Surviving Pakistan
PAKISTAN has survived natural and manmade turmoils and disasters since its inception in 1947 and has always emerged as a more robust and resilient nation by making its mark in the world, with the best army in the world, nuclear capability and digital industry. Survival after the floods, famines and earthquakes is another proof of the courageous Pakistani people’s struggle to survive. The same is the case with political crisis and turmoil. Pakistan has witnessed political upheavals in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, but the recent one in 2023 is the worst one, especially when it is coupled with economic and social crises, polarized population, lawlessness, joblessness, very high inflation and brain drain. The need is to address the situation by finding a viable solution to steer the country and the disappointed youth toward progress and empathy so that the doors towards establishing an egalitarian state based on social justice can be found.
State institutions make or mar a state and the people and are the foundation stones of democracy in any country. People can only get their rights and privileges when the state institutions vigorously defend the individual and the society for their rights. These are the state institutions that represent the country in the world. Their collective voice is the voice of the nation and as such, they represent the Pakistani people. The first thing to be done urgently is to strengthen the state institutions by law and constitution so that all their energies are diverted only and only and solely to the people of Pakistan. In this regard, the betterment and security of the Pakistani people must be the top priority and each institution must ensure this within its domain without intervening in the affairs of others unless national security is being compromised. The political polarization among the people of Pakistan is a glaring witness to the fact that something somewhere is not right or is not rightly being perceived. Undoubtedly, these are already being run by well-trained and professional minds. The think tanks, saner and sager elements must also sit together to pinpoint the situation and help provide a workable solution.
Secondly, the people of Pakistan are suffering from historical and apocalyptic inflation and dearness in the country. The state institutions must immediately divert and focus their attention on the plight of the people. Small and medium businesses are about to close and access to food and medicine is gradually becoming difficult. There is no denying the fact that some political officials are working hard to prevent or slow down the situation, but their efforts have not been able to mitigate the precarious situation. More vigorous efforts are needed to alleviate the suffering of the poor and the needy.
The financial crisis in Pakistan is increasing the already available gap between the rich and poor and the common people, after undergoing the pricks of high inflation, are worried about their children’s future, especially when they look at the highly luxurious lifestyle of the elite class. The state institutions must work very hard to decrease this gap among the people to develop an environment of empathy and fraternity. The current situation is generating feelings of animosity among the people of Pakistan. The Western democracies we follow show clear evolution and the rise of the middle-class increase rapidly and the upper and lower classes quickly decline. But in Pakistan, the middle class is dying and giving way mainly to the poor and very seldom to the affluent. This can further multiply our social, economic and political issues. If the composition and demography of our people are making it difficult to design policies in this regard, some think tanks and social scientists from Western scientifically advanced nations can be engaged for the time being to analyze and understand the situation.
Pakistan must also work on preserving its resources and make emergency arrangements to save itself from natural disasters. Floods visit Pakistan frequently and each time the country is devastated. Ways and means must be found to tackle the situation. Modern scientific agricultural practices must be adopted with genuine research to grow and preserve crops so food crisis and resources can never be depleted. Instead of quibbles and quabbles, Pakistan needs to expand its financial borders regarding marketing and trade. The world is again emerging with robot technology and the world frontiers will scale new heights. In such a tech-based revolution, Pakistani youth has been busy in street political gatherings, road protests and lately in anti-state activities. All these people of Pakistan deserve a better future for which the state institutions must take heed and may attempt to divert the young energies towards newly acquired technical advances of the developed nations. This is especially needed because the introduction of robots, almost in every field, will render many traditional jobs redundant. For example, the innovation of ChatGTP and its further upcoming editions are rapidly introducing a new classroom environment. This is high time that the State of Pakistan must fight internal and external challenges to provide our young men a befitting future.
People of Pakistan must also come out of the feudal mindset and accept the new and modern realities of life where people must be judged because of their skills, values and the work they do for their nation, not based on feudal rubrics. This entails the feudal attitude everywhere and the common man has to suffer only because of this attitude. The world had gone far ahead of these concepts of yore. In fact, like the Renaissance in Europe in the 15th Century, Pakistani people are also bound to enter this phase of their life 1because the world around them is changing and calling us to take care of our young people. The time of the feudal mindset is over and it is calling for the acceptance of human beings as human beings and not as superior or inferior creatures. There is still a firm hope and belief among the people that Pakistan can still stand on its feet and compete with the world’s developing nations.
—The writer is a Professor of English at Emerson University, Multan, and has a vast international exposure.
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