Every political party promise the moon and the stars during their election campaigns, but when they are elected they pass the buck to the poor masses of the nation. PML-N has kept the tradition alive by passing a budget that was beyond our means, and then taking the easy way out and bringing out the ‘Begging Bowl.’ The IMF a team of economists who know which nations can be easily fleeced arrives as soon as a new government is sworn in. It arrived in Pakistan as soon as PM was sworn in and forced our government to adopt policies that will beggar the people further.
Even in rich countries such as the United States 45% people do not pay any income tax. In Pakistan there are only 5% people who can really be called prosperous, and another 5% who just manage to simulate prosperity to maintain their white-collar status. The rest of the population is hard put to barely keep body and soul together, but the IMF has ordered that everyone must file wealth statement. The intention here seems to be to take away whatever semblance of prosperity there appears to be in this country.
Most of the white collared are the middle class who have set up private businesses to earn a meagre income some are government pensioners, who post-retirement, have opened shops or engaged in some profession just to stay active now the income tax department is labelling them as businessmen and is forcing them to file regular returns causing them misery.
Despite all these measures, the present government in its first 100 days printed notes worth more than 500 billion. That is because the terrorism policies imposed upon us by the outsiders are consuming all our resources and have also made enemies of almost all our neighbours. During the last three years of its rule the previous government, however bad it may have been called, had absolutely stood up to the IMF pressures and resisted rupee devaluation. But the present government seems really to have caved in as if they are hand in glove with the enemies. This is because the enemy knows that foreign exchange is our real soft belly.
NADEEM AHMAD,
Muzaffargarh, September 20.