Tariq Ali was not the first one to pose the question, “Can Pakistan survive?” when he chose it as the title of his study more than 35 years ago. Since Pakistan came into being after a non-traditional process, fears of its mortality have been a part of its people’s psyche. Successive governments have kept this fear alive by using it to blackmail the people into surrendering to their inefficient and oppressive rule. However, anxieties about Pakistan’s life have never been so severe and widespread as they are today because ordinary citizens can see their country being caught in a battle that could prove fatal.
The question of survival is not equally relevant to all the three components of Pakistan’s identity – the land, the people, and the state. There can be no fear of the demise of the land of Pakistan. It has survived the ravages of time since antiquity and it will survive whatever may befall the state of Pakistan. Even if some parts of this land, or even the whole of it, get covered by water, it will only be submerged but will not disappear. Similarly, the people will survive as they have survived countless convulsions over thousands of years. It is only the state of Pakistan that can be subject to the laws of life and death.
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12:03 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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