Discussion of Pakistani people will be incomplete without mention of their diversities and distinct identities regarding language, culture, customs, traditions, tribal or feudal affiliations, physical features, ways of life and other social mores that set them apart from other natives. First, there are geographical boundaries that divide them into different provinces and linguistic groups.
Within the provincial limits and beyond, there are tribal ties or kinships. In cosmopolitan centres like Karachi, or Islamabad, there are tensions among various groups emanating from language, culture roots or origins, faith, social status, class stratification, affluence and other similar unnatural causes, which create walls of separation, visible or not. Then there are the fortunate ones who have all the opportunities, while a vast majority constitutes the 'have-nots'. These economic disparities are now coming more and more to the fore, gradually obliterating all other considerations.
These diversities permeate the political parties' constituencies too, where the landed gentry and influential bosses manage to wrangle their way to ultimate political power and domination over the rest - year after year and elections after elections. Labels may change due to opportunism and exigencies, but faces remain the some or belong to the same dynasties.
This dynasty rule, in some form or other prevails in most of the countries, East or West. Even in so-called cradles of democracies like UK or USA, political power is cornered by certain dominant families who grab power most of the time on the lure of their family name! Democracy defined as 'Government of the people, for the people and by the people' is just a sham and completely negated by ground realities. So, if we are faced with the phenomenon in Pakistan, it is nothing to be sneezed at.
There are further complications in Pakistan since 1971 - the sheer weight of numbers in one province exceeding all others combined. Also that particular province's dominance in the civil services, quite out of proportion to respective provinces, has always been a sore point in national politics, even before the secession of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). These tensions exacerbate the bonhomie expected of a nation of faithfuls - the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. In matters of vital national importance that require a unity of purpose, the dissension's tend to create high scenes of violence or demands for complete provincial autonomy - even muted demands for separation or insurgency.
The present situation in Balochistan can be traced to such feelings of estrangement or frustration - a sense of deprivation and poverty despite rich resources exploited by others. Situation in erst-while NWFP (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) can also be traced to popular feelings being totally ignored by powers-that-be. The territories on Pakistan's borders - GB, KP, FATA, Balochistan, upper Sindh, lower Punjab, to say nothing of AJK, have the additional misfortune of meddling by other countries who fan and incite discontent with ulterior motives.
Feeling of purpose and unstinted devotion in the masses is a herculean task requiring a leadership of the highest calibre. No prize for guessing the present crop of self-styled 'leaders' is nowhere near that ideal. But a collective leadership of non-political, honest and well-educated experts in various fields can come together and devise strategies for mass-appeal. And this is very much in the realm of possibilities provided the existing faces in the corridors of power and their ilk do not try to bust in. How to ensure that will be discussed later when we come to pragmatics of my proposals.
So move on to the next item:
b) Resources and Potentials
These can be divided into:
a) Natural Resources, and
b) Human Endeavours
a) Natural Resources
To repeat the obvious, which is common knowledge, will be boring, so I will only bring up the so far un-exploited or under-utilised potentials of nature's bounties, on, above or below the surface - land, air or water.
We start with the most vital element - water - without which no life on planet earth is possible - human, animal or vegetation. Fresh, unpolluted, pure sweet water is a basic right of every living being, but how many have access to it in the present day and age! Rivers flowing from Himalayas and Karakorum or Hindukush ranges are the major sources, besides rainfall, but their pristine purity is polluted from the very moment, the streams flowing from lofty mountains enter lower attitudes, to say nothing of plains and lower reaches! Lakes suffer even worse. The situation is the greatest hazard to human, animal (birds, quadrupeds or aquatic life) as well as plants, trees, vegetation and crops. All of these, which form the FOOD CYCLE are being harmed and destroyed systematically and irrevocably, posing serious problems for the burgeoning world population now nearing the 7 billion mark. Pakistan (then west Pakistan) started with a population of 30 million, now estimated at over 180 million, and projected to reach 500 million by year 2050, if the present growth rate with its ever-multiplying problems continues unabated. A sick, unhealthy or physically weak populace is nobody's ideal!
How to overcome the water shortages and provide adequate facilities for supply of clean and pure potable water for human consumption, irrigation, industrial use and animal life (including fisheries and others) even in deserts, barren hills, drought-stricken areas or other presently inaccessible regions with growth potentials - is the mind-boggling question. But the answer is simple, though expensive. A net-work of de-salination plants, pipelines, filtration plants, reservoirs and storage facilities, and of course, weirs and dams in strategic locations are needed. This simple solution raises some mighty tricky questions - finance, energy sources, infra-structure, logistics, technology, and a myriad other problems, which make the suggestion a 'No Go' from the very start.
But does it have to be? Not in my opinion, and I am going to propose workable solutions for the dilemma later (under item 9 of my list in the introduction). But just as a hint, solar energy and wind-power have very important roles to play in the scheme of things, that I have in mind.
Solar energy in particular is one source of renewable natural energy that is totally free and abundant although the infra-structure required to harness is expensive, and the technology not yet mastered. However, even this hurdle is to a large extent, fallacious and largely engineered by vested interests who see it as a rival that may spell doom for their own survival. Let me explain.
Unlike hydel thermal or other solid or liquid fuel sources of energy (coal, gas, oil, firewood or whatever) the source of solar energy, that as sunlight is a Divine bounty for mankind and all the creation, is free of cost and abundant over most of the planet earth.
The means to harness it are solar panels or silicon (Si) chips which are fabricated from one of the most abundant form of Sand or rocks on earth - the sandstone. So the basic materials are extremely cheap and found nearly every where. Hence, the main cost is the technology used to fabricate them, convert to energy and conserve it, compared to any other process of power generation (running into billions) the harnessing of solar powers on a small scale, suited to individual consumer's requirements, is cheap, quick and not too elaborate, as generation, transmission, distribution, sub-stations etc, are all thousands of times more expensive than small solar fixtures for a small establishment or community, even in far-flung or inaccessible areas.
The reason for resistance to solar energy is the threat to vested interests who stand to lose trillions invested in conventional forms of energies, building huge dams or thermal generation plants and factories manufacturing the required machineries, and materials. Oil and gas interests also play their part.
Another reason is that the western industrial nations - mainly European, North American or Japanese, situated in Northern latitudes, are not endowed with the plentiful sunshine that is the boon (and consequently the bane) of the rest of the world that is under-developed and the former's captive market for their products. Deprived of the sun, the northerners have been reluctant to develop the technologies themselves or assist others to acquire one that will render their giant establishments redundant. So they purposely keep the fiction that solar energy is expensive and brain-wash all would-be pioneers of solar energy use, to believe in their concoctions.
So the main stress on this item should be to encourage our own young scientists and engineers for developing easy and cheap processes for manufacture of solar panels and silicon chips on one hand, and promote small scale installations for every house, factory or community to eliminate need of elaborate storage, transmission and distribution systems. The savings would be phenomenal.
The work can be started immediately and in every locality, and the question of financing, cost overruns due to delays and other factors hindering our progress can be solved in no time. Private sector should be encouraged to undertake the mission on their own without government intervention, and financial institutions should give a helping hand to kick-start the process. Help from friendly countries like China and Turkey should be sought to get going initially. Cost will fall as the move gathers momentum.
The savings in fuel costs will cut down our oil and equipment imports tremendously, local industries will flourish and create employment for thousands in all parts of the country, facilitating an equitable distribution of wealth and utilisation of natural resources in every nook and corner - a win-win situation all around.
(To be continued)