By C.R. Akbar Shah
Due to the changing global, regional, and domestic situation and the deepening economic crisis, the fight among warring factions for power has entered a decisive stage. There existed a state of restlessness throughout the country concerning the appointment of new army chief. Although this state of restlessness ended now. However, the emerging and burning issues have been completely ignored during this whole process as millions of Pakistanis are groaning under the problems.
The politico-economic impact on the country will be seen in the post-army chief appointment. In other words, it is to be seen what are the consequences of using the appointment of army chief as a means to divert the attention of people from real issues faced by the nation. To be specific, the situation has become very much clear now.
With a rational approach, the profound impact of changing global situation can easily be analyzed. Unfortunately, the corporate media has been adamant build a comprehensive, coherent, and solid narrative about changing global, national, and regional situation.
The state of chaos, anxiety, and excitement in the country will continue even after the dust has settled because the real problem was not the appointment of the army chief. The problem is the economic problem. The current deteriorating political situation has a direct correlation with economic crises the country is going through.
The neoliberal economic policy of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former American Prime Minister Regan has collapsed. As a direct impact of deepening capitalistic crises, three prime ministers were replaced in Britain within a year. The fate of pro-American countries in Latin America, including France and Germany seems to meet the same fate.
Moreover, as a consequence of the Russian-Ukraine war, oil prices have skyrocketed due to the ban oil embargo on Russia by the west. Similarly. the entire Europe has been gripped by the gas crisis. As a direct consequence of Ukrainian crises, it has become difficult even for developed world to run their industries. The closure of industries will reduce production and create another tsunami of unemployment in developing and developed alike.
The nihilism and monstrosity of the market economy are that capital goes into the hands of the capitalist class. The ambition of the capitalists is to capture the market only by increasing production, so inflation is ignored by the capitalist class without any regard for the sufferings of common people.
C.R. Akbar Shah
We have witnessed what happened in Srilanka in recent months. Unfortunately, the public uprising in Srilanka was not given a direction there due to the absence of a radical revolutionary party. An upsurge of change in Iran is knocking on the door of revolution. Again, due to the lack of a revolutionary and radical party, the struggle against political and social oppression will fadeaway. At the same time, the upsurge would not fadeaway without inspiring the neighboring countries for an upheaval.
The traditional pressure that America had put to bring down the oil prices also turned out to be futile. After Shah Faisal, this is the second time that the Saudi Crown Prince has refused to accept the monopoly of America. King Salman’s reforms and refusal to say yes boss to the United States also point towards a change with potential repercussions for American interests in the Middle East.
Like that Saudi Arabia, a revolutionary or a radical political party is non-existent in Iran also. Nevertheless, as discussed above the upheaval and public upsurge is both a threat to conservative religious regime within and the USA and its cronies outside.
The recent wave of change in Iran has been accelerated by a large number of women taking to the streets. This rise of women may ultimately be the precursor to real change there and beyond if carried ahead. The track record of the past proves that wherever large-scale change took place, women took to the streets.
Like other parts of the world, the leftist movements are also not organized. Due to the electoral politics of reformists and neo-liberals, the left parties have failed to capture political power. In the current situation, the need for a large-scale change is being strongly felt, but there is no organized revolutionary party to create a consensus among the people.
The pioneers and reformers of bourgeois democracy are all under the umbrella of Imran Khan. Therefore, their number is also seen in the gathering. The narrative of true freedom and freedom from the slavery of the US has been proven to be a hoax as the proponent (Imran Khan) of this narrative apologized unconditionally to the US just a few days ago.
Religious parties in Pakistan are also a part of the power and electoral politics. It has always been their attempt to establish a state within a state through armed groups and there is also the harsh reality that they are not only patronized by the government but also supported by external forces interfering in the country. Thus these parties play on the same pitch vis a vis other mainstream political parties to suit their own interests.
Despite the bill against interest based banking system and the decision of the Federal Sharia Court, the rulers are facing serious problems in implementation. In this context, the duplicity and double standards of religious parties disclosed their shallowness of religious slogans.
A school of thought had from the new army chief to play his role in the implementation of the bill to end the interests based economic system for being Hafiz e Quran and practicing Muslim. This class does not think country’s economy is driven by global financial imperialist institutions like the IMF. How can an anti-usury law be enforced in a hostage economy?
At present, the reign of the country is in the hands of PPP, Muslim League (N), and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam. In case, a new human tragedy occurs befall the country, the responsibility would lie Imran Khan who brought it to power in guise of the pretense of a conspiracy theory.
Along with this, all the dynamic forces that want real change will have to determine their destination and direction on a revolutionary and radical basis without which all efforts are nothing but a meaningless exercise.
