The curse of development

For 67 years in Pakistan’s development history, its astounding peace & stability weren't part of development outcomes

Are militancy, terrorism and instability barriers to our development process or is it the development process and the strategy itself that has been a curse causing militancy and instability? For many of us, post-Peshawar tragedy, as we try to flesh out the causes of instability in Pakistan, militancy, terrorism and corruption may appear to be root causes on the surface. I’m of the belief that the problem, however, is more structural and has to do with how we have gone wrong with our development strategy in the past 67 years of our existence, fuelling perpetual militancy and terrorism in the country. Our foremost strategy to achieve peace and stability through defence spending and war alone rather than through development spending is miscalculated. The root of domestic instability and the rise of separatist movements is by and large a product of our highly elitist, closed-door, discriminatory development strategy which has been in total disregard for provinces, ethnicity, gender and minorities.

For 67 years in Pakistan’s development history, having spent billions of dollars on development, it is astounding that peace and stability were never part of our development outcomes. In fact, if anything, the more development money we spent, more domestic instability we caused. Similarly, the development strategy that was followed in the 1970s, 1980s and throughout the Musharraf period was a ping-pong between economic ideas of few men on the top.

Pervez Musharraf’s phony economic growth created an artificial economy that had no industrial base, causing the worst sort of economic division, creating a new elite through ‘development’ spending, marginalising the provinces one by one, and the weaker segments of society with every development budget. However, this loophole and absence of a peace narrative in the development discourse was quickly identified by the new government post-2013 elections, and immediate work started to integrate peace and stability as a crucial part of the development strategy leading the way for inclusive development with a special mention in the Vision 2025 document.

The Vision document also promised to establish a Peace and Development Unit in the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform that was to serve as the secretariat for achieving peace through development to end the contradictions in our development strategy. The idea of the project is to spread awareness regarding interfaith harmony and peaceful coexistence, development and uplifting of conflict-marred areas, and rehabilitation of war-affected people. It will also play its part to earmark projects that directly affect conflict-stricken areas and take necessary measures to ensure sustainable development, identify Key Performance Indicators (KPI) in projects for ensuring peace and taking development to the grass roots.

Another important role of the Peace and Development Unit is to map out conflict zones all over Pakistan to help the government with customised solutions for instability and violence. The unit will also review educational curriculum to integrate peace and interfaith harmony. Not only that, but the unit also aims to play a pivotal role in madrassa reforms and delivering on key goals identified by the National Action Plan on terrorism.

Within three months’ time, the Planning Commission, under the close supervision of minister Ahsan Iqbal, was able to launch the Peace and Development Unit — a task that in itself is not only symbolic but a landmark that depicts the new mindset of the government. But is setting up the unit enough? What will matter now is how this unit, for which top talent has been acquired, will be able to create a peace narrative, change how projects are appraised, and executed, and sensitise policymakers and the government machinery to the importance of peace, harmony and stability. As Pakistan stands to enter the post-conflict development phase, for once, we need to be prepared for the upcoming challenge. A well coordinated and inclusive development strategy that has peace and stability as vital outcomes is perhaps, the only way to decisively win the war against terrorism.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th,  2015.

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