Come June, households across the nation would have to tighten their belts because of the phasing out of subsidies on both electricity and petroleum products in the upcoming budget. Government departments, too, would be undergoing an austerity drive, with the development budget of many cut considerably. And government employees also shouldn’t be holding their breath for that pay raise; by now it is clear that there just isn’t enough money for their pay slips to keep up with inflation. That’s how things are when times are tough and governments try to curtail their fiscal deficits.
But that’s just Islamabad. It’s always sunny twenty minutes away in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. The military budget is set to increase by a whopping 12 percent this fiscal year. The functional increase, many public auditors argue, is actually going to be greater than this proportion on account of hidden expenditures. The sum that our boys wanted was much greater. But the government is going to apologetically grant only Rs 495 billion against the demand of Rs 586 billion that the forces wanted.
But that’s not all. Our aid program is at risk because of our rather embarrassing performance on the military intelligence front. This jeopardy results not just because of the incidence itself but its aftermath. Instead of being apologetic and giving at least the pretense of review of the security paradigm, the military – and now, the political government – is showing measure of indignation at the violation of our sovereignty. Whereas that is a genuine cause for concern, perhaps it could be best articulated at a time when we don’t have egg on our face. The chutzpah of an army huffing and puffing against a country that foots the bill for its excesses isn’t lost on anyone.
We’re on thin ice here, an IMF loan tranche refusal away from going under. This is no time for false pride but one for introspection.
