The secrets of Pakistan's survival

Pakistan has seen rapid change in its 62 years of existence. At partition, the population of what was then West Pakistan (the people of East Pakistan took matters into their own hands in 1971 and created Bangladesh) was around 30 million. Today it is closer to 180 million. Pakistanis have been struggling to cope with the demographic explosion ever since.
The 33 long years of direct military rule and numerous wars have not helped, though Pakistanis have never lacked courage or a desire for genuine democracy. Each decade has seen its special dilemmas and surprises, none more frightening than the Talibanisation of the Pakhtun frontier and, possibly, beyond. From bulwark against communism to terrorist menace, the army has received a massive injection of American arms.
But no front line, real or imagined, has been more fateful than the state's foundational moments. In 1940 the idea of Pakistan, a separate state for the subcontinent's Muslims, was formally adopted by its leadership under the Lahore Resolution. Significantly, the resolution spoke of "mandatory safeguards ... in the constitution for minorities ... for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights".
Mohammad Ali Jinnah, known as the father of Pakistan, championed this pluralism. In 1946 he remarked: "Religion is dear to us. All the worldly goods are nothing when we talk of religion. But there are other things which are very vital – our social life and our economic life, and without political power how can you defend your faith and your economic life?"
A year later, on 14 August 1947 – 62 years ago today – Pakistan was born.
Not all of colonial India's Muslims accepted the notion of a separate Muslim state, but around 7 million, including an equal number of Hindus and Sikhs who were moving in the opposite direction, left their homes to join those already living in what is now Pakistan. Paradoxically, these peoples, now drawn upon sectarian lines, fell victim to communal violence at the very moment their new nations promised liberation.
"Pakistan was created on the basis of the two-nation theory," explains Pervez Hoodbhoy from Qaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, "a belief that Muslims and Hindus were separate peoples who could never live together".
He adds: "The unstated assumption was that Muslims – by virtue of sharing a common faith – naturally constituted a nation and could live together harmoniously by virtue of that."
But events since then – the civil war that created Bangladesh and the current Taliban insurgency to name just two – place that assumption under serious doubt.
History is not merely written by the great individual, no matter how much the powerful might think otherwise. But Mohammad Ali Jinnah holds a special place in the development of Pakistan. As ZH Zaidi wrote, "What distinguished Jinnah from his great contemporaries is that he was quite self-consciously a modern man – one who valued, above all, reason, discipline, organisation, and economy ... [who] differed from other Muslim leaders in so far as he was uncompromisingly committed to substance rather than symbol, reason rather than emotion, modernity rather than tradition."
It has proven difficult for Jinnah's successors to live up to his credentials, though all invoke his name and image. "His ideals have been overlooked," says historian Ayesha Jalal, "particularly the rule of law of which he was a fervent advocate."
In any country, politics is rarely about the rule of law. In Pakistan, it has the added vice of being held hostage to individuals whose personal alliances shift so rapidly that recent events soon become historical footnotes leading to some of the most ironic displays of political drama – like the use, by one-time political prisoner President Asif Ali Zardari, of authoritarian laws from the British Raj to stifle public protest, or opposition leader Nawaz Sharif's apparent championing of the recently reinstated chief justice despite his overt intimidation of the higher courts while prime minister in the 1990s.
"In such circumstances," writes the historian Ian Talbot, "patronage alone can secure party cohesion and stability." That may explain why the current executive has an unwieldy 60 cabinet ministers.
It is in opposition that Pakistani politics is at its best. Opposition transformed the Bhuttos into brave, virtuoso statesmen and women. When not in power, each political movement, even the Taliban, has looked to the abundance of ills that plague the nation to garner popular support. Once incumbent, however, all have been guilty of perpetuating the same vices. As a result, intrigues prevail while inequality and poverty remain entrenched.
"Pakistan is beset by conspiracy theories," one analyst wrote derisively about the country recently. But western commentators tend to ignore the extent to which their own governments, especially those of the United Kingdom and United States, have stunted the development of democratic politics by favouring centres of concentrated power.
Pakistanis are deeply aware of this. According to an al-Jazeera poll, a staggering 59% of Pakistanis consider the US the greatest threat to the country. Pakistanis may too-readily look to the US to explain their country's problems, but the world's only superpower has never trusted them much either.
No postwar nation has been written off more regularly than Pakistan. That it survives remains a profound mystery to outside observers. That may partly explain the constant warnings about its impending collapse. The forecasts reflect a tendency to assume the worst about Pakistan, but its survival is a testament to the resilience of its people.

Pakistan celebrates 62nd Independence Day with Zeal, Fervor

The nation celebrated 62nd Independence Day of Pakistan Friday with great zeal and fervor renewing commitment to make the fabulous homeland – Pakistan strong, progressive and prosperous. It was a public holiday.

The day dawned with special prayers in mosques for peace, progress and prosperity of the country.The Independence Day celebrations, which kicked off midnight Thursday rose to it height this morning, which continued for the whole day, as the ruling Pakistan People’s Party as well as other major political parties were all set to celebrate the historic day in a dignified manner by hoisting national and party flags.