Karachi: When it is the time to pay undivided attention to the economy, our political parties are increasing political temperature in the country, which is an ostrich-like effort to hide from the horrible facts, said Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor here.
In a statement, he said that riots and hooliganism that was seen during the previous week waa a black chapter in the history of the country. He said the historical residence of Quaid e Azam in Lahore, Jinnah House was stormed, ransacked and burned. He regretted that the PTI chairman Imran Khan has clearly adopted an anti-state and anti-army posture and his workers are freely rioting in the country and spreading hate speech against the security forces. However, the role of the government parties is also not much laudable as they are also focusing on demos, sit-ins and rallies instead of playing a firefighting role. He said the tirade of Imran Khan and his workers against the army leadership is not only shameful but it should attract action under Article 6 of the constitution of Pakistan. He said had any politician from the smaller provinces adopted the anti-army posture of Imran Khan, he would have been punished as per law, promptly. He said strangely the law enforcers and judges both have turned their blind eye to anti-state statements and actions of Imran Khan and his workers.
Altaf Shakoor said the economy is left behind as an orphaned child. Food inflation in Pakistan is highest in the region. Banks in Pakistan are making record profits as they are given a free hand to loot the Pakistanis. He said the bank spread in Pakistan is the highest in the world. Real wages of workers are falling due to the fast depreciating rupee. Almost every family of working class people is under heavy loans. People are unable to feed their families and buy medicines in case of illness. The number of out of the school children is on a sharp rise.
PDP Chairman said the debt trap and dollar-based international trade have marred the Pakistani economy. He said when many other countries are ditching the US dollar and doing cross border trade in bilateral currencies the rulers in Pakistan are still clinging to one-currency international trade. He said why we are not using Chinese, Russian and Gulf currencies for our international trade. He asked for barter trade with Iran, China and Afghanistan to lessen our blind dependence on the US dollar.
Altaf Shakoor said we are still using fossil fuels for our energy needs, while ignoring cheap solar, wind and nuclear energy sources. He said the government should ensure that every household, every shop, every office, installation and workplace must have big or small solar energy systems. He said trillions of rupees could be saved if we adopt a solar system countrywide. He said that dozens of new nuclear power plants should be set up in the country to produce cheap electricity.
Altaf Shakoor said agriculture is another sector that can make Pakistan one of the richest countries of the world. He said with vast fertile lands and one of the best canal irrigation systems in the world there is no reason why we should import the edibles like wheat and cooking oil. He said all idle state lands should be distributed amongst landless Haris. He said besides local manufacturing of all imported goods should be given a top priority to salvage our economy and create new job opportunities.
He said this is the time to focus on the economy not on political mudslinging. He said all anti-state politicians should be jailed and their parties banned. He said new harsh laws should be enacted. He said political judges, if any, should be sacked at once. No one should be allowed to run parallel institutions. There should be one policy: to serve the nation and country instead of serving individuals. He said this is the time to focus on the economy and there is a need to bring down rising political temperatures.
