Will Pakistan ever be able to ask for a treatment as equals with India after surrendering its sovereignty in wide public galore, in the aftermath of Osama shoot-outs in Pakistan? True, US had entered Afghanistan in a similar fashion, but it was essentially not a nation, rather a piece of land under the control of some rogue group of people from different origins, not sharing any cultural and historical bonds (except religious, of course).
But Pakistan, notwithstanding, curios acrobats in International diplomacy by their senior leadership, still carried a semblance of a nation. India and Pakistan share a common history and for some reason, primarily the keen interest of a large population in maintaining stability has ensured that the idea of nation survived even in the face of most cruel leaders and most insensitive governance (While we all praise the palaces and architecture of old kingdoms, is it not surprising that the distribution of wealth was so anomalous that the villages surrounding those magnificent forts were such ramshackle). Religion always played the stabilizing role in the region, giving people hope in the most desperate situations and therefore, even people like Mughals who in their own native lands were nomadic warriors, found themselves setting up empires.
It is from this same idea of stable nation that the twin nations of India and Pakistan had emerged.
Somewhere, religion which was used earlier as binding force for the larger populace of a nation, was used as a force to keep people away from ambition and confine power to traditionally rich and aristocratic families in Pakistan. The confinement eventually ensured that the circle of governing class did not expand and evolve to include competent people from other than non-ruling elite. The incompetence offered limited options for governance, and the failure was hidden from public scrutiny using religion as what Marx had claimed- the opium of masses. A general interface with Pakistani masses will show the dogmatic manner in which they tow the government line, shows how the taming of intellect with religious fundamentalism is complete. The people there do not find anything odd in the way a multi-cultural society has given way to a monolithic society with minority religion limited to a mere sub- ten percent.
Having done a near absolute cleansing, leaders in Pakistan wanted to keep people busy fighting some enemy to keep them off from the larger questions like lack of scientific education, a bankrupt economy etc. With the minority cleanup near complete, no enemy inside was in sight so initially it was Soviets and then it is India, US and Israel.
While it may seem incomprehensible to the votaries of Aman ki Aasha, usually pre-partition punjabis, living in the nostalgic memories of streets of lahore, the situation is hopeless for the nation, in which half the citizens do not consider that they belong to the nation, but rather to an imaginary religious nationhood, intelligence gathered is passed on to another nation for them to take action, descendants of Mongols are now guarding Siachin and buiding dams etc. It is utterly hopeless, but then the common man on the street have the ability to suddenly wake up and spring a surprise as JP and Anna movement in India, developments in Egypt, Syria and Libya shows. Hope the average person in Pakistan feels so bitterly betrayed that it seeks an engineer or doctor from non-feudal family to rule the country. That is only hope for India to have a safe world in the neighborhood.
But Pakistan, notwithstanding, curios acrobats in International diplomacy by their senior leadership, still carried a semblance of a nation. India and Pakistan share a common history and for some reason, primarily the keen interest of a large population in maintaining stability has ensured that the idea of nation survived even in the face of most cruel leaders and most insensitive governance (While we all praise the palaces and architecture of old kingdoms, is it not surprising that the distribution of wealth was so anomalous that the villages surrounding those magnificent forts were such ramshackle). Religion always played the stabilizing role in the region, giving people hope in the most desperate situations and therefore, even people like Mughals who in their own native lands were nomadic warriors, found themselves setting up empires.
It is from this same idea of stable nation that the twin nations of India and Pakistan had emerged.
Somewhere, religion which was used earlier as binding force for the larger populace of a nation, was used as a force to keep people away from ambition and confine power to traditionally rich and aristocratic families in Pakistan. The confinement eventually ensured that the circle of governing class did not expand and evolve to include competent people from other than non-ruling elite. The incompetence offered limited options for governance, and the failure was hidden from public scrutiny using religion as what Marx had claimed- the opium of masses. A general interface with Pakistani masses will show the dogmatic manner in which they tow the government line, shows how the taming of intellect with religious fundamentalism is complete. The people there do not find anything odd in the way a multi-cultural society has given way to a monolithic society with minority religion limited to a mere sub- ten percent.
Having done a near absolute cleansing, leaders in Pakistan wanted to keep people busy fighting some enemy to keep them off from the larger questions like lack of scientific education, a bankrupt economy etc. With the minority cleanup near complete, no enemy inside was in sight so initially it was Soviets and then it is India, US and Israel.
While it may seem incomprehensible to the votaries of Aman ki Aasha, usually pre-partition punjabis, living in the nostalgic memories of streets of lahore, the situation is hopeless for the nation, in which half the citizens do not consider that they belong to the nation, but rather to an imaginary religious nationhood, intelligence gathered is passed on to another nation for them to take action, descendants of Mongols are now guarding Siachin and buiding dams etc. It is utterly hopeless, but then the common man on the street have the ability to suddenly wake up and spring a surprise as JP and Anna movement in India, developments in Egypt, Syria and Libya shows. Hope the average person in Pakistan feels so bitterly betrayed that it seeks an engineer or doctor from non-feudal family to rule the country. That is only hope for India to have a safe world in the neighborhood.
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