Seasoned MP acts naïve on a matter of interest

Sheikh Aftab of Attock is not a novice in National Assembly and to the nuances related to the parliament proceedings. His many returns to this house since 1985 rather qualified him to become the Chief Whip of the ruling PML-N.

In the worst of my dreams, therefore, I could not imagine him behaving like a reckless naive as he did Tuesday.

Each Tuesday, the national assembly facilitates members to push issues and legislation in their private capacity. Ms Naeema Kishwer Khan of the JUI-F took advantage of the day by pushing a resolution that aptly reflected the religio-political agenda of her party.

“This House is of the opinion that the government should take immediate steps to abolish the system of interest in the country,” was the operating line of her resolution.

Short of categorically opposing this motion, which the PML-N had perhaps not dared to protect its pretensions for religiosity, Aftab could still have delayed formal putting of it for voting by various other means. He did not bother and let the house adopt the same with loud and unanimous ayes.

Mindlessly facilitating the unanimous adoption of this motion, Aftab conveniently forgot that none other than the second government of Nawaz Sharif had duly gone to the Supreme Court in the late 1990s. The idea was to block implementation of a Federal Shariat Court judgment that declared interest against Islam and firmly directed the government to take effective measures to introduce an alternative financial system.

Many governments have come and gone since then. For the past three years, we also have a hyperactive Supreme Court, but the FSC decision against interest-based economic system stays put somewhere too deep in a cooler.

A group of the self-styled promoters of ‘real Islam’ dominates the discourse in our media these days. In their columns and TV appearances, they keep zealously reminding people that Pakistan has become a victim of perennial crises; primarily for the reason that its elite failed to enforce true Islam. Running an interest-based economy amounts to “waging a war against Allah,” they insist in the same context.

After being elected as the prime minister of Pakistan for the third time, Nawaz Sharif specially invited some of these preachers in the media for informal meetings and promised to take concrete steps to abolish ‘interest.’ He seemingly is not moving in that direction, though. The promoters of real Islam now need to request the Chief Justice to do the needful by suo motu means. But none of them seem seriously pushed.

Nawaz Sharif hails from a phenomenally rich business family. At least two highly successful bankers savour decisive roles in policy formulation by his government. Shouldn’t he act straight and honest to tell people as to how the whole financial system of Pakistan would collapse, if it goes for interest-free system in one go?

From an angle, we can fathom the expediency-driven limits of a prime minister surviving and thriving on religiosity-driven vote bank. But corporate-wizards like Asad Umer do not suffer from such burden. He and the rest of PTI legislators did not need to endorse Ms Khan’s resolution with hypocritical nods and ayes. Umer seemed more upset with this government’s fiscal management anyway. Delivering the maiden speech since elected to this house, he spoke like an accomplished economist speaking his mind through bullet points. The third Nawaz government, he established with solid data, has printed more currency notes during its first 100 days than the previous government did in one financial year. Quoting from figures officially released by the State Bank he prepared us to see inflation bouncing back in double-digits and Pakistan rupee devaluing to the lowest level, around 125 against one US dollar, in the coming months.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2013.