Pakistan fast drifting from welfare driven to security driven state

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Taking part in the discussion today on the report on implementation of principles of policy Senator Farhatullah Babar said the principles contained in Articles 29 to 40 of the Constitution that served as the compass of our national life envisaged Pakistan to be welfare driven state but over the past six decades we had fast drifted towards a security driven state.
In the deliberately crafted narrative woven around national security the state today is guided only by considerations of security rather than welfare of the people, he said.
Whether it is the decision about allocation of national resources, or the missing persons, or reforms in FATA or whether the debate that functioning of the security agencies should be rooted in legislation instead of executive order the guiding compass is whether it enhanced a peculiar concept of security rather than whether it promoted human rights and public well being.
Even in matters of economic activities involving construction and transportation the field in tilted towards security institutions instead of the private sector that should be the engine of growth, he said.
He said that when a political government attempted to restructure issues around national security these efforts were thwarted.
For instance in 1999 Nawaz Sharif’s far reaching regional peace initiative by inviting Prime Minister Vajpaee was subverted through Kargil misadventure.
The nation was still reeling from its consequences as it transformed the Kashmir issue from that of self determination to cross border terrorism.
I will not talk about the PPP initiatives and what happened to them, he said.
Similarly the scheduled cabinet meeting sometime back during the present govt in which trade with India was to be formally given go ahead was mysteriously cancelled at the last minute. Subsequently the Punjab chief minister in an interview with a foreign newspaper only said that the security establishments of the two countries were not enthusiastic about trade.
We need to revisit the theories of national security along with all stake holders and make a realistic assessment of the threat perception, he said.
Clarity of threat perception after due discussion and debate among all stake holders is necessary to correct our bearings and march towards the cherished goal of a welfare driven sate rather than security driven one, he said.