The pandemic has exposed multi-layered structural fault lines and infirmities, plaguing the body politic of Pakistan. The state has failed its people and its own self. Years of neglect of health, education, industry, commerce, agriculture, population growth and water conservation policies is taking its toll. Neighbouring countries, which were behind Pakistan in most economic indicators just 30 years ago, have developed by leaps and bounds and Pakistan has watched them progress with bewilderment and envy, failing to realise what it did wrong to deserve this humiliation.
The diversion of resources to build a security-obsessed state - which is constantly at war with its own people and neighbours alike - has not left the state with many options. Over the years, militablishment - in its desperation to assert its hegemony - has waged a relentless battle against all forms of civilian resistance which could pose a threat to its dominance. It has tried to browbeat political parties and movements, human rights organisations, print, electronic and social media, parts of the judiciary and bureaucracy into submission. As a result, Pakistan today is a dysfunctional democracy with a weak debt-ridden economy, which is heavily tilted towards non-productive militarisation.
The national security state has to be replaced with a social welfare state with people as the real sovereigns of their destiny through genuine representation
The parasitical civil administrative and justice system inherited from the colonial times is fast crumbling. Representative peoples institutions have failed to take root due to constant onslaught of undemocratic forces on them.
The constant flood of lies, deception and contradictions, so characteristic of the populist leaders around the world, is very much evident in our leadership. The façade of democracy has been given up in favour of a hybrid democratic order, where civilians have been given a back seat and the thin veneer of civilian rule lies in tatters.
Times of upheaval are often times of radical change. Some believe the pandemic is a once-in-a-generation chance to break with the past, remake society and imagine their world anew. Others fear it may only exacerbate existing injustices and make the situation worse for the masses.
The pandemic has awakened a large section of population to rethink and reimagine the future of Pakistan by bringing in radical changes in society. The forces of status quo are afraid to lose their domination over the fast diminishing resources, which may lead to more authoritarianism and fascistic tendencies in the country. The attempts to undermine and reverse democratic gains of the last few decades are on the rise and the authoritarian forces may switch to more naked forms of aggression. The attempts to reverse 18th amendment and redraw NFC award formulae to divert resources away from development can only be seen in this context.
The million dollar question is whether our society has enough capacity and resilience to cobble together a formidable force to challenge the status quo and build something radically new. How do we prevent Pakistan from going back to a version of the way it was before COVID-19, with the virus vanquished, but all of the old on-going disasters still unfolding? Under a dwindling world economy, can Pakistan face challenges of economic downturn, water shortages, natural calamities and diseases without radically overhauling itself? Is it destined to remain a poor, underdeveloped country forever?
The wish list for transformation is a long one and the sceptics among us will point to the inability and limitation of our masses and their representative political parties to force its implementation. “The political outcome of the epidemic,” said US historian Mike Davis, “will, like all political outcomes, be decided by struggle, by battles over interpretation, by pointing out what causes problems and what solves them. What happens next might depend on the optimists’ ability to transport such moments of solidarity into the broader political sphere, arguing that it makes no sense to address Covid-19 without at least trying to fix everything else too, creating a world where our shared resources do more for more people.”
The government has to focus on providing public services and see them as investments rather than liabilities. Both its civilian and military wings must withdraw from running businesses as they have no business to be in business and should rather focus on their core functions. Generation of resources (taxes and revenues) must be expanded to include sectors with no income tax like agriculture. Allocation of resources must be oriented towards people’s welfare, employment generation through building industrial infrastructure and agricultural reforms, education and health so that people become stakeholders in the system and take ownership.
The parliament has not seen such neglect as it has under the present government. It has to take the lead and transform itself from talk-show mode into one of legislation and establish itself as the chief forum of law making and accountability. The national security state has to be replaced with a social welfare state with people as the real sovereigns of their destiny through genuine representation. All institutions of the state must be responsible and accountable to the people.
Pakistan has paid a heavy price for its Frankenstein experiments with extremists and must shun pampering groups motivated by extremist religious ideology to gain temporary tactical gains against democratic forces inside the country and fomenting trouble across the borders. Our education syllabus must be cleaned from militarist nationalism, which promotes violent intolerance and hate-speech.
Peace with neighbours must be pursued with utmost sincerity and trade connectivity in the region should be the determining factor of our foreign policy.
Just like the world is busy in finding a remedy for COVID, we need to find a solution to radically transform our beloved homeland, which can usher us in an era of prosperity, progress and wellbeing of its people. Nations, which do not reform in time, are condemned to isolation and annihilation.