Movement’s (MQM) chief, Altaf Hussain, called Pakistan an epicentre of terrorism and requested India and the US to invade Pakistan, Pakistani flags began appearing in hoards across the country. Sentiments of every Pakistani were hurt when Hussain showed his disdain for Pakistan to the extent of seeing it disappear from the world map. The uproar against Hussain and, consequently, the MQM was natural. The matter was worsened when on Hussain’s call some media houses were ransacked. These became twin attacks: one on Pakistan, and the other on the independence of media.

The ensuing crackdown on the MQM head office Nine-Zero, its sectors and the arrest of its party leaders and sector in-charge threw the city in doldrums. Many people had already predicted the end of the MQM. People waitedincidents that include civil society and law enforcement agencies. However, nationalism or the mere promotion of it does not make any country livable or bearable for its people.

In his farewell analysis on Pakistan, the outgoing director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Marc-Andre Franche says that Pakistan has antiquated and non-functioning public institutions. Critical of Pakistan’s elite he points out how public funds never reach the constituencies, especially in the rural areas, perpetuating poverty. He comments on politicians who plunder public money but reach out to the United Nations for funds to improve sanitation, state of education and water-related issues back home. Franche goes on to say that Pakistan’s future is being compromised with 38.8 percent poverty rate. He does not fail to mention that due to