Like many of his predecessors, the present army chief (Asim Muneer) thinks he can steer the country out of its present crisis. Someone should tell him that no one has yet succeeded in reducing inflation, chiefly because the powerful mafias in the country refuse to pay taxes. Any leader who dares confront them will find himself out of office. 

Addressing leading businessmen of the country he told them of his plans to crack down on money changers, power thieves, smugglers and other worthy citizens of the country. It may work for a while, but after a few weeks things will be back to normal. 

As a result of his efforts, the dollar depreciated by Rs. 15 in the past couple of days, but sugar prices rose by more than a hundred percent. Petrol prices depend on international crude oil prices, so the army chief can do nothing about it. Getting tax evaders to pay taxes depends on the FBR, which is riddled with corruption, so one can be sure that this too will not happen.

So the army chief's attempts to improve the country are doomed to fail.


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