Pakistan achieved independence in 1947. The areas that formed Pakistan included Bangladesh, which had been the richest state of Erstwhile Mughal India. The 23-year-old Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula put up a valiant resistance to the East India company but lost due to inexperience and the treachery of his infamous traitorous minister Mir Jafar. After the fall of Bengal in 1756, Robert Clive, accompanied by only five Englishmen, entered Bengal and became its imperial governor. British policies impoverished Bengal, so much so that the 1943 famine witnessed people literally falling down and dying of starvation while walking up to the elite colonial English club of Bengal. It is something that deeply disturbed Maj General A OMitha-then a young officer in the Indian army-who later raised the illustrious SSG of the Pakistan Army. Culturally and financially rich Bengal became synonymous with poverty and hunger thanks to British machinations. Dr Muhammad Yunus later pioneered microfinance in the 1970s with his famous erstwhile Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. As for the other constituents of present-day Pakistan, Punjab was identified as a martial race by the British and recruited in the army. It also supplied all of undivided India with food due to its agriculture. Punjab got divided during the partition, and we got a quarter of the Punjab state–which before the partition had included present-day Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Himachal Pradesh. Bahawalpur in present-day southern Punjab was a separate princely state. Having a strong military tradition made the Punjab province the saving grace of Pakistan, which has ensured our sovereignty to date. However, despite being the major agricultural supplier of all of undivided India, the current Pakistani Punjab has fallen behind in agricultural productions. We suffer from food insecurity, mainly due to the policy decision undertaken by General Ayub Khan in the 1960s of mechanising production and introducing the usage of chemicals and pesticides. Not only did it destroy the soil fertility but also created loan sharking mafias which control agricultural inputs. This has indebted and impoverished farmers destroying our agricultural base. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) provided limited agricultural produce but the tradition of tribe allegiances trumping loyalty to the state, and a history of opium production have had grave consequences for Pakistan since the 1980s. Balochistan’s mineral and gas riches as well as its prized port have not served their true potential in the recent past due to the widespread militancy. Sindh had a limited agricultural base but serfdom prevented progress. The mass migration of multi-ethnic North Indian immigrants upon the partition of India intellectually and culturally enriched Sindh. The foundation of Pakistan’s civil service, foreign service as well as foundational institutions like the State Bank of Pakistan was laid here. The industry was set up and Karachi served as the nation’s capital till the 1960s. The crisis that plagues each ruler is how to generate the money to run a country. However, Z A Bhutto’s policy of divide and rule fanned the flames of ethnic hatred and resulting violence from the 1980s onwards. Damaging Karachi meant damaging Pakistan because it’s the economic base of Karachi. Karachi can play a big role in saving Pakistan because like New York City, it welcomes talent from all over Pakistan. It offers opportunities based on merit. Karachi’s technical talent is underutilized. Technical talent is abundant in the Punjab province too and to some extent in KPK as well. We must follow the example of India, where the IT industry generates billions in export revenue. The world’s future lies in IT, and Pakistan has the potential to ride this wave if our leadership steps up. Mark Zuckerberg single-handedly earns $40 billion annually from Meta, which is only slightly more than India’s total export earnings of US 35 billion. Pakistan certainly aims to match Indian exports. No nation can prosper where there is food insecurity despite having a strong agricultural base. Similar to the detrimental impact on Pakistan, the 1960’s Green Revolution affected India too. Water scarcity and soil erosion forced many farmers to walk away from agriculture. They were perennially buried under a vicious debt cycle. Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) is a set of farming methods, and also a grassroots peasant movement. The movement was born in Karnataka state, as a collaboration between Mr Subhash Palekar, who merged the ZBNF practices and the state farmers association Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS). The KRRS, being a member of La Via Campesina (LVC), the international peasant movement, was able to smartly execute this revolutionary change. Since then the ZBNF has spread to various southern states in India. Andhra Pradesh is now well on its way to becoming India’s first 100 per cent organic farming state. It is important to note that Andhra Pradesh’s land area is about 80% of that of Pakistani Punjab. Their experience can easily be replicated in Pakistan. This is especially true as Punjab has the highest rate of education and the highest teledensity in Pakistan. Its population is tech-savvy and industrious. It has tremendous potential which only needs the right policy at the highest level. Lacking any vision for an effective economic policy, the crisis that plagues each ruler is how to generate the money to run a country. General Musharraf’s rule saw a socio-economic revival. Even in the darkest days, when he took over an empty treasury in 1999, he only undertook a $1 billion loan from the IMF. However, as soon as General Musharraf was forced to resign in 2008, Yusuf Raza Gillani took over and wasted no time in holding out the begging bowl in front of those he termed “Friends of Pakistan.” They include the United States, the European Union, the UAE, the United Nations and China. Yusuf Raza Gillani betrayed the nation in a big way in 2008 when he signed on to an unprecedented $7.6 billion loan from the IMF. According to the calculation performed by Transparency International (TI), Pakistan lost an unbelievable US$94 billion, in corruption, tax evasion and bad governance during the last four years of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s tenure. An adviser of TI opined during that time that Pakistan does not need external funding if it can control corruption and ensure good governance. It is important to note that it was Benazir Bhutto who signed on to the IMF’s Structural Adjustment Program (SAP). Imran Khan, the current Prime Minister, has appointed an IMF man as his finance minister. Abiding by the conditionalities of the IMF has caused double-digit inflation in 2020 and 2021. We are seeing truly tough times with food insecurity affecting over a third of the population. Religious militancy and global jihad aspirations need to be curbed by the state instead of fanning such emotions through the state patronage of dramas such as Ertugul and the planned collaboration with Turkey of a dram about Sultan Salahuddin Ayyubi. Promoting peace, spearheading an organic agricultural revolution and supercharging the IT sector is the three-pronged strategy needed to transform Pakistan. The writer is an independent researcher, author and columnist. She can be reached at aliya1924@gmail.com.