The year that was

This year began with leftover Covid uncertainties, continued with some hope with the start of the vaccination process, was marked by crippling inflation in the country, and is ending with yet another Covid wave expected, even more inflation, and a heightened sense of political, economic, social uncertainty in the country. From the Osama Satti case in January this year to the mob lynching of Priyantha Kumara in December to a blast in Quetta last night that killed at least three people, Pakistan seems to have grown a year in regression – a year which saw the TLP continue its riots and violent protests, only to be once again let off the hook by the state, which also decided some parts of the TTP could also be granted amnesty. In more violence, women continued to face gender-based violence, with the Noor Muqaddam and the Minar-e-Pakistan cases becoming apt symbols of the status of women in the country. Pakistan continued to censor dissenting voices and censure journalists for simply doing their job. This year – once again – journalists fell victim to violence in the line of duty; according to the CPJ, Pakistan lost two journalists this year, and the country was also listed in the Impunity Index as a place where journalists get killed and the killers get away with it. Talk on the much-contested and extremely controversial PMDA continued through the year, while – in some positive news – journalists finally got a Journalists Safety Law. We saw women journalists fight the good fight, while bearing sexist attacks online. This year also saw the untimely deaths – due to illness – of some of some of the best our country’s journalism has produced – from I A Rehman to Rahimullah Yousafzai to M Ziauddin to some of our own colleagues here in the group.

Politically speaking, the year remained as uncertain as ever, with the government constantly trying to target the opposition parties and the opposition attempting to regain its lost ground. We saw the PPP leave the PDM, and the opposition essentially becoming a bickering lot more consumed with accusations and counter-accusations. And we saw the loss of clout – inevitable as some had predicted – of the PTI, with the ruling party losing its grip in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa local bodies elections in most districts as well as by-elections in other places throughout the year. The year is ending on even more rumours and musings, this time about Nawaz Sharif’s impending return. In fact, the House of Sharif featured prominently throughout the year – with some analyst or the other predicting a split every second week. That has not happened till this last day of 2021. Meanwhile, the PPP under Zardari has refused to recede into the background and has managed this year to claw back some of its lost constituency. The ruling party’s inability to govern and talk of infighting in the party seem to have smudged the rose-tinted glasses worn by many a supporter. However, even December 31 may be too soon to say anything concrete about the fate of the party of Naya Pakistan.

However, one can say with surety that Naya Pakistan did not give the people much – or at all – of a breathing space on the economic and financial fronts. The spiraling cost of living and reduced or stagnant wages affected people’s daily lives. Growing unemployment was another factor that contributed to a gloomy atmosphere in the country. Surging prices remained the single most important burden on the citizens of Pakistan. The government’s poor handling of the economy did not improve throughout the year. The increasing cost of life imposed a crushing burden on the low-middle-income segments and nearly all recent public opinion surveys reflected people’s unhappiness in this matter. Though the government tackled the Covid-19 pandemic slightly better than many other countries, people’s economic woes remained acute – from rising petrol prices to rising electricity prices to price hikes in daily use items. The cherry on the cake turned out to be the inexcusable handling of gas supply, the end result being citizens left without gas and at the mercy of a dead winter. By the end of the year, the government remains cash-strapped and appears to have no fiscal space to provide any significant relief to people because of its financial constraints. On the second-last day of this year, the government decided to throw one more bombshell in our mix of woes and announced the Supplementary Finance Bill 2021 to slap taxes to the tune of Rs350-400 billion as a prior action for IMF funding.

Internationally, for Pakistan the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan remained the most important event of the year, with visible – and perhaps a bit bizarre – near-jubilation on the government side. This has led to an extremely worried civil society since the Taliban’s human rights record is unenviable and Prime Minister Imran Khan seems to have taken it upon himself to become an ardent advocate of letting the Taliban be at peace with their ‘culture’ (sic). This year once again Pakistan failed to extricate itself from the FATF grey list – something one hopes the government does have in mind when it announces amnesty deals with groups like the TTP. Back at home, the government has continued with its arbitrary practice of presidential ordinances and bills passed as acts without bothering about any consensus development.

Happily, Pakistan has done well in its handling of the Covid crisis, as far as the vaccine rollout goes. The country has vaccinated 30 percent of the country’s total population and 46 percent of the eligible population. We hope there is continued effort to raise awareness regarding Covid protocols and importance of vaccination as 2022 rolls in bringing with it fear of the spread of the Omicron variant. Now as we stand at the end of the year, we are left wondering what the future holds. Will there be any respite from inflation? Will we see an end to this Covid-dominated existence? Will Pakistan’s politics become less toxic? Will we see a gentler, kinder society? While the future is yet to be lived, we do hope that 2022 sees Pakistan aiming to reach for higher values than musings over what women should wear. An equitable, tolerant, less toxic Pakistan should ideally be the New Year resolution on our minds as the ball drops.