Pakistanis will celebrate their country’s 69 years of
independence today, remembering the nation’s birth in an environment surrounded
by extreme adversity. Nevertheless, the challenging past must be judged not
only against the impressive gains that Pakistan has made in many areas, but
also in terms of the challenges that remain unaddressed.
In brief, the ultimate conclusion for Pakistan’s outlook
must be that in spite of the many gaps surrounding the country, a truly
commendable feat has indeed been achieved in the shape of the faith that has
kept Pakistanis going steadily through difficult times.
The original migrants, who were mostly Muslims and had
travelled across from a united India to the newly-created state of Pakistan in
1947, still cherish the stories of being surrounded by doom and gloom as they
became part of one of the biggest migrations of human population in modern
history. A situation of despair awaited them in Pakistan; yet, they still
persevered.
Make-shift government offices functioned without adequate
stationery, to the point where bureaucrats used thorns to substitute for paper
clips, while wooden crates became substitutes for chairs and tables. It was,
therefore, not surprising that some even gave the nation of Pakistan a life
span of just more than a few months. And yet, Pakistan chose to defy the odds
and has risen to become the Islamic world’s first country to produce nuclear
weapons — a feat that is a reflection of scientific progress by a dedicated and
small group of Pakistani scientists.
The passing away of former Pakistan cricketer Hanif Mohammad
— one of the world’s best-known cricketing legends — last Thursday, though a
sad event, nevertheless came as a reminder of the icons from various walks of
life who had helped script the success story for Pakistan. Hanif had migrated
to Pakistan from Junagarh in India in 1947. In 1957-58, Hanif scored 337
against the West Indies in a six-day Test at Bridgetown. And in 1958-59, he
surpassed Sir Don Bradman’s highest individual score in an innings of a
first-class match by scoring 499, before being run out.
Other iconic figures ranged from those who excelled in
science and culture to the arts and social sciences, all joining hands to
become citizens of the newly-created state of Pakistan. Though the country went
through periods of tribulation, its resolve to build itself as a nation never
seemed to weaken.
Almost seven decades later, today, Pakistan in parts
presents a dismal picture for its ordinary citizens, deprived of basic needs
for human beings. For Pakistan’s mainstream population, life continues to throw
up daily challenges that have only grown with the passage of time.
And, the best dream of Pakistan’s future continues to evade
the country’s mainstream. Yet, the story of Pakistan’s performance cannot be
compiled without closely looking at the instances of success scattered all
across the country with a population of about 200 million. Such stories have
been built upon examples of successful businessmen, professionals in different
fields and soldiers who make up the security services, just to name a few.
In recent years, Pakistan has stood up to hardline militants
who have challenged the authority of the state. Consequently, with more than
60,000 Pakistanis having been sacrificed in the war against terrorism, the
challenge is far from over. And yet, Pakistan continues to live with the
determination to protect its key interests at any cost.
Though popular faith in Pakistan seems to continue as a
defining feature of the country, that faith needs to be lifted with a set of
hitherto absent or only partially present set of economic reforms. On Friday,
Pakistan’s Army Chief General Raheel Sharif stepped into the realm of the
national discourse on combating terrorism and publicly called for action by
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government to address “all inadequacies”, failing
which, “remnants of terrorism would continue to simmer and long-term peace and
stability would remain a distant dream”.
Going by the record of the Nawaz Sharif government, which is
now in its fourth year in office, its hard to imagine that comprehensive action
will likely come soon in plugging the holes that continue to plague the
country. Tragically, in sharp contrast to the vision of Pakistan’s founding fathers,
its present-day rulers have failed to consider the larger interests beyond the
narrowly-defined, partisan and political ones. At a time when Pakistan is
indeed surrounded by recurring challenges to its existence — as exhibited
through last Monday’s terror attacks on lawyers in Quetta, which claimed 74
lives — rebuilding the country must indeed remain the top-most priority.
Areas long neglected can simply be narrowed down to two
fundamental issues. First of all, all aspects of security — ranging from policing
to investigations, prosecutions and sentencing — must remain central to the
government’s priorities. Achieving this objective will remain a half-baked
dream unless the country’s ruling political elites also step forward to
proactively deal with security issues as the first priority. Judging by the way
in which the security discourse has been ignored by Pakistan’s politicians in
the federal and provincial legislatures, it is hard to imagine that they are up
to the task.
Secondly, Pakistan’s future will be defined by the country’s
ability to undertake long-overdue internal reforms. These range from a complete
overhaul of revenue collection (just over half a per cent of Pakistanis pay
their income tax), to carefully choosing priorities for spending. To Prime
Minister Sharif’s discredit, his regime has accorded top priority to large,
fancy projects such as highways and luxurious means of public transport,
instead of revamping government-sponsored schools and public-sector hospitals.
Let us not forget that no matter what, the common people of
Pakistan continue to repose their faith in the future of a country that was
created under trying circumstances and it is this faith that continues to
bolster Pakistan’s confidence in tackling the many challenges that confront the
nation. The potential to meet these challenges is very much there, but exactly
who will lead the way remains a troubling and an unanswered question.
Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on
political and economic matters.
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