Mubashar Nadeem
Pakistan is a federal and diverse state where each region carries its own cultural, linguistic, political, and economic identity. Effective governance depends not only on policies but also on a deep understanding of how people perceive the government and state institutions. It is not enough for the government to create strategies; the real question is whether those strategies reflect the voices, issues, and emotions of the citizens they affect.
Historically, governance in Pakistan has largely followed centralized narratives, often shaped by urban data, elite perspectives, or the opinions of a few decision-makers. This approach leaves many regions—such as Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, former FATA, rural Sindh, southern Punjab, and Balochistan—without true representation in national policy-making. The absence of a formal and continuous feedback mechanism means that the government often has little insight into local sentiments, creating a dangerous gap between the state and its citizens.
To build effective policies, the government must establish a national feedback system that collects real-time, ground-level data from every tehsil, district, and community. This system should not only track demographics or economic conditions, but also measure public trust, political participation, cultural concerns, and local grievances. Reliance on social media impressions or selective surveys is insufficient because these reflect fragmented and often biased perspectives.
The consequences of ignoring public sentiment are already visible. Across many parts of Pakistan, citizens feel politically disconnected, socially alienated, and economically neglected. This sense of exclusion and isolation weakens the state’s writ, turning governance into a symbolic or formal exercise rather than a functional and trusted system. Policies that fail to capture public sentiment are rarely implemented effectively because they lack ownership and acceptance among the people.
To restore trust and legitimacy, the government must shift its focus from projects to people. Economic development and infrastructure alone cannot rebuild confidence if the population continues to feel unheard and unrepresented. Listening, inclusion, and transparency must be at the heart of governance. National policies should embrace regional diversity and local priorities, ensuring that each citizen feels like a stakeholder in the state.
The government must ask itself a critical question: “Do we truly know what our people think about their state?” If the answer is no, this is the fundamental issue that must be addressed first. Only by understanding and integrating the voices of its citizens can Pakistan build a stable, united, and resilient state where the writ of the government is based on trust, not fear.
