By S. M. Hali 

June 15, 2013 will go down as one of the blackest days in Pakistan’s history. In the wee hours of the morning, miscreants targeted the Ziarat Residency, where the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, spent his last days. Jinnah, was one of the most respected, secular and non controversial leaders of the Indo-Pak Subcontinent. He was held in such great reverence that Lincoln’s Inn, one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar, has exceptionally honoured Jinnah by placing his portrait along with two Englishmen legal wizards: a knight of the garter, Sir Henry Maule and deferential appellate and member of peerage, Lord Arthur Hobhouse; on the stone wall over the entrance to its Great Hall and Library in London.

It is worth mentioning that distinguished members of Lincoln’s Inn include Sir Thomas More, Richard Cromwell, Allama Iqbal, Margaret Thatcher and numerous Presidents, Prime Ministers and Chief Justices across the globe but it is only Jinnah, a non-English jurist, who has been paid such a tribute for his unparalleled contribution of founding Pakistan.

The perpetrators of the heinous crime deliberately targeted the Ziarat Residency by repudiating in an odious manner the idea of Pakistan. The act of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), claiming responsibility for the abhorrent assault, pulling down Pakistan’s national ensign and planting the BLA flag, has grievously hurt the sentiments of 188 million Pakistanis. The wound is deeper than the loss of over thirty-nine thousand lives sacrificed by Pakistan in its fight against terror.

The desecration of the Ziarat Residency has shocked the entire nation but it has rejuvenated the resolve of Pakistanis and patriotic Balochis’ to denounce and defeat the secessionist elements and reject their heinous agenda.

While the nation was still reeling under the trauma of the demolition of the historical icon of the Quaid’s house of recuperation, Quetta was targeted by two massive terror attacks. The first was an unprecedented assault on female students. According to intelligence officials, a female suicide bomber carried out an attack on a bus carrying students of Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University, in which fourteen students embraced shahadat. While the casualties of the women’s university were being transferred to Bolan Medical College hospital for treatment, a group of miscreants launched an attack on the hospital, taking the medical staff and injured students hostage. After hours of gun-battle, the assailants were overpowered and killed but not before the death toll of the bleak Saturday rose to 25, including the Deputy Commissioner of Quetta, four personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC), fourteen students and four nurses. Banned outfit Lashkar-i-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the bomb blasts. Readers may recall that this is the same iniquitous outfit, which has claimed responsibility for the cold blooded massacre of the Hazaras in Quetta, earlier this year.

The saddest aspect of all three assaults is that some analysts are concluding that the atrocious attacks took place owing to a rivalry between the Balochistan Police and the FC. To rub salt in the wound, another pseudo intellectual and TV anchor, gave a new twist to the depressing incident by presenting the farfetched theory that the ISI and law enforcing agencies are to be blamed by declaring that the attacks were a reaction to the alleged missing persons and mutilated bodies case. This is not only shocking that our so called analysts jump to conclusions even before the incident is over and an inquiry is carried out but is contrary to journalistic ethics and is tantamount to inadvertently playing into the hands of the enemy that desires dissension in our ranks and a blame game to be effective. The enemies of state plan surreptitious attacks and apportion culpability on national institutions. Let us remain united and not strengthen the heinous agenda of the adversary.

The new nationalist government in Balochistan is under a severe test for restoring law and order in Balochistan, while the current political dispensation at Islamabad needs to pick up the gauntlet of trials and tribulation and take immediate steps to stem the rot. To date, the worst enemies of the state have not dared to target the monuments associated with   Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the symbol of Pakistan’s sovereignty. The miscreants must be made to realize that their dastardly attack may demolish the Ziarat Residency but it can never repudiate the idea of Pakistan from the hearts and minds of the patriotic citizens of Pakistan.

Find the life insurance policy suitable for you 

By Marie Nelson

If you have a business, that is, you are the shareholder in a company or a director, then you may be paying more tax on your life insurance than what is required. A relevant life policy will provide you a death benefit on an individual basis regardless of the size of your business. These aren’t classified as “benefit in kind”.  This basically means that you don’t have to pay tax on the premiums. In majority cases the benefits are devoid of inheritance tax, keeping in mind the benefits are being paid through a discretionary trust.

There are some very pronounced advantages of relevant life insurance policies. Firstly the company will pay for your premium which will not be assessed to income tax on you as a benefit in kind. If you are in the high tax-paying block, then this will result in significant savings. Secondly, this is nothing like a registered group scheme. The benefit that you will receive will not be included in pension allowance for lifetime. Along with these, the fact that you will be using a discretionary trust for a relevant life policy will give you some added advantages. These are:

• When it comes to relevant life policy, there are restrictions on who can avail the benefits, thus using a trust makes sure that the restrictions are met. It is only your dependants and family members whom you can include as beneficiaries.
• When a trust pays the benefits, it is ensured that the benefits are not taxed as a part of the trading income of companies nor are they included in the assets of the company.
• The trust is discretionary in nature, meaning, it provides flexibility on who the benefits are paid. However, it is advisable that you inform the trustees about your intentions by using a nomination form. This helps the trustees, normally the directors of the company, to give guidance although this form is not legally binding.
• The benefits paid will be devoid of income tax and inheritance tax.

When it comes to the limit that a relevant life cover has, there are guidelines which apply for you to be eligible for tax concessions. The requirements for the application of this are:

• The cover for the insurance must be paid in a lump sum amount before an age of 75 is reached.
• The benefits that are provided would be only for terminal illness or death.
• Benefits are required to be paid through a discretionary trust.
• Beneficiaries are either direct dependents or family member.

Such life policy are relevant to you only if you have some specific business composition. These are:

• If you are the Director of a company and would like your company to pay for the cover of your life insurance in order to offset the premiums paid for corporation tax.
• If you are a part of a small business are there aren’t enough eligible employees to go for a group life insurance policy.
• If you are a high-earning director or employee and have substantial pension funds and you don’t want that your benefits be included in your lifetime allowance.

Thus you can see how relevant life policy can be beneficial for you and when.

By Stephen M. Walt

I’ve been in France for the past three days, attending a conference on “The Internet and International Politics.” I plan on blogging about that event later this week, but first a few comments about the surprising victory of Hasan Rowhani as the next president of Iran.

I suspect that almost everyone will interpret his election as a vindication of whatever position they held before any votes were cast. Hard-liners who have pushed for ever-tighter sanctions and threats of war will claim that the election is a sign that ordinary Iranians are saying uncle and want the government to do whatever is necessary to end Iran’s isolation and encourage economic recovery. So naturally the hawks will call for more of the same. Alternatively, those who have called for engaging Iran and who have defended the legitimacy of the Iranian republic will see this surprising result as evidence that there is real democracy there, however truncated or constrained. And they will of course see this as an opportunity for constructive engagement.

Perhaps the only person who will be seriously disappointed by the outcome is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is bound to miss the less-than-competent and reliably cartoonish figure of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad’s irresponsible and offensive comments about Israel and the Holocaust made it easy to demonize the entire country and helped keep the idea of preventive war on the front burner. Rowhani is hardly a softie on the nuclear question or on regional security issues, but he’s likely to be much harder to portray as a bloodthirsty Persian version of Hitler.

Rowhani’s election also presents the kind of political opening that Barack Obama’s administration hoped would emerge from the last Iranian presidential election, way back in 2009. Having extended a (very) tentative hand of friendship when he first took office, Obama was undoubtedly crossing his fingers for Ahmadinejad to lose and be replaced by a more moderate figure. The hope was that a more moderate president in Tehran would respond positively to Obama’s overtures and that Ahmadinejad’s departure would reduce domestic opposition to a less confrontational approach to Tehran. Instead, we got the contested election of 2009 and a harsh government crackdown against the Green Movement, developments that made it harder for both the United States and Iran to pursue an alternative course.

Although Rowhani’s election does present an opportunity, my bet is that the United States and Iran will find a way to squander it yet again. Since 2000 (if not before), the bipartisan U.S. approach to Iran has been to demand its complete capitulation on the question of nuclear enrichment and to steadily ratchet up sanctions in the hopes that Tehran will eventually give Washington everything it demands. Obama briefly let Brazil and Turkey pursue a more flexible approach, but his administration quickly scuttled the resulting deal.

Given the calcified layers of mistrust between these Iran and the United States — dating back for decades now — achieving a deal on the nuclear question and a broader improvement of relations will require both patience and political courage by both sides. Iran is not — repeat not — going to give up possession of the full nuclear fuel cycle, so the United States will have to accept Iran as a nuclear-capable power. Iran will have to accept strict limits on its program and will have to find ways to reassure its neighbors and the United States about its nuclear and regional ambitions.

Back in Washington, any attempt at a serious rapprochement will also have to overcome relentless opposition not only from AIPAC and the other major groups in the Israel lobby, but also from Saudi Arabia and some other Gulf states. Unfortunately, the U.S. political system doesn’t reward patience, and Obama has not shown himself to be especially bold or courageous when it comes to foreign policy. Indeed, he has yet to take and stick to any foreign-policy position that requires him to buck powerful political forces at home. By the time his finger-in-the-wind approach to diplomacy has run its course, the opportunity for a new approach to Iran may be lost, thereby reinforcing the Iranian belief that the only thing the United States will accept is the end of the Islamic Republic, and strengthening the American conviction that even reformist Iranian leaders are beyond the pale.

And then there’s the supreme leader, whose views and preferences remain something of a mystery. But not a complete mystery, as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly said he would judge the Obama administration not by its words but by its deeds. This is a perfectly sensible position, of course, and it is also how the United States ought to judge Iran. But that means that if U.S. policy doesn’t change, and if it keeps making the same demands and employing the same tools (i.e., sanctions), we can be confident that nothing will change. And Obama’s decision last week to send small arms to the rebels in Syria is hardly a step likely to make Iran feel better about Washington’s regional objectives.

I could be wrong about all this, of course, but so far no one has ever lost money betting on Iran and America’s seemingly infinite capacity to misread the other and thereby maintain their mostly irrational and counterproductive enmity. As is so often the case these days, I would be delighted to be proven wrong.

Stephen M. Walt is the Robert and Renée Belfer professor of international affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, where he served as academic dean from 2002-2006. He previously taught at Princeton University and the University of Chicago, where he served as master of the social science collegiate division and deputy dean of social sciences. He has been a resident associate of the Carnegie Endowment for Peace and a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution, and he has also been a consultant for the Institute of Defense Analyses, the Center for Naval Analyses, and Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Professor Walt is the author of Taming American Power: The Global Response to U.S. Primacy (W. W. Norton, 2005), and, with coauthor J.J. Mearsheimer, The Israel Lobby (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007). He presently serves as faculty chair of the international security program at the Belfer Center for Science and international affairs and as co-chair of the editorial board of the journal International Security. He is also a member of the editorial boards of Foreign Policy, Security Studies, International Relations, and Journal of Cold War Studies, and co-editor of the Cornell Studies in Security Affairs, published by Cornell University Press. He was elected as a fellow in the American academy of arts and sciences in May 2005.

Courtesy Foreign Policy

By Brig Asif Haroon Raja

After deposing Taliban regime and occupying Afghanistan, the US and its strategic partners embarked upon a covert war to disable Pakistan’s nuclear program but kept giving signals of friendship. Total freedom of action enjoyed by the US intelligence agencies and officials in Pakistan enabled the US to embroil Pak security forces in FATA and Balochistan, penetrate all the departments, establish CIA network and gather vital information about Pakistan’s nuclear program. By the time Musharraf and the US protégé Shaukat Aziz left the scene, the US had gained sufficient control over Pakistan’s foreign, defence, economic and political policies.

By installing NRO cleansed regime in March 2008, Asif Ali Zardari as all-powerful president in August 2008, a dummy parliament under mumbling Syed Gilani and later on under corrupt Raja Rental, appointing America’s chosen men Hussein Haqqani as Ambassador in Washington, Maj Gen retired Mahmood Durrani as defence adviser, Rahman Malik as interior minister and Wajidul Shams as Chief Commissioner in London and with strings in the hands of Negroponte and Richard Boucher, a stage had been set to put Pakistan on sale and denude Pakistan of its integrity, sovereignty and dignity. Each member of the parliament and their cronies wanted to earn as much of ill-gotten wealth in five years of rule. The gang of looters started plundering the nation from the day one and continued to suck the blood of 180 million people gluttonously till the last day of their rule. Every penny was scrounged and Pakistan put under a mountain of debt. Day to day state expenditure was met by printing currency notes.

The top leaders bestowed upon themselves lifelong perks and privileges by issuing last minute executive orders. In order to restrain the proactive judiciary from convicting them and their cronies, the rulers defied rule of law and directives of higher judiciary and defanged the prosecuting and anti-corruption agencies. NAB, FIA, AG and law minister/secretary were mandated to protect the crooks and criminals making money for the rulers at all cost. Wherever required, convicted persons were given presidential pardon and were further rewarded. Such shameful acts were justified under the concept of reconciliation the benefits of which were confined to the selected few only.

While Rahman Malik protected foreign agents and spies including Blackwater, Haqqani facilitated entry of CIA agents and members of US Special Forces by granting visas liberally without clearance. He had virtually succeeded in letting the US Special Forces to barge into FATA in 2011 after May 2 incident, affecting a complete change in security apparatus consisting of pro-US senior officers and opening up nuclear program to US inspectors.  Haqqani wanting to become the head of the new security team in Pakistan had handed over the treasonous memo to Mansoor Ijaz for onwards dispatch to CJSC Admiral Mike Mullen and James Jones was made party to the secret plan. Between July 2010 and October 2011 when the memo issue was exposed by Financial Times, Haqqani had pushed in 7000 CIA agents for the materialization of his objective. It included Raymond Davis and hundreds of his types of pathological killers.

Gen Kayani and Lt Gen Pasha’s affidavits submitted to the Supreme Court confirming the existence of memo led to sacking of Haqqani, but it was a close shave. The prime accused was housed in Presidency and then in PM House as a state guest. It is unfortunate that such a poisonous snake was allowed to sneak out to Washington during his trial at the assurance of devil’s advocate Asma Jahangir. His wife with dual nationality who was party to the scheme was personally whisked out of Pakistan by President Zardari.  Haqqani was a fit case to be tried under Article 6 of the constitution. The memo case must reach its logical end. We must know whether the memo was Haqqani’s brainchild or someone else in authority was behind him. It doesn’t appeal to senses that he could have taken such a dangerous initiative at his own.

The electronic media that had been widely expanded and liberated by Gen Musharraf was hijacked by foreign powers. India bought heavy shares in leading TV channels particularly Geo while Obama administration invested $60 million in Pakistani print and electronic media. Purchased anchors and writers were mandated to cover up the misdoings of foreign agencies in Pakistan and to discredit Army and ISI. Chosen anchors were glamorized and paid well for serving the cause of foreign paymasters. Among the anti-establishment media brigade, Hamid Mir led the assault to defame the Army by arranging programs on dictated themes and lent strength to Indo-Western propaganda war.

Geo TV arranged seminars and talk shows on settled issues like two-nation theory, ideology of Pakistan, and whether Quaid-e-Azam was an Islamist or a secular. Secularism was promoted and Islam demonized. Sensationalism through breaking news became the hallmark of each channel. As a policy whenever a high- profile terrorist attack took place Pakistan, our media took up cudgels against the establishment and ISI but avoided mentioning the role of foreign agencies.

This policy has remained in vogue despite the fact that CIA, RAW, MI-6, RAAM, Mosad are heavily involved in destabilizing Pakistan since 2002 and Pakistan has ample proofs of their involvement. Attacks on GHQ, Mehran Naval Base, FIA HQ, Kamra airbase, Peshawar airbase, Police Academy, ISI setups couldn’t have taken place without the intimate intelligence support provided by foreign powers. As opposed to passive attitude of our media, Indian media went berserk whenever any major terrorist attack took place in India. I distinctly recall the madness of Indian media on the occasions of Kargil conflict in 1999, December 2001 and November 2008 terrorist attacks in India. All guns pointed at Pakistan and that too without an iota of evidence and internal failings were overlooked. In the 2008 Mumbai episode, Geo TV sent out an investigation team led by Hamid Mir. It claimed that Ajmal Kasab belonged to a village in Punjab.

This sharp contrast in responses of media of India and Pakistan are worth noting. Even when dastardly attacks by banned BLA militants on the women university bus carrying girl students and Bolan medical complex in Quetta, and the Residency of Quaid-e-Azam in Ziarat took place on June 15, 2013 killing 30 people, Hamid Mir in his program ‘Meray Mutabiq’ callously blamed the establishment that it could be behind the attacks to discredit nationalist Dr Malik’s government. His guest retired Major Kamran Shafi fully supported Mir’s diatribe. By staging this nasty program he delighted his patrons who had masterminded the attacks, but he rubbed salt on the injured feelings of 180 million people who have viewed the attack on Ziarat Residency as an attack on Pakistan’s identity. Their emotional attachment with this building where the beloved Quaid had spent last days of his life is understandable. People are demanding early arrest of the culprits and bringing them to justice.

Ziarat attack and terrorist attacks in Quetta were again the handiwork of foreign agencies who got vexed with the fast changing national political spectrum after the installation of new government. Nawaz Sharif besides taking host of constructive measures has given a go-ahead to road/rail linkage of Kashgar with Gwadar and to Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project which has disconcerted the US and India. Tough talk with the US Charge de Affairs by PM”s advisor on Foreign Affairs Fatimi after the second drone attack in North Waziristan was not well received in Washington. The changed political scenario in Balochistan after the appointment of Dr Malik as CM and Muhammad Achakzai as Governor has given a serious blow to the Baloch separatist movement.

June 15 attacks were a crude and shoddy attempt to destabilize the new regime in Balochistan. The plan has backfired and resulted in heightening of revulsion for the separatists and their backers. Notwithstanding the deplorable act of the militants and their sponsors which must be exposed, the role of Hamid Mir and that of Geo TV playing the enemy’s game is even worse and unpardonable. It is high time that this channel which daily airs Hamid Mir’s anti-Pakistan program Capital Talk and pro-India programs, and is also part of RAW sponsored Aman ki Asha, should be disciplined by Ministry of Information and PEMRA.

A Radio Talk By Raja  G Mujtaba

Note: The link to the radio talk is at the bottom of the page.

The tragic killings of yesterday need to be condemned because human life has no substitute. I also pray for the killers that may they see the light and be guided by Allah to respect the human life.

Aimless killing is not allowed in Islam; one can be killed only for a crime that warrants that life of the killer maybe taken.

Today in this hour of grief, its not only the people of Pakistan who are with them but all the peace loving people of the world stand by them.

Quaid-e-Azam Residency, also known as Ziarat Residency was located in Ziarat, Balochistan, Pakistan. It was the Residency where Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah spent the last days of his life. It was the most famous landmark of City. The residency was constructed in 1892. The whole building was actually a wooden structure beautifully designed and had great architectural importance. Originally meant to be a sanatorium, it was converted into the summer residence of the agent of the Governor General. It was declared a national monument and heritage site.

On 15th June 2013, the Residency was targeted with rockets. The building was completely demolished as a result of the attack. Militants belonging to the Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility. The militants also removed the flag of Pakistan from the monument site, replacing it with a BLA flag. It was completely burnt down as a result of the intense attack.

The purpose of destroying it is to hurt the national pride, it’s an attack on Pakistan, on its founding father, M A Jinnah, ideology and sovereignty of Pakistan. A building of such a national emotional importance where the founding father spent his last days how could it be left unguarded is beyond comprehension. It was certainly a clear responsibility of the provincial government. If it goes unchecked the next attacks could be on Minare Pakistan Lahore, constructed in the park where the 1940 resolution was adopted that became the basic document to achieve Pakistan. The other building, the Quaid’s Mausoleum in Karachi could be targeted. If that happens, the government would not find a shelter to hide. That requires immediate security arrangements to protect these two monuments of national importance.

BLA has claimed the responsibility for it through Meerak Baloch alias Aslam Achoo who belongs to Harbiar group called BBC and later Shahzada Zulfiqar a correspondent with Dawn and informed them attacking the residency at Ziarat. Reportedly, Achoo is also involved in the murder of Justice Nawaz Marri.

What is BLA and who are behind it needs to be seen clearly. These are just uneducated and poor people, to them life has no value. They are playing in the hands of the foreign elements through their local sardars with one objective to get money. They are operating from neighbouring Afghanistan that has become the hornets’ nest with over 50 intelligence agencies operating from there. The strength of these dissidents is not even 2% of the population.

To say that Baloch want freedom from Pakistan has been dispelled in the recent elections where all their parties participated and have formed a popular government there. They have got a realization that their life line is with Pakistan where they are respected and treated like brothers. In a private but light conversation, a Baloch said that if they go with the US, they would be treated worse than the Red Indians and after some time there would be not a single Baloch to be seen. The land would be filled with the Americans who would play the Wild West here or the Indians who would fight them like the Mizos or the Kashmiris in Indian Occupied Kashmir. Thus there would be no peace for them.

The other major disaster has been an attack on the university students’ bus where 11 girls were killed on the spot. When they were shifted to the hospital, there more attacks were carried out by the terrorists who had broken into the hospital with their van pretending that they were carrying an injured person.

They attacked the emergency treatment area and killed a few more there before they moved in and occupied the hospital and appeared on the roof to take a vantage position. In the process, they killed a few nurses also. Killing of women and children is not a Baloch tradition no matter how severe the enmity maybe, nor does Islam teach to kill women, children, sick and old.

In a statement, Abu Bakar Siddique, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi spokesperson took the responsibility of  the attacks. While claiming both the terrorist attacks as Fidayee attacks said that first our female fidayee Ayesha Siddiqa targeted the bus that was bringing female students from Marriabad and later there were only 2 fidayeen in BMC to target Inspector General of Frontier Constabulary and Inspector General of Police. He further stated that Sardar Bahadur Khan University bus was targeted as revenge to killing of 3 women at Kharotabad by security forces. The 2nd attack on BMC was against all those who directly or indirectly were involved in the killing of their mujahedeen. He warned the government of PKMAP and National Party that they should learn lesson from ANP government in KPK otherwise confronting the mujahedeen will cost them dearly.

He further stated that government should not become a hurdle in their war against apostate Shias. Warned security forces to get ready for battle and do not try to find them as they will now target each and every center of security forces, with fidayee attacks. Added that IGFC GP and DIG included all the Law Enforcement Agencies personnel were their targets. He claimed that there were only two SBs in Bolan Medical College, Khadim Hussain alias Abdul Malik and Mohammad Ahmed alias Ludhianvi. He rejected government claims of arresting any of their activists by police and said it was a lie to salvage respect and hide failure. Said only two fdayeen kept security forces engaged for 6 hours and that their war against Shias will continue.

Now a major question arises that is it totally an internal matter or are there any foreign hands involved in it. Well to asses that we need to study what are the foreign interests here and why.

Actually, the projects like Gwadar Port, Pak-Iran Gas pipeline and Chinese interest of developing the region as future economic corridor are totally against Western and US sinister design of separation; even the GCC countries do not like the idea of Gwadar Port. To this end, the U.S. and her allies keep on creating unrest through clandestine and psychological operations to achieve their objectives. On February 8, 2012, The United States (US) Congress Committee on Foreign Affairs while discussing Balochistan showed concern over security problem and killing of the people. This raised eyebrows in Pakistan why Pakistan’s internal matters are being discussed in the US Senate?

Earlier, on November 21, 2009 Balochistan International Conference was organized by a group called “American Friends of Balochistan” (AFB) at National Press club Washington DC, USA. Selig S Harrison (Director Centre for International Policy), Andrew Evia, Wendy Johnson , Annie Wocenti, Hyrbyair Marri, Mehran Baloch, Ahmed Masti Khan , Munir Mengal, Air Armanda, Professor Neale Baloch (close confidant of Barmmadagh Bugti) were the speakers and participants of conference . in their speeches, they spoke against Pakistan and Iran. The conference declared Pakistan as an occupant country and also asked Islamabad to dismantle her nuclear arsenals. Reportedly, behind this conference CIA, MI-6 and RAW were the real movers.

In fact, deliberate US, Indian and UK interference in Pakistani Balochistan is aimed at exploiting the issue while supporting Pakistani, Afghani and Iranian militants to speed up the movements of Independent Balochistan. It can be said with certainty that if Pakistani Balochistan is broken away, it will also take its chunk from Iran and Afghanistan.

The three collaborators i.e. The US, The UK and India are promoting anarchy in Pakistan by helping, sheltering and funding some of anti-Pakistan elements. In this regard, in 2010, Indian Deputy Foreign Minister met Baloch militants who assured them New Delhi’s full support in speeding up their struggle. At that time Munir Mengal was also assured that about a dozen or so European countries will be able to openly recognize independent Balochistan Government. Reportedly after the meeting, the Baloch visitors were also paid US $ 25000/ dollars each.

After the 9/11 event, America, UK, Israel and India covertly made an alliance to look after their strategic gains in Asia. To this end, the intelligence agencies of the U.S. and her allies cultivated and planted agents under the garb of NGOs in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and China. These agents became active in gathering intelligence, creating instability, anarchy and terrorism in Pakistan, China and other host countries. Similarly, many NGOs and human rights organizations are being paid for raising Balochistan Issue according to CIA’s set agenda and time frame.

It is also interesting to note that on August 12, 2011 Mr. Rehman Malik, former Interior Minister of Pakistan while talking to the media , confirmed that foreign hands are involved in the unrest of Balochistan but he never declared their origins, why?

In the same context, the UK and the US made another attempt to accomplish their agenda to separate Balochistan when at the 23rd regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s general debate in Geneva on 7 June, supported militant Mehran Marri, who is the youngest son of Karachi-based anti-Pakistan Nawab Khair Baksh Marri who was jailed for seven years for burning Pakistani flag is Balochistan’s representative to the UN. As expected and tutored, he spoke against the recent elections and alleged that Pakistan was committing rights abuses in Balochistan.

Pakistan being an independent sovereign state, is a member of the UNO and its affiliates etc. then having a Baloch representative there is a gross interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan.

The other day, a report was received from a source that the US is planning to deploy 3rd Inf Div in Pakistan. On the face of it sounds farfetched but when seen in conjunction with what is mentioned above, it seems a possibility.

What are the motives and objectives are not hard to asses but it’s for the government of Pakistan and more so for General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to take a note of this development.

On the face of it, it is very clear that the US and her allies are planning to replicate the Libyan and Syrian template where they created the rebels and then trained, armed and aided them to fight their respective regimes. Having done so, the perpetrators moved in with the UN cover to take over and put the country under their yolk. Of course the Syrian scenario is at that stage where the US is contemplating to in any time but Libya is history.

Here it is mentioned with regret that the role of some of the major media houses in Pakistan is far from being patriotic. When compared with the Indian media, who never miss an opportunity to grill Pakistan even on minor matters where as our media not only remains quite to present the Pakistan stance, but they openly go hostile and behave as if Pakistan is not their country; Geo TV is in the forefront to bash Pakistan and its institutes.

To conclude, the two incidents of 15^th June are entirely different in scope and direction. Attack on Ziarat Residency is the work of a handful of dissidents whereas the attack on the Bus and the Medical College is sectarian in nature. Therefore the the attack on students etc cannot be termed as separatist activities.

The Health Policy of PML-N (Part II)

By Dr Ghayur Ayub 

After removal of Nawaz Sharif, the innovative activities of PML-N Health Policy pertaining to ‘Vision 2010′ were scraped. The key officers were removed and were replaced with officers who were either sidelined or removed by the previous government. One such officer who had close contacts with Gen Ghulam Ahmad was provided an office in Cabinet Secretariat headed by the general. He played active role derailing the policyand stopping the innovative programs.

To continue with anti-Nawaz policies, Musharaf’s military regime in 2001 announced a new Health Policy with 10 salient features labelling it‘concretising the Vision: Ten Specific Areas of Reforms’. Interestingly, the 10 salient features were selected from non-innovative and routine programs of PML-N, HP. Then in 2005, the civilian government of president Musharaf came up with another NHP, this time with ‘9 core programs’,again selected from PML-N, HP. Did any of the policy bring change in the healthcare of the public? Apparently not. As a matter of fact, in 2003, the donors did not extend an important activity of ‘SAPP II’ because the government met only 61 percent of its spending targets. The activity dealt with social service delivery of primary education, basic health care, population welfare and rural water supply and sanitation.

In 2008, the PPP government came up with another NHP. When I raised the point of it being an extension of PML-N HP in an article titled ‘Yet another health policy’ the health ministry rebutted it in newspapers stating“The new health policy would aim to strengthen the existing systems and create linkages between preventive and curative referrals”. Inadvertently the ministry confirmed my point of expostulation. In simple words, the non-innovative and routine programs of PML-N, HP became the basis of the three health policies announced by three successive governments in ten years.

So what were those innovative programs of PML-N, HP which if implemented could have brought revolutionary changes in ‘physical’ health, ‘mental’ uplift, ‘social’ well-being, and ‘spiritual’ awareness of the public?Some of the programs were;

1. Availability of basic medicine at the door step as part of National Drug Policy.

2. Poverty Alleviation Program.

3. Dialysis program

4. National Health Care Schemes including National Health Insurance Scheme and National Health Card Systems.

5. Mosque and health program

6. Community Oriented Medical Education (COME).

7. Epidemic/Disaster Preparedness (DEWS), as part of Health Management Information System (HMIS)

8. Preparation of computerised database for; Structuring Pakistani society through disease demography and health details of population especially in tribal areas; Population census; Remapping of tribal belt through updated communication maps.

As one can see these activities covered ‘physical, mental, social, and spiritual’ aspects of health of the individuals. Let me briefly take up these programs one by one.

1)..Availability of basic medicine at the door step as part of National Drug Policy. The policy was introduced based on suggestions taken from the drug policies of France, Australia and South Africa. There was a background history to it. For example, a haphazard drug price hike hit the public in early 1990s, when the concept of ‘free economy’ was introduced in Pakistan. To solve the problem task was given to three successive committees led respectively by Tariq Sidiqui, A G N Kazi and Shahnaz Wazir Ali. They divided drugs into ‘controlled and decontrolled’ groups in 1994. Through a formula it was decided the government would keep its hold on prices of 25% of the drugs and the remaining 75% were left to the industry to adjust prices according to market flow. It meant the industry was allowed to fix prices of drugs wherever or whenever they deemed necessary. It was an ill-conceived step which resulted in rapid escalation of drug prices up to 1000% in some cases. When PML-N government took over in 1997 the mistake was recognized. By that time, most of the firms had made such huge profits that, according to some statisticians, they could remain in surplus up to 10 years without price rise.

Keeping such flaws in mind, a National Drug Policy based on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) was incorporated in NHP to; bring rationale in drug prices; make medicines accessible to the poor; improve the standards of drug manufacturing; upgrade the local pharmaceutical industry; and to introduce the concept of R&D in the local industry.

Local firms were given special permission to manufacture low priced essential drugs such as digoxin, thyroxin, mestinon, angasid etc. These drugs were manufactured only by the multinationals and were used as tool to pressurize government by bringing deliberate shortages. The aim of the government was to; come out of unnecessary pressures tactics of multi nationals; make the basic drugs available at the door steps of the poor. As a result of the policy, drug prices were not increased during PML-N government. Rather prices of 74 drugs were reduced between 10%-30% and the prices of 86 raw materials were reduced to the tune of Rs 1.15 billion. After removal of PML-N government in 1999, 8%-10% of price raise was given in 2000 and 3%-4% in 2001.

At provincial level, Shahbaz Sharif took the lead by; 1) forming a task force on spurious/substandard drugs to look into, working of medical stores and taking action against those who were violating drug laws, selling drug according to licensing policy, keeping drug prices in check, monitoring and supervising; testing of drug samples; controlling quackery; formation of drug courts. 2) removing all the drug inspectors with poor record. 3) freezing/banning new drug sale licenses. 4) providing funds to establish a new drug testing laboratory with modern facilities. 5) initiating mass media campaign to warn the deviant drug manufacturers, chemists, drug inspectors, quacks and other unscrupulous elements involved in the manufacture/sales of spurious/substandard drugs and to create awareness among the public on the issue. 6) establishing 3 extra drug courts at Multan, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad to reduce delays in handling the spurious/sub-standard drug cases.

This was just a small part of National Drug Policy implemented in Punjab and part of KPK (NWFP). If the policy was fully implemented in all parts of Pakistan, it would have brought revolutionary changes at the gross root level improving the ‘physical’ aspect of public health and cases like ‘ephedrine’ would not have taken place to improve the ‘social’ status of certain powerful individuals through unfair means. (To be continued)

The end

Health Policies of PML-N Part I

By Humayun Gauhar

Stop defaming our people. It is not that we don’t pay taxes. It is that our governments don’t take taxes. It is a grave injustice to accuse Pakistanis of being tax evaders when governments tax only a few and keeps squeezing them while most of the economy remains undocumented and outside the tax net and an entire sector amounting to a quarter of the GDP is constitutionally outside the income tax net. More power to the feudal, what?

What frauds they are to revile their employers who appoint them as their servants at high salaries and perks. They are not supposed to loot them and then lord it over them all the while pretending that they are doing them favours when all they are doing is their job very badly. Their job is to improve their employers’ lot, not make a mess and then blame their employers for being tax evaders. Can foreign governments then be blamed for saying, “No more largesse if you don’t pay taxes.” If your own employees defame you, why shouldn’t others? Instead, they should say, “No more largesse if you keep employing thieves and incompetents to run your affairs.” That would be fair and accurate.

Look, no one likes paying tax. It is human nature. In western countries they pay not just because they are good citizens. They also pay because they know that if they are caught they will be hung and quartered and no mercy shown, not even to the high, mighty and famous. If we did that we would hardly have an employee left for they are mostly tax evaders themselves.

Who the hell told them not to tax those who should be taxed? Why cannot they document the legal but ‘informal’ economy? Why have they ducked the issue of making feudal lords and tribal chieftains pay income tax by making agriculture a provincial subject? Agriculture should be provincial; income tax is always a federal subject. Those who earn above a certain amount have to pay regardless of what source it has been earned from, even dancing girls and eunuchs. I dare say they pay in cash and kind more than our rulers do.

Who told them to appoint tax collectors that actually tutor taxpayers on how to pay less provided they give them a bribe? If you don’t your servants have the power to slap wrong and unverified tax demands on you and make you run from pillar to post trying to get justice from an avowedly Islamic state whose systems are all based on injustice. You will only get off the hook by paying a larger bribe. Then you want me to tell you about the budget? It’s a fraud. It’s a sham. It’s a big yawn.

I use my words advisedly. Look at this headline: “Plan to seek IMG loan for settling debt.” What does this nonsense mean? A loan is a debt. Loans increase debt, not “settle” it. Our born-again finance minister follows the standard operating procedure: blame the predecessor. After the budget he said: “Our predecessors have left behind a large debt stock. We have not taken these loans, but we will pay it back. We will borrow to repay instead of adding to the debt stock.” Could someone please give me the key to decode this gibberish? Sure they didn’t take these loans; they had taken other loans in the past and when they gave way to the army in 1999 our total debt was nearly as much as our GDP. If Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz could bring it down to some 57 percent, why can’t they? Do what Shaukat Aziz did: negotiate debt reprofiling from the Paris Club. You will say that Shaukat took advantage of America’s need for our support after 9/11. Sure he did, but it was only because he and his boss had the sense to take advantage of it. A wise person uses whatever advantages he has for his benefit. This government too has such an advantage, perhaps a greater one: America’s need for Pakistan’s support to enable an orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan by end 2014. Use it. Get your debt reprofiled again. Then you will have the breathing space you need. But you still won’t do what needs to be done because you don’t know how to do it, because you have another agenda: self-perpetuation and self-aggrandizement. This is what happens to a people who become so totally dependent that they lose their independence and sovereignty and have to dance to Mr. Moneybags’ tune.

So what do they do? They give us not a ‘people-friendly’ (whatever that means) budget but an IMF-friendly one. Budgets should be country-friendly; they then become people-friendly in course of time – short-term pain for long-term gain.

Our new government is old wine in old bottles that were stored for 14 years. Real wine improves with age but not human wine already gone off for the grape is bad. They cannot think out of the box and adopt a new economic model based on realistic self-reliance – live within your means as best as you can and let Mr. Moneybags take the hindmost. Given our dire economic straits, all they know is that they cannot do without another IMF bailout which they politely call ‘programme’. So their brilliant strategy is:  better to implement some obvious IMG conditions now to enable a quick IMF programme rather than be seen to be pandering to the Fund later. Now you understand why the budget came in such indecent haste? Wouldn’t it have been better to wait for negotiations and then agree to unavoidable conditions but in return for some of our own terms? Those who count votes don’t think like this. Those who don’t know their own strengths and others’ weaknesses and needs don’t understand this.

An IMF bailout will only create the illusion of ending pain in one place by creating greater pain in another. If you have a headache and I break your knee with a hammer you will forget your headache and start moaning about your knee. Your attention is diverted from your headache and you will think that I have cured it. It’s like a housewife taking the muck out from under one corner of the carpet and hiding it under another. This doesn’t decrease pain but increases indebtedness and our annual debt-servicing bill. With nothing left for anything else we keep printing more notes until inflation hits the stratosphere. We keep taking more loans to service existing loans and keep building our debt burden under which the backs of future generations will break. We have sold our soul to Dr. Faustus, so what is all this analyzing about? What else can a team short of imagination and long on rhetoric do? It has already been measured twice before and found wanting. They treat any sort of authority as a fief instead of a trust.

How can I paint a rosy picture for you then? That would be hypocrisy, something we are adept at. People belittle bitter truth-tellers as purveyors of doom and gloom, but in so doing they only gain false temporary comfort. When the truth finally hits them in the face like a wet fish they shall know.

We treat symptoms rather than the disease. Our economic disease is that government doesn’t earn enough revenue to meet its needs. Bridge that gap and you bridge everything – fiscal deficit, circular debt, energy shortfall, blah, blah, blah – all will be solved if government collects enough revenue.

Now cost of living will increase and incomes squeezed. Put another way, prices will go up while real incomes come down. This is the perfect recipe for an explosion. We used to take comfort in the fact that an Arab Spring type revolt couldn’t happen here because unlike them we have safety valves – democracy or what passes for it, parliaments infested with more liars than truth tellers and a press that is free but not totally independent. Well, Turkey had the same safety valves and it exploded without warning while we were perpetually being harangued to emulate the ‘Turkish Model’. In the blink of an eye it has become a model of what not to emulate. The excuses that Turkey may have been infiltrated by Syrian militants, Al Qaeda or Israel taking revenge for its prime minister having to apologize to the Turkish prime minister over the flotilla incident don’t hold water that can douse the fire. No one can light a spark unless you have prepared the tinderbox yourself.

Pakistan too is a dry wood tinderbox. Smoke has started coming out. Food and water are what matter, not excuses that people cannot eat. If they are missing conflagration becomes inevitable. It needs just one spark. What that spark will be no one can guess: something as one-off as a fruit seller self-immolating or a protest over a building. These are just excuses for pent up rage and frustration to boil over. Then our charmed rulers and their stooges will have nowhere to hide. If a country like Pakistan explodes all hell will break loose. No one wants that. So watch it and come down to earth the home of reality.

One of the wonders of the world was built by Muslim King, Shah Jahan.

Hindus disclaim Muslims contributions in India

By Brig Asif Haroon Raja

Hindu Brahmans suffer from perpetual inferiority complex owing to historical reality that the Hindus had been ruled by Muslim rulers for nearly 1000 years. Historically, India in its entire history was never a single nation, nor a united country. Hindus forget that whosoever invaded India captured it and ruled it for centuries. No invading force was ever defeated. Hindus ignore the fact that the Muslim rulers had made India strong and prosperous and had brought remarkable improvements. Hindus were treated affably and their religious customs and traditions respected.

Muslims were the last to arrive starting with capture of Sindh by Muhammad bin Qasim in 712 AD. His conquest laid the first brick of Hindu-Muslim antagonism which thickened over a period of time. With the decline of Arab power in Sindh, the sword of Islam passed into the hands of Turks from Central Asia. Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi after consolidating his hold in Afghanistan led his troops into northern India in 1000 AD. During his 30-year reign, he stormed India 17 times, toppling kingdoms after kingdoms. He detached Punjab up to River Ravi from India and made it integral to his Ghaznawid Empire.

Sultan Shehab-al Din Ghauri reinvigorated the downhill course of Ghaznawid Empire from 1173 onwards. He annexed Delhi, Ajmer and Kanauj in 1192 and practically captured all of northern India from Ravi to Assam with his capital at Delhi. Qutbuddin Aybek ascended the throne in 1206 and heralded the era of Sultanate of Delhi. Iltutmish (1211-36) contributed significantly to the advancement of Islamic architecture initiated by Qutbuddin.  He pushed back the invasion of Mongols led by Changez Khan in 1221. Ghiasuddin Balban (1267-1287) brought significant improvements in the field of administration and political machinery. He introduced intelligence network to keep himself informed, established Qazi courts to dispense cheap and speedy justice, and also kept the Mongols at bay.

Among the Khilji dynasty, Allaudin Khilji (1296-1315) proved to be most successful and historians rate him as the best Sultan of India. His rule was the first period in point of time when Muslims hold encompassed nearly the whole of India. Khiljis influenced the lifestyle of Indian people. Tughluqs, Sayyids and Lodhis didn’t make any significant improvements. Rather Tughluqs caused damage to the fabric of Indian unity and tempted Taimur to invade India in 1393 and devastate it. Zaheer-uddin Babur (1526-1530) raised the flag of Mughals in India in 1526 after defeating Ibrahim Lodhi at Panipat. He consolidated his rule in India in just two years and his kingdom stretched from Kabul to Bengal and from Himalaya to Gwalior. Humayun (1530-1540 and 1555-56) died just after six months of his return from exile in 1555.

Sher Shah Suri during his five-year eventful rule spread network of roads throughout India including the famed Grand Trunk Road. He introduced revenue system, abolished Jagirdari system and did a lot for welfare of peasantry. He extended benefits to Hindu elites. Very few people could do so much in so little time.

Emperor Akbar during his fifty years rule (1556-1605) gave preferential treatment to the Hindus in order to create unity out of diversity. He befriended Rajputs who helped him in consolidating his power. He elevated Rajputs and Brahmans to high posts, married Rajput princesses and adopted Hindu customs. To appease Hindus, he abolished Jizya, cow and buffalo slaughter and doled out lavish grants for temples.  These measures helped in fostering common patriotic fervor and promoted stability. His effort to blend Islam with Hinduism through his experiment of Deen-e-Illahi so as to achieve national unity and to please high caste Hindus was ill-conceived. His brainwave dampened his tremendous gains, but the Hindus adore him to this date.

Jahangir (1605-1627) was a scholar of repute and known for his just dealings. He however, failed to nip the controversy of his father’s Deen-e-Illahi in the bud. He also followed the policy of his father to keep high caste Hindus pleased. Hindu power continued to grow in power. Shah Jehan (1628-1657) expanded the frontiers of Mughal Empire from Central Asia and Afghanistan in the West to Bengal in East and Deccan in South. He is acclaimed for his rich contributions in art and architecture and ushering in abundance of prosperity because of his sound agriculture policy.

Aurangzeb Alamgir (1658-1707) has been censured the most by Hindu and British writers and dubbed as anti-Hindus. He had to undo the wrongs of his predecessors. It must not be forgotten that the Mughal Empire reached its highest glory under his rule and became the largest state ever known in Indian history. Unlike his predecessors, he led a very simple and pure life. His total earnings at the time of his death were from copying Quran and knitting prayer caps. He forbade his kinfolk not to build any tomb over his grave.  His death marked the beginning of end of Mughal Empire.

Besides the contributions of the Muslim Sultans and the Mughal kings, the Sufi saints carried the message of equality and tolerance and in the process spread Islam. Their contributions in spreading the message of Islam between 8^th and 11^th centuries were stupendous. The Buddhists, Jains and low caste Hindus suffering under the coercive yoke of Hindu Brahmans flocked towards the peace loving Sufis and converted to Islam in big numbers.

High caste Hindus served the Muslim rulers loyally as long as the Mughal Army was strong and the rulers were strong-willed. Fun-loving Mughal kings who came after Aurangzeb took up a backseat and allowed disruptive forces to gain strength. Mughal power was given a crushing blow by Nadir Shah’s invasion of India in 1739 followed by his successor Ahmad Shah Abdali who ravaged India nine times between 1748 and 1767.  These invasions catapulted the Marhattas who had been defeated by Aurangzeb. They became so strong that they started dreaming of establishing a Hindu Empire and to completely eliminate Muslims as had been done by the Christians against the Muslims of Spain.

Sensing their evil intentions, Shah Wali Ullah sent a distress signal to Abdali. He responded and shattered Marhattas dream in the 3^rd battle of Panipat in 1761. The deadly conflict between the Muslims and the Marhattas weakened both and created space for the British to gain supremacy in India. Disunity together with chaos and confusion gave ideas to the British East India Company to wrest control. The British systematically broke the Muslim power by co-opting Hindus and courtier Muslims.

Battle of Plassey marked the beginning of British rule over Bengal in 1757. Defeat of Haider Ali and later elimination of Tipu Sultan in battle of Sirangapatam in 1799 and breaking the backbone of Marhatta power stamped the supremacy of the British rule in India and paved the way for full control of whole of India. War of independence was the last ditch effort by the Muslims to chuck out the British in 1857, but was failed by the Hindus, Sikhs, Punjabis and Pathans. The British eventually succeeded in dethroning Bahadar Shah Zafar in 1858 and establishing direct rule.

It took the British 100 years to end the Mughal rule and establish British Raj. The Hindus rather than joining hands with their erstwhile benevolent masters to fight the common enemy started serving the new masters and both jointly schemed to sink the fortunes of the Muslims. The Marhattas, the Sikhs and the British conjointly pulverized the foundations of Mughal Empire. Although the status of Muslims in India was reduced from lords to serfs and Hindus became lords, it didn’t lessen the hatred of Hindus against Muslims. The Hindus now disclaim Muslim contributions and claim that mythical ancient India was more prosperous and united

poor to tighten the belt, rich to enjoy.

PORTALS IN BUDGET 2013

By Brig Samson S Sharaf

Considering Pakistan’s pressing economic issues, it was felt that the government would announce affirmative measures towards revival of the economy through tax reforms, ability to investigate and discipline the energy sector and propel growth that appreciates the rupee. Budget 2013 lacks all three.

Taxation

At a glance the Budget gives relief to the corporate sector with the idea of attracting investments and agitating growth by promising successive cuts in taxes. The ability of the corporate sector to deliver will depend largely on its ability to ensure export led growth, cheaper domestic consumption as import substitution and employment. The budget is business friendly with a calculated risk covered by widening of the tax base (challenging) and the easy to enforce levies in consumptive taxes.  Energy deficits and high costs stare down the throat of this sector.

The Finance Bill 2013 has been introduced to widen the tax base.  This aims to bring 500,000 tax evaders into the net and authorising FBR to tap into the online banking system, credit cards and suspicious transactions. To hedge its bets, the government has decided to raise additional taxes by increasing the GST from 16 to 17% and levies resulting in an expected yield of 209 Billion that translates exactly to a budgetary deficit of 6.3 %, a decrease of 2.5% from the 8.8 % in the past.

This reflects eagerness to appease IMF and qualify for assistance. As old habits die hard, the finance minister is once again indulging in jugglery. The budget preparation is an exercise at calculating backwards after factorising the fiscal deficit. The Finance Minister now feels confident to declare that the government will go to IMF at its own terms; the people should swallow the bitter pill; and the salaried class should wait another year before relief comes.

If the corporate sector performs in the next 12 months, the government shall have the initiative of announcing midway reliefs. If not, its tax machinery will ensure that the last drops of blood are sucked out of stones. As events will prove, there is a rolling budget at hand subject to modifications in the course of 12 months. Lolly pops are far and few.

It is this aspect that reflects poorly on the lessons learnt from Pakistan’s fiscal history of two decades. Had the hindsight been there, the budgetary outline would have been different.

Increase in indirect consumptive taxes led by the GST regime does not auger well for the documentation of economy and sustainable growth. If the majority consumes, the supply chain automatically delivers more revenue. A bulwark approach targeting the ultimate consumers in recession is a recipe for hyperinflation, poverty and crime.

Sales Tax is the oldest sledge hammer. Its basic premise remains to collect a levy at every stage of transaction. Ultimately the entire burden passes on to the last buyer. Private cash holdings and undocumented economy are forced into circulation, triggering reflation, raising Consumer Price Index (CPI) and expanding the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It also allows the effective tax rates to be much higher than the declared ones; an aspect why FBR shies away from the onerous task of direct taxation in preference to this indirect method.

The method holds substance in economies like USA that are productive, consumptive and export competitive. If both domestic economy and exports do not propel consumption, the revenue shrinks as component of GDP. This is what has happened in the past decade.

Since the 80s, Sales Tax has failed to set off these precursors. The solution therefore lies in gradual edging out of GST with a more robust, scientific and documentable Value Addition Tax that taxes each level of profit with a small levy ultimately assisting in determining tax brackets of individuals and businesses. The government has shied away from VAT.

Energy

It seems the government has neither the incisive dissection of Pakistan’s energy crises building since 1994 nor the memory of having antagonised the IPPs in the late 90s. The biggest suspicion is that the new un-spelled methodology of handling the crises may land the IPPS and the World Bank at loggerheads with the government again. The circular debt will be reborn due to the price mechanisms, hidden subsidies and fuel cartels.

Under the pricing mechanism of 1994, IPPs with tax exemptions had recovered investments and begun remitting profits and outsourcing costs abroad. They became the new energy manipulators. In 2004, realising the cost of fuel inputs in the energy sector, the government set off to create a state run monopoly in the name of PSO. This monopoly along with distribution companies in the past decade is reported to have embezzled over 37 trillion rupees aggravating cost for local consumers and industry.

Apart for corruption and high cost of fuel, a cascading effect has been the high cost of electricity being paid in US dollars. Repeated devaluations, an archaic WAPDA, distribution companies and the PSO cartels have combined to create a circular debt that can run Pakistan blue in months.

The budget has shown no inclination towards revamping the existing system and investigating PSO. Though the volumes of this corruption are confirmed, rumours suggest that the ineffectiveness of the previous National Accountability Chief had links to his intentions of investigating the biggest scandal of Pakistan’s history in exposing PSO and Ministry of Petroleum.

Appreciation of Rupee

After 9/11, despite $13 billion in the system and an appreciating rupee, the Central Bank ignored the lesson to devalue the rupee. Devaluation means more debt, rising costs and inflation. Unless the tax base is overtly broadened, fuel cartels controlled and domestic production given incentives, the economy cannot grow. The seizure of FCAs in 1997 proved that a weak rupee was not a pre-requisite to boost exports. The present budget in the absence of any growth led initiatives gives no indication that the government has learnt its lessons.