Tribal society

This refers to the letter, ‘Tribal society’ (April 11) by Mahmud Ahmad Akhtar. The writer mentioned some positive qualities of tribal societies. Without challenging his thesis I still maintain that tribal societies find it hard to graduate into modern nation-states because of their blind local loyalties.
In our country, particularly after the passage of the 18th Amendment, nobody can differ from the opinion of his party head without risking his/her party membership. Look at the elections being held in Karachi’s NA-246. It shows the incapacity of our democratic credentials to cope with the changes taking place in the world. If the argument of the writer is accepted then Pakistan should be turned into Fata which has become an albatross around our necks. Families and tribes are a natural part of any society but they need to be assimilated into a bigger whole – nationally and internationally. Since 1947, our tribal culture has blocked any semblance of democratic and constitutional progress. In 1940, people were a nation looking for a state but today Pakistan is a state looking for a nation – thanks to tribalism and related road blocks in the way to progress.
B A Malik
Islamabad