Pakistan: A Failed State
Lashkir-e-Taiba (LeT) is a well-known Islamic terrorist
organization that is based in Pakistan.
It was started in 1987 in Afghanistan with funding from Osama Bin Laden
and headquarters in Muridke, Pakistan along with a few training sites. They are a very active terrorist group in
South Asia most notably known for their 2001 Indian Parliament Attack, and the
2008 Mumbai Attacks.
On Wednesday November 26, 2008, ten
members of the terrorist organization LeT carried out attacks on multiple sites
in Mumbai, India that included a railway station, cinema, Jewish community
center, hospital, café, hotels, and the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower that spanned
over four days. They ended up killing
164 people, with at least another 308 wounded.
Terrorist organizations and attacks like this one aren’t out of the
ordinary in Pakistan. In the last 12
years, over 58,000 people have died from terrorism.
Extreme amounts of terrorism is just one reason that Pakistan
is considered a failed state. In 2010,
Pakistan was rated tenth on the Failed State index made each year by the
Foreign Policy magazine, and later ranked thirteenth in 2015. “Failed
states can no longer perform basic functions such as education, security, or
governance, usually due to fractious violence or extreme poverty.” (Global
Policy Forum). Their government lacks control, their economy is
poor, and trying to remain a stable nation has proven to be quite hard. Only about one percent of the country
actually pays taxes, and many people live under the poverty line. Like in most cases, being poor also means
being malnourished and having a variety of other health concerns. This could also be a side effect of the lack
of education.
The government of Pakistan actually has very
little control over its so called democratic country. The country is basically under the rule of
its military since most of the politicians seem incompetent. The presidency has been flip-flopping between
Nawaz Sharif’s family (part of the Pakistan People’s Party) and the Bhutto
family (part of the Pakistan Muslim League party) for years. Neither has fared too well in their stints in
power. The Pakistani military is a
fairly strong one, and one with nuclear capabilities, but since they spend so
much time running the country and fighting against rebellions and insurgencies
inside their borders, their resources and funding for real military affairs are
extremely dampened. It also doesn’t help
that they are constantly going to war with India. India and Pakistan have a long history, one
that is filled with religious and territorial differences. The region of Kashmir has been a cause of
multiple wars and continuous conflict and tension between the two
countries.
Being a nuclear power automatically makes
Pakistan a concern for the rest of the world, but especially after 9/11 they
have become a strategic player in the “war on terror”. If Pakistan continues to become more
unstable, there could be serious consequences for more than just the citizens
inside their borders, especially since they are a nuclear power with a well
formed military.
Works Cited
"Global Policy Forum." Failed States. Web.
14 Jan. 2016.
Mahmood, Basit. "Pakistan: A Failed State That
Desperately Needs Saving From Its Failed
Leaders - The Political Domain." The
Political Domain. 7 July 2015. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.
"The World Factbook." Central Intelligence
Agency. Central Intelligence Agency. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.
"The 2015 Fragile States Index." Foreign Policy
The 2015 Fragile States Index Comments. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.
