Pakistan has reached the point where many of the countries of the West have started labeling it as a “Failed State”. The reason behind this uproar is the severity of the problems the country faces. The global crisis has not hit any country as badly as it has hit Pakistan.

There are various problems the country faces including terrorism, power shortages, gas shortages, shooting inflation rates, unavailability of basic needs for people such as food, housing, clothes, rising rates of unemployment, worsening of the balance of payment position and the list goes on and on. It is time that someone comes up with solutions to these problems or the nation for which our ancestors fought would be lost somewhere in the midst.

Terrorism has been of growing concern over the past few years. After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre, Pakistan agreed to join U.S in the war on terror. But who knew that this action would lead to Pakistan becoming a victim of terrorist attacks. This move faced severe retaliation from various facets, increasing the incidence of terrorism in the country. Problems of sectarian violence already existed and now all Muslims of the country faced threats from terrorist groups such as Taliban. Terrorism did not only pose physical threat in terms of the lives of people but it had a far reaching impact. Terrorism shunned any opportunities of foreign investment in the country resulting in a loss for the country’s economy. There was a fall in exports as people oversees did not want to trade with a terrorist State thus worsening the balance of payment position.

The global crisis of 2008 hit Pakistan pretty badly resulting in several layoffs throughout the country. The country already marred by terrorism could not bear such a heavy loss. Many of the educated men and women are unemployed and they don’t even have the chance of starting their own businesses because in such a crisis situation any investments made could result in huge losses for the them.

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Apart from the problems of terrorism and unemployment a serious issue has grown over the past few years and that is of load shedding. Pakistan power supply companies do not have enough power production to meet the needs of the people of the country. Urban areas face load shedding for 12 hours per day while in the rural areas the situation is worse as there is no electricity for up to 16 hours. Fuel prices have shot up with petrol and diesel becoming more expensive than it had ever been. People cannot afford travelling in the bus because the bus fares have gone up as a result of the increase in diesel prices.

Most recently an alarming situation has developed for Pakistan in terms of the shortage of natural gas. No one expected that natural gas which was in abundance in the country would no longer be available. There is Gas load shedding in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. As most of the people shifted to CNG as fuel for their cars they are in serious trouble now. CNG is only available for 3-4 days a week and its prices have reached as high as petrol and diesel prices have.

With the ever increasing problems for the general public of the country, it is time for something to be done on part of the government and the people. Everyone needs to contribute to take Pakistan out of this crisis situation.