Picture this: a social media post is circulated (by the usual suspects), which says that Pakistan is ranked number one in the world as far as citizens leaving a country and emigrating overseas is concerned. Of course, the fact that this is factually incorrect is not important. India ranks number one in such countries, with Pakistan coming in sixth or seventh. However, our thriving WhatsApp Universities ensure that this ‘news’ is quickly spread far and wide and play a key role in amplifying what is often incorrect and misleading information, if not outright disinformation and fake news. Of course, the push for a narrative, despite its vastly changed global standing this year, and especially post-Sindoor, takes all kinds of forms and nuances. And again, it is not just the Government of India, or the BJP’s social media trolls and their like who are invested in spreading this; unfortunately, this also finds many takers who happen to be Pakistanis, but who are quite content to push it.
Of course, most of these people happen to follow a particular political party and are more concerned with the trials and tribulations of the party leader than with what direction the country is heading. Their primary concern is his safety and release, and everything else can come later.
This particularly warped, I would say brainwashed, way of seeing the world, and in particular, ar Pakistan, shapes their worldview and everything that happens passes through that (dis)coloured lens. Let’s take the case of the recent report that the famous American multinational corporation Procter & Gamble (P & G) is leaving Pakistan. This was taken to indicate a failure of the Pakistani economy, because why else would such a big MNC exit? However, the reports that were being used to push the narrative of a failing Pakistani economy (incidentally, precisely the same narrative is pushed by BJP social media trolls who would like to see a destroyed and decimated Pakistan) were manipulated and left out much key information.
For example, while P&G was reducing its business in Pakistan, it wasn’t exactly exiting the market. P&G products would be available for consumers, but would be imported and distributed through a third-party company; this arrangement was already in place. Furthermore, the departure is part of an ongoing strategy by P&G to reduce its non-manufacturing workforce by 15%, which means cutting 7,000 jobs. It will be exiting several countries in fact, and leave behind a similar model where its products will be distributed by third-party vendors.
They are only interested in using them to push their narrative of a failing state, and then they link it with the fact that their leader is no longer the Prime Minister and has been in jail for the last two years
The narrative also misses the very important point that companies like P&G (or Careem, which exited Pakistan a few months ago) have been facing stiff competition from Chinese as well as local companies offering similar products, which are far cheaper. For P&G, the product that falls in this category would be Pampers, which has a thriving market in Pakistan, but where many new producers have entered, and most of them are priced much lower.
The catchy social media post also misses out on certain other key points. For one, a foreign company divesting doesn’t necessarily indicate a failing economy, especially one like Pakistan’s, which has a strong consumer-driven segment. It means that local manufacturers are likely to step in and fill the gap, and that they may have already been doing that, which is why the foreign company decided to exit. By extension, this also means more jobs will be created, and repatriation of profits overseas in the form of dollars will be reduced. Furthermore, cheaper products mean that consumers stand to gain in the form of lower prices, especially in a time when real incomes (purchasing power) may be stagnant and even falling (when inflation outstrips rises in nominal income).
Also, take the case of Careem, which exited Pakistan earlier this year. But there too, as users of ride-sharing services, many of us will know that it left because it had to face stiff competition with newer entrants in the Pakistan market like InDrive and Yang, and both offered far cheaper rides. Careem failed to adapt and had to exit.
We can also examine the recent announcement by Gul Ahmed Textiles to close down its export business. That would be, in fact, more troubling than the P&G announcement, not least because Gul Ahmed is a wholly local company and is one of Pakistan’s top textile exporting companies. The company has cited high energy costs and increased tax rates, and a strong rupee (which makes Pakistani exports less competitive) for closing down its export business. These are all issues that the government, and in particular the finance and commerce mministersshould have a closer look at. That said, I am told by people who are a key part of the textiles export business that Gul Ahmed’s primary business and area of operation is the local Pakistani market.
But going back to how these examples are used to build up a certain narrative of failure, it needs to be remembered that those who do this are not interested in solutions, they are not interested in how to prevent such cases from recurring, and how things can be set right – no, they are only interested in using them to push their narrative of a failing state and then they link it with the fact that their leader is no longer Prime Minister and is in jail since the last two years.
That’s all they are interested in – and what better narrative to back that up than to somehow present Pakistan as a failing state.