Bradford, UK 2nd March 2012
Hizb ut-Tahrir convened a cross party debate in Bradford on the future of Pakistan. Members of the audience included local Pakistani community leaders, accountants, teachers, lecturers and students. At the event titled ‘Who will save Pakistan?’ Members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, PPP, PTI and PML-N were invited to be on the panel to outline their vision for Pakistan. The PPP member did not turn up – maybe because they have no solutions to offer. Those panellist present gave an account of their future policies and solutions to the many challenges facing Pakistan. With a full hall and an electric atmosphere, the audience posed vital questions around the three main focus areas; security, economy and political accountability. Issues arose regarding who will bring security from the drone attacks and abductions of citizens in Pakistan? How do we eject America which acts as an aggressive power in the region? And who will rescue Dr Aafia Siddiqui? The audience was vocal against America’s killing of Pakistani soldiers and civilians and exposed the inept political and military institutions.
Atif Salahudeen from Hizb ut-Tahrir outlined practical policy measures for the future Khilafah state in terms of wealth generation for the state treasury through a land tax (kharaj) and making the vast energy resources like coal, oil and gas reserves as public utilities so as to put an end to load shedding and poverty. It was also highlighted that democracy and dictatorships secure the interests of elites and foreign powers at the expense of the ordinary citizens. Solutions were put forward for sectarian violence and ethnic differences, namely having the coherent value-based ideology of Islam. He also explained that Hizb ut-Tahrir has published a draft constitution ready for implementation as that it has an economic blueprint and manifesto for Pakistan
Further discussions were centred around how Islam guarantees minority rights, the Khilafah system as a system that ensures accountable government, and the track record of PPP and PML-N and how the main architects of the war on terror in Pakistan, such as Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, have now taken prominent positions in PTI. The panellists finally summarised their views and the Chair for the evening encouraged the debate to continue in order to promote a stable and prosperous future for Pakistan and the Muslim world.
