Future of democracy in Pakistan

    Democracy is the right of people to elect representatives to govern them. The term democracy is beautifully elaborated by Pitkin in his saying “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Pakistan also follows a democratic system and is a constitutionally democratic parliamentary republic headed by a president elected indirectly through the senate, national assembly, and provincial assemblies. Pakistan is a federal republic with a bicameral parliament consisting of two houses; the senate and the national assembly. Senate considered the upper house has 104 members which are indirectly elected by the provincial assembly. Senate is made up as follows: 14 open seats, four women’s seats, four seats for non-Muslims and four technocrat seats indirectly elected by each of the provincial assemblies (i.e., 88 seats in total); eight seats directly elected from the federally administered tribal areas; and four seats directly elected from the federal capital, to include one woman and one technocrat. Whereas national assembly is a compromise of 342 seats, 272 of these seats are filled by direct election from single-member constituencies by universal adult suffrage, 60 are reserved for women and 10 for religious minorities. The prime minister is usually the leader of the largest party in the national assembly. Pakistan also has four provincial assemblies which are directly elected with 371 members in Punjab, 164 in Sindh, 124 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 51 in Baluchistan. In each assembly, 20% of seats are reserved for women and 2-5% for religious minorities. The federally administrated tribal areas are divided into seven agencies adjacent to Afghanistan with unique governance systems.

    A democratic system is a complex system that is dependent on various public institutes and has some key characteristics that play important role in defining its democratic nature, for instance, free fair elections, the role of media, education, the judicial system, freedom of expression and religious freedom and tolerance. Pakistan despite being a constitutionally democratic country doesn’t depict the absolute picture of democracy. The crumbling democratic system isn’t a new story but has deep historical roots and its future also doesn’t seem promising. The free and fair election has always been an issue in Pakistan's electoral system as every election has been termed either rigged by the losing party or accused of military involvement and at some occasion, the democratic system has been overruled by introducing Martial law.

    The military of Pakistan has always played an active role in Pakistan’s politics and is termed as the establishment for this very reason. Pakistan has spent decades under military rule. The tradition of imposing martial law was set by Mirza when he overthrew a government by abrogation of the constitution. After mirza martial laws were also imposed by other military officers. These officers were Zia ul Haq, Ayub Khan, and Pervaiz Musharraf. However, martial law was always imposed considering the deuterating condition and increasing public unrest in the country but it is against the constitution and vision of Pakistan to overthrow a government by undemocratic means. These coups de military have not only weakened the democratic system of Pakistan and have slowed our democratic institutions from evolving. Moreover, the involvement of the military in civil affairs has adverse effects on the country’s relations, trade, and image among other nations. In the future, Pakistan has to establish boundaries at the constitution level that define powers of both military and civil institute. The civil institutes shall be strengthened and military powers to over through a government or involvement in civil matters shall be limited. However, a legal framework governed by the judicial system shall be introduced that legalize upsetting a government due to concerns involving national security or military involvement to resolve such issue under certain parameters.

In present times when media and mass communication instruments are so developed that every person has access to it, these devices play an important role in developing thoughts, ideas, awareness of general problems, educating people, and informing the point of view in the general populace. Most importantly mainstream media play an active role in the politics of a country by introducing politicians (public representatives), their point of view, and motives to the general populace. The agenda raised in media and information delivered by these institutes plays a pivotal role in creating public opinion. These opinions are of great importance specifically if the future of a nation depends upon them. However, these institutes are also used as a political instrument to gain political benefits such as the use of misinformation or rumors to devaluate political rivals in the public eye or supporting certain ethnical groups and other alike organization. This unethical use of media and the influence of a certain group on these institutes manipulate people's opinions, thus sways democracy from its true nature. Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority is responsible for regulating issuing channel licenses for the establishment of the mass media culture, print and electronic. However, this institute has little regulatory authority over international social media applications such as youtube, Facebook, and Twitter, etc. While the influence of these apps on people has grown exponentially over the past few years. Alike other media devices these apps are actively used by individuals and organized groups to form an opinion in the general population. However, restricting these apps to minimize misinformation is not a solution rather every individual is responsible for the content they publish and shall only form an opinion derived from information provided by a reliable resource.

    Education is the utmost essence of a democratic nation. Education is not only essential for a country to attain technological advancements but is important to develop consciousness about a general problem concerning the normal population of a country. The democracy itself is a result of educational struggle starting from philosophies of Plato in the creation of an ideal form of government to present-day scholars still educating themselves and the people to improve democratic institutes. An educated person can derive a better opinion from the knowledge he has about the problems his country faces, thus making a better decision while casting his vote. However, the education system of Pakistan lacks components that are important in developing consciousness, while Pakistan’s whole educational system is based on cramming words rather than understanding and realizing their true meanings. An educational system that helps people realizing the true nature of their problems and helps in developing their consciousness is necessary for establishing a truly democratic country. The media is also responsible for educating their people by introducing programs that raise awareness and a sense of responsibility among the people.

    The judiciary is the branch of government that administers justice according to law. Our judicial system is a key aspect of our democratic way of life. It upholds peace, order, and good government. Citizens look to the judiciary to uphold their rights and governments look to the courts to interpret laws. In a democratic society, a judicial system is an independent institute that keeps in check government institutes, prosecutes criminals, protects rule of law, and ensures the supremacy of law. It safeguards the rights of the individual, settles disputes per the law, and ensures that democracy does not give way to individual or group dictatorship. whereas if a judicial system of a country is influenced by any institute or individual, the country cannot be termed as a democratic country. The judicial system of Pakistan is also a separate institute; however, it is not completely pure from influence, while the slow process of courts in hearings and prosecution make it impossible for the normal populace in attaining justice. An example of the delayed dispensation of justice is the case between siblings Islamuddin and Noor Jahan in which Noor Jahan was given a rightful share in inheritance after 25 years while both parties have already passed away. Reformation in our judicial system is necessary that ensure timely justice without any influence to establish a truly democratic country.

    The essence of true democracy is freedom of expression, religious tolerance, and adequate representation of minorities. Constitutionally Pakistan promotes freedom of expression and religious tolerance. However, no substantial efforts are made in the reformation of laws promoting religious tolerance while freedom of expression that is the constitutional right of a Pakistan is not always allowed to practice. freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed to all citizens of Pakistan albeit with certain restrictions that include ‘glory of Islam, law, and order, and national security’. These restrictions have often been exploited against different groups of people such as minorities, journalists, human rights activists, etc. It has been observed that exploitation is resulting in piling up of cases, like blasphemy missing persons, and targeted killings. A thorough assessment showed that there is a dire need to address ambiguity about certain clauses in the Constitution to avoid any exploitation.

    Pakistan being a constitutionally democratic country has not been able to develop and evolve its democratic institutions to their true essence due to military involvement and influence of a certain group of people on civilian government and its institutes. However, if we want to establish ourselves among the democratically developed countries, we need to reform our governmental and public institutes such as the judicial system and educational system while ensuring the rights of every individual are well reserved. Moreover, it's essentially the duty of every individual to educate himself and others as it is the only way to raise awareness among the people to fight for the survival and implementation of democracy in our country.

Baluchistan crisis

    Baluchistan is the largest province, present in the westernmost region of Pakistan sharing its border with Afghanistan, Iran, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh, and the Arabian sea. It encompasses 42% of Pakistan’s total land but has the lowest population of 12.35 million as of 2019. The people of Baluchistan can be distinguished into three major ethnic groups, mainly of Bloch, Pashtun, and sandhi origin. Whereas Balochi, Brahui, Pashto, and Sindhi are its main languages. The capital of Baluchistan is Quetta.

    Most of the province is usually dry with extremes of hot and cold temperature. Agriculture is limited by the scarcity of water, power, and adequate transportation facilities. These atmospheric conditions and lack of development are also the reason for the province's low population. The main crops of Baluchistan are wheat, jowar, and rice, while most of the people raise sheep which provide high-quality wool, part of which is also exported. Baluchistan compromise of the small-scale industry which includes cotton and woolen manufacturing, food processing, carpet making, textile and leather embroidery, small machinery and appliance manufacturing, and handicrafts. Baluchistan also possesses a great amount of some explored and other unexplored natural resources. The explored main resources include coal, chromite, barytes, Sulphur, marbles, iron ores, quartzite, limestone, and natural gas reserves. Besides, Baluchistan also rich in other unexplored minerals and riches that can rejuvenate the economic condition of the province.

    Despite being the largest province of Pakistan's geo-strategical location, bordering the Arabian sea making it potent for global trade and its enormous natural resources, Baluchistan is the most underdeveloped province of the country with insurgencies waging throughout the province. The present picture of the province depicts worsening education, health, infrastructure, economical condition. While the political relation of Baluchistan has never been favorable with the federation. Its populace has always criticized the federation for its lack of interest in the development of the province and for draining its resources to benefit other provinces. The lack of trust between the federation and the provincial population has led to the creation of different militant groups and human rights activists such as the Baluchistan Liberation Army based in Afghanistan. These groups and activists are not purely working for benefiting the cause of development but some of these groups and activists have other motivations and are aided by foreign countries to prevent the province from developing and stabilizing. These motivations can be evaluated by attacks of these militant groups on CPEC projects that can play a key role in rejuvenating its economic condition. The tribal system of Baluchistan which is usually headed by the tribal chieftains termed as sardars in the local language also creates hurdles in the development of the province, fearing loss of their authority over the people. On the other hand, lack of education among the people of Baluchistan is also the reason for its present situation as people prefer using guns rather than bringing reformation in their political structure through public institutes.

    The insurgencies in Baluchistan have resulted in tremendous loss of life in addition to the destabilization of the region. While these insurgencies and militant attacks are not limited to the liberation movement but have historical ties the Soviet-Afghan War lasted for 9 years. This war was mainly fought by mujaheddin militants who were backed and trained by the United States of America. The war resulted in the destruction of Afghanistan and contributed to the soviet collapse. After the war ended these mujaheddin groups were left rampant, eventually, these militant groups flourished throughout Afghanistan and neighboring countries. The militant groups that were established in the name of Islam against foreign invasion soon lost their way and turned into terrorist organizations leading to further destruction of Afghanistan and affecting Pakistan to a great extent.     The Baluchistan province due to border with Afghanistan and its landscape offering perfect hideouts became a heaven for these terrorist organization. These terrorist organizations were also used by some foreign countries to spread anti-Islamic narrative and destabilizing Pakistan mostly affecting the Baluchistan region. The Pakistan army crackdown against these militant groups to stabilize the region was also termed as a military attack against Baluchistan’s liberation, deepening the difference between the federation and Baluchistan.

    The condition of Baluchistan seems far from reinvigoration but if sincere efforts are made, it can lead to normalization and betterment of the province. The CPEC project can also be termed as a sincere effort of the federation in collaboration with China to uplift Baluchistan’s economy and providing new opportunities for its populace. Besides, the federation is also working on constructing various small and big dams to solve the issue of water in the province. undoubtedly these initiatives with help in uplifting the region. However, efforts are required in the betterment of its educational and health sector while upgrading and building new infrastructure across the province and also giving the province more autonomy will help the government in regaining the lost trust of the provincial populace. In return, the people of Baluchistan shall also collaborate with its government and understand that confrontation through violence will only worsen their situation and education, and the use of public institutions is the only way to make their voices heard.

Bad Neighbors; Pakistan Vs India

 From fighting together to fighting with each other Pakistan and India are bound by a long history though everyone hoped there will be peace once this is all over but it seems never-ending. since independence, both countries have fought 4 wars against each other and still are in a continuous state of conflict. This has led to the cumulative death toll of 2 million among both sides with a huge amount of economical and developmental losses pushing both countries into third world countries. These wars are not only fought at government levels but are also seeded in the brains of the normal populace, both countries use educational means, political forums, and mainstream media, etc. to infuriate hatred among people for each other. Pakistan and India share an extensive border of 3,323 kilometers and are both countries are located in a strategical economical corridor for the rest of the world with access to warm waters throughout the year. Despite being a corridor for such large-scale trade, the economic condition of both countries is in a miserable state. Indian annual GDP was 2,718,732M in 2018 whereas in Pakistan it was 314,588M.$. India has an estimated debt of 563.9 billion USD as of 2019, whereas Pakistan has total debt of 113.803 billion USD. The budget deficits of Pakistan and India were 21.25 billion and 39.9 billion respectively in 2018. Despite these deficiencies in their economic condition, both countries invest largely in lethal arms, a race they have been competing for decades. Pakistan invests US$10.3 billion in its defense whereas the Indian defense budget is estimated at US$ 65.86 Billion. These conflicts not only cost us a heavy defense budget but also cost us major economic and developmental opportunities. Separating us from the rest of the world into third world countries.