PERSPECTIVE
Each one of us is a microcosm with peculiar observations and perceptions. I want my readers to understand the world through my mind.
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Secularization of the state and society
Before discussing secularization let me clear a few things. I
consider secularization a process wherein both the state and society are
neutral in deciding the faiths of the people. Hence in secular states and
societies there is religious harmony and people are allowed to profess freely
whatever faith they have.
Islamic
civilization as developed from the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) times onward envisioned
a secular society. During his time the prophet lived with the Jews and
Christians and never forced them to convert to Islam. Later on Islamic civilization
passed through many phases and politics took precedence over religion: hence we
can see persecution of religious minorities. However, during the Golden period
of Islamic rulers societies remained very progressive with spectacular worldly
achievements in many fields.
The
problem of secularization of Pakistan is to be seen in the Islamic context. The
forefathers of the country were secular people who lived secular lifestyles.
Soon afterwards the country was ruled by civil and military bureaucracy who
used religion to sustain their regimes. They defaced the constitutions,
invented hatred for Hindus and other religious minorities and promoted religious
militancy. These cunning people deceived the masses in the name of Islam as
they offered the hope for Islamic justice through their lip services. The most
lethal weapon they used was the education system that trained generations of
bigots and people who blindly accepted the abstract and perverted state
narratives of patriotism.
While
constitution of Pakistan and state education policy is largely secular (with
the exception of a few laws against minorities or laws devised from time to
time by different regimes to get support of the masses) there is a need for
asserting the secular values enshrined in both. However, this alone is not
sufficient. Our rulers, civil and military bureaucracy and other influential
people must set an Islamic example of pro-people governance, rule of law, self-accountability,
transparency and development. Nothing influences
more the people than concrete measures aimed at solving their problems.
Sunday, August 23, 2015
What makes PTI?
Pakistan
Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) is the most popular political party in Punjab and Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa. The credit for all this
goes to the charismatic leadership of Cricketer turned politician Mr. Imran
Khan whose charismatic personality has been inspiring the youth since his early
days in cricket. Mr. Khan was also successful to establish one of the first welfare
cancer hospitals in Pakistan with donations.
The PTI had a simple and pragmatic political agenda of
reforming institutions, eradicating corruption and providing justice to the
people—all these combined into a single political slogan of change. Since 2013
elections and onward the party was not only successful to form government in
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but remained a dominant voice on the national political
landscape.
For
the last three years the party has been struggling with diverse issues. The
party government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has failed to bring any significant
change to governance in the province. On national level, the party is presenting
itself as a solo opposition to the PML N federal government despite the fact that
party has very limited number of MNAs and Senators. This has probably forced
the party to rely on street politics, dharnas and media outlets.
Over
the time, the party suffered from the same problems which other political
parties in Pakistan are suffering from. In fact the party received harsh
criticism for its highly ambitious claims and its realpolitik. Major failures of
the party include lack of democratic culture, failure to deliver on good
governance and setting up a good model of political culture in the country.
Why
is PTI still one of the most popular political parties in Pakistan? This is
partly due to the fact that the party has a very active presence on media and
huge resources and new technologies and strategies to reach out to the people
and partly because of the youth who hope to expect revolutionary changes from
the party. It may be noted that the party did not snatch vote bank from other
political parties. The party politicized youth and the so-called “silent
majority” or the people disillusioned by other political parties.
The
rotten political culture with feudal, family, territorial, ideological and
religious strands has always given an excuse to the military to intervene. The
masses who have remained indoctrinated by military governments and religious
leaders through education system, mass media and all other popular propaganda
outlet are mostly apolitical and are fed up with the conventional politics.
Such people have been termed as “silent majority” or the people who do not vote
or take part in active politics. As the trend may suggest such people either
side with the military or they curse the politics. In the case of PTI such
people mostly support the PTI.
There
are so many other things which need to be discussed like the many turncoats
that joined PTI or military support for PTI. But most important thing to
discuss is that all other political parties are still the same with no hope of
change. Unless and until other parties change, expand and reach out to the
people PTI will remain a popular voice.
Friday, August 21, 2015
Friday, August 7, 2015
Political struggle
The struggle for the oppressed is the struggle for human rights
For marginalized Baluch the key to get their rights is separation and freedom from the state. For marginalized Pashtuns and Sindis a genuine federation may ensure their rights. For marginalized Punjabis it is a question of law and its implementation. For many ethnic and religious minorities, struggle for human rights is far more complicated.
Mainstream political parties like PML N and PTI are directly concerned with people’s perceptions in Punjab. PPP is more federalist and sensitive of the national diversity. ANP,MQM, PMAP and other nationalist parties are focused on ethnic lines. Religious parties like JI and JUL are more concerned about the so-called Muslim Umma. Communist parties focus on workers and laborers and their rights.
Then who are supposed to be the oppressors? The religious parties think the so-called Judio-Christian culture and governments of the West are anti-Islam and local power holders are puppets in the hands and therefore, the cause of all miseries. The communists term the same so-called phenomenon as global capitalist imperialism and local elites as their cronies. For Balauchs, a predominantly Punjabi civil and military bureaucracy (called establishment) is subjugating them. PPP, PML N, PTI, ANP, MQM, PMAP and other parties think all problems are rooted in lack of democratic process (though differences are there as what key issues need to be addressed to ensure the true spirit of democracy).
Many regions in Pakistan like FATA, Baluchistan, Chitral, Gilgit Baltistan and rural districts of the country are more marginalized. Smaller ethnic and religious minorities have quite little or negligible political representation. Within a patriarchal society women are almost out of the political process. The diverse society of Pakistan is least sensitive towards the plight of women, child abuse, suppression of religious and linguistic minorities, the poor, the diseased and the physically and mentally disabled.
This is the country that is plagued by post-colonial interventions of the great powers and the influence of Saudi Arabia with its Wahabi terrorist ideology, a country that is ruled by military generals and their puppets and a country that has a feudal class history. Here political structure is hierarchical and those who enjoy naked powers are at the top.
For marginalized Baluch the key to get their rights is separation and freedom from the state. For marginalized Pashtuns and Sindis a genuine federation may ensure their rights. For marginalized Punjabis it is a question of law and its implementation. For many ethnic and religious minorities, struggle for human rights is far more complicated.
Mainstream political parties like PML N and PTI are directly concerned with people’s perceptions in Punjab. PPP is more federalist and sensitive of the national diversity. ANP,MQM, PMAP and other nationalist parties are focused on ethnic lines. Religious parties like JI and JUL are more concerned about the so-called Muslim Umma. Communist parties focus on workers and laborers and their rights.
Then who are supposed to be the oppressors? The religious parties think the so-called Judio-Christian culture and governments of the West are anti-Islam and local power holders are puppets in the hands and therefore, the cause of all miseries. The communists term the same so-called phenomenon as global capitalist imperialism and local elites as their cronies. For Balauchs, a predominantly Punjabi civil and military bureaucracy (called establishment) is subjugating them. PPP, PML N, PTI, ANP, MQM, PMAP and other parties think all problems are rooted in lack of democratic process (though differences are there as what key issues need to be addressed to ensure the true spirit of democracy).
Many regions in Pakistan like FATA, Baluchistan, Chitral, Gilgit Baltistan and rural districts of the country are more marginalized. Smaller ethnic and religious minorities have quite little or negligible political representation. Within a patriarchal society women are almost out of the political process. The diverse society of Pakistan is least sensitive towards the plight of women, child abuse, suppression of religious and linguistic minorities, the poor, the diseased and the physically and mentally disabled.
This is the country that is plagued by post-colonial interventions of the great powers and the influence of Saudi Arabia with its Wahabi terrorist ideology, a country that is ruled by military generals and their puppets and a country that has a feudal class history. Here political structure is hierarchical and those who enjoy naked powers are at the top.
Monday, August 3, 2015
Governance
It
should be noted that institutions take a long time to build or retard. Take for
example Islamia College Peshawar. It has been successful to resist all the
negative influences that have been tearing apart all other institutions. Similarly,
many of our institutions are yet to find a standard because they could not evolve
due to initial flaws in design. The later is very true of most of our prominent
state institutions.
What
inherently are responsible for the failure of institutions? Or to take a
simpler views what is the essence of institutions? The essence of institutions
is human resources. If we are able to manage these resources pragmatically we
may transform these institutions. Two most important things in this regard are
1) Looking for the fittest person for a specific job 2) And ensuring that the
person has the right aptitude for the job.
Then
we come to the leadership issue. Who are to be the leaders? What qualities do
we see in the leaders? We have university level courses in leadership and we
have a historical knowledge of major successful leaders of the world. But it
should be noted that what is true for one society may not be successful for
another or what succeeded for one generation may not succeed for another. Therefore,
all existing leaders and head of institutions are required to look for what is
best for their own people. In this regard popular perceptions about leadership
are to be taken into consideration.
People
perceptions of leadership and their expectations form leaders are very
important. For example, in Pakistan, people want their leaders to be as humble
and down to earth as possible. Whenever, people criticize leaders they compare
them with Hazrat Abu Bakar and Umar not in the religious sense but the social
services they provided to the people. This is the main reasons why do leaders
like Baacha Khan, Edhi, Akhar Hamid ur Rahman and similar others won the hearts
of the people and brought visible transformation in their lives. These leaders
were humble, dedicated and extremely positive towards their cause and the
people.
Saturday, June 6, 2015
ANP and PMAP
ANP and PMAP
Traditional Pashtun nationalism or hardcore version of it was centrifugal (if we avoid the word separatist). Its ideology was predominantly in favour of Afghanistan and anti Durand Line though annexation with Afghanistan or a separate Pashtun state of Pashtunistan was never so explicit. To be more exact Pashtun nationalists have been suffering from the contradiction of Great Afghanistan or Pashtunistan idealism versus federalist realpolitik within Pakstan.
With the passage of time hardcore version of it diluted and the nationalists themselves are now actively seeking more space in the Pakistani politics and demanding more power share through constitutional means. Apparently this makes them no different from other mainstream Pakistani political parties.
In the last two decades many Pashtun nationalists have been disillusioned with the ideology professed by Awami National Party (ANP) and Pashtunkhwa Mili Awami Party (PMAP). Many have been in the process of joining other mainstream Pakistani parties such as PML N, PPP or the recent wave of PTI which has been successful to make inroads into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This also includes many nationalists who are changing their loyalties time and again.
This doesn't mean that the vote bank of ANP and PMAP decreased. Both the parties have been successful not only to attract fresh blood but were successful to form governments in their respective sphere of influence. Hence there is a visible qualitative decline but quantitative jump for these parties as for as Pashtun nationalism is concerned.
Despite ideological compromises both ANP and PMAP have certain strengths which make them equal to or better than mainstream political parties in Pakistan. Both are democratic, progressive and secular in their outlook. Both represent the true spirit of federalism which only PPP can match. The parties leadership are experienced and well versed in national and international politics. Ironically, it is due to these strengths and not the ideology of Pashtun nationalism that these parties have been expanding within Pashtun population, to say the least.
Are these two parties in a position to make a shift from ethnic Pashtun nationalism to a more inclusive political approach so that other ethnic groups are attracted towards them?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
My Articles
Read and Comment