The Disconnect Between Power and People

Burdens​‍​‌‍​‍‌ of politicians

The Disconnect Between Power and People If it has to happen, this has to happen now: this is the only sentence in English to have a verb in present tense followed by a modal in present tense and two other verbs in base form. There is no point in pretending otherwise! It was indeed a muggy Sunday in Islamabad when our story began. The small pharmacist had no customer at all that day; only the owner, a male, occupied the counter. Later on, a female enters the shop with a prescription and some medicines she had collected. She is neatly dressed and has the right to wear those clothes. However, after paying for her medicines, she returned a large portion of them. The cashier mentioned the total to be only Rs4,000, to which she replied with an understanding of Rs1,000. This little incident took place in the heart of Islamabad, an area where property prices and rents are outrageously high. The lady was most likely living close by as there had been no doctor or hospital near the pharmacy. The Disconnect Between Power and People
There is no reason for this incident to make one so dramatic a person nor is there anything in it that is a surprise for anyone. If you describe it to a group of people, they will probably just nod their heads, and then they tell you similar stories. They will mention people in financial difficulties, debts, or one person who found her utility bill higher than her salary. One will say, perhaps, that it is easier to ride a motor bike than to keep up with a car, and some will start buying cheaper food products. The Disconnect Between Power and People
These sorts of talks are common. And that was all before the events of the past week when petrol hikes
– even the increases which are quite a bit felt in everyday life – dominated the headlines. People have even started guessing petrol crossing Rs400, something which seems a possibility now.
It is evident now that the government is aware of the fact that rising petrol rates will only make life tough for the majority since it was one of its measures which led it to revive the petrol/ diesel subsidy programme
. The problem, nevertheless, is that we know very little about the effectiveness of the old scheme and even less about the duration of its operation before the new regime took place. Nonetheless, a slightly modified version of the scheme has been put back in circulation.
Saying nothing of the petrol subsidy, talking about cutting the petrol levy brings us straight into a conversation with the IMF, that same IMF which failed in convincing the government to bring in proper taxation to traders
or agriculture income
or to put a stop to the real estate sector receiving relief. Yet again, it seems that the petrol levy is the forbidden zone. 
No one is really considering the inflationary effects of the petrol price hike.
Naturally, hardly any thought is being given to how the petrol price increase will raise the price of food, transport and other necessary items and what difference it will make for the electricity bill and the new wave of inflation against the battered purchasing power.
Unless you object to my attempt at a write-up about the economy, which you can if you want, I would like to clarify, however reluctantly, that these are just a few thoughts of mine and that I'm not going to write out an economic article. I mean it.The Disconnect Between Power and People
All that I am trying to point out here is that the ruling class's total disregard for the people's suffering is the topic of this piece - that is all and nothing more than what it's ​‍​‌‍​‍‌about.

Pakistan’s​‍​‌‍​‍‌ human condition was already a matter of deep concern way before Iran war began causing economic disturbances all over the globe. Our child deaths, in terms of 46 to 58 per 1000 live births, are higher than in the rest of the region and we can only be compared with Afghanistan and Yemen. A little under a fifth of the population are lacking even minimal calories while roughly a little over 100 million of us live on less than Rs 500 a day and more than 70% of the population are dependent on just one or two sources of income. This makes us a country that has very similar problems to those that result from warfare.
These facts have always been there, therefore they cannot merely be ascribed to the economic turbulence of recent times. The Disconnect Between Power and People
That is what we should care about, these numbers, these truths, the personal struggles and also all those countless accounts that talk about the hardships people are encountering everyday. Yet, the ones in power seem to have little care or no regard whatsoever for this problem!
If we are too hasty at blaming our politicians, what alternative explanation would one have to make sense of when these are the same people who keep on squandering huge amounts for the most luxurious lifestyles they can get while the rest of us are literally crawling to survive?!
The premier and his vice have apparently been spending a considerable amount of time away from home.
A hospital fire in the capital recently killed newborns as well as mothers
- the price of fuel has increased more than the level of pollution - and it has already been reported that he will go to New York on the 20th image
to talk about our mediation work. After all, if your home is on fire, shouldn’t putting out the fire take priority? Of course, you know that we will just as quickly get an image from a minister or an adviser walking up the airport steps to board a plane.
Not that others are really doing much better. A few weeks ago, the president and the chief minister of Punjab
flew to Europe privately. Following massive backlash, the two admitted publicly that they indeed personally funded those trips. For those still harboring the question of why this leadership is such a stranger to the people of Pakistan, the truth is here.
President's absence during the time when his party and government declared a war on the division of Sindh proposal was a private visit to Europe. If the political situation had truly been that grave, wouldn't it have been wiser for him to stay home and in the province? As for the Punjab chief minister, after nearly seven hundred and eighty-two days at the helm, she still does not realize that such a display during such a time is not just out of sync but actually an ill judgment.
Even the fact that the Punjab government's plane was used for a private trip did not prevent its widespread criticism.
None of that critique, however, seemed to change anything. Right after that, a super rich wedding
Came along.
This is just talking about how politicians can be expected to give up their private lives when they, as everyone else, have the right to those. At the present moment, however, it will be poor strategy to put on display a wedding of great magnitude and to accompany it with photographs and film footage from the ​‍​‌‍​‍‌event.

We​‍​‌‍​‍‌ all know very well that Pakistan's ruling elite will never imitate Western politicians who may carry their own luggage and travel economy class even on foreign trips.
We, as people, are wise enough not to expect miracles like this from Pakistan's ruling elite.
At least a bit of restraint will go a long way. However, now, even pointing out that some other high-ranking persons in Pakistan may have been offered even greater privileges without raising the same level of questions and doubts about it doesn’t help at all.
This is the actual thing.
In fact, the ones who actually contest elections and represent to the people as elected politicians by presenting their programmes to the masses should be more responsible for their actions in public and private as well as for the way they spend Government money. On the other hand, power is exercised by those who simply sit in their office or home and make a few decisions from a great distance. They, therefore, cannot expect people to hold them to the standards that politicians, as representative of the people, are expected to hold themselves ​‍​‌‍​‍‌to.