Winning The Wars Within --- With Peace

Several successes, despite failures:
Internal conflicts that arise from such glaring deficits obscure notable facts.

Simultaneously, Pakistan has also achieved rare, remarkable success. In fields as diverse as institutional efficiency and peace diplomacy (1947 onwards), in producing thousands, if not millions, of citizens who attain success in overseas countries both as highly skilled professionals as well as low-skilled manual workers, in peaceful uses of nuclear power as well as in producing nuclear weapons. And in combating potent threats from hostile neighbours through conventional, non-nuclear power wielded with courage and intelligence by the very same military that is otherwise unduly obtrusive in the political realm.

Contrary to the assumption that there are irredeemable ethnic, linguistic schisms within Pakistan, in actual fact, a binding, overarching identity of “Pakistaniat” has distinctly evolved over the past 79 years

While our official economy globally ranks 40th, and our nominal GDP per capita ranks low at 160th with $1903 per person, our freelance economy, driven mainly by IT usage, places us as the world’s 4th largest: an eloquent indicator of our vast potential. While our overall health care sector reveals myriad defects, there are many individual centres of excellence in the public sector: funded substantially, for example, by the Provincial Government in Sindh, and also by other Provincial Governments, the Federal Government, and very generously also by private and corporate philanthropy.

Institutions such as SIUT, JPMC, NICVD deliver top-quality care to millions of poor and low-income citizens side by side with LRBT, SKCT, AKH, and numerous other community-based bodies that also provide relief and care to millions. In education, innovative initiatives such as tablet-based learning through micro-schools run by the Teach-the-World Foundation (aided by the Sindh Education Foundation) to enrol thousands from the millions of out-of-school children. TCF and other non-profit schools such as SOS Community Schools also demonstrate laudable efforts, with vital support from Government or purely private efforts, to meet enormous demand.

Critical needs, inadequate attention:
Yet such advances and triumphs --- and heroic sacrifices of life and limb by soldiers, officers, police, citizens in confronting terrorism, violence, crime --- do not compensate for the pervasive impact of the inherent conflict, the confrontation between critical need and inadequate attention to it --- with impact going beyond education and health care. Our low labour productivity, low agricultural productivity, low participation of women in the organized workforce are but three reflections of the crisis. While high population growth neutralizes commendable successes and stunts all-round advancement.

Faced at birth itself by two inimical neighbours, Pakistan has tended to see war as an external threat. Whereas, the equally potent threat arose from the failure to address development priorities with the same clarity, resource mobilization and resolve applied to meet external dangers. Now in 2026, viewing 2047 as the 100th anniversary of the miraculous creation of Pakistan, there is a dire need to prepare carefully for, then launch, and sustain without distraction an all-embracing assault on the obstacles and causes for our punching way below our weight as the world’s fifth largest country by population. The social sectoral dimensions of the most important fronts on which the internal war has to be launched and won have been identified in the preceding content herein.

Citizens and political activism:
So where could one begin? The irreducible place is in the political sphere, with the concept of “political” being far larger and inclusive than the form and function of the political parties, which have mainly focused on securing power through the outmoded first-past-the-post electoral system inherited from the British and retained thereafter because it conveniently ensures repeated re-election of parties and candidates who secure well less than half, or, more often, even less than one-third or one-fourth of the total registered votes. And yet claim to represent all, or the vast majority! Thus two reforms are needed. Voting to be made compulsory --- to make elections and democracy truly representative (as in 24 other countries). And make it incumbent for winners to secure at least a 50 per cent plus one vote, to truly represent the majority --- through holding a second or third round, if needed.

Citizens should stop seeing politics as being only about elections and power, and receiving benefits, and expressing grievances and cursing politicians --- even while continuing to vote for them. Instead, citizens must begin contributing to the political process on an active, engaged basis. Not just through frustration and vitriol via social media and in daily discourse or as mute audiences of TV news channels. But by direct, physical, mental, emotional engagement. In either strengthening and internally democratizing existing political parties. Or by forming new, internally democratic political parties.

Unlike the multifront, externally-instigated violent war, the multi-front war within can only be won if it is peaceful. Tension and resistance during internal wars for development are inevitable. But the resistance by both society and state must be firmly non-violent, patient, accommodative --- without compromise on integrity and vision --- to become truly transformative.