Syndromes of dependence and escapism

The negative consequences of the flawed economic policies of the time are with us in the form of the energy crisis, woeful state of our physical and social infrastructure, the critical condition of our agriculture and industry, and the rapidly growing trade deficit. One can only conclude that the heavy dependence on foreign assistance led our economic planners into the trap of escapism by relying on imported solutions of our economic problems instead of utilising their own knowledge of the local realities and good judgement for developing home-grown solutions.

Unfortunately, the induction of the democratically-elected governments after the February elections has not brought about a fundamental change in our style of dealing with the daunting problems facing the nation. For instance, the PPP government instead of utilising all the national resources at its command for investigating the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto and punishing the culprits, has conveniently passed on this responsibility to the UN which is ill-equipped to deal with this issue. There can't be a more telling example of the abdication of the responsibility of the state or the admission by a government of its incompetence and lack of control on its security and intelligence agencies. If the government is incapable of investigating the gruesome murder of a nationally acclaimed leader, what can the poor and the down-trodden sections of the population expect from it when subjected to similar acts of terrorism and cruelty?

There is no denying the fact that the country is currently faced with a serious economic crisis and an existential threat to its security on its western borders in the form of the threat of terrorism, the growing US pressure on us to "do more" and frequent violations of our sovereignty and territorial integrity by the American forces. The situation calls for strengthened national unity and resolve through an intensive debate in the Parliament and outside with a view to evolving a national consensus on ways and means of overcoming the challenges facing the nation. This requires the presence of our leaders in the country. Instead, the first thing that President Zardari did after being sworn in and going through the formality of addressing the Parliament was to rush to New York to attend the UN General Assembly session and meet a lame-duck American President.

This dash to New York once again reflects our chronic national malaise of heavy dependence on external assistance and escapism from our responsibilities in dealing with national crises instead of getting down to hard work and relying primarily on ourselves for finding solutions to our problems. Admittedly no country can isolate itself from the rest of the world in this age of globalisation. Cooperation at regional and international levels is a must for every country. However, action on the home front is the most important pre-requisite for success in tackling the serious internal and external problems facing the country. External support is definitely helpful but can only play a marginal role in this difficult task. It appears from the upside down priorities of our political leadership and state functionaries that they haven't drawn the right lessons from the country's history.

The writer is a former ambassador

E-mail: javid.husain@gmail.com