Pakistan Going in Reverse Direction

Two Years of Imran Khan’s Performance

Prime minister Imran Khan of Pakistan completed two years in office on August 18 with hardly any positive comments visible in the press or in the cyberspace about him. His scorecard has been much below par in the last two years and the Pakistani people are generally very disappointed by the dismal performance by their premier. Pakistani opposition has described his two-year reign as an unmitigated disaster.

Imran promised a ‘Naya Pakistan’ during his election campaigning through his relatively nascent political party Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) which avowed to rid Pakistan of the malaise of corruption.

He was voted to power as the prime minister since the public and the military were fed up with the military reign of Musharraf and rampant corruption of Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shahbaz and the allies. But Imran failed to comply with his election promises. The experiment failed, as did his manifesto and all other assurances he had given to his electorate.

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Pakistan’s current scenario is that of turmoil and repeated setbacks, both foreign and domestic, that are unlikely to come to an end in the near future.

The only achievement to his credit was that he leaned completely on the armed forces and kept them on the right side unconditionally and without any reservations. That suited the deep state. The military ran the country from Rawalpindi with Imran Khan as a ceremonial head.

Governance

Pakistan’s half-hearted and vague stance in handling the COVID crisis, rise in cases of religious intolerance, hunger, poverty and allied issues have shown Imran’s governance in very poor light.

Out of the 51 promises made by Imran for a ‘Naya’ Pakistan, hardly five of them were met, that too very not in entirety.

People have reacted to inflationary prices and job loss and responded negatively in polls conducted by Pakistan’s TV channels.

The rot in governance is exemplified by the fact that the pilots of the ill-fated Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft that crashed in June 2020 killing 97 people were widely believed to have fake licences. It is reported that around 260 commercial pilots of Pakistani origin were grounded across multiple airlines to set things in order. Europe banned all PIA flights for six months.

Economy

Imran Khan had “revolutionary” ideas overcoming indebtedness but was soon at the doorstep of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cope with $95 billion in foreign debt and $135.5 billion in domestic debt.

Saudi Arabia prefers to diversify its oil-based economy and invest in India ignoring Pakistan. Saudi Aramco is aiming for a $15 billion investment in India’s Reliance company – a 20 per cent stake in the refining and petrochemicals business, valued at $75 billion.

China Pakistan Economic Corridor

Chinese projects under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) are facing poor-quality manpower and industrial base.

In May 2020, a massive scam amounting to $630 million was reported in a power project linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The Chinese made windfall profits to the tune of 70 per cent by swindling Pakistani customers. A retired Army Commander wields immense powers as the head of CPEC Authority. Imran dare not antagonise the Chinese firms.

According to Pakistan’s official figures, it will pay China $40 billion for the $26.5-billion CPEC investments in 20 years. This figure doesn’t include the $8.2 billion Mainline-I project of Pakistan Railways.

Infrastructure projects are being set up by the government of Pakistan, and thus, the burden of repaying Chinese loans for them will be on the government’s shoulders.

Equipment, building material and services/labour for the CPEC are all to be imported from China. Furthermore, a majority of the companies that will invest in Pakistan’s energy sector are headquartered in China. The banks which will provide these Chinese investors billions of dollars to invest in Pakistan’s power sector are also Chinese.

Ultimately, the country already suffering from a shortage of dollar reserves — Pakistan — will end up pouring a substantial amount into the Chinese economy, and will find itself knocking the doors of the IMF, World Bank, Saudis, Emitaries, EU, USA, UK — and China — for a bailout once again. Pakistan can go bankrupt.

Rearing Terrorists

Terrorists remain active. Various homegrown terror outfits are completely out of control. They are selectively used for cross-border attacks in Kashmir and in Afghanistan. Imran has not been able to contain these outfits nor terror-linked money laundering. Pakistan has failed to comply with the 27 conditions laid by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The June 20202 deadline has been extended to October.

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The Karachi Stock Exchange was attacked in end-June. It signified abject intelligence failure. The Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the daring attacks. Baluch related activities have risen manifold in the last two years.

Imran’s pro-Taliban rhetoric did not make him too acceptable to the world outside. His reference to Osama bin Laden as a “martyr” of Islam disappointed many who admired Khan for his honesty in financial matters.

The Taliban that Imran once favoured because they were anti-US are now hiding in Afghanistan after committing violence in Pakistan in pursuit of radical sharia. Various factions of the Taliban have united and plan to coerce Pakistan to adopt the caliphate they advocate.

While Pakistan is doing its utmost to meet the deadline of the FATF coming up in October, hasty actions have resulted in naming some terrorists living in Pakistan, sentencing some for their complicity in the Mumbai terror assaults of November 2008 and banning of assets of banned entities. Experts, however, feel that this action is simply cosmetic action to meet the FATF requirements.

Foreign Policy

China, of course, remains its staunchest ally enjoying a complete sway on Pakistan’s economy or territorial strategic interests. But, foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, has messed up the foreign policy which looks to be beyond repair. Traditional ally Saudi Arabia was so angered with Pakistan’s threat to call for a parallel session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Kashmir that Imran had to send Army chief Gen Bajwa and ISI head, Faiz Hameed to the Saudi kingdom to apologise.

Islamic countries, which have previously been objective in weighing the relations between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are openly blaming Pakistan for its inept diplomacy and immature approach in dealing with Saudi Arabia.

Gulf States had balanced their dealings with Pakistan in the past but now, they are openly moving closer towards India and moving away from Pakistan. Saudi Arabia is clearly ignoring Pakistan’s demand seeking support for Kashmir.

There are 2.5 million Pakistani expatriates in Saudi Arabia and annual remittances roughly amount to $821 million which is 30 per cent of the entire remittances. Also, $6.2 billion Ioan from Saudi Arabia took a toll of Pakistani economy which is already in shambles.

Imran Khan took Army Chief Gen Bajwa to the US last year to meet President Trump surprising many and confirming that the Army was calling the shots.

Pakistan’s growing closeness to Turkey has come in for criticism since the latter is desperate to pull Pakistan out of the Saudi camp. Turkey, under Erdogan, is strongly believed to be also responsible for causing fissures in Pakistan-Saudi relations. Saudi Arabia and Turkey are bitter adversaries and the former hates Pakistan acting as a sycophant of the latter. Angst for Turkey is also compounded by the fact that it is making efforts to assume supremacy in global Islamic affairs by cleverly playing the Islamic card.

Relations With India

Imran thought he could normalise relations with India but prime minister Modi was in no mood to oblige until cross-border terrorism stopped.

He has thoroughly mishandled the Kashmir issue by listening to “Muslim” leaders like Erdogan of Turkey and Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia to challenge Pakistan’s Arab friends on not “uniting” against India on Kashmir.

Deep State

There is a sense of uneasiness in the rank and file of the armed forces. After Army Chief Gen Bajwa aborted his trip to Saudi Arabia on 17 August to mend fences, returning red-faced and duly snubbed. Retired Army Chief, Gen Raheel Sharif is presently commander of the Saudi led Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT) based in Saudi Arabia. His efforts to push his candidature with Riyadh’s backing to play a crucial role in Pakistan, has unnerved the present chief of Pakistan Army.

The Army continues to govern the country by proxy peddling the belief that the serious socio-economic-security problems facing the country are the work of a ‘hidden hand’ – India. Add to that the facade of supporting the Kashmiris is the glue that keeps it going.

Pakistani elite comprising mostly its Army generals and some politicians still manage to project a strong but misplaced notion of national pride built around superiority of its race, military and nuclear weapons leaving millions of innocent Pakistanis in grinding poverty.

Fake websites list Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) as the world’s best intelligence service and the former Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif as the world’s best commander!

ISI is anything but a professional agency that intimidates the common man through hired thugs and mercenaries. Raheel Sharif is, in fact, a symbol of corruption and nepotism. All generals in Pakistan never fail to grab acres of land, and run businesses while in service.

Defence Expenditure

Pakistan’s military spending has reached a whopping Rs 1,700 billion (including pension bill) as against a total development budget of Rs 650 billion, even as barely literate and unemployed youth continue to bulge at an alarming rate.

Pakistan is heading towards massive joblessness, around 19 million, which would further accentuate the deplorable social conditions that Pakistanis are already reeling under. Just one-fifth of Pakistan’s defence budget would be sufficient to finance universal primary education in the country, which currently remains abysmally poor.

The generals continue to justify increased defence spending by creating anti-India hysteria. The beneficiaries have mostly been the high-ranking military officers. Pakistani news reports said in April 2016, that former Army Chief and former President of Pakistan Gen Pervez Musharraf was in possession of Rs 2,156 million in net cash in an offshore account in addition to immovable property worth several millions. Former Army Chief and head of ISI, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was known to possess a multi-million dollar Swiss bank account. He was also accused by a fellow officer of being involved in a major land scam in a Defence Housing Scheme.

Political Witch Hunt

Imran has hounded the opposition parties, in particular the Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). He has used the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to hound the opposition and to hunt down journalists and newspaper-owners critical of Khan’s governance.

Religious Intolerance

Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Shias and Ahmadis among other religious minorities often face discrimination and at times are even subjected to violence. In some cases Christian churches and Ahmadi mosques and the worshippers themselves have been attacked.

Pakistan—a Sunni Muslim majority country with Shia Muslim, Christian, and Hindu minorities—has been convulsed by sectarian violence. Pakistan also topped the list of most number of documented church attacks. out of 428 Hindu temples in Pakistan only around 20 survive today and they remain neglected.

In June 2020, Imran Khan approved a grant of Rs 100mn for the construction of a temple for Islamabad’s 3,000-strong Hindu population. However, a group of clerics and some opposition parties opposed the building of the temple. The Capital Development Authority stopped the construction citing ‘legal reasons’. 

Emboldened by Turkey’s conversion of Hagia Sophia, a former church or Kariye museum in Chora to a mosque, Pakistan, razed a pre-partition Hanuman temple to the ground in Zyari district, which is seen as a clear desecration, if not a sacrilege, of a place of worship. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s hollowed claims of Pakistan being a tolerant and secular country have fallen flat.

 Human Rights

The United Nations OHCHR reports on Kashmir document a number of human rights violations in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to include restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and association, impact of counter-terrorism on human rights, land rights, restrictions on the freedom of religion or belief and enforced or involuntary disappearances.

Before being elected, Imran Khan had admitted to the involvement of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies in enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings and vowed to resign if he was unable to put an end to the practice, holding those involved responsible. Independent local and international human rights organisations say 20,000 have reportedly been abducted only from Balochistan, out of which more than 2,500 have turned up dead as bullet-riddled dead bodies, bearing signs of extreme torture.

The Gilgit Baltistan Council was dissolved in 2018, leaving the population without political representation nor voting rights. Senge H Sering, President of Gilgit Baltistan Studies told the UN Human Rights Council on 6 March 2020, “The people of Pakistan-occupied-Gilgit-Baltistan continue to face torture, sedition and terrorism charges and life-imprisonment for opposing onslaught on their resources and cultural identity. Locals are losing battle against worst demographic engineering due to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor that encourages illegal settlements of Pakistanis and Chinese”.

Young Pakistani girls, in the hundreds, mostly from the minority communities, have fraudulently been sold in marriage to the Chinese with the tacit approval of the state; sadly most would end up in prostitution.

Comments

Corruption, fraud and cheating form the very lifeblood of this dysfunctional state. Paranoia, denial, fraud and cheating have begun to define Pakistan’s national character.

Muslims who want to be “modern-Islamic” are unhappy because the state can’t move quickly enough to assimilate the new universalism.

Pakistan refuses to acknowledge that its faulty founding principles and inborn ailments are the root cause of its present state of mess.

To be known as a good Pakistani means you have to love the idea of Pakistan that lives separated from India. If anyone says Pakistan should join India, it’s jail for him.