Model Essays

Security and Sovereignty must be redefined

                Generally speaking, 'security' may be defined as a protection against danger, damage, loss or crime involving all the structures or processes taken to ensure it. The most comprehensive definition of Security was, however, given by The United Nations study of 1986 as:

"A national condition, so that countries can develop and progress safely."

It does not merely include the formal security forces or the rule of law, but it deals also with other paradigms of survival like Economy, Defence, Education, Energy and Food resources and vice versa. Every state ensures it, sometimes by maneuvering its native infra-structure and sometimes by inviting external players. The latter is often risky because depending upon others sometimes affects the sovereignty of state. The best relevant example is of our own homeland i.e. Pakistan which has compromised its Sovereignty in the pursuit of Security at different levels.

DEFENCE:   Just a bird's eye view of our military and defence policy reveals that we are not independent in fact. Since partition, Pakistan has been making such pacts and agreements with the existing superpower as have literally enslaved us. Even the military technology like F.16 and Cobra helicopters is given to us with the restriction that we can use it in such and such situation and against this and that country. We are even kept deprived of their spare parts.

     Our so-called benefactor is so influential that even the officials of our forces are granted the departmental promotions after their green signal.

     We are not independent even in our foreign Policy. They have recently asked us to forfeit the gas pipeline project with Iran, and look towards Turkmenistan. Today, the Drone attacks are carried out against our own people but we cannot object. NATO forces have a supply route through Pakistan, but we have no right to say 'no' to them.

ECONOMY:   In order to ensure our economic security, we have always relied upon loans and debts from international organizations like IMF and The World Bank. The terms and conditions are so shameful that in spite of our best efforts we have to reschedule the loans every year. These international organizations have become so powerful in our country that they even dictate us to increase the per-unit price electricity and fuel. Hence in the pursuit of Economic security we have compromised our sovereignty.

     This dichotomy of Security and Sovereignty exists on all the planes of our survival from micro to macro level. What to say of other things when we find our own education system plagued with the same paradox. The cancer of foreign exploitation is sucking the blood of our national life. Today’s panic, hopelessness and frustration assume different forms of terrorism, crimes, suicides etc. because of the same problem.

     But they say every cloud has a silver lining. Getting out of this dire situation is, no doubt, difficult but not impossible. We have all the capability to overcome this state of impotence. All we need is to understand that Security is important but Sovereignty is too huge a price.