It seems that President Zardari’s trip abroad has been successful, if the criterion was to have pledges announced by the leaders of the countries that President visited. Starting with Libya and now ending in France, everywhere Mr. Zardari went; he was greeted warmly, heard sympathetically and given what he asked for, or at least that is the perception. Given what is going on in Pakistan, whether economically, politically or otherwise, the already bleak situation in is getting worse. If everything that is wrong with Pakistan was not enough, now, add to the misery the problem of internally displaced people because of the on-going operation in Swat against the Taliban. These people lost everything and had to flee their houses because they were first under attack from the Taliban and now, they found themselves in the crossfire between the Taliban and Pakistan Army. So, people from Swat and related areas decided to leave for safer places and that is where the trouble started. This migration, almost unmatchable in recent Pakistan history has put enormous stress on Pakistan’s economy which was already crumbling. Even if one forgets about the troubles in Sindh, where Pathans and Mohajirs are fighting each other, or Baluchistan where separation movement is gaining momentum, or Punjab which has its own unique problems, the trouble in Swart and the issue of internally displace people alone is enough to push Pakistan’s economy beyond repair. Therefore, it was extremely important that the world community comes forward and help Pakistan handle the crisis properly. Actually, the world community has been helping Pakistan for a long time, or it seems forever. Still, the problems keep multiplying and we are seeing the same thing all over again. Pakistan is in trouble, yet again, and rich countries are pouring in money to stabilize Pakistan one more time. And logically speaking, based on Pakistan’s history, it seems obvious that the problems won’t go away, and the country won’t become stable. Therefore, all this aide and help and money won’t do any good. People in Pakistan need to break from their painful past and start fresh to change their country and their future for the better. Otherwise, they will continue to suffer, day after day, month after month, year after year, and decade after decade, if it survived.
