Fall of Pakistan!

With situation getting out of control in much of Pakistan and amidst fears of Rawalpindi intervening sooner rather than later to 'restore the rule of law', there is a genuine concern in many parts of world, especially in the sub-continent as to what future holds for Pakistan.

For a state founded on hatred and malice, Pakistan has fared relatively well until now. The beginnings of doom for Pakistan were laid, I believe, when it chose to forsake the liberal-secular garb of a modern nation-state that Jinnah wished to drape over this fledgling state. Jinnah's death, followed by the 'On-Off' democracy ensured that Pakistan never had a long-term strategy for its own evolution. The Army meddled in Civilian affairs as and when it pleased, and the Politicians, not unlike the feudal lords, waited in the sidelines. Allah, was the unifying factor that lead to the birth of the existence, soon became omnipresent and overbearing. Liberal Sufi traditions were bulldozed to pave the way for a rabid extremist state. Tacit support for promoting militancy across it own borders meant that Pakistan ended up creating a Frankenstein, without realizing so.

Pakistan's geo-poltical location has also contributed to the state it is in. Sandwiched between the Soviet empire to the north (that gobbled up Afghanistan in '78), a Soviet Sympathetic India and a fanatical and a venemous Islamic Iran, Pakistan tried in vain to reap the best out of the unflinching US support. With billions of dollars at its disposal, the Pakistani army, produced jehadis with an assembly-line efficiency and hurled them at the Soviets and India. With the Soviets gone, and the 'Jehad' in India turning out to be a stalemate, these radicals turned on Pakistan and its Liberal-Democratic institutions. Democracy, which had never flourished in Pakistan, increasingly succumbed to the whims of these barbarians.

Now, coming to the question. Is Pakistan's fall imminent any time soon? In spite of the volatile situation, the answer is hard to arrive at. Inspite of having sucessfully assumed all the trappings of a falied state, Pakistan still has a substantial middle class, that has hope, faith and belief in a strong Pakistan. Although, this constituency is slowly and steadily getting radicalized, there is stil some hope for Pakistan. Unfortunately for Pakistan though, this middle class is concentrated solely in the 'wealthy' provinces of Punjab and Sindh. Hence, there have already been rumblings of dissent and secession in impoverished Baluchistan, but the heavily armed Pakistani army has been successfully stifling all such tendencies. NWFP has already been lost to the Taliban and should anyways, logically speaking, be a part of Afghanistan, as it is demogaphically more contiguous with it and became a part of British- India by means of coercion and deceit. The end of Pakistan will have become certain when Sindhis, long oppressed by their 'cousins' in Punjab rise up against the tyranny of the central government, for only then will Pakistan die once and for all. This did happen once in the early 80s, but the sentiment has never been as strong since.

Anyways, if Pakistan was but a grand noble thought to liberate all of India's Muslims from the Oppressive tyranny of the Subcontinent's majority Hindu Community, then the thought is long dead. If the creation of Bangladesh was a near-fatal blow, then the collapse of Pakistan would forever bury this wicked idea!