There is very little doubt amongst historians and academics that Pakistan’s struggle for independence was chiefly fought by Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the councils of the Viceroy where, backed by the threat of communal (Muslim-Hindu) violence, it enjoyed support from a colonial ruling class which had sustained itself by accentuating communal differences. One can still find remnant anglophiles in Pakistan’s civil service, bureaucracy and government.
Jinnah’s great achievement was Pakistan, then divided in two wings East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and West Pakistan. However Jinnah’s sudden death in 1948 left the country without a strong ideological framework as that in which the Indian ruling class was able to operate. Jinnah became a contested figure, as most great men in history do, and his speeches and writings were quarried for obtaining the ideological building blocks of the country. In this pursuit a number of interpretations regarding Jinnah’s Pakistan have come about, but leaving aside such debates, I would like to focus on the “objectives resolution” for Pakistan produced by Prime Minister, Liaqat Ali Khan. This resolution set down the principles of “democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, as enunciated by Islam”. The constitution, which was finally approved in 1956 defined the country as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Islam has been increasingly used by the state to reinforce political control.
However the disunity and dissension we see in Pakistan today, with international conspiracies to break up and destabilise the country afoot according to the leader of Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), is not because we have failed to unite on an ideology for the country. Truth be told as an assemblage of feudal provinces (Baluchistan, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa), together with commercial of Karachi (home also to many of the ‘Mohajir”, refugees who fled India at partition) and the relatively prosperous Punjab, Pakistan has never had an ideological or cultural coherence to supplement Islam as a unifying force. The reason for most discords in Pakistan is the economy.
Whether it is the involvement of political parties in collecting extortion in Karachi, the unequal distribution of resources among provinces or the alleviation of poverty, the problem has to do with the economy of the country. A phrase made popular by Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign, “it’s the economy stupid”, could well provide counsel to our politicians today. In a country that is characterised by a small ruling class and a large population – over 180 million people – economic policy has failed to deliver over and over again. No party seems interested in addressing this root cause of our national financial crisis. Instead politicians from all parties seem to think that they can keep making promises to get elected and then never delivering on them. If not promises then a few roads, flyovers, yellow cabs and income support programs ought to appease the masses near election time.
What our leaders have failed to realise all along is that a systematic economic development policy, one that reassess Pakistan’s resource utilisation strategy, is needed urgently. Development policy looks at remedies to social pathologies in a number of different ways. One possible route is the provision of technical assistance, training programs and then the training of trainers. Another route is the search for appropriate technology, that is, technology specifically adapted to the level of skills and other resources in the environment where it is to operate. All this needs to be done with the understanding of our country’s strengths and weaknesses.
Currently, there is less emphasis on building sustainable infrastructure for industry or agriculture and more emphasis on short-term solutions. So the government of Punjab for example has done little to provide for basic healthcare in the region but on any odd visit to a hospital Chief Minister Punjab would announce air conditioners for all the wards – that in a country rampant with load-shedding. Similarly, instead of focusing on vocational or non-formal training for Pakistan’s youth the Punjab government is allotting them taxis worth a total of Rs4.5 billion. These quick fixes to problems that have developed over a long period of time might appeal to the masses before election time but they will hardly cure the country. This money needs to spend on long-term goals and most importantly education. As the economist Alfred Marshal said: “All that is spent during many years in opening the means of higher education to the masses would be well paid for if it called out one more Newton or Darwin, Shakespeare or Beethoven”. It need not produce a genius, but it will give the masses an understanding of democracy and tolerance, a sense of freedom, and the means to achieve equality and social justice – what Jinnah and Liaqat Ali Khan wanted.
The writer is an academic and freelance journalist
