Imran Khan’s ‘New Pakistan’ Is as Good as the Old- NY Times

[Last starfighter]

To make new, you have to neutralise the one who :

- destroyed the one existing
- oppose to the creation of the new one.


They are lucky that I’m not at the driving seat, I would have hanged them in public place, including you Hanif sahab and that despite I’m against death penalty ! I accept exceptions for the lot !

Perfect results

 

[Pakistansdefender]

Imran Khan’s ‘New Pakistan’ Is as Good as the Old
The country looks like a struggling dictatorship.


By Mohammed Hanif

Mr. Hanif is a Pakistani novelist.

• July 17, 2019

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Pakistan National Day, in March.CreditFarooq Naeem/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Image

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Pakistan National Day, in March.CreditCreditFarooq Naeem/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
KARACHI, Pakistan — Imran Khan campaigned to become prime minister on the promise that he would create a “new Pakistan.” The country was going to be like the state of Medina that the Prophet Muhammad founded — a welfare state — Khan promised. Less than a year after coming to power, he has delivered a new Pakistan, and it looks like a struggling dictatorship.

Major opposition leaders are in jail; others aren’t allowed in the media. Parliamentarians are arrested on terrorism or drug-trafficking charges and denied bail. In this new Pakistan, the economy has been practically handed over to appointees from the International Monetary Fund. The price of bread is soaring, and bazaars where the poor do business with the poor are being demolished while barons of the stock exchange get government handouts.

Khan once talked about “dignity” and how you lose it when you take money from foreign powers. But what was one of his first moves after taking office? Chauffeuring Arab princes in the hope of getting soft loans.

He has said that he would prefer death to going to the I.M.F., but soon after becoming prime minister he went into a huddle with the I.M.F. chief and after protracted negotiations secured a loan of $6 billion.

stashed in Swiss banks. By now, though, it’s quite obvious that even if there is looted money in foreign banks, there is no way of bringing it back. Former President Asif Ali Zardari, who is in jail on money-laundering charges, was asked if he was willing to strike a deal with the government. “I will not give them six dollars,” he smirked.

Since the corrupt aren’t going to cough up their loot, Khan has had to go back to the mundane business of borrowing money and collecting taxes. But his passionate appeals that more Pakistanis pay their taxes don’t seem to be working. The tax-to-gross domestic product ratio is the lowest in five years, the tax authorities said recently. Maybe that’s because the people have seen too many of their leaders not pay what they owe. Although Khan’s assets were estimated at 3.8 billion rupees (about $36 million) in 2017, he pays fewer taxes than many mid-ranking journalists.

Khan used to claim that he is the best team-builder around. He has surrounded himself with the same political carpetbaggers he once railed against. More than half of his cabinet served the last military dictator, Pervez Musharraf. Of the man who now runs the railways ministry, Khan once said that he wouldn’t hire him as a peon; another person he called a bandit has become a crucial ally, as the speaker of the assembly in Punjab Province.

When he lectures on economic matters, Khan can sound like the Queen of England — as though he has never had to carry cash or set a monthly budget like middle-class citizens do. Like many affluent people who spend their lives in a bubble of financial security, he has been propagating Ayn Rand-esque myths about how to fix the economy. He has been saying that the one percent of Pakistanis who do pay taxes can’t carry the burden of the other 99 percent. Yet the 99 percent who don’t fill out returns definitely are funding the lifestyles of rich Pakistanis through indirect taxes, like those on gasoline and electricity. And yet they hardly get to see the inside of a hospital or the schools built with those taxes.

As Khan’s opponents question some of his statements, and his credentials, he has become more and more prickly. After Khan was called a “selected,” rather than elected, prime minister in Parliament, the speaker banned the use of the word “selected” on the floor. Since then, it seems that our representatives have never said “selected” as much as they do now.

When you are clueless in Pakistan, you turn to the army. And so Khan has appointed the army chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, to his newly formed economic council. (Many would say the army chief appointed himself). The military already controlled security and foreign policy, and now it is promising to take us to new heights in economic affairs.

For a hint of who is really in charge, consider the case of two Pashtun lawmakers who have been arrested on questionable terrorism charges. Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar are the leaders of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, or P.T.M. (the Movement to Protect Pashtuns), which has been trying to counter the state’s narrative about Pashtuns being natural born warriors. They have been campaigning against extrajudicial killings and missing persons and for the removal of land mines from Pakistan’s tribal areas — and they have occasionally said that the Pakistani Army might have something to do with turning their homeland into a permanent war zone. (Khan used to say similar things. He once slept on the roads of Karachi to block NATO supplies because he believed, rightly, that these supplies were being used to wage war against the Pashtuns.)

After Wazir and Dawar were elected to Parliament, they started to say on the floor what they had been saying at P.T.M. rallies. And then, at a news conference in Islamabad in late April, the army spokesman Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor said of them, “their time is up.” A few weeks later, Wazir and Dawar were accused of attacking the Khar Mar army check post in North Waziristan in which at least 13 civilians are thought to have been killed. Yet plenty of videos of the scene appear to show them arguing with soldiers, trying to cross a barrier and being fired upon.

There has been no inquiry. Both parliamentarians remain in custody. And unlike other jailed politicians who are allowed to attend legislative sessions, Wazir and Dawar haven’t been seen or heard from since their arrest. The message is clear: You can’t mess with the army even if the people elected you.

Pakistan’s new establishment isn’t inventing any new tricks; it’s just honing old ones. A member of Parliament critical of the Khan government and his sponsors was booked on drug-smuggling charges earlier this month. The anti-narcotics force, which is headed by a major general, claimed to have discovered 15 kilos of heroin in his car.

Observers said this was a throwback to outright military rule and times when opposition politicians were accused of stealing cattle or a bomb was discovered in the home of the dissident poet Ustad Daman. (Daman did get a poem out of that.)

Pakistan’s army probably rightly believes that it will never run out of political collaborators to help it rule the country. In Imran Khan, the generals have found a rare entity: a populist who is eager to collaborate because even he isn’t sure whether he was elected or selected.

Khan represents the oldest of old Pakistan but with a sportsman’s zeal to win at any cost. Yet I have never seen a more miserable and angrier winning captain. Maybe that’s because he has come to realize that his election victory wasn’t the end of the game. The real game was only just beginning.

Mohammed Hanif (@mohammedhanif) is the author of the novels “A Case of Exploding Mangoes,” “Our Lady of Alice Bhatti” and “Red Birds.” He is a contributing opinion writer.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/17/opinion/imran-khan-pakistan.html

These asses are paid for the agenda to set before us election. Don't know what problem journalist are facing .
When their masters are in power e erything wnet right.
Shame if these people..
It is not their problem its is the way their thinking and though process is shaped.
I wish they would be in India and write about their state and I would see them then

 

[BRAVO_]

the article is written

By Mohammed Hanif

Mr. Hanif is a Pakistani novelist.

• July 17, 2019

so it is more like this is his personal opinion ... and every individual has a right to differ from other .. it not necessary that has something to do with reality

 

[Pan-Islamic-Pakistan]

Full investigation should be launched into this individual, his supporters, and financiers.

He should become a sanctioned individual for trying to tarnish the image of Pakistan in the West for his paymasters.

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

well indian seal of approval is there so it must be authentic. This gutter journalism and cockroach like journalist is the very sign Pakistan is on right track, where were they in last decade. cradling someones b@||$, I guess.

The new York times is where the article is from. The new York times is ALSO the same newspaper that claimed that Iraq had WMD that could destroy Europe in 30 mins.

 

[VCheng]

Full investigation should be launched into this individual, his supporters, and financiers.

He should become a sanctioned individual for trying to tarnish the image of Pakistan in the West for his paymasters.

Such a vindictive act would serve only to prove his opinion even more correct in the eyes of the world.

The proper solution is to present a better counter-argument.

 

[Vortex]

Such a vindictive act would serve only to prove his opinion even more correct in the eyes of the world.

The proper solution is to present a better counter-argument.

We have to learn how the world works.

 

[tman786]

Last article of a yellow journalist

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Full investigation should be launched into this individual, his supporters, and financiers.

He should become a sanctioned individual for trying to tarnish the image of Pakistan in the West for his paymasters.

There are trends in the West. Buggering Pakistan is one of them.Writing such articles ticks all the boxes to go with the wind that sails NYT. You would never see guys like him writing articles about how Israeli settlers are screwing Palestinians or the injustice of employing tanks against children throwing stones.

 

[VCheng]

We have to learn how the world works.

Yes, but when I try to tell people here how it works, I get vilified here. Maybe we do not want to learn since we are convinced our way can be the only correct way?

 

[Vortex]

Yes, but when I try to tell people here how it works, I get vilified here. Maybe we do not want to learn since we are convinced our way can be the only correct way?

You know we have the chance (at least for me) to have grown in France within a traditional Pakistani family, so I’ve got dual education : what my family taught me, and what I have learnt by myself being in contact with french culture.

But thanks to Allah we had at that time a Turkish mosque ( now we have many mosques) so we were able to stay also in contact with our faith too.

So we kept our Pakistani identity, our Muslim identity and we the young generation at that time the french culture too. We the younger were able to take what is good in all those cultures. But not all youngsters were to do same learning unfortunately.

So we are able to see the world through both lens. The Pakistani’s lens, and western’s lens.

And I’m sure there are many others way to learn to see through world’s lens too.

But when you didn’t had the luck we had, it’s very difficult to understand how others people work, think etc.

It’s not innocent that several companies started to teach lessons about culture, habits etc to their employees before sending them abroad.

So maybe our method is not the correct one. We should use other approaches différents way to more explain it to our brothers and sisters.

And it’s nit easy task.

 

[airmarshal]

Saw the name Hanif, and I said f**k off!!

 

[Ahmet Pasha]

The answer to why IK has been a dud so far.

Focus on 07:00 onwards.

Puraney nizam se naya result-KESE???

General saab raises some very valid points. The rot runs deep to the core of our Pakistani society. The mian tere jaanisar example both made laugh and cry inside.

Sometimes the PTI jiyalas remind me of the PTV drama naya qanoon featuring Ashraf Khan.

Maybe IK does have his intentions and his priorities straight. But the thing is that we as a nation need to sit down and have a VERY detailed discussion about ourselves. We need some SERIOUS introspection. Bcz right now we are too much meetha meetha hum hum karwa karwa thoo thoo. Case in point is that everyone including business community(big and small) was very optimistic when IK got elected but now when the govt has demanded taxes and the economy to be a properly documented just like in developed nations. They have outright refused to comply to the govt's requests. Even if you run a hotdog stand in NYC you will have to file taxe return. Or even if you sell elote(mexican corn) or refreshments on Lake Michigan you have to have proper permits from city/municipality and file taxes at end of fiscal year.

Waseem badami interviewed mini Zardaris in the making(shopkeepers/businessmen) in a bazar of Karachi. And a good number of them hinted at wanting to go back to the same shady under the table system that was governing the economics of Pakistan. Which is just Pathetic.

Long short we as a nation have faults that only we can fix. Not some messiah. At this point I think we are guilty of making the ayah 13:11 of quran into a cliche and never acting upon it.

P.S
Why does everyone on media and elsewhere get their panties in a bunch when an ex general starts pointing out the obvious shortcomings and starts telling it like is?? And why can't everyone on media talk similarly in a civilised manner?? All the talk shows have jousting monkeys of pol parties.

 

[tkmd]

My opinion is every criticism is of importance. Even if it comes from one's adversary. While there is exaggeration and no mention of the popular support IK has, we must ponder at least for a second about the deals he had to make and the things going on. Put the economy on one side. Lets look at the other things. If one is against corruption, then where did Hafeez Sheikh/Hammad Azhar/Sheikh Rasheed/JKT/SMQ/Bakhtiar come from? If one wants democracy why are you arresting your adversaries (IK himself is claiming he is the one not letting people like Sanaullah go free). Why haven't you gone to parliament weekly like you promised? Why is a nasty corrupt murdered ur Interior Minister?

The whole cabinet are graduates of the Musharraf era. And it is absolutely not a good sign for our country that these clowns are back in power. IK is a good man. He is honest. But his team is not. And they do not represent him or his vision. We have to be concerned about that, no matter who is telling us this.

 

[maithil]

Good old Hanif. Trying his best since exploding mangoes days.