Pakistan's success divide -

By Shafqat Ali

Notwithstanding the tall tales of diplomatic successes, Pakistan of today epitomizes a profound poly-crisis: a breathing but battered democracy, institutions teetering on collapse, public trust fracturing, and an economy gasping for oxygen. The judiciary commands little, if any, confidence; the subjects wrestle for survival, and betrayed human capital waits in the wings to flee. Parochialism and politicization mar the political culture, while foreign policy struggles to balance between the conflicting powers. The scope for truth and integrity seems long encroached upon; education indoctrinates more than it cultivates intellect or character, and the clergy has long prostrated to power, playing fatwas that tend to divinely validate the oppressive status quo.
Yet, the people hear that the country is in meteoric-rise mode. People are told that the country has achieved unparalleled feats on the global stage by mediating between warring parties beyond its borders. This creates two paradoxical realities: the lived struggles of ordinary citizens versus the governmental portrayal of success. What do these diverging narratives mean for the people and the power elite? Which account aligns more closely with ground realities? Which account, if any, presents a more accurate depiction of the truth based on ground realities?

The core issue is a glaring dichotomy in how success is defined. The failures on the public or domestic front and the so-called successes on the elitist and global front essentially point toward a glaring dichotomy in defining and determining success in the corridors of power and the spheres of the public. For the power elite—military-civilian hybrids, dynastic political despots, and powerful institutions—success often means geopolitical feats, macroeconomic stabilization masks, or selective diplomatic wins. For the masses, it translates into inflation control, employment, holistic security, inclusive education, and a dignified living.
That is, success in Pakistan means different things for the people and the power elite. What success means for the latter largely means failure for the former and vice versa. In this way, success for the people and for power has become irreconcilable—antithetical to each other. That is, what the power elite counts as success may not necessarily benefit the people. Instead, it often comes at the cost of the people’s struggling lives. Be it a feat in strategic culture or a foreign policy headway — however earned and at whatever cost — the achievements of the power elite are not only funded by the masses but also sustained by them as a glorious victory for the country.
Unsurprisingly, elitist success, or the pretense of it, continues to be sustained by the masses through their ever-shrinking stakes and space in decision-making. In other words, success, however fallacious, largely adds to the stakes of the power elite at the expense of the people.
This dynamic sustains itself because the masses bear the stakes while having a diminishing say in decision-making. Fallacious or partial successes reinforce elite power while deepening public disillusionment. Clergy-power alliances and media narratives help paper over the cracks, but ground realities—struggling households, emigration dreams, and institutional distrust—tell a different story.
This elite-people divergence is most visible in Pakistan’s youth bulge and brain drain. Millions of educated young Pakistanis, facing joblessness, energy shortages, and stifled merit, choose to emigrate to the Gulf, Europe, and North America. This exodus is not a mere individual choice but a damning verdict on domestic governance. Until success is measured by how many talented youths choose to build Pakistan rather than flee it, macroeconomic optics and diplomatic maneuvers will remain hollow triumphs that mask, rather than mend, the republic’s deepening structural wounds.
Pakistan’s malady doesn’t stem from potential constraints or resource deficiency but from this embedded misalignment. Real headway warrants redefining success around inclusive public good: human capital development, inclusive and depoliticized institutions, good governance, and an economic system that prioritizes inclusive productivity over patronage and geopolitics. Unless the elite-people chasm persists, polycrises will haunt the country, however brightly the foreign policy stars shine. The flight may look impressive from the elite’s ascendancy, but for those on the ground, tribulations define the journey. Therefore, true ascent demands lifting the entire nation, not just the cockpit of the country.

*The writer is a journalist and political commentator based in Islamabad.