What goes around comes around! Pakistan has had no scruples when it comes to adopting terror tactics against India – for long a soft target because of inadequate response. During the height of Khalistani terror in (Indian) Punjab, there were times when people were taken out of buses and shot dead based on their religion or association with the government by terrorists mostly inspired and trained by Pakistan. The same was the case in J&K for many years, with the occasional incident occurring even today. This betrayal of human values in the attempt to achieve what it believes is the strategic goal of attacking India by any means has led to a complete collapse of the concept of Pakistan that might have been envisaged by its founding fathers. The same principle is being applied in that country between the establishment and the people, and between ethnic groups.
Pakistan today is an entity that survives almost entirely on the strength of its military. The cliché that it is an army with a nation has never been truer than in the present. With its culture and civilisation rooted in the sub-continent, its attempt to establish a theocratic state required a purge of this older identity. So, decade after decade, the people have been radicalised, particularly after establishing the Taliban to fight the Russians in Afghanistan. At the same time, the Army, recruited mostly from Punjab, has become a money-making entity, repressing minority ethnic groups for its benefit.
All of this has led to strong resentment among these groups, particularly in Baluchistan, where the desire for independence has become strong. After the Bangladesh experience, the Pakistan establishment is even more paranoid in this regard, leading to brutal repression through all ways possible. The violence has increased over the years and the latest incident of Punjabis being taken off buses and killed is just an example of how things have deteriorated. The brutal murders and disappearances of mainstream Baluch leaders have made thing worse, with no common political ground remaining. Of course, there are external forces involved, some known and others unknown. It is easy for Pakistan to blame India as one of these, but the fact remains that the failure to establish a healthy democratic culture at the grassroots is the crux of the problem. By its very nature, theocracy is the bane of democracy. Discrimination based on religion opens the doors to discrimination of other kinds. From that point of view, there has never been hope for the Pakistan experiment.
