Imran Khan quotes Russian philosopher, links it to Pak's situation

Quoting acclaimed Russian-American author Ayn Rand, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday slammed the previous government for the economic crisis Pakistan has plunged into.

Khan said Rand's statement is an aptly represents the situation of Pakistan that was handed over to his government last year.

"This is so apt for the Pakistan inherited by the PTI govt," the cricketer-turned-politician tweeted with a screenshot of the quote, captioned: "Ayn Rand wrote this almost 60 years ago. It's frightening how accurate the statement is today."

"When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion-when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing-when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favours," he said, quoting Rand's work.

"When you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you-when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice-you may know that your society is doomed," Khan continued.

Pakisan has been facing severe economic crisis leading to inflation and massive foreign debts. Khan and his government, which came to power last year, have been blaming their predecessors for the economic downturn.

Ayn Rand, born in Russia in 1905, is best known for two of her best-selling novels- The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

Known for developing a philosophical system called Objectivism Rand died in 1982 in New York.