Pakistan is celebrating its 76th independence day amid an economic crisis and political uncertainty. Compared to its neighbour India, which has emerged as a main global power in a growing multipolar world, Pakistan’s growth has been stunted and has depended mostly on China.
The nation recently secured a handout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which allowed other ‘friendly’ nations to help Pakistan shore up its forex reserves and continue import of essential items.
The independence day celebrations will be observed but the Pakistani common man and woman will respond in a muted manner because they are burdened by sky-high prices of fuel.
A political crisis has also engulfed Pakistan as leaders get jailed and when those leaders overturn convictions and come to power, they participate in politics of vengeance, thus exacerbating a vicious cycle of governments failing to meets aspirations of its people.
It should be noted that not only is there an economic crisis along with a political one, but the nation is struggling to contain a wave of terror that has taken the lives of hundreds of civilians and armed forces personnel since early 2022.
The nation, often accused of harbouring terror and also of facilitating the rise of Taliban in Afghanistan and its subsequent toppling of the elected government on August 16, 2021, is now seeing some of the terror elements which it may have helped turn against it.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is threatening the safety and security of Pakistan’s citizens and now wants to build a ‘shadow province’ in the southwestern province of Balochistan.
The TTP is planning to establish its own ‘Kalat-Makran’ province and will build a parallel government in that region. This shadow government, if formed, will cover over 40% Balochistan-area, including a 760-km coastline.
Pakistan’s top newspaper the Dawn reflected on the challenges the nation is facing and in an editorial pointed out that the nation has drifted away from the targets it had set for itself.
They asked if the ideals based on which Mohamed Ali Jinnah or ‘Quaid’ founded Pakistan are now ‘fading into a myth’ in their August 14 editorial titled “Jinnah to now”.
The Dawn pointed out that the nation shifted from its democratic ideals and reconstructed the ideas of its founding father, Jinnah, from a “modernist to an orthodox” and did so “to suit prevalent narratives and enhance the power of clerics and the military in forming state policies”.
“Recurrent military regimes arrested the political process. In fact, these have polluted political outfits that now, more often than not, collude with unelected elements to wrest power,” the news outlet said in a scathing editorial.
“The rising tide of extremism turned Pakistan into a militancy hub… For non-political forces to usurp or derail the Constitution and cave into religious hardliners violates every ideal close to the Quaid’s heart,” the editorial further added.
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