls the resistance “terrorism.” Moreover, its agents in the Muslim World use such reports so that they can justify their collaboration with America.. So in the case of Afghanistan, the rulers fight the tribal resistance to the Americans, killing Muslims whose so-called crime is Jihad against the kuffar enemy. And in the case of Syria, the agents are one by one announcing their support for the American crusaders, with the Pakistani regime floating the subject within the media to gauge public reaction, even though, this is shedding Muslim blood to prevent the return of America’s greatest fear, the Khilafah.

It is a serious crime to kill Muslims who are abiding by their Islamic duty. RasulAllah ﷺ has said,

 «لا يزالُ المؤمنُ في فسحةٍ من دينِه، ما لم يصبْ دمًا حرامًا»

The believer will still remain within a place of his Deen as long as he does not spill Haraam blood.”

However, the current rulers ignore the commands of Islam in order to obey their master America. By abandoning Islam, these rulers have condemned themselves to the wrath of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and destruction. RasulAllah ﷺ said,

« قد تركتكم على البيضاء ليلها كنهارها لا يزيغ عنها بعدي إلا هالك»

“I left you on the (Al-Baidha’) (Shariah) path; its night is clear as its day, the one who deviates from it after me, will perish …”

 

Control in Muslim World is given to the Colonialists

In the words of one opposition lawmaker, the ruling PML-N has “given up its control of key issues such as the security and well-being of the country”, and in the process has rendered parliament useless. On 24 November 2015, towards the end of an otherwise unremarkable sitting of the National Assembly, the PTI’s Shafqat Mehmood went after the government over their lack of interest in house proceedings, which had allowed other institutions to take over its role. Quoting a recent statement made by Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) head Lt Gen Asim Bajwa, Mr Mehmood asked: “Shouldn’t such a statement come from the defence minister on the floor of the house?” Lt Gen Bajwa had said at a press conference in Washington earlier this week: “We already have about 182,000 troops deployed along the Afghan border. We are not looking for any involvement outside our region.”

The opposition has missed the point by claiming that only the political leadership has given up control. In fact neither the political nor military leadership has control over the key issues in the country. The current leaderships in the Muslim World have given up control to the colonialists and Pakistan is no exception. A steady stream of American legislators, military and civilian officials all maintain strong contact with key figures within the regime in order to ensure that all the major policies are according to American interests. In addition colonialist institutions such as the World Bank and IMF dictate the major features of our economy. Thus since the Khilafah was destroyed and Islam was divorced from politics, society and government, the Kuffar have controlled the Muslims, applying their Capitalism and fragmenting the Muslim world into weak countries so that their grip could be easily maintained. They appointed as leaders Muslims who were as hostile to Islam as the Kuffar. These leaders made themselves guardians and adherents of the interests of the unbelievers and enemies of Islam. They ruthlessly punish the Muslims and stand with all their might against the re- establishment of the Khilafah. This is how the Kuffar control the Muslim world. This made the Islamic countries a strategic location, a fertile ground and a consuming market for their products.

Islam totally rejects the control and submission to the Kuffar. In its doctrine Islam forbids the submission to unbelievers, and to their rule. Allah سبحانه وتعالى says,

وَلَن يَجْعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لِلْكَافِرِينَ عَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ سَبِيلاً  

“And Allah will never make a way for disbelievers upon the believers.”

(Surah an-Nisaa 4:141)

It is the duty of every Muslim to overcome their situation and to work towards the return of the laws of Islam, concerning all aspects of life. This can only be achieved by establishing the Khilafah.

 

Energy Must be Public Property for Financial Viability

The government allowed the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) on 25 November 2015 to raise Rs244 billion from domestic commercial banks for timely completing two major hydropower projects of Rs900bn — Dasu and Neelum-Jhelum. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet, presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. The ECC decided to issue sovereign guarantees subject to approval of its revised cost by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec). The funding will be available to Wapda after formal approval of the project’s revised cost of Rs413bn by Ecnec next week. The Ecnec approval of Rs413bn will also enable China Exim Bank to extend a loan of $576 million. With the availability of two loans (Rs100bn by local banks and $576m by China Exim Bank), the project’s financial close, which has been hanging in the balance for many years, will now be achieved at the cost of plunging Pakistan into even more interest based debt.

Sufficient revenues in the state treasury are essential for looking after the affairs of the people and managing the state expenses, such as the energy, armed forces, health and education. However, in Pakistan’s current system, both democracy and dictatorship take turns to secure the economic interests of the Kaffir colonialists and a small band of traitors in the military and political leadership. To achieve this, the World Bank, IMF in cahoots with the government selectively employ destructive policies of interest based-loans, excessive taxation and wholesale privatization. These policies deprive the population of public ownership of huge sources of revenue, such as the energy sector, and then leaves the people to take the burden of paying back interest-based loans, through huge taxation that choke economic activity and add to the people’s misery, usurping what private wealth they have left. Taxation on buying food, clothing, shelter, earning, inheritance, administration, health and education, renders them “luxuries” for the “privileged” few, and not guaranteed needs for all. Moreover, on the expenses side, the expenditure is primarily to secure the needs of the Kaffir colonialists and their agents, leaving the affairs of the people neglected. This is the reality of Pakistan’s revenue and expenditure under the colonialist system no matter whosoever comes to rule, and regardless of whether the appearance of the rule is democratic or dictatorship. Pakistani economic sovereignty was abused in the time of Musharraf-Aziz and Kayani-Zardari and continues under the Raheel-Nawaz government.

The soon to return Khilafah Rashidah upon the method of the Prophethood will inshaAllah end the cycle of economic destruction. Great revenues will be generated through public ownership of oil, gas and electricity resources as well as prominent state ownership of the manufacture of machinery and munitions and provision of telecommunications and transport without having to resort to forbidden interest based loans.

 

Excessive Taxation is IMF Dictation

The government has decided to impose regulatory duties on luxury and non-essential items and announce an incentive package to bring evaders under the tax net to bridge shortfalls in revenue collection. Imports of luxury items have gone up over the past few months and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is not happy with the trend. On 26 November 2015, Mr Dar briefed the National Assembly’s Stan­ding Committee on Finance and said the substantial increase in imports of luxury items was a worrisome factor for the government and he was working on various proposals to curtail them. The IMF has proposed Rs40bn revenue measures for bridging the revenue shortfalls. In its Press Release No. 15/497 of 5 November 2015, the IMF underlined insufficient taxation, declaring, “the performance criteria on net domestic assets (NDA) and the fiscal deficit were missed, as was the indicative target on tax revenue.”

As for the concern that increased imports are harming local production, it is clear that the government does not care for local industry, having choked it with increased taxation and deprived it of affordable and available energy. In fact, as with every major economic policy, it is a result of the government’s blind subservience to colonialist institutions. Under IMF supervision, Pakistan’s economy has been strangled by huge taxation on earnings and consumption of goods. Colonialist policies have ensured that the combined revenues of import duties, sales tax and income tax alone are over 60% of all the state revenues. Which means the major share of the revenues is from usurping the wages of the people and undermining their ability to buy essentials. This corrupt system can only produce such failure as it is designed to neglect the affairs of the people and this is why all those who seek power in this system are also calling for increased taxation.

Having deprived the Ummah of Islamic revenues, through such capitalist practices of privatization of the energy and mineral sectors, and also having choked its earnings and ability to buy and produce through overwhelming taxation, the government then takes interest based loans from the IMF and other colonialist institutions. These loans are a trap, designed to keep Pakistan in debt so as to strip it of its assets and gravely reduce its ability to stand on its feet as a challenge to the West.