Is a strong economy enough for a strong Pakistan?
A significant feedback on my previous article, the quest for “Naya” (new) Pakistan, was that it appeared to be a direct criticism of the narrative of one popular political party. Let me claim that it was not by design and that this criticism was not the objective. I request them to read the article again. The write up was an effort to make the readers aware of our history and to introduce them to the concept of self accountability. However, since “naya” Pakistan is the vision of one political party, impartiality demanded me to look at the other side of the coin as well and I saw “roshan” (bright) Pakistan written there. As much as I wish to see a bright, prosperous and happy Pakistan where the next generation will have a bright future, I do not want to be fooled by baseless and empty slogans. Hence, this writing is to ask some fundamental questions about the vision of “roshan” Pakistan. The vision of “roshan” Pakistan rests on a booming economy, infrastructure and business friendly environment. “Strong Economy – Strong Pakistan” is the cover of the election manifesto of the ruling political party. But my question is: Can wider roads, bridges, underpasses and other similar mega projects ensure a bright future for our children? Can booming businesses lay the foundation for a “roshan” Pakistan in the presence of intolerance and extremism?
The leaders of our country, the visionaries of “roshan” Pakistan, never considered building a nation which is “roshan khayal” (open minded) important enough to make it part of their manifesto
My frequent travelling to Europe in the recent past enabled me to study some of the developed countries very closely. Wide roads and extraordinary bridges are not common in almost all of western Europe. The road to my village in the outskirts of Sheikhupura is at least twice the size of most of the roads in countryside throughout Europe. The Metro Bus Service in Lahore is much more sophisticated than the trams running on dedicated tracks in the middle of the roads in most of European cities. Those trams look old and worn out and run at a much lesser speed compared to our modern looking CNG buses running on over head tracks. But still any logic or rationale will consider the future of most of those countries much brighter than ours at this point in time. Just looking at our eastern neighbour will reveal that a country can expect a much brighter future even when 25 percent of its population is still in the dark (without access to electricity). For a ready reference, only 8.6 percent of Pakistan’s population does not have access to electricity as per World Bank’s statistics of 2010-2014. We can make an endless list of reasons and rhetorical arguments to answer why those countries are more “roshan” than us even without fancy public transport and a web of wide and signal free corridors of roads, and why electricity alone cannot ensure a bright future. But do we realise that all those countries have valued nation building much more than building infrastructure? The leaders, opinion makers, teachers, writers and everyone who mattered helped in building nations which were tolerant, patriotic and open minded.
The leaders of our country, the visionaries of “roshan” Pakistan, never considered building a nation which is “roshan khayal” (open minded) important enough to make it part of their manifesto. In fact, instead of trying to break our society’s norm of intolerance, extremism and close mindedness, they have added fuel to fire in little more than one and a half years of power. We have become very negative as a nation. Instead of resolving issues of national scale to induce harmony, we shelter behind conspiracy theories to ridicule the issue itself. If the opposition is out on the roads demanding an audit of the mandate, the government, which claims to have a genuine mandate, should resolve the issue and not give space to conspiracy theories. Instead, the spokespersons and opinion makers in favour of the government themselves give rise to conspiracy theories of “London Plan” and what not. A very personal decision of a popular political leader to marry someone excites infinite number of conspiracy theorists, each coming up with multiple reasons and consequences of this marriage. Media invests hours and pages on verifying just the date of the marriage, forgetting or at least giving less importance to some of the bigger concerns and challenges faced by the country.
The inability of the government to control such theories is a clear indication of its lack of competence. What the leadership fails to understand is that the result of such incompetence is a nation of conspiracy theorists. The society becomes close minded and people even take facts as just another conspiracy. The environment becomes very friendly for hate mongers, who use conspiracy theories to make us hate each other for one reason or the other. We forget that we are Pakistanis and divide ourselves among religious sects, ethnicities, tribes and different ideologies. It will be in the best interest of our enemies, both internal and external, to capitalise on the extreme positions that we Pakistanis take on matters of common interest. Difference of opinion is but natural, agreeing to disagree and respecting the other’s point of view is what will make us a “roshan khayal” nation.
If we are sincere to the vision of “roshan” Pakistan, we have to inculcate tolerance in the nation. The government will have to lead the way. They have to be open to political and ideological opposition
A routine practice in European countries is that every day after work, before going home, people would stop over to socialise in a bar or a road side café. They would speak their heart out and listen to others. On most occasions, the conversations turned into heated debates. People following different ideologies would get aggressive in the defence of their ideologies. But never did I witness that they left with a bitter feeling, never did I experience that one individual did not respect the other’s point of view. The arguments would base on their experiences or opinions and they would not present conspiracy theories as facts.
If we are sincere to the vision of “roshan” Pakistan, we have to inculcate tolerance in the nation. The government will have to lead the way. They have to be open to political and ideological opposition. If the government is not ready to face criticism and respond sincerely to the ones grieved, the hate mongers and conspiracy theorists will get the opportunity to weaken the writ of the government. The government will have to take the responsibility of taking everybody together in “roshan” Pakistan seriously. Although significant development in infrastructure is commendable, it is time when the people who matter should realise that a “roshan khayal” Pakistani is the basic requisite for a “roshan” Pakistan.
