We have not one but many “Dichotomies” existing in our society simultaneously. By dichotomy I refer to a division into two mutually exclusive contradictory groups/ entities or practices.
First & foremost being the identity. We are Muslims first, Sindhis/ Baluchi’s/ Pashtuns/Mohajirs/ Punjabis second and Pakistanis last. Hell, we don’t want to know how many we really are, because Sindhis & Baluchis are afraid that they would turn out be minorities in their province & lose their grip on power. A good chunk of the population is bent on enforcing their version of Sharia on rest of the population by force. They consider voting un-Islamic & despite the fact we saw that their rule in Afghanistan virtually destroying everything and 'Darse Nizami' was considered the proper education syllabus; even Oxford educated Imran Khan has soft spot for them.
Second is the complete lack of respect for merit & education. We want to take shortcuts in everything. Jamshed Dasti was disqualified for fake degree but the naïve public re-elected him! A fake medical or engineering degree would not enable you to perform an operation or build a bridge. Who knows how many dubious degree holders are occupying senior technical posts in the gov’t owned establishments? Because of this a very large percentage of Pakistani scientists migrate abroad hence the famous ‘Brain drain’.
Finally, gov’t revenue is abysmally inadequate for the country’s’ needs. Regrettably, in addition to the human resources, R &D also needs injection of funds. Ruling classes are not the only ones, all of us are guilty of tax evasion. No wants to pay taxes in Pakistan. More than half the population still lives in the villages but there is no tax on the agricultural income. How would GOP finance Research & Development when the revenue is not enough to pay even for the health & education?
We can all dream of manufacturing world beating fighters, helicopters, frigates, submarines & even having indigenous space program. But all these would tantamount to nothing more than wishful thinking until such time that there is a paradigm shift in the society mind-set.
Everyone must understand that no worthwhile progress in any field can be achieved until sectarian killing, suicide bombings & all extremism is eliminated. How can you expect peace in a society where anti-polio workers risk death by the Islamic extremists! We have to create a peaceful & tolerant society before anything.
Next step is prioritizing education & merit. That means end of nepotism & political appointments in other words end of corruption. Therefore no more medical doctors such as Dr Asim as Ministers for Petroleum.
I see many posts denigrating Indian scientific achievements and implying that Indian goods are rubbish. We underestimate our adversary at our peril. We should instead be praising Indian defence produce (even when it is in fact rubbish) so that the nation is shaken out from the false sense of security.
Sad reality however, is that Pakistan is way behind India in Science & Technology. Dr Abul Kalam, late Indian President was a first rate rocket scientist resulting in Indian advancement in Rocket Science. (In case anyone points out, the great Satyendra Nath Bose, FRS, after whom the 'Boson' is named; was not Indian but IMO a Bangla Deshi)
When one examines list of Nobel Laureates in the scientific fields, there are 4 Indian/ Indian origin scientists. Sir CV Raman won Nobel Prize in Physics in 1911. Harbind Khorana for Medicine in 1968, Subramanyam Chander Shakher in 1983 in Physics & Venkat Raman Ramakrishnan for Chemistry in 2009.
Whereas there is only one Pakistani, Professor Abdus Salam. Actually the whole Muslim world only produced two others; Ahmed Zewali (Egyptian origin) Chemistry -1999 & Aziz Sancar (Turkey) Chemistry in 2015. Forget about harping on the past Muslim achievements; the fact that just one University (Cambridge) produced 29 Nobel Prize wiiners in Physics, 26 in Medicine and 22 in Chemistry; illustrates how far behind Pakistan & Muslims are in the present day science & technology.
Future wars would be won by technology & technology alone. To quote an actual example, there were suggestions in the US during the cold war era that the US should consider setting up a military base on the moon so that Russia ICBMS could be destroyed before the same are launched. Later it was modified into the ‘Star War’ program whereby space based laser weapons would intercept Russian ICBMs before these reach the United States mainland. Pray tell me how would Pakistani cruise missiles / nuclear weapons hurt an enemy when the same are destroyed before launch?
For a country be truly independent, we need to have technology of similar level. Since no one else is going to give it to us, we would to have to acquire the same on our own. The elite may be ‘Beghairat’; but all members of the society who hide their income and do not pay their due taxes and vote for fake degree holder & corrupt MNAs must share the blame. Because until such time that GOP revenue reaches the level that sufficient funds for R &D are available; we would remain dependent upon others.