Pakistan: Courting the Abyss by Tilak Devasher

Recent writings on Pakistan have tended to focus on the role of the Pakistan Army, the nuclear programme, terrorism, Pak-Afghan and Pak-US relations and, of course, Indo-Pak relations. Courting the Abyss goes beyond sensationalist headlines and current crises like terrorism and tensions with India, to the deeper malaise that afflicts the nation. The book examines issues like identity, the looming water crisis, the perilous state of education, the economic meltdown and the danger of an unrealized ‘demographic dividend’ that have been eating the innards of Pakistan since its creation. It looks back at the Pakistan movement, where the seeds of many current problems were sown – the opportunistic use of religion being the most lethal of these. Courting the Abyss questions the flawed prescriptions and responses of successive governments, especially during military rule, to these critical challenges that have brought Pakistan to an abyss where it risks multi-organ failure, unless things change dramatically in the near future.