Capitalist lullaby

This refers to the news report, ‘Presidential ordinance to be promulgated to sell PIA’ (December 5). The government is all set to relinquish its partial control of one of the most important strategic assets and the national flag carrier. This will pave the way for international corporatists to penetrate their capitalist jaws deeper into our veins. The rosy picture that the government is portraying of the potential benefits of privatisation is but a capitalist lullaby to lull the able and willing into a slumber in order to allow businessmen to acquire the strategic assets and critical infrastructure of the country. In a bid to demonstrate the improved financial health of the cash-strapped economy that is currently heavily reliant on bilateral and multilateral credit, the government has embarked upon a selling spree under the advice of foreign donors who are quick at generating phony econometric models for general consumption.

It seems that in a few years our posterity will just be a slave factory where the market forces will pick and choose people for survival and the remaining will be left to linger on in the wilderness of poverty and hunger. This is what can happen if we do not stand up against decisions that benefit a select few in this country. I request the government to reverse its decision to privatise PIA and other strategic assets of this country

Waseem Afzal Jadoon

Abbottabad