There is a Persian proverb ‘tang aamad bajung aamad’ (even a cornered rat will fight). Over the years, the plight of government servants hasn’t registered any positive change, in spite of repeated reassurances by the government. Pakistan’s history bears witness to the fact that whenever the working class has raised its voice, imprisonment, torture and oppression became their fate. When driven by adversity, these government servants protested, the government showed its hospitality by teargas shelling. Afterwards when the government saw that things were starting to get out of hand, it had to back down and the wages were raised by 20 percent to 30 percent, but the government has failed to increase more than 10 percent in the budget this year. I want to ask the government; what recourse is there for the public that is facing the brunt of rising inflation for the past two years?
Developed nations always maintain a balance between the ratio of income and prices of goods and services, otherwise the tsunami of inflation, graft and dishonesty can’t be countered. If the government couldn’t bear the pressure of protests, why weren’t these demands met earlier? Why did they have to take to the roads in the first place? I would urge the officials to kindly spare some time and have a look at the dire situation of the government servants who are condemned to a state of perpetual poverty and are barely making ends meet while trying to maintain a semblance of respect and dignity. Their problems are eating away at their lives.
In England, protests against inflation were held in every era including those of Margret Thatcher, Tony Blair and David Cameron. Millions took to the roads but never once did the government resort to force. Similarly, during the last year’s recession in Spain and Greece, public protests were not stopped with force and brutality, nor were the employees laid off because of peaceful protests. In sharp contrast, here Riyasat-e-Madina is held as an example but the actions are worse than that of a banana republic. There should be some rules to regulate a protest, however , whether the protest is being held outside the Parliament or in some remote, little known area; it should be given due importance. The rulers should listen and respond to the grievances voiced thus because that is the true spirit of democracy.
According to a report of CEIC, GDP growth rate registered a miniscule increase but prices were increased manifold so that the poor may never become financially independent. If the present government is serious in transforming Pakistan into an Islamic welfare state in letter and spirit then it must start working to get rid of the current Riba (interest) based economic system. The importance of this effort was realised by Luxemburg. In spite of being a Christian country in the middle of Europe, they have completely gotten rid of the interest-based system and have established their economy on Islamic economic principles. This is a strong slap in the face of all those who claim to establish the Islamic welfare state.
Islam has given rights even to stray dogs and no one is allowed to treat them brutally. How can the followers of Islam treat humans worse than animals? It is shameful to say the least. The decency of our ministers is such that instead of putting salves on the wounds of the underprivileged and the downtrodden, they feel pride in inflicting wounds. We have seen the protestors in this very same Islamabad attacking the Supreme Court and the PTV headquarters; we have seen them burning electricity bills and heard them talking about civil disobedience while standing in the red zone. Why this wrath over the protest of the poor and the needy now? This culture needs to end now. The incumbent government came to power raising the slogan of justice and with the mandate to end injustice. If they are also going down this route then the direction of ‘change’ isn’t quite right. There are many ways to end such protests in the world and the dominant amongst them is improved performance and fulfilling of promises. This is followed by talks and if that doesn’t do the job then accepting defeat is the brave thing to do.