News

ISLAMABAD: With temperature still below 40 degree Celsius, ghosts of loadshedding have already started haunting the length and breadth of the country. The most worried at the moment is obviously Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif since his party had won elections on the promise of dealing with the power crisis on a war footing.

With demonstrations being held over loadshedding in the interior of Sindh, where the mercury in some districts has crossed 40C, and Punjab subjected to increasing outages, the government appears to have bent its mind to addressing the problem. On Monday, the prime minister held yet another special meeting with a one-point agenda - how to keep loadshedding at a manageable level - following a similar huddle last Wednesday. Water and Power Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali, Information Minister Pervez Rashid and senior officials of the power ministry attended the meeting.

A government official privy to the meeting said the power ministry had sounded confident about keeping electricity shortfall to 3,000MW during summer, meaning six to eight hours of loadshedding. But the situation on ground isn't as promising as being conveyed to the power minister, or for that matter to the prime minister.It was decided that a comprehensive energy conservation plan would be developed and executed after holding consultations with all stakeholders, including traders, manufacturers and retailers. [Source: Dawn News]

Comment

After a cold winter of Gas loadshedding the people of Pakistan, are already facing a hot and troublesome summer with electricity outages, 12 hours a day already in cities and 18 hours or more in rural areas.The government is pointing the finger of blame at electricity theft, non-payment of bills and inefficiency of electricity companies. While citizens in homes and all levels of industry can only imagine the huge inconvenience and loss of revenue this will mean to them. So who is to blame?

Pakistan has faced crisis upon crisis with each successive government; both civilian and military since its birth. Each promising to make things better and each failing abysmally. The blame game is the easiest tactic to confuse the masses and to keep the heat off.The privatisation of energy resources was championed as a way to increase efficiency and revenue as per the capitalist model. Today these same companies are able to shut off supply and at the same time charge consumers with bills many are unable to pay.

The Islamic economic model on the other hand focuses on people and their needs not just economic growth.Moreover the Islamic state has the ultimate responsibility in providing citizens with their basic needs which would include energy. And the Islamic state is bound by Islam so cannot sell off the resources which are the right of the people.

RasulAllah (saw) said, «الناس شركاء في ثلاث الماء والكلأ والنار»

"The people are partners in three things, waters, feeding pastures and fire." (Ahmad).

Within this model, supply cannot be stopped and cost will be minimal to the citizens of the state.Only under the sincere leadership of a Khilafah "Caliphate" will we see the correct management of resources and the fulfilment of basic needs and luxuries for all. Accountability before Allah (swt) and not the false promises at election time will spur the Khaleefah to utilise the resources of the Ummah efficiently and effectively.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by

Nazia Rehman - Pakistan