Missing footballers
IN the nation’s living memory, Balochistan’s burns have never run dry. The province has grappled with historical wrongs, political differences, ethnic turmoil and armed insurgencies, leaving its resource-rich land poor and far behind the rest of the country. Amid permanently high tensions, atrocities touched another low a fortnight ago when six young footballers, on their way to the All-Pakistan Chief Minister Gold Cup Football Tournament in Sibi, were abducted at gunpoint by unidentified persons. The worrying incident occurred in Kachhi Canal of Sui area in Dera Bugti. According to reports, the kidnapped players hail from Bugti clans and are closely related to separatists who recently surrendered to the security establishment. Initially, the entire 24-member squad was taken hostage, however, 18 were set free soon after. Officials in Dera Bugti say that a dozen suspects have since been arrested. The caretaker Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti had claimed that an operation to recover them was underway but it seems that so far the administration and police are clueless about their whereabouts and captors. The veil of silence around the issue has become deafening.
The fact that the state is unable to safeguard a district sports team en route to a tournament puts local and federal dispensations in the dock. The episode is a reminder of the lawlessness that pervades a province where years of neglect, deprivation and violence have ensured there is no love lost between its people and the administration. Besides, allusions to separatist groups in the province have never placated the Baloch, trapped as they are between militants and the establishment. We cannot emphasise enough that despite Mr Bugti’s assertions about security forces being deployed for rescue, the evident lack of action is a sad reflection on the administration’s priorities. These young players should not be allowed to become statistics in a long list of those who have vanished without a trace. The authorities must find them.
Published in Dawn, September 23th, 2023
No closure
WHAT is a Pakistani life worth in the eyes of the state? Clearly not enough, if one were to draw a comparison with Canada, which has thought nothing of jeopardising its relations with New Delhi as it takes a stand for the rights of an adopted citizen.
Soon after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly held India responsible for orchestrating the assassination of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, opposition leader Pierre Poilievre quickly voiced his support, saying, “We must be united for our home and for each other.
Let us all lock arms and join hands in condemning this murder, standing with the family and friends of its victim.“ It is difficult to overlook their response while confronting the apparent lack of energy in our own authorities’ efforts to investigate or prosecute the murder of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya last year.
It has been 11 months since Sharif was killed in highly suspicious circumstances by a Kenyan paramilitary outfit, but despite the incident being described by a Pakistani fact-finding committee as a “planned, targeted assassination” perpetrated by “transnational characters”, we still know very little about the individuals involved and their motives.
This week, a case filed on behalf of the state against Sharif’s murder was shelved due to the prosecution’s ‘disinterest’ in pursuing it. The Sharif family had persistently refused to join the case proceedings, as they felt the state had disregarded their ‘right’ to file the FIR as the slain journalist’s heirs.
While the state must respect the family’s wishes, the case’s shelving should not put an end to efforts to trace Sharif’s killers and hold them to account. According to Sharif’s family, the journalist, whose departure from the country was sudden, had said that his life was under threat from certain elements.
It remains to be determined if these same elements eventually became involved in his killing. It is disappointing also to note the seeming lack of interest from international media rights organisations in pursuing Mr Sharif’s case.
Sustained pressure from them could have pushed the authorities of both countries to pursue their investigations matter more vigorously and make a clear determination of the facts of the case — it is a course they can still pursue. This high-profile assassination cannot be brushed under the carpet, nor should its perpetrators be allowed to walk free.
Published in Dawn, September 23th, 2023
IMF chief’s advice
IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva’s message to Pakistanis to collect taxes from the wealthy shines a light on the country’s inequitable tax system, which is the primary source of almost all our economic woes, including an unsustainable fiscal deficit, elevated inflation, a low investment rate and a frail balance-of-payments position.
“I do believe that this is in line with what people in Pakistan would like to see for the country,” she said after meeting caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.
“We agreed on the vital need for strong policies to ensure stability, foster sustainable and inclusive growth, prioritise revenue collection, and protection for the most vulnerable in Pakistan,” she told Pakistani journalists.
“What we are asking in our programme is, please collect more taxes from the wealthy and please protect the poor people of Pakistan.” Mr Kakar was less forthcoming on the gist of his brief discussion with Ms Georgieva, characterising the meeting as “constructive” and “focused on mutual commitments”.
This is not the first time the IMF boss has urged Pakistan to tax the wealthy to boost its tax revenues. Back in February, she stated that, in order to function as a country, Pakistan must ensure that its high earners pay taxes and only the poor get subsidies.
Sadly, the previous PML-N-led ruling coalition, like its predecessors, did not heed her advice. The budget in June failed to address the root cause of the nation’s ever-dwindling tax revenues as it slyly avoided bringing undertaxed and untaxed sectors such as real estate, agriculture and retail effectively into the revenue net for fear of a political backlash.
Instead, it chose to increase the tax burden for ‘captive taxpayers’ — salaried individuals and the organised corporate sector — to meet the revenue goals of the IMF for a new bailout programme.
Tax measures incorporated in the budget — such as the distinction made between filers and non-filers — contradict the larger goal of documenting the economy and discourage tax compliance, perpetuating the risks to the long-term sustainability of the country’s economic structure.
With one of the world’s lowest tax-to-GDP ratio of 8.6pc, Pakistan has been running a fiscal deficit of more than 7pc for the last several years because of the rulers’ unwillingness to expand the tax base.
Little wonder that the country now finds itself in a debt trap, and is always looking for ever-shrinking handouts from global lenders to pay its bills and a little money to help its inflation-stricken poor.
It is time that Pakistan’s policymakers paid heed to what Ms Georgieva has been asking them to do for the country to be able to become a functioning entity by directly taxing all incomes, irrespective of their source, and reducing indirect taxation.
Published in Dawn, September 23th, 2023