Happy Birthday Pakistan

Aug 14th was Pakistan's 60th birthday. On the same day in 1947 the British finally relinquished the "Jewel in the Crown". The giving up of territory by the British, in areas they really did not belong in, was in accordance with the times. No real surprise there. However, the carving out of a separate muslim homeland called "Pakistan" from the India was the real unprecedented event. The creation of Pakistan was a unique event in contemporary history - the only comparable event was the creation of Israel which happened around the same time period. The key difference between these two events is that Pakistan was created as a nation state for the Muslims of the Sub-Continent while Israel was created as a Jewish homeland. Differences in rationale not withstanding, the political consequences were similar. If you continue looking at the histories of the two nations, the comparison becomes fascinating. There has been a noticeable flow or Jewish people from all over the world into Israel, while Pakistan has largely exported people all over the world (after an initial influx of millions of refugees from what is now India)


Anyways... enough comparisons which may get me into trouble. I did notice that the pessimists and 'realists' had a field day labeling Pakistan as "the experiment that failed" and as a 'failed state'. I have been hearing these labels for a while but I still fail to understand what a 'failed state' exactly is. Some deconstruction (*sigh*) is in order. Do a people who learn from the mistakes they make, constitute a failed state? What if the mistakes have been made for them by others? I too realize that Pakistan is faced with the toughest challenges of its 60 year old history. But we have struggled to find the right leadership and the right balance of power between the institutions. Pakistan's founding father, Jinnah, died in 1948. Since then we have had corrupt democratic leaders and the army in power.

We all know about the situation as it exists today - no need to elaborate. However I do believe that the people of Pakistan are now beginning to think about their future. They are beginning to debate the finer points of the situation they are in. You see blogs such as Pakistaniat which may be overtly patriotic, but still foster interesting debate. The independent TV channels present all sorts of view points. FInally the proliferation of cell phones has brought down the communication barriers that existed. All of these factors combine in a portent way, empowering the people. A case in point was the coverage the suspended chief justice received on TV. The private TV channels reported on his movements like a cricket match (maybe because of the state of cricket affairs). For the first time people got to see the face of street power when the karachi massacres happened. The end result was that the judiciary prevailed as an institution.

Looking forward I see Pakistanis debating the political future in the same way and influencing the course of political action. I may have focussed too much on the political situation, but development in other areas follows political stability. Lets see how things pan out.. but I sure dont see Pakistan as an experiment that is going to blow up in the face of the world. In fact, the future looks bright and we all have a role to play in it. I found a very appropriate verse in this patriotic song sung by Mehdi Hassan which reads "hum tou mehz unwaaN thay, asl daastaN tum ho" (we are mere topics, the real tale is you).

Lets start on a fresh page.