ON the eve of independence, Pakistan had only two textile mills, one at Okara and the other at Lyallpur (now Faisalabad). Both mills had 25,000 spindles each. Pakistan was producing far more cotton than these two mills could consume. So, we exported a lot of cotton that we could not consume.

Dr Nazir Ahmed, then chairman, Tariff Commission, recorded in Pakistan Cotton Bulletin (1955), a publication of the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee, that export dutywas levied on the export of cotton at the following rates: American cotton: Rs 90 per bale.Desi cotton: Rs60 per bale.

Dr Ahmed further recorded that the total export duty recovered from export of cotton during 1949-55 was Rs3710 million.

In 1955, this scribe paid $2 for an American visa and, at the prevailing exchange rate paid Rs6-12. So one dollar was worth Pakistani Rs3.60.

Cotton export duty translates into $1,000 million.During 1953-54, a Chevrolet cost approximately Rs14,000 if not bought from a showroom.

If we had not indulged in importing luxuries and had set up an industry with that one billion dollars, we would have become the first Asian Tiger in 1955 itself.

If even now we adopt a simple lifestyle and shun imported luxuries, we could still become one of the richest countries of Asia.

MIAN IFTKHAR AFZAL Karachi