- By RFE/RL
Pakistan celebrates a somber 76th Independence Day on August 14 amid political instability and a cost-of-living crisis.
Pakistan has been rocked by significant shocks over the past year, including floods that caused more than $30 billion in damage, political instability, and record-breaking inflation amid a worsening economic situation.
Pakistan’s cash-strapped economy is currently experiencing 0.29 percent growth in gross domestic product with inflation over 28 percent, down from a record high of 38 percent in previous months.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and opposition leader Raja Riaz agreed on August 12 to name Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar as caretaker premier to oversee elections, the prime minister’s office said.
The naming of a caretaker premier follows on the heels of a political crisis surrounding former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who began a three-year prison term on August 5 for “corrupt practices.” Khan, who is also banned from politics, denies wrongdoing, claiming the charges against him were politically motivated.
Following the end of the British Raj in August 1947, both Pakistan and India were proclaimed independent states. The mass migration and ethnic bloodshed that followed the partition left behind a bitter legacy.
This year’s Independence Day celebrations come as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a $3 billion bailout program, including the immediate disbursal of about $1.2 billion to help stabilize the south Asian economy of 220 million people, the world’s fifth-largest population.
