Reinventing Pakistan: The Rise of The Left A well written piece and a fresh approach to things but raises some questions considering that the Left identified here signifies Liberalism or Secularism.
Is shedding of hijab and shaving off yr beard is a pre-requisite to development? Can we not achieve economic progress without getting rid of the so called symbolic Islam?
Do we need to escape from Islam in order to progress?Pakistan was created in the name of islam and is a pure ideological state and had limited linguistic,cultural,geographic pretext for its creation. Radcliff line was simply drawn because we wanted to create a state based on the principles of Islam. People in Turkey ,Egypt and Iran would still retain their identity if they were to part ways with Islam but we only became Pakistanis because of Islam.
I am no fan of the mullah but some how I believe that the so called icons of the” Left” have been mainly responsible for our inability to fully realize our potential as a nation.
1) Leadership after Jinnah until 1958 subscribed to these similar pro west anti mullah theory.Much of the present rot is due to the mistakes made in those formative years.

2)Ayub khan,again a mullah hater,a proud liberal and an extremely pro west,pro US person.His failed vision and leadership ultimately aggravated the feeling of deprivation in Bengal and laid the foundation stone of the 1971 debacle.

3)Bhuuto,the biggest villian.We are still reaping the “benefits” of his economic policies and the Islamization steps he took to appease the clergy in 1977.

4)Benazir, princess of corruption.Introduced us to new depths in the name of democracy.
Its not a left,right or centre thing.What we need is an integreted approach for creation of a just and egalitarian welfare society in line with Jinnah’s vision of modern and model Islamic state.
The so called Left domination would again give us another Lebanon or Iran under Shah both models which failed badly.

Mind over Matter I think your evaluations are based on probably yr limited interaction within yr university.
I have had the opportunity to travel widely and to work on different projects with the MNC i am presently attached with and regret but my observations are a little different.I have attended various conferences,seminars and workshops (both professional and purely academic)in Europe and Far East and have always found Pakistani expats taking part and being really enthusiatic about these events and one should also keep in view the ratio disadvantage when comparing with Indian and Chinese populations.I find yr conclusions a little unfair.