Head of Hizb ut Tahrir's Central Contact Committee Saad Jegranvi conducted public bayyans, side meetings and addressed seminars in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Saad Jegranvi delivered a message of hope and motivation. He assured the people that the time of the traitors in the political and military leadership is at an end. The Ummah has rejected their treachery and their Kufr democracy and dictatorship

Hizb ut Tahrir / Wilayah Pakistan has issued the following Publicized Policy Position (PPP) which clearly demonstrates how Pakistan's revenue and expenditure policies can lead to economic strength and prosperity by adopting Hizb ut Tahrir's constitution for the Khilafah "Caliphate".

Ever since assuming the office of the Presidency, Morsi has worked resolutely to portray himself as a moderate Islamist working independent of American influence for the betterment of Egypt and the region. But beneath the veneer of Islamic rhetoric surrounding his domestic and foreign policy actions, Morsi is no better than his predecessor Mubarak- the former gatekeeper of American interests in the region.

On the domestic front, Morsi can claim that the opposition has not allowed his government enough time to push through reforms that will address the Egypt's battered economy, restore law and order, and improve the lives of the ordinary Egyptian people. This is despite the fact that such reforms are formulated under the auspices of IMF stipulations for Egypt's government to revise its economic agenda in order to qualify for the $4.8 billion loan. IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said, "We understand the Egyptian authorities have been working on revising their economic program. And once this step is completed, we will discuss the timing of a possible mission to Cairo to assess the revised program."  The delay has prompted America's rating agency Moody to downgrade Egypt's credit worthiness.  Thus America's economic enslavement of Egypt continues via the IMF and Moody regardless of the claims made by Morsi's government of following an independent economic policy.

On the foreign policy front Morsi cannot conceal his pro-American credentials behind the wall of protestors, which include people from all walks of life. Morsi's foreign policy is distinctively American and in many ways is more brutal than Mubarak's era. On February 13^th 2013, Egypt without warning flooded Gaza tunnels that are a life blood to the Palestinians living in concentration camp-like conditions in Gaza, which for all intents and purposes is controlled by the cowardly Jewish state. The tunnels bring in everything from food and medicine to cement and iron, providing up to 75 percent of the goods to a population of 1.6 million people.

An Egyptian security official in the Sinai told Reuters the campaign started five days ago. He said, "We are using water to close the tunnels by raising water from one of the wells." Hamas has been reluctant to criticise Morsi in public, but Gazans are more outspoken about the Hamas's naivety and Morsi's brutality. "Egyptian measures against tunnels have worsened since the election of Morsi. Our Hamas brothers thought he would open up Gaza. I guess they were wrong," said a tunnel owner, who identified himself only as Ayed, fearing reprisal. "Perhaps 150 or 200 tunnels have been shut since the Sinai attack. This is the Morsi era," he added.

So Morsi's government has used the attacks on Egyptian forces in Sinai in August 2012 to spearhead a ruthless campaign to close as many tunnels as possible and bolster the security of the Jewish state ahead of the much anticipated resumption of the dormant peace process.  With Palestinian unity talks planned in the days ahead, Netanyahu weakened by the recent elections and Obama scheduled to visit the Jewish state in March 2013, Washington is keen to create the right atmosphere to give a vital push for peace between the Arabs and the Jewish state. Central to the commencement of peace talks is the security of the Jewish state, and Morsi like his predecessor is doing his utmost to meet American and Jewish expectations. Nonetheless, the timing of the recent operation is intended to mollify Jewish criticism of America's delivery of four F16 aircraft to the Egyptian air force.

Likewise, Morsi's close ties with Iran to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria that preserves remnants of Assad's regime bears the hallmark of America's intended solution. America has been working tirelessly with Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Gulf countries as well as with the EU and Russia to protect Assad's regime in some form through a variety of initiatives the latest being the Brahimi Plan This will ensure the continuation of its hegemony over the Levant. Within this context Morsi visited Tehran in September 2012 and spoke of Iran as a pivotal stakeholder in finding a solution to the Syrian crisis. He said, "[Iran] a main player in the region that could have an active and supportive role in solving the Syrian problem... I don't see the presence of Iran in this quartet (Turkey, Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia) as a problem, but is a part of solving the problem." This also explains why Morsi a few days ago warmly greeted Ahmadinejad the butcher of Syria. His treatment of the Iranian president attracted the ire of some of Morsi's close supporters such as Daawa Salafiyya which issued a statement: "Egypt is committed to the protection of all Sunni nations." Hence within a space of a few months Morsi has managed to surpass Mubarak and do what his predecessor failed to do i.e. forge a working relationship with Iran to safeguard America's interests in the Levant.

America is mightily pleased with the domestic and foreign policy actions undertaken by Morsi's government. On February 3rd 2013, U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson said, "We look to Egypt to continue to serve as a force for peace, security and leadership as the Middle East proceeds with its challenging yet essential journey towards democracy."

There are important lessons for Egyptians to learn from Morsi's rule. First, by simply calling for the ouster of a brutal dictator only to be replaced by someone who overtly expresses his faith in Islam is a folly of enormous proportions and will not change the plight of the people. Second, the real cause of misery for Egyptians is the current system through which America continues to colonise the country. Unless the system is eradicated from its roots people will continue to suffer under America's colonial policies implemented by its loyalists in the present regime-be they Islamists or liberals. Third, the only alternative to the present decadent system is the Islamic Shariah, and not Western liberal democracy as advocated by the short-sighted liberals. Western liberal democracy along with capitalism is dying and even people in the West are eagerly looking for an alternative system. But for Islamic Shariah to succeed, it has to be implemented holistically not in a piece meal fashion as championed by Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters. Fourthly, the only practical way to realise the implementation of the Shariah in domestic and foreign policy areas is through the re-establishment of the Caliphate. Only the Caliphate can guarantee an independent economic and foreign policy free from Western interference.

Abed Mostapha

On Tuesday 12^th February, many Pakistani newspapers including The News, Dawn, The Nation and Daily Times reported a conference held on Monday 11^th February at Pakistan National Council of the Arts to commemorate National Women Day. It was attended by different human rights and women rights NGOs and was arranged by the Aurat Foundation, South Asia Partnership-Pakistan (SAP-PK), Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO), Sungi Development Foundation and Sustainable Development Policy Initiative. Its objectives were to pressurize the government to enhance the role of women in politics and improve their participation in the economic life of the country. The speakers also urged the authorities to "repeal discriminatory laws against women and take more steps for protecting their human rights, ensuring a congenial atmosphere for becoming respectable members of society". I.A. Rahman, a human rights activist in Pakistan, remarked that the political situation was not encouraging especially for women and that women were not allowed to represent their constituency but only given a space to sit in legislative buildings. He said, "Political participation means to play a role and unfortunately political parties are not allowed to play a political role" and also, "that without economic empowerment women would not be able to play a political role."

It is most regrettable that this conference failed to offer the real solutions to the problems faced by women of economic hardship and having little influence in the political process of the country. Infact these problems are faced by women all over the subcontinent including in Bangladesh, India and Afghanistan, because the same capitalist system along with its secular and liberal values is being implemented there. Based on these values and system, the law makers within these countries decide the fate of millions of men and women by making such economic policies that serve their own vested interests and  safeguard  the interests of their masters - the IMF, World Bank, and Western states. How can the women or men for that matter, be provided a secure economic life or their standard of living be improved when we are the economic slaves of such institutions and foreign governments and our countries are run on debt, fuelled by the capitalist interest-based financial model of economics that has crippled ordinary women and men with severe poverty? During the last fiscal year, Pakistan's  public debt grew by 493.6% as a percentage of its revenues, while the country consumed roughly 40% of its revenues for servicing such debts according to  the Debt Policy Statement 2012-13 from the Ministry of Finance. Under flawed capitalist policies, inflation  has increased to such a level that one dollar is now equivalent to more than a hundred Pakistani Rupees because the government is printing more money to pay back the loans without the paper currency being backed by the relevant amount of gold or silver. This has resulted in the spiraling of food and commodity prices. Being a net importer country with a weak manufacturing base, Pakistan's capitalist government oversees the devaluation of the Rupee, in accordance to IMF orders. The economic condition of women will only deteriorate if these policies according to the Capitalist mindset continue.

It is ludicrous to believe that under this rotten system that has caused the economy of Pakistan and the Muslim world to sink under a mountain of debt, imposed policies that have destroyed domestic markets, robbed states of their wealth and resources, and placed an economic stranglehold on the people by subjecting them to high taxes and extortionate prices for basic necessities including gas and electricity, that simply pushing women into employment will alleviate their economic woes. Also  pushing women to do jobs and earn for themselves under the Capitalist sytem simply creates other problems as they are then exposed to the exploitative capitalist environment of the state, where individuals, businesses, and corporations are allowed to exploit cheap labour for huge profits, subjecting women to dangerous and back-breaking working conditions.

Secondly, the idea that increasing female MP's will increase women's influence in the political process of the state is false. Pakistan has a higher percentage of women parliamentarians in the lower house (23%) than the USA which has only 17% women but this has meant nothing to the political rights or voice of ordinary women in Pakistan. How useful have these seats in parliament been when the whole system favors only the elite class - the daughters and nieces of the feudal lords and wealthy businessmen to run in elections, who then like all the other politicians make laws for their own benefit and not for the masses?

So the real solution lies in rejecting these liberal and secular capitalist values and system. The solutions promoted by Capitalism causes more problems for women. The real solution lies in the implementation of the laws made by the Creator(swt) who knows his creation better than we know ourselves due to our limited intellect. Allah (swt) says:

((أَلَا يَعۡلَمُ مَنۡ خَلَقَ وَهُوَ ٱللَّطِيفُ ٱلۡخَبِيرُ))

"Should not He Who has created know? And He is the Most Kind and Courteous (to His slaves), the Well-Acquainted (with everything)." [TMQ al-Mulk: 14]

The real solution lies in implementing a system wherein the men and women will not be able to make laws according to their own whims and desires to save their seats, or folllow the orders of the IMF and World Bank and implement harmful trade agreements, or run an economy upon the exploitative and detrimental principle of interest. Rather it will be a system, where Allah (swt)'s laws - like the  currency being based on gold and silver, the prohibition of interest, the economy being founded on wealth creation rather than debt, and the local currency being delinked from foreign currencies like the dollar - are implemented. Only a sound economic system  that provides the basic necessities of life to every citizen by way of being an obligation and not only as a "good thing to do" can secure the economic rights of women. It is a system that is obliged to create good employment opportunities for men for they are obliged to provide for their families, and where women have the choice to work or not to work as their basic necessities of life are fulfilled by their menfolk or the state. It is a system that will not accept any exploitative environment within the society, ensuring that women in employment enjoy safe and just working conditions. All this will only be achieved by  the Khilafah "Caliphate" state.

It is also a system where the women as well as men have a full say in the political affairs of the country, i.e in accounting the ruler and making him implement the laws of Allah (swt) completely and comprehensively. It is a state where a common woman can account the ruler like at the time of Khalifah Umar (ra), where an ordinary woman fearlessly challenged Umar (ra) who was the leader of the state on his order to limit the mahr (dowry), saying to him, "Umar! You have no right to intervene in a matter which Allah the All-Mighty has already decreed in the Qur'an" mentioning the ayah in Surah An-Nisa, verse 20.  Umar changed his decision based on the evidence from Islam, saying, "I am in the wrong and she is correct" - reflecting the fact that under the Khilafah "Caliphate", the reference for resolving disputes is the Islamic texts and not the whims of the ruler who cannot legislate laws according to his own interests or to favour his family and friends.

And it is a system where ordinary women and men both have the same political rights to elect their ruler and  become members of the Majlis al Ummah to represent their  respective provinces and to account the rulers but they do not legislate as this is the right of the Creator alone. I call upon the women's rights and human rights activists of Pakistan and the Muslim world to reject these flawed and harmful capitalist values and system and call towards the implementation of the Khilafah "Caliphate" state which is the only savior of women from their current plight. Allah (swt) says:

((أَفَمَنْ أَسَّسَ بُنْيَانَهُ عَلَىٰ تَقْوَىٰ مِنَ اللَّـهِ وَرِضْوَانٍ خَيْرٌ أَم مَّنْ أَسَّسَ بُنْيَانَهُ عَلَىٰ شَفَا جُرُفٍ هَارٍ فَانْهَارَ بِهِ فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ))

"Is he, therefore, better who lays his foundation on fear of Allah and (His) good pleasure, or he who lays his foundation on the edge of a cracking hollowed bank, so it broke down with him into the fire of hell; and Allah does not guide the unjust people." [TMQ al-Taubah: 109]

Umm Musab

Member of The Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir