The Establishment

The “establishment” is what has been perceived so far as the “ultimate arbitrator” in the politics of Pakistan. The discourse has got acceptance over the years due to the fact that people in the civil and military bureaucracy exercised the powers so uninterruptedly that no noticeable third power center within the state system was ever perceived. But it is quite recently that people have come to realize about the instability and unpredictability of the perceived truth. It is, therefore, necessary to reevaluate the possibility of any establishment at all.

The term “establishment” carries a full range of genealogy or historical background. The role of establishment can be dated back to the colonial days of British India and its relationship with the global powers can be understood through the whole period of Cold War. The Zia era which sought absolute power for the state through the right winged political paradigm. The supposed specter of military business empire and military direct and indirect manipulation of politics also strengthened this perception. The perceived truth about the “establishment” so far is a two-fold resistance perception: The progressive one and the nationalistic one who are also to some extent progressive though they are more focused on the ethnic and historical side of the resistance. The common thing both of them share about the establishment is that civil and military institutions exercise power through religious constraints of state discourse and thus they have been marginalized from the political scene. There are many others aspects of this resistance too.

The exercise of power by civil and military bureaucracy and resistance against it is the simplistic prevalent view. The subject is much more complex and it has many powerful international and local dimensions too. For example there is a degree of truth in the view that the US has a degree of influence on the government of Paksitan. The influence of international monetary agencies on the politics of Pakistan cannot be overruled. The strategic importance of Pakistan for the global and regional powers is another factor which shapes the power structure of Pakistan. The internal dynamics like structure of the federation, constitutionalism, the role of media and political parties and much more are contributing to the networking of powers and the implied resistances.