Adil Najam
Pakistan Day is a day of celebration. But it is also a day of reflection on what we have been through and what lies ahead of us.
In this, the second in our series of special posts to mark Pakistan Day 2009, we want to focus on what lies ahead in terms of the biggest threats to Pakistan’s future. In the next post in this series we intend to focus more on the opportunities.
It is an understatement to say that Pakistan is floating through an especially precarious time in its precarious history. Indeed, Pakistan is passing through a defining time.
There is no dearth of threats facing Pakistan. But in this special ATP Poll for Pakistan Day we would like you to think ahead and respond to the question: “What, in your opinion, is the single biggest and most important threat facing Pakistan?” THIS POLL IS NOW CLOSED.
Our ATP Poll gives you eight major options to choose from. If you think there are others that are even bigger, do let us know. Also, please comment on which of these is the most important one for you, and why? If, by any chance, you have suggestions on what to do about these threats do please share your views. That, after all, is the most important question of them all. THIS POLL IS NOW CLOSED.
So I voted for “religious extremism and violence” as the biggest threat. I might have considered other options, but my vote suffered from a bias because only today I saw a documentary (linked below) that brought the message home.
The documentary is by Sharmeen Obeid-Chinoy, a wonderfully talented Pakistani film-maker (I know she’s been featured on Pakistaniat before), and is called “Pakistan’s Taliban Generation.” I don’t know how many of you have seen it before (I think it aired on TV recently) but for those who have not, here it is:
The youtube video has five parts, 50 minutes in total.
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcj9m7s7TWI
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRtYzLUnEzU&feature =related
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxjXMkR01Q0&feature =related
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep9lNFWY4nw&feature =related
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msycUqQzfTw&feature =related
Very, very disturbing and ominous. Enjoy people! :)
education, education, education. free flow of information and unbiased education is the solution to extremism
Going little off topic here, but a quick root cause analysis of our constant failures suggest that the biggest threat has been our narrow minds and unwillingness to accept change and the fact that no two people are the same (in terms of faith, belief, race, sex, ethnicity, color, physical appearance, wealth etc) and should be respected unconditionally. The same is also the main cause for lack of trust among ourselves, and trust is the main factor for advancing.
The URL for the daily times article mentioned in my earlier comment is here:
“Development: Debt we can
“The list is missing a very important option, especially given the focus during the past three years: inaccessibility to justice. It sounds cliche, but accessibility to justice is usually the primary determinant of a society