Economic Collapse

Federal Minister Syed Khushid Shah informed the house that due to poor law and order situation and power and gas crisis in the country many industrialists have been forced  to shift their industries abroad to countries like Bangladesh where apart from other conducive conditions for the industry the taxes are also lower by 18 per cent.  A banker friend told me sometime back that about 18 big industrialists of Faisalabad had shifted their plants to Bangladesh and Jordan as it was no more viable for them to operate in Pakistan. This trend is alarming to say the least.  There is already unemployment in the country and the labour is facing acute hardship due to forced shut downs and no work.  No foreign investment is coming nor is expected in the near future. On the top of it if the existing industry also closes down or shifted abroad it will create a vicious circle of still more unemployment and further losses of jobs.  Are our rulers alive to such an economic collapse towards which the country is heading? Apparently not, or else they would have taken measures on the war footing to arrest the situation. Instead they are busy in foreign tours, conflicting with the higher judiciary, quibbling on petty matters among themselves, indicting Moonas Ilahis and Qadir Gillanis or thinking for the mid term polls to save their souls. God save Pakistan from such petty minded selfish pigmies who have no vision at all for the future of the country and the nation, ameen.

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)