Is the state of Pakistan eroded?

By M. S. Baloch

Pakistan state defines itself. What it is not is a social group, it is not a religious group, and it is not racial, it is the product of a unique combination of recent historic factors and can never be reduce to single dimension weather social, religious, racial, or economical. “A nation is constituted by a sense, on its member’s cultural community with each other based on a shared past, a heritage of common ways and traditions.” Pakistan constitutes of five nations, Baloch, Saraki, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pahkhton, each and every one of these five has a unique culture, which differentiates one group from another. There is also a sixth group; those who migrated from India to the Pakistan in order to establish the Islamic state, homeland for Muslims. Sixth group are the administrators of Pakistan.

The state official language is Urdu, an alien language to most Pakistani, which is imposed by eight per cent of the migrant population in Pakistan. The migrant never believed it necessary to integrate to the new society, but demand compensation for creating a failed state, which no one is in favor of, except the Pakistani army and the Punjabi dominant population.

Violence between cultural groups is a daily routine, or at its best armed conflict between religious groups, at its worse arm conflict between the state and one or two national group against Pakistani army. Cultural deference and economic interest of each nation are bigger than religious unity. The European definition of a nation was of a being the fruit of history, of being memory, which is not true in case of Pakistan.

National communities as the Europeans define it, from all other community’s lie in this: it is bringing people together not for what they are, but for what they have been. Pakistan is colonial united and not fruit of history, it has to reform or die.

The nation idea survives in Pakistan today only by allying itself with forces that have over taken it: religion, army, and the Punjabi feudal system, Pakistani ISI ability to instigate tribal conflict in rural society.

In economic spheres it has already shown weakening of Pakistan, combined with the rise to power of a private agent, drug traffickers. To muddy the distinction between the Pakistani domain and that of what are called private interests.

The same goes to violence, which has become private. The army too, has become private:

Pakistani administers divert themselves of responsibility some by tactical skill, some because they are unable to exercise them.

Education is the responsibility of state; Balochistan has the highest rate of illiteracy in Pakistan. Time and again the Pakistani establishment blames Balochi Sardar for failure of state toward its citizen. Tribal society is a basic human organization, in order to turn a tribal man into a citizen, first the tribal man should be educated in order to transfer tribal society into a modern society. One can argue that society should go through industrialization.

For citizen mobilization state should provide a good communication network that citizen can communicate within a reasonable time. State should be able to create long term and short-term jobs. State must guarantee citizens rights. In order to reduce tribe leader influence from a given society, state should be able to guarantee security of it citizens, or a groups property are protected by law of land. Dismantling the oldest institution in Balochistan without alternative institution is in no ones interest. Pakistani establishment is misleading its citizens. Tribe leaders neither have resources or the responsibility to provide education; neither do they have the power to prevent state from doing so. Pakistani are able to build army containment in Balochistan by confiscating land by force, Pakistani could enforce school buildings as well using this policy. Pakistani establishment divert the responsibility, and instead blame individual private citizens for the states failure.

The criminalization of politics and politicization of crime already established continuity between two activities that previously were separated: war and crime.

Wealth permits the wolves to be more effectives in their cruelty. People are dying from bursts of machine gun fire and gunship helicopters, in order to control their resources.
Baloch and others wealth is linked less and less to Pakistan. On going army operation is going to have less effect in crushing resistance in Balochistan.

To reduce the likelihood of uncertainty and the unpredictable, reduce the tolerance for breakdown and errors. Dictators are not in favor of democratic institution. Pakistani army has ruled Pakistan directly or indirectly since its birth 58 years ago and destroyed every institution that Pakistan inherited from British. Now there are two institutions in Pakistan one is army dominated by the Punjabi, second is religion, in the past, army and religion worked together. After 9/11 the religious party feels the heat alone, clergies are not in favor of war on terror. Religion and army are not in ease with each other.

No error is irreparable, but every error has consequences. I am not certain what the consequences are for Pakistan’s catalog of errors. Election is necessary but it is not enough by it self, one has to create condition for producing free, stable society. No political party is strong enough to reform the cultural and social, and religious in order to get favorable democratic outcome in Pakistan.

We would like to think that corruption is an old fashioned phenomenon, a regrettable custom of time in which no distinction was made between private fortune and public wealth.
The fact is that in Pakistan bribes must be handed out to the authorities, it is shocking to most people its phenomenon threat to nation-state of Pakistan.

Big bosses make big decision and big bribes can influence these big decisions. Those who make decisions are identified, and corruption develops not because it is impossible to control it, the circles of decision are clear, but because of political refusal to assume control, there is no state.

The officials, who command a good network for hefty sum, make this network available to the private company. (One has to mention A. Q. Khan network that sold nuclear bomb making knowledge to the terrorist and terrorist state around the world).

Over taken by globalization, in competition with the wealth of new players, manipulated by interests more powerful than themselves, Pakistan is exhausted, increasingly suspected of condemning corruption only to protect what power is left to them.

Today Pakistani army bombarding Balochistan, part of it own occupied territory in order to subdue the nation and control Balochistan resources. At the same time it commits atrocities against women and children, and denies Baloch autonomy. Balochistan nationalist parties are secular parties, demanding self-determination, which is their democratic right, if Baloch fail to achieve or are denied self-determination through these secular parties that would not be the end of the Baloch struggle for self-determination. Baloch are suffering from Pakistani oppression alone, if Pakistan is not contained, soon its neighbor would not be safe.

Compare corruption between Palestinian and Pakistan I think level of corruption in Pakistan will exceed Palestinian. Pakistan has always been fertile ground for Islamic fanatics from all over the world. The inability or unwillingness of the Pakistani establishment to deal firmly with issues of corruption brings Pakistan close to Islamic fanatic sphere. Pakistan’s current ruler is a short-term fix, not long-term solution. You don’t have to be a genius to figure it out; next general who declares a coup will not be Mr. Nice, but a fanatic who has an Islamic bomb in his pocket. At the moment in Pakistan fanatics and jihadies who dominate the Pakistani establishment will one day assume power through bullet or ballot.

Is that enough to give the world cause for concern?  February 2006