WE, in Pakistan, must realize the importance of investing in human resource development, and the importance of adopting vision of our Founding Fathers, who wanted Pakistan to be a modern democratic welfare state. Quaid elaborated on the importance of adopting a Constitution, on which the foundations of his vision of Pakistan was to be laid upon. What followed, unfortunately was a series of intrigues and we became hostage to the insatiable greed of few. It is never too late, we can still regain the ground lost, and become the state that Quaid envisioned.
The successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon’s south pole is a tribute to the vision of Jawaharlal Nehru, who on his first visit to America sought their help in setting (IIT) Indian Institutes of Technology. PM Nehru embarked on a three-week goodwill visit to USA on 11 October 1949 at the invitation of President Harry Truman. It was on this visit that PM Nehru sought American assistance in setting up IIT with the help of prominent American scholars. It must be remembered that India was closely linked to the (former) Soviet Union and relied upon them to meet their defence requirement.
However, despite their close links with Soviet Union, PM Nehru embarked on another visit to America in 1956. President Truman considered Nehru to be a difficult person to deal with, who was not willing to get involved in the Cold War, despite the grain shortages they were battling with and instead of compromising on their stated position, insisted on seeking assistance in development of science and technology. The Indian Institute of Space Science Technology (IISST) was established on lines of IIT.
We, in Pakistan must accept that India benefitted from adopting the vision of their Founding Fathers by adopting a Constitution in January 1950 and establish a democratic state. What is happening in Modi’s India is a diversion from Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru’s vision of a secular democratic state. However, having laid down the foundations of India based on democracy, it has been able to withstand the shocks and tribulations following the hatred spread by Hindutva mindset.
Pakistan, over the years, has been weakened from within and we need to set our house in order. To start with, extremist religious parties, created by men of mediocre intellect within the powerful establishment, whilst pursuing the game of thrones, must be dealt with an iron hand. The Indian Constitution recognized the importance of undivided loyalty to India and does not allow its citizens to have dual nationality, ensuring thereby that there are no conflicts of interest, or split loyalties of individuals or their immediate families, in the corridors of power.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Lahore.
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