The new government to be led by Nawaz Sharif will have to tread a very difficult path to manage, if not solve, the monumental problems that confront the Pakistani state and society.
What we are seeing in Pakistan is the ushering in of an anti-democratic Islamic order through the ballot box. What is more, the Pakistan Army has decided to also indirectly ensure that Islam is never “taken out of Pakistan”.
With an expected fractured poll results, Pakistan is further heading towards uncertainty. The question is not so much as to who forms the next government but more importantly on how it functions. Chances are that the May 11 elections could well end up making Pakistan further ungovernable.
This article seeks to study the post-partition and especially post-1971 experimentation with history writing in Pakistan and focuses on how the revisiting of the partition has led to a reinvention of history by the selective contraction, misinterpretation and even omission of certain periods believed to be detrimental to the process of nation building in Pakistan. The article seeks to selectively apply the Hegelian approach and make a case for a common history, which it is hoped will facilitate better relations and greater mutual understanding between the nations of the sub-continent.
Like all its predecessors, the government that just completed its tenure miserably failed to promote what a democratic state is supposed to first and foremost, namely, foster the multi-faceted development of all its citizens.
The Pakistanis are playing a high-stakes gamble, one in which they think the odds are stacked in their favour in a way that while they stand to gain a lot even if things don’t quite work in the way they imagine they won’t end up losing too much.
Nuclear force development is at present an attractive means for Pakistan to attract international political and financial assistance, while salving the paranoias of its security establishment. Improvement in the state-society relationship could reduce the domestic appeal of endless nuclear expansion as other, more sustainable, resources become available to the state for building economic growth and security.
“Innovation” has become a buzz word in recent science and technology policies of various countries. It has also been given ample importance in the science and technology policies and programmes of India, China and Pakistan. It is interesting to know on what exactly these countries are focusing in their recent science and technology policies and how these new policies and programmes will help them in social development, economic growth, technology innovation and pursuing national interests.
The soil of Pakistan, because of its culture, customs, traditions, values, the temperament of the people and even state policies, provides the ideal ground for Islamic radicalism, extremism, sectarianism and terrorism.
What is happening in Pakistan today is no secret. It is a country ruled by a shaky coalition of political parties led by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). The government and judiciary are on a collision course with one Prime Minister (Yousuf Raza Gillani) having had to resign. The Army, the force behind every major decision in Pakistan, is zealously guarding its turf and dominant position in the polity, irrespective of who heads the government and unmindful of the ultimate consequences.
