I believe Pakistan was doomed from its beginning as fundamentally Pakistan is set up as a counter-state: the antithesis & antipathy of India.
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From its beginning as the brainchild of Gangetic Indian Muslims, they envisioned a state carved for Muslims that was essentially just “not India.” That was the shtick, that was the motive.
A lack of positive identity can only go so far.
A lack of positive identity can only go so far.
Now, Pakistan is facing an economic meltdown, another in a series of many. How does this relate to the original point?
Its economy is in the dumps because for generations its priorities were severely misaligned for success.
The main priority was military supremacy vs India.
Its economy is in the dumps because for generations its priorities were severely misaligned for success.
The main priority was military supremacy vs India.
High off the idea that Pakistan was built of martial races & a superior religion, many believed economic success would follow military success over the inherently inferior Indians.
Pakistan was set as a New Medina, a staging ground for the final battle to take over the Mecca of Indian Islam in the plains of the Ganga.
With Islam uniting its “superior” races, the onus of politics & power would rest on the military.
With Islam uniting its “superior” races, the onus of politics & power would rest on the military.
The military however, would face defeat after defeat, one so terrible that it ripped the country in half as Bangladesh was born. No matter tho, Pakistan had just rid itself of its quasi-Hindu inferiors. Now the Land of the Pure was truly pure.
As questions were being asked of the military establishment, Islam would be used as a shield. Those who criticize the warriors of Allah are criticizing Allah himself.
Terrorists began to be cultivated as these irregulars could not face full on defeat as the Pak military had.
Terrorists began to be cultivated as these irregulars could not face full on defeat as the Pak military had.
More and more money went to the military establishment as it fattened itself while the rest of Pakistan slid away. The ghost of Kashmir & the Hindu malaise kindled & inflamed faith in the Blessed Army.
So much energy & â‚ą focused simply on a fundamentally religious conflict.
So much energy & â‚ą focused simply on a fundamentally religious conflict.
The focus on the end of India, on retaking Kashmir, on the military as the shield of the state & religion led to other sectors of Pakistan falling behind. Once ahead of India on so many metrics, Pakistan lagged as India amended its economic wrongdoings & took off.
Failures of the establishment began manifesting in more creative excuses. From Zia’s Islamicization campaign till now, Pakistan’s ills are blamed on the “Jahiliyat” of the population.
Jahiliyat, an age of ignorance of course references to Hinduism.
Jahiliyat, an age of ignorance of course references to Hinduism.
Across the political spectrum of Pakistan, people say Pakistan fails because it doesn’t implement “true Islam.” What that is depends on the speaker, but it voices an implicit pinning of Pakistan’s evils on its local Hindu, un-Islamic, cultural element - “Jahiliyat”
This syncs perfectly with the antipathy towards the bastion of Hinduism, India. There is no room for self-reflection. No introspection of losses. All blame passes onto the Hindu Other.
The military establishment had a free hand & a very long rope.
The military establishment had a free hand & a very long rope.
This lack of accountability, this obsessive focus on India & Kashmir, this mythic malleable “true Islam,” this manic focus on the military were fundamentally due to Pakistan not having a positive identity. An identity bereft of growth would eventually implode, as we see today.
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