ISLAMABAD: This is with reference to Mr Taj Haider’s letter of February 24, which was in response to my article of February 23 entitled “A failing state”. I am grateful to the compliments paid by Mr Haider in respect of my scientific contributions. He, however, understandably differs from my viewpoint regarding the present dismal status of Pakistan and the persons responsible for it.
However, he has avoided addressing the core issues that I had raised. The following facts speak for themselves: 1) the government has failed completely to restore law and order in Karachi and in various cities of Balochistan. A dozen or so people die of targeted killings on a daily basis and the murderers go scot-free; 2) the national debt has more than doubled and the rupee has collapsed from Rs62 to about Rs100 per dollar in the last five years, bringing the nation to its knees; 3) the rampant corruption in the Federal Bureau of Revenue alone, as estimated by the former minister of finance of the present government, was estimated at Rs500 billion, and Transparency International estimated national corruption to be at a level of Rs8,500 billion during the first four years of this government; 4) the massive corruption in connection with the rental power plants is a matter of national shame and has resulted in closure of many industries across the country. The present rotten state of many state-owned enterprises, where loot and plunder has resulted in devastation, is there for all to see.
All this does not require any rocket science to anaylse — it is the harsh truth, which everyone can see.
Attaur Rahman
Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2013.
