There are other positive developments as well. A large section of civil society has started to shift its focus to issues that were left on the backburner for decades. Increasingly, people are willing to talk about issues like poverty, health and education. Although Pakistan fares better than India on several indices of health, hunger and poverty, and is visibly ahead in infrastructure, there is still a long way to go. Civil society is coming up with innovative ideas to deal with these issues. And they are questioning authority like never before. The way civil society and media has been hounding the power minister and the power supply authorities for the painfully long outages is worth taking note of.
It does not mean that emotive issues are dead. In almost every meeting, somebody or the other will raise the issue of Kashmir or for that matter, increasingly, water. But in every meeting a substantial section is willing to look through such individuals and talk about other matters. A classic example was our meeting with the Vice Chancellor and faculty members of the University of Punjab, Lahore. It was heartening to see how much effort academia was making to improve higher education in the country. In the middle of the discussion, a long retired army man now doubling up as a researcher, started taking a hawkish position on Kashmir. The other faculty members not only snubbed him and but also started talking about the more pressing issue of how history is being taught in South Asia. The academicians were putting in lots of labour while trying to write history textbooks with a fresh perspective, free from partition era hangover. For these academicians more pressing issues lay somewhere else.
The head of the Centre of South Asian Studies lamented that he has not got access to the Persian manuscripts of an old history book that was lying somewhere in India. Half of the same manuscripts are in Lahore. But he needed the entire thing to write the authentic history of the period. Similarly, other academicians were more concerned about a lull in academic exchange and non-availability of visas to India than they were with Kashmir.
Similarly, there are lots of concerns about how their country is presented in the international media, particularly in India. Questions after questions were thrown at us about Bollywood’s stereotyping of everything Pakistani. It appears the masses there want to detach themselves from the state and want to be treated as an independent entity. The selection of news is an issue. For example, two days in a row, there were items about a Hindu feudal lord kidnapping a Muslim girl and violating her. However, the Indian media only carries the news when there is a role reversal. Also, the siege mentality one would have expected to see on the roads was missing. Average Pakistanis are the fiercest critics of fundamentalist forces. They snub rightist elements. They question everyone: the state, the army and ISI.
The visit also coincided with perhaps the greatest event in Pakistan’s democratic history: the 18th amendment. The way all political parties came on board to introduce political reforms was unprecedented. Who would have imagined Asif Ali Zardari of all people would let go of his extra-constitutional powers so easily. Democracy is indeed trying to find its feet in Pakistan and the 18th amendment, with the restoration of legislative power, will go a long way to strengthen it.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009
It does not mean that emotive issues are dead. In almost every meeting, somebody or the other will raise the issue of Kashmir or for that matter, increasingly, water. But in every meeting a substantial section is willing to look through such individuals and talk about other matters. A classic example was our meeting with the Vice Chancellor and faculty members of the University of Punjab, Lahore. It was heartening to see how much effort academia was making to improve higher education in the country. In the middle of the discussion, a long retired army man now doubling up as a researcher, started taking a hawkish position on Kashmir. The other faculty members not only snubbed him and but also started talking about the more pressing issue of how history is being taught in South Asia. The academicians were putting in lots of labour while trying to write history textbooks with a fresh perspective, free from partition era hangover. For these academicians more pressing issues lay somewhere else.
The head of the Centre of South Asian Studies lamented that he has not got access to the Persian manuscripts of an old history book that was lying somewhere in India. Half of the same manuscripts are in Lahore. But he needed the entire thing to write the authentic history of the period. Similarly, other academicians were more concerned about a lull in academic exchange and non-availability of visas to India than they were with Kashmir.
Similarly, there are lots of concerns about how their country is presented in the international media, particularly in India. Questions after questions were thrown at us about Bollywood’s stereotyping of everything Pakistani. It appears the masses there want to detach themselves from the state and want to be treated as an independent entity. The selection of news is an issue. For example, two days in a row, there were items about a Hindu feudal lord kidnapping a Muslim girl and violating her. However, the Indian media only carries the news when there is a role reversal. Also, the siege mentality one would have expected to see on the roads was missing. Average Pakistanis are the fiercest critics of fundamentalist forces. They snub rightist elements. They question everyone: the state, the army and ISI.
The visit also coincided with perhaps the greatest event in Pakistan’s democratic history: the 18th amendment. The way all political parties came on board to introduce political reforms was unprecedented. Who would have imagined Asif Ali Zardari of all people would let go of his extra-constitutional powers so easily. Democracy is indeed trying to find its feet in Pakistan and the 18th amendment, with the restoration of legislative power, will go a long way to strengthen it.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009
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