Pakistan must nationalise the Jamaat-ud-Dawa

No, seriously

This is an archived blog post from The Acorn.

The Pakistani government is unable to raise fiscal resources by getting people and businesses to pay their taxes. The Jamaat-ud-Dawa can—it imposes a flat tax of 2.5% of annual savings on each family. It also raises resources through remittances from abroad. And its collection of hides of animals slaughtered for Eid-ul-Adha should bring a smile on the faces of public finance professors.

The Pakistani government is unable to provide basic public services like security, education and healthcare. The Jamaat-ud-Dawa, on the other hand, does so competently.

The Pakistani government has a problem—the Jamaat-ud-Dawa also engages in terrorism, and it will do the whole world a whole lot of good if it would give up this line of business. So why not nationalise the non-state actor? Doing so will not only inject transparency in the links between the Pakistani state and the jihadi establishment but also give the Pakistani government a shot in the arm.

If you would like to share or comment on this, please discuss it on my GitHub Previous
Beyond the cosmetic crackdown Next
And how much are these nukes?