Mere military operations will not clean this country of terrorism unless the economy is documented
PESHAWAR: It has become almost a routine for the present government, just like those of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf and Asif Ali Zardari, to announce new taxation measures, get them approved by the National Assembly and then subject these legislated taxes to ridicule, withdrawing or diluting their impact through negotiations with so-called stakeholders. When tax evaders, instead of being penalised, become stakeholders, then such a country is reduced to a banana republic where the black economy is almost triple the documented economy and has state protection.
There has to be a method to this madness because the repetitive nature of such exercises in post-budget approval suggests a planned scheme. It is no coincidence that the state exchequer is the sole loser of such exercises and only individuals stand to benefit. The artificial boom in real estate prices has made them beyond the reach of honest Pakistanis, who pay all taxes and have no black money. As usual, the bogey of foreign investment by expatriates and dual nationality-holders is drummed up, although the reality is that almost double or triple money is repatriated from huge profits generated by the speculative real estate business.
When such dubious policies are adopted, it is the outcome of conflicts of interest of public office holders representing the government and beneficiaries of tax evasion, both having common vested interests. It is no wonder that a maximum artificial rise in real estate exists in Karachi, where law and order is the worst and black money parked in this trade funds the only expanding business in Pakistan — a completely criminal economy.
The fact that every major real estate don of this country has acquired assets abroad, where their families live, should have raised alarm bells. But sadly, there is no such concern because the ruling elite and members of the paid bureaucracy of this country have shared vested interests. Crime will continue to flourish as long as the black economy is not curtailed and those who have chosen to live and die in Pakistan will continue to be sacrificed at the altar of insatiable greed of a few.
Mere military operations will not clean this country of terrorism unless the economy is documented and enough taxes are collected to provide education and health and generate employment in order to discourage recruitment by terrorists.
G Zaman
Published in The Express Tribune, August 5th, 2016.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
