It was on September 11, 1948, barely a year after Pakistan’s creation, that the nation lost its most outstanding leader, guide, benefactor and statesman whose tireless efforts made the dream of a separate state for the Muslims of the subcontinent a reality. If Quaid-i-Azam’s untimely death left Pakistan to the bickering hordes of power-hungry politicians and the Bonapartist manoeuvrings of the army high command, a tragic fate that befell the country, there were other miseries in store for it. As chance would have it, it was again this very day, 53 years later, when aircraft struck the twin-towers World Trade Centre in New York, razing it to the ground, and to that unlucky day can be traced, perhaps, some of the ills that Pakistan today stands enmeshed in. But that is a separate entry in the long catalogue of our own misdeeds. Had we avoided them, things could not have been as gloomy as they are today. The legacy of the Quaid and what mess we have made of it – one wonders where and how to begin the tale of our innumerable misfortunes. We have veered far away from the path he laid out for the country to develop and progress in order to stand shoulder to shoulder with the advanced countries of the world and serve as a beacon of light for the rest, especially the Muslim world. Instead of becoming stronger with time, we are getting weaker and finding it hard to stand on our own feet. The corrosive evil of corruption, the haunting spectre of insecurity, the divisive cult of sectarianism, the consuming lust for money, the mounting inflation, the economic ruin, the debilitating energy crisis, in short, rank misgovernance – all are of own making; even, the curse of terrorism could have been contained if tackled in line with national interests. The Quaid-i-Azam could not have visualised the state of affairs that exists in the present-day Pakistan in the wildest of his dreams. Self-enrichment, discrimination on the basis of religion, corrupt practices, absence of planning to forestall problems (economic, energy, security, etc.); these were the farthest from his mind. Rather than forge unity among our ranks, we have turned parochial; faith (in the future) has given way to doubt and disappointment; discipline has lost the battle to chaos. The blinkered vision of our leadership has prevented them from seeing the approaching threat to survival. The Quaid did not say for nothing that Kashmir was the jugular vein of Pakistan; with every drop of water India diverts from the rivers, originating in the part of the state it forcibly occupies, the once breadbasket threatens to look like a vast expanse of wasteland. For no justification whatsoever, the rulers are soft-pedalling the issue. It was good that Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif talked of the urgent need to resolve Kashmir and other issues in his meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna at Lahore on Sunday, but the core issue, most of all, must be pursued by Islamabad with due vigour and persistence till it is settled. As for the social and economic ills, return to the values of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah alone can turn the tide; it is a herculean task, but with unity, faith and discipline it would fall in reach.