Pseudo Democracy in Pakistan
Waqar Abro
IMPORTANCE of democracy is abstruse in countries like Pakistan where most of the people do not know about their fundamental and voting rights. Basically, democracy brings political independence but it is meaningless without economic and intellectual independence.
Since the creation of Pakistan, Pakistani people have been searching the real democracy prevailing in the western countries. But due to dearth of education people have not fully understood what democracy means. Though, the current democratic transition is a positive omen yet it would take time to come in its actual form at mass level. Basically the existing political setup in Pakistan is not completely democratic in nature. Politicians are successors of their fathers and contesting such elections can never be named as democracy.
Though Pakistan got independence through democratic struggle yet it survived without real democracy. Plutocracy, aristocracy, theocracy, dictatorship and ethnicity based leadership always prevailed in Pakistan in the name of democracy but astonishing point is that people never agitated or demanded for the democracy Quaid-e-Azam envisioned. They always supported overtly or covertly all forms of governments and made themselves seekers of silence. Their silence could be due to lack of proper understanding of democracy yet they are partly responsible for the prevalent worse condition of the country.
The misuse of religion has also largely contributed for destabilizing the political setup. There is system of (peeri-mureedi) on the basis of which most of the illiterate people cast their votes to said representative whether if h/she fulfills the pre-requisites for contesting elections or not. Apart from this, role of teachers, socialists, media men, civil society and educationalists is also worrisome. They never informed people how to vote, why to vote and whom to vote. Every Pakistani wants his child to be an engineer, civil servant, doctor, teacher, pilot, army men, or sportsman but no body wants to encourage his child to be a politician because contesting election against a feudal lord is not as easy as one perceives.
It goes without saying that most of the politicians in Pakistan movement were also feudal in nature and democrats in practice but their sincerity with the country can only be gauged by peeping into the history of Pakistan. They were the main heroes who hugely contributed for the separate Muslim state for which they not only lost their near and dear ones but also lost their wealth. Contrary to this, current feudal intend to maintain their hegemony on people along with heading all institutions. However, they choose legislation profession for exercising their power at national and provincial level.
Plutocrats, aristocrats, theocrats, dictators and ethnically motivated leaders have enjoyed the taste of absolute power therefore they never brought reforms in education sector and always allocated low budget for it from national exchequer. They know that education develops a sense of judgment of right and wrong and an educated society would never allow such type of rulers to rule the masses. Pakistanis need to work day and night if they want to change the system. They should collectively put their efforts in order to fight against few families. They must teach every citizen of the country whether educated or not the importance of vote. Hopes are high that one day Pakistan would be a complete democratic country in which leaders would be emerging from grass root level and there would be no room for dynastic political system.
Since the creation of Pakistan, Pakistani people have been searching the real democracy prevailing in the western countries. But due to dearth of education people have not fully understood what democracy means. Though, the current democratic transition is a positive omen yet it would take time to come in its actual form at mass level. Basically the existing political setup in Pakistan is not completely democratic in nature. Politicians are successors of their fathers and contesting such elections can never be named as democracy.
Though Pakistan got independence through democratic struggle yet it survived without real democracy. Plutocracy, aristocracy, theocracy, dictatorship and ethnicity based leadership always prevailed in Pakistan in the name of democracy but astonishing point is that people never agitated or demanded for the democracy Quaid-e-Azam envisioned. They always supported overtly or covertly all forms of governments and made themselves seekers of silence. Their silence could be due to lack of proper understanding of democracy yet they are partly responsible for the prevalent worse condition of the country.
The misuse of religion has also largely contributed for destabilizing the political setup. There is system of (peeri-mureedi) on the basis of which most of the illiterate people cast their votes to said representative whether if h/she fulfills the pre-requisites for contesting elections or not. Apart from this, role of teachers, socialists, media men, civil society and educationalists is also worrisome. They never informed people how to vote, why to vote and whom to vote. Every Pakistani wants his child to be an engineer, civil servant, doctor, teacher, pilot, army men, or sportsman but no body wants to encourage his child to be a politician because contesting election against a feudal lord is not as easy as one perceives.
It goes without saying that most of the politicians in Pakistan movement were also feudal in nature and democrats in practice but their sincerity with the country can only be gauged by peeping into the history of Pakistan. They were the main heroes who hugely contributed for the separate Muslim state for which they not only lost their near and dear ones but also lost their wealth. Contrary to this, current feudal intend to maintain their hegemony on people along with heading all institutions. However, they choose legislation profession for exercising their power at national and provincial level.
Plutocrats, aristocrats, theocrats, dictators and ethnically motivated leaders have enjoyed the taste of absolute power therefore they never brought reforms in education sector and always allocated low budget for it from national exchequer. They know that education develops a sense of judgment of right and wrong and an educated society would never allow such type of rulers to rule the masses. Pakistanis need to work day and night if they want to change the system. They should collectively put their efforts in order to fight against few families. They must teach every citizen of the country whether educated or not the importance of vote. Hopes are high that one day Pakistan would be a complete democratic country in which leaders would be emerging from grass root level and there would be no room for dynastic political system.
—The writer is a Islamabad-based researcher.
