Wake up and smell the failure

[SpArK]

Wake up and smell the failure​

Be it Barack Obama’s recognition of India being a world power or his graceful better half dancing her way into Indian hearts, it has been a tough week in newsrooms, at least for Pakistan.

The message was clear and it will resonate with Pakistanis for years to come as the US and India draw out plans for an ‘Amer-asian hegemony’.

Talk about a wake-up call for politicians, bureaucrats and all alike. After our own strategic talks with the US, a few weeks ago, ended in the usual pat and push for fighting the war on terror, the symbolism of the visit to India is bigger than the expansive trade deals and kind words of Barack Obama. The US president declared India a world power, and the India-US alliance “one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century”.

On the other hand, Pakistan was snubbed when we were told to do more in the war against militancy during his visit. To make it all the worse, as if Pakistanis weren’t already neglected enough, Obama went further than any US president before by backing India’s pursuit for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. So much for the Kashmir dispute.


It begs the question why Obama didn’t stop by for a day, or even a few hours, to say hello to his allies in Islamabad who have been fighting their war, suffering the casualties, and not to mention recovering from the worst flood the country has ever seen.


The answer is simple. Money is time and time is money, and Pakistan and Pakistanis haven’t understood the value of either yet.

Our very existence has become India-centric; to be more precise we have spent more than half of a century in a military race against India. We discarded the precious gift every newly independent state is given of starting from scratch.


While we have officially become ‘a client state with the Taliban and al Qaeda presence plotting to kill US soldiers and fanning the war in Afghanistan’, India found a much more sustainable form of development and growth by India and for India. They have always been in the race for the long haul and instead of giving power to the military industrial complex or the landowning minority; they borrowed from western thought and civilisations and gave power to the people.


My father’s favourite mantra is that “there are no shortcuts in life”. I can’t help but think how true those words lie in respect to Pakistan.

Our sole export seems to have become terror and while we beg for aid to cope with globalisation, the world recession, and not to mention the floods, India unveils deals worth $10 billion designed to create 50,000 American jobs in an ailing economy. That’s right; India is creating jobs in the US.

They sought to be the largest democracy in the world and they achieved it, and we sought to be the most dangerous country of the world and we certainly achieved it.

And Pakistanis ask where do we go from here?
For many in our ruling class, the answer is simple even if they don’t voice their thoughts — take shortcuts and survive another day till we reach a dead end.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15th, 2010

Wake up and smell the failure – The Express Tribune

 

[Markus]

Excellent article.

 

[Xeric]

A poor attempt of point scoring on the behalf of the writer/newspaper.

 

[cybertron]

@xeric
he might seem a bit synical but plz understand der's atleast some truth in it.
being dissmissive of the article doesnt help the discussion.

 

[Peacefulll]

Though the article is harsh, I think it is valid. But god forbid, if this had been an Indian source instead of a Pakistani one, this thread would have been flamed to bits by now!

 

[SpArK]

Though the article is harsh, I think it is valid. But god forbid, if this had been an Indian source instead of a Pakistani one, this thread would have been flamed to bits by now!

Infact there was an Indian article.. i avoided it as you can see flames will be coming. If it was posted by a person by another flag it would have been worth debating.. But what can we do.

Pakistan's sole export is terror: Pakistani daily

 

[karan.1970]

Very interesting views. But this is the problem with realistic writers in Pakistan. They are so scathing with their criticism of Pakistan that it actually invites a strong pushback from Pakistanis, primarily driven by the acidic tone of the article. If they tone down their attacks, the probability of people taking them seriously without fighting back will go up significantly..

 

[third eye]

A poor attempt of point scoring on the behalf of the writer/newspaper.

But where are the points of disagreement with the author ?

The only place I disagree is the implied point that a frown or smile from a US President means good or bad boys.

 

[Xeric]

Atleast i did better than those who behaved rudely in that thread which took on india in relation to Obama's visit.

See, there's no doubt that the US is upto a strategical relationship with india. Though i must say credit india that despite its stubborn attitude towards the US it has always managed to earn a more stable relationship with the US.

But then that's not the point.

india would always be considered better than Pakistan by the Americans because of so many reasons. A billion strong market alone is enough a reason for the US lean more towards india. The containment of China is next, keeping Pakistan well behaved (through india) is another and so on and so forth.

india is a huge country and its needs/requirements are more. Though Pakistan is almost totaly dependent on the US when it comes to procurement of defence equipment but then we still cant 'benefit' the US in terms of imports when we compare it with india. A billion dollar import of some latest tech by Pakistan would seem meaningless even if india imports routine goods from the US as india because of its sheer size, population and requirement would outclass Pakistan in terms of import funds.

So this whole talk of 'creating jobs' is quite amorphous. It's like a guy who live single buying a few buns being compared to a family who has 10 kids buying the whole carton of the same or may be less expensive item.

What concerns me is the fact that india was unable to capitalize upon the visit as it failed to declare Pakistan a rogue/terrorist/whatever state 'straight from the horse's mouth.' The indian attentions were quite clear when BJP and likes went gung ho over Obama's meaningful omission of Pakistan from his first speech.

And then there was that girl who asked the 'right' question and was 'well-handled.'

And then there was the same 'ol tune of Pakistan and india should resolve their problems blah blah blah....

So, yes india is a power and there isnt anything surprising about it. A huge economy, powerful armed forces and a bright future. Atleast these isnt 'news' any more.

One needs to understand that the US deals with Pakistan and india on separate wavelengths, there's no comparison.

What Pakistan can provide the US cannot be made guud by india and what india provides the US is not something Pakistan can come up to.

We cant possibly think of dealing with the US in terms of ten billion dollars. Similarly india cannot serve America's strategic interests in central/southern asia.


The writer absurdly tried to connect Obama's visit with Pakistan's image knowing fully well that it didnt work out for india this time. Harping arguments like 'we sought to be the most dangerous country of the world and we certainly achieved it' doesnt exactly fit in this context, not atleast with Obama visiting india for creating jobs.

 

[third eye]

Of course you did better than those who went overboard – that’s why you are a Think Tank & they are not .

X, we need to de hyphenate India & Pak and accept the fact that each time India is mentioned, Pak does not naturally have to follow & vice versa. This is something we cannot seem to do hence the grief & heartburn. Each time my neighbor talks to my brother I need not get upset or possessive. We both are dealt with on diff wave lengths as you put it for diff reasons and both of us have diff aspirations , demonstrated capabilities & potential.

It would be naïve for anyone to expect US to declare Pak to be a terrorist state till its interests in Af are not met.

I still feel the author of post C&P at #1 above has raised relevant issues. The most imp is replicated below :

"Our very existence has become India-centric; to be more precise we have spent more than half of a century in a military race against India. We discarded the precious gift every newly independent state is given of starting from scratch.


While we have officially become ‘a client state with the Taliban and al Qaeda presence plotting to kill US soldiers and fanning the war in Afghanistan’, India found a much more sustainable form of development and growth by India and for India. They have always been in the race for the long haul and instead of giving power to the military industrial complex or the landowning minority; they borrowed from western thought and civilisations and gave power to the people."

 

[pmukherjee]

Atleast i did better than those who behaved rudely in that thread which took on india in relation to Obama's visit.

See, there's no doubt that the US is upto a strategical relationship with india. Though i must say credit india that despite its stubborn attitude towards the US it has always managed to earn a more stable relationship with the US.

But then that's not the point.

india would always be considered better than Pakistan by the Americans because of so many reasons. A billion strong market alone is enough a reason for the US lean more towards india. The containment of China is next, keeping Pakistan well behaved (through india) is another and so on and so forth.

india is a huge country and its needs/requirements are more. Though Pakistan is almost totaly dependent on the US when it comes to procurement of defence equipment but then we still cant 'benefit' the US in terms of imports when we compare it with india. A billion dollar import of some latest tech by Pakistan would seem meaningless even if india imports routine goods from the US as india because of its sheer size, population and requirement would outclass Pakistan in terms of import funds.

So this whole talk of 'creating jobs' is quite amorphous. It's like a guy who live single buying a few buns being compared to a family who has 10 kids buying the whole carton of the same or may be less expensive item.

What concerns me is the fact that india was unable to capitalize upon the visit as it failed to declare Pakistan a rogue/terrorist/whatever state 'straight from the horse's mouth.' The indian attentions were quite clear when BJP and likes went gung ho over Obama's meaningful omission of Pakistan from his first speech.

And then there was that girl who asked the 'right' question and was 'well-handled.'

And then there was the same 'ol tune of Pakistan and india should resolve their problems blah blah blah....

So, yes india is a power and there isnt anything surprising about it. A huge economy, powerful armed forces and a bright future. Atleast these isnt 'news' any more.

One needs to understand that the US deals with Pakistan and india on separate wavelengths, there's no comparison.

What Pakistan can provide the US cannot be made guud by india and what india provides the US is not something Pakistan can come up to.

We cant possibly think of dealing with the US in terms of ten billion dollars. Similarly india cannot serve America's strategic interests in central/southern asia.


The writer absurdly tried to connect Obama's visit with Pakistan's image knowing fully well that it didnt work out for india this time. Harping arguments like 'we sought to be the most dangerous country of the world and we certainly achieved it' doesnt exactly fit in this context, not atleast with Obama visiting india for creating jobs.

Sensible comments. It is time we Indians moved on. Pakistan has its own life to live, let them live it. We have ours to live. It is time we ended this full time fascination and unhealthy obsession with Pakistan. I was amazed at the sheer childishness of many media channels and so called analysts who nearly crucified Obama for not calling Pakistan a bad boy. I mean how absurdly kiddish can we get? Expecting a lolly pop from big daddy while the other brother is scolded!! You could even see our politicians practically swell with pride and bravado at each sweet sounding sound byte emanating from Obama. I can't think of any self respecting modern nation aspiring for greatness being so starved of appreciation and praise. We really have to leave our insecurities behind and learn to be confident of ourselves and our achievements and capabilities while at the same time being firmly grounded in the realities of how much further we have to go, of how much work still needs to be done.

Pakistan's is not an index of India's progress. Pakistan's successes or failures are not an yardstick for measuring ours. We are two independent nations with differing destinies. Yes, joined at birth but growing separately now.

 

[Xeric]

Of course you did better than those who went overboard – that’s why you are a Think Tank & they are not .

X, we need to de hyphenate India & Pak and accept the fact that each time India is mentioned, Pak does not naturally have to follow & vice versa. This is something we cannot seem to do hence the grief & heartburn. Each time my neighbor talks to my brother I need not get upset or possessive. We both are dealt with on diff wave lengths as you put it for diff reasons and both of us have diff aspirations , demonstrated capabilities & potential.

You are right that "Each time my neighbor talks to my brother I need not get upset or possessive", but then if my neighbor would be talking about ME persistently i do have the right to get possessive. If only india would leave Pakistan out of its relations with the US we dont need to ask the US to reciprocate it by visiting us. i hope you got the point.

You leave us alone, we leave you alone, it works like this. But everytime if some big daddy pays you a visit you somehow needs to remind him of us. That's bad.

If this keeps on happening, hawks on our side would keep on getting the heartburn and would surely be griefed and then comes the 'competition.'

How valid the article would have been if the hawks on your side could have kept their beaks tight? Quite i guess.

You know the things are interconnected, the US gives us arms you raise hue and cry, you got a nuclear deal with them and we had problems. And then these issues get carry forward to a formal visit like this current one. This seems to inescapable. What say?

It would be naïve for anyone to expect US to declare Pak to be a terrorist state till its interests in Af are not met.

Then why the demand?

Your 'countrymen' on another thread seemed quite satisfied over the issue and easily skipped the fact that till the time we are in US' lap india would not be all green.

I still feel the author of post C&P at #1 above has raised relevant issues. The most imp is replicated below :

"Our very existence has become India-centric; to be more precise we have spent more than half of a century in a military race against India. We discarded the precious gift every newly independent state is given of starting from scratch.

This works both ways as i have mentioned earlier. Though india tries to shunt off the Pakistan syndrome through statements we dont see any reciprocative moves on ground.

While we have officially become ‘a client state with the Taliban and al Qaeda presence plotting to kill US soldiers and fanning the war in Afghanistan’, India found a much more sustainable form of development and growth by India and for India. They have always been in the race for the long haul and instead of giving power to the military industrial complex or the landowning minority; they borrowed from western thought and civilisations and gave power to the people."

In my holy opinion, this was totally unrelated to the topic.

 

[Spring Onion]

it has been a tough week in newsrooms, at least for Pakistan

Not exactly. Our newsrooms were more busy with sugar crisis, loan waiver cases in court and other pressing issues like bar council results and its impact.


i guess he was confusing Indian newsrooms with Pakistani because all we had seen Indian media was glues to give how Mrs obama danced and all. did he say namsatay etc etc

 

[Rafi]

It never cease's to amaze me to how indians get so wound up by opinion peace's in Pakistani media, we have a free media, that transmits all types of views, and can be extremely critical of all our institutions. This freedom of expression is extremely beneficial for our society, as it allows self analysis.

Sometimes this can also be unpopular, and just down right wrong, but it says volumes about us, that this person can write an almost vicious critique of the country and its policies, and no one bats an eyelid.

Whereas Ms Roy gets threats and people turning up at her house, to lynch her.

 

[Developereo]

A poor attempt of point scoring on the behalf of the writer/newspaper.

Courting an Indian audience ($$$) is standard fare for some Pakistani media outlets. Predictable self-loathing and India-pandering masquerading as soul searching introspection.

Dawn.com comes to mind.