Why Pakistan weathers the storm
Perhaps the most intriguing factor that contributes towards Pakistan’s subsistence is its social structure
The writer is a barrister-at law based in Islamabad. He tweets @SaadSBajwa
Haven’t we grown up listening to dire pronouncements of Pakistan’s collapse? Intriguingly, the chatter started generations back when Lord Mountbatten observed with Jawaharlal Nehru that a “truncated Pakistan” was “bound to come back later”. We heard various timelines by which Pakistan would turn into a mullah fiefdom or collapse in a heap, pollinating the region with religious fanaticism, ethno-linguistic chaos and nuclear-tipped missiles. Morbid as these predictions were, they have not seen the daylight. Here’s why…
Just as Pakistan and its polity are misunderstood, its raison d'etre is incorrectly surmised as well. Even its survival in the last 69 years, especially in the last decade, has often been attributed to resilience and dogged determination. While not entirely hubris, this view is still dogmatic. It does not tell the whole story. What differentiates Pakistan from states like Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Lebanon, Afghanistan and a host of Gulf sheikhdoms is that some of its peculiarities help it achieve a relative degree of balance in the system, albeit jittery and not without glaring flaws. However there is method within Pakistan’s madness. The logic is there, it’s just different from others’. Pakistan’s democracy is nascent, volatile and often projects the worst of its society. However, it also oversaw a peaceful transition of power through ballot box after completion of term of an incumbent government during the peak of the country’s security, economic and social crises. The problems ailing Pakistan’s democracy are endemic; however it is undeniable that the same democracy is responsive to a certain degree. Governments do get voted out due to poor governance and corruption. Yet, interestingly, this country has never given significant electoral backing to extremists of any creed.
How ironic that those clamouring about an impending (but never materialising) extremist takeover of Pakistan now have to contend with the likes of Narendra Modi and Donald Trump themselves! Glass houses and stones, perhaps! Unbeknownst to the outside world, Pakistan has an influential and active fundamental rights community. While the country struggles with ethno-linguistic and religious strife, in addition to the worst of social crimes like honour killings etc., there have been numerous instances where the state’s arbitrary use of power and excesses were successfully challenged in courts. There are people in this country who fight Goliath for missing persons, acid victims, minority communities, slum dwellers and for refugees. The print and electronic media, whilst prone to occasional bouts of hyperbole and the odd conspiracy, has taken on all erstwhile sacred cows, be it the judiciary, military, political groups or state functionaries.
Yes, the justice system has its immense blemishes. However the activism of the civil society and relative independence of the courts ensure that the Pakistani state cannot operate arbitrarily and in defiance of fundamental rights in a manner prevalent across the Middle East. The courts, whilst notoriously slow, are anything but fickle since 2007. After all, a sitting prime minister was dismissed by the apex Court in 2012 for contempt of court. The military was, and is modelled and trained for conventional wars with an adversary three times larger than itself on the eastern border. Nevertheless, to its credit, it has been able to adapt itself successfully in order to fight and win asymmetric warfare. Today, when the state maintains its writ in all corners of the country, Nato/Isaf and Afghan forces have little control outside of Kabul, Herat and Kandahar. In the biggest and the bloodiest war fought by Pakistan in its history, its armed forces are on the winning and the right side of history. When push came to shove, Pakistan simply fought it out. A lot remains to be done as far as eliminating the causes of militancy are concerned, but a lot has been done as well.
Perhaps the most intriguing factor that contributes towards Pakistan’s subsistence is its social structure. Anatol Leiven explored this factor in depth in his work Pakistan – A Hard Country. While the country’s traditional and often rigid social structures invariably prevent its socio-political progress, they also serve as a support system for millions of its people in the absence or inadequacy of the state’s institutions. In a space of five years, Pakistan endured a catastrophic earthquake and floods that ravaged most of the inhabited rural areas. Yet the country absorbed these blows and carried on. Pakistan remains one of the most charitable countries in the region. Resilience and spirit on their own cannot surmount such problems. It is far too large, diverse and complex a country to be made a subject of dire doom and gloom predictions on a whim. Pakistan needs structural reforms in health, education, governance and access to justice. It needs to create more stakes for its vast citizenship in the national mainstream and needs to evolve an inclusive, pluralistic and democratic counter-narrative against extremism. Conversely the doom merchants need to stop parroting stories, which frankly do not sound credible or even informed anymore. Our isolation needs a closure. Onward and forward to the future we go!
What about the predictions, then? They should perhaps best be relegated to the ash heap of history.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2016.
Just as Pakistan and its polity are misunderstood, its raison d'etre is incorrectly surmised as well. Even its survival in the last 69 years, especially in the last decade, has often been attributed to resilience and dogged determination. While not entirely hubris, this view is still dogmatic. It does not tell the whole story. What differentiates Pakistan from states like Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Lebanon, Afghanistan and a host of Gulf sheikhdoms is that some of its peculiarities help it achieve a relative degree of balance in the system, albeit jittery and not without glaring flaws. However there is method within Pakistan’s madness. The logic is there, it’s just different from others’. Pakistan’s democracy is nascent, volatile and often projects the worst of its society. However, it also oversaw a peaceful transition of power through ballot box after completion of term of an incumbent government during the peak of the country’s security, economic and social crises. The problems ailing Pakistan’s democracy are endemic; however it is undeniable that the same democracy is responsive to a certain degree. Governments do get voted out due to poor governance and corruption. Yet, interestingly, this country has never given significant electoral backing to extremists of any creed.
How ironic that those clamouring about an impending (but never materialising) extremist takeover of Pakistan now have to contend with the likes of Narendra Modi and Donald Trump themselves! Glass houses and stones, perhaps! Unbeknownst to the outside world, Pakistan has an influential and active fundamental rights community. While the country struggles with ethno-linguistic and religious strife, in addition to the worst of social crimes like honour killings etc., there have been numerous instances where the state’s arbitrary use of power and excesses were successfully challenged in courts. There are people in this country who fight Goliath for missing persons, acid victims, minority communities, slum dwellers and for refugees. The print and electronic media, whilst prone to occasional bouts of hyperbole and the odd conspiracy, has taken on all erstwhile sacred cows, be it the judiciary, military, political groups or state functionaries.
Yes, the justice system has its immense blemishes. However the activism of the civil society and relative independence of the courts ensure that the Pakistani state cannot operate arbitrarily and in defiance of fundamental rights in a manner prevalent across the Middle East. The courts, whilst notoriously slow, are anything but fickle since 2007. After all, a sitting prime minister was dismissed by the apex Court in 2012 for contempt of court. The military was, and is modelled and trained for conventional wars with an adversary three times larger than itself on the eastern border. Nevertheless, to its credit, it has been able to adapt itself successfully in order to fight and win asymmetric warfare. Today, when the state maintains its writ in all corners of the country, Nato/Isaf and Afghan forces have little control outside of Kabul, Herat and Kandahar. In the biggest and the bloodiest war fought by Pakistan in its history, its armed forces are on the winning and the right side of history. When push came to shove, Pakistan simply fought it out. A lot remains to be done as far as eliminating the causes of militancy are concerned, but a lot has been done as well.
Perhaps the most intriguing factor that contributes towards Pakistan’s subsistence is its social structure. Anatol Leiven explored this factor in depth in his work Pakistan – A Hard Country. While the country’s traditional and often rigid social structures invariably prevent its socio-political progress, they also serve as a support system for millions of its people in the absence or inadequacy of the state’s institutions. In a space of five years, Pakistan endured a catastrophic earthquake and floods that ravaged most of the inhabited rural areas. Yet the country absorbed these blows and carried on. Pakistan remains one of the most charitable countries in the region. Resilience and spirit on their own cannot surmount such problems. It is far too large, diverse and complex a country to be made a subject of dire doom and gloom predictions on a whim. Pakistan needs structural reforms in health, education, governance and access to justice. It needs to create more stakes for its vast citizenship in the national mainstream and needs to evolve an inclusive, pluralistic and democratic counter-narrative against extremism. Conversely the doom merchants need to stop parroting stories, which frankly do not sound credible or even informed anymore. Our isolation needs a closure. Onward and forward to the future we go!
What about the predictions, then? They should perhaps best be relegated to the ash heap of history.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2016.