Extortion, land grabbing and kidnapping for ransom has become a booming business, patronised by those in power.
ALLEN, TX, US: A government is elected to serve its electorate and to provide good governance. This was clearly evident in the US government’s response to Hurricane Sandy. US President Barack Obama suspended his election campaign and declared an emergency in some states to focus on providing welfare and restore disrupted transportation and energy links. In sharp contrast to all this; it is shocking to witness that the last two successive governments in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan have been systematically involved in robbing the state of its resources and have failed to provide even a semblance of good governance.
We have witnessed very low industrial growth and seen a massive flight of capital and skilled human resources to foreign countries. The nation’s financial capital, Karachi, has been called one of Asia’s most dangerous cities, where targeted killings have claimed thousands of lives in recent years. Extortion, land grabbing and kidnapping for ransom has become a booming business, patronised by those in power. The city is hostage to criminal gangs organised by the very political parties that rule the province in a coalition government.
This massive governance failure and economic mismanagement has also fuelled rising religious fanaticism in Pakistan. It is not a natural disaster that has wrecked the Pakistani nation, its people or its economy, but a man-made one, caused in large part by the insatiable greed of its ruling elite.
Rashid Orakzai
Published in The Express Tribune, November 4th, 2012.
