Daily Times

French scholar, Dr Christopher Jaffrelot and senior research fellow of centre d’Etudes et de Researchers International said “Pakistan crystallized as a nation against India, but there is no unity among it’s nation”.

Unity is the biggest issue of our country, and it stands for the feeling of harmony and togetherness that is lacking in our population. Ex US President Barack Obama said “we rise and fall as one nation.” In Pakistan, we find both secular and Islamic voices, and both sides continuously blame the down fall and chaos in Pakistan on each other. These groups are further segregated in to even smaller groups, with even more differences and so it goes.

Divisions have been growing all around the world, even among countries and that has led to a lot of problems. As it happens, even nations with common histories or communities, like Muslim majority states, don’t seem to get along, due to various factors. As Mahatma Gandhi once said “Unity to be real must stand the severest strain without breaking”. Where the self-centred interests of each national government always comes first, and economic decisions take precedence over everything else, then, is real unity, peace and true co-operation even possible?

Man is a social animal, who does everything possible to help others and in return others help them. We are currently living in an age of cooperation, and the age old adage that you cannot break a bundle of sticks, yet you can easily break them one by one is truer today than it was ever before. If people around the world get united as one nation, much of the economic, social, environmental, and global issues facing humanity can be solved. When people of a country develop a sense of unity among themselves, the government of the country can focus more on security of the nation and economic development. The importance of unity can never be overrated; it can even be used to control a mad elephant.

We have so many challenges and the question is can we turn our challenges into opportunities? Confidence in a system comes from justice, equitability and sustainability. As Plato once said, “Thinking is man’s natural instrument for problem solving, and any problem could be solved by thought”. Pakistan is a blessed country with countless natural resources and fertile land. It has tremendous potential and the talented people of the country can play a defining role in rebuilding the future of Pakistan.

Even though there have been some people who have accused the country of being in decline and called it a “failed state” or “sinking nation”, we have to set examples for the coming generation, by removing prejudices, and promoting unity, equality, tolerance and brotherhood. We have to unite and strengthen ourselves to focus on critical challenges and for defeating the forces of extremism or sectarianism and reducing our internal and external dependency on debt

Even though there have been some people who have accused the country of being in decline and called it a “failed state” or “sinking nation”. We have to set examples for the coming generation, by removing prejudices, and promoting unity, equality, tolerance and brotherhood. We have to unite and strengthen ourselves to focus on critical challenges and for defeating the forces of extremism or sectarianism, reducing our internal and external dependency on debt, fighting for change and there is also a need to improve rule of law, by respecting decisions of the court.

Pakistan doesn’t need a military takeover, Sharia system or westernization. All Pakistan needs is a vibrant, united and resilient nation.

The author is a writer, educationist and social worker. She writes about stories from real life, which are, usually, unheard and unwelcome in society. She tweets @FahminaAbuzar

Published in Daily Times, September 24^th 2018.