(The crises are also social and in education. With a handful of exceptions, our universities are trash; half of fully tenured professors are fit only for driving taxis. In such intellectual deserts, students demand only grades and degrees, - runs the newspaper column) .
New Delhi
Things are just beyond repair and hence frustration is the story of helpless Pakistanis. Examine this sentence and you could gauge the level of 'resigned to fate' situation.
"Will Pakistan forever rely on bedlinen, underwear, and footballs to earn dollars?," laments intellectual and a physicist Pervez Hoodbhoy.
In his piece for 'Dawn', Hoodbhoy writes: "....stop blaming the world for Pakistan’s problems. You cannot
hate the West and, in the same breath, supplicate it for bailouts or apply for immigration. We are
authors of our own misfortune".
He als makes a few candid admissions as intellectuals and the Pakistani official establishment
should have made it long back. "Without Pakistan’s help, the Taliban monster and terrorism wouldn’t
have existed. It’s true we were misused by Americans in warring with the Soviet Union. But didn’t we milk the American cow
until its udders ran dry of dollars?," he writes.
The cryptic remarks came at a time when onion prices in Pakistan have increased by more than 500 per
cent and rates on rice, pulses and wheat are up by almost 50 per cent. The weekly inflation has surpassed 31
per cent.
In the meantime of course, there is another saga --- Pakistan finance minister Ishaq Dar said that he had full
faith that Pakistan would progress because it was created in the 'name of Islam'.
Eventually the Minister got trolled.
One Ali Atif Saeed wrote - "Allah created Pakistan. Allah is responsible for Pakistan's economy".
There were other comments too. "Time for Ishaq Dar to admit his utter failure to handle
the economy. He had boasted to know IMF more than anyone else in Pakistan. It's obvious now he
came to Pakistan to retrieve his Lahore House and Rs 500 million from NAB. Mission accomplished so
better return to London ASAP," tweeted journalist Rauf Khalsra.
As per the 'Dawn' article, Hoodbhoy blasts the elites and that is actually represented by the military and
the rest.
"As in some African countries, Pakistan is home to the world’s richest politicians, real-estate tycoons,
and generals. Symbiotically bound together, on Fridays they love being seen in a state of unctuous piety.
Donning a prayer cap and dressed in starchy white shalwar-kameez, one by one they step out from their shiny
new SUVs and into a DHA mosque," he points out.
The tragedy could be worse. Here's what he says about intellectuals and the education system.
"With a handful of exceptions, our universities are trash; half of fully tenured professors are fit only for
driving taxis. In such intellectual deserts, students demand only grades and degrees. Most vice chancellors, deans and chairpersons would, at best, count among the semi-educated elsewhere," runs his column for 'Dawn'.
Another report in a section of the media in India says, "Long queues of vehicles at fast emptying filling stations,
hours-long blackouts and desperate fights for food have become commonplace as the Shehbaz Sharif
government struggles with Pakistan's worst economic crisis since its formation in 1947".
Experts say, Pakistan needs an infusion of more than $ 9 billion to climb out of the crisis. Its friends like
China and Saudi Arabia can help, but the bailouts will always have the 'implicit strings attached'.
Some say, Saudi Arabia sees Pakistan not only as a key oil purchaser and source of migrant labor but
also as a key Sunni-majority ally vis-à-vis Iran. China's interest could be in an 'energy corridor' running from
the Arabian Sea to China’s western provinces and the strategically vital port of Gwadar.
Hence Hoodbhoy's analysis makes sense.
He says, Forbes (2023) identifies the five richest Americans: Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Elon Musk (Tesla),
Bill Gates (Microsoft), Larry Ellison (Oracle), and Mark Zuckerberg (Meta).
"Their creations have altered your lifestyle and mine". He also hails Indian achievers.
The five richest are Gautam Adani (power generation), Mukesh Ambani (petrochemicals), Shiv Nadar (IT),
Cyrus Poonawalla (vaccines), and Radhakishan Damani (retail).
Then he talks about Pakistan's rich-elites -- Mian Mansha, Sadruddin Hashwani, Asif Ali Zardari, Malik Riaz and
Habibullah Khan.
But he puts up a very candid question. "How they made their billions is not for me to know. But what exportables have they produced? Will Pakistan forever rely on bedlinen, underwear, and footballs to earn dollars?"
ends
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