Hybrid Hoax

Democracy, a rule with consent subject to responsibility by those with the best ideas, is essential for Pakistan because only through true democratic institutions and civilian rule can the multitude of problems it faces today be resolved. A farce in the name of democracy through managed electoral drills will once again prove counter-productive. Hybrid regimes lack legitimacy, and even their decisions are flawed and peripheral and become a big problem rather than a solution, as there are no checks and balances on power. Moreover, confusion between de jure and de facto power impedes accountability, a sine qua non for an efficient government. Today, de jure governments lack legitimacy and are clouded by allegations of massive rigging and manipulation of electoral results in the parliament and provincial assemblies.

Additionally, the line between criticism and propagation of false opinions stands blurred. The state is willing to use its coercive apparatus to silence even legitimate voices that tend to question these elections and decisions. Dissent is being suppressed with force despite a guarantee of free speech in the Constitution, which is virtually in abeyance as it is not obeyed. Everyone is drawing his red lines. In the age of mass communication and social media, the state finds itself at odds with public opinion, is unwilling to respect it, and tends to regulate it beyond permissible limits.

Even the sanest advice may have unfavourable consequences. In these challenging times, more harsh measures (e.g., defamation law, etc.) are underway to regulate free speech. There lies a great peril to unqualified opinions and views. Since the destinies of hundreds of millions are intertwined with the future of Pakistan, silence is culpable, and withholding a wise word is an unpardonable sin.

This year’s events, starting with election results and consequent federal and provincial governments formed through dubious alliances, are shocking to millions of young people unfamiliar with the history of politics and power in Pakistan. It has, once again, proven that the ultimate power broker in Pakistan remains the Establishment, which is a reality, and its role in the country’s politics, with time, has incrementally increased to a level that it now fully controls.

Despite denials, the embarrassing truth is that people are ruled against their will and are dubbed ignorant or misguided. The promise of social and political justice made by the founding fathers remains limited to shallow words lacking meanings and substance. Present political leadership lacks competence and character, and having been brought to power upon crutches, it is unwilling to believe and recognize the role and stake of the people.

A segment of society has started questioning Pakistan’s creation. Elongated sermons in the parliament, long judgements of courts, and lectures and speeches by others have failed to assure, grant, and guarantee promised rights to the people. The Constitution and its clear mandate are trampled upon and violated with impunity, even by those who have sworn an oath of its allegiance and protection.

Pakistan has not come to this impasse overnight. The genesis and history of the extra-constitutional role of the establishment in politics goes back to the country’s early days. The war on Kashmir pitched the civilian power up against the Establishment. The scale of power eventually tipped in favour of the Establishment. General Douglas Gracy, the commander in chief, allegedly refused to obey Jinnah, who advised him to send troops to Kashmir (Gracy later clarified his position in a letter published in K.M. Arif’s book ‘Estranged Neighbours’).