Security before progress

Without this caveat, any attempt would be a non-starter

We live in a crazed, topsy-turvy country, where things are upside down. Take for instance the criminal justice system with its enforcement of laws. The accused criminals and terrorists are provided anonymity and confidentiality, their faces shown in the media fully are hidden by sheets of cloth or by hoods, while the faces, names and even offices of police and prosecutors are fully identified and revealed.

In other countries, it’s just the opposite. The criminals are fully exposed to the public, their faces, family background, addresses etc, published and broadcasted, but the law enforcement personnel are shielded and protected.

Self-confessed mass murderers, cold-blooded enemies of the state, terror master-minds are allowed to roam freely, even feted by the government. But in other countries they are relentlessly pursued, prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law.

Similarly in a topsy-turvy way, the PML-N Government wants to implement its much vaunted transformative agenda without first creating an environment of nationwide safety and security in the country. It’s one of the most fundamental principles of economic development that any campaign for growth, progress and prosperity of the country cannot even begin to take concrete shape without ensuring peace and security all over the land.

This is a prerequisite for the successful implementation of any national agenda to transform and lift the nation towards economic well-being and prosperity. Otherwise, without this caveat, any such attempt would be a non-starter.

Looking at our own Asian region, from Chinese economic miracle to the economic achievements of the Asian Tigers, all these nations progressed because of ensuing environments of unchallenged writ of the state and complete prevalence of safety and security in their lands.

It’s one of the most fundamental principles of economic development that any campaign for growth, progress and prosperity of the country cannot even begin to take concrete shape without ensuring peace and security all over the land.

The reasons for this precondition are many, but chief among them are as follows.

Firstly, as everyone knows, businessmen or women and investors, both domestic and foreign, will simply not put their capital at risk in establishing new businesses and concerns or in expanding the existing ones in the face of imminent threats to their lives and to their property by non-state actors who are beyond any control of the state.

Secondly, destruction of the country’s vital infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, pipelines, power plants, railway lines etc, by the non-state, armed groups, will thwart any development schemes or projects planned by the government. A case in point is the frequent blowing up of gas pipelines in Balochistan and power plants in KP.

Thirdly, the cost of economic activity escalates prohibitively because of the extra security measures required to do business in the face of these threats. Hiring of thousands of security guards, construction of concrete walls and bomb barriers, denial of insurance coverage for acts of terror and subversion, high cost of financing and loans etc.

Fourthly, the overarching climate of fear and intimidation all over the country due to ubiquitous violence, lawlessness and terrorism, demoralizes and paralyses people into a state of stupor and inaction. Terror-laden milieu of insecurity adversely impacts every institution, every sector of our country and every facet of our society.

A violence ridden, unstable country conveys to the outside world an image of a weak, failed or failing state that cannot control and properly manage its own territory-in other words a country with whom the international community would rather avoid and not do business with.

People are so weighed down by the burden of just keeping themselves and their dear ones alive that propensity to progress is not exactly their topmost priority. Survival trumps ambition and desire.

Fifthly, a violence ridden, unstable country conveys to the outside world an image of a weak, failed or failing state that cannot control and properly manage its own territory-in other words a country with whom the international community would rather avoid and not do business with.

Given our present predicament we are heading towards the North Korean model: nuclear-armed, aggressive, insecure, angry, isolated and destructive. These are hardly the factors that are conducive for economic growth, development and progress of our country.

Pakistan’s economic progress and development largely hinges on the success of first establishing complete security and peace in the country by militarily defeating and wiping out terrorism and terror groups, like the Taliban and Jihadists and criminal syndicates from every corner of our land.

In this 21^st century world of realpolitik, only the nations that are strong and powerful get respect. Pakistan’s claim of a genuine nuclear power sounds hollow as it is beginning to be seen as too weak and powerless even to defeat a ragtag militant gang of few thousand semi-trained killers vowing to seek control of the state.

A stalemated, negotiated settlement leaving all the weapons and killing prowess of the Tailban enemy intact will fail to impress the world and convince them of the state’s viability. Of course the country won’t collapse in a twilight zone but neither will it be able to achieve any economic breakthroughs. Its economy and development, propped up by merciful aids and occasional self-serving dole-outs by prosperous countries, will continue to sputter along in the continuing insecurity and nagging uncertainty that we have today.

For Pakistan, the road to economic progress and development begins with the evisceration of terrorism and Jihadism. Nothing less will do.