8 October 2023 morning, on gathering news of Hamas’ intrepidity in Southern Palestine and Gaza Envelope, my immediate reaction was, ‘Party Pooper’.
Party was on for sometime and last few guests were eagerly awaited to join in namely Pakistan, KSA & UAE. Zionists thought they were in the game. But Hamas with the help of The Master Planner, had other plans.
Genesis of every conflict could be traced in Economic reasons. Guised in political and/ or ideological reasons, Petrodollar gave birth to many crisis in 20th and 21st Century. Any state or faction trying to breakaway from hegemony of dollar would found itself in a plethora of conflict(s) or crisis. Israel is a colonial outpost in Middle East whose patronage shifted from British to American influence over time. The impediment to Israel’s legitimacy in the ME has been its acceptance by significant Muslim countries in and around the region. After years of efforts, the stage was set to remove these obstacles particularly if Pakistan, KSA and UAE could announce formal acceptance of Israel. It had to start from Pakistan for its geopolitical location, sizeable army and massive impact being an ideological state per se.
Why couldn’t Pakistan say no to this proposition and stand by its stated stance of not accepting Israel? Answer lies in its shambolic economic situation. People often question why state of Pakistan failed to show spine when needed? It doesn’t have economy to support its ideology or principle stances. Whosoever is entrusted or forces his way to power or controls sock puppet parliament in Pakistan cannot steer it out of dire straits for obvious reason of economic weaknesses. Besides, there is serious dearth of leadership since Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Those who believe in cardinal of democracy,‘Government of the people, by the people and for the people’, need to align with the reality. There is no governance or constitution neither are there any institutions or politicians. We have never been a democracy nor is there any glimmer of hope anytime soon. This is not to further despondency but to keep it real. There is hope. Couple of generations down the line, things may change. This will require consistent effort on thought and action.
Back to the topic. How Hamas pooped party viz-a-viz Pakistan?
Lot many ways. Our former Chief Executive went to Russia for cheaper fuel and wheat which indirectly challenged hegemonic petrodollar economic model of US and its agency states of GCC. Deal was to remove this Chief Executive and billions of dollars would have poured in with caveat to accept Israel, rollback CPEC and accept Indian ascendancy remaining perpetually subservient to US. Hence, we heard echoes of 75 Billion Dollars that would have changed the fate of this country.
But the manual states, [30:08]
وَيَمْكُرُونَ وَيَمْكُرُ اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ
So the Zionist plan could not be executed. No dollars. Things have been downhill since then. Impression of false hope and the state of denial are eating up on the very edifice of Pakistan because the food of poor is off the table, middle class relegated to lower middle class, lower middle class being most vocal is at the verge of extinction and the only growth recorded in past one year was in poverty; from 90 million to 100 million went below poverty line (World Bank).
It didn’t work according to the plan because Hamas pooped the party but if we get out the state of denial and utter disregard of reality only then we might be able apply mid course corrections and realign with our political realities which may result in economic revival. Taking everyone onboard will help resolve economic issues in mid and long term. Grabbing dollars from here and there in exchange for keeping country’s future ransom to US, IMF, WB or rich gulf ‘brothers’ will keep us vulnerable and abay.
May Allah help Pakistan. Ameen
