brihaspati wrote:
For every social-fabric weakness that I have so far explored in Pak, land-ownership is the single most divisive and potentially explosive factor. For all other factors, you have to wait for infrastructural inputs to first raise the relevant level of consciousness [education/health/etc] for the public to feel that they are missing something [the so-called expectations mismatch problem], and that they have a lot to gain from the friendship of India.
This is absolutely correct. A few observations in this regard based on Pakistan's history
Pakistan was created out of an area of land that already had a feudal society. Being beholden to the feudal lord was normal for the people in that land. They were/are in a feudal trap like millions of others in other lands through the last ten centuries.
The government that was superimposed on this feudal land was ostensibly a "democratic" one. In actuality the "government" consisted of feudal lords (who were not particularly literate) and the government machinery was manned by mohajirs - migrants from India who had the training and literacy to run the bureaucracy. These mohajirs had zero chance of winning any elections. They were outsiders and did not want elections to come in the way of their power. The feudals did not want elections to come in the way of their wealth and clout. To this mix was added the army that somewhere along the way gained an appetite for political power.
All these have ensured that there is a fairly high degree of misery among the people of Pakistan (as per opinion polls and publication). All this has been kept in check by an artificially imposed "fear of India". If the fear of India did not exist - the people would then ask why prices are so high and why there is corruption and (Allah forbid) ask how much money is going into army coffers and how the Army houses have power and water while they don't.
At least some of the Islamist groups attacking inside Pakistan have already threatened the feudal pattern and have promised redistribution of land after their Islamic revolution. I saw at least one news item about this recently. I will try and locate it.
In fact this is exactly what is worrying the Pakistani leadership. Nothing is more threatening to Paki leadership than this. Certainly not India. India cannot directly redistribute land without capturing it - but the least we must do is as you suggested - make a strong push for supporting land reform using an appropriate propaganda apparatus.
Technically - an India that suggests land reform is an India that supports the Taliiban/Islamist groups against the "democratically elected government" of Pakistan. This is the allegation that is sure to be made - but India must not be fobbed off by allegations. We must "support anyone who will bring land reforms to Pakistan". Have you noticed how the US and China never ever speak of land reform in Pakistan? They do not want to upset their whores in Pakistan - the Army and the feudal political leaders.
Currently the Paki leadership is caught between several pincers. This is the time to put pressure on them. The poorer and more populous Pakistan gets, the more ripe it will be for some violent revolution. I believe that revolution has already started and we need to step in to get a hand in there to gain something from it at some time in the future.
The interesting thing about what China and the US have done is to support the rich corrupt leadership to retain their power. That is cheap. Supporting and developing an entire land of 170 million people is not something either the US or China will do. Nobody is that rich or philanthropic. They will get little in return for feeding serfs who reproduce like rabbits. That is where revolution must come from and the worse it gets the greater the chance of revolution.
In the meantime India must (as India has done) keep trade to a minimum and keep its armed forces threatening enough for Pakistanis to keep on spending on their armed forces leaving little for development. And as Pakis move towards failure - start calling for democracy, land reforms, freedom etc and blast them with TV propaganda about India being a land of milk and honey.