Comments on: Repaying our debts

By: S.A. Hyder, Ph.D.

S.A. Hyder, Ph.D. — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 20:31:13 +0000

Excellent article. The writer is not only smart in his assessment of the use and misuse of the foreign loans but also brave enough to criticize HAMID GUL, one of the many crooks in power in their times. No country has ever forced Pakistan at gun point to accept aid. It is entirely the recipient’s choice. But how could the country refuse aids. It has always lived beyond its means. This could only be possible with the help of huge amount of “free” money coming in. The government-high ups flourished on aid and the army on aid plus “India phobia”.

By: Nadir

Nadir — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 23:28:00 +0000

Totally agree with what you say about Hamid Gul.

By: HNJ

HNJ — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 21:21:15 +0000

A good read Sakib – the proverbial “right” is also “proverbial” hypocrite – anywhere, everywhere !

By: Different View

Different View — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 18:12:56 +0000

Sorry, I missed to comment about the actual topic being discussed. I think the author, Mr Sherani, points out correct solution with a practical approach. Both India and Pakistan need to increase the tax net. Pakistan should get a few pointers from India on that. But it will be difficult for Pakistan, mostly because of the religious beliefs.

By: Different View

Different View — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 18:08:15 +0000

I think India and Pakistan both need to quit their mindset of demonizing the west, i.e. developed world and their values. Rather than looking at them with a suspicion, we both need to have an open mind to study their processes and systems. That doesn’t mean emulate them, just like that. Like the Chinese do. They thoroughly understand the western systems and then implement the most suitable ones in their country. The advantage India has over Pakistan, is the ruling power in India isn’t obsessed with the religion as much. I think the religion should be personal choice.

By: bharat

bharat — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 16:22:15 +0000

Its sad that a country with enough talent like Pakistan has become like this. I would not blame only the politicians. The necessary manpower had to be trained to do all this. Education was the biggest challenge which was never achieved. The few talented educated people left the nation.
Secondly the whole environment is going from bad to worse. So,in an environment of insecurity
,investors do not wish to invest at all.

Pakistan needs to create the right environment for investment and provide safety for its own countrymen first and educate more people .

Sadly, i never see this happening there as the media and politicians keep on showing
the wrong picture to the country’s people and have no interest in improving the lives
of the populace

By: G M Patra

G M Patra — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 14:48:07 +0000

May be I missed where he talks about taxing the poor more.
Main thrust was to collect from the elite, what they already owe and never pay, and spend less on pockets, BMW’s, personal airplanes, etc. That is good governess was being pushed.

By: G M Patra

G M Patra — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 14:42:55 +0000

Good Article.

It shows how corrupt and and immoral of a man HAMID GUL is. It is shame that he was head of ISI and a very high level man in Pakistan. No wonder Pakistan is the way it is.

By: Altaf Hussain, Mumbai

Altaf Hussain, Mumbai — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 13:33:24 +0000

Good article. At the time of independence both Pakistan and India started from scratch. The same people in both countries, yet why is it that Pakistan is not able to bring their rich in the tax net is inconceivable. Why can’t they throw their tax dragnet far and wide is something difficult to understand from this side of the border. For every financial activity in India you need to submit tax returns of the last three years to your financing body, how is it that the rich in Pakistan are escaping the net?

By: Islmail

Islmail — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 12:13:34 +0000

I tend to partly disagree. Raising taxes on poor will definitely help ease our debt but at what cost. Raising taxes will encourage food prices to go up which would eventually mean more crime rate. We need to focus on industrialization if we want to get out of debt,