June 03, 2022

Pakistan's people suffer from the elite's greed

topic:	Transparency and Corruption
located:	Pakistan
editor:	Shadi Khan Saif

With a massive population of over 200 million, Pakistan is on the verge of an economic collapse that would have devastating impacts on the many people suffering from the escalating disparity in the country. 

The new government, which took charge following the dramatic events last month, has chosen the same old tried-and-tested means of further burdening the public with higher fuel costs to keep the country’s international lenders happy. Pakistan has been under the watchful eyes of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for debt-servicing and revenue collection for as long as one can remember - and one wonders why the country has not been able to stand on its own two feet considering its immense potential. 

There is something terribly wrong with the governance and administration of taxes seeing as one-third of the revenue collected every year is used for interest payments to foreign lenders rather than providing health, education and food to the people. 

It’s true that, on the global stage, fuel prices are increasing everywhere, impacting people in well-off countries as well. But the nefarious oligarchy of army leaders, politicians and businessmen in Pakistan has been cunningly placing the economic pressure of these burdens on the poor masses for too long now. Much of the industry, agriculture and public sector economy is in the grips of these three groups, which hardly care about fair play or the basic principles of humanity. Labour laws, work rights and minimum wages are hardly given any consideration by either the public or private sector, but when it comes raising taxes and tariffs, the implementation is ensured swiftly.   

A 17 percent hike in fuel prices relative to no increase in salaries could simply crush middle and lower-class citizens economically, affecting millions Pakistanis.

This is not a boardroom subject of businessmen as it affects the lives of each and every woman and child in every small village, town and city. Over the past many years when this crisis was brewing due to appalling economic policies, the country's political, feudal and military elite chose to limit their efforts to the blame game rather than looking for practical and sustainable solutions.

Eying the next elections, the elite seems to be playing with the people's emotions by promising them quick solutions or blaming everything on the external world. But what can the people do? There is hardly any platform available for them to seek justice, hold power to account and make them pay for their exploitation of the national wealth over the past several decades. The leading politicians and military figures have corporate, industrial and agricultural interests. The common citizen has no right or authority to ask questions - they are just subjects for the elite to rule over. 

Pakistan’s elite has turned the country into an exploitative factory where the common people either die working hard for survival or seek an escape through other treacherous routes. This elite is the main reason why democratic principles have not taken roots in the country and why extremism and poverty are rampant.

Photo by Steve Rybka

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