PARTLY FACETIOUS: The speed breakers and the strike breakers
“I want to ask a question from the container owners.”
“What? Why they allow their containers to be used as strike breakers….”
“I had heard of speed breakers but strike breakers?”
“That tells me you have not been living in this country for a while.”
“Oh? You mean containers as strike breakers have been in use for a while? See I live in a village in Sindh and…”
“You should have known of strike breakers there too – the farmers are threatening to march to Islamabad by the way.”
“OK but containers have been in use for decades and need I commend the Interior Ministry for being the only ministry that has learned valuable lessons from experience.”
“The lesson that a strike breaker inconveniences those not on strike and that committed strikers have scaled these containers and over turned them?”
“Shush – that’s an operational matter. The Interior Ministry has learned to get these containers as soon as there is an announcement of a strike so that every container is in place. Today the farmers, the Jamaat-i-Islami and the founder of a party – the Man Who Must Remain Nameless, Faceless and Voiceless…”
“Strikes are extremely disruptive for those who are not on strike, my use of petrol rises exponentially as soon as the containers are in place.”
“Stop being silly. Our Interior Ministry carefully assesses the cost of appropriating the containers and…”
“Appropriating containers! I thought appropriation means taking by force and not paying rent.”
“That reminds of the rent not paid on travel on a government owned luxury plane….”
“Hey stay with me here.”
“Sorry the cost of appropriating is not borne by the tax payers but there is a cost to the container owners who lose business for as many days as the containers are not in their use.”
“Right, one more question, if the Interior Ministry’s lesson learned is to appropriate these containers more than a week in advance of the announced schedule of a strike or threat that they are gonna come a-marching….”
“But that’s private sector activity and God bless this government the large scale manufacturing sector is growing by the week – 9.5 percent month on month in July and 3.043 percent year on year.”
“What year? Poverty is at a high of 44.,2 percent and unemployment is a high of nearly 22 percent… ”
“Just shut up.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026