One ought to remain optimistic about the future, for living in despair is neither noble nor productive. Yet, Pakistan suffers from what I call a 'self-inflicted syndrome', lurching from one crisis to another, dogged by poor governance. Each crisis corrodes sociopolitical cohesion and economic gains — one step forward, two steps back.

We identify as Punjabi, Sindhi, Pathan, Balochi or Bengali, and there is nothing inherently wrong with that. Mohajirs, meanwhile, sacrificed their ancestral homes for the dream of an Islamic utopia in Jinnah's Pakistan. No one wishes to be fully identified as Pakistani — yet. It echoes with secessionist slogans: Greater Balochistan, Pakhtunistan, Sindhudesh, while Bengal parted ways barely three decades into Pakistan's existence.

Why? Because we never truly addressed the root causes of our troubles. Governments were sacked during actual or manufactured crises, conveniently attributed to "political instability" or "inefficiency-corruption", only to fade without remorse or genuine accountability. The same actors resurfaced, the system remained intact, and the spiral continued. To understand our afflictions, we must trace their rhizomes.

Humans entered ancient India from Africa and dispersed in the coastal areas some 65,000 years ago, followed by Iranian hunter-gatherers/farmers who settled in coastal Balochistan around 9,000 years ago. If any group can claim to be true 'sons of the soil', it is the Brahui/Balochis, who hold a stronger historical claim than others in Pakistan today.

The Indus Valley Civilisation (3300 BCE) was shaped in present-day Pakistan. Though relatively egalitarian, kinship-based stratification existed, yet systemic exploitation was not institutionalised. The arrival of Aryans (1500 BCE) brought a........

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