Category Archives: Corruption

Ongoing discrimination against the Ahmadi “Muslims” in Pakistan

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It is very distressing to learn about DIRECT accounts of casteism widely practiced in Pakistan. Upon reading the excerpts from an article (which recently appeared in Firstpost) below, you’ll realize how discrimination based on beliefs and religion is so widespread in Pakistan that it has been given a place in the country’s constitution itself — through an amendment made in 1974, which says that Ahmadis are not Muslims. They cannot preach, practice or call themselves Muslims in Pakistan. If they do, they will be arrested and may even be given a death sentence. This is about as outrageous as it can get!

To realize how casteism has caused harm to Pakistan’s intellectual development, one only needs to study the case of Abdus Salam, Pakistan’s sole Nobel Laureate who won the prize for his contribution to the Standard Model of physics (and the discovery of Higgs Boson).

He belonged to the Ahmadi sect of Muslims. He was well-respected in Pakistan before 1974. But as soon as the constitution was amended to discriminate against Ahmadis, he was persecuted and forced to leave the country. Now, there’s little (if any) mention of him in Pakistan’s textbooks. His talents and contribution to science are totally ignored, thanks to the Islamic nation’s Islamic fundamentalists!

Below, I reproduce a few excerpts from the article (emphasis mine):

Praise within Pakistan for Salam, who also guided the early stages of the country’s nuclear program, faded decades ago as Muslim fundamentalists gained power. He belonged to the Ahmadi sect, which has been persecuted by the government and targeted by Taliban militants who view its members as heretics.

Amendment to Pakistan’s constitution to enforce casteism against the Ahmadis:

Salam’s life, along with the fate of the 3 million other Ahmadis in Pakistan, drastically changed in 1974 when parliament amended the constitution to declare that members of the sect were not considered Muslims under Pakistani law.

All Pakistani passport applicants must sign a section saying the Ahmadi faith’s founder was an “impostor” and his followers are “non-Muslims.” Ahmadis are prevented by law in Pakistan from “posing as Muslims,” declaring their faith publicly, calling their places of worship mosques or performing the Muslim call to prayer. They can be punished with prison and even death.

Note how, upon persecution, Salam moved to Europe and contributed his talent and perseverance to Italy’s scientific progress! Pakistan lost one of the few opportunities it had for intellectual development, thanks to discrimination practiced by the dominant Sunnis, for according to them Salam has no place in Allah’s kingdom:

Salam resigned from his government post in protest following the 1974 constitutional amendment and eventually moved to Europe to pursue his work. In Italy, he created a center for theoretical physics to help physicists from the developing world.

Although Pakistan’s then-president, General Zia ul-Haq, presented Salam with Pakistan’s highest civilian honor after he won the Nobel Prize, the general response in the country was muted. The physicist was celebrated more enthusiastically by other nations, including Pakistan’s archenemy, India.

Discrimination continues till today:

“Many Ahmadis have received letters from fundamentalists since the 2010 attacks threatening to target them again, and the government isn’t doing anything,” said Qamar Suleiman, a spokesman for the Ahmadi community.

Abdus Salam, Pakistan’s only Nobel Laureate. Alas, not Pakistan’s anymore!

There’s no dearth of totally nonsense pictures circulating around FB. Earlier, I talked about how private corporations are unfairly targeted by ignorant propagandists on FB.  Here’s one more:

What is wrong with this picture?

The owner of a private corporation is shown earning a fortune while the lowest level employee receives almost nothing. People who haven’t been sufficiently informed about government failures could be forgiven for failing to comprehend the false propaganda spread through this picture.

Agreed, the CEO of a private company earns at least ten times more than an entry-level employee. But that does not mean the entry-level employee is left poor. Almost 80% of the time, an entry-level employee in a private enterprise earns considerably more than a similar employee working in the public (government) sector. This is a known, indisputable truth — just compare a clerk in HDFC bank with a clerk in SBI. Who earns more?

Obviously an HDFC employee, because HDFC has an obligation to provide superior customer service to its clients. In comparison, an employee of a public bank has no incentive to deliver great customer service because he’s not paid for that. He’s only paid to finish regular formalities and leave as soon as it is 5 pm. If you, the client, are late by even five minutes they will stare at you as if you have committed a crime!

Also compare the level of corruption in HDFC bank (which would be almost negligible) with that in any government bank!

Yes, individual scams may occur every now and then. But are such scams exclusive to private corporations alone? Con artists are as much found in the public sector. And such criminals MUST be punished. The difference today is that for a particular crime, an executive in a private company is implicated and jailed for 30 years while a similar executive in a government company roams free.

The correct version of the above picture is thus as follows:

The central government sets aside literally BILLIONS of funds for the poor. And how much of that actually reaches poor? Negligible! India’s poor have been suffering from hunger and poverty since more than SIXTY years of independence, and India still remains one of the poorest countries in the world. So blame the government, not the private corporations who in reality create employment and raise the standard of living of the people.

But most importantly, please DON’T BLINDLY BELIEVE! Question every picture and article you come across on FB. In fact, question everything in life. Only then can you hope to know the truth!   

Who is the REAL thief?

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This picture has been circulating widely across FB. What is one MAJOR flaw in it?

It is NOT the rich who robs the poor. It is the government!

Remember that when it comes to the total wealth of an economy, the pie is NOT limited. If the pie were limited, then it would have become a zero-sum game. One would have had to steal from another in order to become wealthy.

Let’s say there exist only two persons, Mr. A and Mr. B, in a hypothetical economy. The total wealth (size of the pie) of this economy is Rs. 2000 — both earn Rs. 1000 each. Let’s also assume that this wealth is limited and cannot increase no matter how hard these people work. In this situation, Mr. A has to appropriate wealth from Mr. B in order to become rich i.e. he has NO other option than to “steal,” albeit legally, from Mr. B.

In the real (capitalistic) world, however, the pie of wealth is not limited. Mr. A can work hard to increase the total wealth of the economy. He need not steal from another because it is no longer a zero-sum game. Rather than Rs. 1000, he can make Rs. 2000. Hence the total wealth of the economy becomes Rs. 3000. Mr. B still earns Rs. 1000, which means his wealth didn’t decrease by Mr. A’s getting richer.

GOVERNMENT, THE REAL THIEF!

While the process through which the state steals is far more complex, here’s a rather simple example: Through taxing rich people and businesses, it collects astronomical funds every year and promises to use these funds to alleviate poverty through providing various subsidies (consumer goods at cheaper prices) to the poor. Do subsidies really help? Indian government has been providing subsidies since independence, yet truth is India still remains one of the POOREST countries in the world. Before the crops (at subsidized prices) even reach the poor, they are either consumed by the relatives of authorities or rot unused in government warehouses. Billions of funds are lost (stolen!) by government officials along the distribution chain.

So, with slight modification, here’s how the above picture should be:

In fact, providing significant tax-reliefs to rich businesses and investors is the BEST thing any government can do! It helps attract more investment and reduce national unemployment. There’s no dearth of evidence regarding this fact. Only fools think otherwise!