Business opportunities in Pakistan will be curtailed further ‘Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Sath’ on Friday

The News Sunday, September 15, 2013 From Print Edition KARACHI: Speaking in his programme ‘Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Sath’ on Friday, Kamran Khan said that the State Bank of Pakistan has refuted the impression that the country’s economy has been put on the right track since the new government took office. The State Bank, in its financial survey, expressed its dissatisfaction over the general state of the economy and raised the discount rates in Pakistan by 50 basis points. This increase indicates that the discount rate will be further increased later. This can be stated in simple terms as that the business opportunities in Pakistan will be curtailed further. Kamran Khan said that according to the State Bank the bank was forced into increasing the discount rate because inflation has gone up in the last three months in the country and it is likely to further go up. The State Bank also expressed its lack of confidence over the performance and the capability of the government. In a different segment of the programme, Kamran Khan said that Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry once again expressed his indignation on Friday over the government’s inaction over Supreme Court judgments and issued an admonition to the government for the second time within 24 hours. The Supreme Court had previously taken a strong notice of the government’s replacing aviation secretary Muhammad Ali Gardezi with Nargis Sethi. The latter had been given an additional charge of the aviation department. Kamran Khan also said that the Supreme Court also expressed its indignation over the government’s failure in appointment of NAB chief despite the September 13 deadline. In a still different segment of the programme, Kamran Khan said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement is facing severe criticism from the Western media, and it seems that the Western media does not let any opportunity of coming down hard on the MQM go unutilised. On Friday the US media joined its British counterpart in criticising the MQM. The biggest US newspaper, The New York Times, has in one of its news items harshly criticised the MQM. Observers are terming the criticism as significant. Kamran Khan said the other day a top British newspaper, The Times, had published an essay in which the MQM and Altaf Hussain had been harshly criticised. MQM leaders said that their party was being targeted because of its unique political position. Kamran Khan said that the most significant thing in those write-ups is that the British government is coming under criticism and it is being accused of having been handy in MQM’s actions from Britain. Commenting on Karachi operation, Kamran Khan said that by virtue of the operation the crime scene in Karachi has been under control and no major incident has been reported in the last two days. He said that the Rangers are being provided with more powers. The prosecution and investigation mechanism of the Rangers is being streamlined in all the five districts of Karachi. A set of three police inspectors and prosecutors each will be provided to the Rangers in the selected police station in all the five districts. Rangers will also be consulted on posting of the SHOs at particular police stations in all the five districts. Kamran Khan said that in the wake of the claims made by the heirs of Shahzeb that all the accused including Shahrukh Jatoi had been forgiven ‘in the cause of Allah’ it has emerged through the media that the claim was concocted and the fact of the matter is that the killers of Shahzeb have actually been forgiven against a monetary deal. This has started a series of debates in which it is being asked that can those who were tried and convicted under terrorism acts be pardoned in the light of Diyat laws. Another far-reaching development has coincided with this debate. During a hearing in a related case at the Supreme Court, the chief justice has made some very important remarks and also issued certain orders. This development is a source of relief for those people who believe that influential accused should not be allowed to go scot-free under the pretext of Diyat and with the help of their wealth. This is an ample proof that the Supreme Court is still interested in the case and it will ensure that no one is allowed to abuse the laws concerned. Senior journalist Muhammad Hanif said in the programme that the main cause of the Western media’s interest in the MQM is the high-profile murder of Imran Farooq. He said that the Western media picked the MQM up since the murder of Imran Farooq three years ago. The MQM was a political story before and so the media in the West was not interested in it, but now it has become a crime story and this explains the interest the American and the British media have developed in it. They are curious to know who these people are and what kind of a mystery is it. However, the MQM leadership in London is not likely to be much affected by these stories in the Western media. Well-known economist Dr Ashfaq Hassan Khan said in the programme that the State Bank possesses complete data on every sector of the country’s economy, and what the SBP governor has said is based on this information. He said the increase in the discount rate was as per expectations.