By Asif Mehmood
Ishaq Dar is yet again in the news and not for any economic reason only. This time the situation is more intriguing and troubling.
What Mr. Raza Rabbani asked in the upper House is a very critical question , the answer to that question , however , opened many more avenues of questions.
Rabbani bemoaned that the upper House had neither before nor today been taken into confidence on what are the conditionalities of the IMF. His concern was genuine. We all know that the issue of dealing with the IMF and the conditionalities attached to it have had never been tabled in National Assembly or the Senate and everything has been done sans any discussion in the parliament. In this perspective the question had a substance.
However Ishaq Dar’s answer to the said question is very alarming. Despite the fact that Ishaq Dar has negated something the fact is that the same denial has stirred many question. Why after all Ishaq Dr had to say this all. Was it merely a hypothesis or there does exist a real threat?
Mr. Dar said , “Nobody has any right to tell Pakistan what range of missiles it can have and what nuclear weapons it can have. We have to have our own deterrence. Let me assure you that nobody is going to compromise anything on the nuclear or the missile program of Pakistan – no way, It is emphasized that Pakistan’s nuclear and missile program is a national asset, which is jealously guarded by the state. The complete program is totally secure, foolproof, and under no stress or pressure whatsoever, It continues to fully serve the purpose for which this capability was developed.”
What Mr. Dar stated we merely an answer to the question or was much more is a real conundrum. The denial of the governments on any issue means a lot , this is our history that speaks volumes of the fact.
The things are worsening. The matter cannot be left over to Mr. Dar only. What we need is an open debate in the Parliament. Let the Parliament be taken into confidence and let the people’s representative decide.
