Pakistan

If nothing else, the devastating floods in Pakistan serve to warrant the notion that the country is a failed state. The very fact that our president did not merit considering coming back from his personal adventures at a time of unprecedented difficulty serves to exemplify why Zardari embodies the kind of leader that you hope your enemy is blessed with. Something more shocking than his blatant sense of indifference is his promulgation of his importance in line with the outburst at his absence from his country. It is ironic that the president had to make such a statement and this is even a new low for a man who has transgressed the fine line that marks a bad leader from a contemptible one. To be frank, I find it increasingly difficult to castigate the president owing to the fact that for the first time in living history, he has elevated himself to the point where one can only smile at the mention of his multifarious ventures. This partly explains the lackluster response from the world community to the worst natural disaster in living memory. Another factor could be donor fatigue or could possibly be the fear that the money could be used to refurbish the Taliban, a force that has found difficult to squash despite the billions spent on doing so. All in all, what we have before us is a very sad picture of a country that is being pushed into a very black hole by the establishment that is corrupt to the bone. The post flood era has strengthened the voices of those who adjoin that the country will cease to exist as a single entity. As a response to these claims, the Pakistani ambassador to the United States has espoused that the country is resilient and will muddle through this quagmire as well. The mindset of no less a man than the ambassador himself speaks to the sense of defeatism that has enveloped the hearts and minds of countless countrymen. The day when people stop fighting for their principles is the day when degeneration spreads in the system like some deadly disease, removing us of the distinction that makes us what we are. The long term prognosis is far from clear but what I do know is that a metamorphosis is just around the corner. We find ourselves at an inflection point, beyond which lies either doom or boom.


Pakistan is a country that has needlessly suffered in the last decade after being labeled with the indelible mark of a terrorist sate. I feel qualified to speak on a matter as contentious as this owing to the fact that I have lived in Islamabad for 14 years and have personally witnessed the city descending into religious extremism. I have visited countless times the mosque that was unfortunately to become the place blood flowed like a river. In the Lal masjid event, I have undergone the ordeal of having to survive in a curfew for about a fortnight, which compounds my hatred for extremism. Such a hated for extremism is to be found in most educated Pakistanis who cannot see their country being torn by a handful of terrorist elements. In line with the class discussion today, I feel it imperative to underscore a few points. Recent reports have divulged that the Taliban have now shifted their operations to the all important province of Punjab, a frightening possibility given the population and economic worth of Pakistan’s most fertile area. This also undermines the efficacy of the drone attacks as I find it inconceivable that the United States can use drones in highly dense populations even if a suspect is found to be present. All this means is that as time drags by, the war against terror will become all the more complex. Force has never been the solution to any conflict and history bears witness to this statement. A nation living under the stigma of being the’ bad guys’ amid the constant sense of humiliation deserves better