There is a fantastic principle that is taught in most schools of government and war colleges. It’s a principle that is very easily understood by many of us, but very difficult to identify when we are busy with our normal lives. It’s actually designed to be that way. So subtle, non-threatening and non-aggressive that people will not notice it without someone pointing it out to them.

Sadly, most people, even after it is pointed out to them, will never accept it.

The concepts of divide and govern, divide and rule, divide and conquer all stem from this basic principle – divide. When you are able to divide a population into manageable groups, each with their own objectives and tasks, it makes it impossible for a nation to come together and fight against the authority that rules over them or is invading them. It makes it impossible to find national solutions to national problems because everyone is talking about what their specific group want, not what the nation needs.

As Pakistanis, we have seen this practice effectively used against us, as citizens, for decades.

We have politicians that talk about the Sindh and Punjab cards, the theft of rights from the Baloch and the Pashtuns, and the overpowering involvement of the armed forces in all aspects of governance and Pakistani life. All the while looting the national exchequer and denying Pakistanis rights guaranteed in the Constitution of Pakistan. All the while creating groups of sheeple who mimic and parrot every word their leader says as if it was written in a golden book on politics somewhere, unable to defend a single word when questioned.

Like good servants of the realm, they stand by their king even when they morally and ethically know he is wrong. They are good serfs in the fiefdom that are Pakistan’s political parties.

We have so-called religious leaders that talk about the teachings of Islam as if they are the only ones that understand the Holy Qu’ran, while sending poor children into someone else’s jihad to die for them. First, they break us into our respective religious beliefs, then they break us further into the schools of thought that we follow, all the while knowing that each time they break us, they make us easier to manage.

Alongside these soothsayers, there are the terrorists and extremists that they have trained, funded and supported spewing their hatred towards the nation and its citizens calling us all kafirs and napak, while slaughtering women and children with perverse interpretations of the holy scriptures as a defense. Not one religious leader will stand up and defy them, calling them the animals that they are. Rather, some will join in the chorus publicly and proudly call them martyrs or misguided brothers.

We have media houses, talk show anchors and pundits that slur the history of this great nation because it serves their interests to project Pakistan as weak, a failed state, or a beggar nation. Throughout the day, our idiot boxes are colored by the “Foxified” breaking news and theme music to notify us that the Prime Minister has gotten out of bed, a lowly political non-entity is speaking to the media and someone, somewhere as protested the government’s inaction on something. Every evening, our homes are filled with the noise from the idiot box vociferously debating the fringe problems, never talking about the real issues. They discuss political rivalries, ethnicity and “human rights” with the same politicians that are responsible for creating the issues they are discussing. Their objective is not to lead us to the oasis in the desert but to strand us farther away from the societal norms.

Am I wrong? When is the last time you saw an expert on poverty, economics, politics or anything else on one of these talk shows? No, those people are not invited to bring value to the debate because they would identify the real problems and offer real solutions.

That’s not what the evening talk shows are for. Not at all. They provide entertainment for some and distractions for others from the problems of the nation, all the while gathering eyeballs and advertising revenue for their channel owners.