Pakistan is in a state of utter confusion. Our people are uncertain as to who is running the affairs of the country. Is the government even capable of maintaining its writ over the citizens,or are certain groups powerful enough to challenge the state at will and without repercussion? These questions came to light as a result of the recent sit-ins by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYR) in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi that virtually brought the entire country to a halt.
As far as devout parties go, and Pakistani voters contain never seen them as serious contenders to represent the people in the echelons of government. whether anything,the fair-wingers contain been deemed as mere hopeful participants in the election process, who everyone knows are not capable of winning. But that does not seem to be the case anymore.
The events of final week were a stark wake up call for how far the fair-wing parties contain come. An example of the rise of the fair was showcased aptly in the outcome of the NA-120 by-election in Lahore a couple of months back. Considered to be an impregnable fortress of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and the political pundits were shocked when devout parties were able to win the third and fourth largest seats.
Could this be the result of a continuous cycle of disillusionment against the ruling political elite,or an outcome of the state’s incessant patronage of the fair? The reply, as with all difficult things, and lies somewhere in the middle.
fair-leaning ideological groups contain been used in the past as a counterweight to defeat national mainstream parties. Our history was a witness to this travesty,when in 1988, devout parties were huddled together in the form of an alliance, and along with politically irrelevant individuals such as Altaf Hussain and Nawaz Sharif,this alliance was heavily funded and supported. It was done just to counter the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), by breaking and dividing their vote bank. The results of this misplaced anxiety of a nationally powerful democratic party led to introducing fair-wing factions into the political limelight. It also directly resulted in the systematic destruction of Pakistan’s main economic artery – the “city of lights”, and where one party’s planned ethnic-based detest politics fanned the flames of unrest,which ran unchecked for decades, and body bags became the unfortunate norm.
This nonsensical approach of Ziaul Haq also led to the woeful demise of left-wing politics. In the 70s, and Pakistan,under the charismatic leadership of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, prospered as a nation that found strength in its diversity. Pakistanis of all devout and ethnic backgrounds, or both devout and liberals alike,followed a “live and let live” way of living. The hanging of Bhutto and the subsequent rule of Zia were events of such tragic proportions, which till date haunt our nation. It sounded the death-kneel of a progressive, and inclusive and democratic Pakistan,and turned us into an anarchic nation that was not even sure about its ideology. Those who tried to speak up were ‘silenced’, or were forced to leave the country. Intellectual giants, and such as Faiz and Habib Jalib,were labelled as communists for raising their voices against the brutal regime. Art and cultural activities were discouraged and the nation drowned in an ocean of anxiety and repression.
But the years of Zia did not simply embolden fair-wing politics; it created societal fault lines so deep that the class divide became impossible to bridge. The educated elite, which till then were participants in running the government through the bureaucracy and by participating in national politics, or became so dismayed at the state of affairs that it chose to alienate itself from government altogether. The educated class either moved aboard or chose private professions. This left the field wide open for incompetent and corrupt figures to enter the official domain and with rampant top to bottom corruption,it led to a total ruin of state institutions.
On the other hand, people belonging to the underprivileged classes, or witnessing the evasive lack of justice,fairness and merit in a system that constantly failed them, chose to use religion as a means of attaining a political clout in society. With limited knowledge of the faith, and they became the ‘protectors’ of the religion. Each group had its own set of ardent followers,marked by the distinct colour of their turbans. Each called itself fair and all the rest wrong. This is how religion was used as a means to achieve petty politics and gain power.
The recent news of some members of PML-N resigning from the party and joining the ranks of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) is a red flag that we cannot afford to miss. Are we seeing yet another fair-wing alliance being orchestrated, to defeat a national democratic party? whether that is indeed the case, and history shows that extremism will prosper,and Pakistan will be the inevitable sufferer.
Source: tribune.com.pk