Comment
The Confusion continues

Qudsia Kadri

The country seems to be in a state of perpetual confusion these days. Conflicting statements from different departments of the Government in the same set-up, are not only confusing but controversial as well. There seems to be no cohesion between the members of the cabinet. Decisions and statements seem to be emanating on individual basis. Every man and woman at the helm of affairs seems to be steering their own ship, each wanting to outdo the other.
Yesterday, we had the Prime Minister making a totally out of context statement with implications of serious consequences, which has added more fuel to the fire. The P.M should have comprehended the very edgy situation the government is facing and the consequences of his reference to state of emergency was obviously going to be construed in a highly negative manner. The parliamentary affairs minister trying to play down the statement in the national assembly did not impress anyone. The negative impact of the P.M's statement was seen in the immediate plunge of the stock market, when the market fell by 432.33 points. Indeed, not a boost to an already fragile and emotion based capital market.
The Law Minister merrily talking off his hat not once, but many times has become a "Comedy of Errors". We than have the national assembly committee on finance members belonging to both the opposition and the sitting government, endlessly carrying on the debate on the crash of the stock exchange (march crises) and the investigation report and the disclosure of brokers and brokerage houses involved. One wonders about the fruitfulness of this ongoing debate, when bigger and highly disturbing issues are being faced by the country. One sincerely wishes that issues such as privatization of entities in the pipe-line such as PSO, SSGC, SNGC etc are questioned and the transparency of such state owned entities are throughly debated and answer's sought from the privatization commission. The power crisis in Sindh and the rest of the country must be taken up on a national level. The water and power minister must be told to appear before the members of the parliament on a regular basis and provide steps taken to provide relief to the consumers.
We are amazed that how the decision by the Finance Ministry to reinstate the former president of Zari Taraqiati Bank after being labeled and proved to be involved in corrupt practices and mismanagement of ZTBL has been reinstated as chairman of SME Bank. His case should have been opened in NAB by now. The silence of the Ministry of finance is questionable.
We see that on the one hand Minister for tourism Neelofer Bakhtiar being removed after the controversy her action's created from the post of president of the PML women's wing by Chaudary Shujaat Hussain. And the statement given by the party secretary general Senator Mushahid Hussain, when the minister went to meet him Mushahid Hussain said Neelofer was a woman with great leadership qualities and a dynamic personality and had transformed the PML women's wing into a pillar of strength. Pray, tell us than senator if she was so able, why was she removed by your leadership? Than, we have our minister for state and Chairman TDAP telling us that exports have risen rapidly during the past couple of years, when we can blatantly see the fall in exports to the extent that in one of the meetings the P.M had asked the commerce ministry for a report on as to how foreign remittances had doubled, when the exports had gone down.
The confusing scenario does not get any better for the clueless tax paying masses of the country_____ "The common man". It was reported in a greater section of the media yesterday by a federal minister (we think most or our readers have determined who the minister could be) that the government was considering filing another reference against the Chief Justice for politicizing, the presidential reference! And it does not end here, a reference the learned minister went on to say would be filed against the judges who participated in attending the functions of the C.J all over the country! Is this for real, have we totally gone delusional or are we in such a 'State of high' that everything in front of our eyes seems to be so rosy.
Well, Mr. Minister perhaps you should file presidential references against all the citizens of this nation , maybe all of us who choose to speak or right our minds, maybe all of us who dare to defer, maybe all of us who put the most important pillar of the nation on the highest peak of the mountain in order to protect the dignity, the scantity , the honor of the judiciary as foremost, in order to uphold the solidarity and integrity of our country, should all be labeled "Traitors" and put behind the cage.
Because, if to hold your country's solidarity supreme and you want to protect it further from disintegrating is a definitely not a crime. The government stooping to use threats by way of regression and force, is a clear indication than that the days and months ahead are going to lead to uncalled for mayhem and uprisings.