Majid khan

Student of History and politics
(M.phil Scholar)

[Maleeha Lodhi @LodhiMaleeha]

My weekly column in Dawn today
https://t.co/9poaHm8jHT

[Maleeha Lodhi @LodhiMaleeha]

my weekly column in Dawn
https://t.co/xRhmWUwVfB

[Tariq Ali @TariqAli_News]

https://t.co/m8YwcH6nOL

[Zalmay Khalilzad @realZalmayMK]

#Germany's state-funded international broadcasting network Deutsche Welle (DW) has released an English-language documentary video titled “Pakistan — Nuclear Power at a Crossroad". It reviews in depth the multiple crises facing the country, including the massive growth of extremism, intolerance and violence; financial insolvency and lackluster economic performance; and political polarization, its most popular political leader in jail and its most popular party marginalized, a weak and corrupt political elite; and, the military having a stranglehold on politics.  The documentary does not propose a way out for #Pakistan,  but raises the alarm that these conditions can threaten the safety and security of its significant nuclear arsenal. I urge Pakistanis to watch, debate and discuss it.

https://t.co/45QVHatj1B

[Waseem Abbasi @Wabbasi007]

انڈیا میں پابندی کی شکار ستلج فلم پوری کی پوری ایکس پر بھی کسی نے لگا دی ہے۔۔👇👇👇
مجھے نہیں پتا تھا کہ ایکس پر مووی بھی دیکھی جا سکتی ہے۔۔

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

China is expanding its anti-sanctions toolkit, raising risks for foreign companies as Beijing strengthens its response to growing economic pressure and restrictions imposed by Western governments.
https://t.co/ymwZLIHQ0J

[Miftah Ismail @MiftahIsmail]

A beautifully written Urdu column (linked below) by the Harvard-educated @Rashidlangrial talks about the harm to our economy and consumers caused by erecting tariff barriers around our industry. This lets our industry become inefficient, expensive to consumers, and unable to compete with the world.

In this article Rashid Langrial talks about the limitation of collective action, the inability of the median voter to effect the outcome to his benefit, rent seeking by industry, and how well-meaning government ministers, advisors and bureaucrats get confused about where public interest lies.

He starts with a quote from Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi, then quotes a Persian misra

شفقتِ بے علم، تیغِ ناتراش است

and then an Urdu misra

میرؔ کیا سادے ہیں بیمار ہوئے جس کے سبب

And his argument is on point and says the government is trying to bring custom duties from 10% of import value to about 6% of import value. I read Mir’s misra above and remind him that custom tariffs were 6% of import value in 2013 when PMLN raised it to where it is now.

I also wrote a column in Dawn in Nov 2023 arguing for export promotion as opposed to import substitution. But I have to admit it was much less well written. I have linked that column here too.

https://t.co/fV60rJWNcM

ٹیرف کی دیوار

https://t.co/dmZNazh5K4

[Self Taught Success @SelfTSuccess]

Follow these accounts:

Energy: @Samuel_Gibson_
Power: @hadron_energy
Leverage: @LeverageETFs
Dividends: @IncomeShares
ETFs: @ThemesETFs
Invest: @OKavrak
Growth: @SelfTSuccess

[Muzzammil Aslam @MuzzammilAslam3]

First time I have seen the work of rising young economist Waqar must read article

https://t.co/u6eE1kvgNT

[farrukh saleem @SaleemFarrukh]

NFC -- The Deficit Machine

Pakistan has built a fiscal system in which one government collects, four governments spend and no government is fully accountable. The result: an annual national deficit of over Rs6 trillion and an accumulated budget deficit of Rs54 trillion since the 18th Amendment was passed in 2010. Imagine: one federation, five spenders, one balance sheet, no ownership.

Cold truth: That is the fatal flaw.

Pakistan’s NFC Award has a design flaw. A deep one. A dangerous one. Pakistan’s NFC Award separates revenue from responsibility. Pakistan’s NFC Award separates spending from accountability. Pakistan’s NFC Award separates constitutional entitlement from fiscal discipline. In simple words: Islamabad collects. Provinces receive. Pakistan borrows.

Colder truth: Since 2010, when the 18th Amendment was passed, Pakistan’s public debt has exploded 10 times – from Rs8.2 trillion to Rs95 trillion – a net accumulation of roughly Rs87 trillion in total debt obligations. The post-2010 annual deficit average is 50 per cent larger than the pre-2010 average.

Consider the numbers. In Budget 2025–26, FBR tax revenue is projected at Rs14 trillion. Non-tax revenue is projected at Rs5 trillion. Gross revenue receipts come to Rs19 trillion. Out of this, Rs8.5 trillion is transferred to the provinces, interest payments take away Rs9 trillion, pensions Rs1 trillion and running of civil government Rs1 trillion.

The arithmetic is brutal: after provincial transfers and interest payments, Islamabad’s fiscal oxygen is gone. Everything else is financed by borrowing.

Pakistan is borrowing to defend itself. Pakistan is borrowing to build roads. Pakistan is borrowing to pay subsidies. Pakistan is borrowing to keep the lights on. Pakistan is borrowing to feed its poorest citizens. Pakistan is borrowing to pay its judges. Pakistan is borrowing to fund elections. Pakistan is borrowing to fuel its 85,500-vehicle carpool. Pakistan is borrowing to host a parliament that has not passed a budget it could balance. Pakistan is borrowing to build dams that it has been planning since 1960. Pakistan is borrowing to print the money it will use to borrow more.

Hard truth: The government is borrowing and calling it governance.

The NFC Award rewards entitlement, not effort. The NFC Award creates soft-budget provinces. The NFC Award has made the federal government fiscally non-functional. The NFC Award has weakened national planning. The NFC Award produces political irresponsibility.

The reality: A federation cannot survive like this. No household can spend like this. No company can operate like this. No country can borrow like this forever.

The reform path is clear: Debt servicing and defence must be treated as national first charges. Before the divisible pool is distributed, Pakistan must deduct the cost of debt and defence. What remains should then be shared under the existing NFC formula. This preserves the 7th NFC architecture but corrects its most dangerous defect.

Red alert: Pakistan’s crisis is not about low revenue; it is about broken distribution.

Pakistan does not need to abolish the NFC. Pakistan needs to repair it. Share the money. Share the burden. Share the responsibility.

The choice is not federation versus provinces. The choice is responsibility versus collapse. A federation cannot be built on entitlement alone. A federation survives when every unit carries the flag – and the bill.
https://t.co/tefUdDgAsA

[Majid khan @MajedBurki]

@IlhanNiaz Is there any fourth option left? 🫣🙃

[Ammar Khan Yasir @ammarkhanyasir]

کیا لسانیت کی بنیاد پر تاریخ بدلی جا سکتی ہے؟ عمار خان یاسر
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#ammarkhanyasir #shershahsuri #cmpunjabmaryamnawaz

[Afrasiab Khattak @a_siab]

جوړ به مې تصویر په زړه کې هله د ګلفام شی
تور مې د لیمو چې په ژړا ژړا تمام شی
جوړه بهانه شوه که په وصف مې سنګسارکړی
لا ښه ده منصور غوندې به پاتې زما نام شی
هغه وخت خاطره دغه نوره دنیا څه. شی
کله دې په لور چې د نمر مخی اشنا پام شی
خاطر اپریدې
Pashto Poetry

[Majid khan @MajedBurki]

@fawadchaudhry @zartajgulwazir جو جھک گئے جو بک گئے وہ معتبر ٹھہرے۔ جو نہیں جھکے وہ مجرم ٹھہرے.........یہ اپ کیلے لیکھا ھے😜

[Husain Haqqani @husainhaqqani]

علامہ اقبال کی نظم ‘پنجابی مسلمان’ جو انکی کتاب ‘ضرب کلیم’ میں شامل ہے:

مذہب ميں بہت تازہ پسند اس کي طبيعت
کر لے کہيں منزل تو گزرتا ہے بہت جلد
تحقيق کي بازی ہو تو شرکت نہيں کرتا
ہو کھيل مريدي کا تو ہرتا ہے بہت جلد
تاويل کا پھندا کوئي صياد لگا دے
يہ شاخ نشيمن سے اترتا ہے بہت جلد

[Husain Haqqani @husainhaqqani]

قوموں کے لئے بیسویں صدی میں تیل تک رسائی اہم تھی۔ اب اکیسویں صدی کی بیشتر ضروریات اور ایجادات نایاب معدن کے بغیر ممکن نہ ہوں گی۔اس وقت چین نایاب معدن کا تقریباً 69% پیدا کرتا ہے، تقریباً 90سے 92% تک پراسیس کرتا ہے۔چین امریکہ کیلئے ان کی رسائی روک رہا ہے

https://t.co/p435Xp9Dp7

[Majid khan @MajedBurki]

This post will hunt you in near future 😁

[Khawaja M. Asif @KhawajaMAsif]

آج وزیر اعظمُ شہباز شریف کی صدارت میں اجلاس ھوا جسمیں فیلڈ مارشل عاصم منیر اور عسکری قیادت ، صوبائی وزیر اعلی ، گلگت بلتستان و آزاد کشمیر کے وزیر اعلی موجود تھے۔ پنجاب میں TLP کے بلوے اور لا قانونیت سے جسطرح وزیر اعلی مریم نواز کی قیادت میں انتظامیہ نے ھینڈل کیا ھے وہ قابل تعریف ھے۔ دھشت گردی اور دوسرے مسائل پہ بغیر ابہام کے اور پورے اعتماد سے اظہار خیال کیا ۔ TLP کے متعلق جسطرح پنجاب حکومت نے فیصلہ کن رویہ اپنایا گیا ھے۔ اسطرح کی تمام تنظیموں سے ڈیلُ کرنے کی حکمت عملی میں پنجاب کی تقلید کرنی ھو گی۔ پاکستان ایک کو قومی لائحۂ عمل تشکیل کرنا ھو گا۔ ھمیں ریاست کا soft state image ختم کرنا ھو گا۔ پاکستان کو قانون اور آئین کے مطابق ایک hard state کی شناخت بنانا ھو گی۔ پنجاب نے اسکی ابتدا کر دی ھے ۔

[Ahmad Waqass Goraya Baloch 🇵🇸 @AWGoraya]

پنجابی وقت طور پر سرخا، ملحد، لبرل، ملحد، یوتھیا، پٹواری، جیالا، جماعتی کچھ بھی ہوسکتا ہے۔ مگر فل وقتی پنجابی ہوتا ہے اور موقع ملتے ہی اسکے اندر کا فوجی باہر آ جاتا ہے۔

[Ammar Ali Jan @ammaralijan]

A pawn in America's regime change operation in Venezuela has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while ignoring doctors & journalists conducting heroic work in Gaza. These awards are an ideological weapon in the armour of imperialism. Only fools take this charade seriously.

[Anthony Pompliano 🌪 @APompliano]

Is Bitcoin’s 4-year cycle over?

This data may change your mind…