n a cold December evening in 1962, Pakistan’s first military dictator-turned-president, Muhammad Ayub Khan, told a group of hand-picked politicians that Pakistan was passing through a very “important but delicate” phase and that it was their duty as well-meaning and well-knowing citizens and leaders of public opinion to conduct themselves with a sense of “utmost realism and responsibility.” Lecturing a herd of men who wished to rise as ‘basic democrats,’ Khan philosophised that the edifice of democracy stood on liberty and discipline. “Absence of liberty could turn democracy into tyranny; absence of discipline could reduce it to licence.”

Trained in the British military tradition, Ayub Khan can be forgiven for employing demagoguery for personal survival. However, the rot he started by stabbing both democracy and discipline not only broke the country in a few years but also has fossilised as Pakistan’s political fait accompli. His successors – military or civil – miserably failed to abandon the course he had laid out primarily offering the country’s soldiers as hired guns for super powers’ wanton rivalry. They have struggled to construct an economy on international dole.

On Tuesday, as the sun set on 2024, Pakistan seemed clueless. Internal challenges are multiplying at an obnoxious pace and external pressures are making it extremely difficult to walk with pride. Abandoned by Washington and lacking the courage to embrace Beijing, Islamabad finds itself shackled hard – unable to hobble beyond Faizabad. Imagine the despondency and dejection of a common Pakistani with scant resources for a humble survival, when successive reports by important international think tanks and centres of academic excellence describe Pakistan – a country with 240 million people and nuclear weapons – as a “fragile state” whose economic, political and security challenges are mounting and where the prospect of military interference remains a ready reality. Their description makes Pakistan sound like a country sleepwalking into a dystopian wasteland.

A closer look at the state of affairs reveals a ruptured federation, a limp administration, a bleeding military, a beggar economy and a broken society. There is very little to write home about. Advertised as men with business brains, the Sharifs now come across as fatigued and naïve. This week, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif made headlines in the national media for launching Uraan Pakistan – a phantasmagorical programme promising utopian economic growth, export targets, FDI, job opportunities and what not. The only thing wrong with such pipe dreams is that there is nothing tangible beyond the posturing. Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal is known for trotting out such schemes. What was called Uraan Pakistan this week, had been Turnaround Pakistan in 2023. The same ideas were touted as Pakistan Vision 2025 in 2013. In 1998-99, Minister Iqbal was talking about 2010 programme, promising heaven on earth for the poor and powerless Pakistanis. The beauty of his argument is that he demands back-to-back terms for his “plans” to bear fruit. Since Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has never been that lucky, no programme has succeeded.

Last week, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the Inter Services Public Relations director general, too, addressed a press conference to update the Islamabad-based press corps on “important issues relating to national security, national defence in light of changing regional situation, matters connected with internal security and an overview of the action taken against terrorism during 2024.” The nation was informed that 59,775 ‘successful’ intelligence-based operations of various sorts had been carried out, in which 925 terrorists were killed – the most in a year during the last five years. Sadly, over 380 officers and soldiers of the Army and security forces had also lost their lives. At a time when Pakistan is not at war with any of its neighbours, such heavy losses are a matter of serious concern.

One may blame known and unknown enemies but the continuing conflict within its borders is bleeding Pakistan profusely. The failure of the state to permanently plug this blood loss raises serious questions. Who in their right mind would invest in a country where lives and investment are not safe? Islamabad-based Centre for Research and Security Studies revealed in its annual report, released in the last week of 2024, that the Pakistani military and law enforcement agencies “suffered the highest number of terror attacks and fatalities in a decade” last year. The report said that 685 security personnel were killed during the year.

Talking to the media, also during the last week of the last year, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said there was no “magic wand” to solve the country’s economic problems overnight. “The country’s problems are immense, and there is no instant solution. However, we are committed to ensuring economic stability. Interest rates, currently high, are being brought down to a more business-friendly level, which will have a positive impact on the economy.” The minister conceded that countries could not run on charity.

Much more could be written about the dismal performance of the parliament, the judiciary, the establishment, the politicians and the leaders of the country’s economy and society. But why waste words on the privileged and the powerful? Why not write a few lines about the ordinary Pakistanis who are desperate to leave the Land of the Pure in order to find solace elsewhere? Available data suggests that more than 700,000 Pakistanis left Pakistan in 2024. Reasons put forward for the exodus were political uncertainty, lack of opportunities and employment, lack of education and terrorism. The government and ministers can offer a million reasons that the mass migration of Pakistan’s les Misérables is not due to their mediocrity. But if you speak to those perishing in the process, the finger is always pointed towards the government.

The failure of the federal and provincial administrations can be seen in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir. This doesn’t mean that the Punjab and Sindh are heavens on earth. Situation remains grim for an ordinary Pakistani and the anger is growing. It is imperative that those in power stop discussing Pakistan’s problems; the time has come to solve those. A country that is not connected with its region; doesn’t do business with its neighbours; fails to find closure for its grievances with its neighbours; and can’t balance its relations with the major capitals of the world will always have problems running its affairs on dole.

The drivers of Pakistan’s governance, economy, security, politics and society may come together some day, pool their cerebral and physical resources to pull it out of the quicksand it is sinking into. For now, ce n’est pas possible.

The writer is resident editor of The News, Islamabad