Words — not deeds

Aid or loans from other countries are not necessarily a bad thing, the economies of many countries run on such loans.

At face value, Shahbaz Sharif’s words, stating that Punjab would not accept foreign aid, but set an example, for others by demonstrating how we can instead depend on our own resources, sound like a brave demonstration of patriotism. We certainly need more of that in our lives. But looking a little harder and going beyond the basic rhetoric, a number of questions come up. The first, perhaps, is that aid or loans from other countries are not necessarily a bad thing; the economies of many countries — including that of the US — run on such loans. The real problems that arise are when countries — like businesses or individuals — are unable to pay back loans or use them for non-productive purposes, with the result that more loans are needed to pay off previous ones taken. Pakistan has faced this problem, and its poor creditworthiness is one reason why other nations are reluctant to lend to it. In this context, perhaps the province should be focusing on raising resources to pay back what has been borrowed.

In this context, he has also spoken of ‘many hardships’ when aid is turned down. We wonder if this means hardship for ordinary people or the government. Certainly, denying people who already have too little of schools, healthcare and the other benefits aid can bring, simply to prove a rather dubious point, seems inherently unfair. It is these people who would bear the brunt of such a move — and not the wealthy who live lives of enormous privilege. Their ranks, of course, include almost all government members.

It should also be noted that the war on terror cannot be regarded simply as a single dimensional issue. It has many contours and curves and loops that cannot be ignored. Militancy, after all, is not just about the US or issues of sovereignty. It also requires efforts of our own to root out groups. In this context, we can only wonder why the jihadi organisations in Punjab remain able to continue their activities. Some of the latest terror attacks have been their doing, and Mr Sharif would do well to turn his attention to going after them.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2011.