Welfare State or Warfare State?

Before I start, I feel that initially there should be clarity in the concepts of welfare and warfare states. A Welfare State
is a state where government spends to provide all basic amenities of life to its citizens including peace, security, health, education, clean drinking water, public transport and ideal environment to do business or job etc. Todays modern welfare states normally spend half of their GDP; even some governments spend 60% of their GDP on the welfare of their citizens.

You will be surprised to know that no warfare state admits itself to be the one, as it claims its acts as acts of protecting their interests. It covers its warfare intentions under the masking of protecting the lives of their citizens. Currently, the whole world is facing the protection measures of these nations. Starting from Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Palestine and North Korea, there is a long list of warfare states where different nations and powers are protecting their citizens rights and interests at the cost of other nations citizens.

Nine years long SovietAfghan War left Pakistan as a sole victim of this bloodshed. People of Pakistan suffered from terrorist attacks and the tyranny of power hungry terrorist groups, trained as Mujahedeen by a super power and then thrown away as useless material. This bloody bath caused economic, social and psychological damages to the people of Pakistan. Difference of opinion between political and military leadership also played its role in damaging the image of our country.

Now the time has come that after passing through different crisis and phases, every stakeholder is convinced that welfare and prosperity of masses is the only way for any nation to survive and move forward. No proxy war or expansion plan, but only political stability, economic prosperity and peoples welfare can guarantee the strength of any nation. If people of Pakistan will be deprived of their rights, then no stakeholder will be able to survive. Honesty, trust, transparency and across the board accountability are the only solutions to survive.

The nations misled by their leaders automatically become warfare states and now it is on us to maintain either a welfare state image or turn into a warfare state in future. I am very much clear that we donot need external enemies if we ignore our people and do not work on making Pakistan a modern welfare state.