By Amir Zia
The News
Sunday, April 03, 2011
“Its economic problems are rooted in poor state management, not Pakistan’s economic fundamentals, which remain robust."
Are Pakistan’s objective conditions really frightening or it is just the negative perceptions, which hold the country hostage? The answer cannot be simply in black or white. Yes, perceptions are usually the result of objective realities, but not always. There are instances when perceptions can be overblown or understated by design or by default. Ground realities do shape perceptions, but there are times when a negative or positive view works as a catalyst to influence situations — for better or for worse — rather than just painting a factual picture.
In today’s world, what are the perceptions about Pakistan?
According to Dr. Maleeha Lodhi, the distinguished journalist and former ambassador, “the prism of terror and extremism has deflected attention away from the strength and stability of underlying social structures, which have enabled the country to weather national and regional storms and rebound from disasters — natural and manmade.”
The extract is from a new book - Pakistan: Beyond The ‘Crisis State’ - which Dr. Lodhi has edited.
At a time when many predict only doom and gloom for the country both here and abroad, this book not just explores Pakistan’s multifaceted challenges, but tries to underline the important fact that these problems are soluble by identifying the policy responses.
Along with Dr. Lodhi, 16 other eminent Pakistani experts and practitioners have assessed in detail in the book the key challenges Pakistan faces on political, economic, social, foreign policy and governance fronts and spelled out ways to overcome them. Among the array of leading experts are Dr. Ishrat Husain, one of Pakistan’s most effective former central bank governors, and Dr Meekal Ahmed, an economist who held senior positions in Pakistan’s Planning Commission and the International Monetary Fund. The two in their separate articles have given their take on the issues of how to improve economic governance and key regime-changes in the economic policymaking, respectively.
Mudassir Mazhar Malik, an economist who is the executive vice chairman of BMA Capital, offers the private sector’s perspective on economic competitiveness, while Ziad Alahdad, an energy specialist, investigates what it will take to turn this sector around, which remains the single greatest impediment to economic recovery. Other experts include leading historian Ayesha Jalal, award winning journalists Zahid Hussain and Ahmed Rashid.
Together they debate their country’s strengths and weaknesses and offer ways out of its current predicament.
Despite its diversity of opinion, the underlying argument of the book remains that Pakistanis have the capacity to transform their country into a stable modern Muslim state, but bold reforms will be needed to bring about this outcome.
The articles in the book see a silver lining even in the biggest challenges and the worst of tragedies.
The devastating floods of 2010 was one such disaster both in terms of humanitarian and economic fallout, which forced the world to fear the worst for a state already shaken by the scourge of extremist and terrorist violence and an economic meltdown.
“The floods exposed the paradox that lies at the heart of Pakistan’s predicament today; that of a weak state and a strong civil society,” writes Dr. Maleeha in the opening lines of the book as she mentions the poor government response to the tragedy compared with the resilience of the people and civil society, which came forward to help the victims.
It is heartening to hear the message that the Pakistan of today is not all about extremism, intolerance, violence and terrorism or political instability and rampant corruption. Yes, these are real challenges and the country has to navigate through this minefield.
But the crux of the matter remains that along with these problems, Pakistan also has a promising potential. And that’s what contributors in the book —barring one or two — have tried to focus on while analysing the state of affairs in the country.
Not succumbing to the mood of self-denial or closing their eyes to the problems, but acknowledging them and suggesting a way forward.
“It (Pakistan) has a significant industrial base, an elaborate infrastructure of roads and communication links, a modern banking system, a large domestic market and a thriving informal economy — factors that have averted a national breakdown even when in the throes of severe financial crisis,” writes Dr. Lodhi.
“Its economic problems are rooted in poor state management, not Pakistan’s economic fundamentals, which remain robust. It has managed — in spurts — to achieve high rates of economic growth, not nearly enough to keep pace with an exploding population, but sufficient to invest the country with several features of a modern nation.”
In these tough and uncertain times, Pakistan - Beyond the ‘Crisis State’, appears as a significant addition to the contemporary literature on the country. It challenges the conventional wisdom and goes beyond the hysteria created by the western media about Pakistan that depicts it as a failed or a failing state.
The book gives not just an alternate paradigm, but helps develop a better and a deeper understanding of this nuclear-armed nation, which has again and again defied all the odds and survived to write its destiny.
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