Abstract
As one mourns and grieves over the massacre of innocent children, teachers and civilians in Peshawar, it is important to look at the hindsight to think hard about how and why Pakistan lost its way. Many failings of the state including lack of political will manifested by all concerned, poor governance and appeasing religious bigots for political mileage have created a culture of religious bullying and intolerance for tolerance. Sadly, the drift away from a modernist, democratic and secular (neutrality of state in religious matters) tendencies in Pakistan has been constant. Jinnah’s vision of a secular and democratic state was actually buried with him. The pursuit of power interests by the military and political leaders set aside every good idea and principle of state and nationbuilding.