“Severe polarization makes democracy vulnerable. In healthy democracies, opposing sides are seen as political adversaries to compete against and at times to negotiate with. In deeply polarized democracies, the other side comes to be seen as [an] enemy needing to be vanquished.” – Jennifer McCoy, Georgia University

The immense challenge today is that the people of Pakistan stand divided along political affiliations, adding a new dimension to the already precarious divide along religious, tribal, feudal, linguistic, and ethnic lines, which is adversely affecting the compounded national integration matrix of the country. Public sentiments are exploited to win vested political mileage while doing little to alleviate people’s suffering when assuming power. The trend fostered by political forces is more autocratic, uncompromising, intolerant, and non-democratic. An egoistic and derogatory attitude towards state institutions, propagating anarchy, has now reached unbearable limits.

There has been a display of political immaturity and bizarre language, geared towards discrediting opponents and state institutions. This plays against national cohesion and harmony. Political commotion and inept dispensations, coupled with rampant corruption, have all ended up creating many socioeconomic problems, especially for our young and educated population.

Socioeconomic disparity has........

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