Pakistan is passing through multiple national and international crises which include Afghanistan versus the Afghan Taliban, the Afghan Taliban versus Pakistan, Anti-Pak Afghan groups versus Pakistan, Pakistan versus India, the Kashmir issue, the US versus Pakistan, FATF versus Pakistan and sensitivities with China. We are facing the worst price hike, high inflation, depletion of rupee against dollars, a declining growth rate and petroleum products are continuously going high. The population is going below the poverty line as the gap between rich and poor is widening.
Unfortunately, our political elites
including major political parties have neither given their required qualitative
input publically nor in parliament to improve the situation. This silence of
political leadership on vital national and international issues is very
worrying as the leadership has failed to give any guidance or even proposed
economic policies for our poverty-ridden nation.
The country’s political leadership
is stuck in a mutual political duel on non-issues like should Shehbaz Sharif be
allowed to go abroad or not, why the court granted bail to President Asif Ali
Zardari and why Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has gone to the US. This shows that our
political elite has fallen so low that some leaders cross abuses on personal
fronts, allege each other for corruption cases, and the level of immaturity can
well be seen by the conduct of leadership on a daily basis. The leadership is
ditching each other at both the government and opposition levels adding to
weaken the system and dismaying the public. Our parliament has become a world
icon of display of abuses with less performance for the public and more display
of their abilities using their art of abusive language to please their top
bosses. The nation hardly sees any input on these grave international issues
connected with our national interests and future generations as there is no
popular plan of development to build Pakistan. Please allow me to highlight the
best model of prosperity and progress in the world which is China, perhaps the
best to be adopted.
I wish our politicians chose China
as a role model to bring prosperity to the country. I wish my brief
introduction of China’s determination and national spirit below will perhaps
attract our leaders to transform like them to gear the country towards
prosperity. The nation develops and prospers with collective strategy,
concerted and honest efforts. Countries with collective wisdom and approach are
now shining in the world.
National interest should be above
personal interests and gains. Our agenda of national prosperity and dignity
should be well defined through an act of parliament and should be formulated by
the experts of the respected field and then be approved by the Parliament in
the form of law to ensure its implementation through well-defined moral and
administrative rules. China was in a much adverse situation as a nation,
although they got independence after us yet it is startling to see their
unmatched progress. Even though their population is 1.2 billion larger than
ours as Pakistan’s population is 180 million while that of China is 1.3
billion, yet they are progressing by leaps and bounds and nobody sleeps hungry.
If we look closely at the graph of
their rise and progress, you will see that they concentrated more on their
economy, education, technology, industrialisation, infrastructure, agriculture,
energy, and the growth of their country rather than indulging in mainstream
dirty politics. China revamped its political system, covered all segments of
the society, and gave its public a sense of ownership and participation. They
first weeded out the political corrupt deadweights which were resisting
modernisation and promoting corruption. The principle of equality prevailed and
the rule of law became a priority. They made education compulsory and the
professors of top universities became the top stakeholders of the economic and
administrative hierarchies.
After the collapse of the Qing
Dynasty in 1911 there was a vacuum of power in China which led to political
chaos. China was being exploited by foreign powers and there was no strong
central government to lead the nation. At that time, China’s vast majority
consisted of peasants and farmers; their life was so hard, they had to work the
land and pay taxes. They would even starve during floods and droughts as there
was no facility given to them. The population was growing whereas the land
cultivation grew by 1 percent only, making the peasants have reduced plots of
lands. Moreover, the landlords also increased the rents, making the peasants
pay 80 percent of their harvest. On the other hand, China was defeated by
Britain in the Opium wars due to which the Chinese Empire was interrupted and
influenced by Europeans, Americans, and also Japan by the end of 19th century.
Inflation and corruption weakened the Qing Empire resulting in its collapse.
Before the economic reforms and trade liberalisation of China nearly 40 years
ago, the country maintained policies that kept the economy very poor, stagnant,
centrally controlled, inefficient, and relatively isolated from the global
economy.
Mao Zedong was the leader of the Communist Party (CPC) who wanted to unify China and get rid of external warlords. Mao Zedong led peasants and common people in uprisings against them. The civil war continued for years and by 1948, the CPC had almost gained momentum. They were constantly gaining support within the population of China as they continued to take national cities back and by 1949 they had captured Beijing. This was the era of the Chinese revolution and Mao Zedong is the reason for what China has become today.
After the death of Mao, Deng
Xiaoping was the most powerful figure in the People’s Republic of China who
made significant efforts in boosting the Chinese economy. Since opening up to
foreign trade and free-market and investment reforms in 1979 during his rule,
China has been among the world’s fastest-growing economies. China has had a
real annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaging 9.5 percent through
2018 in history. Such a fast pace in growth by 25 folds enabled China to double
its GDP every eight years and helped raise an estimated 800 million people out
of poverty. China became the world’s largest economy, manufacturer, merchandise
trader, and holder of foreign exchange reserves which in turn has made China a
major commercial partner of the United States. The Chinese government made
innovation and a strong consumer market a top priority in its economic planning
through several high-profile initiatives to upgrade and modernise China’s
manufacturing in every key sector. China has promoted more privately-owned companies
through extensive government assistance to make China a major global player in
all major economic sectors. In short, every new Chinese Leadership has focused
to do better than the former one in terms of economic progress and prosperity
of the nation on the stage of the world regardless of what their opponents are
doing or saying, unlike Pakistan.
I wish our leadership also adopts
this spirit and the qualities of Chinese leadership to provide similar services
to their nation by not remaining unconcerned about our national and
international pressing issues which need attention and collective wisdom to
steer the country out of the crisis. It is needed that our leaders, rather than
wasting their time and energy by poking each other’s personal affairs and
entertaining the public by hurling abuses at each other in the parliament and
before the electronic media, raise their stature by doing public service and
focus on the economic progress of their country like China. Political
leadership needs to wake up to defend their homeland and their nuclear assets
from the external inimical factors such as FATF, Modi with an anti-Pak
syndrome, and abuses by President Ghani. Our political parties and politicians
need to become proactive in steering Pakistan out of crises. Nations develop
and become prosperous with collective strategies and with united voices and
actions like China.
It looks like that time is
approaching when the public is under the pressure of price hikes and other
growing social issues including youth drug addiction issue will force them to
ask for the change of some new administrative system which could get rid of
their miseries. The present deteriorated political system where the senators’
selection is for the price Rs over billions of rupees and the selected NNAs are
from the electable families then how can the parliament be represented by the
common man. There is hardly any participation of a common man in the
administrative and political system.
No labourer or middle-class young
can ever dream of being in parliament like China or any other democratic
system. It has failed to provide relief to a common man whereas we are ruled by
the electable and with the influence of few powerful business mafias pulling
the strings from behind. The public is reacting and the initial emerging angry
signs are dangerous which may lead the country to irreversible damage and force
the public to march towards some bloody revolution for their legitimate rights.
The article was published in The Nation on July 27, 2021, link to the article https://nation.com.pk/27-Jul-2021/china-a-role-model-for-the-political-elite
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