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Thursday March 28, 2024

A depleting rupee’s appeal

The tragic story of Rupee in its own words

By Senator Rehman Malik
December 06, 2021
A representative image.
A representative image.

A national economic tragedy is in the making. Please listen to Pak Rupee voicing how it has been abused in the past by the mafia of this country and how it is misbalancing and destroying the political scene by empowering the incompetent and the corrupt lot.

Here is the tragic story of Rupee in its own words:

My name is ‘Rupee’ and I am as old as Pakistan. I was happy that I was born in then peaceful and glittering city Karachi.

I proudly grew strong and started serving many of my owners with a strong economic backing as there was honesty and respect for me. I was used for the growth and prosperity of my people from all walks of life as I had emerged strongest in the region because of the honest ownership of mine. I was pushing the country towards prosperity as long as I was being treated with respect.

My misfortune started when I was abused and forced into corruption by my corrupt and greedy masters and their corruption destroyed my value in the world and within the country. I was forced into exchange from one corrupt hand to another who used me in their own ways and will.

I was badly misused to create wedges in society through ethnicity and sectarianism. The ethnic division resultantly broke the country into two and I lost half of Pakistan. The abuse through geed, kickbacks, bribery and stock exchange mafia gripped me tight and I eventually went in the custody of rich corrupt elite who came in power.

Pakistan did the worst thing by marrying me with IMF and Fund started controlling my actual worth and destroyed me by linking me with dollar.

This unwise linking with dollar destroyed me and the prosperity of a common man.

I wish, I was not married with IMF as I have lost my own face and my financial movements are now in the hands of IMF as it dictates my fall in connivance with its own people working inside the Pak system.

Pakistani mafias made money through skillfully designed criminal net to devalue me and I am being beaten at the national cost. It is enriching the mafias by many folds.

My beating to undermine my value is happening both at home and abroad and the government with weak muscles is letting me drown allowing my fast decline. The unprofessional and unfair treatment has now brought negative score of 177 to me. Many geopolitical conspiracies and anti-economic attacks from various sides are affecting me non-stop.

Look at how my stature has been reduced and devalued since 1947. One dollar against me: —

1947-57: PKR3.31 - 4.76

1957-67: PKR4.76 - 4.76

1977-87: PKR9.90 - 16.64

1987-97: PKR16.64 - 41.11

1997-2007: PKR41.11 - 60.73

2007-15: PKR60.73 - 102.76

2015-21: PKR102.76 - 176.95

If you look at the upward trend of my devaluation, the beginning era of my country’s establishment gave me a stagnant respect and value. But, when the country entered the millennial era, I started getting devalued so much so that the years onward 2015 became the worst period of my life as I was brutally disrespected and devalued.

I fell from grace onwards 2015, and then rough treatment started as my owner either did not have the ability to treat me well or they had been become corrupt and selfish that they neither cared for me nor for a common man. There is deep relationship between me and the common man whereas corrupt rich masses sell me off to dollars, and in this way they create a disconnection between me and them. The poor ones still keep me with their chest or in some safe corner of the house.

My financial custodians get me printed to buy dollars. Although, I am the backbone of the state, yet always under crushing attacks that have made me too weak to play in the international financial market.

My name ‘Rupee’ is very dear to everyone and if it goes down it brings down not only the system but endangers the security of Pakistan as well. I am depleting because of lethal cancer of IMF, wrong infusion of inflation and because of getting in the wrong hands in the name of treatment by incompetent doctors deployed to treat this financial cancer.

Despite timely warning of my depletion, no cure has been sought rather another import of tin food etc worth $6billion has added to my misery. If you do not treat this cancer then I am afraid the enemies of Pakistan will use my death as the death of Pakistan.

We are just inches away from national bankruptcy debacle. As Rupee and the icon of Pakistan, I appeal to everyone who matters in this country to save me from this cancerous zone of my value as 200 against 1 dollar coming forth.

I want Pakistan to be prosperous. Halt my depletion. Otherwise, cancer of dollar will push me to point of no return. My value needs to be restored, stabilised and protected from IMF and its paid spin masters.

There was a time when I was a mighty asset for this country. Now I am being reduced to irreversible depleting mode. I have written appeal on behalf of Rupee in time and I hope the government will take reforming steps and will pay attention to badly beaten Rupee and its value.

I may be just a piece of paper or a coin but people should not ignore, as I am the basic parameter to keep balance in the economy and society. If people respect me and not abuse my use then perhaps I am the only voiceless and lifeless kind of ingredient that strengthens the nations, people, governments and political parties. Unfortunately, the power driven from me is being misused consistently in terms of corruption and I am being used to create imbalance in power.

Political elite uses me to promote corruption but nobody can go to the parliament unless I am handed over to the political bosses closed in suitcases to win the seat for my timely boss. Political workers raise slogans about their leaders showing their might but it is in fact me who is mighty.

My misuse has brought our Pakistan at the verge of destruction. It is high time to strengthen me if you want a strong Pakistan, as I am your tool of defence and sign of prosperity. The views expressed above are solely mine and in the national interest and do not necessarily represent the views of my party.

The writer is former Interior Minister of Pakistan, author of five books, ex-Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior and Chairman Institute of Research & Reforms (IRR) Islamabad. He can be reached at: rmalik1212@gmail.com, Twitter @Senrehmanmalik