Pakistan’s struggle for a free Kashmir kept its own people poor Instead of fighting a battle that Pakistan will most definitely never win, the Imran Khan government should start fixing the things it can.

Pakistan’s struggle for a free Kashmir kept its own people poor
Instead of fighting a battle that Pakistan will most definitely never win, the Imran Khan government should start fixing the things it can.

SHAHMEER NAVEED ARSHAD

23 August, 2019 1:35 pm

File photo of Pakistan's financial capital, Karachi. Photographer: Asim Hafeez | Bloomberg

Yes, India has finally annexed Kashmir. Yes, it is truly devastating for our diplomacy in the short term. It is a gross violation of international morals, treaties and human rights. But is it really our problem to begin with?

What must be explored from the outset is the influence of a movement that began gaining traction in the 1970s. The Middle Eastern countries exhibited an oil blockade against America for Palestine, Iran witnessed a popular revolution by the Islamists and Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviet Union.

These movements were exacerbated further in the aftermath of 9/11; the fall of Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt inter alia, other revolutions. Yet, despite continued efforts by the Arab republics in Palestine, the Pakistani state in Kashmir and the Iranian efforts in the Middle East more broadly, pan-Islamism has been a complete and utter failure.

The only Muslim countries that turned away from this ethno-religious philosophy – namely Malaysia, Turkey, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Turkmenistan – have had any successes in developing their economies.

While we may not like nationalism, we must accept it as the dominant philosophy of the modern state. Westphalian peace in Europe transformed small countries of the tiny continent into great colonial powers.

The ability to avoid war with your neighbours was vital for the colonial project to bloom. Yet, after years of rallying around pan-Islamist concepts, Pakistan fails to appreciate the importance of regional peace.

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