Equality in Pakistan: An Impracticable Myth
- Pakistan's wealth and power are concentrated within a small elite, perpetuating inequality across all state institutions.
- Policies often benefit the upper class, with austerity measures burdening ordinary citizens while the elite enjoy privileges.
- The justice system and governance favor the influential, leaving the common man at a disadvantage and feeling unsafe.
In Big Capital in an Unequal World: The Micropolitics of Wealth in Pakistan, Rosita Armytage mentions that Pakistan is dominated by one percent of the population. Pakistan has often been considered a land of the bourgeoisie with citizens at home insisting that the elite have caught everything. This pattern has continued from the past to the present; even if democratically elected politicians are steering the ship or that of military dictatorships. Every state institution and its policies exhibit the chasm created between the two classes.
For example, Pakistan asked for the $7 billion Programme from the IMF for adjustment, and the Sindh government recently announced Rs138 million in expenditures on luxury vehicles for bureaucracy. This intensity underscores the schism between where the government is pouring its money and what this country requires financially.
But Kaiser Bengali, an imminent economist, stayed on to advise policy for three committees from which he finally stepped down on September 1. He told the government it had many excess posts across 17 divisions and 50 departments. He also recommended the sacking of top officers to cut Rs 30 billion. Against his advice, the government cut only positions from grades 1–16, leaving out the upper echelon.
Natasha Beg, too, was in a hurry on August 19 when she hurtled her car down a service road where the speed limit was 20 km/h and plowed into Imran who was riding his motorcycle with his daughter. The daughter was preparing to take her IELTS and had plans to study overseas. After the accident, a mob encircled Natasha and she was handed over to the police. But her family cut a deal and accepted cash as “blood money” under Islamic law, freeing Natasha on Sept 7.
And with the authorities eager to hand down severe penalties for drug offenses, and failing to hold those who commit crime accountable, other institutions (the police) often provide others who have committed serious crimes immunity from prosecution. Like journalist Nazim Jokhio, who was deprived of justice in the courts. Nazim recorded them on film and, for the most part, they were hunters who were Arabs and had no qualms about going out to kill animals illegally. They were friends of PPP MPA Jam Owais Khan Jokhio’s. Nazim had been shot dead by MPA Jam Owais the next day at his farmhouse in reaction. But, four years later- Nazim’s family is still waiting for justice; A snub of how the system has failed them.
Consequences of these policies and laws that are designed to benefit the elite. The system of justice comes under serious questioning in the case of Natasha Beg. All it takes is for an influential person to pay money and he can get off the hook for murder charges, with even Pakistani law supporting this in the name of Diyat. There are a lot of cases wherein a criminal executes the crime and due to influence from some individuals, either his/her or brother’s family accepts pull out their FIR. That is exactly how it happened in the Shahrukh Jatoi case. He killed a boy in the street and the family of that boy accepted Diyat under pressure, then they let Shahrukh go away. When leaving court, he gave a thumbs-up sign. This is not just a clear case of the faults in the judiciary system but also serves to make common citizens feel more and more unsafe. It would seem that the law works for the upper echelons, while the ordinary man is left feeling defenseless and at a disadvantage.
Back in the 1960s Dr. Mahboob ul Haq put forward a hypothesis saying that only 22 families working behind the curtain kept ruling subjects, making policies, and doing according to how they desired with economy of Pakistan. Sixty years on, things are not much different. There are indeed more than 22 Puppeteer Billionaire families now, but the circumstances of ordinary citizens have not changed. And every new government that arrives continues to provide subsidies for its top businessmen, passing the economic burden onto their citizens.
A small, poor country like Pakistan is always in debt and borrows from the IMF or other friendly countries regularly. We are then told about the need for austerity, yet the government persists in feeding the elite such as ordering more luxury cars for officials instead of reducing unnecessary expenditure. It connected directly to poverty, which is next door to financial stress, and from there, we go back to put pressure on the average man. In the book Why Nations Fail, the author wrote that if institutions function properly and diligently, the country will progress. However, these institutions must serve all the people of the state, rather than just a single powerful elite.
The author is an International Relations graduate from the University of Sindh Jamshoro with a keen interest in global issues and strategic studies.
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