Winning back the Pakhtun belt

TO say that there is a breakdown of trust between the state and its populace in Pakistan is an understatement.

There is an ongoing, violent separatist movement in Balochistan; incidents of militant Islamist insurgency are increasing in the Pakhtun territories; dacoits roam freely in southern Punjab and inner Sindh; military exchanges along the Pak-Afghan border are becoming more common; sectarian violence is on the rise.

And all this while many across the country are mobilising and rioting...