Pakistan, which has turned 60, is still unstable and undemocratic. Unsure about what to hope for, the dominant mood in the country is pessimism and cynicism, writes M B Naqvi.
Oh, these 60 years! Pakistan's 60 years represent a sad episode in view of the high hopes raised by Muslim League leaders' rhetoric of a unique and better state than any in the world proved to be a sad contrast with reality. The country could never have political stability and its polity has remained fractious. Democracy, which could have enabled nation-building, collapsed finally in the sixth year of Pakistan. The country is still unstable and undemocratic. It is poised for God-knows-what future, afflicted as it is with multiple polarisations, civil wars and unending tensions.
Lest anyone object to too much pessimism, let me record the fairly creditable record in industrialising a mainly agrarian economy. Within a matter of 25 years, both wings of Pakistan had a not unnoticeable quantum of industries. True, it was not based on an integrated plan; every mill and factory was ad hoc. Nevertheless, today’s Pakistan had, in recent years, 3,000 to 4,000 closed factories that required resuscitation.
It is a notable exporter of textiles, but only of a few other industrial products. Some people also regard its going nuclear as an achievement and a succession of missiles of various kinds appears to please them. Pakistan bureaucracy belied the many expectations of the opponents of Pakistan that it will collapse in a matter of 25 years due to economic reasons. But it did collapse for political reasons, and not economic ones, within the same timeframe.
Why did democracy fail? The short answer is because of the special nature of the state, beset as it was with three major problems at its birth: first, it had many ethnic disparities in the polity; second was the history of communal rivalry that created Pakistan; then, Islam's place in politics needed to be decided - a tricky matter. Third, Pakistan's utter underdevelopment was a major factor. Fourth, there was a very narrow middle class that could not sustain democratic politics. So democracy could never strike roots in Pakistan.
The communal rivalry between the Congress and the Muslim League - it was mainly communal, though other factors were involved - that predetermined the new state’s foreign policy; it had to oppose India and Kashmir became both the symptom and the cause of that rivalry. Pakistan wanted to do good and great things that Indians too wanted in 1947. But they were handicapped by the absence of a proper political culture and tradition. From day one, they embarked on an arms race with India, thanks to Kashmir dispute.
India and Pakistan went to war soon after Independence and could make peace only in 1949. The rest is history, of three wars and many half and quarter wars plus many scares of war. Although India and Pakistan have learnt to use restraint in language, they remain set on arms races in all the relevant military fields. They have talked a lot for resolving their many disputes but so far they have failed to agree on any significant matter, except the Indus Water Treaty or a treaty to treat minorities better.
Pakistan today is beset with several civil wars. There is a war going on between the Pakistan Army and the Taliban and a host of small Islamic extremist groups in parts of tribal areas of NWFP and within the province also; it is a civil war that can spread far and wide. Then, Taliban are also a big problem in Balochistan. But another war is going on in Balochistan between Baloch Liberation Army and Pakistan Army. There is a great deal of restiveness in Sindh, though not much political trouble, except for law and order problems and crimes that characterise this province. Lawlessness and crimes are also frequent in Punjab.
The issue that Pakistanis could never resolve is how to live with Islam. From day one, Islamicists argued that since the name of Islam has been used in creating Pakistan, its Constitution and law can only be Shariah. Everything else comes later. No one could answer this bogus argument. One says bogus advisedly. There is no codified and agreed body of Shariah laws; it differs from sect to sect and maslak to maslak.
Moreover, there are no clear-cut Islamic injunctions in Quran and Sunnah that can guide a modern state to devise any (Islamic) system. The only Islamic system that has been practiced was in Afghanistan where Mullah Muhammad Umar set up his own Caliphate and became the spiritual, political and economic master of that new Islamic state. What Taliban did in Afghanistan is well known. It is not an example to be followed by any civilised Pakistani. This Islamist programme has been a gigantic intellectual fraud; God and his Prophet have given absolutely no clear injunctions on the subject of politics, economy or even culture.
Nevertheless, Pakistan is seriously threatened by Talibanisation of the country. Lal Masjid incident was a wake up call; it can happen anywhere. The Frontier province is like a war zone from where, like Iraq and Afghanistan, one daily hears only about suicide bombings or ambushes or roadside mine explosions.
Ethnicity problem has not received adequate attention, though it is a tough problem. It brought war and dismemberment to the country. No government has learnt any lesson from 1971; the basic ethnic problem of Punjab’s relations with other smaller provinces remain unresolved. The Balochistan war and restiveness in Sindh and NWFP for provincial autonomy is a reminder that a time bomb is ticking away.
Finally, such economic achievements there are have come at a price. The government now is committed to globalisation that so far has only accentuated the cleavage between the rich and poor and between the less developed and better developed areas. Poverty has actually grown rather than reduced, the official propaganda notwithstanding. The unchecked expansion in population and intensification of poverty of the bottom 50 to 60 per cent of the people is another time bomb that is ticking away.
Life and art could not but be influenced by this history. The dominant mood is pessimism and cynicism. No great art has been created and not much research has taken place. No great literature has been produced, though poetry has reached new heights of sensitivity and effect. It is dominated by two themes: pessimism and sometimes cynicism laced with rebellious ideas. The intellectual life is dominated by the contrast between modern ideas and the new kind of Islamism being promoted by Taliban and al-Qaeda - perhaps another tragedy to be avoided.
