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Development in Pakistan

After reading through the findings of all the research papers, I was able to drawsome interesting conclusions about the current state of development in Pakistan.

Although, it is nearly impossible to cover all possible angles, a lot of key problem areas

were easily identified. We decided to structure our presentation on major developmentalconcerns that the research papers highlighted and this gave us a comprehensive picture.

First, it is fundamental that the role of the Army and the Bureaucracy has to be

limited to their professional sphere of influence. They need to be de-politicized in orderto serve their own interest as well as to allow the development of a democratic structure

in Pakistan.

Secondly, there needs to be an active effort towards the development of a vibrant

civil society. This is important because, civil society bridges the gap between the stateand its citizens.

Thirdly, effective land reforms are a dire need of our country since it would help a

large number of people and would immensely facilitate in all aspects of development. It

was interesting to read the different points of views. Some looked at land reforms as asolution and others looked at it as stepping stone towards development in Pakistan. Either

way, land reforms are essential.Moreover, a long term vision and the sustaining of that vision, by those who are

in power in Pakistan, is greatly needed. Since Jinah, there has been no world class leader

that has attempted to build Pakistan. The current regime of Musharraf has still a lot to

prove, even though it is not democratic.Education is a cornerstone if the people are to be involved in developing Pakistan.

Some interesting reforms were suggested and I would agree with ideas such as reviewing

the curriculum and making history more impartial. This would add a great deal towardsthe nation building process of Pakistan.

Gender Sensitization is an issue that is being addressed in our country, but effortsare being made in a few directions. As it was mentioned in the discussion after ourpresentation, just because women now sit in parliament does not guarantee a greater role

for women. They can as easily removed from their current status just as quick as they

were brought in. Gender rights are something that needs great understanding andplanning before they are to be introduced in Pakistan. I would strongly agree with the

suggestion that men and women both need to be educated about gender issues. However,

I would add that it is equally important that both genders are educated about each other1.

There is no doubt that women in Pakistan are marginalized. This however, does not meanthat the gender-sensitization should be hostile and reactionary. The suggestion of media

reform in redefining the role of women is a great way to start. It is imperative that we

change the way people in Pakistan think and perceive women as weak and helpless.Sustained democracy is a requirement for development in Pakistan. However it

risks being hijacked by groups and individuals in its infancy. The risk is what we have to

run. Pakistan has not done too well under democratic regimes but no democratic regimehas ever been allowed the opportunity to rectify the situation that was created by its

predecessor. The army has always stepped in and tried to stabilize the situation. In doing

1 Not just about women alone

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so, the army has created a mess of its own. It would be interesting to see how Pakistan

bears out a sustained tenure of democratic regimes.

Finally, the foundation of all developmental issues, regardless of what theyconcern, is a high degree of accountability. Weather we are talking about the role of the

legislature, or the taxation reforms, accountability needs to be part and parcel with every

developmental effort in Pakistan.I believe that this course, and going through all the research papers, has given me

a greater understanding of what challenges Pakistan faces as a nation-state. Although the

question of how to resolve these issues is still unclear, at least the problematic areas havebeen identified to a great degree. Developmental efforts in Pakistan have to be multi

facetted. This point of view brought me and my fellow presenters to conclude that the

development in Pakistan can fall into the mould of Sens definition of development as

freedom. However, this still does not answer the question as to how and where we goabout developing Pakistan.

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