Sunday, February 9, 2020
Saudi Arabia: Specialized Criminal Court a political tool to muzzle critical voices
A new report published by Amnesty International today exposes how despite all their rhetoric of reforms, the Saudi authorities are using the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) as a weapon to systematically silence dissent. Alongside the report, the organisation is also launching a campaign calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all human rights defenders detained for their peaceful expression.
In the report titled “Muzzling critical voices: Politicized trials before Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court” the organization documents the chilling impact of the SCC’s prosecutions of human rights defenders, writers, economists, journalists, religious clerics, reformists and political activists, including of Saudi Arabia’s Shi’a Muslim minority who have suffered grossly unfair trials before the SCC and received harsh sentences, including the death penalty, under vague counter-terror and anti-cybercrime laws.
The Saudi Arabian government exploits the SCC to create a false aura of legality around its abuse of the counter-terror law to silence its critics.
Extensive examination of court documents, government statements and national legislation, as well as interviews with activists, lawyers and individuals close to the cases documented were included in the report. Amnesty International wrote to the Saudi authorities on 12 December 2019 and received one response from the official Human Rights Commission summarizing relevant laws and procedures but failing to directly address the cases raised in the report.
“The Saudi Arabian government exploits the SCC to create a false aura of legality around its abuse of the counter-terror law to silence its critics. Every stage of the SCC’s judicial process is tainted with human rights abuses, from the denial of access to a lawyer, to incommunicado detention, to convictions based solely on so-called ‘confessions’ extracted through torture,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Director.
“Our research gives lie to the shiny new reformist image Saudi Arabia is trying to cultivate, exposing how the government uses a court like the SCC in the ruthless suppression of those who are courageous enough to voice opposition, defend human rights or call for meaningful reforms.”
The government’s rhetoric about reforms, which increased after the appointment of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, stands in stark contrast to the reality of the human rights situation in the country. At the same time as they brought in a set of positive women’s rights reforms, the authorities unleashed an intense crackdown on some of the highest profile women human rights defenders who had for years fought for those reforms as well as other citizens promoting change.
very stage of the SCC’s judicial process is tainted with human rights abuses, from the denial of access to a lawyer, to incommunicado detention, to convictions based solely on so-called ‘confessions’ extracted through torture
The SCC was established in October 2008 to try individuals accused of terror-related crimes. Since 2011, it has been systematically used to prosecute individuals on vague charges which often equate peaceful political activities with terrorism-related crimes. The counter-terror law, which has overly broad and vague definitions of “terrorism” and of a “terrorist crime”, contains provisions which criminalize peaceful expression of views.
Amnesty International’s report documents the cases of 95 individuals, mostly men, who were tried, sentenced or remain on trial before the SCC between 2011 and 2019. The trials of at least 11 individuals detained for their peaceful expression and association continue before the SCC until this day. Some 52 are now serving lengthy prison sentences of between five and 30 years.
Several Saudi Arabian Shi’a Muslims, including young men tried for “crimes” they were accused of having committed when they were under the age of 18 are at imminent risk of execution following grossly unfair trials before the SCC. At least 28 Saudi Arabians from the Shi’a minority have been executed since 2016, many of whom were sentenced to death by the SCC based solely on torture-tainted ‘confessions.’
Grossly unfair trials
Amnesty International closely reviewed eight SCC trials of 68 Shi’a defendants, the majority of whom were prosecuted for their participation in anti-government protests, and of 27 individuals prosecuted for their peaceful expression and human rights activism. In all cases of the 95 individuals, the organization concluded that the trials were grossly unfair. Defendants were convicted and, in many cases sentenced to death, on vague charges that criminalize peaceful opposition or in relation to charges of violence.
The most common charges used in proceedings analyzed by Amnesty International include “disobeying the ruler”; “questioning the integrity of officials and the judicial system”; “inciting disorder by calling for demonstrations” and “forming an unlicensed organization” – all of which describe acts protected by the right to freedom of expression, assembly and association.
Every single defendant in the SCC trials reviewed by Amnesty International was denied access to a lawyer from their arrest and throughout their interrogation. Appeals against SCC judgements are conducted behind closed doors without the presence or participation of defendants or their lawyers.
Our research gives lie to the shiny new reformist image Saudi Arabia is trying to cultivate, exposing how the government uses a court like the SCC in the ruthless suppression of those who are courageous enough to voice opposition, defend human rights or call for meaningful reforms
One of the most striking failings of the SCC in the trials reviewed by Amnesty International is its unquestioning reliance on torture-tainted “confessions”. At least 20 Shi’a men tried by the SCC have been sentenced to death on the basis of such “confessions,” with 17 of them already executed.
Muzzling peaceful voices
Virtually all Saudi Arabian independent voices, including human rights defenders, writers and religious clerics are behind bars serving lengthy sentences handed down by the SCC and other courts since 2011 or remain on trial on charges related to their peaceful expression or activism.
Among those prosecuted by the SCC are founding members of independent human rights groups that the authorities shut down in 2013. For example, all 11 founding members of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) have been tried and sentenced in recent years for their human rights work. Others include human rights defenders such as Mohammad al-Otaibi, a founding member of the Union for Human Rights, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges related to his efforts to form an independent human rights organization. He is currently facing new charges for his communication with international organizations and his attempt to seek political asylum.
Others who remain on trial before the SCC include Salman al-Awda, a reformist religious cleric arrested in September 2017, who faces the death penalty for peacefully exercising his rights to freedom expression and of association. Amnesty International has documented the trials and sentencing of 27 such individuals by the SCC. It considers 22 of the 27 still unlawfully detained to be prisoners of conscience and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.
Crushing dissent in the Eastern Province
Since 2011, over 100 Saudi Arabian Shi’a Muslims have been brought before the SCC in relation to both peaceful criticism of the government in speeches or on social media and participation in anti-government protests. They have been tried on vague and varied charges ranging from organization or support for protests, to alleged involvement in violent attacks and espionage for Iran.
On 2 January 2016, the authorities announced that a Shi’a cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, known for his critical stance towards the government had been executed, sparking renewed protests in Eastern Province. In July 2017, Youssuf al-Muhsikhass, who was sentenced to death following a grossly unfair trial was executed with three other Shi’a men, and in April 2019 a mass execution of 37 men, the majority of them Shi’a, was carried out.
If the King and Crown Prince want to show they are serious about reforms, they should as a first step immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience, ensure their convictions and sentences are quashed, and declare an official moratorium on all executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty
The SCC has also sentenced to death and executed several young men for crimes committed when they were below 18 years of age following “confessions” extracted through torture or coercion. Three juveniles – Ali al-Nimr, Abdullah al-Zaher and Dawood al-Marhoon – were arrested separately in 2012 aged 17, 16 and 17 respectively in relation to their participation in anti-government protests. The three are at imminent risk of execution after they were sentenced to death following grossly unfair trials before the SCC.
Urgent reform required
Amnesty International calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience as well as fundamental reform to the SCC to ensure it can conduct fair trials and protect defendants from arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment. There must also be independent investigations into allegations of torture or other ill-treatment in custody and full reparation for all victims of torture and other human rights violations by state officials or those acting on their behalf.
“If the King and Crown Prince want to show they are serious about reforms, they should as a first step immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience, ensure their convictions and sentences are quashed, and declare an official moratorium on all executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty,” said Heba Morayef.
In March and September 2019, the UN Human Rights Council adopted unprecedented joint statements on Saudi Arabia setting out a number of benchmarks for urgent human rights reforms. None of these have been met and Council members must ensure sustained scrutiny at the Council by supporting the establishment of a monitoring and reporting mechanism over the human rights situation.
#Pashtuns hit streets in Loralai, #Karachi
Thousands of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) activists and supporters held peaceful rallies in Loralai district and Karachi city of Pakistan, demanding the release of their leader Manzoor Pashteen, who was arrested last month on charges of sedition.
Videos shared on social media under the hashtag PashtunLongMarch2Loralai show a large number of protesters participating in the rallies organised by the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), a social movement which exposes the military offences and brings to the front the issues, which continue to plague the locals including enforced disappearances and fake encounters by the state.
Pashteen, the 27-year-old human rights activist and founder of PTM, was arrested last month along with nine other members of the organisation and sent to 14-day judicial remand by the magistrate on the charges of sedition.His arrest drew tens of thousands to rally across cities around Pakistan and worldwide, accusing the government and the Army of Human Rights abuses. It even drew criticism from European Foundation for South Asia Studies (EFSAS) -- a European think-tank -- who noted in its commentary that the arrest has engendered shock and dismay across Pakistan, as also internationally.Pashteen has since been granted bail in two of the four sedition cases while hearing on the remaining two are expected to be held in Dera Ismail Khan on Monday.The demonstrators rallying in Loralai and Karachi today also demanded justice for Arman Loni, a PTM leader who was killed during a sit-in in Loralai, Balochistan on February 2, last year. Loni's family and members of PTM had maintained that he was killed in a police crackdown and demanded that the Balochistan government take notice of his death.
Meanwhile, Dawn reported that Sunday's demonstration was joined by Ghinwa Bhutto, the chairperson of the Pakistan People's Party (Shaheed Bhutto).
Other than Loralai and Karachi, the Pakistani city of Peshawar has also witnessed a protest by traders of North Waziristan for nine consecutive days, who seek compensation for their damaged shops in Miramshah Bazaar of the tribal district.
Holding banners and placards, the traders marched from the Peshawar Press Club and observed a sit-in outside the provincial assembly building to record their protest against nonpayment of compensation to them for their losses, as per a report by Dawn.
The demonstrators told reporters that hundreds of shops were damaged and destroyed in Miramshah Bazaar during a military operation but the federal government has not yet fulfilled its commitment to compensate the affected traders.
https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/263970799/pashtuns-hit-streets-in-loralai-karachi
Pakistani clerics demand death for minor Hindu girl for renouncing Islam after she was abducted, forcibly converted and married to Muslim man
Mehak Kumari who had earlier admitted to willfully marrying Ali Raza and denied any external pressure behind her conversion to Islam has now retracted this statement of hers and alleged that she was forcefully converted to Islam.
Radical Islamists and clerics in Pakistan have demanded the beheading of a Hindu minor girl named Mehak Kumari, who was abducted, converted to Islam and forcibly married to a Muslim man, for leaving Islam. Mehak was abducted from the Jacobabad district of Sindh province in Pakistan on January 15. These Pakistani clerics now want the minor girl dead after Mehak retracted her previous statement in the court, where she had said that she had accepted Islam of her own free will.
In a video going viral on Twitter, few radical Islamists and clerics of Pakistan are heard blaming 14-year-old Mehak of murtad, or an act of Apostasy, and are demanding death punishment, accusing her of insulting Islam.
One of the clerics added that they have rejected the probe and proceedings of Sessions Court and have already moved to the high court. Additionally, one said that they will go to the Shariat Court if the girl is not brought to justice in a manner they want.
Mehak Kumari who had earlier admitted to willfully marrying Ali Raza and denied any external pressure behind her conversion to Islam has now retracted this statement of hers and alleged that she was forcefully converted to Islam.
Her parent’s had contended in court that Mehak’s confession should not be accepted as she is a minor. They said: “Pakistani law doesn’t give the voting right to a minor, they can’t get a driving license, then how could it accept a minor’s statement of willfully embracing Islam and marrying a Muslim man without the consent of her family?”
Age Verification certificate of Mehak Kuamri.She cried in court that she was forcefully raped & converted but judges been giving her back to her already married Muslim Rapist to keep her. Now Muslim Clerics demanding her Beheading for leaving islam.This is called justice in pakis
1,106 people are talking about this
The minor Hindu girl was abducted by a man, Ali Raza, in Quetta city of Balochistan province in Pakistan on January 15. Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa had on January 17, posted an undated video on Twitter of the 14-year-old girl Mehak’s father, who was allegedly kidnapped by a middle-aged man named Raza, while she was returning from school. The accused Raza is said to have two wives and four children.
The distressed father of Mehak could be heard saying that he approached the Station House Officer (SHO) and also the Supridentdent of Police (SP) to help him bring back his daughter. The father claimed that the authorities asked him to wait for two-three days.
A day prior to Mehek Kumari, two Hindu girls named Shanti Meghwad and Sarmi Meghwad were abducted in Pakistan on January 14. The girls are residents of Umar Village, Tharparkar, Sindh, Pakistan.
After the series of abductions of Hindu girls in Pakistan were brought to the fore, the government of India on January 17, had summoned a senior official from Pakistan High Commission to strongly protest and share serious concerns about the recent cases of abduction of minor girls belonging to the minority Hindu community of Pakistan.
Pakistan is notoriously known for its persecution of not only religious minorities but also ethnic minorities within their own country.
Few months ago, Huma Younus, a 14-year-old Christian girl from Karachi, was abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to her captor Abdul Jabbar. According to the reports, Younas was kidnapped on October 10 by three men who waited on the girl’s parents to leave the house before forcibly abducting her. She was reportedly taken to Dera Ghazi Khan, a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan, about 600 Kms from her home. Shockingly, a Sindh court has ruled that the forced conversion and marriage of the minor girl is valid as per Islamic Sharia law as she had her first period.
Earlier, Jagjit Kaur, a Sikh girl was abducted and forcibly converted to Islam in Nankana Sahib which had caused a huge uproar. In another horrific incident, a 13-year-old Pooja Sotahar Kumari, daughter of Fatan Rathore, resident of village Bakhsho Laghari in Hyderabad district’s Hosri Taluka, was kidnapped, forcefully converted and subsequently married off to a man identified as Syed Irshad Shah.
The persecution of minorities in Pakistan and other Islamic countries have continued unabated with rampant cases of abduction and forcible conversion of girls belonging to minority communities to Islam being reported regularly.
The Citizenship Amendment Act introduced by the government seeks to provide relief to such Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian minorities who had fled persecution from Islamic countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Many countries are trying to evacuate citizens from China. Pakistan is not.
The mother wanted to know: “Are you taking good care of your health and eating well?”
The father, struggling to keep his composure, turned away from the screen as his face reddened.
Their son, Azlan Nihar, is one of 800 Pakistani students stranded in Wuhan whom the government in Islamabad is refusing to evacuate. While other countries have evacuated their citizens from the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, officials in Islamabad said a similar move by Pakistan would be “irresponsible” because the country lacks the ability to prevent the spread of the virus and treat those infected.
Four Pakistani students in Wuhan have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The decision reflects the shortcomings of Pakistan’s health-care system, which has long struggled with limited resources and entrenched corruption. The country has a dismal record of containing viral outbreaks and is one of the few in the world still battling polio, with more than 130 cases in 2019. Dengue fever infected more than 47,000 last year.
“We will not let our son be sacrificed for others. Our government is doing this to sacrifice [him] for others,” said Nihar’s mother, Azra, referring to the government’s inability to quarantine people the way other countries have after evacuating them from Wuhan. Even though it is not bringing its citizens out of Wuhan, Pakistan has resumed flights to and from other cities in China. Pakistan’s Health Ministry justified the move with assurances that all passengers would be screened for the coronavirus before boarding planes in China and upon landing in Pakistan. Pakistan’s top health official, Zafar Mirza, defended the decision not to evacuate, saying in an interview that it is “good for the country and for the students there, too.” He said China is containing the virus.
“Our people are properly taken care of,” he said. “We want good for them, and we are doing what’s best for them. We believe any irresponsible act could lead to the spread of virus.” Families of the stranded students have protested the decision not to evacuate, as have opposition politicians. “The government should immediately bring our students back except those affected by the virus,” opposition lawmaker Khawaja Muhammad Asif said during a televised parliamentary session Thursday. “They should be brought back, and they can be tested again and kept in quarantine for some time.” But an editorial in Dawn, a leading newspaper here, suggested many Pakistanis greeted the decision not to repatriate the students with relief.
“While acknowledging the distress of the stranded Pakistanis and the fact that they should have been provided government assistance much earlier, pragmatism must dictate the state’s response,” the editorial said, adding that a coronavirus outbreak in Pakistan would be devastating.
“It is regrettable that facilities in this country are not equal to the task of properly managing quarantine requirements, an important aspect of a well-functioning health system,” the editorial said.
Zeeshan Abbasi, 23, had been studying Chinese in Wuhan when the coronavirus prompted officials to shut down the city. He has since been confined to a small room in his dormitory. The only people permitted to come and go are Chinese officials who drop off food and perform daily medical checkups on the students, according to his brother, Farhan Abbasi.Before the virus outbreak, Zeeshan’s studies in China were a point of pride for his family. He had planned to stay for his graduate studies before returning to Pakistan to work. Now he says he feels trapped and just wants to return home immediately, according to his family members.
“I can see the deep negative impact on their minds. They are in isolation from their families and the entire world,” said Farhan, 34, who keeps in touch with Zeeshan through messaging apps and video phone calls. Every day, he said, his family fears for Zeeshan’s health as conditions in Wuhan deteriorate.
“This agony is beyond explanation,” Farhan said.
Pakistan and spectre of inequality
In their ongoing campaign against rising global inequality, the international NGO, Oxfam, has recently published a series of shocking statistics documenting the growing gap between the rich and the poor worldwide, with the massive burden of unpaid care work being shouldered by women, particularly from the Global South. The report provides a series of disturbing statistics about the rapidly increasing wealth gap between the world’s wealthiest and the poorest. It tells us that the world’s richest 1 per cent have more than twice as much wealth as 6.9 billion people. Contrast this with the fact that almost half of the world’s population lives on less than $5.50 a day. A major reason for this is the wealthiest class’s ability to exert an inordinate influence over their respective governments, thus avoiding fulfilling their social responsibility to give back a part of their wealth, in the form of taxes. Oxfam’s report tells us, for example, that only 4 cents in every dollar revenue comes from taxes on wealth. This is also because the wealthy are able to hide much of their wealth by avoiding their tax responsibilities – 30 per cent of their tax liability to be precise.Is disparity between the rich and the poor, our biggest global challenge? How does uneven distribution of wealth and income affect Pakistan’s wellbeing?
The report also delineates that the effects of this inequality are unevenly felt even amongst the poor, with women and girls suffering its consequences the most. For example, for every 100 boys out of primary school, 121 girls suffer the same fate. Furthermore, much of the work performed by women globally is unpaid, which means women’s ability to move out of the poverty trap is further hindered. Oxfam’s report tells us that the estimated value of women’s unpaid labour is $10.8 trillion a year—three times the size of the tech industry.
For many of us, reading such statistics has become so common that we are almost numb to their implications. For example, how does one wrap one’s head around the fact that 22 of the richest men in the world own as much wealth as all of the women in Africa? The numbers are so staggering as to become almost impossible to grasp. Furthermore, until we talk more concretely about how or whether these growing inequalities are being experienced in our contexts, such statistics remain within the realm of distant and abstract figures.
Is inequality a problem in Pakistan?
There is a great deal of confusion about the nature and extent of inequality in Pakistan. Part of this is due to a lack of comprehensive administrative data on income and wealth. According to the World Bank, the Gini coefficient, which measures the rate of income inequality in a country, rose by 1 per cent between 2001 and 2015, which demonstrates a slight widening of the gap between the rich and the poor in the country. Data shows that the top 10 per cent of the population consumes on average three times more than the bottom 10 per cent, and their incomes are five times as large. Given the skyrocketing rate of inflation in the country as a result of the IMF’s latest austerity programme, one can deduce that the rate of inequality would have worsened even more over the past year.
Under the IMF’s austerity measures, inflation has reached an all-time high in Pakistan, with the costs being overwhelmingly shouldered by the poor. As of January 2020, inflation stood at 14.6 per cent, the highest it has been in nine years. The cost of basic foodstuffs has been particularly high, which hits the poor the hardest. In the last year alone, the cost of tomatoes rose 157.72 per cent, onions 125.32 per cent, vegetables 93.6 per cent, potatoes 87.3 per cent, sugar 26.29 per cent, wheat flour 24.06 per cent, eggs 18.05 per cent, cooking oil 15.44 per cent and meat 13.43 per cent. It is a wonder how the poor are able to put food on their tables given such staggering increases.
Inequality is seen globally through a gendered lens. It should also be approached as such in Pakistan. With only 26 per cent of Pakistani women engaged in paid labour, the vast majority of women are dependent on their husbands or male relatives for their material well-being. Most often, male earnings are shared unevenly within the household, which means that amongst poor households, the female members are doubly disadvantaged. Even when women are earning their own incomes, they are not paid at the same rate as men for the same work. The gender pay gap in Pakistan is reported to be 34 per cent, which is more than twice the global average and is reportedly the highest in the world. Furthermore, the effects of cutting spending on social services such as health and education, are borne inordinately by women. For example, one can guess that the introduction of higher fees for various medical tests in Punjab’s public hospitals, and the termination of free diagnostic care in indoor departments will mean both that women and girls are at risk of being denied medical treatment by already-struggling families and that the increased burden of care work for sick patients will be carried by women in their homes.
Why is inequality a problem?
Growing inequality is not only an ethical problem, inequality has very real detrimental social consequences. In terms of health, studies have found that the higher the rate of inequality, the higher the rates of various health problems including obesity and mental illness. In the context of Pakistan, there has been a shocking increase in suicide rates in some of the most deprived parts of the country with women and youth amongst those most affected. For example, 1,300 cases of suicide have been recorded in Sindh over the past five years. In 2018, 81 per cent of those committing suicide belonged to the lower income groups with most suicides blamed on poverty, unemployment, ignorance, economic conditions, lack of basic facilities of life, debt, forced marriages, violence, and drug abuse. In cities too, poverty has reached crippling levels. A few days ago, a 45-year old man committed suicide by setting himself on fire in Orangi Town, Karachi following a similar incident last month when a father of four took his own life because he was unable to provide for his family.
Rising inequality has also been linked to decreasing social cohesion and an increase in violence of all forms. Numerous studies have demonstrated a link between inequality and an increase in various forms of conflict from the household, to locality and even the national level. This creates a vicious cycle with poverty leading to increased conflict, and conflict leading to more spending on security rather than social welfare. For example, according to government estimates, the cost of acts of terrorism to the national exchequer between 2001 and 2017 is estimated to be $123.13 billion according to the 2016-2017 Pakistan Economic Survey.
Last year the government gave away Rs 20 billion in tax relief to the wealthiest class, which was 40 per cent of the amount of tax it would collect from middle classes. The largest banking, cement, car manufacturing, textile, fertilizer and food companies were the main beneficiaries of these cuts, and the owners of these corporations were amongst the wealthiest individuals in the country.Furthermore, inequalities in terms of development between different parts of the country lead to increasing tensions between ethnic groups and a sense of alienation amongst those who are most deprived. While poverty is a national problem, it is spread unevenly across the country. A staggering 62 per cent of Balochistan’s rural population is living in poverty, and 80 per cent of the poor overall live in rural areas leading to a rapid rate of urbanization and an increasing strain on the resources and infrastructure of our cities. Such spatial disparities have serious political and social impacts and pose the greatest threats to the peace and stability of the country overall. Regional disparities lead to an increase in resentment amongst those who are sidelined by development. If we are attentive to the follies of the past, it was the unequal distribution of wealth between East and West Pakistan that eventually led to the bloody schism between the two in 1971.
What can be done?
While there is no simple solution to the problem of growing inequality, one of the most effective means of reducing the wealth gap is through a more progressive tax structure—one in which the wealthiest citizens contribute the most to the country’s exchequer. A study of inequality in the United States over the last 50 years found that the periods in which taxes were most progressive corresponded with those in which income inequality was the lowest. Currently, the tax structure in most countries is heavily skewed towards privileging the wealthy. According to Oxfam, one of the reasons inequality is growing at such an exponential rate is because governments tend to undertax corporations and wealthy individuals under the guide of protecting business and ensuring growth. In actuality, this allows wealth to be concentrated in the hands of the wealthy and prevents re-distribution amongst the rest of the population. In our own context, we have seen the PTI government provide Rs 20 billion in tax relief to the wealthiest class last year, which was 40 per cent of the amount of tax it would collect from the middle classes. The largest banking, cement, car manufacturing, textile, fertilizer and food companies were the main beneficiaries of these cuts, and the owners of these corporations were amongst the wealthiest individuals in the country.
Even the IMF, which is generally conservative in terms of its policy recommendations, advises countries to increase social spending in order to decrease the harmful impacts of income inequality. In particular, they recommend reducing defence spending and reallocating those funds to social protection. Pakistan has one of the lowest ratios of spending on social services with less than 5 per cent being spent on health and education. If one compares this to the relative size of the military budget, which it is estimated absorbs roughly 20 per cent of the annual budget and keeps wealth concentrated in the hands of a privileged class within the military, the imbalance in priorities becomes even starker.
Apart from specific policy changes, tackling inequality at its root would mean shifting our national approach to poverty alleviation and development more generally. The dominant approach in the current and previous governments has focused on a model premised on charity in order to deal with the problem of poverty. This is evidenced by the Benazir Bhutto Income Support Programme, which provides small cash transfers to women and by the expanded Ehsaas Programme of the current government, which focuses on such measures as soup kitchens and scholarships for the poor. While such programmes provide much-needed safety nets for the poor, they do not challenge the structural reasons poverty exists in the first place and arguably keep the poor in a perpetual state of dependence and marginality. Rather than responding to poverty with charity, the state should approach poverty as an issue of social justice and as a failure of the system overall. Furthermore, the current growth-driven model of development is not only unsustainable from an environmental perspective, it also does not deal with the question of distribution and equity. In order to reverse the process of growing inequality at national and global levels, governments including our own, will have to shift their priorities away from growth and towards a model premised on social justice, fairness and sustainability.
Finally, none of this can happen without a robust and functioning democratic process, which as we know has come under increasing attack in recent years in our context. If governments respond to the needs of the wealthiest at the expense of the vast majority, the income gap and all of the problems that come along with it, will continue to grow.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/610312-the-spectre-of-inequality
احسان اللہ احسان کے فرار کا ذمہ دار کون ہے؟
Author: سید مجاہد علی
تحریک طالبان پاکستان کے سابق ترجمان احسان اللہ احسان کا ایک مبینہ ویڈیو پیغام سامنے آنے کے 48 گھنٹے بعد بھی سیکورٹی ایجنسیوں یا پاک فوج کے ترجمان کی طرف سے یہ بتانے کی زحمت نہیں کی گئی کہ کیا دہشت گردی کے متعدد واقعات میں ملوث یہ شخص واقعی فوج کی حراست سے فرار ہونے میں کامیاب ہوگیا ہے؟
میڈیا کے متعدد اداروں اور صحافیوں نے اس بارے میں سیکورٹی ایجنسیوں کے نمائیندوں سے رابطہ کیاہے لیکن اس خبر کی تردید یا تصدیق کرنے سے گریز کیا گیا ہے۔ گزشتہ روز احسان اللہ احسان کا جو ویڈیو بیان سوشل میڈیا کے ذریعے سامنے آیا تھا ، اس میں دعویٰ کیا گیا ہے کہ وہ 11 جنوری کو فوج کی حراست سے بھاگنے میں کامیاب ہؤا تھا۔ اس پیغام میں کہا گیا ہے کہ اس نے فروری 2017 میں ایک معاہدے کے تحت خود کو پاکستانی ایجنسیوں کے حوالے کیا تھا لیکن اس سے کئے گئے وعدے پورے نہیں کئے گئے بلکہ اسے اہل خاندان سمیت قید کرلیا گیا۔ اس لئے اس نے حراست سے فرار ہونے کی منصوبہ بندی کی اور اس میں کامیاب رہا۔ احسان اللہ احسان کے اس پیغام میں دعویٰ کیا گیا ہے کہ وہ مستقبل میں پاک فوج اور اپنی گرفتاری کے حوالے سے مزید معلومات سامنے لائے گا۔
احسان اللہ احسان کے فرار کی خبر ایک براہ راست ویڈیو پیغام کی صورت میں تو 6 فروری کو سامنے آئی ہے لیکن اس بارے میں گزشتہ ماہ سے ہی خبریں گشت کررہی تھیں۔ بھارت کے ایک اخبار نے جنوری کے دوران احسان اللہ احسان کے فرار کے بارے میں ایک سٹوری فائل کی تھی۔ یہ خبر سوشل میڈیا پر بھی گشت کرتی رہی تھی اور بعض پاکستانی اخباروں نے بھی اسے شائع کیا لیکن مین اسٹریم پاکستانی میڈیا نے بھارتی میڈیا کے ذریعے سامنے آنے والی اس خبر کو اہمیت دینے کی ضرورت محسوس نہیں کی۔ اس موقع پر بھی فوج کے شعبہ تعلقات عامہ یا کسی دوسرے سرکاری ترجمان نے اس معاملہ پر اظہار رائے ضروری نہیں سمجھا۔ اب یہ خبر ایک باقاعدہ ویڈیو کے ذریعے عام ہوئی ہے جس میں پاکستانی ایجنسیوں کا نام لے کر براہ راست الزام تراشی بھی کی گئی ہے لیکن اس کے باوجود سرکاری یا عسکری ذرائع نے اس بارے میں کچھ کہنے سے گریز کیا ہے۔
پاکستانی میڈیا اس دوران یہ تصدیق کرنے کی کوشش کررہا ہے کہ کیا یہ آواز احسان اللہ احسان ہی کی ہے جس نے 2017 میں خود کو پاک فوج کے حوالے کرتے ہوئے اپنا نام لیاقت علی بتایا تھا۔ اب جاری ہونے والی ویڈیو بھی اسی نام سے بنے ہوئے ا کاؤنٹ پر ریلیز کی گئی ہے۔ ماضی میں احسان اللہ احسان کے ساتھ رابطےمیں رہنے والے بعض پاکستانی صحافیوں نے دعویٰ کیا ہے کہ یہ آواز احسان اللہ احسان نامی شخص ہی کی ہے جو کئی سال تک تحریک طالبان پاکستان کا ترجمان رہا تھا اور جس پر دہشت گردی کے متعدد واقعات کا براہ راست الزام بھی عائد ہوتا ہے۔ اس کا اعتراف اس بیان میں بھی کیا گیا تھا جو پاک فوج کی طرف سے احسان اللہ احسان کے پاکستانی حکام کے حوالے کئے جانے کے بعد جاری کیا گیا تھا۔ احسان اللہ احسان جن سنگین جرائم میں مرتکب رہا ہے ، ان میں دسمبر 2014 میں آرمی پبلک اسکول پر دہشت گرد حملہ کے علاوہ اکتوبر 2012 میں ملالہ یوسف زئی پر قاتلانہ حملہ بھی شامل ہے۔
پاک فوج کی حراست سے ایک بدنام اور خطرناک دہشت گرد کا یوں فرار ہوجانا دہشت گردی کے خلاف جاری جنگ اور عالمی سطح پر پاکستان کی شہرت کے حوالے سے سنگین سوالات سامنے لائے گا۔ لیکن اس سے بھی زیادہ اہم سوال یہ ہے کہ کوئی شخص جس کے بارے میں خود فوج نے یہ اعلان کیا تھا کہ اس نے خود کو حکام کے حوالے کردیا ہے اور اسے حفاظتی تحویل میں رکھا گیا ہے۔ پھر اس شخص کے اعترافات کی تشہیر کے ذریعے یہ بتایا گیا کہ پاکستان میں دہشت گردی کےواقعات میں افغان ایجنسی اور بھارتی خفیہ ایجنسی را کے ملوث رہی ہیں۔ سرکاری ذرائع مختلف اوقات میں دہشت گردی کے واقعات میں غیر ملکی ایجنسیوں کے ملوث ہونے کا الزام لگاتے رہے ہیں ۔ اس حوالے اپریل 2017 میں بلوچستان سے بھارتی جاسوس کلبھوشن یادیو کی گرفتاری کو بنیاد بنا کر خاص طور سے مقدمہ استوار کرنے کی کوشش کی گئی تھی۔ البتہ پاکستان نے کسی ایک واقعہ کی بنیاد پر کبھی بھارت پر براہ راست ملوث ہونے کا الزام نہیں لگایا۔ کلبھوشن یادیو کے حوالے سے بھی پاکستان اور بھارت کے سرکاری مؤقف میں بہت فرق ہے۔ پاکستان کا دعویٰ ہے کہ اسے بلوچستان میں دہشت گردی کی منصوبہ بندی کے دوران گرفتار کیا گیا تھا اور وہ حاضر سروس نیوی کمانڈر تھا جبکہ اس کے برعکس بھارت کا یہ کہنا ہے کہ کلبھوشن یادیو ریٹائرڈ افسر تھا اور ایران میں اپنا کاروبار کرتا تھا کہ پاکستان کے ایجنٹوں نے اسے اغوا کرلیا ۔ یہ معاملہ عالمی عدالت انصاف تک پہنچا جہاں بھارت کو یادیو تک قونصلر رسائی کی سہولت مل گئی لیکن اس کے باوجود اس معاملہ کی پوری تصویر کبھی سامنے نہیں آئی۔ کلبھوشن کو ایک فوجی عدالت نے دہشت گردی کے الزامات میں سزائے موت دے رکھی ہے جس کی تصدیق بھی ہوچکی ہے۔ لیکن پاکستان نے اس پر ابھی تک عمل درآمد نہیں کیا۔ یہ معاملہ ابھی تک دونوں ہمسایہ ملکوں کے درمیان تنازعہ اور بداعتمادی کا سبب بنا ہؤا ہے۔ احسان اللہ احسان کے فوج کی تحویل میں آجانے اور اس اعتراف کے بعد کہ طالبان کی دہشت گرد کارروائیوں میں بھارتی اور افغان ایجنسیاں ملوث تھیں، کلبھوشن یادیو کے خلاف پاکستان کا مقدمہ مضبوط ہو گیا تھا۔ لیکن اب اس کے پراسرار طور مفرور ہوجانے کے بعد کلبھوشن کے خلاف پاکستان کا مؤقف بھی کمزور پڑے گا۔ بھارت اس معاملہ کو کئی طریقے سے پاکستان کے خلاف استعمال کرسکتا ہے اور پاکستانی نمائندوں کے لئے اپنی پوزیشن واضح کرنا مشکل ہوجائے گا۔
سب سے اہم سوال تو یہی ہے کہ احسان اللہ احسان جیسا جانا پہچانا دہشت گرد تین برس تک فوج کی تحویل یا نگرانی میں رہا لیکن اس کے خلاف کسی الزام میں کوئی مقدمہ نہیں چلایا گیا۔ متعدد حلقوں کی طرف سے اس کے خلاف مقدمہ قائم کرنے اور دہشت گردی کے الزامات میں اسے سزا دلوانے کا مطالبہ کیا جاتا رہا ہے۔ یہ مطالبہ کرنے والوں میں آرمی پبلک اسکول کے ورثا کی تنظیم بھی شامل تھی۔ احسان کے فرار کی خبر سامنے آنے کے پہلے اس معاملہ میں پشاور ہائی کورٹ میں درخواستیں بھی دائر کی گئی تھیں جن میں احسان اللہ احسان کے خلاف قانونی کارروائی کا حکم دینے کی استدعا کی گئی تھی۔ اب اس کے اچانک فرار ہوجانے کی وجہ سے یہ سوال شدت سے سامنے آئے گا کہ کیا سول حلقوں کی طرف سے اس شخص کے خلاف عدالتی کارروائی کے مطالبے اور اس کے مبینہ فرار میں کوئی تعلق ہوسکتا ہے۔ کیا احسان اللہ احسان کچھ ایسے رازوں کا امین تھا کہ کسی عدالت میں پیش ہونے کی صورت میں ان کے فاش ہونے کا خطرہ تھا ؟ اور ملکی ادارے اس کے متحمل نہیں ہوسکتے تھے۔ خاص طور سے اس سوالات کی روشنی میں احسان اللہ احسان کے فرار کی خبروں پر سرکاری خاموشی ، افواہوں اور قیاس آرائیوں میں اضافہ کا سبب بن رہی ہے۔ اس سے ایک تو یہ بات سامنے آتی ہے کہ خطرناک لوگ بھی ملکی اداروں کی تحویل سے فرار ہونے میں کامیاب ہوجاتے ہیں اور کوئی اس کی ذمہ داری قبول کرنے اور قصور واروں کا تعین کرکے انہیں سزا دینے کی روایت قائم نہیں کرتا۔ احسان اللہ احسان کا فرار ہونا جتنا افسوسناک ہے اس پر خاموشی اختیار کرنا اتنا ہی تکلیف کا باعث اور نقصان دہ ہے۔ دہشت گردی کے حوالے سے پاکستان کے دعوؤں کے باوجود عالمی سطح پر اب بھی بھارت یہ مقدمہ قائم کرتا ہے کہ پاکستانی ایجنسیاں دہشت گرد عناصر سے قریبی رابطے رکھتی ہیں۔ اور وقت ضرورت انہیں مختلف مقاصد کے لئے استعمال کیا جاتا ہے ۔ بھارت تو یہ دلیل دینا چاہتا ہے کہ یہ مقصد مقبوضہ کشمیر کے علاوہ بھارت میں دہشت گردی ہوسکتا ہے لیکن مشکوک عناصر سے پاکستانی ایجنسیوں کے تعلقات اور گرفتاری کے بعد بھی ان کے بارے میں نرم رویہ، دہشت گردی کے خلاف جنگ کی تصویر کو دھندلاتا ہے۔
پاکستان کو یہ فراموش نہیں کرنا چاہئے کہ اب بھی اس کا نام فنانشل ایکشن ٹاسک فورس کی گرے لسٹ پر ہے اور عالمی لیڈروں سے وزیر اعظم عمران خان کے روابط کے بارے میں تمام تر دعوؤں کے باوجود کسی ملک نے یہ وعدہ نہیں کیا کہ وہ اس اس فہرست سے پاکستان کا نام نکلوانے یا بلیک لسٹ میں شامل نہ کرنے کے معاملہ میں پاکستان کی مدد کی جائے گی۔ شاہ محمود قریشی نے یہ ضرور کہا ہے کہ امریکہ سے اس بارے میں رابطہ ہؤا ہے تاہم حال ہی میں پاکستان کا دورہ کرنے والی امریکی سفارت کار ایلس ویلز نے ایک سوال کے جواب میں واضح کیا تھا کہ پاکستان کے پاس اس فہرست سے نکلنے کا آسان راستہ یہ ہے کہ وہ ایف اے ٹی ایف کے مشورہ پر عمل درآمد کرے۔ اب ایک عالمی شہرت یافتہ دہشت گرد کی پراسرار گمشدگی اور اس پر ایجنسیوں کی خاموشی دہشت گردی، پاکستان اور فوج کا کردار کی تکون پر شبہات کے گہرے سایے ڈالنے کا باعث بنے گی۔
مئی 2011 میں ایبٹ آباد پاک فوج کی اکیڈمی کے ہمسایہ میں مقیم اسامہ بن لادن کو ہلاک کرنے کے لئے امریکی فوج کے حملہ کے حوالے سے ابھی تک قوم کو حقیقت حال کا علم نہیں ہوسکا ۔ کوئی نہیں جانتا کہ اسامہ بن لادن وہاں کس کی اجازت سے رہتا تھا اور اگر پاکستانی ایجنسیاں اس سے بے خبر تھیں تو یہ ان کی نااہلی تھی یا کسی خفیہ مفاد کی تکمیل کے لئے جان بوجھ کر اس کی موجودگی سے نظریں چرائی جاتی تھیں۔ اسی طرح اس سوال کا جواب بھی دینا ضروری نہیں سمجھا گیا کہ پاکستانی سرزمین پر امریکہ حملہ کیا براہ راست پاکستان کی خود مختاری پر حملہ نہیں تھا اور کیا بروقت اسے نہ روک کر عسکری کمزوری کا اظہار نہیں کیا گیا تھا۔ اس معاملہ پر بننے والے کمیشن کی رپورٹ کبھی عوام کے مطالعہ کے لئے عام نہیں کی گئی۔
اب احسان اللہ احسان فوج کی حراست سے مفرور ہؤا ہے۔ یہ واقعہ قومی سلامتی کے اداروں کی صلاحیت اور نیت کے بارے میں شبہات کو جنم دے رہا ہے۔ اس خبر پر تفصیلات بتانے سے گریز کرکے شبہات اور بے یقینی کو تقویت دی جارہی ہے۔ یہ طرز عمل عوام اور فوج کے درمیان اعتماد کے رشتہ کو کمزور کرے گا۔
https://www.humsub.com.pk/298510/syed-mujahid-ali-1362/
وزیراعظم - آخر وہ خود بھی گھبرا گئے۔۔۔۔۔! - “گھبرانا نہیں ہے”
احمد شیر اعوان
اٹھارہ ماہ سے پاکستانیوں کو “گھبرانا نہیں ہے” کی مسلسل تلقین کرنے والے وزیراعظم کے گذشتہ چند روز میں دیے بیانات سے محسوس ہو رہا ہے کہ اب موصوف خود بھی معیشت کے حوالے سے کافی
گھبراہٹ کا شکار ہو چکے ہیں، فرماتے ہیں کہ منہگائی کنٹرول نہیں ہو پا رہی، مجھے مِس گائیڈ کیا جارہا ہے، میرا اس تنخواہ میں گزارہ نہیں ہوتا، خیر وفاقی کابینہ نے تو اطلاعات کے مطابق ان کی تنخواہ میں خاطر خواہ اضافہ کر کے ان کا یہ شکوہ تو دور کر دیا مگر ناجانے ان کروڑوں پاکستانیوں کے مستقبل کا کیا ہو گا جو اقتدار کے اندھے بہرے ایوانوں سے حالات کی بہتری کی آس امید لگائے بیٹھے ہیں اور ان برے معاشی حالات میں گھبرا بھی نہیں سکتے کیونکہ انہیں گھبرانے سے منع کیا گیا ہے۔
موجودہ صورتحال یہ ہے کہ پٹرول، بجلی، گیس کے ساتھ ساتھ روزمرہ استعمال اور کھانے پینے کی تمام اشیاء کی بڑھتی ہوئی قیمتوں نے عوام کے پہلے سے موجود معاشی مسائل میں مزید اضافہ کر دیا ہے، سٹیٹ بینک نے اپنی رپورٹ میں افراط زر یعنی مہنگائی کی شرح 11 سے 12 فیصد رہنے کا امکان ظاہر کیا تھا جبکہ ماہرین کے مطابق یہ اب 14.5 فیصد سے تجاوز کر گئی ہے۔ ایک اخباری رپورٹ کے مطابق اس وقت مہنگائی کی شرح پچھلے بارہ سالوں کی بلند ترین سطح پر پہنچ چکی ہے، شرح سود کو مسلسل تیسری بار 13.25% کی بلند ترین سطح پر برقرار رکھا گیا ہے، اگر آسان الفاظ میں بات کی جائے تو آنے والے مہینوں میں مہنگائی میں ہوشربا اضافہ ہو گا۔ یاد رہے سٹیٹ بینک کسی بھی ملک کا فنانس کنٹرول کرتا ہے اور اس کا ہیڈ دراصل فنانس کنٹرولر ہوتا ہے اور بدقسمتی سے ہمارے ملک کے فنانس کنٹرولر آئی ایم ایف کے سابقہ ملازم ہیں اور ایک رائے کے مطابق وہ اب بھی اپنے سابقہ آجر کے مفادات کے لئے کام کر رہے ہیں۔
اگر مہنگائی کے اسباب کا جائزہ لیا جائے تو حکومتی نااہلی، نا تجربہ کاری اور غیر سنجیدگی سرفہرست نظر آئے گی، جولائی 2018 کے انتخابات کے نتیجے میں سیلیکٹ ہونے والے وزیر اعظم عمران خان نے حکومت میں آنے سے قبل اور آنے کے فوری بعد بہت سے دعوے کئے تھے جس میں روزانہ ہونے والی دو ارب روپے کی کرپشن کا خاتمہ، بیرونی قرضے نا لینے کا عہد، سابقہ حکمرانوں کے لوٹے گئے 200 ارب ڈالر کی واپسی، ایک کروڑ نوکریاں، پچاس لاکھ گھر، انڈے، مرغیاں، بکرے، کٹے وغیره شامل ہیں، افسوس کہ انڈے مرغیوں کٹوں تک والے دعووں پر ہی عملدرآمد نہ ہو سکا باقی تو بعد کی باتیں تھیں۔ غلط حکومتی پالیسیوں، جلد بازی اور اصل مسائل کا ادراک نا ہونے کی وجہ سے پاکستان میں ہر قسم کا کاروبار ترقی کرنے کی بجائے تنزلی کا شکار ہو گیا۔ نئے ٹیکسوں کی بھرمار اور نیب کی پرائیویٹ کاروباری اداروں میں مداخلت کی خبروں نے معاشی بحران میں مزید اضافہ کر دیا۔ اس گرتی ہوئی معیشت سے سب سے بڑا نقصان لاکھوں افراد کی بےروزگاری کی صورت میں سامنے آیا، شاید ہی ملک کی کوئی ایسی صنعت ہو جس میں انتہائی نوعیت کی ڈاون سائزنگ نا ہوئی ہو۔
کچھ معاشی ماہرین پاکستان میں مہنگائی کا ایک سبب آئی ایم ایف سے چھ ارب ڈالر قرض لینے یا نا لینے کے فیصلہ میں لیت و لعل سے کام لینے کو بھی قرار دیتے ہیں جس کے نتیجے میں ڈالر کی قیمت میں تاریخی اضافہ ہوا اور ہمیں آئی ایم ایف کی بجلی گیس پٹرول کی قیمتوں اور ٹیکسوں کی شرح میں اضافے کی شرائط کے آگے سر تسلیم خم کرنا پڑا اور ملک میں مہنگائی کا خوفناک طوفان آیا۔ ایک اور دعویٰ تو وزیراعظم صاحب اکثر اپنی تقاریر میں کیا کرتے تھے کہ وہ جب حکومت میں آئیں گے تو 8000 ارب سے زیادہ ٹیکس ریونیو اکٹھا کرکے دکھائیں گے، بجٹ 2019-20 میں آمدن کا ہدف 5500 ارب روپے رکھا گیا تھا جو کسی بھی طور پورا ہوتا دیکھائی نہیں دیتا اور مجموعی بجٹ خسارے میں مزید اضافے کا امکان ظاہر کیا جا رہا ہے۔
کرپشن کے خلاف کیمپین چلا کر اور قرضے لینے پر خود کشی کو ترجیح دینے کے اعلانات کر کے حکومت میں آنے والوں کی اس سے بڑی بدقسمتی کیا ہو گی کہ بین الاقوامی ادارے کی رپورٹ کے مطابق ملک میں اس سال کرپشن پہلے سے بڑھی ہے اور گزشتہ 15 ماہ میں پاکستان کے بیرونی قرضوں میں 40 فیصد کا اضافہ ہوا ہے جو 29 ہزار ارب روپے سے بڑھ کر 41 ہزار ارب روپے سے تجاوز کر گئے ہیں اور ہر پاکستانی اوسطً دو لاکھ روپے سے زائد کا مقروض ہو چکا ہے، اس اضافے سے عوام پر مزید اضافی بوجھ پڑا ہے جس پر قابو پانے کے لیے اب قیمتی قومی اثاثوں کی فروخت کی باتوں کی بازگشت بھی سنائی دے رہی ہے۔
اگر روزمرہ استعمال کی اشیاء کی قیمتوں کا جائزہ لیں تو معلوم ہو گا کہ پٹرول یکم فروری 2019 کو 90.38 روپے لیٹر تھا جو یکم فروری 2020 کو 116.60 روپے پر پہنچ چکا ہے، بجلی کے حوالے سے موجودہ حکومت نے گذشتہ ایک سال کے دوران ماہانہ فیول ایڈجسٹمنٹ چارجز اور ٹیرف کی مد میں تقریباً 15 روپے فی یونٹ تک کا اضافہ کیا اور مجموعی طور پر صارف پر 550 ارب روپے سے زائد کا اضافی بوجھ ڈالا گیا جس سے عام صارف کے بجلی کے ماہانہ بل میں کم ازکم 150% تک کا اضافہ ہوا ہے، دسمبر 2018 میں 100 یونٹ بجلی کا بل 785 روپے تھا جو اس سال بڑھ کر 1885 روپے ہو گیا ہے۔
قدرتی گیس کی نہ صرف قیمتوں میں ہوشربا اضافہ کیا گیا ہے بلکہ گھریلو صارفین کے لئے تو اسکی سلیبز بھی تبدیل کر دی گئی ہیں یعنی دو دھاری تلوار سے ان کی جیبوں پر وار کیا گیا ہے، نچلی سلیب پر 150 فیصد جبکہ اوپر کی سلیبس میں یہ اضافہ 400 فیصد تک کیا گیا ہے۔ اگر روزمرہ کھانے پینے کی اشیاء کی بات کریں تو گزشتہ ڈیڑھ سال میں آٹا 38 روپے سے 75 روپے فی کلو، چینی 52 روپے سے 85 روپے فی کلو، باسمتی چاول 110 روپے سے 180 روپے فی کلو، گھی 170 روپے فی کلو سے 250 روپے فی کلو ہو چکا ہے جبکہ دالوں اور سبزیوں کی قیمتیں بھی سو سے ڈیڑھ سو فیصد بڑھ چکی ہیں، مزید ظلم یہ کہ گزشتہ ڈیڑھ سال میں ادویات کی قیمتوں میں جس رفتار سے اضافہ ہوا ہے اس کی پچھلے 73 سالوں کوئی نظیر نہیں ملتی، دلچسپ امر یہ کہ جن وزیر موصوف کو گزشتہ سال دوا ساز کمپنیوں سے سازباز کر کے قیمتوں میں اضافے کی غلط اجازت دینے کے الزام پر وزارت سے فارغ کیا گیا وہ آج کل تحریک انصاف کے مرکزی جنرل سیکرٹری ہیں اور وہ اضافہ کبھی واپس نہیں ہو سکا۔ تعلیمی اخراجات میں بھی سکولوں کی فیسوں اور دیگر اخراجات میں اضافہ دیکھنے میں آیا ہے، ایک حالیہ سروے کے مطابق فی بچہ کم از کم پانچ سو سے لے کر آٹھ ہزار روپے ماہانہ تک کا اضافہ ہوا ہے۔ مہنگائی کے اس طوفان پر ملک بھر میں ہر طبقے میں شدید پریشانی پائی جاتی ہے، پیپلزپارٹی نے مہنگائی کے خلاف آواز اٹھانا شروع کر دی ہے اور کچھ شہروں میں چھوٹے پیمانے پر مہنگائی کے خلاف احتجاج بھی کیا ہے جبکہ بلاول بھٹو زرداری اپنی ہر پریس ٹاک میں حکومت کی ان عوام دشمن پالیسیوں پر پورے زور و شور سے کڑی تنقید کرتے نظر آ رہے ہیں اور شنید ہے کہ وہ جلد ہی وسطی پنجاب کا دورہ کر کے مہنگائی کے خلاف بھرپور احتجاج کی کال دیں گے۔ شہباز شریف نے بھی آخر کار اس مسئلے پر اپنی چپ توڑی ہے اور مہنگائی پر لندن سے اپنا احتجاج ریکارڈ کروایا ہے۔
اپوزیشن کی تمام سیاسی جماعتوں نے پہلے دن سے حکومت کو معاشی بحران سے نکالنے کے لئے اپنے غیر مشروط تعاون کا یقین دلایا تھا مگر یا تو عمران خان اس تعاون سے خائف ہیں یا پھر ان کی جھوٹی انا انہیں اپوزیشن کے ساتھ بیٹھ کر اس مسئلے کو حل کرنے سے باز کر رہی ہے، موجودہ معاشی صورتحال کو مدنظر رکھتے ہوئے توقع کی جانی چاہئے کہ حکومت فروعی اختلافات کو پس پشت ڈال کر اپوزیشن کے ساتھ مل کر اس مسئلے کا حل نکالے گی ورنہ حالات مزید خراب ہونے کے امکانات ہیں۔