Learning from China
China is managing to feed it's massive population.
Pakistan is plagued by a feudal system which has taken the entire nation hostage. According to a rough estimate, there are about 50,000 feudal lords in Pakistan. Transparency International published a report with the statistics regarding corruption in Pakistan. The country was ranked 42nd among the world’s most corrupt countries in 2009, whereas in 2008, Pakistan was in the 47th position. According to the report, the root cause of corruption in Pakistan is the feudal system.
In fact, corruption has plagued this country since its birth. Quaid -e-Azam once said:
“Among many other curses, our country is suffering from corruption and bribery and we have to bring it down with an iron hand” (on December 9, 1947).
It is high time our leaders take China as an example, as it successfully weeded out corruption with serious punishments being meted out corrupt officials. Is the same possible in Pakistan under the prevailing circumstances?
First, we will have to create a Pakistan similar to post-revolution China. In China, it was communism that worked the miracle of freeing the common man from the yoke of the feudal lord. Here, if we utilize the force of Islamic democracy, we will achieve much better results. Mao Zedong liberated China from its feudal past and his successors led it into 21st century. Now, the population of China is over 1.3 billion and it is self-sufficient in terms of food production. China’s annual exports are over 760 billion dollars. It has foreign reserves of over 1 trillion dollars.
Shakespeare said, “Feudalism, thy name is corruption.” It is time we learned from our neighbor and took care of the corruption within our own ranks.
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of The Express Tribune.
good piece murtaza. well defined facts and figures and yes our state badly needs a Mao ZedongRecommend
We have learned to increase ‘workforce’ from China.Recommend
So True!
Had a wave of socialism sustained in the past we would have had a single language, one and only true religious version, and lesser income and justice inequalities. Learning from the Chinese history will do a lot good..Recommend
Force of Islamic democracy?…..Shariat court has already declared land reforms as unislamic. The land which was given to peasants during Bhutto’s era was later confiscated. Feudals who were reallotted their lands subsequently put thousands of peasant families under bonded labour. Its the only issue in Pakistan over which all religious sects have a consensus; land reforms in the country would be nothing less than blasphemous!
More than communism, its the Chinese Cultural Revolution which laid the foundation of the modern day China. Cultural revolution allowed Chinese to get rid of old traditions and customs, dogmas and passive ideologies. Mao’s communist economic model only lead to famine which resulted in death of millions of Chinese. It was the wisdom of the great Deng Xiopeng who converted a communist state to one of the largest capitalist market economy of the world.
How is feudalism the main reason behind corruption?….Only 20% of GDP comes from agriculture. Half of agriculture comes from livestock so crops hardly make 10% of the GDP. Most corrupt institutions are tax and customs, railways, wapda, PIA, police, judiciary etc.
Feudalism of the medieval european pattern, does not exist in Pakistan. There are few large land-holdings. Our real issue is the feudal mindset. It exists everywhere whethers its army, police, ethnic urban parties, beaurocracy, tax evading business elite, religious militias etc Surely, we need land reforms but the problem is with the wider political-military-religious elite.Recommend
scratched head very very pedestrian analysis.Recommend
Good one boyRecommend
Good piece!Recommend
China practices God-less communism. Pakistan practices God-less Islamist-dictatorshipism..
I hate to admit this but India-style democracy is more suited to Pakistan.Recommend
power corrupts and absolute power (read communism) corrupts absolutely.Recommend
maybe we’ll try out islamic communism now!!Recommend
politicians, lawyers, elite, and so called religious figures, Take them out of the equation problem is resolved. A chance to start over Keep it Stupid Simple!!Recommend
First Step: Rename from Islamic Republic of Pakistan — to — People’s Republic of Pakistan.
Thank you!Recommend
Perhaps we do need our best intellectuals to draft out that Zardari’s proposed 25-year plan. That way a clear realization will set in that having a border with China is a dangerous proposition, given that PLA’s capabilities will surpass those of the US military. Where else would a proxy war play out other than Pakistan? It’s a no-brainer and should be avoided.Recommend
By mid-century, it is very likely that China will be the de facto superpower of the world. The US economy will be half the size of China, and about the same size as India. As for Pakistan, there’s a surprise as ours will be a much smaller economy. China and India will have a huge trade going on between them. And China will also be keenly interested in colonizing Pakistan for various reasons ranging from trade routes to energy to naval security. This is a possibility discussed by American think tanks too and they are worried, not for Pakistan, but because this would directly challenge American interests. That’s why I don’t buy into our silly opinion-makers who keep rapping that China is our friend. If we have a direct border with China, that’s an invitation to a scenario unacceptable to any Pakistani with an iota of honor. The real irony is that our army and foreign policy experts insist on resolving the Kashmir issue for a border with China!Recommend
Shakespeare never said so!Recommend
very nice post!!Recommend