Pakistan: From Failed State to Disintegration?

Dr Firoz Mahboob Kamal

The Army occupation

Pakistan was created with high hopes and Islamic vision by the Muslims of South Asia. The Muslims of different provincial and linguistic identities of India worked together to develop Pakistan as a pan-Islamic civilisational state. After the demolition of khilafah, the Muslim Ummah direly needed such a civilisational state. But the country has failed them tremendously. It is now a de facto failed state and moving fast towards disintegration. Its cementing glue like pan-Islamism got eroded long ago by its most securlised institutions like the Army, the judiciary, the bureaucracy and the media.

The Pakistan Army is one of the most racist institutions in Pakistan fed on Punjabi ethnic identity. Since its creation, Pakistan has been hijacked by the Army generals who were never a part in its creation. Instead, they did everything to dismember Pakistan in 1971. Even now, the state of Pakistan stands occupied by the Army thugs. They run the country by their pet political proxies. These proxies are known for their thievery  and robbery.   

Nurture of racism

Racism breeds racism. And it kills Islamic brotherhood. Because of Punjabi racism, the Army officers from East Pakistan became more Bengali racist than their civilian Bengali compatriots. So the man who first declared independence from Pakistan on Air was not Shaikh Mujibur Rahman or any civilian, but a Bengali Pak Army officer Major Ziaur Rahman. So, as an institution, the Pakistan Army failed to nurture Muslim brotherhood and fraternity among officers of different linguistic identities. This is why a Pathan, a Baluch or a Sindhi officer serving in the Army is more racist than his civilian compatriots of the same linguistic identity.   

Because of Punjabi racism,  the people of other provinces have also become equally racist. And such racism always generates racial killing; and such killing is now quite common in Pakistan. Balochistan -the highly deprived province in Pakistan is now the hot bed of such killings. The targets are the people of  the province of Punjab.    

Toxic milieu of disintegration

Pakistan is deeply inundated by corruption, injustices and exploitations. Such a toxic milieu makes peaceful living on the same premise impossible. In a household filled with injustices and exploitations, even sons and daughters of the same parents can not stay together. They get widely separated from each other. Such a toxic milieu also causes disintegration of a county. That is the reason that led to the dismemberment of Pakistan in 1971. Because of the same political, economic and social pathology, Pakistan is on the edge of further dismemberment.

It must be understood that secularism -the ideology of the ruling elites of Pakistan can never keep people of different ethnicities and linguistic identities together. Only Islam could do that. And the political, religious, educational and cultural institutions are more capable of nurturing that Islamic brotherhood. 

Since the Army is the hard core secularist force in Pakistan, it can never generate Islamic glue. Rather they damage the glue by killing the innocent people of other ethnicities -as they did in East Pakistan in 1971. This way, the Army can only generate deeper hatred among people of different ethnicities.

It is a shame that the Pakistan Army generals haven’t learned any lessons from their past crimes. As a result, the ruling elites of the Army are doing everything to exacerbate the problems. The Army has become a power-grabbing and land-grabbing institution. It has hardly any agenda to defend Pakistan’s internal cohesion and integration. 

The Army has inflicted a lethal blow on Pakistan’s solidarity by jailing Imran Khan -the only acceptable leader of all provinces of Pakistan. He is also the most popular leader in Pakistan. Pakistan was created by a democratic process and also can sustain only by democratic process. And only through democracy, it is possible to generate the sense of the ownership of the country to other ethnicities. And only through democracy, it is possible to ensure the participation of people of all provinces in running the country. 

The Pakistan Army is a destructive force in Pakistan. Its enemity is not only against democracy but also against the integrity of Pakistan, The Army dismembered the country in 1971 and if it continues to stay in power it will definitely dismember the country in the near future. The Army’s dismemberment project of Pakistan started when it obstructed the participation of East Pakistanis in running the country by killing democracy by a military coup in 1958. Since Ayub Khan had pathological Bengali phobia, he deprived the East Pakistanis of the ownership of Pakistan. He was indeed the enemy of united Pakistan. Otherwise, a majority population never secedes from the minority. Unfortunately, the Army has taken the same route to impede people’s democratic participation.  

Inaction is complicity

When the country is under the occupation of armed thugs and autocrats, silence and inaction are indeed the complicity in the crime. It is awful that the politicians, the common people, the students, the media and the intellectuals of Pakistan are not active enough to eliminate the rule of these corrupt generals. They have become mere silent watchers. They could have learned lessons from the Bangladeshi model of removing the tyrants. Tyrant Shaikh Hasina of Bangladesh was much stronger than the current tyrant rulers of Pakistan. She solidified her power by 16 years of rule. And India with its heavy intelligence network, was strongly behind her. But the student’s power could do miracles. Why not the same revolution in Pakistan?

In Pakistan – especially in the Punjab, a culture of submission to the Army rule overwhelms. They are not doing enough to end the illegal Army rule. Whereas, as the majority population of Pakistan, the people of the Punjab have a greater role. They must play a  role to end the ongoing corruption, injustices, exploitation and the thuggish Army rule. Otherwise, they will be blamed as the partners and beneficiaries of the Army’s crimes. Since most of the Army generals and soldiers are from the Punjab, there is a heavy consequence if they stay silent. 

Out of frustration and anger, the people of the other three provinces of Pakistan now stand against the people of Punjab. The people of Punjab  are considered as the accomplices in the Army rule. So they are considered enemies of the people of the other three provinces. If the Army thugs continue to rule, Pakistan will be left with only one option. That is another disintegration. It is sad that a Muslim country like Pakistan is moving towards such an unfortunate end. 26/08/2024