KARACHI, Aug 10: Pakistan cannot be secure, stable and prosperous unless there is a transition from a national security state to a welfare state, said renowned economist Dr Kaiser Bengali while spaking at a seminar on Friday.

The seminar “Transformation of Pakistani State” was organized at International Relations Department of Karachi University on Friday.

Dr Bengali, who was the guest speaker at the programme, argued that the prevailing political situation in Pakistan was the outcome of neglect and indifference showed by successive governments to deal with the real issues like socio-economic development, the rule of law, empowerment of people and democracy.

“Unless Pakistan emerges as a democratic state where elected representatives, instead of military and bureaucracy, have a say in the policy-making process, one cannot expect a positive transformation of Pakistani state,” he said.

According to him, military dictators have been responsible more than politicians for extremism, terrorism and ‘a perceived breakdown’ of the rule of the law in the country.

“Unlike politicians, who remained in power only for a couple of decades, the military has been at the helm of affairs here for more than three decades and because of enormous benefits and privileges accumulated in the last thirty years, it has emerged as a major beneficiary of the present state order,” he said.

Dr Bengali made it clear that the transformation of Pakistani state to egalitarian and welfare state could be achieved only if people asserted their position and forced the rulers to restore the democratic process. He cited the lawyers’ movement and said it indicated the civil society’s capacity to challenge dictatorial acts.

In reply to a query, he said political parties and civil society by forging unity could transform it into a welfare state where people instead of non-political forces were real masters of their fate.

International Relations Department Chairman Dr Moonis Ahmar, in his concluding remarks, said the state should represent the masses instead of the privileged class who had been exploiting the poor and downtrodden.

He said that political parties should learn lessons from the lawyers’ movement, shun opportunism and unite to restore real democracy.