There is a sheer need for vigilant leadership, both in government and opposition, to pen unity on the same page.
May it be by opening the first page of any daily newspaper, reading online, watching television, tuning to radio and even hearing the words of mouth, Pakistanis have more or less become familiar with the unending information bulge regarding financial crises, political unrest and poor law and order situation.
A mere glance over the foreign media or by getting feedback from the overseas Pakistanis or friends on the social media gives several messages, based on truth as well as false rumours about the falling image of Pakistan. The main reason behind this dwindling position of Pakistan is somehow due to its strategic and geopolitical location and its active role in the diplomatic diaspora in South Asia.
Pakistan has coined animosity from its giant and strong-rooted geographical trunk, India. Pakistan’s power play in Afghanistan, both during and after the cold war, upholds her steps in geostrategic capillaries in the war-turned country. The dispute led Pakistan to 12 different physical combats till now; the first five causing high military and logistic movements for both countries. Pakistan has less territorial balance as compared to India. As a result, it has been facing multiple challenges since its incarnation. The landscape of political leadership was one of the main obstacles in the past keeping the state of Pakistan on a single page. The political diversions of politicians towards and away from the founding pillars (Eman, Etihad, Tanzeem) of the state laid by the founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, caused a heavy loss to the progressive momentum of half crescent and a star on the green background of the flag. On the other side, the religious intolerance synthesised the radical mindsets who forecasted the clouds of sectarian violence and hatred the existence of minorities under the umbrella of the massive majority of Muslim inhabitants.
Feudalism and a continuous hold of a few powerful families over the country’s political circles hoisted the trust of common masses away from the political system to solve their problems. The poor provision of the justice system has shaken the belief of people seeking justice. More important is the key issue of economic deprivation among all segments of Pakistani society, which have exposed the country–ranging from micro to macro levels–to corruption.
Chaos does not end here. On the international level, Pakistan got a bad reputation due to her sequential dependence on foreign aid; donations; INGOs and NGOs, and most interestingly, on the military aid, which has always created troubles for Pakistan and forcing it to be hired as a contractor for the war of others on the cost of sacrificing her army personnel, political leadership and common citizens. The dispute of Afghanistan is one of worst examples of contract war for Pakistan, which has engulfed more than 70,000 lives, including armed forces and civilians; burdening Pakistan’s internal resources way more than the funds received.
Pakistan has absorbed more than 2.9 million Afghans so far, who have established their feet in its markets. This is not the matter to be looked with a negative intention. Besides their productive role, several crimes incidents have been attributed to Afghan refugees living in Pakistan. As per data of Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), many Afghans are involved in terrorist activities across Pakistan. While going out from the bowl of Afghan refugee crises, Pakistan has been criticized in Kabul and is held responsible for the unrest in Afghanistan.
Moving to the eastern border, which is lined with our traditional opponent, India, we have been faced with critical situations due to our firm backing of the stance over the independence of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) according to the will of people of Kashmir
The recent attack on the Pakistani embassy is an example of the hatred found in Afghans for Pakistan, despite Pakistan’s initiatives for the peace process in Afghanistan. It is crystal-clear that Pakistan has strongly supported the Afghan peace process on every forum and every stage, may it be the sessions held in Moscow, Doha, Riyadh or somewhere else. In this context, Pakistan also hosted several sessions in Islamabad and other cities of Pakistan, but the situation didn’t change as expected, due to the grave influence of India and its interference in the lines of Afghan politics through the established consulates inside the bordering areas of Afghanistan near Durand line (Pak-Afghan border).
Moving to the eastern border, which is lined with our traditional opponent, India, we have been faced with critical situations due to our firm backing of the stance over the independence of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) according to the will of people of Kashmir. The recent aggression of Indian Army inside IOK by sending at least 1000 troops and keeping on board 25,000 as a clear reaction to the US President Donald Trump’s offer for mediation for the resolution of Kashmir dispute between the two states. However, the Indian government seemed to use Article 35-A and intended to replace Article 370, which gave IOK an independent status; paving the way to completely include the valley in her territorial graph. It is being expected that the occupant forces will put this decision forward in August.
Why did the Indian Army rush to the IOK to speed up the process, one may wonder?
For this purpose, the Indian military has started the excessive use of cluster bombs to breach the unity lines among Kashmiris; terrorising them to step back from their right of self-determination against Indian occupation. The recent escalations would not simply engage Pakistan on its eastern border with India but also put a negative impact on Pakistan’s peace initiatives along her western neighbourhood.
The giant infrastructural business of CPEC between Pakistan and China might be the main prompt for India to derail the ongoing developments by engaging Pakistan in different positions. To cope up with these miserable situations, Pakistan would again depend on fortune, as several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, have extended friendly hands of economic cooperation towards Pakistan in its hours of trouble. The fortune might become helpful if the establishment would allow the political leadership to run the chores of politics by applying political mantra and let them work free of the stick and iron shadows. It will then lessen the burden on the armed forces to defend the country’s borders in the best way and ultimately increase the lame public confidence in the Pakistan Army. There is a sheer need for vigilant leadership, both in government and opposition, to pen unity on the same page in these critical moments as shown by quick media responses in the last three days. Not only should the statements be issued but the active political think tanks should also be given voice before taking a particular decisive action.
The writer is an Islamabad-based journalist