Zubair Samo
In this country you need family or tribal links to protect you, so that there are people who will stick with you and sacrifice for you what ever happens. In this country societies are strong rather than the state. Pakistan is that the state, whoever claims to lead it, weak, and society in its various forms is immensely strong. While anyone or any group with the slightest power in society uses it among others things to plunder the state for patronage and favors. Hence astonishing fact is that the powerful group who are on the positions either in government or private companies barely 1 per cent of population pays income tax even though people who are the wealthiest landowners in the country pay no direct taxes at all. as it is quoted in the book Pakistan a hard country by Anatol lieven that the one of auditor in Peshawar said, if I took taxes seriously I’d have most difficult Job in the world, but it is I have the the easiest. In Pakistan the presence of policemen, judges and officials may make it look as if the state is present, but much of time these people are actually working and sometimes killing on their own account, or at the behest whoever has the most power, influence and money at the certain point, in a certain place. However, society is strong above all in the form of the kinship networks which are by far the most important, kinship is the central to the weakness of the Pakistani state. whereas the Pakistani political elites, especially in the countryside,rely for their strength not just on wealth but on their leadership of clans and kinship network although kinship plays a vital part in maintaining the dominance of the feudal, elites and many of the urban bosses. Kinship also plays a role in softening to a limited extent class domination. Kinship is therefore partially responsible for pakistan’s surprisingly low rating of social inequality. In addition to kinship group usually outweighs loyalty to a party,to the state, or any code of professional ethics, not only for ordinary p, but for most politicians and officials. Since the kinship group is the most important force for society, the power of kinship is inevitably reflected in the political system. Moreover, In South Asia, a majority of Pakistan’s political parties are dynastic. The PPP is the party of Bhutto family, the PML(N) is the party of sharif family, and the Awami National Party (ANP) in the frontier is the party of the Wali Khan family meanwhile, the local political grouping which are the building blocks of these parties are themselves based on local dynasties. None of the change of government or regime has produced any real change to the deeper structure of Pakistani politics until they bring changes from the root level in groups and allegiance.
