The era of presenting a ‘soft image’ of a country is coming to an end. In the last two decades or so, many developing countries — especially those hit hard by terrorism and violence — began shaping advocacy avenues and platforms, through which they tried to establish that the inherent culture of their countries was soft, pluralistic and friendly. 

They bemoaned that their countries were largely misunderstood due to the antics of a handful of violent groups. These countries mostly consisted of Muslim-majority nation states such as Pakistan, Egypt and Algeria that had been facing persistent incidents of Islamist terrorism and religious violence ever since the 1980s. 

Last week, the Pakistan army chief, Gen Asim Munir, told parliamentarians that if Pakistan were to successfully address the challenges posed by rising political, Islamist and ethnic militancy, the country would have to become a ‘hard state.’

In 1999, when a military coup in Pakistan put Gen Parvez Musharraf in power, he cracked down on the country’s two largest parties. But parallel to this, the Musharraf dictatorship also began to initiate programmes designed to broadcast a “soft image” of Pakistan. Attempts were made to mitigate the violent outcomes of tensions that had risen in the polity. These outcomes included sectarian violence, ethnic clashes and the erosion of the last bits of ‘moderate/liberal Islam’ remaining in the country. 

For decades, nations plagued by terrorism and political instability, such as Pakistan, have tried to project a ‘soft image’ to the world. But faced with rising militancy and governance crises, is a shift towards a more authoritarian and centralised state........

© Dawn (Magazines)