“The government is taking precautionary steps.”
“Who said that?”
“The Prime Minister.”
“And those precautionary measures entail what? A rise in petrol prices? Why don’t they trim the petroleum levy instead of…”
“Two things my friend. First we are on yet another International Monetary Fund programme and a programme that is distinct from the first twenty programmes that we secured by being extremely harsh on the general public with all upfront conditions…”
“What about the last two – one secured during the tenure of the Man Who Must Remain Nameless and Faceless and one secured due to direct intervention of the incumbent prime minister.”
“Same harsh upfront conditions – our governments prior to 2019 made such a hash of the economy that the IMF is no longer willing to phase out or defer harsh conditions.”
“So claims of growth and…”
“Yep put those in the rubbish bin; second I would like to point out that to conserve a scarce commodity implies raising prices which is what the government has done and….wait…before you start frothing at the mouth any attempt to reduce the levy which is budgeted to generate 1.4 trillion rupees this year, an amount that would be a challenge given the rise in petrol prices as demand would almost certainly contract, the government had no option but to meet the shortfall one way or another because otherwise it would have to implement the contingency taxes it has already agreed with the Fund which would have been inflationary too.”
“So it’s damned if we do and damned if we don’t.”
“Yep and that is the way the governed are being dealt with all over the world – be it the West or the North.”
“So-called democracies right, so it’s of the people and by the people but no longer for the people?”
“Yes anyway what has angered the people of Islamabad is that all roads remain blocked and this indicates laziness of the relevant authorities as there has been no protest against the assassination of the Ayatollah since after Friday prayers…”
“Precaution read imminent threat – the rationale for conflicts around the world today.”
“Don’t be facetious – anyway our Interior Minister went for a walkabout amongst the public, and instead he was quickly whisked away from the angry public…”
“He is not one to hold grudges – I mean he isn’t going to shut down Islamabad just because…”
“Look at the glass as half full – there are no ditches next to the containers.”
“Don’t be facetious anyway I propose that the state-run media proceeds to teach the people that democracies the world over are of the people and by the people but not for the people.”
“Hmmmm you may have a point.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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