As the re-election approaches,we all have questions. Which party is going to align itself with whom? Whether or not the elections are going to happen on time,and who would the delay suit? The media continues to entertain these questions partially,probing us to ask more. But that is their job,key to survival. The pseudo-liberal,urban,educated,and concerned middle class continues to fix itself in front of a screen that keeps it up-to-date. What they’re going to do with all the ‘information’ apart from take it to the grave with them,or kill a few meaningless hours in the drawing room with the superficial understanding of this complex mesh,is beyond me. Because they are only the audience,seemingly the most vocal and aware,but this false sense of freedom keeps them tame. They are neither the instrument,nor the musician. They are strings,which create the sound and give the impression that the guitar is fulfilling its purpose. The problem with Pakistan is that neither does this musician care for the music (normal functionality),nor his instrument’s life. It is only a means to gain legitimacy. The instrument in this equation are the drugged masses:the vote bank.
Pakistani democracy,like any other democracy,has its own flavor. It is designed by the few to rule by influence of character,wealth and power. When the All India Muslim League decided to tap into the Muslim majority provinces for popular support from the Muslim population,it ended up solidifying the status quo. The authority of the landlord has since been a part of Pakistan’s political evolution. Why would the Sardars,landed elite,forming the initial governments of the young nation state,introduce land reform when any such alteration would snatch away their own power? And with Pakistani masses strategically kept in a bubble,the only institution strong enough to impose authority on the national scale became the army.
With the course of time,as Pakistan’s urban population is increasing,more questions are being raised. Liberal and free media has taken up the responsibility to satiate the appetite for knowledge and awareness the newly liberated urban population has discovered. The media realizes it has to keep fueling the machine. So each incident is covered for the people to give the ‘feel’ of experiencing it. In the process a man jumping off a building,a farmer setting fire to his body while protesting against government pricing,two brothers getting lynched to death by a mob that included children as young as five have all been deemed appropriate for Pakistani audiences.
Pakistan is not the first country to face crises. Economically Pakistan’s industries have been facing policy issues. Exports are discouraged while government officials take every penny they can,to afford free meals next year and come back to earn through briberies,kickbacks and redirecting funds into their pockets. It’s a vicious cycle we have all been caught in. The masses are good with free meals and lives under protection of their landlords. They make the major chunk of the vote. The rich are getting richer. Even industrialists have joined the political,but their success is tied to the whims of the powerful.
The scenarios mentioned have been done rather simplistically. Because there is no one nail we are missing. It starts from our birth,the lack of leadership. Selflessness is a trait not known to mankind. Governments everywhere pave a way through their own self interest,and that of their safety net:the vote bank. Where deprivation is mounting to the point that a free meal buys the policies and power for the next tenure,where people are constantly suffering from attention deficit disorder,as issues economic,security,social,bubble up simultaneously.
Most governments are successfully able to keep the creases below noticeable levels. Crime rate,killing,bad economy,energy issues,sectarian and religious conflict,a war in the neighboring Afghanistan and a border as porous for the extremists as an umbilical cord:providing,nurturing and feeding. While our neighbors are looking at their economies and societies from a bird’s eye view,they have the luxury of an overall stable societal equation. They plan and project towards prosperity,not bury their faces in sand,hoping for a miracle.
Economists predict that within the next year Pakistan might just drown and disintegrate in her own venomous fluids that we as a society are generating with each passing day. Illiteracy,poverty,ill health,desperation,low morale,corruption have turned us into opportunistic short term planners. Ignorance at the wide base of the pyramid makes corruption at the top possible. And the small middle class feeds on the success of the fraudulent and banks itself from being ripped off completely. But then that too is probably a justification. In a country where MBA students stand up to their instructors and point out the irrelevance of ‘long term planning’,where a cheap video arose passion for the Love of Allah that remains dormant as children are raped,women harassed and the old and ill treated like dirt. And the passion transforms into a storm of rage that breaks bones,burns buses and hurts the vulnerable. Already we aren’t an economic success story,who will pay for the damage?
Religion has become this drug:slowly numbing our minds,and making us erratic. I don’t know much about drugs,but it feels like one. It has become an excuse to get away with protesting,killing and accusing. It has become our hope and our false strength. The state has no authority,and as a neutral observer whether to side with the state or the rebels,who can decide when both are crushing the very foundation this nation was built on. Those who can make a difference are so caught up with basic destitution that they are grateful for every meal,every breath of fresh air,the grass,the sky (I will call them hippies). The economy,political debate,these are all realms beyond their scope,understanding,and favorably so.
Because of the massive scale of ignorance,questions regarding long term planning don’t need to be answered. There is no long term planning. There is no need,just make the most of what we all have in our hands,because a bone in hand is better than two in the bush. We all keep praying,hoping and stay just high enough on that dose of hope constantly being re-enforced to keep us inert.
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