A State that Took over Society
You can bring the rich to the level of the poor overnight but it takes a lifetime to lift the poor to the level of the rich.
– Irish proverb
– Irish proverb
During the 1970s, Pakistan went in for wholesale nationalization of its private enterprises, taking even educational institutions into the state’s hands. This was a move laden with far-reaching and unforeseeable consequences. Some are still being unveiled today. It changed not only the economic and political, but also the social, intellectual and moral landscape of the country for generations to come.
The story began in 1968, with a political movement basing itself purely on totalitarian economic agenda. Its slogans were reminiscent of an ancient collective tribal life where everything belonged to everyone. Two of these were: ‘socialism is our economy’ and ‘all power to the people.’ The movement was built on the myth of 22 wealthy families: it was argued that
An elegy for Lahore
O the Ashraaf Rulers! Develop new cities and have your dreams fulfilled; have Metro Buses and Metro Trains there and whatever you want! Why do you raze and destroy our cities, our Lahore! Let we have our own dreams live in the cities where our souls live!
… لاہور کی میت ہے ذرا دھوم سے نکلے
[نئے شہر بساؤ اوراپنے شوق پورے کرو؛ ہمارے شہر کیوں ملیامیٹ کر رہے ہو!]
روتی ہوئی حسرت دلِ مغموم سے نکلے
واویلا کرو، بین کرو، اشک بہاؤ
لاہور کی میت ہے ذرا دھوم سے نکلے
اشراف کے خوابوں تلے کچلا گیا یہ شہر
صیاد کے ہتھکنڈوں سے مسلا گیا یہ شہر
آواز کہیں تو کسی حلقوم سے نکلے
لاہور کی میت ہے ذرا دھوم سے نکلے
جو روح تھی مر بھی چکی، اربابِ سیاست!
لاشہ بہا لے جائے گا سیلابِ سیاست
اس شہر کا قصہ دلِ مغموم سے نکلے
لاہور کی میت
Cynicism and the political evolution of Pakistan
[Here is the part 3 of the article: “Cynicism and Pakistan.”]
The discussion of the political cynicism here focuses only on the sections of society which exercise influence on the formation of public opinion. These sections may be considered as the mainstay of political cynicism in Pakistan. As far as the general citizenry is concerned, the myth of its political apathy evaporates with every general election held in the country. One may object: the turnout in the elections is too small to break this myth. However, the statistics belie it: the turnout in 2008 stood at 44 % and in 2013, 55 %. In the world’s largest democracy, India, it was 64 %.
The mainstay of political cynicism in Pakistan comprises academics, intelligentsia, journalists, TV channels talk show hosts (as well as announcers!), Urdu/English newspaper columnists and op-ed contributors, and authors of books on various subjects but with a political
Poor show
The credit for any reduction in poverty in the country goes to privatisation, de-regulation and liberalisation, not to the so called pro-poor expenditures.
Over a period of five years between 1999-2004, the government of Pakistan spent Rs.1 trillion on poverty reduction. According to the Finance Ministry, Poverty Reduction Special Programme included budgetary and non-budgetary expenditures both by the federal and provincial governments.
Now, the ‘Labour Force Survey 2005’ (first two quarters) reports that over the last five years, the government has spent a hefty amount of Rs.1332 billion on poverty-related and social sector programmes to help the poor and vulnerable sections of the society. The PRSP expenditures — budgetary and non-budgetary — during 2001-05 stood at Rs.1124 billion; the budgetary expenditures averaged 4.1 per cent of the GDP for the period. Of this, the government spent Rs.316.2 billion on pro-poor sectors exceeding the targeted Rs.278 billion by Rs.38 billion. And,
Cynicism and the politics in Pakistan
Here is the 1st part of this article: Cynicism in Pakistan
… Cynicism and the politics in Pakistan
Among other things, political cynicism destroys whatever little chance may exist for dialogue in a deteriorating situation. This I learned from our own company of friends. Frankly, that learning came at the cost of that company’s dissolution.
Actually we were three to five friends who used to gather in a restaurant for chatting after a week or so, regularly. One friend was too adamant to sustain a dialogue. It was really next to impossible to converse with him. You say one thing and he will trash it without any consideration. No doubt, he was fond of conspiracy theories, and thus for him it was so easier to reject our views without having any recourse to reason. His manner of rejecting our views was so scornful that one could only bear it by blowing
The predominance of clergy in Pakistan
It’s always been argued that there is no clergy among the Muslims. Is it so? Not the least! In fact, there is all the ‘required’ evidence available to defy this claim. Regardless of the positions and interpretations the Muslim scholars advocate in this respect, there always existed and still exists such a body of religiously ordained persons who use their authority in worldly as well as other-worldly affairs of the Muslims. Even if there is no Muslim Church like the Christian Church, the Principle of Clergy for all the practical purposes is the same in Muslims. It may also be added that unlike the Christian Church, where a uniformly organized clergy or popery exists, in Muslims though the same institution does not exist in the same manner, the principle of clergy does exist religiously in an un-organized and politically in an organized manner. Hence, what’s important is not the institution,
No. 1 enemy of the people of Pakistan
پاکستن کے سیاست دانوں نے، خواہ وہ جمہوریت کا لبادہ اوڑھے ہوئے ہیں یا مذہب کا، قریباً ستر برس سے یہاں کے شہریوں کو ٹرک کی بتی کے پیچھے لگایا ہوا ہے۔
This Urdu saying means: Paki politicians, whether they are clad in the garb of Democracy or Religion, have got the citizens running after the back-lights of a Truck! In other words, the citizens of Pakistan have been made to run after a mirage so that they are never going to reach any destination.
Recently, there was a book-launching in Lahore. The book’s title is: NauAbaadiyati Taaleemi Dhaancahy Ka Tasalsul (The Continuation of Neo-Colonial Educational Structure) and it’s written by a Marxist. All the talk there focused on castigating the British for their doing everything in their own interest. Two or three sane voices, speaking common-sense, tried to make other commentators realize not all that is bad had been
A Story of Complicity
A Story of Complicity: Statistical Relationship between a Newspaper and a Politician
* The writer supports freedom of thought, freedom of expression and freedom of press as sort of absolute values.
* This analysis by him is in good faith and may not be construed as intrusion in anyone’s privacy and freedom.
* Since newspapers are public entities (though they are privately owned), and politicians public personalities, the writer as a reader and as a citizen may use his freedom to question and criticize both.
* The writer is a keen reader of the newspapers. In the month of May 2014 he noticed unusual news coverage given to one politician “P” in the newspaper “N.”
* When the month of May completed, the writer took a stock of that coverage.
* Here is the table that shows the detail of the news coverage which emerged out of this exercise:
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Forsaken by the State
Note: The day Benazir Bhutto was murdered, December 27, 2007, it was the day when all the semblance of government evaporated in Pakistan; there was widespread anarchy and uncertainty; there was arson, loot, and destruction. Fear prevailed. As if the life and property of ordinary citizens of this country were forsaken by the State! Here is the Story:
Where there is no property there is no injustice.
John Locke
John Locke
Regardless of the controversy whether we human beings are by nature good or bad, what is crucially required to keep our society intact is that we must be treated as free agents. This washes away all those excuses the science of psychology and its Freuds and no-Freuds have heaped on and which provide an eternal alibi for the criminals to prove their innocence under the guise of this or that mental state or illness, or this or that instinctual impulse which,
The road ahead is quite straight
This article was written last year in the wake of December 16 APS Tragedy to expose the Politicians’ inaction. It’s still relevant today on December 16, 2015.
… The road ahead is quite straight
Beware of the politicians! They cannot think and act out of their politically blocked mentality! They are a victim of paradigms made of their own choice; that’s why they disdain rules, laws and the constitution, which require and bind them to act accordingly. They won’t break the paradigms, which ensure their short-term survival, and it’s seldom that they shift to newer paradigms of thinking and action in a broader perspective. Whenever that happens, that happens temporarily and perforce due to the force of the circumstances, like the one which the December 16 Peshawar massacre of the children generated, or under the pressure of the “Subjects,” “Awaam,” like the one which got Iftikhaar Muhammad Chaudhry former Chief Justice
Crimes and the political alibi
“I am a politician; I cannot commit any crime; I am perfectly innocent!”
That is how, as we know at least in Pakistan, politicians argue. That manner of political self-defense clears the two-way traffic: criminals may become politicians; and, politicians may become criminals. Pakistanis have enough of both. And the breed is multiplying like rabbits. All the more, species belonging to other realms of social, economic, military, cultural, religious have started aping the politicians. They have learned the art of politics from them. That’s a hundred percent fool-proof method of overcoming any odds.
Also, that has rendered all the systems of accountability inefficacious. Why? Because, and it is awfully baffling that, all the systems of accountability are conceived, detailed and legislated by the criminal politicians or political criminals. Who can forget the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO)? And it is these politicians, tainted with criminality, who appoint the heads to these
Pakistani philosophers and politics
The two noblest professions are teaching and politics. [Aristotle]
Back in 2002 when the 35th Annual Session of Pakistan Philosophical Congress held in the Bukhari Auditorium, Government College (now G. C. University), Lahore. Dr. Naeem Ahmad was Secretary of the PPC (Dr. Naeem had been Chairman Department of Philosophy, University of the Punjab, Lahore), and well before the start of the proceedings I had time and time again requested him to allow me to present a Resolution in its General Body meeting. He was positive. On March 16, while the proceedings ended, late in the evening meeting of the General Body of the Congress was in progress. When all the items on the agenda, such as issues relating to the next Congress, elections of the office-bearers, stood settled, Dr. Naeem announced the closing of the Congress.
I was dumbstruck; yet in a second I decided: it’s now or never.
Depoliticization and its causes
Here is the first part of this article: A depoliticized Pakistan on the rampage
… The 2nd and the final part: Depoliticization and its causes
What’s a depoliticized Pakistan; how is it different from a politically apathetic Pakistan; how is it damaging both for the society and its state; who does now represent it, such questions were discussed in A depoliticized Pakistan on the rampage. In the present piece, some other questions will be dwelt on such as: why doesn’t a depoliticized India or Bangladesh exist in India or Bangladesh, for example? Why that’s so only with Pakistan? Why is Pakistan so fecund for such elements? What are the elements that feed milk and butter to a depoliticized Pakistan?
Since long it has been my contention that the main culprit for the backward Pakistan is Politicians. In this case also, the main culprit for a depoliticized Pakistan is again Politicians.
Why taxes are not a political issue in Pakistan?
Note: I sent this piece of writing to all the newspapers one by one; none bothered to see it or use it, that I am justified to conclude!
… Why taxes are not a political issue in Pakistan?
All the politics is about collecting and spending taxes; but unfortunately that reality does not translate into political issues in Pakistan.
What it translates into is power-politics pure and simple! See the arrogant issueless politics of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf; see the pseudo-development politics of Pakistan Muslim League (N); see the outdated Roti-Kapra-Makaan politics of Pakistan Peoples Party (P); see the identity-less politics of Awami National Party; and also see the self-centered religious politics of Jamat-e-Islami, Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (F). At the end of the day, all of their politics is about seeking power and state-benefits; or it is politicking on pseudo-issues ranging from anti-Americanism and pro-Palestine rallies to this or that religious or sectarian wrangling.
The
The 21st point: Overhaul the state
Note: This article was completed on December 31st, 2014, and was originally posted on this Blog in January 2015.
… Presently there is happening quite a serious debate on the 20 points envisaged in the National Action Plan. Its thrust is on two points:
i) All these measures should have been in their place since long as a matter of routine, probably from the day first when Pakistan came to exist; and,
ii) Due to the past negligence of the governments, doubts and questions are being raised about the efficacy of these measures.
The argument the present writer aims to make is a bit different; he wants to propose a 21st point to be added to the NAP, which focuses on overhauling the state. Let’s be precise in judging: It’s the state that played havoc with the society of Pakistan, and now
What’s the game, politically speaking?
Note: I completed this article on December 9, 2014, and wrote: “(Government) ought not to be afraid of martial law the prospects of which are zero presently, rather minus.” Now merely 9 months later the prospects of martial law have grown formidably positive; so what’s the game, politically speaking, let’s try to see:
… What’s the game, politically speaking?
In democracy, only a majority party is allowed to rule, and it may turn out to be a tyranny; no smaller party alone can lay a claim to that privilege. That’s the advantage of democracy one can cite while arguing with its enemies. Pakistan and other countries like it are an exception. In such countries, parties of every size can unleash a rule of tyranny under the banner of populism. Thus all the gatherings and processions of every size which such parties hold are quoted as a referendum against the government. Both
State Aristocracy (ریاستی اشرافیہ) being promoted in Pakistan
Patron Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders Shahid Rasheed Button says State Aristocracy is being promoted in Pakistan.
Here is the story published in Pakistan Observer of September 21, 2015.
Bank tax dubbed as irrational
Monday, September 21, 2015 – Islamabad—Patron Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders Shahid Rasheed Button Sunday said withholding tax (WHT) on bank transactions will never be acceptable to majority of the businessmen which are dubbing it as illogical and fiscal terrorism.
WHT is inconsistent with the ground realities therefore it must be reviewed and made acceptable as it is not being practiced anywhere in the world in the current rough form, he said.
Traders would be left with no option but to accept bank tax if it is slightly modified and influential tax evaders as well as major defaulters are taken to task before squeezing commoners and middle-class
What the political parties are doing in hospitals!
Pakistan is a criminally horrible state. Read the whole story, published in The Express Tribune on September 15, 2015:
… Minister directs hospitals to remove political parties’ offices
KARACHI: Sindh health minister Jam Mehtab Dahar has directed the managements of all public hospitals in the city to remove the offices of political parties from their premises, ordering them not to take any pressure while taking action against them.
The major public hospitals, including Civil Hospital, Karachi (CHK), Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, National Institute of Child Health and National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, until now, housed the offices of various political parties that enjoyed influence in the area where the facility was located.
“These should be hospitals, not offices of political parties,” he directed the officials. The minister has also asked them to immediately remove political slogans, banners, pamphlets and other such materials from these institutions.
Most of
Pak polity – racing backwards
So to say, in about 70 years, the political gains Pakistan’s polity has been able to make are dismal! Pessimistically, it’s NOTHING! Optimistically, it’s merely the Constitution that itself came to be agreed upon about 25 years after the country’s emergence on the map of the world. That casts a heavy doubt on the credence of Pakistan’s polity. Politically speaking, things stand in the same mould now they stood on the first day. The final verdict on the quality of the Pak polity may thus be worded: The citizens still live at their own risk in a country which is consuming itself by its own pseudo-nationalist, religious, militarist rhetoric!
… No wrangling, the fact is that no politician and no political party find the constitution and its provisions tolerable to their will and temperament; they trample them whenever they see any of it