Compromising national Interests and fake Statistics

From stupid decisions like day time saving scheme to the arrogant measures of mutilating the Constitution, it is a long list of the black deeds of Musharraf regime. However, the recent report of the US Central Command (CENTCOM) on "Effects of Operation Enduring Freedom on Economy of Pakistan" has exposed two grave crimes committed by this regime.

1. It has been telling lies about the extent of surrendering national interests.
2. It continues to dish out fake statistics about the state of national economy.

This fact sheet aims at making the nation aware of the details and implications of these misdeeds.

Musharraf's Deception

In his televised address on September 19, 2001, General Pervez Musharraf told the nation that he had agreed to provide only use of airspace and logistic support to the United States for military operation against Afghanistan. He said: "Trust me. I will not disappoint you and there will be no compromise on Pakistan's security and sovereignty." That was a gross misstatement bordering on blatant lie, and a masterpiece of deception. He had actually accepted the devastating seven US demands that US Secretary of State Colin Powell put to him on telephone.

The prompt willingness with which Musharraf accepted these demands surprised Powell, who elatedly reported his success to the National Security Council meeting in the next room. But no body in Pakistan knew that Musharraf had not merely compromised but in effect surrendered the nation's security interests and sovereignty to the imperial interests of the United States.

CENTOM Revelations
It was left to the CENTCOM to tell the world how that surrender was translated into actions. General Pervez Musharraf kept all these facts concealed, though some of the media persons in the country knew at least the nature of support that the generals in power had been providing to the US forces, but they were forced into silence. The regime had succeeded in keeping the nation ignorant of this great betrayal until CENTCOM revealed it all. That is why the CENTOCOM report led to panicky protest by General Musharraf, and the US government obliged him by removing the Pakistan data from the CENTCOM website immediately. However, the facts are now on record, and these could be possibly used as evidence in trials of treason sometime in future.

Contradictory statements
The CENTCOM report has also exposed the fallacious claims of the finance managers of General Musharraf about the about the state of Pakistan's economy. According to CENTCOM, Pakistan economy suffered a staggering loss of US$ 10 billion due to Musharraf's participation in the American war on terrorism.

Musharraf's financial wizard Shaukat Aziz tried to hide his embarrassment, and true to his habit of spinning tall tales, told reporters in Islamabad on May 30, 2003 that the CENTOM estimate was not based on facts, and that actually Pakistan had lost only one billion dollars. But Dawn quoted same day an officer of his ministry saying that "Pakistan planned to seek $8 to 10 billion from the United States as further compensation for the losses it suffered for cooperating with coalition forces during the US-led assault on Afghanistan."

The officer also admitted that the Finance Ministry had started preparing fresh estimates of losses only after the appearance of the CENTCOM report.

Interestingly, Shaukat Aziz's comment has proved the age-old adage that a liar has no memory. After Musharraf's declaration of unconditional support to USA at late night of September 11, 2001, Aziz CNN and other media that Pakistan economy will lose around $1.5 billion as a result of its alliance in the operation against Afghanistan. Last year he amended his estimate and said the loss would amount to 2-3 billion dollars, but last month it again came down to one billion!

In fact, economic experts had foreseen the massive adverse effects on Pakistan's economy from day one. For instance, Former Minister of Finance Ishaq Dar was sure that Pakistan economy would suffer a loss of around $12 billion. He had, therefore, asked a common friend, as early as December 2001, to advise Shaukat Aziz to make a claim of at least $12 billion from USA for reimbursement of losses which Pakistan economy would likely suffer in the proposed operation of USA against Afghanistan. That advice was apparently ignored. Shaukat Aziz continued telling lies to favor foreign interests, which is a very serious crime.

False Claims
This episode of contradictory utterances highlights once more the unreliability of the figures and statistics that Shaukat Aziz and his team of economists have been dishing to hoodwink the people of Pakistan. Their latest lie is that the national economy has reached take off stage due to the so-called achievements following the October 1999 coup of General Musharraf.

Forex reserves: Foreign exchange reserve is one of the pegs on which General Musharraf hangs his promises of future prosperity. The much publicized 10 billion dollars reserve is not a measure strong economy for the simple reason that this build up is not due to export earnings. Pakistan's total export earning in fiscal year 2000-2001 was $92 million while current year's rather optimistic expectation is that exports will add another $500 million to the earlier figure. Roughly, that's around 5% of the reserves.

The State Bank has purchased over $4 billion from the kerb market at 2 to 4 rupees above market rate, causing additional loss of millions of rupees. The remaining part of the forex reserves consists of remittances by overseas Pakistanis, who have been rushing their hard earned money fearing the draconian US Partriot Act of October 2001 that authorises US government to seize foreign nationals' accounts in the name of curbing terrorist activities.

Investment climate: General Musharraf and his economic managers are never tired of boasting that Pakistan's environment is ideal for investment. But not a single industrial unit has been set up during the past year.