EDITORIAL: Ordinarily, no prime minister should have to hold a special meeting to “direct concerned authorities” to “expedite the countrywide campaign against smuggling”.

Preventing things like smuggling is the basic day job of those “concerned authorities”, after all, and the fact that the head of state had to be “informed in detail about smuggling, misuse of Afghan Transit Trade (ATT), drugs, food items including sugar, wheat, fertilisers, petroleum products, and illegal weapons” means that system is very badly broken down.

And, judging from these reports, it might need a much more thorough overhaul than simply “directing” those that failed at their job to pull their socks up.

Addressing smuggling requires a wholesome strategy, so the prime minister will have to involve more than just law enforcement agencies. The black economy only exists because market manipulators are able to circumvent the structural control system of the real economy, of course, and smugglers are drawn to profit opportunities whenever demand for things outstrips their supply in the country. If the government consults the statistics bureau and the commerce ministry, it will notice a correlation between items with high import duties and smugglers’ preference for them. So, the stage of policy formulation is when the first alerts must go out.

Then there’s the fact that smuggling is not always possible without active collusion from the inside. Clearly, this point was not lost on the PM, since he also called for heads to roll whenever such corruption was found. He would know, however, that such orders have been passed countless times before, yet he was still presented with a long list of smuggled goods that the government is simply unable to stop. That means whatever punishments have been awarded so far have not put enough fear in government officials to stop palms from getting greased and the black economy from bloating.

There’s also another type of smuggling that the government has just ignored for decades. The border areas in Balochistan, for example, are littered with smuggled Iranian oil because there are literally no other employment opportunities in those parts. And, once upon a time, when the government did crack down on it the local administration is reported to have cautioned against further action – to avoid more unemployment and crime.

Not all of these problems will go away even if “concerned authorities” listen to the PM and suddenly start acting more professionally on the job. They require the entire political-economic-security apparatus to work together. But most importantly, they require political will at the very top. Unfortunately, that’s the one ingredient that has always been missing, which is why we find ourselves in such a mess.

The prime minister’s concern is appreciated. But the proof of the pudding will lie in the eating. And there’ll be nothing to write home about till headlines start speaking of results. The economy is already on life support, and needs to be rid of this cancer that feeds the giant shadow economy. Besides, rampant smuggling means weak border control, and that not only gives the kiss of death to the economy but also creates the perfect environment for more militancy and terrorism.

Hopefully, this time the crusade against smuggling will take the bigger picture into account, with results checked against carefully set benchmarks.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024