Bangladesh’s Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on 3 June 2021 has announced BDT 603,681 crore annual budget for the fiscal year 2021-22. With the rosy title ‘Bangladesh Towards a Resilient Future Protecting Lives and Livelihoods’, this is in fact the biggest ever ‘pro-capitalist budget’ that Hasina government has laid down with corporate tax cuts, reduced business turnover tax and other incentives for the industrialists. Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and business leaders instantly hailed the budget stating that the government has met their long-standing demand. On the other hand, the government did not bother to offer even false promises for the poor in the current context of the Covid-19 crisis. Therefore, this annual budget seemed to be a festive occasion for the Capitalist elites and Hasina regime to join together to rob the people and divide the spoils amongst themselves. The mainstream news media and pro-Western think-tanks like Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) are trying to keep the nation busy with petty details of the budget in order to hide the ugly face of Capitalist democracy. But, the people are making it quite clear in social media and public spaces that they have zero interest in such a budgeting process, which they feel is designed to loot their money and to be used in favor of the crony Capitalists. The people have not been fooled seeing budget allocation on Hasina’s deceitful housing projects for the homeless to mark the Mujib Borsho. They already witnessed how Hasina fed her corrupt party-men who have not even spared the homeless destitute from robbing in the name of ‘Ashrayan projects’. For people, the 48% more allocation on mega projects in this budget is nothing but continuation of Hasina government’s ‘mega looting’, and the ‘GDP growth farce’ is nothing but to fill the pockets of the elites amid rising poverty of millions. Last but not the least, the people of Bangladesh have no trust on what the opposition parties like BNP say about the budget, as they know that all these secular parties are also part of the evil capitalist nexus.
O People of Bangladesh, in the name of budgeting, the secular rulers of this capitalist system will keep bringing more economic miseries to you through excessive taxation and external debts to the Western Colonialists. A Muslim can never benefit from this corruption of the secular Capitalist rulers as Allah (swt) says about them,
[وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَعْمَالُهُمْ كَسَرَابٍ بِقِيعَةٍ يَحْسَبُهُ الظَّمْآنُ مَاءً حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءَهُ لَمْ يَجِدْهُ شَيْئاً وَوَجَدَ اللَّهَ عِنْدَهُ فَوَفَّاهُ حِسَابَهُ وَاللَّهُ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ]
“their deeds are like a mirage in the desert, which the thirsty supposes to be water until he comes to it only to find that it was nothing” [An-Noor: 39]
It is no good just ignoring the budgets unless you uproot the Capitalist system as well and replace it with the ideological Islamic economic model under the shade of the second Khilafah Rashidah (rightly guided Caliphate) on the method of Prophethood. The Islamic economic system does not give free reign to a few elites to amass wealth and leave the general people to their mercy in the name of so-called ‘trickle-down economy’.
The Article 124 of Hizb ut Tahrir’s Draft Constitution of the Khilafah State clearly states, “The fundamental economic problem is how to distribute funds and benefits / services to all subjects of the State, and to facilitate all the subjects to utilize these funds and benefits / services by enabling them to strive and possess them”.
Hence, the imminent Khilafah will directly intervene to create mass employment to rejuvenate the economy, restore people’s purchasing power and fulfil their fundamental rights completely. To ensure this, firstly, it will lend interest-free money from the State’s treasury (Baitul Mal) to the small and medium businesses who have become destitute by losing capital. Secondly, it will run with State funding the schools and colleges which closed down due to the economic crisis. It is an obligation (fard) upon the Khaleefah (Caliph) to ensure education for livelihood opportunities.
Article 178 of Hizb ut Tahrir’s Draft Constitution of the Khilafah State states, “It is an obligation upon the State to teach every individual, male or female, those things which are necessary for the mainstream of life”.
Thirdly, the State will provide the farmers with seeds, fertilizers and other necessary agricultural ingredients and the fishermen with fishing materials to ensure mass employment and increased agricultural and fisheries production. Fourthly, the State will finance infrastructure projects, e.g. roads and highways, bridge-culvert construction etc., to provide instant mass employment and establish the long-ignored basic infrastructure across the country.
As for the sources of revenues, Khilafah State will not rely on taxation on people’s income and consumption, but on Ushr (crops tax), Kharaj (land tax), Fa’i (booties), etc., and tax on the surplus wealth of the rich only to meet specific necessities. Also, since Islam uniquely categorizes property into private, state and public property, the Khilafah state will never let the public resources like oil, gas and electricity to be privatized or nationalized, let alone handing those over to the Colonialist Kuffar. So, all citizens under the Khilafah State irrespective of their race and religion can benefit immensely from the revenues of public properties as well as from the State owned enterprises like the machinery and infrastructure manufacturing industries. Such huge revenue generation from State and public resources under close supervision of the State will ensure increased distribution of the wealth rather than of its concentration as happens in the Capitalist system.
O Muslims! Hizb ut Tahrir / Wilayah Bangladesh urges you to reject the corrupt Capitalist system along with its secular rulers so that the promised Khilafah Rashidah can liberate you from brutal tyranny and endless economic miseries and also prevent the Colonialist Kuffar and their institutions from interfering in our way of life. Allah (swt) says in the Quran,
[وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْ ذِكْرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنْكاً وَنَحْشُرُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَعْمَى]
“And whoever turns away from My remembrance – indeed, he will have a depressed life, and We will gather [i.e., raise] him on the Day of Resurrection blind” [Surah Taha: 124].
Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Bangladesh
Press Release
25 Shawwal 1442 – Sunday, 6th June 2021
No: 27 / 1442