Defending Pakistan – but how?

Pakistan is a unique country which is under discussion, through a long period of time both at home and abroad that it is going to face dangerous perils and its existence is under threat. Every time there are hearsays that the country is going to disintegrate sooner or later. Prophecies have been on record where people have expressed their opinions of its complete annihilation by 2005, sometimes by 2015 and at others by 2020. The tragedy is that the rulers themselves, who are entrusted with the responsibility for the security and defense of the country, are categorically announcing the catastrophic eventuality of it, notwithstanding the fact that they are under the solemn pledge of their oath they have taken for the safety and security of Pakistan. There is a general feeling amongst all and sundry these days that the country is passing through the most critical period of its existence and is heading to a fatal end (God forbid). Despite all this there is a good section of the population, who believes that hope is still there for the amelioration of the affairs and that the things have not yet reached the point of no return. Situation can be reversed in the positive direction and the damages done can be made good on the national level.

We understand that defending Pakistan is the obligation of all of us, but how to do that is a question to be clearly understood. When we talk of the country’s defense, we have to take into consideration things like the geographical makeup of the country, its strategic placement, the professionalism and commitment of its armed forces, availability of the most modern arsenal in appropriate quantity, the logistic facilities, and the stock of fuel available and so on so forth. All such things are important from the point of view of the country’s defense since at the time of war these considerations are to be taken on priority. Despite the importance of such material packages, there are more important considerations related to the defense of the country. The most important amongst these are the behavioral pattern of the individual, the society and the state itself in running the affairs of the country which have a direct mark on the defense of the country.

Let us try to fix some standard measures necessary for the defense of a country and then weigh ourselves on those yardsticks to divulge our defense weaknesses and then think how to overcome them successfully. Let’s discuss these important subjects one by one.

The Moral Ethics:

The moral ethics are considered more or less the same throughout the world irrespective of the fact whether a country is a Muslim one or a non-Muslim. We understand that telling truth and fulfilling the promises are two moral ethics which have to be fulfilled by a righteous people. Now let us see where we find ourselves regarding these two taboos. We can judge ourselves if we listen to the speeches of our politicians particularly at the time of their election campaigns. We find on such occasion not only false promises which are sometimes impossible to fulfill but what they are telling is more than 90 % false and baseless accusations and self braggadocio. How much we are worried about our promises can better be judged from the declaration of our President Asif Ali Zardari who once very categorically declared that the Promises are not the Quran or the Hadith which require an invariable fulfillment. This statement of the head of state needs no comment. It is a pity that the statement had come from a person no other than the Head of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. There is no need to find any other measure for the weighing of the moral standard of a nation. Let alone Pakistan, history is witness to the complete downfall of very big empires when their moral decay started and continued engulfing their national fabric and grandeur.

The Rule of Law:

A country where the law is undermined and there are two different standards of justice for the powerful and the week and where the application of law is discriminatory, the collective system of the society will never mould into a stable dispensation. The last Prophet (PBUH) has categorically stated, “The people before you were rooted out from the surface of the earth because they used to deny justice to the poor”. The Prophet (SAW) had been very much displeased when he was approached by some people to pardon a woman by the name Fatima, involved in the crime of theft. The Prophet had said on that occasion, “The hands of Fatima daughter of Prophet Muhammad would have been chopped off had she been (God forbid) involved in the crime of theft”. The Prophet (SAW) being the benefactor of the humanity at large has established splendid examples in all spheres of life. There is no match to his deeds. In today’s complicated life even the non-Muslims have taken full safety measure to plug facets to guarantee that the system of justice is fully operative in the society so as to ensure justice to all and sundry. It is said that Sir Winston Churchill when facing troubles at the commencement of the 2nd world war had enquired of the Chief Justice of the Superior Judiciary whether the system was providing justice to the people or otherwise. On getting positive answer from the Chief Justice, the Prime Minister had declared that no power could defeat his country if the justice was being done to the subject.

Financial Management and Accountability:

Economic self-sufficiency has been the basis of the defense of any country in the good old times as well as in the modern days. A nation having begging bowl in its hands has to compromise on some of vital national interests relating to its security, in return to what it receives from the charity donors. The current situation in Pakistan is a complete picture of this state of affairs. Those who seek loans and charity have little options of raising their heads above and to stand upright.

The popularity of the regime:

It is imperative for the defense affairs of a country that it must be ruled by rulers whose government is popular amongst the general public. It is the characteristics of the so-called democratic governments that they are always the governments of the minority and they can never be popular if they do not deliver extraordinarily good performance. Let’s make it simplified for our understanding by an example. Take for example that in a country there are four political parties to contest in an election and the votes are divided in a ratio of 15: 25: 28: 32, the winning party will be the one with 32, as the top scorer. This party will win and will have the right to rule. Now see that the winner with 32% is facing an opposition with 68%. There is no basis for such a government to gain popularity since it is ruling the country, albeit being in minority. Its credibility further goes down line if it is a party tainted with corruptions, bad governance and inept incumbency at all levels like the ones we often have in Pakistan. The only way to get popularity amongst the public and to have the public supports on its back, the government must perform in a more befitting manner to ensure full socio-politico-economic justice to the masses. The world of today recognizes the fact that the country having public support on its back can never be defeated militarily and can never be forced to subjugation by any alien power no matter how mighty it may be. History is witness to our saddest tragedy of 1971 war defeat, when the masses of Pakistan were quite oblivious to our engagement in that war.

Well-planned Defense Strategy:

To have a well-planned strategic policy is a key to achieve success in the preservation of the national security and defense of the country against all odds. The defense history of Pakistan is again giving a grim picture when we look back into the retrospective and analyze the events of the 1965 war. A vibrant strategic demeanor was lacking in our planning there too. We had intruded in Kashmir without having an assessment of its reaction from the enemy. Nonetheless, we had achieved few border successes but everything was turned over when India opened the strategically threatening front of Lahore. The Kargil adventurism also lacked proper strategic planning which resulted in very heavy losses both in men and matter. We have the most committed armed forces, recognized by the whole world for their heroic deeds and the exemplary discipline and unbeaten morale. Despite all this the country cannot be satisfied with its defense unless we are in possession of the most modern arsenal, other strategic equipment and above all the factors referred to above in place to the best standard. What is imperative for a Muslim nation like us is that it should itself strive for the embodiment of all these characteristics in their bodies and soul. Despite making available all such prerequisites to ourselves we as Muslim nation should never rely upon these material preparations but should fully believe, in all circumstances in the Might and Help from the Almighty Allah. This belief we should have enshrined with deepest conviction that it is Allah and Allah alone, the real Sustainer and Performer. Nothing can happen without his permission and order. We are an atomic power but we lack on the collective level, in real belief and conviction. Our ‘Eiman'(conviction) is not getting into actions and does not give practical results. It means that what we claim to say is not residing in our souls and hearts. How come that, that being 97 percent Muslim majority country we have failed so far to make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state. The reason is obvious. We are lacking the will to live as Muslims under the Divine Guidance that is entrusted to us in the shape of the final Message of Allah, the Holy Book. One big segment of this nation has adopted an attitude of complete denial that the country was born in the name of Islam and is busy in all types of conspiracies against the very foundation and the armed forces of Pakistan, veritably the forces of Islam. The atom bomb cannot alone make the country invincible. It is the ideology first that can guarantee the security of Pakistan in view of the present internal and external threats. If we once fulfill our pledge of strengthening of our country by giving practical shape to the ideology of its creation we will see that nobody can harm Pakistan in any way and it will remain intact for ever. Forgetting and denying the very foundation of the country we stand no where and the threats of the disintegration will always be there to challenge us every time. Let’s revert to our real path for the sake of our own interest and for the interest of the country at large.