..... Where did we as a nation go wrong?
Well that is a really good question.
Where did we as a nation go wrong?
Unfortunately we forgot or ignored the basic necessities for making a nation. Or more precisely we went after the wrong priorities.
We thought religion will guarantee our cohesion. But it didn't because it cannot.
Cohesion comes from strapping and binding the nation with good infrastructure, with prosperity, with hope, and above all with justice.
For the tribals, we let them form a state within a state for the last 60 odd years. No decent country in the world allows arms militias, smuggling bazars, and ungoverned territory, unless you are talking about Basket case, cesspool African and some Asian societies.
Even now it is time to help tribals become civilized quickly, because if we don't, then they will suffer just like tribal Afghanis are suffering just across the border.
And how can we help them become civilized? By encouraging them to establish police, bureaucracy, multi-level courts, and multi-level executive branches.
Instead of lining the pockets of big Khans in FATA, we must build motorways all the way to the border.
Instead of lining the pockets of political agents, we must help the poor masses in FATA get access to clean water, jobs, and education.
It is time to end the draconian tribal system, the abomination called FCR. They need courts, and civil institutions. Time to kick out the pathetic jaghra jarga system.
...... A classic example of 7 is Karachi - it has seen some of the worst violence in Pakistan even though it has the most educated people. .....
I beg to disagree. Karachi is not a #7 i.e. city state as it doesn't maintain its own army.
In fact Karachi is a part of #8 i.e. a nation state or sovereign state called Pakistan. You remember? that when the violence in Karachi exceeded a threshold, the nation state had a will to send in troops and bring down the violence to a tolerable level.
Current army ops in tribal areas or semi-tribal areas are also the result of Pakistan being a nation state. Even though many of our pathetic and confused intellectuals do not care to strengthen our nation state.