REGARDLESS of the current wave of austerity measures, the trend remains the same; a systematic abandonment of the very people the state is bound to protect. While we are always told that such measures are meant for macroeconomic stability, the reality on the ground is a rather crumbling middle class and a poor population pushed beyond the brink.

From frequent ‘rationalisation’ of power tariffs to the imposition of petroleum levy, regressive taxation continues to hit the poorest the hardest. The consequences of these actions are severe and visible. We are witnessing a historic deindustrialisation of the domestic spirit. People are not just ‘unhappy’, they are desperate. When you make it impossible for a person to keep the lights on or put fuel in their car tank, you are not just managing an economy; you are dismantling a society. The middle class, once the backbone of our con-sumption and tax base, is being hollowed out, forced to choose between utility bills and their children’s education.

The government must review its anti-poor and anti-middle-class stance. We need a more equitable fiscal strategy, one that targets untaxed elite sectors, curbs all non-development governmental spending, and broadens the taxation base through direct wealth taxes rather than squeezing the life out of essential utilities.

Majid Burfat
Karachi

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2026