Unlike in the past, a state in the Post-World War-II era onward was designed to collapse due to powerful internal conflicts amongst state institutions, political organizations, financial managers, market forces, hidden power groups and religious organizations. From Hellenic rise and fall down to the twentieth century, a state collapsed mostly due to external conflicts, albeit internal political upheavals was the major cause.

However, today’s course of action that the winners preferred to execute appeared different from that of the past after 1945. As no direct rule became possible, partly due to unaffordable increase in financial burden and partly due to systematically growing political instability, the alien rulers marvelously succeeded in controlling the new domain through the native stooges having weak national character. This change in the imperialistic strategy of domination produced variant results, enabling the oppressors to handle the situation, separately. Most successful strategy among many is now to create the culture of greed, selfishness, corruption, immorality and lawlessness in the state under their command of global forces. In order to overtly cover up the hidden designs, there come the friendship packages, aids, loans and glittering promises for national security. Ironically, hidden insight in the agenda is to snatch the sovereignty and independence of the target state. The religious-politico-social organizations, state institutions, media merchants, national financial outlets and intelligentia are bribed to sell national loyalty for self-pursuits. The culture of greed and self-interest takes at least two generations when the entire system of state comes under control of the agents who run the nation state as a corporate sector.

Apparently, all institutions and organizations look prospering, having modern building and offices, smart personnel, enjoying perks and privileges. Stock exchange, a new form of gamble, records marvelous growth. Markets remained flooded with imported goods. Mega malls, high rise towers, wondrous new residential colonies, motorways and bullets trains in specific cities create another culture of development, though showing sharp inequality, injustice and deprivation, if compared with majority poverty stricken areas of the state. Similarly, fast increase in GDP and GNP is interpreted as the sole guarantor of national integrity, security and stability. As is a fatalistic dilemma, the culture of greed and self-pursuits is projected as a national pride, excellence and elevated stature. Foreign trainings, tours, loans and exchange of delegates are the great temptations for the ruling elite that become loyal more to their masters, lessor to their soil. As the ultimately aim of the dominating power is to fail the system of the state, not the state itself, it facilitate to create functional states within the non-functional state, a fatal blow to dying state apparatus. At the time of deepening national crisis, every salvager, irrespective of its identity, plays the role of destroyer of the state. Apparently, all warring forces come out with a self-defined theory to protect the state, but in reality, they do the same, making yet another addition in the challenges the faltering state already faces. If we minutely analyze the history of the collapsed states in the post-World War-II era, we conveniently reach the conclusion that in most cases, a state did not collapse but the system of the state collapsed. The name, boundaries, currency and institutions remain intact but their command and grippe vanished. It is most difficult time, both for the ruling elite and the masses because a state and society suffer together. Physics of history tells us that under the law of Nature even those who promote injustice one way or other become the victim of injustice because the lawlessness is a salient characteristic of the collapsed system of state.

During the Cold War period, the entire world was made a new kind of ‘war zone’ between two world powers: America and USSR, successfully dividing the human beings into two categories- “Believers and Heretics”. The former was the divine leader of the believers whose currency carries a fantastic sentence: “In God We Trust”. The later was ultimately left to lead the Heretics. Thus, the war was between God and Devil which was fought on other peoples’ land while managers of catastrophes were the secrete agencies: CIA and KGB. Firstly Sumerian and then Egyptian and Greco mythologies tell through history whenever gods fought in the heaven, the worst sufferers were the creatures on the earth. The same antique myth reinforced its might in the second half of the twentieth century when Washington and Moscow adopted the role of heavenly forces. Whenever the earthly gods sitting on the table of power disagreed with each on any particular area or state, a hell came into being for the people therein. Middle East, South East Asia, particularly Iran and Indonesia, and Latin American states had to take both of blood and fire. Ironically, there were no foreign invaders, no alien warriors and no nomadic savages but the people of the hell-made state who burned their own homes and killed their own people including women, children and old ones, without knowing why were they killing or killed? Splendid theory behind the civil war worked, amazingly, the seeds of which were sprouted years or decades ago.

Whatever we sew during the last seven decades, we will have to reap, first. Painfully speaking, the fifth largest democracy of the world, Pakistan, is a state which purposefully allowed national character deteriorates, verily. The culture of greed and self-pursuits from bottom to top shows a long boom. Corruption and terrorism are the tiny particles in the chaotic world of us. There are only two options left for us: one, be prepared to face the nemesis or two, show painful self-restraint and control to rectify the follies with utmost prudence. We must keep historic fact in mind that change in perception of state and society is painfully very slow. Less than two months are left to decide: whether Pakistan is a terrorist state or not. We ourselves have provided evidences against ourselves to the world. Our communication system, financial market, energy network and finally porous boarders are not in our control. Our conventional neighbors show no sympathy with our misplaced priorities. If fragile ego leads us toward self-destruction, we shall have to wage war against our own people which is never winnable in history. Thus, the end result would be the vital catastrophe the injured lions are predicting, publically, forgetting that Financial Action Task Force, Counter Financial Terrorism and Anti-Money Laundering regimes’ tentacles would take on mighty ones, if the state in ‘grey list’ is included in ‘blacklist’.

The writer is Ex-Director General  (Translation), Senate of Pakistan.

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