19.11.

22‫پاکستان ڈیفالٹ‬

WILL Pakistan actually default if the IMF, Saudi Arabia and

other donors do not disburse)‫ (تقسیم‬a few billion dollars? Some
are sounding the alarm bell, but others — including the
government — insist)‫ (اصرار‬that our economic ship is not about
to sink anytime soon. They tell us we will not become Sri
Lanka.
It is indeed)‫ (بےشک‬unlikely)‫ (امکان‬that the state will declare)‫(اعالن‬
bankruptcy)‫ (دیوالیہ پن‬because our patrons)‫ — (سرپرست‬Western,
Islamic kingdoms and the Chinese — may prefer that we don’t
plunge)‫ (چھالنگ لگانا‬headlong into chaos)‫(افراتفری‬. In any case,
there is little relief on the horizon)‫ (افق‬from the lethal)‫(مہلک‬
combination)‫ (مجموعہ‬of spiralling inflation)‫ (مہنگائی‬and the
fallout)‫ (نتیجہ‬of the monsoon rains. Reportedly 90 million
Pakistanis are already going hungry.
But still we are supposed to be reassured)‫ (یقین دہانی‬that it won’t
get as bad as Sri Lanka. In making such rhetorical)‫(بیان بازی‬
statements, the political and intellectual)‫(دانشور‬
mainstream)‫ (مرکزی دھارے‬is deliberately)‫ (جان بوچھ کر‬glossing
over)‫ (روشنی ڈالنا‬another defining feature of Pakistan’s social and
political life that resembles)‫ (مشابہت‬Sri Lanka. Like that island
country, Pakistan too is an ethnically)‫(نسلی طور پر‬
majoritarian)‫ (اکثریتی‬state which continues to treat its peripheral
ethnic-nations like colonial)‫ (نوآبادیاتی‬subjects.
The current government and its establishment patrons will
certainly)‫ (یقینی طورپر‬dedicate enough time and energy to
keeping the IMF, Saudi Arabia and other donors onboard
because the alternative)‫ (متبادل‬scenario)‫ (منظرنامہ‬threatens the
entire coterie’s accumulation)‫ (ذخیرہ‬of power and wealth.
And what of Imran Khan, whose supporters believe has broken
with the minimum consensus)‫ (اتفاق رائے‬that has kept our
militarized)‫ (عسکریت پسند‬ruling)‫ (حکمران‬class intact)‫ (برقرار‬till now?
The true measure of whether a party or leader is challenging
status quo)‫ (پرانا نظام‬is whether they articulate)‫ (واضح کرنا‬a
political project which emphatically)‫ (زورسے‬rejects colonial
statecraft)‫ (ریاستی دستکاری‬in the ethnic peripheries)‫(اطراف‬, while
offering a unique vision for metropolitan Pakistan beyond land
grabbers)‫(زمین پر قبضہ کرنے والے‬, war makers and
profiteering)‫ (منافع خور‬cartels.
If Pakistan were to declare bankruptcy in the weeks to come,
the burden would yet again be borne)‫ (برداشت‬by the working
masses)‫(کام کرنے والی عوام‬. But the truth is that we are already a
country in default. And only a vision to transcend)‫ (تجاوز‬hate
and redistribute wealth alongside will constitute a genuine
reboot. I believe that there are enough of us still able and
willing to offer a meaningful economic, political and cultural
alternative. But there will come a time, sooner rather than later,
when such a vision will be too little, too late.