Loud Thinking

WE MUST SAVE PAKISTAN FROM THE COMPLETE FINANCIAL DISASTER

Since its inception in 1947, Pakistan is a more fragmented society than our forefathers could have ever imagined. The division in society is so intense that if immediate corrective steps are not taken, God forbid, this country may see even more turbulent times.
The writing on the wall is clear for all to read. The decadence of Pakistani society in every sphere of life, be it political, economic, educational, industrial, agricultural, religious, law and order or any other segment worth naming, is abysmal, to say the least. Hardly any day passes without reports of suicides committed by the poor due to the economic hardships. Children are not dying in dozens, but in scores due to the measles outbreak and, strangely enough, no soul has moved and not even a single person has been held accountable.
There is a feeling that government has decide to mortgage the country with the foreign donor agencies, by taking so much huge amount of loans (that too just for the repayment of the old loans), which this poor country may never be able to repay. This means that in every terms, we have gone bankrupt; and can’t even breathe without the debt life line.
Today Pakistan is not under huge debt, rather, it is completely buried under the debt. The government has borrowed Rs.611 billion in just 40 days from the state bank of Pakistan, as against Rs.507 billion in full year (2012-13). In other words, the PMLN’s government has borrowed Rs.15.3 billion per day in 40 days as against Rs.1.4 billion per day by the previous regime in 2012-13.
Maybe, we have one last chance to stem the rot, to unite the people and to give them a prescription to rise again and build the nation from the ashes because, for the overwhelming majority, a time is coming that they will be forced to think: no life no nation.
The current frame work under which the country is being run will not take Pakistan any forward, even if it is allowed to continue, for another 100 years. All small and big nations in our region and the world have overtaken us, in the basic fields of health, education, justice, law and order and food security.
All stakeholders must wake up, as the nation is moving towards destruction and business as usual can do no good for Pakistan; our survival is directly linked with the existence of our nationhood. Nationhood means, “the state or quality of having a status as a separate and independent nation”.
Pakistan needs a turnaround, for which the basic need is our adaptation and readiness for the change, not in cosmetic but real sense. We need a complete change from one era to another, like the one witnessed by China, under Mao Zedong.
Hence, for all Pakistanis, failure is not an option, but success is also not automatically guaranteed. In this regard, I would like to suggest that we formulate a new social contract for the common people of Pakistan, who always pays 100 percent bills and taxes and never defaults on their bank loans,but is deprived of every conceivable civic amenities. Let us make a new Pakistan, which is redesigned to practically cater to the needs of the exploited masses.
Changes must be made in the constitution to block corrupt and power hungry mafias from contesting the elections. The current election system should also be radically changed, so that the whole country directly votes for a president/prime minister. However, before the voting, the candidates of all the political parties, for this post of the president/prime minister, must notify a list of their MPAs, MNAs and Senators, who will be automatically considered elected, according to the percentage of votes cast, in favour of the main candidate, for the top post of the country.
The decision for Pakistan’s charter of development for building dams and mega projects for the next 50 years should also be finalised, on which later on, no politics should be allowed. In other words, the representatives of the nation should decide now where they would like to see Pakistan, in each and every field of life after 50 years. This vision should be further divided into ten five years plans.
In order to decentralise and empower the maximum number of people, to enjoy the fruits of self-rule, we should convert every division of Pakistan into a province. This will also work as a panacea for the eradication of linguistic and any other type of frictions and doubts about the hegemony of the people. from certain large areas over the people of other smaller areas. In fact, it will work wonders in the speedy development and unity of Pakistan and kill instantly, any secessionist or separatist activities, currently prevailing in some parts of the country.