The last weeks have seen history being made in the form of an unparalleled and spontaneous peaceful revolution. A revolution that refused to be provoked into violence; rendering all options to a cruelly despotic regime waste.
Statistics officially made available now reveal that 365 people died in the Tahrir Square uprising. A vast number, to say the least! We have seen bloody revolutions erupt after the death of only one person. The world must stand in salute to those who laid down their lives, but it must also bow in deference to the scores who defeated the machinations of the regime to distract them from there avowed objective.
While the spirit of revolution lives and for now inspires the power of youth, there may be trying times for the remnants of the past in Egypt but also a rude knock on the door for regimes in the area. The war being waged in various parts of the world to subdue the will of the people, whether in the garb of a controlled democracy or blatant dictatorships, uniformed or otherwise, will also be forced into a review mode.
It has always been said that an army of people willing to walk head-on into the face of guns and bullets can never be defeated. Physical defeat does not mean that the will, thinking or mind of those conquered or subdued is dead. It continues like burning embers, waiting. That wait, we have learned, is almost never fruitless.
The revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt have taught us many lessons. One, that arms and weapons are a complete waste in the face of this peoples onslaught. How many times have you heard the discussion about the military never turning its weapons on its people? And also consider the ramifications when it does. Countries are torn apart. It happened to us.
This encourages a parallel between what happened in Cairo and what happens here. Our protests fail because the very start is violent. Burning transport vehicles and buildings, attacking law enforcement personnel, causing irreparable damage. There is an immediate reaction from the civil armed forces. People are forced into bunkers and a violent hide and seek ensues for a couple of days. Lives are lost and the focus turns to a slogan chanting funeral procession. End result zero, except for huge financial loss to the taxpayer and serious inconvenience to those using public transport.
But one cant ignore the popularly supported protest for the restoration of the judiciary. The only time in Pakistans history that protest did not turn violent despite, I will add the greatest possible, provocation on May 12. The level of government insensitivity witnessed in those days was incredible. Professionals, women, citizens were all on the streets despite the battering. Just thinking about it gives me goose bumps years later.
The last couple of years have exposed me to a level of nationalism that I had not seen before. It has evoked in me a serious level of intolerance towards the self-projection and self centered attitude that has crept into Pakistan society over the last two decades. Previously one felt this in the upper echelons but rapidly one is seeing this engulf the masses. Undeniable facts are being shunted aside because it does not, without apparent coherent thinking, suit the people.
This raises the question what is suit and who are the people? Your guess will be as good as mine. Look at what is happening around us? Decisions are made by unruly mobs, by the threat of violence, by the fear of reprisals. In a democratic dispensation, the voice of the people is now restricted to the various Gallup-like polls that are printed in the press or published on the Internet. The majority of these contradict the actions on ground. So, I put that question to you again, because I am in a complete quandary.
Earlier this week the PIA chief resigned due to pressure from unions. The history of PIAs unions is no secret and the main reason for its financial distress. He had discussed an extraordinarily good deal for the airline, even more so for its passengers, which while being ostensibly profitable would also trim the waist of the hugely overstaffed, bleeding entity. Hello!! Trim numbers? Work? Unheard of! So the powers succumbed. This comes in the wake of governments interference in KESC, issues in Pakistan Steel and more recently the railways.
When these things begin to spiral they precede disaster. Investment stops; even from within. It wasnt that long ago when industrialists were shut out of their factories; these institutions were badly damaged, and some never recovered. Forget about overseas investment even contemplating Pakistan.
Today Pakistan needs fiscal discipline and a firm hand. Government, as the visiting UK Minister said, is paid to take tough, sometimes unpopular decisions that are genuinely beneficial in the long run. One positive decision is the new cabinet. Fingers crossed, the beginning of a new chapter.
The writer can be contacted at [email protected]
