Friday, April 17, 2015

An Open Letter to Imran Khan (Part II)

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11.             An Open Letter to Imran Khan (Part II)


My dear Imran,

I am glad you have recovered after a very nasty fall in Lahore. I saw the ugly scene on the idiot box sitting in comfort at my house in Islamabad while you were writhing in pain. Needless to say that my family and I were in a deep shock more so because we were unable to help our Muslim brother .

I admired you as an all rounder and as a captain . I admired you when you took a giant leap and build a cancer hospital to be followed by one in Peshawar and an University in Mianwali .On several occasions, I wrote on Facebook that we trusted you with our donations and we will be willing to trust you to manage the affairs of the state. Again on Facebook , I wrote ‘If Imran fails , we will be doomed’.

I wrote two articles in last August:-
1. Why should I vote?
2. An Open Letter to Imran Khan (Part I).

My family and I did cast our votes in the absence of an alternative. Our reasons were
A. There is no possibility of change without votes
B. If we did not vote, someone else will.

Before the elections after, the media kept on briefing us on what was happening behind the scenes far away from the madding crowd (A reference to Thomas Hardy’s novel ) particularly two columns from Shaheen Sebhai , the Group Editor of ‘The News’ and ‘Jang’ which also showed you in a poor light as naive and scores of posts on Facebook and Twitter by Zaid Hamid . While the former was writing on the interference by world powers the latter was discouraging you on the principles of Islam and the war between Islam and Capitalism particularly the interest based economic system.
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Now that you have taken a wise decision to sit in the opposition, a decision endorsed by my family and I. You will to face tough challenges viz. Remember the pitfalls are enormous.
1. Since the temptation of become a minister or an ambassador or lolling in luxuries, your support in the Assemblies ie National and the four Provincial, is likely to dwindle because of fickleness of the people and the charm of richness. Remember General Musharraf’s ‘home coming’.
2. It is not easy to forget the luxuries the grandeur and the pomp and ceremony in holding a public office especially the rest of the three Provinces will not follow your example.
If you think you could maintain your policy of not encouraging protocol in the Government of Khyber Pathunkhwa for long time, you are mistaken because of human frailty.

Islamic economic system versus interest based economy . What did you have in mind when you announced in one of the public meetings that you will introduce an Economic system on the pattern of Medina. Did you do any homework in this regard? Is your party fully equipped to introduce an Islamic Economy? Are you willing to face the world which has interest based economy? Are you ready to do battle the IMF. the World Bank , the bankers on the Wall Street ? What if you fail to honour you promise? Have you imagined the impact?

According the respected Ulema Karam who have been invited to participate on different occasions in a religious programme ‘Peyem e Subh’ , the pattern of Islamic Economy is not followed anywhere in the world nor has any Muslim country a ready made model to be borrowed by Pakistan . Take the case of ‘Riba’ for eg. It is strictly forbidden in Islam so much so that we are as Muslims told to wage a war against Riba. But the Government had obtained a stay from the courts for a period of ten years. That happened in the tenure of Mian Nawaz Sharif as the Prime Minister in 1998.

Change . What change ?

The change is already visible on the media, print and electronic, on
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Facebook and Twitter, on the quality of articles hitherto unknown in Pakistan. This change is visible on the way the people of Pakistan living in the country or abroad reacted when Altaf Hussain spoke about Karachi leaving Pakistan. This was the gift of General Musharraf . However, the moral fibre of the people, both horizontally and vertically, is what it is, you will have to think twice before meddling with it.

Judiciary
We have been following the Anglo-Saxon in Pakistan with all its failings. The alternative is the Islamic System which is cheaper and quick .Are you willing to replace the Anglo-Saxon which is cumbersome and time consuming with an Islamic System? But members of your party are lawyers.

My dear Imran Khan, we are your well wishers .We wants you to succeed. But the change what you are looking for is absent in this rotten system. For a change, you will have to overhaul the entire economic system which is based on loans which in turn is based on interest and overhaul the judiciary to bring in the Islamic pattern of social justice.

Mahfooz ur Rahman
Islamabad
May 27, 2013 




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