بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Pakistan Headlines 14/08/2019
Headlines:
The Purpose of US Visit is to Reassure that Pakistan’s Rulers will remain Loyal to their Masters
Oppressive Taxation Upon Small Business is to Choke It
Latest Increase in Petrol Prices is at the Behest of IMF
Details:
The Purpose of US Visit is to Reassure that Pakistan’s Rulers will remain Loyal to their Masters
The civil and military leadership of the country on 1st August 2019 put their heads together to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral ties between Pakistan and the US, in light of the recent successful visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to the US. The prime minister expressed satisfaction upon his “successful” visit and acknowledged President Trump’s vision regarding peace in the region and Pak-US relations.
After the creation of Pakistan, every ruler considered US visit the highlight of their political life and in their sight, visits to US are always successful. In New Pakistan, “Naya Pakistan,” people were given false hope that the new political leadership will place the interests of Pakistan first, instead of America. In order to strengthen this impression for almost one year this visit was deferred, but as soon Trump ordered Imran along with the military leadership, they reached the US promptly. The purpose of this visit was never to advance the interests of Pakistan and Imran has himself admitted this fact by saying that he acknowledged President Trump’s vision regarding peace in the region and Pak-US relations. This means that either the political and military leadership does not have any vision of their own or, if they have, then they have abandoned it in compliance to the order of Trump. The proof of this fact is the letter of Trump which he wrote to Imran Khan, in which he said that his top most priority for this region is the political solution to the Afghan war. Therefore the political and military leadership of Pakistan was called to secure Trump’s objective.
However, in order to dispel this impression that this is not US object rather the objective of Pakistan, the political and military leadership of Pakistan says that it has always been our objective to settle the issue of Afghanistan peacefully. This is a lie because if this had been the case, then why for the last nineteen years, did the political and military leadership help America militarily to occupy and consolidate her occupation of Afghanistan? In fact, the purpose of Imran’s visit of America was same as that of the previous rulers and that is to reassure their slavery to America. If the rulers of New Pakistan have any concern for the interests of Pakistan, then they should have not visited America because America has already declared the Hindu State her ally and has closed her eyes to the atrocities being committed by Hindu State in Occupied Kashmir. Moreover, she endorses this oppression in the name of fighting the “War on Terror.” And if the rulers of New Pakistan have any concern for the interests of Pakistan, then they would have not given importance to relations with the US who is an open enemy of Islam and Muslims. Allah (swt) said,
[أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ يَزْعُمُونَ أَنَّهُمْ آمَنُواْ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ مِن قَبْلِكَ يُرِيدُونَ أَن يَتَحَاكَمُواْ إِلَى الطَّاغُوتِ وَقَدْ أُمِرُواْ أَن يَكْفُرُواْ بِهِ وَيُرِيدُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَن يُضِلَّهُمْ ضَلاَلاً بَعِيدًا]
“Have you not seen those who claim to have believed in what was revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what was revealed before you? They wish to refer legislation to Taghut, while they were commanded to reject it.” [Surah An-Nisaa 4:60]. Only the Khilafah (Caliphate) on the Method of Prophethood will not establish friendship with the enemies of Islam and Muslims and adopt a war stance towards them.
Oppressive Taxation upon Small Business is to Choke It
On 2nd August 2019, newspapers in Pakistan including Dawn and Tribune published a news that FBR has decided to impose a fixed tax on small shopkeepers, in order to bring them under tax net. According to this new law, every small shopkeeper will pay 2 percent of the volume as tax, or forty thousand rupees as tax. Jewelers, wholesalers, warehouses, property dealers, property builders, doctors, lawyers and charted accountants are not included in this category. Furthermore local or foreign company outlets, shops in shopping malls, shops holding POS or shops which pay three hundred thousand annually for electricity bills, are also not included in this category.
The government announced this tax scheme just days before the strike call of 15 and 16 August 2019 by traders. Two matters are important with regard to this issue. The first is that this tax is imposed on traders, which are considered poor even amongst the traders. These are those shopkeepers or traders who have setup their small businesses by taking small loans or by small savings. The baker, barber, milk distributor and other similar small businesses will be subjected to this tax. The second matter is that this tax is not imposed on the savings of the shopkeepers, rather on their trade volume. Policies like this clarify that the current regime is squeezing both the wealthy and the poor on the instruction of the IMF. Thus, in the so-called developing world, the poor people become poorer, because of the same policies, and the middle class was pushed into poverty.
The capitalist system tax policy always chokes the circulation of money. Income tax, sales tax, withholding tax all originate from this tax philosophy. Placing tax on the circulation of money discourages its circulation. Islam encourages the circulation of money and wealth. Allah (swt) said,
[كَيْ لَا يَكُونَ دُولَةً بَيْنَ الْأَغْنِيَاء مِنكُمْ]
“And it (wealth) should not only circulate amongst your wealthy” [Surah Al-Hashar 59:7]. The system of revenues in Islam, differentiates between the wealthy and poor. Unlike the capitalist system, Islam does not apply taxation on the poor who is eligible for Zakah, rather revenues are taken from those people when their wealth reaches a certain value, over which they have to pay Zakah. In the Islamic system, the revenues are Kharaj, Jizya, Rikaz, Usher, Fay and Booty. All these revenues are subjected to the wealth of the person and not on the volume of the circulation of money, as in the capitalist system. So Islam’s revenue policy encourages the circulation of wealth and the poor people are not burdened with tax. Wealth circulates from the wealthy people to the poor people and so the society becomes prosperous.
Latest Increase in Petrol Prices is at the Behest of IMF
Dawn Newspaper reported on 1st August 2019 that “Govt increases Petrol price by Rs 5.15 per litre for August.” The paper reported that this was despite the fact that the price of crude oil in the Arabian Gulf has reduced by more than 12 percent.
It has become a matter of routine for the masses to witness wave after wave of price hikes, further burdening them with more and more taxes and a series of unjust policy measures. The latest hike in petrol prices will impact the basic commodities and will cause the already unbearable prices to inflate further, as fuel is a basic requirement for production and transportation of both raw materials and finished goods. This current hike is in accordance with the regime’s agreement with the IMF. The current Bajwa-Imran regime, like its predecessors, has surrendered to the International Monetary Fund. It has completely capitulated by handing over the reins of the economy to the Fund. The IMF has a proven history of ensuring disasters and crippling the economies of many countries, but the current regime is bent upon flogging the same dead horse. This speaks volumes about the incapability and insincerity of this regime, shamelessly betraying the masses and pursuing the agenda of their colonialist masters. However, the root of the problem does not end with the corrupt rulers, rather it extends to the Capitalist economic model, which views the energy resources as just another commodity which can be privatized.
Islam has given a comprehensive policy about the energy resources by bringing them under the umbrella of public ownership, thus separating them from private and state properties. According to the Hadith of RasulAllah (saaw),
«الْمُسْلِمُونَ شُرَكَاءُ فِي ثَلَاثٍ الْمَاءِ وَالْكَلَإِ وَالنَّارِ»
“Muslims are partners in three things, water, pasture lands and fire.” This includes energy resources such as oil, electricity, natural gas, coal and the like, which cannot be owned either by private entities or the state. By the same rule, the factories, refineries and plants which are involved in the production and refinement of these resources would also be public owned. This in turn, restricts the state from imposing any taxes on these resources. This policy will be a corner stone of the Islamic Khilafah state from its inception as and when it returns. This single policy will bring significant relief for the masses and will be a glowing example for the whole world to follow. The Ummah yearns for her shield, the Khilafah to return and lead her towards a revival that will benefit not just the Muslims, but the world as a whole, as Islam and the Khilafah are the blessings of Allah (swt) for humankind.