The politics of destruction

When will our people and politicians learn?

This year, the traditional Independence Day celebrations in Islamabad on 14 August to commemorate the creation of Pakistan as an independent state in the Indian subcontinent, were eclipsed by another kind of fervor. Thousands of emotionally charged citizens belonging to two distinct groups (PTI and PAT) marched from Lahore towards the capital to stage dharnas. They demanded dismissal of the incumbent government and called for a revolution to build a new Pakistan.

More than two months of disruptions later, both objectives remain elusive. The aggressive and personalised attacks on the government by the two charismatic and firebrand leaders leading the sit-ins around the Parliament House, shook the system and pushed the government on the back-foot, rendering it practically dysfunctional. The nonstop coverage by television news media took the entire nation by a storm that further confused and polarised the people.

The pressure on the government has now diluted considerably, the news media is gradually diverting its focus away and both campaigns are beginning to appear futile. The two leaders claim the credit of creating awareness and a change in the mindset of the masses.

Conversely, the hate campaigns have served to reinforce despondency among the masses and elite alike and to extinguish any little hope that glimmered with a stable political system. No workable alternative mechanisms have emerged from the mayhem to end the impasse. The progress of the nation and its sustainability as a vibrant state has once again become a question mark.

The strategy of the effective use of street power is a reflection of several such events during the last few decades. The Tiananmen Square democracy movement of 1989 in Beijing, the 2011 Egyptian revolution followed by the Arab Spring, the 2013 sit-in at the Taksim Gezi Park in Istanbul and street protests against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in Thailand are among numerous similar protests in other parts of the world. Presently, pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong against the government in mainland China, also known as the Umbrella Movement, are still ongoing since September 2014.

The Tiananmen Square protests commenced as popular student led demonstrations in Beijing. As the conciliatory approach by the government did not yield results and the occupation entered its seventh week, the demonstrators faced an armed crackdown by troops with assault rifles and tanks. Several hundred participants were massacred and thousands injured followed by mass-scale arrests, strict control of events in the press and further strengthening of the role for the state. Order was eventually restored with an iron hand.

The Egyptian revolution was also a popular widespread uprising that started in January 2011 with demands for the end of the 30-year military backed rule of Hosni Mubarak and the installation of a non-military government. The focal point was Tahrir Square in Cairo where 50,000 protesters first occupied the square. The violent clashes between demonstrators and the security forces in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities caused looting and burning, leaving around 850 deaths and 6,000 injured. In February 2011, President Hosni Mubarak was forced to resign in response to mounting pressure, turning power to the Supreme Council of Armed Forces.

General elections were held subsequent to which Mohamed Morsi assumed charge as the first democratically elected President of Egypt on 30 June, 2012. In June 2013, protests erupted as thousands of Egyptians converged once again on Tahrir Square demanding the resignation of the elected President. On 3 July, Morsi was deposed by a coup d’état by the Minister of Defense Field Marshal El-Sisi, who suspended the constitution. He later resigned from his post and was installed as the sixth military backed President of Egypt. Back to square one!

In Turkey, the wave of demonstrations and unrest began on 28 May, 2013. It was ostensibly to contest urban development in Istanbul’s Taksim Gezi Park but was in essence the expression of a wide range of concerns such as environment, freedom of press, assembly, expression and the authoritarianism of the 10-year rule of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The park was occupied with thousands of protesters in camps that organised food distribution, medical center and even their own media. About 3.5 million are estimated to have taken an active part in almost 5,000 demonstrations across the country. 11 people were killed and more than 8,000 injured. Police suppressed the protests with tear gas and water cannons and the park was restored by 16 June. The same system has since continued to flourish.

Anti-government protests took place between November 2013 and May 2014 in Thailand with demonstrators occupying government offices in the capital, blocking major road intersections, holding mass rallies and calling for the resignation of the elected Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of a former elected Prime Minister.

She resorted to dissolving the House of Representatives calling snap general election for February 2, 2014 to arrive at a compromise. Voting was disrupted by mobs, leading to declaration of emergency. Yingluck was removed from office by the Constitutional Court on 7 May, 2014, and on 20 May martial law was declared. The military is currently in the process of drafting another constitution and is likely to retain power indefinitely. Democratic order and economic progress became the victim.

All the above uprisings were by common people who took to streets to demand fundamental rights and raised their voices on issues of national importance. In each case the protesters paid a heavy price in casualties and bloodshed. They were eventually either dispersed by use of brute force or ended in military takeovers. The protesters went into oblivion and became a part of history.

Our dharnas that are led by dynamic and ambitious individuals Imran Khan (IK) and Allama Dr Tahirul Qadri (TUQ) have now been supplemented by huge public meetings in major cities. The protests, well into their third month, have lost steam as TUQ has decided to vacate while IK still persists with his squatting until Nawaz Sharif resigns as Prime Minister. Meanwhile, the government has continued a policy of using limited force with restraint.

The major political forces rallied around the incumbent against the protesters to save the system. The military refused to oblige the protesters to step in to send the government home. The cost to the nation of this elaborate exercise has been a nosedive in the economy, erosion of the authority and respect of state institutions and a paralysed government. Many precious lives have been lost in Lahore, Islamabad and Multan and numerous men and women injured under varying circumstances.

While the entire nation is engulfed in a self-imposed political turmoil, the country is surrounded by hostilities on all fronts. The weakening of the writ of government has prompted the Indians to turn a blind eye on our peace overtures and the army is on high alert on the Kashmir borders where skirmishes have become daily routine. Tension is mounting on the Iranian and Afghan borders.

Domestically, the one million displaced people taking shelter around Bannu await repatriation to their homes. Their plight, as that of the flood affected people in Punjab and Sindh, has been drowned in petty politics that threatens to push our nation into the dark ages and into international isolation.

We Pakistanis have a penchant to hail any adventurer that promises the moon. Our people have traditionally been gullible to seek an easy route to glory where there is none. We have lacked the capacity to face and accept hard choices and our leaders have consistently led us to the garden path. Our people need to be made aware that there are no shortcuts in life and no one will give you a free lunch.