Daily Times

After spending the last couple of days in colourful headlines as political rivals made some beaming quips over the latest manna from heaven, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar finally shrugged his shoulder and sheepishly talked about his comments on Pakistan’s nuclear programme being “quoted out of context.” Ferociously thundering to a query on the cash crunch on Thursday, little did the poor magician know that theatrics need to be planned with careful deliberation.

By claiming that Pakistan would not compromise anything on the nuclear or missile program of Pakistan, he would neither become an instant sweetheart of the nation nor be given thumping salutes of valiant soldiers standing in the line of fire. Because the only war his cash-strapped country was fast losing at the moment was one against time. By and again, there have been reservations raised by members of the PTI over this unexplainable delay in the lifeline from the IMF, crucial to tame the roaring balance-of-payments crisis.

With the masses bleeding to death at the altar, Pakistan has repeatedly shown its earnestness in taking the prior strong-armed actions. Instead of working in unison with all branches of the state based on transparent decision-making, the government is ready to open as many Pandora’s boxes as it can lay its fingers on.

A set of seasoned hands are not supposed to be in need of any refresher course in treading with caution, but the frequency of their political gaffes–no matter how high the stakes may be–suggests otherwise. Standing before the Senate, Mr Dar could have mentioned the rampant instability sweeping across the country or taken the august house into confidence over any other remaining conditionalities.

Yet, him leaping into muddy waters, splashing them in every direction and then voicing a couple of afterthoughts clearly calls for a comprehensive statement from someone sitting above his cadre. Perhaps, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif would be better suited to apprise his countrymen over what in our supply cabinet actually has a target pinned on its back. Now would be the worst possible point in the history of the motherland to fan the flames of unnecessary fires! *