{"id":990,"date":"2019-03-10T16:19:15","date_gmt":"2019-03-10T16:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wsm.prolerat.org\/?page_id=990"},"modified":"2019-10-21T01:10:46","modified_gmt":"2019-10-21T00:10:46","slug":"fifty-years-of-loot-plunder-and-intrigues","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/fifty-years-of-loot-plunder-and-intrigues\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifty years of loot, plunder and intrigues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
October 1997, Pakistan<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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Pakistan, meaning a “land of the pure”, turned fifty this year. Looking back\nover the past five decades of Pakistan’s political history, a picture of utter\nhopelessness, disillusionment and decay in almost every field, flashed into the mind. A\nland which was carved out on the map of the world after enormous sacrifices were rendered\nin the form of precious human lives stands today in utter contrast to the ideals and goals\nwhich were promised by the pioneers of the Pakistan Movement and which were so gullibly\nbelieved by the people of that time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recalling the promises about independence and the high enthusiasm of the people at the\ntime of partition 50 years ago, the present anxieties about the way things are drifting\nand about an uncertain future certainly cause dismay. Pakistan is almost on the verge of\nbeing declared a “failed state”. Public faith in the political leadership has\nbeen completely eroded and the working class are not sure about what they have to\ncelebrate on the occasion of the “Golden Jubilee”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pakistan has floundered from crisis to crisis during its 50 years of existence. Over\nthis period Pakistan has been a hotbed for self-seeking politicians, military adventurists\nand a corrupt bureaucracy, all of whom have played their full share in wreaking havoc on\nthe country’s political and social fabric. More than half of the country’s lifespan has\nbeen under the rule of military dictators who in their bid to stay firmly in power left\neverything shattered and utterly ineffective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brutal and oppressive martial law regimes have made the country pass through a furnace\nof afflictions, but the civilian governments were no less corrupt. Every successive\ngovernment simply brought more miseries to a country which was already suffering under the\nunbearable burdens of poverty, state oppression, and the worst kind of exploitation at the\nhands of those whom they have voted into power. The faces changed, the people’s lot\ndidn’t. The policies which were framed during the last 50 years have been ineffectual and\nno serious attention has been given to the most pressing problems like health, education\nand other civic facilities. Today, the situation has reached a point of no-return. A\ncountry with a literacy rate of not more than 20 percent does not have the right to dream\nof progress and prosperity. Pakistan may have equipped itself with mass weapons of\ndestruction and a powerful military, but the great majority of the country are poor. More\nthan 70 percent of people have no access to clean drinking water, and about 70 percent of\nthe population live below the poverty line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pakistan’s economic problems have gone from bad to worse. Its per-capita income is one\nof the lowest in the world. It is a debt-ridden country and has to pay enormous loans\nwhich it took from the World Bank and IMF. Every successive government has borrowed almost\nunlimited loans from these agencies at very high interest rates. The result is that the\ncountry lies as a hostage in the hands of the World Bank and IMF who dictate their terms\nand conditions at will. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To make matters worse every institution in Pakistan bleeds from wounds inflicted by\ngreedy and corrupt politicians. According to a recent international report, Pakistan\nranked second as the most corrupt country in the world. At the same time Pakistan\ngovernments have beaten the drum for holding criminals accountable for corruption. But how\ncan a thief catch a thief? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today the people of Pakistan feel betrayed and cheated. They didn’t expect the kind of\nmess that has developed over the last decades. There is a class of a few who have amassed\nenormous wealth and monopolised all the resources while the majority remain in miserable\nconditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Political dynasties have been established and the same names appear again and again on\nthe political stage every time elections take place. Pakistan is said to have democracy.\nBut what is going on inside the parliament is a mockery of democracy. These\n“patriotic” politicians have made themselves a laughing stock for the rest of\nthe world. The government machinery has failed to provide for the needs of the people. The\npolice are the lords of the land. They are at liberty to round up anyone and implicate him\nor her on false charges. Recently extra-judicial killings became an issue as hundreds of\npolitical workers and innocent people were murdered by the state police. No-one has yet\nbeen brought to book. Pakistan is a strange land where the mighty and powerful seem to get\naway with anything because no-one dare lay their hands on them. The people of Pakistan\nhave become so fed up with their rulers that they have lost their hope and are apparently\nawaiting some miracle to come to their rescue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The widening gap between the rich and the poor has frightening dimensions. The lava\nboiling within the inner core of this land can explode at any time. The rulers have for a\nvery long time cornered or ignored the masses of this country and further testing their\npatience might have disastrous consequences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many people are now questioning the rationale behind the very existence of this country\nas the promises given to the masses have not materialised. People are suffering due to\nprice hikes, corruption, sectarian killings, and an utter collapse of state institutions.\nHow can they now be expected to feel jubilant when they have been denied the basic\namenities like food, shelter, education and health? The state apparatus stands to secure\nand guard the interest of those who are the unquestioned masters of this land. The entire\ncountry may go to the dogs. It may starve to death but it will not stir any emotion in\ntheir politicians’ hearts. These heartless monsters have played with the working class’s\nfuture for too long. Today all of them stand condemned at the bar of public opinion and\nthey have been stripped of their pretentious and apparent supremacy. A time will come when\nthey will face the wrath of the people. Then their wealth and riches will not save them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Author: A Socialist Correspondent from Pakistan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Please email your comments about this article to feedback@worldsocialism.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
October 1997, Pakistan Pakistan, meaning a “land of the pure”, turned fifty this year. Looking back over the past five decades of Pakistan’s political history, a picture of utter hopelessness, disillusionment and decay in almost every field, flashed into the mind. A land which was carved out on the map of the world after enormous…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"magazine_newspaper_sidebar_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-990","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=990"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2633,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/990\/revisions\/2633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}