ISLAMABAD: This year’s Pakistan Independence Day celebrations will not be the same for Mohammad Haseeb and his family.
Soaring inflation in Pakistan has pushed the biology teacher to spend less on festivities in one of the toughest years for households struggling to contend with energy and food bills.
Earlier this month, Pakistan announced an increase in petrol and diesel prices to meet fiscal objectives laid down in a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), adding further fuel to its sky-high inflation. The country’s Consumer Price Index rose to 28.3 percent in July, year-on-year, with prices up 3.5 percent in July from the previous month. In June, the CPI rise was 29.4 percent year-on-year, coming off a record 38 percent in May.
Islamabad has committed to a petroleum levy of up to 50 rupees a liter, alongside a string of painful measures, including raising extra revenues, increasing energy prices and a market-based exchange rate, which has already fueled inflation.
The lower house of parliament was also dissolved on Wednesday, three days before the end of its five-year term on Aug. 12. A general election in the South Asian country of 241 million people should be held in 90 days but it could be delayed for several months because the election commission has to redraw the boundaries of hundreds of constituencies based on a new census data. Independent political analysts say a delay in holding polls may fuel more political tensions and unrest.
“We used to display buntings on Independence Day in celebration and buy clothes for our children but now this year we will display buntings only,” Haseeb told Arab News, explaining how his family was reckoning with record inflation.
Biology teacher Saqib Javed also lamented inflation and currency depreciation, saying there was little to celebrate this August 14, the day when Pakistan achieved independence and was declared a sovereign state following the end of British Raj in August 1947.
“I don’t expect anything from Pakistan right now,” he told Arab News.
However, things could improve, he added, if institutions opted for “course correction.”
“If the main four or five institutions are fixed, I think Pakistan will start growing, we’ll have a very good future,” Javed said.
Salaar Ahmad Abbasi, a student in Islamabad, echoed concerns about inflation and political turmoil in recent months, saying it was pushing many young Pakistanis to consider a life outside their homeland.
“There were less than fifty percent people who wanted to leave Pakistan when I started university, but now I can tell you that any boy in our class who gets a chance will leave Pakistan,” Abbasi said, adding that he too was applying for a student visa to travel abroad due to lack of opportunities in Pakistan.
“I love my country, I want Pakistan to prosper and I will be very happy if Pakistan prospers,” the student said. “But to be very realistic, I don’t see it happening, it makes me sad.”
The failure of political governments to instill hope in the youth, and an unending political crisis, was pushing people to seek opportunities abroad, experts said.
“The youth believe they don’t have a future in Pakistan,” political science professor Dr. Rasul Bakhsh Rais told Arab News. “That’s why they are trying to leave the country for a better future in Middle East and Europe.”
Inflation and economic policies were also hurting businesses and morale, said realtor Ashfaq Cheema.
“Right now, the government has imposed a lot of taxes on the real estate sector,” he told Arab News. “The buying power of people has decreased, which is why the sale and purchase of real estate has dropped significantly.”
However, he said the overall economic situation could improve if the political situation improved.
“If elections are held, new government comes in, business improves and stability is restored in business and politics, as soon as the ongoing political situation improves, our businesses will also prosper and the country will improve,” Cheema added.
But despite the challenges, there are many Pakistanis are still holding out hope.
“Inflation has significantly increased, businesses and the economy are down, you know where the fuel and petrol [prices] have gone,” Shafiq Ahmed, an employee at a private company, said.
“Poor people like us can’t afford it but we will celebrate the independence which we have achieved, we cannot forget it … No matter what the [economic] conditions, however things are going, passion shouldn’t die.”
Hasnat Ahmad Sipra, CEO Cadet College, Fateh Jang, said he was “definitely” going to celebrate Independence Day.
“We are planning to celebrate this auspicious occasion like before, with some new promises, with new zeal and zest,” he said, “with new spirits that we will do better than before.”
Political analysts Dr. Qamar Cheema urged Pakistanis, particularly young people, to be patient, have faith in the state and work to be productive citizens.
“People are faced with inflation and unemployment even in Europe and America,” he said. “So, Pakistanis should struggle here to fix their country instead of leaving it in difficult times.”
