Learning dissent
Would political scientists and social science investigators draw a relation between the maturity of political protests and the extent to which the democratic process has permeated into the polity? A directly proportional relation between the two, where the electoral process, and all that goes along with it, acting as a sort of a safety pressure valve that would fizzle out all the more violent and disruptive forms of protests?
Consider the wave of recent protests by the medical community; the doctor who attempted self-immolation at a protest at the Abbasi Shaheed hopsital in Karachi. Consider also the protest by the paramedical staff in Lahore, where Jail Road, an important artery within the city, was clogged, resulting in the death of – in a cruel irony – a patient being shifted from one hospital to another. Also throw in the debate the strike from last year, where the doctors working in Lahore’s government hospitals went on strike, resulting, predictably, in a number of casualties. If the medical community, assumed generally to possess a thoughtful, calm demeanour, can employ such tactics, what is to be expected of other groups?
Not much, really. All over the country, especially in the peripheries, protesting mobs usually gravitate towards the nearest railway station, even in protests not remotely related to the railways in any capacity. The railways being, historically, a powerful symbol of the state in this part of the world, can draw mobs. Other horde-magnets are power stations; the madness of crowds is most evident when these are attacked and vandalised even during protests against power outages.
It is up to the disaffected to show some maturity during protests and make efforts to reach out, not only to the government, but also the media and the general public in a much more effective manner. If their case has merit, it would be clear for all to see and the sitting government would be under pressure to comply. But an intransigent pressure group, be it from the legal fraternity, the medical profession or even, yes, the media itself, should be held to book for not wanting to talk things out properly.
An us-and-them attitude towards the government will go only if the political process is allowed without interruption and the culture of representative politics gains a firm foothold in the mindspace of the electorate.
