In view of the foregoing plight
of the people of Pakistan, I would like to humbly appeal to the CJP to invoke
Constitutional Jurisdiction of Honorable Court under Article 184(3) of the
Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 to determine the question of
public importance inter-alia on the strength of following grounds.
That colonisation of national
economy of Pakistan by the foreign countries and corporations has jeopardised
the economic life of the people of Pakistan.
That people of Pakistan have been
mortgaged against their will to foreign and local debt of astronomical size.
That debt is an existential
threat for Pakistan including our nuclear assets.
That sovereignty of Pakistan is
now squarely within the tight grip of the ‘Financial Octopus’ and further loans
from IMF & Asian Bank would further endanger us.
In order to enforce above noted
and other fundamental rights of general public, questions of importance are
being raised in this article with the hope and request that the Honourable Supreme
Court may take Suo Moto action under Article 184(3) to redress the grievances.
The Honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan, besides constituting a judicial
commission headed by a serving or retired judge of the Supreme Court to
supervise and ensure the implementation of the directions of the Supreme Court,
may like to direct:
1. The Finance Ministry to submit a
debt retirement plan in the honourable court with the undertaking that they
will implement and stick to the plan in letter and spirit;
2. The government not to take further
loans, with further directions to take necessary measures to avoid foreign
borrowing at such a monumental rate and to decrease the current external debt
in a specified time frame.
No doubt that dams and debts are
the determinants of future of Pakistan. The august Court has already taken
notice of dams and the nation is on the way at the initiative of the Honourable
Chief Justice towards recovery and containing the future water crises. These
are the days of change. The good and great persons are teaming up to face the
challenges upfront. It is an opportune time to draw the attention of this
Honourable Court towards the economic emergency looming over this poor nation.
I honestly believe that the CJP
is fully aware of the provisions of Article 38 of the constitution, which is
being reproduced hereunder for ready reference for the general public:
Promotion of social and economic
well-being of the people.—The State shall—
a) secure the well-being of the people,
irrespective of sex, caste, creed or race, by raising their standard of living,
by preventing the concentration of wealth and means of production and
distribution in the hands of a few to the detriment of general interest and by
ensuring equitable adjustment of rights between employers and employees, and
landlords and tenants;
(d) provide basic necessities of life,
such as food, clothing, housing, education and medical relief, for all such
citizens, irrespective of sex, caste, creed or race, as are permanently or
temporarily unable to earn their livelihood on account of infirmity, sickness
or unemployment;
As is explained above, Article 38
of the Constitution visualises a bare minimum economic life of the citizenry.
This Article is not merely a principle of policy if seen from the prospective
of economic survival. I urge to press into service and operation this principle
of policy because it has bearing on the chapter of Fundamental Rights enacted
in constitution.
“The New Confessions of an
Economic Hit man” by John Perkins, an international bestseller book identifies
various consequences of debts and donations to the weaker nations of the
planet. He has discussed the role of World Bank, USAID vis-à-vis underdeveloped
countries which are force to accept enormous development loans from these
institutions resultantly forcing them to acquiesce the political pressure from
the United States on variety of issues. In fact, World Bank, IMF and USAID are
a consortium formed to keep the underdeveloped or developing countries in their
fiscal clutches. From the above tools and techniques of the foreign lenders, it
is not hard to decipher what happens if we continue to drowning ourselves into
further debts. The nation is at the verge of bankruptcy; hence, I took liberty
to draw attention of the CJP to looming catastrophe.
The Constitution has provided
auto-limitations of in-built restraints on the exercise of Fundamental Rights
guaranteed in Chapter I Part-II. These auto-limitations or in built restraints
not only provide protection to the rights themselves but also further the
interest of social solidarity sought to be achieved by the makers of the
Constitution. Therefore, there has to be mutuality even in liberty and for that
matter the attainment of maximum opportunities for the orderly pursuit of
happiness as a goal of progress itself which is linked with the availability of
restrains on individual liberty.
The life and liberty as explained
above, is dependent upon the direction of the Honourable Supreme Court for the
future generations to come. The Parliament of any country is also one of its
noblest, honourable and important institutions making not only the policies and
the laws for the nation but in fact, shaping and carving its very destiny. The
Chief Executive being leader of the House is responsible to eliminate the
factors of economic emergency by promulgating an open plan and policy of debt
retirement and to avoid future borrowing by presenting his policy in the
Parliament.
At last I would suggest that in
order to raise funds, please convert Kashmir Highway into a commercial road
like Sheikh Zahid Road in Dubai. It will create nearly 2000 commercial plots
and put them to auction only to Overseas Pakistanis. It is high time to grab
attention of Overseas Pakistanis by giving them their own Bank with their own
management especially in real estate sector. It will raise billions of dollars
and would also create charm of investment for them. Create a road like Sheikh
Zahid Road Dubai, in the name of our national heroes across the big cities and
then see the response Mr. Prime Minister, as it will create an ideal
environment for investors to invest here.
The Article has been Published in
‘’The Nation’’ on October 12th, 2018
The Link to Article is: https://nation.com.pk/12-Oct-2018/need-to-halt-fiscal-tsunami
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