Pakistan celebrates 75th anniversary of its independence on August 14 and these years have surely been a switchback ride for the nation. The Father of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah wanted to hoist a flag of true democracy in the country but his untimely demise left the country in shambles and chaos. It is an irony that even after 75 years of existence, the country is still grappling with serious challenges which have stymied its growth, stability and prosperity. This week, Bol News talks to four leading experts and analysts about the key challenges faced by Pakistan…

Dr Maleeha Lodhi
Former Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations

Among the enduring challenges, Pakistan faces are the structural crisis of the economy, the state’s weakening institutional capacity, the education deficit, uncontrolled population growth, environmental degradation and growing intolerance in society. Security challenges also endure with an unstable Afghanistan on the western frontier, a hostile India on the country’s eastern flank and a resurgence of militant groups within the country.

Although Pakistan has lurched from crisis to crisis it has also possessed a remarkable ability to rebound from crises. It is the country’s remarkable resilience that has stood the test of time and enabled it to nullify the doomsday scenarios of Pakistan’s detractors, who said the country would keel over from so many crises. This speaks of the country’s dynamism and potential. But it is yet to be fully realised.

The economic challenge is the most consequential for the country’s future as without addressing that on a sustainable basis, the rest will be in vain. Political polarisation and confrontation are casting a shadow over the economy. Today, Pakistan’s economic situation is challenging but not as dire as Sri Lanka’s and it has already concluded an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package. It is false to suggest Pakistan can be like Sri Lanka and default on its external obligations. It has never done this in the past.

It also has promises of financial support from friendly countries. It will overcome the present economic challenge but it must address its structural problems to avert another crisis. The country needs consensus on an economic compact before any announcement on elections, whenever that may be. It needs the present political confrontation between the government and opposition to cease. The political drama is overshadowing the economic crisis today. The diamond jubilee of Pakistan’s independence should oblige all political leaders to rise above their partisan interests and put the country first. Without addressing the economic crisis on a sustainable basis, all else will be in vain.

Javed Jabbar
Author, former senator

If I look at the whole 75-year period, I would divide the challenges Pakistan faced into five phases. The first challenge was survival because we were created at literally 10 weeks’ notice without any infrastructure. Most of the physical infrastructure was concentrated in the parts that became India. Pakistan was facing two hostile neighbours and one of them is a predominantly Muslim –Afghanistan. India had predicted that Pakistan will collapse in six months.

The second sets of challenges were structural because we were the first nations to be created with two wings — East and West Pakistan — and the people in both wings were equal. Yet, the level of development in East Pakistan for over 200 years had been the worst in South Asia. The British had deliberately neglected East Bengal. So Pakistan had to deal with this extraordinary situation of two wings.

The third set of challenges rose with Pakistan becoming the first state after the World War II and disintegrated in 1971. Therefore, disintegration was another challenge. The fourth set of challenges has been the continuous search for equilibrium in the civil-military relationship. The military has intervened four times in Pakistan’s 75 years of history. It also continues to play its role without direct intervention. So, for the political and civil system to become stable and capable without the armed forces feeling that they have to fill a vacuum of competence and leadership, remains a challenge.

The fifth sets of challenges are the socio-economic challenges. Pakistan has a higher population growth than other Muslim majority countries. We have not been able to bring it down. This means that whatever progress we make, it is eroded and nullified by the new number of children that we bring into this country and that will continue to be a problem. So that leads to the fact that even the economic development that we have witnessed is subject to the pressures arising from high population growth and the impact of climate change.

Dr Rifaat Hussain

The challenges we faced in the 80s and 90s have come to haunt us again. The first challenge is the economic meltdown that Pakistan is facing because, as you know, nothing works without an efficient economy and it’s the backbone of your society. If an economy fails then the whole society fails.

If Pakistan wants to avoid the situation of a failed state then the economy has to get stabilised. It has to grow minimally by at least five to six per cent to stay where we are. If we fail to achieve that kind of growth then there is no future for us. The economic situation of Pakistan has deteriorated for the past seven years. I’m not blaming the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government or the current government. It’s because of the structural flaw. We are heavily indebted and our import and export balance are also not sufficient. We spend a total of $30 billion on imports per year and our export earnings are only a fraction of what we are importing. We must address this issue because we are continually asking for loans which are roughly 85 per cent of our total Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

This means that the bulk of our GDP will be spent trying to repay the debt that we have already incurred. So, in this situation, we cannot have any social or economic development.

Secondly, as far as political stability is concerned, all the other parties are on one side and PTI is on the other. Reducing polarisation in the country is equally imperative as boosting economic stability and they are linked with each other.

Thirdly, terrorism has also become a major issue in this country because of the situation in Afghanistan and the western side. So, these are the perennial concerns the country has not been able to address in these 75 years. These challenges have not been dealt with successfully up till now in Pakistan.

Dr Wasim Qazi
Vice Chancellor, Iqra University

We have been going through a historical crisis for the past 75 years. We could’ve coped with this crisis had we been provided with efficient knowledge via our educational institutes. The economy, education and politics are interconnected with each other. In these 75 years, there was tangible development in the education sector like infrastructural growth; however, it lacked intangible development like value addition and contribution towards knowledge.

Proving our identity through education is the biggest challenge Pakistanis are facing today. Only education can give success and power to society. You cannot educate people by making institutes and departments or by regulations. It can only be achieved by a collective political will and consciousness. This collective consciousness pledges us to build our nation and identities. Then we have to see how we have exhibited our collective will in the form of our curriculum and the objectives and standards being set in it. This curriculum should promote free and critical thinking, creativity, social values and tolerance, right from the play group till graduation. It should also link with socio-cultural development and economic and political development.

Secondly, how well equipped, knowledgeable, skilled and empathetic are the people delivering this curriculum. The third subset is the integrity of the students. Education in this world is not degree bound anymore. Unfortunately, the structure through which we measure competencies is examination based. We need to change this system to make our students freely utilise their skills in socio-economic, socio-political and socio-cultural development that will simultaneously grow the human capital. For this, the institutions should play a pivotal role in strengthening the teachers, students, curriculum and the system. But are they willing to facilitate us?