The perpetual rule on Karachi by the party owes much to the failed policies of the state
Guess this personality. Here are the hints. He is portrayed as cold blooded and unforgiving by nature. He is accused of unleashing a reign of terror and silencing every voice of dissent. Allegedly, he kills his own loyalists, Pulp Fiction style, later crying profusely for the departed soul. He is often discredited for taking hostage the fifth largest city on earth. He lives in absurd unexplained luxury. His party has been labelled as a fascist outfit with fervent calls to ban it, forever. Quite frequently, he delivers venomous hate speeches with passionate pleas to take up arms against the state whenever he addresses his supporters, only to recall his words followed with unconditional apologies. In the minds of common men, his party is pictured as an inglorious band of target killers, extortionists and kidnappers. To top it all, this person and his party has been blamed for being hired agents of RAW, with weapons and criminals oozing out of its otherwise impenetrable headquarters.
Yet this man and his party win elections after elections with huge margins. Why?
In all fairness the targeted party, caught in the crosshairs of state’s fury for now, though stands out but is not alone. Others too from our political elite share this shameful space, if we care to look a bit deeper. Guns and goons control our political discourse.
Politicians have too often misused the platform of a political party to grab power. From raising private armies to stealing election mandates, from supporting anti-state elements to promoting die hard criminals, from creating planned unrest to shutting down cities, from using violent force to quell opposition to sponsoring vicious horse trading, the electable of most mainstream political parties have indulged in activities that have irreparably shattered our national image, though they won the elections in the process. Somewhere, in this ignominious plight is the answer to the above question.
For one I would like to rule out ‘fear’ as the single most potent factor behind the election wins. That would be over simplifying a situation that is all but simple. There are multiple reasons behind the election victories such as (a) a weak state unable or unwilling to provide for the masses (b) a highly polarised and fragmented society (c) an unjust distribution of national resources amongst the federating units (d) a dysfunctional legal system and (e) person centric political culture.
These reasons have jointly contributed in creating an elitist society — a national and political environment that promotes powerful but regressive individuality over state institutions and progressive ideologies. I often ponder if we were destined to meet this fate.
For centuries, the Muslims of undivided India were never accustomed to rule of law where everyone including the ruler was equal in the eyes of law. In fact, the ruler was the law unto himself. Muslims were also alien to the concept of an egalitarian society where their voices carried weight. Most of the Muslim countries were labouring under a “one man rule”.
Having spent hundreds of years under monarchy, the Muslims of subcontinent and elsewhere in the world had become used to an authoritarian form of governance where dissent had no access and difference of opinion was a punishable act. This trend has been witnessed even today in Muslim populated areas where individuals and ideologies promoted by individuals set the political course.
On 14th August, 1947, history was created despite heavy odds. Fragrance of a new beginning was in the air. Majority of Muslims had complete and undeterred faith in their Quaid. Millions migrated from India contently abandoning their assets and belongings for their new homeland in the hope of finding an identity and a future, free from repression and prejudices. Independence, they called it.
But that was not to be. Soon these sorry souls realised that the demons they thought they had confined to their past had actually travelled with them to haunt their collective future.
First the Quaid, the beacon of hope, departed under the most sinister circumstances. With his departure, the whispers of conspirators became loud, more assertive. The tiptoeing opportunists, sidelined earlier by our Quaid’s vision and charisma, took his departure for the Hereafter as a time gifted opportunity.
The landed aristocracy, the mighty military, the compromising judiciary and the swindling bureaucracy of the new state, all rallied to contribute not in nation building but for dismantling it, bit by bit, ironically each claiming it had the best interest of country at the core of its heart.
How can we forget the repetitive martial laws legitimised by judiciary or the politics of the nineties when party heads treated elected MPs as a herd of farm animals and how every political party of yesteryear visited the headquarters of the party in question as a cardinal ritual to woo its support? We must also recall that the military as well as civilian rulers have formed political alliances in recent past with this party in the name of national reconciliation. These adaptable affiliations have severely dented our national interests.
Resultantly, the state became inherently weak and unable to perform its basic functions i.e., to provide food, shelter, healthcare, security and education to its penurious masses. The drawn out, pleading extended hands of the people and the longing eyes that once dreamt of a better future, remain empty, unfulfilled.
Gradually, as the state abdicated its writ and lost interest in the people, non-state actors as well as some state institutions and even other states moved in from all directions in the hope of a piece of cake as per their armored capacities, religious leanings, linguistic preferences, ethnic identities, you name it. The party in question is a benefactor by design of this state capitulation.
Pakistan swayed in futility from one system to the other, from fictitious democracy to hardcore dictatorship then to democratic dictatorship and back to fictitious democracy again. We saw that political alliances to grab power without any ideological footprints were forged. Traitors became trusted friends, champions of their once abhorred causes and the corrupt got pardoned and a place in the governing houses as compensation for the wrongs committed by them.
This nauseating, directionless circular journey eroded whatever little hope people had in the system. Rule of law begged leave which was granted. Institutions genuflected before strong individuals. None of the influential remained below the law. Our party in question proudly sided with every military dictator as well as dishonest scheming politician and enjoyed perks for this political patronage.
Ordinary people in Pakistan feel insecure, confused and frightened. With the state in complete functional paralysis, there is no institutional force to care for them or reassure them that they will be protected, looked after. Without any organised, targeted and meaningful resistance against this state surrender, people reverted to individuals instead of otherwise impotent institutions. Powerful hands assumed political roles. Mafias became messiahs. The rich and powerful promised to provide people with food, shelter, security and employment. People hurriedly offered their eternal allegiance to the elite.
As a natural consequence, many states within a state emerged here followed by the marking of their respective territories. Ethnic, linguistic, sectarian, caste and racial fault lines were drawn to define and defend and when required, terrorise the people within. Religion was divided into sects. Then sects within sects were created. Language further disunited people. Nationality was reduced to communities. Castes dominated national discourse. Butts and Jutts, in same order, became the preferred introductions. Pathans, Sindhis, Balochis, Seraikis, and Punjabis, all pulled the national cart in different directions. The dream of a united nation fell short of realisation.
Does it even bother us that we have 162 registered political parties, probably one of the highest numbers in the world, for our population size? The number of unregistered groups reaches astounding numbers when we go below the surface. Each of these registered or unregistered entities, barring a very few, represent or is affiliated with a region, community or a religious sect fanning hatred and intolerance against rival sects. The fragmentation is ominous and its cancerous growth unchecked.
Karachi is Pakistan’s financial hub, our only port city that controls inward and outward commercial traffic. Major banks, multinational companies, stock brokers, pedigreed businessmen, industrialists, and corporate executives are stationed here. The diversity of human resource in Karachi makes it a mini Pakistan. People from the length and breadth of the country converge in this city in the dream of earning a decent livelihood. The city virtually shows you the money. The common perception is that whoever controls the gates of Karachi controls the rest of the country too. This perception has its downside.
Our party in question, strongly rooted in urban Sindh, especially Karachi, is formed on ethnic lines. Their slogan for their ethnic followers is that since the state does not provide them food, shelter and security, therefore they must come under the protection of the party. They are promised food, security and employment in exchange for their support, genuine or otherwise. The promises are often kept. This relief further cements the faith of the masses in the party leadership than the state itself. So till such time that the ethnic followers are provided with food, protection, security and employment by the state, they would not be persuaded to change their loyalties. The win in the elections personifies the lack of faith people have in the state as opposed to their trust in a political party.
We have to see the election wins in the light of the above stated crude ground realities and historical perspective. The state is the absent father and governance a stepmother, as far as the subjects are concerned. The party in reference promises and delivers jobs, even by bending and breaking rules, which means sustenance for the entire family. Where is state, a concerned follower asks. “They protect me from police and gangsters” as if there is a notable difference, he continues. “They participate in our grief and joys. They ensure that we have two square meals. Above all they are just like us. So why should I not vote for them he inquires rather aggressively”. He further adds: “Punjabis and Sindhis have ruled and ruined the state. They get everything and yet they are not satisfied. We came all the way from India, left everything there, gave sacrifices so that others reap the benefits? We are left with nothing. We have to survive on our own”. This argument precisely sums it all.
I give full marks to those of you who failed to guess the personality. You really deserve and need them. For the rest of you who guessed correctly, I will reward all of you, especially those living in the city of lights, with a security advisory. Hold on to your wallets and cell phones. The hornet’s nest has been disturbed, watch out for the sting.
