Pakistan At The Brink As Economy Falters, Democracy Erodes And Institutions Crumble |
The high inflation; the shrinking individual and national savings; the gnawing unemployment and poverty; the helplessness; the crumbling law and order situation in three small provinces, with insurgency in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the Dacoit Raj in the third; the intensifying political tug of war; the ruthless use of the state’s coercive power in derailing the political process and paralysing national institutions; the brutal torture of political leaders and activists; the increasing restrictions on expression; and the falling credibility of the Election Commission and the judiciary, have taken a heavy toll on the endurance of the populace.
The elite and the ruling class are unconcerned and unmoved. They are busy strengthening their grip on power instead of meeting the basic human needs of the people, including education, health, clean drinking water, and the safety of life and property.
We have reduced dear Pakistan to the status of the poor countries of Asia and Africa. A federation of four political, cultural and territorial entities, a country of 240 million people with a youth bulge of 38 per cent, this country has not been treated well during the past 78 years, derailing it from its path towards a representative political system to advance as a mature nation of honour and dignity, to learn from its past mistakes and forge ahead with renewed resolve and clarity. This trajectory required continued democratic exercises, including the election of representative political institutions through a free and fair vote and the change of governments.
Reduced to the status of a banana state, as General Musharraf and his handpicked Prime Minister used to say, Pakistan is today struggling for its territorial, political and economic survival. The........