Where Does Pakistan's Democracy Go From Here?

In this episode, Uzair talks to Dr. Ilhan Niaz about what is going on in Pakistan today and what we can learn from history to understand the present and what may come in the future. We also talked about why the political class is morally bankrupt, how the judiciary has ceded space, and why the military has been able to reassert itself in the country’s political economy.

Dr. Niaz is chair of the history department at the Quaid-e-Azam University and author of several books, including The State During the British Raj: Imperial Governance in South Asia, 1700-1947.

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction
0:55 Understanding the present
8:10 How the military draws power
16:26 The supreme court’s role today
27:15 Maintaining unity among civilians
32:15 Has Khan awakened the masses?
40:37 Scenarios for the future
46:05 The role of geopolitical rents
50:54 Is Shehbaz the worst PM in history?

[guldukan]

Dude it does not go anywhere but stays where it is. Pakistan is a Delusion and remains one and I really appreciate people like Uzair who has such a huge hope for Pakistan.

[ravindra]

The Pakistani army is environmentally friendly. It favours the green colour and believes in recycling political parties (as the guest observed)

[sprinkleroilfish]

What a treat to listen to this esteemed guest 😮

[sujitsk]

An editorial in 'Dawn' once said, Pakistan has "very little or no tradition of holding its armed forces accountable" and goes on to say, "tensions between the civilian government and Pakistani army is just a manifestation of unequal power sharing arrangements."

It went on ...

"The army's need for a civilian presence in government is as vital as a petticoat is to a saree. It can soil it or use it as a toe rag when done with it."

[dnapolren]

The way history keeps repeating in Pakistan is like the time loop that Dr.Strange creates for dormamu

[taymiaali]

Love Dr. Ilhan Niaz - thank you for bringing him.

[Shrimpspiration]

What an amazing discussion. Muzammil Shah says in his videos that "main Pakistanio say un ki khushi cheena chahta hoon (so they realize the cluster f we are in)" And this video, if it was in Urdu, and shown to the entire country, will take away that fake happiness that the country is living in.

Sadly, when I reflect on my life so far, I feel saddened to see that I spent it loving Pakistan, and making sure that I am contributing to it. I should have just bought random plots in DHA instead.

[deepanshu]

Since independence pakistan was a half baked idea... It reflects in their policy making, their governance.. is pakistan an islamic state, sometimes they draw similarities to turkey sometimes to saudis then to iran... Sometimes they claim harrapa too, folks need to get a grip as to what constitutes the idea of pakistan.... A nation is an imagined community, whereas i see only punjabi and karachi point views, whats the baluchi narrative? Whats sindhi narrative? Nada.. a lot of churning needs to happen with the islamo anglo elites within the country, unfortunately for us we cant choose the neighbor..

[jssidhoo]

Sad down in the dumps going down further .

[mhasan]

Summarize we are those naive kids who get into white van without windows time after time if shown the candy 🍬🍭

[shujauddin]

didn't know Uzair is Arsenal fan <3

[anees]

Sir could you please cover external elements that were pivatol for military to play an interventionist role in Pakistan.. be it ayub time, Zia or for that matter mushrraf..
Further more if this is true what possible external dynamics that may we'll have triggered such situations in Pakistan at the moment. Any financial bailout promises ?

[ahmedhassanGent]

with 144 imposed, are you asking people to come out and pick up a fight with the state? A pertinent example to quote here is about LUMS professor who was beaten up just for holding a placard with his family outside LUMS.!!

[commonman]

PDM overthrew PTI government
Knowing jolly well economy in bad shape
But it was do or die
Decision
As selection of
Next cheif would have nailed their coffin.

[waqarhaider]

Sorry but I absolutely hate that smug look on Ilhan Niaz's face.

[SHINZO-X]

1. Never trust phds...check
2. Never trust deserters...check
3. Never trust people who know urdu but feel better speaking in english...CHECK!