Shahidullah Shahid
IS Pakistan on the verge of utter socio-pzlitico and economic disaster at this critical juncture? If so, it will not be the first time for a state that has had four wars and many minor military clashes with India, four military coups, and shrunken economy several times. Yet each time Pakistan has been dubbed a “failed state” it has come back from the grave political-although with a weakened economy, less security in relation to its powerful neighbour and disturbing demographic and educational trends. Once a country of 32 million, Pakistan’s population has now approached 212.2 million without an attendant increase in literacy or land reform and with natural strategic and economic ties with immediate neighbours and superpower America still thwarted. Time and again, this sole atomic power of the Muslim world has been subjected to unprecedented demographic pressures, bleeding economy, an inadequate educational system and a staggering rate of urbanization.
Pakistan is facing multidimensional crises at the moment, both on internal and external fronts. On internal front: poor governance, Corona outbreak, mounting Illiteracy and gender based violence, massive drug and human trafficking, record hike in inflation, growing poverty, rampant corruption, escalating child abuse, undue population explosion, severe water scarcity, heart wrenching persecution of women and rising unemployment have pushed the country into a terrible socio-economic quagmire. On external front, Pakistan has a widening trust deficit with the Superpower America. Likewise, it has strained relations with its neighbouring countries Afghanistan and nuclear rival India. The spy agencies of the US, Israel, India and Afghanistan have made a formidable alliance against Pakistan, the single nuclear power of Muslim Ummah. President Trump and Ashraf Ghani, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Benjamin Nathenyahu all have the same narrative and heinous agenda to destabilize Pakistan at any cost. Both the eastern and western borders of Pakistan are highly vulnerable.
But balancing this, Pakistan has a number of assets. Its size, its Islamic ties, its nuclear capability, its defence forces and its strategic location make it important to the world. In recent years, Pakistan has become a strategically important state, both praised as peace loving state and complimented as being on the frontline in the ill-named war on terrorism. Pakistan has rendered matchless sacrifices against war on terrorism both in men and material. It has lost more than 90,000 precious lives and suffered substantial damage of about $125 billion to its economy. It is high time the world must do more to help Pakistan. It is an open secret that the Indians are continuously lobbying in the US against Pakistan and so are the Afghans but no amount of coercion can hamper its progress and prosperity.
It is an established fact that in the past twelve years, Pakistan witnessed drastic political and military changes. The consecutive and smooth transition of democratic powers, independence of judiciary and positive change in the mindset of military establishment to support democratic regimes augurs well that the future of Pakistan is bright. It is reasonable to argue that in upcoming years, Pakistan will be pretty much what it is today. By hook or by crook, good governance must be ensured because it is a pre-condition for meeting all kinds of challenges like alleviating poverty, promoting sustainable environment and establishing an effective government. The ongoing Pak-China Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a lifeline for Pakistan. It is a game changer. Gwadar in particular and CPEC in general are inevitable for the geo-energy, geo-economic, geo-political and geo-strategic interests of both China and Pakistan.
The question arises here, would a democratic Pakistan be able to take necessary steps to discipline Corona-hit economy, reduce corruption and safeguard its frontiers? Undoubtedly, it can overcome these predicaments with its unflinching commitment to change and break the status quo. It is crystal clear that the notion of Pakistan as an Islamic ideological state is likely to continue. Pakistan is the sixth largest populated country of the world. It is the first nuclear power of Muslim world. It has the world’s second biggest coal reserves i.e. 185 billion metric tons. It has the sixth largest military force in the world. Pakistan will never surrender its nuclear status at any cost. It deserves to be lauded for its peace efforts in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s government, military and public are on the same page. Youth of Pakistan are talented. India cannot escape the world and Pakistan’s attention from its brutalities in Kashmir. Pakistan is ready to counteract any Indian aggression. Undoubtedly, it will play its leading role in uniting the Muslim world. Quaid-i-Azam rightly asserted: “No power on earth can undo Pakistan.” Intelligent nations keep an eye on the present to ensure a bright future. Great nations always learn from mistakes of their past and look forward. It is high time we should put serious efforts to ensure the bright future of Pakistan. Let us mobilize all our resources in a systematic and organized way and tackle the grave issues that confront us with grim determination, discipline worthy of a great nation. Let us bury all hatchets once and for all. United we stand, divided we fall. The cry of the day is “Long live Pakistan”.
—The writer is an Assistant Commissioner serving in government of KP.
