Pakistanis are having to cut back on spending in order to make up for years of careless economic management that have resulted in a mess in the country’s finances.” The renowned Farhan Bokhari wrote this as the first paragraph of an article that appeared in the Christian Science Monitor on September 1, 1993.
Thirty years old is the Pakistani infant who was born at the time those sentences were written. Just pause to image how this 30-year-old is feeling right now as they read through every article’s opening paragraph discussing all the economic “reforms” that are required now due to “irresponsible economic management” in the past.
This 30-year-old infant is not by herself. In September 1993, the population of Pakistan was estimated to be 125 million.
There are now two Pakistanis for every one that welcomed our 30-year-old child into the world in 1993. There are two distinct Pakistans today, not just the one from 1993. Thus, at least twice as many souls are experiencing the anxiety and rage she or he is experiencing.
Things worsen. The 1993 crisis was unfathomable in its scope. It had just been 22 years since the country’s division. Two significant geopolitical earthquakes—the Iranian Revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan—followed that trauma and shock.
Dusty, young Pakistan was still a relatively new state, nation, and concept in 1993. It was reeling, but it could not have imagined the scale of the struggle it faced.
There are now two Pakistanis for every one that welcomed our 30-year-old child into the world in 1993. There are two distinct Pakistans today, not just the one from 1993. Thus, at least twice as many souls are experiencing the anxiety and rage she or he is experiencing.
Things worsen. The 1993 crisis was unfathomable in its scope. It had just been 22 years since the country’s division. Two significant geopolitical earthquakes—the Iranian Revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan—followed that trauma and shock.
Dusty, young Pakistan was still a relatively new state, nation, and concept in 1993. It was reeling, but it could not have imagined the scale of the struggle it faced.
