Pakistan’s biggest mistakes that cost them ruin – Sndp

Pakistan’s Biggest Mistakes That Ruined Them

In Pakistan, people are filling gas balloons because they don’t have money to buy gas cylinders. Pakistan is going through an economic crisis again. This whole ground is full of people, not because there is a cricket match. but because police recruitment exams are going on 30000 people are applying for it, for only 1167 posts. How did Pakistan’s situation get so bad? Why is it always in debt? and keeps asking for money from rich countries? Answers to all these questions can be found in their history.

 

Mistake No.1: Military over society

Between India’s and Pakistan’s militaries, there is one big difference: the Indian military works for the people, while Pakistan’s military works for itself. “The military officially rules Pakistan for nearly half of the country’s existence; the military runs 50 commercial entities.” Pakistan’s military is Pakistan’s most powerful institution. which means the military’s general has more power than the prime minister.

How did this Happen?

let’s rewind a bit, on 14th and 15th August 1947, India and Pakistan two countries were formed. and just after two months got into a war, which is known as the “1st Kashmir War.” This war had a great impact on Pakistan. Pakistan’s leadership was constantly scared that India could attack us at any time. This fear was so strong that, in their early days, 70% of their budget was spent on the military. the more powerful military became, power started to shift from government to military. but something happened in 1954 that kept Pakistan in the dark ages for the next 70 years. and that is the doctrine of necessity?

What is this Doctrine of Necessity?

This is an ancient Roman law that gives the administration some special powers to take some extra steps. which may be against the existing laws of the constitution. These steps may be against the constitution. but at that time it is necessary to maintain law and order. This doctrine is like an emergency that must be used only in exceptional circumstances. and once law and order is established, then again the power must be shifted to the elected government.

Then the governor general of Pakistan dissolved the parliament. he said that, parliament doesn’t represent Pakistani people accurately. A few days ago, the governor general removed PM from his post. the high court said that the governor general cannot dissolve the parliament like this, but the supreme court supported the governor general. Under the doctrine of necessity, this act was considered legal. This doctrine was used again and again by the military to dismiss the government. It used it to win over political opponents and maintain its control. As a result, Pakistan spent 32 years under military rule. One after another, different generals removed prime ministers from their posts and took power in their hands. and the general perception of the people had become that the military is more organized than politicians. because politicians are busy insulting each other and toppling governments. No one was interested in taking the country ahead and making the right policies. in 2009, courts stopped this doctrine. but until then, it was too late. Political instability had become a way of life in Pakistan.

 

Mistake No.2: One Unit Politics & Division of Pakistan

as there are different states in India. The culture, languages, festivals, etc. are different, similarly in Pakistan. At the time of independence, there were 5 different provinces: East Bengal, West Punjab, Sindh, the North West Frontier Province, and Baluchistan. a bill was passed in 1955, leaving out toady’s Bangladesh, it combined all other provinces. The idea was to concentrate power in one hand. which will reduce the administration cost, decisions are taken faster and whole Pakistan is developed. But something else happened: people got frustrated because they lost their individual identity. Development happened, but in specific places only.

remote areas were completely ignored. All this discontent was happening in all provinces other than Punjab, and we will examine it one by one. Previously, Pakistan’s capital was Karachi, which was in the Sindh province. but in 1969, a new capital, Islamabad, was created. Sindhis protested this capital change a lot; they also protested a lot against the one-unit scheme. But all these protests were quashed, and the Sindhi language was also pushed down. As all the development was concentrated in one area, the Pashtuni tribes and the people of Baluchistan were feeling alienated. if you read about Baluchi insurgency and their rebellions history. you will know that, all of it started one unit scheme. This had a big impact on East Pakistan, today’s Bangladesh. If you study Pakistan’s history carefully, you will notice one trend very clearly. Between Bangladesh and Pakistan, there were geographical and cultural differences; west Pakistan spoke Urdu. and East Pakistan spoke Bengali, but still, in 1952, Urdu became Pakistan’s national language. Pakistan’s major revenue was coming from East Pakistan. till 1958, half of Pakistan’s Total exports was given by East Pakistan that’s 50%. On the other hand, Pakistan was importing more goods from the West to spend more money. Whatever foreign aid was received, only 23% was sent to the east. and rest of it was kept with the west.

As a result, there were 20 families in Pakistan that controlled the nation’s wealth. and all of them were in west Pakistan; no such entrepreneur was in east Pakistan. On top of that, in the 1970s, there was a cyclone in east Pakistan. 5 lakh people died in it, and relief material took a lot of time to reach. East Pakistani citizens were treated as second-class citizens. There are many such reasons that lead to civil war. and as a result, Bangladesh was born.

 

Mistake No.3: Supporting Extremism

This leader of Pakistan changed the future of not only Pakistan but of whole Asia. this is general Zia Ul Haq. in 1977, he did a military coup, and he became the President. Under his presidency, Pakistan started radicalizing, and in 1979, the USSR invaded Afghanistan. and Pakistan got its long-term ally, America. CIA and ISI made a deal, that to fight the Soviets they will create a rebel force. who will go to Afghanistan and fight for America so that American soldiers don’t have to go to Afghanistan. This type of warfare is known as “proxy warfare.” For this purpose, Pakistan was receiving a lot of funds, war material, arms, and ammunition from America. and this was sent through Pakistan to the Mujahideen.

A report says that, in this period, Pakistan received $5.3 billion from the USA. The Taliban was established in the same period, which has become a headache for America and Pakistan today. Pakistan-trained Taliban; the word “Taliban” literally means “student.” The fight by Afghani rebels was against the Soviet invasion. Pakistan presented this war as a war for religion. Based on this fundamental idea, many organizations were formed. In 1991, the Soviet Union broke up. What would these people do, then? They just lost their job; they stopped getting funds, so they changed their aim. and in the coming years, they committed some of the most dangerous attacks. Today, some people say that, Taliban to capture Pakistan. There were like snakes, who were going to bite their owner someday. This changed the world forever.

 

What did we get to learn from Pakistan’s mistakes?

Let’s get to the point now. Today we want to learn from Pakistan. so that in the future we don’t commit the same mistakes.

First lesson: development needs to be universal; it can’t be concentrated in the same areas. only 70% of India’s population live in rural areas even today. if employment opportunities are not reached there, then two thing can happen. one, cities will be overpopulated. and two, people in villages won’t have an option than do illegal work.  A nation is as strong as its weakest citizens; this is true.

Second lesson: the political systems need to be reformed. That may be the center, the state, or any gram panchayat. All these systems are made to solve the country’s problems. but it seems that our governments are forgetting it. In India, power is not concentrated in one institution. legislature makes laws, Judiciary protects laws and executive implements it. This division of power is a sign of a healthy democracy.

Third lesson: It is important to be told through a story. India is India because of people like Sam Manekshaw. There’s a story from 1971 in which Indra Gandhi asked Sam Manekshaw a blunt question. When are you taking over? because at that time, these things kept happening in Pakistan. Different generals were just removing prime ministers from their posts. but Sambahadur knew that  armed forces should not interfere in politics. and he clearly replied, “You mind your own business, and I will mind mine.” This is our military standard, which is still followed today. That’s why there hasn’t been even one military coup in India; our military may not be the world’s most advanced. but when we talk about standards, then for sure our military is number one. A functioning country has two main pillars: political stability and social stability. which are absent in Pakistan, and that’s why, again and again, it goes to the IMF and asks for a bailout.