The failure of fragile state: Pakistan

The quest of struggle for Power between Congress and Muslim League has led to the mass genocide, migration of millions and partition on the land which was once called the Akhand Bharat and brought into being an accidental state known as Pakistan meaning the land of pure for the muslim population on the 14th August 1947. The idea of Pakistan was initially coined by Rahmat Ali (Choudhary) on January 28, 1933, in a released pamphlet entitled ‘Now or Never: Are we to live or perish forever?’ Later in 1937 an idealist Mohammad Iqbal elucidated the idea of Pakistan to Jinnah but he rejected initially, thereafter during the Lahore Session 1940, Muhammad Ali Jinnah set forth the demand for the creation of a sovereign state called Pakistan. On 17th August 1947 a line was drawn by Sir Cyril Radcliffe who had never been in Bharat and divided not only the land but also the millions of hearts and Muhammad Ali Jinnah became the 1st Governor General Of Pakistan since than there is not even a single day within Pakistan to be politically stable, economically stable or a social cultural balance with equality, justice and liberty of people, furthermore, the leaders and political regimes always act like “beat around the bush”. But before reaching to the problematic and blunt conclusion, there’s an essential need to delve deep into the heart of Pakistan to unravel the multifaceted aspects of its fragility, understanding the factors that contribute to its ongoing state of flux, and shedding light on the aspirations and resilience of its people in the face of adversity.

Population

Since the partition Pakistan has been ingrained as the homeland of Muslim population in South Asia but also the homeland for some minorities such as 1.59%  Christians, 1.18 % Hindus, Bohras, 0.22 % Ahmadis,etc according to a report by Centre for Peace and Justice Pakistan. Woefully minorities can’t practice their religion publically in fear of  being ostracized. In recent years there has been a rise of violence and discrimination against the minorities and are being arraigned for blasphemy. The rise of extremists and fundamentalist groups such as TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan), TLP (Tehreek e Labbaik Pakistan)and many others has ruined the social structure by indulging in terrorist attacks, mass killing, kidnapping, etc. Recently 6 teachers were killed in May 2023 who were from minorities, and vandalized Temples, Churches and houses of Hindus by rocket launchers and Christians on July and 16th August 2023.

However since the beginning, there’s been a sharp decline of minorities from 23% to 3.7% has been seen in Pakistan with her sense of exclusionary nationalism, lack of human rights, and rise of Islamic Fundamentalism and Extremism.

Politics

In the long time span of the last 76 years, the internal politics of Pakistan has been imperilled by the demagogues, feudal, fundamentalists and extremists Clergy, where the populace is always kept in astray, the government is always undemocratic, and corrupted, the menace of the Army, ISI, and the leverage of external powers such as America and China which defines it as autocratic political system rather than being called as a democratic nation.

The patronage of political instability and military coups in Pakistan has a long history since 1951 when 1st Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated during his political rally in Rawalpindi and in 1958 General Ayub Khan took the advantage of the unstructured government institutions, the lack of balance between civilian-military affairs and made people to discredit their politicians to inflict military rule in Pakistan for the 1st time and overthrew and exiled the President  Iskandar Ali Mirza. Pakistan is also the victim of Constitutional coup when Governor-General Gulam Mohammad dismissed the Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin’s government in 1953 to prevent the constituent assembly from dwindling the power of the Governor-General.

In the 1st decade of its independence, Pakistan has gone through 7 Prime ministers due to her ill political structure. The hope for democratic government was on the brink when Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was elected as Prime Minister in 1973 after the implosion of the Pakistan army in 1965, the 1971 war with Bharat and the crumbling of Pakistan Territory by newly formed Bangladesh.  Once again in 1977 martial law was imposed by the army, and in 1979  PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged by Zia Ul-Haq and the ritual of undemocratic government, military rule, lack of political-institutional structure went on till 2007, the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Not long ago Prime Minister Imran Khan was laid off by no confidence motion due to the tussle with Pakistan military before the completion of his tenure and put behind bars.

There has been a rise and strong hold of  extremist and fundamentalist political parties in Pakistan since independence such as Jamaat-i-Islami, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan and  the list goes on which are famously known for widespread of blasphemy, hate speech and violence.

Economy

Since its independence the economy of Pakistan has been complicated like Politics. During the initial phase the economy of Pakistan was seems to be satisfying especially during Gen. Ayyub Khan’s reign from 1958-1969 with a growth rate of 5.82% which also makes it the fastest growing economy of South Asia, but this could not survive everlasting due to the lack of equal distribution of resources and political stability. Later on Pakistan became part of the Structural Adjustment Program of World Bank but soon discontinued by military interference as Pakistan received the $ 3.2 billions from the USA in order to collateralize the Afghan-Soviet War. All of the loans for development were waived by military and politicians for their own opulence desires and weaponization of the non-state actors.

Following the plentiful sanctions by G8 also hit the economic growth of Pakistan after its 1st nuclear test in 1998 which made the reduction in foreign aid, a slowdown in remittance, and defence sales were terminated. Not so long ago, the USA was hit by a terrorist attack for which Al Qaeda was culpable and had its roots in Pakistan. Furthermore, Pakistan was the best location for Americans to lead their War on Terror. During the War onTerror Pakistan received a  plethora of wealth from America and showed a remarkable trend in the economy during Musharraf’s era. The investment thrive from 17.8% of GDP to 23% from 2001-2007, the downturn in domestic debt from 17.8% to 16.1%, a large amount of foreign aid in terms of bilateral or unilateral, i.e., almost $ 2 billion in 2001 and in the past 20 years it’s about more than $ 32 billion.

For the time being Pakistan was once again hit by the noble COVID-19, which shrank her economy to its knees. In FY19, the growth rate declined to 0.99 and in FY20 it was recorded 0.38. Pakistan’s economy is almost on the brink of collapse, with the deadweight of foreign debt around $ 124.3 billion as in 2023 if important measures are not being taken.

Conclusion

The aforementioned analysis demonstrates that there has been not a single factor which can make Pakistan a better place for people to live there with any kind of hope without the lack of political will or instability which has also ravaged the economic development. The army and the religious fundamentalist have deteriorated the condition of Pakistan and even it ended up in a worse situation than before it got involved. For a better contingency towards a modern democratic state, Pakistan needs to promulgate a democratic institutions and constructive cohesion of the civil military with a legitimate constitution.  To truly alter the trajectory of Pakistan’s story, both domestic and international stakeholders must engage in earnest efforts to address these issues comprehensively, fostering stability, good governance, and sustainable development. The tale of Pakistan as a fragile state is far from over, but with concerted efforts, there is hope that a more prosperous and stable future can be written for this resilient nation.