Having moved to the U.S. when I was a mere babe of eight in 1960, I am not too much in tune with the politics "over there". But I do keep in touch in a general way with the "happenings" back home. I throw this out as an apology for any and all naivette that the more perceptive political commentators will detect in the sincere thoughts that follow.


I believe that we, the Pakistanis, are bright, smart and hard-working people. Our abilities shine when they are given the opportunity to shine. Too bad, such opportunities are provided in a foreign land and not in our native land. So what is the solution? Good Golly Miss Molly, if someone had the answer, he or she would have at the very least, won the Nobel Prize for "problem-solving".


As a first step, I would take the approach of gaining insight from the experience of other nations, like South Korea or Singapore or Turkey, who have fared much better than us. The key to formulating a solution, I would have to say, is Industrialization: That has the potential to take care of ethnic divides, over-population, in-law (and out-law) problems, poverty, corruption, arranged marriage woes, moulvis, etc., etc. United States was at the turn of the century, where Pakistan is at right now. If Pakistanis are provided the right "environment" in which to grow, they will perform miracles - no idle boast once you consider what so many of us have achieved in foreign lands.


But in addition to
industrialization, we need to weed out some entrenched and tangled webs we have woven. For starters we should swallow the bitter pill on Kashmere. We must let Kashmeris fight for their own independence or decide whether they want to join India or Pakistan. Not only will it gain goodwill worldwide, it will also free resources for industrialization. And other countries will flock to Pakistan for investment into the infrastructure. The leader who shows this kind of vision (foregoing Kashmere for the sake of Pakistan's future) will be The Times' Person of the Year, in addition to winning the Nobel Peace Prize. He or she will alas, also be a martyr but this effort would purchase him/her a non-stop flight to Heaven, no questions asked by the Lord above (similar to Anwar Sadaat and Menachem Begin?!).


Industrialization. In my not so humble opinion, that's the ticket for Pakistan to flourish in the new millenium.