Daily Times

The nationwide public criticism ensued after the sudden upward jumps in the price of fuel. The public is justified to protest, as the rise in the price of fuel affects the prices of many other commodities of daily household use. Question: Does the government raise the prices of fuel, electricity and gas on whims? No. it’s to meet the IMF conditions to obtain loans. Another question: Which classes of society are in desperate need of loans to maintain their high standards of living? Certainly, not the poor who already live below the ever-rising poverty line.

The ruling classes of the country are accustomed to living by the same standard by which the British lived when they ruled the subcontinent many decades ago. The smart British never followed the same lifestyle when they returned to their own country. The ‘Gora Sahibs’ may have departed a lifetime ago, but the ‘Brown Sahibs’ who replaced them are keeping the tradition alive by their ostentatious living and maintaining distance from the hoi polloi. By the lifestyle of the rulers, it seems as if we’re a country floating on oil or gas reserves when, in reality, the government has to virtually beg for the IMF loans to run the system of governance.

It’s worth observing the British system of democracy. Look at the British parliament building where some parliamentarians have to stand at the back during the session because of a shortage of seats. This is called the Mother of Parliaments, a term coined in 1865. Compare it with our parliamentary houses, upper, lower and provincial. The magnificent buildings have spacious alleys and chambers for the ministers. The seats in the halls are more like comfortable sofas where members of both genders sprawl themselves, instead of sitting upright as in the British Parliament. Some even snore, one hears.

Instead of cycling, Khan used helicopters for travelling – a classic case of the dichotomy between what one preaches and how one acts.

The Sahibs of the upper layer are known as the VIPs and the VVIPs, depending on their official status. An ordinary taxpayer who has to cough up various taxes out of his hard-earned income has no choice but to sulk at the official protocols given to the rulers. Imran Niazi, though out of power, still enjoys the protocol of a long line of heavily armed vehicles, some with antennas on top.

The taxpayers, treated as serfs, wonder what could be the threats to the lives of VIPs’ to warrant such fool-proof security details. Wasn’t it Imran Khan who quoted examples of some prime ministers in the west who used bicycles to move about? He hadn’t tasted the protocols then. Before he was installed as the prime minister, people thought he would revolutionise the system and they would see him pedalling away on the road along with other party high-ups, sparing Fawad Chaudhry and Sh. Rashid because of their girths. But Pervez Khattak could easily keep pace with Khan. Instead of cycling, Khan used helicopters for travelling back and forth – a classic case of the dichotomy between what one preaches and how one acts.

Referring to high government spending, a columnist wrote in the Dawn recently that vehicles allotted to government officers at the centre and the four provinces numbered 1,50,000 and some in the pool. Add to it thousands of litres of fuel and the salaries of the chauffeurs. In comparison, the British government owns only 83 vehicles, which remain in the pool and are available on request. To see the razzle and dazzle of the rulers, their palatial houses and their limos racing about, one may like to visit the twin cities.

Most certainly we live beyond our means. Eminent economist Dr Kaiser Bengali pointed out how the government raises Rs100 as revenue and spends Rs200 on expenditure. Similarly, he said against $100 worth of goods exported, the country imports goods amounting to $220. That’s how the foreign debt servicing has reached a whopping Rs3.9 trillion, according to him.

As one sits back to ponder over the harrowing economic condition of the country and how badly it affects the poor with sunken faces and bellies, one is reminded of the movies during the seventies and the eighties. There was a ‘guest artist’ who appeared in a few scenes and disappeared not to be seen again. In public minds, the rulers somehow stand out as guest artists who would pluck from this land whatever they could and disappear, usually into the overseas havens. The poor would keep looking upward to the sky.

The writer is a Lahore-based columnist and can be reached at pinecity@gmail.com