Pakistan’s narcissistic rulers

I wonder if the PM has taken the trouble of reading former UNDP director Marc Andre Franche’s statement some weeks ago

RAWALPINDI: This refers to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s (PM) statement about focusing on progress in the country. Does the prime minister know that Pakistan has the highest toll of death in all age groups starting from still births and maternal mortality? Does he also know that the country has among the lowest life spans even amongst the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) countries? We also have the highest incidence and prevalence of both communicable and non-communicable diseases.

Over 5.8 million children are out of schools — the highest figure in the world. Another 45 per cent of Pakistani children are suffering from malnutrition — again, the highest in the world — causing stunting of mental and physical faculties, jeopardising their future and the future of the country. According to the United Nations Global Education Monitoring Report 2016, Pakistan lags 50 years behind in primary education goals and 60 years behind in secondary education goals.

In higher education rankings, Pakistan has been placed at the lowest rung of the ladder, getting a score of 9.4 while India received a score of 60.9. Further yet, other Saarc countries are far ahead; Pakistan even lags behind a tiny country called Estonia. In the international athletic sports arena, Pakistan was nowhere in competitions. These facts are all over the press, both national and international. More than 45 per cent of people in the country are deprived of potable water. There is terrible electricity shortage, one of the highest numbers of road accident fatalities, a poor law and order situation, massive drug addiction problems, rampant corruption, rising suicide rates and people are dying of hunger. There is also mounting debt, falling exports, and trade deficits, among other economic issues.

Meanwhile, there is heightened narcissism and self-righteousness on the part of our rulers. There is no scope for introspection and self-correction. I wonder if the PM has taken the trouble of reading former United Nation Development Programme director Marc Andre Franche’s statement some weeks ago. Of course, the rulers have become the richest people of the world, stashing away their ill-gotten wealth abroad while the common people and the state have become the poorest in the world.

Mahmud Ahmad Akhtar

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2016.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.