Thread by @fightingpatrol

To help explain the two worlds that exist in #Pakistan (n hopefully explain the civil-mil divide), I want you to read the following two pages from Brig FB Ali's book: Prison Journey. Brig Ali wrote this letter to a friend after being deputed on martial law duties in the 1/n

late 1960s. The two Pakistans described in this letter are as real today as they were 50+ years ago. The #Pakistan that exists within cantoment walls guarantees peace, security, fairness, and dignified living. Inside these walls everyone ceases to be who they were before they 2/n

came in. Their new identity is the uniform that unites them and their families. It's 'all for one, and one for all'. However, outside the walls, it's another story. Even today it's a jungle where might is right. The lack of resources to share has divided those outside into 3/n

smaller factions often along provincial, sectarian and linguistic lines, as they jostle for a piece of the pie. Outside the motto is 'every man for himself'. The average outsider struggles every day just to survive and put food on the table. The wardens 4/n

and their henchmen are always on the lookout to shake down the weak to fill their coffers. The only way to survive in this environment is to know someone higher up in the hierarchy of wardens than the one who might catch you. If you don't have that you will suffer life long 5/n

humiliation and misery. Such is the contrast btw the two Pakistans. Given the walls tht separate them, there is a fundamental lack of understanding of the other. The insiders have everything in life they can ask for so they look down at the outsiders as corrupt and without 6/n

morals or values. They wonder what else could explain the rot the outsiders suffer from? Their sense of exceptionalism is very strong. Meanwhile, the outsiders look at life inside the walls and are in disbelief. They cannot reconcile that the insiders have it so 7/n

good while they suffer outside. It hurts more when they realize that everything inside the walls is subsidized by them. The resentment is palpable but it's unwise to voice it. To borrow a quote from St. Ignatius "in a besieged fortress all dissidence is treason". 8/n

Since there is a perpetual state of conflict with enemies to the East and West, the outsiders need the insiders to fight and keep them safe. It's an unwritten agreement where the outsiders sacrifice resources and the insiders sacrifice lives. So any talk of sharing resources 9/n

fairly or asking the insiders to consume less is unacceptable and deemed 'unpatriotic'. Both sides live in their own worlds resenting the other for the sacrifices they have to make. However, status quo cannot last forever. The outsiders' numbers have grown considerably but 10/n

their share of the pie has not grown at all. There are more mouths to feed and even less to go around. They are now connected with each other and they are all sharing grievances about the sacrifices they had to make in the name of their defence. There is 11/n

growing mistrust of the insiders and their claims of threats all around. They see through the deals insiders cut with past wardens to keep them in check. They are infuriated tht past wardens kept a bigger piece of the pie for themselves and gave them even less. Unable to 12/n

provide for their families, the outsiders are simmering with anger. Along comes a questionable character, a born again believer. He challenges the insiders directly, names them, calls them out. The outsiders' decades old resentment bursts out. They believe they have found a 13/n

Messiah. The messiah rages against the insiders, whips the crowd in a frenzy. The outsiders believe he will free them from the wardens' clutches and the insiders' wrath forever. They feel deliverance is upon them and blame the insiders for all their troubles. Meanwhile, 14/n

the insiders are confused. Didn't they just sacrifice thousands of sons over two decades to protect the outsiders? Don't they serve in the harshest terrains and climates to ensure outsiders can live freely? They don't understand why the outsiders have turned on them. 15/n

Naturally they blame the Messiah. Allegations and counter allegations fly. Neither side understands the other's positions. Both sides are focused on themselves. The pot that was brewing for 7 decades is finally at boiling point. No one knows how this will play out because 16/n

both sides are uncompromising. The worry is that if a compromise isn't found soon enough, both sides inside and outside the walls will get burnt in the fires that are now spiralling out of contol. A win-win is always better than a lose-lose. Will wiser heads prevail? 17/17

#PakistanArmy #PTI #ImranKhan #GenBajwa #Bajwa