Headlines:
- In Democracy, Politicians are Slaves of their Personal Interests
- Decline in Manufacturing due to the Capitalist Taxation System
- Democratic Capitalist System is Responsible for Pakistan’s Strangled Economy
- American Agents in the Military Leadership of Pakistan are Exposed
In Democracy, Politicians are Slaves of their Personal Interests
On 29 June 2019, fifteen members of the Punjab Assembly, belonging to the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, met Prime Minister Imran Khan at his Banigala residence and expressed their “full confidence” in the PM and Chief Minister Usman Buzdar. PM’s special assistant Naeem-ul-Haque confirmed saying, “CM Punjab had brought them over. They expressed full confidence in PM and the CM.” Similar to the “Old Pakistan” the process of switching loyalties of the member of assemblies rather the process of selling and buying of members of assemblies has been started. The Prime Minister, Imran Khan, used to severely criticize the former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, for introducing the tradition of switching loyalties of the members of assemblies in politics. However, Imran Khan has not completed his first year in office, yet he has taken a “U-turn” on his thoughts, regarding the process of switching loyalties of the members of assemblies. The government of Imran Khan in Islamabad and in Punjab has a thin majority, so Imran Khan’s regime of “change” has put aside all “democratic norms” and started buying the loyalties of the members of assemblies in order to retain PTI control in both the federal and Punjab provincial governments. The members of the opposition have to contest elections in the future as well, therefore, if they do not ensure the recovery of their expenses in the last election, then how they will they fight the next elections? Therefore, they have started changing their loyalties.
In Democracy, changing loyalty is not a difficult to do, rather it becomes imperative for a politician, if he or she cannot accomplish their personal interests while remaining in one party. Therefore in democracy there is no principle or ethics, whilst self-interest cannot be accomplished without coming into power. This fact was also accepted by Imran Khan on 4th July 2018 when he said, “You contest elections to win. You don’t contest elections to be a good boy. I want to win.” The fact is every political party in Pakistan is full of turn coats. Unless Democracy is abolished and replaced by the Khilafah (Caliphate) on the Method of the Prophethood, we will continue to the see politics to serve personal interests. In the Khilafah, the Khaleefah is bound to only implement laws from the Quran and the Sunnah, whilst the Majlis of the Ummah can only account him on the basis of the Quran and the Sunnah. Therefore, since the Khaleefah and the Majlis of the Ummah cannot make laws, they will not be able to secure their personal interests. Similarly the Khaleefah will not need the support of the majority of the members of the Majlis of the Ummah in order to retain his power. The Khaleefah will remain in office as long as he implements the Quran and the Sunnah, and therefore cannot be blackmailed by the members of the Majlis of the Ummah. Allah (swt) ordered, وَأَنِ ٱحْكُم بَيْنَهُمْ بِمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَآءَهُمْ وَٱحْذرْهُمْ أَن يَفْتِنُوكَ عَن بَعْضِ مَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ “And judge between them by what Allah has revealed, and do not follow their desires, and beware (O Muhammad) that they might seduce you from some of what Allah has sent down to you.” [Surah al-Maidah 5:49]
Decline in Manufacturing due to the Capitalist Taxation System
On 29 June 2019, it was reported that the Indus Motor Company (IMC) has increased the prices of various vehicle by 230,000-830,000 Rupees, because of the depreciation of the Pak Rupee and the imposition of Federal Excise Duty (FED) at a rate of 2.5 to 7.5 in the annual budget of 2019-20. These new prices will come into effect from 1 July 2019. Most of the people in Pakistan use their own transport, because of inadequate facilities of public transport. Japanese companies dominate the vehicle market in Pakistan who charge their prices as per their will. Now, after the depreciation of the Pak Rupee and imposition of taxes, people will not be able to afford their own personal cars. The rulers of Pakistan have neglected acquiring self-sufficiency in the industrial sector in general and the automobile industry in particular. Thus, Pakistan has to spend a lot of foreign exchange on imports, which has contributed to an ever increasing trade deficit. The rulers’ neglected manufacturing sector. Worse, they imposed conditions which resulted in its deterioration. Manufacturing contributes to 12.1 percent in the economy of Pakistan, but pays 58 percent of the total tax collected by the state. Besides heavy taxation, the ever increasing price of electricity and gas has also hindered progress of the manufacturing sector.
The basic reason behind the dismal situation of the manufacturing sector is democracy and the capitalist system. The capitalist system privatizes public property assets and heavy industries. This results in the passing on of revenues from oil, gas, electricity and heavy industries into the hands of the few, whilst the state treasury is left with no option but to impose taxes to meet expenses. Furthermore, in democracy, the right of legislation is in the hands of man, therefore rulers can impose tax in any sector and can give relaxation from tax where ever they wish. So in Pakistan very few taxes are imposed on the agriculture sector, whilst manufacturing is heavily taxed. In contrast to the capitalist system, Islam does not impose any tax on inputs of the industrial sector like electricity, gas and water. Islam does not apply any tax on finished goods. This results in the lowering of the cost of production, so goods become more accessible to many people. Therefore the upcoming Khilafah will establish a strong manufacturing industry such that it will not have to depend on other powers.
Democratic Capitalist System is Responsible for Pakistan’s Strangled Economy
The All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills’ Association protested against the abolition of zero rated General Sales Tax (GST) and the imposition of 17 percent GST. It announced the closure of 600 processing mills all over the country. The chairman of the association, Habib Gujer, said that at the moment they have not laid off hundreds of thousands workers. However, in the coming ten days they may have to take this extreme step, if the government rejected their fair demands. Rejection from various segments of the economy is seen after the announcement of the recent federal budget that was prepared under the instructions of IMF.
The regime of Imran Khan, which came in power on the rhetoric of change, has followed previous regimes in their obedience to the IMF instructions that have brought the wheel of the economy to a grinding halt. The burden of taxes has been further increased on the common man and the business community. Money collected as tax has been used to pay interests based loans to fill the stomachs of lenders, which is a war against Allah (swt) and His Messenger ﷺ. The rupee lost 35 percent of its value against the dollar and the price of electricity and gas has been increased phenomenally, which has resulted in a tsunami of inflation. Purchasing power is diminishing, which is dampening demand, resulting in the slowing down of the economy. The confidence of the business community has shattered because of increasing taxation. The depreciation of the rupee has resulted in increasing the cost of production. The production of all industries, whether large or small has dropped. The dismal state of the economy is not just because of the incapability of PTI regime alone. All the governments in the last seventy years have their share of blame. They all have implemented the capitalist economy, which sucks the blood of the masses and concentrates wealth in the hands of a few and allows the colonialist economies to exploit the resources and markets of Pakistan.
The ailing economy of Pakistan by can only be revived by denouncing democratic capitalist system and establishing Islamic Khilafah once again. Islam rejects any revenue generation which is not from Shariah. Islam has not imposed any tax on income or spending. In Islam, a person earns and spends and what is left as savings above the Nisab is subject to Zakah, if a year is passed on it. So in this way Islam encourages earning and spending. Therefore in the Khilafah there will be no GST because there is no evidence from Sharia that the state can impose taxation on sales. This will enhance industrial and trading activities. It will contribute to Pakistan becoming an industrial and economic power, which cannot be imagined by under current capitalist system.
American Agents in the Military Leadership of Pakistan are Exposed
On 28 June 2019, the Chief of Army Staff, General Bajwa, addressed a seminar at the National Defence University in which the economy of Pakistan was discussed. In the seminar General Bajwa endorsed the economic direction of the regime of Imran Khan. It is very clear that the economic policies implemented in Pakistan are not prepared by the government. They are prepared under the instruction of IMF. The military leadership of Pakistan also see the economy of Pakistan through the IMF lenses, even though it is a colonialist institution about which America has admitted that it uses to weaken countries. On 13 June 2019, Imran Khan announced the establishment of the National Defence Council and included the army chief in it. The Prime Minister, Imran Khan, said a few days back that the military and the government are on the same page for the first time in Pakistan. All this gives credibility to the wide spread belief that the actual power is in the hands of the military leadership and all matters are being decided under the watchful eyes of the military leadership.
In Pakistan people are told that they should fulfill their “national responsibility” of casting their vote, so that elected representatives run the affairs of the government according to their whims and desires. However, the reality is that America through her agents in the military leadership of Pakistan controls the strategic matters of Pakistan. In the era of Musharraf this control was very evident. In the era of Musharraf, the chief executive of Pakistan, America’s control over Pakistan became stronger than ever before. As soon as Musharraf became unpopular because of his disastrous pro-American policies, he had to leave the chair. Therefore, America was forced to bring back a democratic setup in which internal security and economy was in the control of civilian leadership, whilst foreign policy and external security and strategic matters remained in the hands of the American agents in the military leadership of Pakistan. After the arrival of Imran Khan in the corridors of power the American Raj in Pakistan again became closer to the Musharraf era model. Now almost every sector in Pakistan is under direct control of American agents present in the military leadership. The public announcement of endorsing the prescription of IMF for the economy of Pakistan has exposed the mental slavery of American agents present in the military leadership. It is because of this stance of the military leadership that aware people are now blaming the military leadership, rather than Imran Khan, on the deteriorating economic situation.
The officers of the armed forces of Pakistan must consider that their leadership has repeatedly experimented direct and indirect ruling, however, Pakistan has neither been steered to economic prosperity nor escaped American pressures. It is this way because the military leadership always take care of American interests, when forming national policies. It has never refrained from sacrificing the interests of Pakistan to secure American objectives. The need of the time is that the military officers do not accept their power to be exploited by the visionless American agents in the political and military leadership. Instead, they must grant their Nussrah to the advocates of the Khilafah who will build this state on the firm foundation of Islam, ending American interference and influence forever. Allah (swt) said, إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُمْ رَاكِعُونَ* وَمَنْ يَتَوَلَّ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَالَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا فَإِنَّ حِزْبَ اللَّهِ هُمُ الْغَالِبُونَ “Your ally is none but Allah and [therefore] His Messenger and those who have believed – those who establish prayer and give zakah, and they bow [in worship]. * And whoever is an ally of Allah and His Messenger and those who have believed – indeed, the party of Allah – they will be the predominant.” [Surah Al-Ma’idah: 55-56]