PAKISTAN: A FAILED STATE

-AN OVERVIEW
Noam Chomsky’s paradigm
example of a failed state
 Noted philosopher and political activist Noam
Chomsky has said Pakistan is a "paradigm
example of a failed state" that has undergone an
"extremely dangerous form of radical
Islamisation".

 The country is now in danger of "collapsing" as it

grapples with rebellion, militancy and extremism
that is "getting worse" and the assassination of
former premier Benazir Bhutto might increase
unrest in Sindh and FATA, Chomsky told the a
newspaper in an interview
Gilani’s counter-accusation

 Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has strongly

rejected the impression that Pakistan was a
failed state, and said the country's all vital
institutions were functioning properly.

 Addressing a special session on Pakistan and its

neighbours, Gilani termed it "unfair" on part of
the international community to view Pakistan as
a failed state and said country's Constitution,
parliament, judiciary and the media were
indicators of the fact that it was not a failed
state.
 Islamic Republic of Pakistan ‫اسالمی جمہوریہ پاکِستان‬
Islāmī Jumhūrī-ye Pākistān
 Flag State Emblem 'Motto: '‫ يقين ُمحکم‬،‫ تنظيم‬،‫اتحاد‬
Ittehad, Tanzeem, Yaqeen-e-Muhkam (Urdu)
"Unity, Discipline and Faith“
 Anthem:
‫قومی ترانہ‬Qaumī Tarāna
 Capital Islamabad
Largest city Karachi
 Official language(s) Urdu (National) English Regional languages Punjabi,
Pashto, Sindhi, Seraiki and Balochi

 Founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah -
 President Asif Zardari (PPP) - Prime MinisterYousaf Gillani (PPP) -
Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry - Chair of Senate Farooq Naek (PPP)
 Islamic republic 23 March 1956
 Provinces  Territories
 Islamabad
 Balochistan
 Federally Administered
 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tribal Areas
 Punjab  Azad Jammu and Kashmir
 Sindh  Gilgit-Baltistan
Army-Centric development

 With India having a population that is seven

times as big as that of Pakistan, the Indian army
should have been at least three or four times the
size of the Pakistan army. But that is not the
case; the Indian army is less than one and a half
times as big as the Pakistani army. That is
because, since independence India has spent
relatively more on development and less on
defence while Pakistan has spent almost
everything on arms and very little on
development.
Population
 The Pakistani paper the Jang reported in September
2003

 Pakistan's population will swell to 349 million by year 2050,

making it the fourth most populated country in the world

 The population growth has caused an eight-time increase

in the unemployment...With almost one third of the
population living in abject poverty, 54 million people do not
have access to safe drinking water ... 53.5 million are
illiterates. The population explosion has led to the shortage
of educational facilities, health services, housing units,
food, living space, arable land and clean water
Social Structure
 In an editorial in the Indian Express that
appeared on January 28th 2002, VP Dutt wrote:

 Another fundamental flaw is the very narrow

social base of the ruling elite. Pakistan is ruled by
four interest groups or their coalition: military,
bureaucracy, the feudal lords and the industrial
barons. Making up the nucleus of these four
interest groups, it is believed, are a dozen corps
commanders, nearly 2,000 landlords owning more
than half the cultivable land, a cadre of nearly
1,000 officers and less than 50 industrial families.
It is they who own Pakistan and rule in the name
of the people.
Middle class?
 A curious anomaly of Pakistan is the almost
complete absence of a "middle class". The middle
class in Pakistan have been estimated as being
about 10 to 12 million in total forming about 8%
of the population. The contrast with India now is
stunning with estimates of the middle class in
India forming about 25 to 30% of the population.

 A large middle class is an indicator of the

development of a society from the traditional
feudal pattern into a more modern society.
Education
 The state of education in Pakistan was described
by Raymond Bonner in the New York Times on
31st March 2002:

 Pakistan's literacy rate ranks below that of

countries like Haiti, Rwanda and Sudan, according
to the most recent United Nations Development
Program report.

 Pakistan's most recent budget sets aside $107

million for education, compared with $2 billion for
the military.
 Madrassa Education
 According to Dr. Tariq Rahman, Professor of Linguistics and South Asian
Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan had only 137
madrassas in 1947. Dr. Rahman writes of Pakistani madrassas-

 In 1950 there were 210 of them while in 1971 they increased to 563.
Nowadays there are at least 7000 of them. After the 1971 war of liberation
of Bangladesh, the process of making Pakistanis more Islamic, the so called
Islamization of Pakistan was given impetus. It was initiated by Prime
Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and the Pakistani General Zia ul Haq who
removed Bhutto in a coup and later hanged him, accelerated the process.
The exact number of madrassas cannot be known because of the lack of
registration or census.

 But during the Cold War, the number of madrassas burgeoned rapidly and
tens of thousands were set up offering only a narrow interpretation of Islam
in which young people were indoctrinated into the concept of a violent
jihad against unbelievers, and taught to believe that death on the
battlefield fighting against the enemies of Islam such as the Soviet Union
would ensure eternal paradise for the Islamic fighters.
 Curricula in schools
 The following quotes are taken from an in depth study of what Pakistani school children
are being taught in a compilation entitled The Subtle Subversion - The State of Curricula
and Textbooks in Pakistan by A.H. Nayyar and Ahmed Salim :
 Madrassas are not the only institutions breeding hate, intolerance, a distorted world view,
etc. The educational material in the government run schools do much more than
madrassas. The textbooks tell lies, create hate, incite for jehad and shahadat, and much
more. Children are now taught that the history of Pakistan starts from the day the first
Muslim set foot in India. History and Pakistan studies textbooks rarely mention the ancient
and non-controversial cultures of the Indus valley (Moenjodaro, Harrappa and Kot Diji), and
completely bypass the entire Buddhist and Hindu periods of history.
 A call for change was made by Pakistani Federal Minister for Education Ms Zobaida Jalal
in a statement published in the Pakistan Tribune online in March 2004
 a committee has been constituted to work out recommendations for deletion of material
from curricula which is aimed at fomenting hatred against India adding that the committee
will submit its recommendations within a month. Several social organizations have raised
objection that hatred is fanned against India through the curricula of educational
institutions in Pakistan. Government has set up a committee to look into the matter and
send its recommendations within a month
 Economy and exports
 Pakistan remains primarily an agricultural economy. Not a
single wrist-watch, scooter or motorcycle has appeared on the
international market with a ‘Made in Pakistan’ label on it
 Diversified economies of Karachi and Punjab's urban centers,
coexist with lesser developed areas in other parts of the country
 The Economic crisis of 2008 led Pakistan to seek more than
$100 billion in aid in order to avoid possible bankruptcy.This was
never given to Pakistan and it had to depend on a more
aggressive fiscal policy, backed by the IMF
 Apparel and textiles accounts for nearly 60% of exports
 Industry : Food processing, chemicals manufacture, and the iron
and steel industries
 Karachi's Orangi Township has surpassed Dharavi as Asia’s
largest slum.
 Façade of Indigenous
production
 Pakistani spokespersons never tire of speaking of Pakistan's
indigenous missiles - given names like Hatf, Ghauri and
Shaheen. These brave names may perhaps be essential for
national pride, but even a cursory search of authoritative
sources shows that Pakistan's Hatf, Ghauri and Shaheen
missiles are Chinese M-9 or M-11 missiles, or North Korean No-
Dong missiles

 Pakistani authorities have to maintain a facade of indigenous

production for items that are widely known to be imported.
The most likely reason for maintaining this charade of
indigenous development of missiles is to obscure the fact that
dangerous, nuclear capable missiles are being supplied by
countries like China and North Korea to Pakistan ignoring
international treaties that forbid such exports
Pakistan’s trouble belt
 Pakistan's border region with Afghanistan serves as a safe haven
for domestic and international terrorist groups. Since 9/11, it has
caused tension with Kabul and sparked international security
concerns. The region also poses one of the greatest challenges
toward building a stable Afghanistan. The 1,600-mile border,
known as the Durand Line, divides tribes of the Pashtun ethnic
group on either side of Pakistan and Afghanistan. But the
boundary drawn by the British in 1893 was never recognized by
Afghanistan and has long been disregarded by tribal clans in the
area.

 The Pakistan side of the border includes the provinces of

Balochistan, the North West Frontier Province, and the seven
tribal agencies of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. On the
Afghan side, the frontier stretches from Nuristan province in the
northeast to Nimruz in the southwest.
 FATA
 Islamabad has historically held limited power over this
semiautonomous tribal region made up of seven agencies of various
Pashtun tribes. It is the poorest and the least developed part of
Pakistan, marked by harsh geography and scarce infrastructure. After
9/11, the area came under scrutiny over concern that terrorists,
including al-Qaeda operatives, sought shelter and training there.

 Under U.S. pressure, the Pakistani government has sought to control

militancy by deploying thousands of Pakistani troops in the region, but
it has achieved little success as militancy has grown and security across
the country has deteriorated. So far, Pakistan's military strategy to deal
with the insurgency has involved peace deals with militants
interspersed with military offensives that employ heavy force to clear
militant-held areas. In 2008, the United States started a covert program
of air strikes using unmanned drone aircraft to target suspected
terrorists in the tribal areas. These strikes have fueled anti-
Americanism inside Pakistan. While officially the Pakistani government
denounces these strikes, according to news reports these strikes have
been quietly approved by the Pakistani army and the government.
North West Frontier Province
 Pakistan’s military efforts to control extremism
in the tribal areas following 9/11 had the
unintended consequence of causing bloodshed
in the bordering North West Frontier Province
(NWFP). Suicide attacks are on the rise, and in
2009, the Pakistani government launched an
aggressive military campaign to regain districts
of Swat and Buner from the Taliban.

 Fiercely independent Pashtuns make up the

largest ethnic group in the North West Frontier
Province, as well as half the population of
Afghanistan. The area is thought to harbor al-
Qaeda and Taliban supporters.
 BALOCHISTAN
 The Baloch tribes of this resource-rich, poverty-stricken province have long
been angered over what they say is Islamabad’s failure to develop the area, the
influx of Pashtuns—including Afghan refugees—and Punjabis into the area, and
contamination linked to the 1998 nuclear test. A large number of Balochs live in
Iran as well, leading to border tensions between the two countries.

 Balochistan has seen multiple, usually ethnically driven, insurgency movements

since 1948, and the Pakistani state has often used brutal military force to
suppress them. More recently, these insurgencies have been driven by political
and economic marginalization, with Balochis demanding greater job
opportunities at the newly constructed Gwadar port as well as a greater share of
royalties for gas shipped to neighboring provinces.

 The ethnic Pashtun-dominated Taliban is also active throughout Balochistan,

particularly in the city of Quetta. Quetta is most likely the place Osama bin
Laden and Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar are hiding,
according to some analysts. Several terrorist attacks, primarily of utilities and
transportation targets, have been linked to the violent arm of the nationalist
movement known as the Baloch Liberation Army.