Abstract
Maleeha Lodhi, a seasoned diplomat and journalist from Pakistan, has presented an out-of-the-box thinking on her crisis-ridden nation. Barring a few, the 17 essays of this book introduce the readers to an alternative side of Pakistan, which is more humane and less skewed. In the beginning, Ayesha Jalal gives a very fair historical narration of Pakistan through her piece ‘The Past as Present’—she proved again that free voices are a means for free flow. The next essay ‘Why Jinnah Matters’ by Akber Ahmed is the biggest blunder of this book—his relying on Jinnah’s virulent ideas stands against the idea of this anthology. Feroze Hassan Khan’s ‘Pakistan as a nuclear State’, MunirAkram’s ‘Reversing Strategic “Shrinkage”’ and ‘The India Factor’ by Syed Rifaat Hussain disappoint with the surprising assertion of stereotyped misconceptions that have been dampening factors for Pakistan as a modern nation–state.
The lead essay written by Maleeha succeeded to form a new kind of overview on Pakistan where emphasis has been accorded to the areas hitherto neglected in the realm of social research and even literature. The remaining essays are routes through similar conceptions and highlight another face of Pakistan, beyond its notorious feudal structure and undefined democracy. Stress on the untapped or under-tapped potential of Pakistan’s economy and its elite educated middle class reminds us that all the Pakistanis are not in romance with the ‘enigma of terror’, rather they are closer to reality and aspiring for a life based on well-searched trajectories. This optimism is incorrigible, even though it manifests the will of a chunk of Pakistan’s population that is sophisticated and knows the plight of living in an anti-modern political/military climax!
Sixty-four years back, Lord Mountbatten accomplished India’s brutal division on communal lines and placed the contemporary political action in the desired cage of hibernation and reactionism. The immediate fallouts came with a toll of life of around half a million people and civilisation’s most traumatic human displacement that permanently fixed hatred as a central locale in South Asia. An ill-conceived nation, Pakistan, even damned itself more in the further course with consistent military misrule and inconsistent democratic interventions. The idea of economy and human developments were backyarded to engage India in a strategic race…all that has been happening at the cost of undermining India’s vibrant fundamentals and its voyage as a nation-in-making with impressive economies of scale.
This book figures out the changes that can re-establish the lost confidence of Pakistani citizens; in value terms which weigh greater than the misleading cacophony of morally fragile rulers, with feeble command over the existing state of affairs in the country. Most of the contributors of this work have international recognition in their own sphere, so sharing of candid ideas will be sure to proliferate a rational understanding on Pakistan. Ahead, the discourse should be led to a point, where apart from the middle class, the will of the higher and lower classes could be judged through an optimum standard democracy or destabilisation? Pakistan must follow a normal path instead of being a wayward wayfarer of China, as the US has already started displaying its maximum apathy to Pakistan’s perilous dualism on terrorism—also noticeably, China should not be expected to eclipse the strategic dominance of the US in the short- or medium-run. This time, Pakistan is at the crossroads and has no pathfinder that could show it the way of course correction—like a nasty teenager, unwillingly—but finally, Pakistan has to be fit with a universally acceptable character. Integrated worlds demand it and Pakistan cannot show any more hitches on the behavioural side.
Though implicitly, voices heard from this book streamline Pakistan’s potential ideal agenda by following the path of progress and targeting the goal of human development over the foolish programming of bomb and weaponry maximisation. Besides, there is also no reason why Pakistan cannot engage India as the most essential ally—progress on this particular issue alone will solve the sizable adversities of Pakistan. Delinking from Kashmir and a trust-filled partnership with neighbours will give Pakistan a prominent position in the subcontinent and that will be a million times better than being parasites on US dollars. Pakistan: Beyond the Crisis State is a forceful intervention for much-needed change to the betterment of ongoing suffering prospects in the backdrop of Pakistan’s incessant misadventures with its basic existence. Pakistan, and the world together, should admit that the incubation of terror always pays dividends and obviously on a very bad and high scale. Optimism for one’s nation is fine, so shall be the following actions—ahead of lip service!