Economic disparity responsible for rising poverty: Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri

While expressing his deep grief and sorrow over the suicidal deaths of four members of a poor family in Lahore, Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri, president of Federal Council of Minhaj-ul-Quran International, has said that the rickshaw driver’s ultimate choice of death over life along with his family members is a slap on the collective conscience of the society. It exposes the government’s claim of enhancing the social safety net. He said that the mushroom growth of poverty in the society owes itself to the capitalistic economic model that we have been following since our inception. The chief demerit of this system is the exploitation of the poor at the hands of the moneyed classes. Resultantly, the gap between haves and have-nots continue to widen to an irreparable extent.

In a statement issued by the Directorate of Media of MQI, Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri said that the theory of ‘trickle-down effect’ has registered comprehensive failure around the globe and it is a matter of immense misfortune that our economic czars are still continuing with it in the fake hope of fostering growth. He said that the developed world has redesigned their economic models in accordance with the peculiar demands of their societies. “The alien economic models have little chance of success in settings different in ways more than one. We are stuck up in the time warp and cannot come up with any concrete economic strategy,’ he opined.

He said that the government needed to review its priorities if it was serious in relieving the common man of huge economic burden. He said that decision of the government to remove subsidies in a phased manner and provision of the same to Railways, PIA and Steel Mills bespoke of the double standards. ‘It would further add to people’s economic woes and there are dangers that repeat of such horrible incidents could be feared,’ he warned.

Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri asked the government to broaden the tax net and cut down its non-developmental expenditure to give a bit of breathing space to the suffering people. He also asked the philanthropist organizations to come forward and initiate skill development schemes and provision of micro credit to empower people economically.