Daily Times

We humans reach a point in life when we are forced to reflect on our past trajectories: our failed marriages, our harmless peccadilloes, our egregious mistakes, the chances that came knocking on our door that we failed to turn into financial, moral or intellectual achievements. This reflex is in-built in our consciousness, and it provides us with a compass that helps us stay on course. Some of us act on this feedback, others ignore it. In many ways countries and nations are like that too.

I am a Pakistani, and every single emotional and financial penny I have earned till today is invested in my country. It was thus with a heavy heart that I heard about the cancellation of the SAARC summit. The reasons for the cancellation can be debated, but the cancellation itself now provides us, as a nation, a chance to introspect. We need to rethink where we went right or wrong in the past. In particular, we should also start thinking of how we can go forward in our relationship with India. I say this because at the heart of almost all our domestic and foreign-related dilemmas lies our relationship with India. And at the heart of this relationship lies our emotional bond with the long-suffering Kashmiris.

Like other Pakistanis I believe that the Kashmir issue is unresolved. Like them I believe that the people of Kashmir have suffered immensely. But I think we as a nation should also ask ourselves: what is the right way of resolving this intractable problem? What should Pakistan do to manage its relations with India? What should Pakistan do to bring its relations with other regional and global powers on an even keel? And what should Pakistan do domestically? I know I cannot answer these questions in this space, but I can suggest some guidelines.

To begin with, for over 70 years we have locked horns with India on Kashmir. In the process, we have lost wars and even half of our country. If success were within our range now, I would concur with those of my friends who want to continue fighting, but has all this fighting helped either Pakistan or the people of Kashmir? In fact, chances are if the struggle in Kashmir gets out of hand, Pakistan and India would both stand to lose, and a third power may take over not only the Indian Kashmir but also the Pakistani Kashmir by setting up a protectorate there, which will include the erstwhile portions of the pre-partition state of Jammu and Kashmir, namely Gilgit and Baltistan. I am also worried that we may lose Balochistan as well.

Secondly, even though the danger of a nuclear war between Pakistan and India is remote, it is not zero. If both countries keep arming themselves with better, more lethal nuclear weapons, if both remain at loggerheads over the ticking time bomb of Kashmir or other security related imbroglios, the specter of a nuclear war would loom larger. In line with Popper, past experience is a bad guide to inductively generalise: no nuclear war till now does not guarantee no nuclear war in the future. In line with Nassim Nicholas Taleb, we may face a Black Swan, a rare event with a great impact.

Thirdly, Pakistan is wrestling with some gargantuan problems both as a polity and an economy. Because of multiple disruptions to its democratic order, its civilian setup has not reached the critical threshold of maturity. Its astronomical population growth is stunting the best-designed plans aimed at ameliorating people’s lives. Joblessness and the attendant crime wave are haunting its masses. The incubus of terrorism has ripped its innards. If the unthinkable abrogation of the Indus Water Treaty happens, the country may collapse in months.

Should we abjure our political and moral support to the Kashmiris? Never. Should we kowtow to India? Never. But we can at the very least take up the advice given to us by Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who encouraged us to focus on our economy and to develop it to the level of an advanced country. We need to support Kashmir by showing Kashmiris the success of our economy, the stability of our polity and the inclusiveness and fairness of our systems. War is no longer an option, either for Pakistan or for India.

But to effectuate the above, we need a level of maturity in our populace that may not exist now. And for this to happen we need all the help and support of our intelligentsia, our political parties and our army. We need television anchors who can calm people down instead of whipping up nationalist sentiment with fulminating braggadocio and pharisaical rodomontade. We need a foreign office staffed by even more capable diplomats. We need to educate our people. We need to control our population growth. We need CPEC, the best thing that has happened to Pakistan in decades.

But above all, we need a clearly defined and mutually agreed set of goals: democracy at home, no entanglements abroad, full emphasis on economy and long-term, peaceful support of Kashmiris. Our country demands of us a rethink. We owe her this. We are her children.

The writer is a former Rhodes scholar, and can be reached at aamir3123@gmail.com