Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah while laying the Foundation-stone of the Vakila Textile Mills on September 25, 1947 elaborated his grasp of the economic problems that Pakistan faced when he stated If Pakistan is to play its proper role in the world to which its size, manpower and resources entitle it, it must develop Industrial potential side by side its agriculture and give its economy an industrial bias. By industrialising our state we shall decrease dependence on the outside world for the necessities of life, give more employment to our people and also increase the resources of the new State. This was the vision of a political leader, whose integrity and credibility was beyond any approach, and who had no conflict of interest, nor did he ever seek to exploit his office for personal business ventures. Increasing resources of the state is no longer a priority for those sitting in power and instead they have resorted to depletion of state resources, which is today evident by the collapsed state entities like Railways, PIA, OGRA, WAPDA, Steel Mills etc. Unfortunately, the business friendly political vision for Pakistan has become synonymous with unethical politics where corruption and abuse of power by those seeking public office have been accepted as a perk of power by the elected and paid public servants of the state. Pakistan state is becoming poorer by the day, while individuals or institutions have become more wealthier than the state. Tax evasion has become rampant, while daylight heists by powerful individuals become a norm. Politics in Pakistan has become a monopoly for those who have accumulated wealth overnight and the scions of those feudals who were rewarded by the British Raj, or those who filed false claims to evacuee property. As a consequence our politics is devoid of any principles and both our national interests or state sovereignty stand compromised. Abuse of power without any fear of accountability has led to regularisation of unethical practices where SROs are issued to facilitate individuals in power, tax evasion has become rampant and state or evacuee property considered legitimate for allotment to the elite. Laws have been framed to facilitate flight of capital and insider trading no longer considered a crime by those holding political power, or those who form part of the paid elite establishment. In the process Pakistan is facing an acute economic crunch, where the deficit between revenue receipts and liabilities have crossed all safe limits, leading to galloping inflation and poverty forcing people to commit suicides and become easy targets for recruitment by extremists. MALIK TARIQ ALI, Lahore, November 28..