|
|
|||
|
|
|
||
Pakistan's premier website that covers current affairs and news.
PAKISTAN’S BIG AND BEAUTIFUL FENCE
Pakistan’s budget for the fiscal year 2020-21 allocates RS. 83.3 billion for the education sector which is way beyond the investment in fencing the border.
I live in Pakistan, I have completed all my research work here in Pakistani labs, yet my research paper has been published in a medical journal in Netherland; readily accessible for everyone around the globe. I have exposure to many cultures around the world even though I have never traveled abroad; thanks to the internet. I am living in an age, wherefrom climate change to viruses, from non-living to living, everything has a global impact. A recent announcement by Federal Minister says that the border fencing between Pakistan and Afghanistan is about to complete no soon. In a globalized world, is cementing bilateral relations with a landlocked, war-torn neighbor prove beneficial, or cementing a wall can have a better outcome?
It has been controversial since its inception as it served as a divider for the people living there. No denying the fact that the very Line divided the physical border but failed to split ethnic bonds which Pashtuns of both sides of the Line shared. While on one hand, Pakistan recognizes the border, Afghanistan has never accepted it.
Back in 2017, Islamabad has started fencing the border claiming to stop illegal cross-border movements and smuggling. An 11.5 feet high double fence, strengthened with intrusion detectors is to complete with a budget of around five-fifty million dollars. In a country that is undergoing a depressive state of unemployment in youth especially unemployed university graduates; such a large investment on fencing a border seems quite unreasonable. Progress of any state is measured via industrial development which in turn creates employment opportunities making the people of the country stable and empowered.
Pakistan’s budget for the fiscal year 2020-21 allocates RS. 83.3 billion for the education sector which is way beyond the investment in fencing the border. We are lagging behind in research facilities, learning aids, online education, gender equality, and scientific development. The pandemic made it quite evident that our healthcare system is not in place. When we try to stress the objectives to deal with the Covid-19, we forget that the world is almost reached achieving the goal of a ‘polio-free world’, and the two countries i.e. Pakistan and Afghanistan posing a hindrance. Nonetheless, this situation indicates the sectors which need more focus and investment.
Though the year 2020 was a year of social distancing, yet it served to bring people more close to each other in the global digital space. We talk about freedom, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression. Why we don’t think about freedom of trade and freedom from walls? Why don’t we think of connecting people? Walls are meant to create divisions. Why are we inclined towards building new walls, creating more divides?
The ways we can make an impact on the world are many. But the impact made through spreading education and making people empowered is the greatest. To compete and survive in a globalized world, there is no less an option than spending more on education, teaching people who in turn empower and teach more around. There is a famous Chinese proverb, “If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.” What we are planning for? Point to ponder! (This article originally appeared in Current Affairs Digest February 2021 Print Edition)
Siddra Khalid is writer and a political analyst. Twitter handle @siddrakhalid
Subscribe to the Economist to read the full content.
January 28, 2021
Also from Siddra Khalid:
Duslexia effects on learning: The missing link in understanding Dyslexia
Also Read
Growing Defense Relationship between Japan and Bangladesh
Share your views at feedback@newsflash.com.pk
Send your contributions at editor@newsflash.com.pk