Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Two things that ‘distinguish’ Pakistan from other countries is that it never ceases to surprise others and that it has a vicarious sense of humor. Even the worst socio-political and economic crises have not changed Pakistan a bit.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Mohammad Shehbaz Sharif was the first to admit in 2022 that “beggars could not be choosers.” Pakistani politicians and the media then went to town that their country had become an “international beggar.” Even its Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif publicly said that his country had already gone bankrupt.
No prizes for guessing who is responsible for this mess. For, the culprit may have himself come forward!
Now Pakistan’s freshly-minted Army chief, Syed Asif Munir, a thoroughbred Islamist, has appealed to Islamabad to “throw out beggar’s bowl.” This is at a time when his nearly bankrupt country is seeking a fresh loan from a rank atheist China!
In the same breath, the “Mullah General” said Allah has blessed Pakistan and boasted that no power on Earth can stop its progress, the media reported on Tuesday.
No wonder the Pakistanis coined the phrase: “Allah above, and the Army here!”
Underlining the need to make Pakistan self-reliant to end its dependency on foreign loans, which the cash-strapped nation recently secured with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he said it at an event on agriculture, according to Geo News.
Addressing the opening ceremony of Khanewal Model Agriculture Farm on Monday, the Chief of Army Staff said, “Pakistanis are a proud, zealous, and talented nation. All Pakistanis must throw out the beggar’s bowl.”
PM Shehbaz Sharif recently said that Pakistan received an additional USD 600 million loan rollover from its all-weather ally China to help shore up its foreign exchange reserves on the back of an IMF deal.
In July alone, Geo News reported, the Pakistan government’s debt swelled to USD 2.44 billion, including USD 2.07 billion in non-guaranteed debt owed to China. Overall, Pakistan is burdened with a whopping external debt of nearly USD 130 billion, of which it has to repay USD 24 billion in 2023.
General Munir said a state is like a mother and the relationship between the people and the state is of love and respect. Security and the economy are interlinked and indispensable to each other.
He also stated that the Pakistan Army is proud to serve its nation, adding that the military drew its strength from the people and vice-versa.
He promised the military would not rest until Pakistan is steered out of the prevailing crisis.
Speaking about the model farm, he asserted that the country will witness an agricultural revolution, reported Geo News.
Model farms will be established across the country in line with modern standards to benefit small farmers and spread the scope of green initiatives, he said.
The fact that his remarks came, ironically, during the inauguration of a farm underlined once again that the Army owns Pakistan, not the other way around. It is well known that Pakistan’s Army has always been the biggest business, religious, and political conglomerate in the South Asian country which has pushed the country into the abyss yet again.