New Delhi: Amidst Pakistan’s internal challenges, including political polarisation and economic crisis that are weakening institutions, and unrest in its provinces exposing the failures of centralisation, the shadow of 1971 looms large. Ignoring regional voices, analysts warn, could lead to another irreversible loss.
The choice before its rulers today is clear: either repeat history’s mistakes or chart a new course of dialogue, inclusion and reform. The stakes are nothing less than the survival of the nation itself.
Pakistan’s political-military establishment, historically prone to heavy-handed responses, risks repeating mistakes that broke the nation in 1971, when East Pakistan seceded to form Bangladesh. The echoes of that tragedy are unmistakable.
The most visible crisis today stems from political polarisation. Pakistan’s political canvas has become a battlefield where parties weaponise institutions against each other. The judiciary, Parliament and even the Election Commission are accused of bias, eroding trust in governance and propping the military as the ultimate arbiter – a role it has historically embraced but which has often deepened divisions.
Decisions are made through a security lens, whether deploying troops in Balochistan or curbing dissent in urban centres, alienating provinces that see the military as both an occupying force and an economic competitor. Military interference in economic and diplomatic ventures is creating more trouble than solutions, widening the disconnect between urban and rural constituencies, elites and marginalised groups, and provinces and the centre.
Unrest in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has intensified. Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by area but least developed, has long complained of exploitation. Its natural resources enrich federal coffers, yet its people remain impoverished. Complaints are often met with military operations, alienating civilians and fuelling resentment. (IANS)