DR A. H. KHAYAL
Washington intends to inject $125 million into Pakistan’s veins. We need not be surprised. It will not be a first injection of its kind. Washington keeps periodically administering such injections. Essentially, it is because of such injections that Pakistan keeps breathing normally. If America were to stop injecting, would Pakistan expire? Most probably not. But instead of breathing normally, it would begin gasping for breath. But we should not be nervous. Pakistan’s life history is predominately a history of uncertain breathing. Pakistan is an addict of this kind of breathing.
America suspects that most of its aid money to Pakistan is eaten by corruption. America must know that there are two brands of corruption: financial corruption and political corruption. If Pakistan is financially corrupt, America is politically corrupt. Pakistan’s financial corruption is a strictly native affair. But America’s political corruption is a global affair.
Did Iraq need American financial help during Saddam’s regime? Not at all. Iraq was a prosperous country. Yet America occupied Iraq. It was purely a political corruption. Before Iraq, Korea and Vietnam had been victims of American political corruption. Currently, American political corruption is at its peak in Afghanistan.
America is using Pakistan as a military base for its military activities in Afghanistan. America firmly believes that it has got Pakistan on lease for an indefinite time period. According to the lease terms, America is free to use Pakistan as a donkey-master is free to use his donkey.
The lease has created a horrific problem for the Pakistani masses. They are wonderingly asking: “Where does the lease money go?” They should know that the money is exclusively meant for a mysterious class of Pakistanis. It is strictly prohibited from getting anywhere near the masses. The lease money is a very obedient creature. It behaves as it is commanded to behave.
The day the Quaid left us, Pakistan was allotted to some very special Pakistanis. The allotment empowered them to use the country freely for their personal interests. They were jubilant. They enjoyed Pakistan to the least of their enjoying capabilities. When their life-span was over, the allotment was transferred to some other special Pakistanis. They enjoyed the country more lavishly than their predecessor did. When their life-span was over, the allotment was transferred to still another group of special Pakistanis.
It went on and on like this non-stop. The country’s plight went on worsening and worsening non-stop. Today Pakistan is a heart-rending incarnation of misery. But, luckily, a remedy is available. The tradition of allotting Pakistan to special Pakistanis must forthwith be executed and the country allotted to the masses.
Our masses are miserable. But there is no need to be depressed. Poverty is a universal phenomenon. As there is poverty in the non-developed countries, so there is poverty in the developed countries. But there is a fundamental difference between the poverty in a non-developed country and the poverty in a developed country. In a developed country, a poor citizen is a citizen to whom all the basic necessities of life are readily available. It is only the luxuries of life which are beyond his reach.
On the contrary, a poor citizen of a non-developed country is a citizen who has to struggle hard even for a piece of bread. No wonder, the poor citizens of non-developed countries keep praying: “0’ God, kindly bless us with the poverty of the poor citizens of the advanced countries.” What an enviable poverty is the poverty of an advanced country!
Unfortunately, the poverty of the poor citizens of a non-developed country is a creation of the rulers. The lifestyle of the rulers of a non-developed country is far more expensive than the life style of the rulers of the developed countries. The rulers of the non-developed countries live in the seventh heaven. The rulers of the advanced countries live on earth. If the rulers of the non-developed countries were to surrender just a part of their expenses for the betterment of their poor compatriots, the poverty would flee the land.
The writer is an academic.