KARACHI:
History indicates that those that have been at the helm have largely ignored issues of national importance. This should come as no surprise. With the exception of building arms and ammunition, we have ignored every other aspect of national importance. Since inception, we have built only two dams, namely Mangla and Tarbela, which are not even close to fulfilling our need for irrigation and energy.
The Kalabagh dam was announced decades ago, but it never saw the light of day because of the petty interests of our selfish politicians. We kept borrowing from international lenders but never adopted the ways of austerity. Our leaders kept to their royal ways and wasted money as a result of poor governance and corruption. Without developing capacity and generating resources, systems and institutions could not bear the burden of the growing population and we kept falling into the debt trap. Heavy spending on defense and inefficient government set-ups led to the country becoming hostage to international lenders. We are now in a quagmire, impossible to get out of. On the one hand, we desperately need money to keep our economy moving. On the other hand, we severely lack the capacity to return the loans and become self-sufficient. The path towards solving this horrific situation can only be paved if our leadership shuns personal differences and sit together to set the country in the right direction.
If people see that the politicians are working selflessly for the betterment of the country, they will cooperate and be willing to accept tough measures. However, when people see our politicians constantly bickering and fighting for power, they lose hope. I pray that our leaders realise the kind of dire situation we are in and start working for the betterment of the country soon.
Raja Shafaatullah
Islamabad
Published in The Express Tribune, April 1st, 2021.
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