Pakistan’s slide into ‘failed state’ status
Ahmed Rashid
| Feb 11 2015 04:30 |
15 comments |
Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif poses with his wife Kalsoom Nawaz Sharif © Omar Havana/Getty Images
As I write this, I am sitting at my desk in Lahore, Pakistan, enduring one of the coldest winters on record. I am doing so
without heating, hot water, or electricity. The house seems virtually to run on thin, cold air.
There has been no gas since October, so no heating. There is electricity, but only for about half the day. The rest of the time the rich run generators (if there is fuel), the middle class use battery packs and the less fortunate light candles or oil lamps — all for the lack of some basic amenities.
For a week during January there was no petrol or diesel in the market at all. Businesses were shuttered, kids stopped going to school and the only people on the road were dignitaries and their twenty car cavalcades.
The
crisis ridden government of
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif offers no explanations and demands no resignations from officials. There is neither self-criticism nor admission regarding the total lack of governance, the failure to deliver services or even the lack of official concern. Mr Sharif’s most munificent gesture during the petrol crisis in January was to cancel his trip to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The Pakistani media offer up dozens of reasons for these failures — the most common being economic difficulties faced by energy producers or a scam by unscrupulous government ministers. The real causes are impossible to determine, as there has been no serious investigation by the authorities.
Unchecked power is not the only problem. Pakistan’s army is waging a war against Islamist extremist groups like the
Pakistani Taliban — but terrorists are still able to strike more-or-less at will. Late last month, 50 people were killed and 100 injured in a
bomb blast at a Shia mosque in a part of Sind province which has never seen such an attack before. All the while, diseases like polio, which has nearly been eliminated in the rest of the world, are
still rampant in Pakistan, and illiteracy and joblessness are a growth industry.
A country without energy is a country in the process of dissolution, facing the same fate as Syria or Somalia. While the suffering hasn’t yet reached these proportions, the words “failed” or “failing state” now trip regularly off thetongue and pen of every journalist.
It must also be added that one branch of the state continues to function admirably: Pakistan’s over 500,000 strong army. Given the relative success of the military, many will tell you that democracy is a failure and the army is the only saviour of the country. Pakistan, however, has never had a sustained period of civilian rule in which the military did not set the agenda. Authoritarian measures implemented after a series of military coups since 1958 have never offered a real solution.
The military now seems to understand this. Despite the ongoing crisis, and the army’s intense dislike for the present crop of civilian politicians, it’s not about to seize power again. Nor should it. Instead there must be more pressure from public and civil society groups, and a demand for better governance, less corruption and the delivery of basic services to the people. Pakistan needs more democracy, not less, and more accountability from its leaders
The issue is not a choice between military rule or democracy — but one of finding genuine leadership that aspires to serve the people, rather than itself.
Every part of Pak has been a part of India in history. And here's case of western idiots like brits or frenchies, they had many times ruled islands of China and Japan as well. Does that make them apart. A big NO.
