North Korea or Israel?

BANGALORE: This is with reference to Ayesha Siddiqa’s article ‘Is Pakistan like North Korea or Israel?’ (June 6). I think neither comparison is entirely accurate.

Although the religious prejudice, state-sanctioned anti-minority rhetoric and other ills found in Pakistan have a direct parallel in Israel, the latter is not a feudal society. It is largely run by middle-class technocrats (by middle-class, I mean culturally speaking). Similarly, the comparison with North Korea is not appropriate either.

The state does use the ‘demonify-thy-neighbour’ trick in its school textbooks and media to secure the allegiance of its citizens to the “national security state”, but Pakistan is still not a closed society. There is a vibrant media and parts of it show rationality. There is a significant number of people with liberal ideas who do not want a theocratic state, and who truly believe in secularism (I know the s-word is evil in Pakistan). I have interacted with several such people myself. So I think even though Pakistan shares some features of both Israel and North Korea, it is in a much better position to shed those features, and to emerge as a modern, liberal state.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2010.