Mission (un)accomplished

The fundamental differences between revolutions and protests

Whether PTI and PAT were or would be able to accomplish their mission of revolution shall continue to be debated for a longtime. An analysis of the rhetoric employed by the leaders of these two outfits, however, continues to baffle even their staunch past supporters. Starting from the demand for electoral reforms plus minus one formula (PTI) to socio-political and economic revolution (PAT), a massive confusion abounds regarding their fall back positions in case their initial demands remained unmet. Rigidity in attitudes that both IK and Dr Qadri have failed to recognise could lead initial successes into failure. Because of this rigidity it is almost certain that their present mission will remain (un)accomplished.

In the past more than four weeks Pakistan had been in a state of turmoil due to the marches organised by PTI and PAT leadership for achieving their change or shall we say their revolutionary agendas. The overriding claim from both sides had been to transform Pakistan according to a prescription which even the leaders of the two parties found difficult to decipher for their supporters. Tall claims had been emanating from the elevated platforms of their expensive air-conditioned containers. While the rhetoric employed initially bordered on encouraging violence to achieve the so called revolution, the grand plan lacked a robust execution plan. The absence of an execution plan was based on the assumption that some hidden forces would land on the capital and deliver the revolution. Both the leaders forgot that revolutions never occur on the promise of a third force, they require major sacrifices on the part of the leaders as vanguard of the revolutions.

Lesson No 1: If you want to bring about fundamental changes in an existing system you have to lead from the front and not rely on a third force.

The first major element of a revolutionary change is the vision of the leader for a better tomorrow. Leaders would always give their followers a well-defined and well-articulated vision about the future they would like to create. It is this inspiring and motivating vision which energises the followers of a change champion. Unfortunately, the leaders of both PTI and PAT had failed to take this first step. Without the presence of a clearly defined vision, it turned out to be difficult to mobilise the million supporters. Additionally, instead of articulating their change or revolutionary vision, both IK and Dr Qadri were engaged 24/7 in using virulent invectives to inspire their supporters to violence. Hence, people witnessed these ‘dharnas’ degenerate not into violence but also into musical parties.

Lesson No 2: No major change is possible without a clearly articulated vision for creating a future better than the present, a sine qua non, for mobilising masses to support the change.

The second element of revolutionary change relates to the top team gathered by a leader for achieving the avowed objectives. On both sides of the revolutionary divide, whether PTI or PAT, we saw a strange gathering of people surrounding the two leaders. On the PAT side one could notice Mr Ghulam Mustafa Khar on the right side and Sardar Assef Ahmad Ali on the left side of Mr Qadri. Sheikh Rashid swinging like a pendulum between PTI and PAT unsure which side would emerge victorious. His actions saying something in the ears of IK continue to be a mystery. On the PTI bandwagon we saw the likes of Mr Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Mr Jahangir Tareen and CM of KP. With these gents making the top leadership team of the revolution, it wasn’t hard to imagine that the two revolutions were bound to fail since none of these people would be willing to make the personal sacrifices that important revolutions had warranted.

Lesson No 3: No revolutionary change is possible without the top team willingness to face the same trial and tribulations akin to the supporters of a revolution.

The third element of revolutionary change is the personality of the leader leading the revolution. Revolutionary leaders are always with the troops in the trenches and not enjoying personal luxuries that both PTI and PAT leaders found rather impossible to give up. It was pathetic to watch the elitist lifestyle adopted by the top leaders of PTI and PAT while their supporters were surviving in wretched conditions. In the case of PAT the leader manipulated and exploited to the hilt his captive supporters who were threatened to be killed if they abandoned the revolution. In contrast, the youth and the women on the PTI side were more from elitist backgrounds and were attending part time ‘dharna’ to ward off the boredom of their daily chores. The leaders of both PTI and PAT knew well that even if they didn’t achieve their end purpose, they wouldn’t have lost anything personally.

Lesson No 4: No major change is possible without the leaders’ willingness to give up personal luxuries and comforts and to be with the troops 24/7.

The fourth element of a transformational change is the belief that there is no finish line for such a change. It is a continuous journey. You pause on the way, celebrate successes and move to the second stage and so on. Regrettably in the case of both PTI and PAT, their leaders didn’t have a plan to achieve the first milestone, celebrate the victory, consolidate their gains and then move on to the next milestone, and exerting yet more pressures on the present system for new set of victories. Both the leaders wanted to make a quantum jump to the finish line ignoring the fact that revolutionary changes are never achieved in this manner. If you exhaust your followers on a long journey without intermittent pauses, they would get demoralised and exhausted. Precisely this is what is happening to the supporters of PTI and PAT now. It is another matter that the leaders of these parties may not recognise it.

Lesson No 5: Revolutionary changes do require winning small victories, celebrating the same and then moving on to the next milestone. There is no finish line for fundamental changes.

What can we conclude from the marches and ‘dharnas’ of PTI and PAT? First, it is important for leaders to draw a distinction between revolutionary movements and political protests. PTI and PAT protests were never revolutionary movements, rather these were protests with personal political objectives. While PAT had an organised support bonded in economic relationship similar to ‘Lord and Serfs’, PTI lacked a highly committed organisation to garner million men support. Stubborn political leaders never go very far in achieving even their political ambitions, let alone economic reforms. In political protests the leaders negotiate without being rigid. Rigidity of attitudes in such situations brings failures and not successes.

While I don’t feel sorry for PAT leader, I do empathise with its supporters. However, one does feel sorry for the PTI and its leaders. This party could have used its political muscles inside the Parliament by pressurising the government to correct its course. This approach could have helped in implementing electoral reforms so essential for transparency in the election results. In this way it could have emerged as a stronger political force in the next round of elections. By adopting the tactics that it did, it invited, though one hopes not, its political demise.