Daily Times

The first two decades of the 21st century saw the ravaged, threatened, and stretched fixture of the nation-statestested for the mettle they were made of. The moderates, liberals, and progressives had to rethink the ideals and factors which, they thought, keep the people united as a nation. Pakistan was also amongst those states which faced a similar dilemma as to how to keepthe country held together and the nation united. It was a challenge for us in 1971 and it still is a major trial for the nation today. However, the environment, both domestic and external, had never been so perplexing for Pakistan. Today, the adversarial forces have somehow partially succeeded in creating an inner front which aims at creating disunity, disharmony, and conflict between the nation. The “fifth and sixth columns”, which existed in shadows so far, now seems to operate overtly to bring down the nation and national institutions which were thought to be the “center of gravity” for the country.

Pakistan’s internal security matrix has advancedinto a rapidly evolving,compound, multifaceted, and extremely complex organismwhich has superseded our external threat perception in worrying us.Externally Pakistan seems to face the challenges well, even though the economic corridor has beentrouble for Washington and those in its camp, Gawadar has become a “thorn in the flesh” even for friendly Arabs, even when the neighborhood in the west and northwest remains disturbed. The legal onslaught on the pretext of FATF compliance continues. Pandemic has taken its toll convincing our economic fears and apprehensions about our economy’s survival. But despite all of this our internal issues seem to be more challenging for us as a nation. We understand that through manipulation of our Internal Security matrix, hostile designs can set the ball rolling for Greater Baluchistan in the south, promote centrifugal tendencies and initiate sectarian disturbances up north in Gilgit-Baltistan.

In this land of pure, the proponents of the four Ps (by which I mean pluralism, patience, parity, and placation) are left in limited numbers

As a country, Pakistan has grown strong against a multitude of challenges, from new capitalist or anti-capitalist arrangements, from sub-nationalist separatist movements to militant lone wolves, from individuals to those who can marry-up and make their gangs, from so-called peaceful leftists to the organized armed groups that stood against the state, and from political figures to mullahs operating under an expandednetwork controlled by sponsors.In every challenge we face, a covert external sponsorship including that from India remains a rider clause. However, despite the visible hostile gambits, we as a nation stand disunited and fragmented.We have become better at finding opportunities to stay divided, undermine our bond of nationalism,and put down the constitution that unites our federation. We have become the best at creating problems from non-issues; one after another, in an endless effort to keep society polarized and divided for our individual interests. While we know and understand that diversity of opinion is a strengthwe are not capitalizing on its advantages.Extremely weak institutional coordination at every level among the institutions i.e. public and non-government and civil society organizations remains a conspicuous feature of ourdivide. This division at every tier remains the main cause ofthe country’s under-development since the country’s independence. Our individual opinions encourage division and disharmony. This divide makes the domestic environment uncertain, and nobody should expect a nation to develop and prosperin face of an uncertain future.

Political parties are very important in a country’s system since they have an organization thatcan unite the nation in a common national cause. They are the ones to bring equilibrium through political stability in the country. With an uncertain political environment, everything goes down including investments,the development process, indicators of economic growth,etc. Faith and religion is another factor in this regard as we believed so far that our religion and faith bind us as a nation. The bitter fact, however, remains that country remains violently divided on the grounds of religion and faith. Citizens do not accept differences of religion and display no forbearance for any logically rational clarification. Through this, we have assembled a perfect situation for our enemies who do not waste a single moment in bleeding us from within.Clerics and mullahs have become so authoritative in current times that even state and state agencies do not dare in any way question their influence. It is a matter for contemplationfor usthat the pretense of mullahs, under the garb of Ulema, has eclipsed the true representation of the religion. Clerics have grown much strongerthan before that today, they will send the heads of even the most influential citizens rolling on the dirt roads with a clear decree regarding anyone’s faith. And, whenever these mullahs are rejected, Islam (God forbid) suddenly moves on the brink of extinction which is then secured by black-mailing sitting governments and state institutions by these mullahs.

Media could have been a uniting resource but on the contrary, it has also contributed in creating division amongst the nation. Even the hostile propaganda to create dissension was promoted, wittingly or unwittingly, through our domestic media. Thesedays, while fiery opinion makers take their positions on screens, at the same time, with the help of social media, competing opposing themes are hurled and contrasting narratives are fired in cyberspace every single minute by every single individual. Today, for an average Pakistani, every news has become propaganda and social media has further pushed him mentally maltreated, frustrated, confused, and disunited with others. His hope in a better tomorrow has gradually waned. In this war of the words, no stone is left unturned, no tactics are left un-used and nobody is left spared to create disharmony and disunity amongst people. This has become a part of our culture to rush to extreme ends in a fraction of time, standing firm on our opinion without connecting to a middle ground. We see this not only in politics or the media but it is sadly visible everywhere and whenever there is anissue or a non-issue.

In this land of pure, the proponents of the four Ps(by which I mean pluralism, patience, parity, and placation) are left in limited numbers.They talk less as they are continually besieged by a hostile atmosphere. Still, some people continue to raise their voices for a pluralist, inclusive and democratic Pakistan with few patriotic religious ideologues, newspaper editors, talk show hosts, and civil society activists. As individuals in society,somedaywe have to learnthe concept of plurality and diversity. We must adopt this as a national virtue. We must bridge the divide by finding consensus and common grounds. We should not forget our true duty to find answers without leaping into our chosen combat trenches to fight.We must not forget our true duty towards unifying the nation and avoid assuming a position, armed with reasons that fit our mindset. Let us unite andpromote unity against all odd posed against us and continue our struggle for a better tomorrow.

The writer is a versatile analyst and a speaker on contemporary issues