Who Owns Pakistan - Yimg

was to become the nucleus of an empire that now embraces in its fold 14
companies including seven textile mills, a big fibre plant and a cement factory.
Both Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of Z A Bhutto and Awami League (AL) of
Mujeb-ur-Rehman, which emerged as the biggest parties in the 1970 elections in
West Pakistan and East Pakistan respectively had promised nationalization. The
20,000 worded manifesto of PPP had clearly declared that " all banks and
insurance companies will be nationalized and all major sources of production will
be placed in the public sector.
The manifesto specifically referred to the need for the elimination of monopolies
and said that " the concentration of wealth ( in Pakistan) is so excessive that the
benefits of industrialization are being passed on neither to the wage-earners nor
even to greater part of the middle class". It identified Iron and steel, non-ferrous
metals, heavy engineering, machine tools, chemicals, shipbuilding, motor
assembly and manufacturing equipment for electric power production, distribution
and use, electronics, production of arms, ammunition and armaments, cement
and paper industry to be placed in the public sector.
However, the transfer of power was delayed because of the procrastination of
President General Yahya Khan and the friction between the two main political
parties. That gave ample time to the national press and the business community
to debate the merits and demerits of nationalization and its consequences.
Nawab Haider Naqvi, in an article published in the daily Dawn of February 2,
1971, forcefully argued against the nationalization of banks on the ground that it
would create an administrative nightmare. He rebutted the argument that banks
had facilitated the concentration of wealth in few hands and pointed out that the
size and composition of credit, flowing from the banking system is determined by
the fiscal, investment and commercial policies of the govt and it were these
policies rather than the banks which promoted concentration of wealth in few
hands.
" The important point to note is that the govt has stretched every nerve to cause
resource flow in industrial sector to trigger growth, while a virtual freeze has been
imposed on wages. The industrialists have been drugged with extra strong
incentives like accelerated depreciation allowances......We should not nationalize
banks for the wrog reasons. The nationalization should be positive one. The
economic rationale behid such a move should be clearly spelt out. We should
settle for the second best i.e the banking system in private hands regulated by
the State Bank, because nationalization is administratively infeasible", he
concluded prophetically.
Private sector, used to pampering by govt did not view the threat of
nationalization seriously and like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, kept
denying the obvious. Advertisements were placed in the newspapers trying to
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