Gilani-Zardari government has set new standards of American boot-licking. To save their master’s economy, the government has prepared a new plan to collect money for financing the crusade war by increase taxes over their own people and reducing subsidies over the foodstuff. The Military budget is being increased by 29 percent (Rs. 99 billion) to continue the American crusade war in Pakistan. By imposing “war tax” the government will steal further 83 billion rupees from the kitty of the poor masses. Moreover a cut of Rs. 102 billion is proposed by reducing subsidies to finance the bombardment of the Muslims of the Tribal Areas. Even the high level American official has confessed that the hard earned money of the people of Pakistan is being used to finance the American war. The Former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury Paul Craig Roberts confessed in his recent column saying: “At Washington’s behest, the government of Pakistan is conducting war against its own people, killing many and forcing others to flee their homes and lands…. Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin ordered the Pakistani government to raise taxes to pay for the war against its own people…The puppet ruler, Asif Ali Zardari, complied with his American master’s orders.” Do these rulers still have the audacity to call this war “our war”?!

This budget has confirmed once again that no matter if the government is democratic or dictatorial, the budget of Pakistan is designed by the IMF and that too according to the capitalist principles. This is exactly the reason why the economic condition of the masses will never improve in democracy or dictatorship, under the Capitalist economic system. It is only in the Islamic economic system where all the indirect taxes like GST, income tax, business tax, customs, excise, surcharge, additional surcharge, petroleum development levy, etc are haram. Direct taxes are collected from the rich while the poor are not subjected to any tax.  Thus Zakat is paid by the owner of Nisab, Kharaaj is imposed on the owner of land, Usher is collected from the one who has the agriculture produce, Riqaz is levied on the one who found the treasure and Jizya is collected from the non-Muslim who can pay. Islam has fix taxes and the government cannot impose any tax by their own or under the diktats of the colonial organization of the like of IMF. Islam only allows, in an emergency situation, the imposition of tax on the wealth (not income) of the rich people, that too for a limited time. And the state is not authorized to spend this amount on development expenditure. Furthermore, Islam declared all the oil, gas, minerals and such other resources as public properties and these can not be handed over to some businessmen or multi-national companies under the guise of privatization. Moreover, it is the duty of the state to provide these resources to all the people on which they government cannot earn exorbitant profit. Thus in the Khilafah, electricity, oil and gas etc are available at cheap and affordable price which will help illuminate poverty. Similarly, it is the responsibility of the Khilafah to fulfil the basic needs of the weak, handicapped and the poor. The capitalist state has also failed like the communist. This system failed to solve the problems of the US and EU than how can it solve the problems of the people of Pakistan?  Let the rulers know that their political stunts cannot hide their treachery and befool the masses. And let the people of power know, Ummah will not agree to anything less than Khilafah!!!

Naveed Butt

The Official Spokesman of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Pakistan