SPEAKING at a private university recently, former finance minister Miftah Ismail said 4,000 children would lead Pakistan if we keep on focussing on one per cent children. He also talked about how students from the so-called elite schools reach prominent positions. The chronicles of Pakistan’s history and evolution are strikingly exciting, yet we hardly ever know about them.

When we compare our institutional advancement as a nation with that of our neighbours, including China and Iran, one may conclude without doubt that the pace of evolution in Pakistan has been slow over the last 75 years.

Our obsession with being the only Muslim country with nuclear capability is not enough to drive the economy, step up per capita income, quell hyper- inflation, deliver peace, control population, and produce a sustainable environment.

Looking back at the colonial system of the subcontinent, we see that Punjab was annexed in March 1849, and dozens of princely states made agreements with the British as they were loyal to them. The queen promised to refrain from further annexation, but the government moved towards using the tactics of influence over education and grooming.

In the 1860s, schooling was started to conform to the expectations of the British government, and soon cradles like Wards College and Aitchison College were built to educate the children of chieftains and elites who were in the good books of the imperialists.

Independence cannot prosper in a hybrid system. The civil services and judiciary were hired by the British to rule the masses of the subcontinent. Pakistan is a state with a highly centralised governance pattern that serves a few families rather than the masses.

For the last seven decades, Pakistan’s bureaucratic system has remained superior to democratic institutions, with elected officials serving merely as advisers rather than policymakers. Every prime minister has surrendered to civil and military bureaucracy, and studies show that the current system in Pakistan is inefficient and undermining socioeconomic growth.

Kinship and patronage remain the backbone of Pakistani democratic system. Dozens of cradles for elites, including Aitchison College, are still delivering colonial mindsets to a so-called independent country. The Supreme Court has more judges from Aitchison College than from any other single institution, and dozens of parliamentarians and top bureaucrats are alumni of the same institution.

Though there are others serving in judiciary, bureaucracy (civil and military), and parliament, Pakistan at large has no option but to surrender to the colonial mindset produced by such academic institutions. Addressing the issue, however, requires more than mere legislation.

To revolutionise social institutions and the agriculture sector, Pakistan needs a fully prepared social change. The education system, which currently serves only one per cent of Pakistani children, needs to be reformed. The judicial system, built with deep complexities, needs at least 10 years of groundwork. Debates on post-colonial studies, history and socioeconomic problems must be encouraged in schools, colleges and universities.

The younger generation must be given freedom of speech and should be made aware of the loopholes in the national system. Traitors in history must be exposed. Social changes and governing models of China, Russia and Iran must be brought up in debates.

The nation can prosper through education, and education can prosper only when it learns from those who have focussed on education, instead of following some previous colonial masters.

Taufiq Ahmad
Peshawar

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2023