Lack of rule of law deprived Pakistan of achieving potential: PM Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan says that the elite captured Pakistan’s resources and the absence of rule of law had not only deprived the majority of the people of basic amenities, but also kept the country from achieving its immense potential.
“The problem was the elite capture of resources which deprived the majority of proper healthcare, education and justice… Lack of rule of law is the reason why Pakistan had not achieved its potential,” the prime minister said in an exclusive online conversation with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf aired Sunday.

An American Islamic scholar, Hamza Yusuf, is the president of Zaytuna College and had also authored several encyclopedia entries, academic papers, and articles on Muslim bioethics, legal theory, abortion, and many other topics.

The prime minister said no society could ever achieve its potential if there was no rule of law.

“Merit is also associated with rule of law. If you do not have meritocracy in a society, you have this elite which is spoiled, rich and which did not strive and struggle and they sit on the main positions… “Countries disintegrate because of a decadent elite. People do not decay it is the elite that decays,” he remarked.

The prime minister said the fundamental principle of a civilised society was the rule of law where powerful is also equally answerable to the law.

The biggest problem in developing countries is the absence of rule of law and discriminatory laws for the rich and the poor, he explained.

He told the interviewer that he wanted to make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state based on the concept of state of Madina by our Prophet (PBUH).

“We want to base this country on two principles. One it should be a welfare state and humane state which takes care of its bottom strata of society and second rule of law.”

The climate crisis
Talking about the climate crisis, he said the environment should be treated as sacred.

The biggest environmental disaster in the world called climate change was because human beings had deviated from the basic principle of protecting the earth, he said.

Quoting a Hadith of Holy Prophet (PBUH), advising people to “Work for this world as if you will live forever and work for the hereafter as if you will die tomorrow”, the prime minister said whatever humans would do today would ultimately have an impact on future generations.

He said the Hadith had completely encompassed everything about the environment and how one should be living on earth.

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