In a country like Pakistan with its half of the population totally illiterate and 57 percent of the population living below poverty line what does democracy mean in terms of the representation of these poor in the system?
How do the teeming millions in Pakistan without adequate food to meet minimum calorie count, potable water, education, health care, immunization, security, commutable roads, and sanitation and waste water drainage systems, relate to this democracy?
According to UNDP report, 65.5 percent population of Pakistan earns less than two dollars per day. 88 percent of Balochistan population, 51 percent of NWFP, 21 percent of Sindh and 25 percent of the Punjab’s population is prey to poverty and deprivation. Rural poverty is 49 per cent while the urban poverty ratio is 23 percent, in Punjab, the poverty ratio of rural areas is 30 percent while the urban areas’ poverty ratio is 26 per cent.
In sharp contrast the ruling elite of Pakistan coming to power “democratically” enjoying the luxurious lifestyle fit for oil rich Arab rulers or the late Mughal emperors. What promise does the democratic system hold for a common Pakistani when billion of rupees of this country teeming with poor is being spent on the perks and privileges of the select few.
The head of the major parties are mostly first generation billionaires who have no qualms about living in sprawling private mansions like demigods. As for government resources, in this debt ridden country the (allocated) entertainment expenditure of Prime Minister and President House was over Rs. 220,700,000 in the budget 2008-09. This is besides the budget allocated for the upkeep of the palatial residences of the PM and President in Islamabad where they reside with an army of servants in both the monstrous buildings including gardeners, cleaning staff, master chefs, cooks, kitchen assistants, white gloved waiters, protocol staff, maintenance staff, handy men, personal valets to carry their slippers, laundry staff, chauffeurs and many, many other servants and this does not include the dozens of security staff, special branch officials to keep an eye on them and personal private security staff to keep an eye on both.
Huge areas around their residences are cordoned off in the name of security when the common man is bathed in his own blood on the streets. The democratic leaders ride in expensive bullet proof luxury cars with huge entourages on cordoned off empty roads while the common people pushed down the road and forced to wait for hours until his “representative” safely drives by, watches in misery cursing the day he was born.
The fact is that elections and the resulting governments are not considered as an opportunity and a responsibility by the politicians but rather like a trophy after winning a competition and hence to be enjoyed to the fullest as much as possible within the shortest possible time before the next round. The self proclaimed champions of democracy in our unfortunate country do not even want to provide cheap plastic slippers to the barefoot, hungry and landless slaving on their estates for centuries but only know how to make empty speeches where the barefooted people can chant slogans in their favour.
Democracy as a social system is actually all about the celebration of the individual and his choices. It encourages the freedom of the individual and guarantees his rights. Democracy ensures that people rights are respected by the legal system of the land and no discrimination made against him on the basis of class, colour, creed or social class. In our country it is the exact opposite. The choices of the individual are crushed by the society in the name of conforming to the traditions of the family or clan. Making individual choices is still considered to be nothing less than a rebellion. The individual is not even given the right to make a choice for his own marriage. Marrying someone out of choice is still considered a matter of social shame for the parents who have been denied this privilege by their son or daughter. Elopement is punishable by death in most parts of the country across all social classes and the daily the newspapers contain stories of “honour killings” as a consequence of elopement or love marriage. In a society where love marriage is a crime and marrying someone you love becomes can eventually end in murders, why do we even pretend to believe in any democracy.
The commodification of women is entrenched in the very fabric of society and to the extent that even the very rich and very educated families have failed to alleviate themselves from the shackles of its psychological bonds. This commodification has made it positively impossible for the women to make individual political choices especially in confrontation to their men folks. Women are categorically told by their men folks of what symbol they have to stamp on their votes on the Election Day and that’s exactly what they do. The free and fair election is nothing but a figment of imagination. There can be no possibility of any free election when half of the population of Pakistan comprising of adult women voters have no idea what free will is.
The ugly truth is that when the society does not allow the individual to choose the length of his hair, or the colour and cut of their dress drastically different from the acceptable norms of their families how can they be expected to make individual political choices. The casting of votes is still driven by all other factors than the choice of the individual. People are exploited and harassed by the powerful to cast votes in their favour in order to perpetuate the cycle of greed and power.
When society does not accept democracy as the a way of life and a philosophy of life then it cannot become the system of governance.
In the west the democratic societies and democratic culture has evolved into a democratic system of government also which reflects the same spirit of the respect of the individual and rule of law.
Without the assurance of basic human rights, free and fair judiciary, speedy justice, eradication of poverty, massive improvement in education and health sector, immunization and prevention of diseases, reduction in the unemployment rate, massive land reforms, rapid rural development, improved governance and total restructuring of the political parties there is no hope for any democracy in this country. It is a shame that all political parties are essentially autocratic and dictatorial in their structures. What hope is there for the people to make a choice of the rulers when they are living in sub human conditions and have no chance of finding any light at the end of the proverbial tunnel?
Dictatorship is not in any military uniform but a mindset and we see that mindset prevalent in all parties. After joining any political party, defending the party unconditionally becomes a given and considered to be a sign of loyalty and allegiance to the leadership. This is the reason the party members of any particular look like fools all talking in the same tone, repeating the same phrases and giving the same justifications on any issue. Disagreement with the leadership is considered to be suicidal politically and hence quite non kosher.
The perception that the people make a choice in the Election Day is also a fallacy. The choice of the party ticket holder and candidate has nothing to do with the ordinary worker of the party but made by the party leaders and a few select allies in their drawing rooms behind closed doors without consultation with the party workers. Consequently the system ensures the smug triumph of the rich and powerful and their inclusion to the parliament considered to be the ultimate elite club. The only merit of the party candidate is his capability to win the seat. That is the reason why the present ruling parties had no hesitation of allocating party tickets to the cabinet members of Musharraf regime for example, Gen Retd Hamid Nawaz, Hina Rabbani, Dr Ashiq Awan, Manzoor Watoo to name a few. So is there any real choice for the people on the Election Day, I’m afraid there is not. It is really more like a reshuffle of the same lot.
