History tells us one undeniable truth: all great civilisations and modern developed states are the products of rationalism, adaptability, scientific learning, rule of law, and morality. From ancient Greece to modern Europe and Asia, progress has come not through blind ritualism but through reasoned inquiry and openness to change.
Conversely, civilisations that collapsed — such as Rome and the Ottomans — did so when force, dogma, and sentimentalism replaced rational governance. Will Durant and Ariel Durant observed that civilisations collapse when reason, science, and education give way to superstition, corruption, and internal decay. Arnold Toynbee reinforced this view: civilisations rise when elites respond rationally to challenges; they decline when elites abandon reason for force or dogma.
The great philosophers of antiquity recognised this truth centuries ago. In The Republic, Plato argued that rulers should be philosopher-kings — leaders trained in reason and able to transcend personal interest for the common good. Aristotle saw politics as the rational pursuit of the “good life,” achievable only through just laws and strong institutions. Their wisdom laid the intellectual foundations for states built on logic rather than passion.
In Pakistan, however, rationalism is not nurtured but feared — treated as an enemy of the status quo. The ruling elite — an entrenched nexus of politicians, feudals, pirs, religious leaders, judiciary and civil-military officers — deliberately cultivates dogma, traditionalism, tribalism, baradrism (caste-based politics), and piri-mureedi to hold on to power. By keeping the masses poor, ignorant, and fearful, they ensure a population of blind followers rather than empowered citizens.
Maleha Lodhi, a former ambassador to the US, UK, and UN, and herself part of the ruling elite, very truly stated in her article What Holds Pakistan Back? :
“A narrow, oligarchic elite has dominated the country’s politics and protected its interests with scant regard for societal welfare. A few hundred families have dominated virtually all of Pakistan’s legislatures, including the present ones, maintaining their grip on power through generations. Dynastic politics is emblematic of this. Party and electoral politics continues to be dominated by wealthy families, clans and networks of regional and local ‘influentials’. Even those from non-elite backgrounds are co-opted into elite culture… This power elite has resisted meaningful reform — whether land reform, tax reform or reforms in governance. It has ‘rentier’ characteristics: using access to public office as a means of leveraging state resources to transfer wealth and acquire unearned income… The military whose social background is increasingly middle or lower middle class often counterposes itself to the traditional political elite as a meritocratic institution that offers social mobility and functions on the basis of professionalism, which it does. But the alliances it forges are with the very political elite it criticises and sees as self-serving, venal and inept. The status quo interests of both are what bind them together. Both use patron-client relationships to reinforce their ascendancy and protect their privileged position.”
According to the UNDP’s 2021 Human Development Report, Pakistan’s elite enjoyed privileges worth $17.4 billion — nearly 6% of GDP — through subsidies, tax exemptions, and perks. The richest 20% control half the nation’s income, while just 1.1% of the population owns 22% of cultivable land. Meanwhile, 42% of Pakistanis live below the poverty line (World Bank, 2025), 22 million children remain out of school, and millions lack access to clean drinking water and healthcare. This grotesque contrast underscores how elite capture entrenches inequality and perpetuates mass suffering. To add insult to injury, over 25,000 members of the ruling class hold foreign passports or residencies and stash billions in overseas accounts and luxury properties in London, Dubai, and Toronto.
Throughout Pakistan’s history, the ruling elite have never genuinely sought to serve the people. Economic figures across regimes confirm this betrayal. In the 1960s, annual GDP growth averaged 6–7%, yet benefits were monopolised by a few families. During the 1980s, growth stayed near 6.5%, but poverty deepened.
From 2000–2007, GDP again rose to nearly 6% per year, yet inequality widened. Under elected governments, growth repeatedly collapsed — 2.9% during 2008–2013, 4.7% from 2013–2018, just 1.9% during 2018–2021, and a contraction of –0.2% in 2022–23. The recent rebound to 2.7% in 2024–25 offers no real relief, as living standards for ordinary Pakistanis remain stagnant while elites enrich themselves.
Enlightened, progressive, and rational voices are systematically silenced. Political scientist Ayesha Siddiqa lives in exile in the UK because of her critiques of the ruling elite. Javaid Ahmad Ghamidi, who presented a rational Islam critical of blind traditions, was also forced into exile. Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza, who challenged sectarian clerics, has been arrested and now awaits his fate. Progressive leaders like Punjab governor Salman Taseer and minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti were assassinated. Meanwhile, media—print, electronic, and social—is muzzled through draconian laws, while a class-based education system of Urdu-medium, English-medium, and madrassas divides society and entrenches ignorance. The ruling elite deliberately nurtures this system to suppress rationalism, stifle intellectual growth, and maintain its privileged dominance.
In today’s interconnected world of mass communication and social media, no elite can permanently control narratives. Pakistan’s rulers should learn from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, where entrenched elites were eventually swept aside by demands for accountability and reform. History also teaches: after the French Revolution, Britain’s elite avoided bloody upheaval by gradually introducing reforms and social protections. If Pakistan’s ruling class fails to embrace rationalism, justice, and reform, it risks the fate that history reserves for elites who refuse change — collapse, revolt, and irrelevance.