MILLIONS across Pakistan struggle with hunger, malnutrition, and disease. Nearly 26 million people face food insecurity, with 2.14 million children suffering from acute malnutrition. Contaminated drinking water affects 70% of households, fuelling diseases like diarrhoea and dengue, while poor sanitation and inadequate healthcare exacerbate the crisis. The toll is grim: 69 infants die per 1,000 live births—a harrowing indicator of the nation’s neglect of its most vulnerable.

The root cause of this humanitarian catastrophe lies in elite capture — a lingering colonial legacy. The British Empire’s reliance on feudal loyalists created a privileged class that exploited resources at the expense of the masses. After independence, this elite adopted new tools—industrialization and economic liberalization—to cement their dominance. Policies ostensibly aimed at progress ended up concentrating wealth among........

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