It is no less than a miracle that in spite of all the mess in most sectors of our society since the 'dawn of democracy in 2008, the Government of Pakistan has somehow managed to tread a long and bumpy road of state management and survived every crisis at every crossroad. Corruption, poverty, lack of good governance, skyrocketing prices, breakdown of law and order, rising crime compounded with violence, suicide bombers at large, state of war against terrorism, more often than not make an average citizen wonder whether the writ of the government, and the sovereignty of the state, actually do exist or has it been reduced to a wishful dream. Some mysterious power saved the ship of the state from sinking, despite the disastrous earthquake of 2005 and devastating floods of 2010. The world came to our rescue and the people, at large, rose to the occasion to face every challenge. Undoubtedly, two factors helped to save the nation from a total collapse: One, unity, faith and discipline of the nation to face any challenge. Two, the world having been reduced to a global village, the international community provided massive support to tide over the worst crisis. However, since God helps those who help themselves, the situation has become almost hopeless, due to the lack of unity currently afflicting the nation. One has just to glance at the daily newspapers or watch the TV and one gets the chilly feeling of a slide downward towards a political and economic suicide. Console yourself with the soothing words that the answer to a corrupt democracy is more democracy. Some argue that no matter how dysfunctional a democratic system is, it must be given a chance by providing three, four, or five electoral terms of five years each. Given a fair chance our system will become as good and strong as neighbouring India. While others argue that the economic meltdown will result in total collapse before 2013, i.e. by the end of the present governments term, especially as the performance of the past two and a half years provide no indicators of the revival of the economy. In the same vein, various international surveys point to the rapidly falling economic structure in Pakistan, in case major economic reforms are not undertaken and the taxation base is not restructured to meet the impending challenge. On the other hand, India has already staged an economic miracle surprising the whole world. Various surveys by international agencies indicate that its economy is rapidly improving because of its stable national policies. Thus, Pakistans political parties and governments, both federal and provincial, which have been in power during the past 60 years, have much to learn from India. The economic reforms introduced by Indias first Prime Minister Pandit Nehru are still carried out by his successors and they have unleashed an explosion of success decade after decade in the shape of booming business earning international attention and investment. Undoubtedly, there is a lot of corruption, as well as poverty, in India with a population of over a billion, but despite this the Indian firms are attracting global attention for their world class competition. The secret of India s success story lies in its basic investment in the education sector by its first Prime Minister Nehru, who held the education portfolio for the first eight years. India, thus, produced the best universities, the best institutes of science and technology by producing graduate and master degree holders, as well as PhDs by the thousands every year. We, in Pakistan, have much to improve in the education sector to move forward and compete with the advanced countries. The countries in South Asia and Far East whose economies were behind Pakistan after its independence have excelled in the race towards development, progress and prosperity, while Pakistan is only inching forward at a snails pace mainly only because our leadership does not bother to solve the challenges facing the country. Indeed, no political system can be stable without stable national policies and a sustainable economic infrastructure. A leader, who motivates his party or people at large has to be a role model, such as the Founding Father of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Today, Pakistan is surrounded by a million challenges. We often blame outsiders or forces conspiring to divide and destroy us, however, we never try to look inwards and identify the enemies within, who are eating into the vitals of our state by not paying taxes, and by building properties and assets abroad, instead of building Pakistans economy by setting up businesses in their own country. Truly, it is economy which needs the attention of the rulers and the elite class. The sooner urgent measures are taken to rebuild Pakistans economy by restoring the looted wealth of the nation, the better it will be. Otherwise, the state may be at stake. The writer is the president of the Pakistan National Forum.