Daily Times

Democracy has always been an endangered species in Pakistan. Under attack from a group of politicians and helpless against powerful outside forces, it faces a dark future. Why is it that an institution that helps other nations prosper fails in Pakistan? Requiring a lot of patience, it is a slow and grimy process that appears to promote incompetent and dishonest politicians in its initial phases. Yet, if given an opportunity to flourish through uninterrupted, free and fair elections at all levels, including local bodies, it can yield favourable results. That has never happened in Pakistan. The reason? Being ‘unique’ and ‘special’ we are a histrionic nation that is fretting to lead the world as the torchbearer of an Islamic renaissance. Here, any process that is not fast enough will always be deemed unattractive and ineffective. Sometimes it will be disregarded as un-Islamic, many times it will be demeaned as being a western concept and, at other times, it will just be trashed as a process that is inconsistent with our attitudes.
Being so exceptional, we believe that the creation of Pakistan against all odds was a special favour from the Almighty to the Muslims of the subcontinent. Following the same trend, we have assumed an imaginary responsibility for ourselves to play a role much bigger than our size and capacity in uniting the Muslim states of the world and protecting fellow believers from ‘outside’ forces. Such a fantastic objective, honestly speaking, cannot be met with an unglamourous process like democracy. There has to be something more effective and exciting for us. What can it be? In search of that answer, we have created the mysterious shadow of a powerful revolution in our minds that hovers over democracy all the time just like a US drone flying over the tribal areas ready to fire a missile. Instead of being afraid of it, as the people living in Waziristan are, we, without contemplating the loss of hundreds of innocent lives and the possibility of a deadly civil war, have embraced the idea of revolution and have been mesmerised by it.
Under the influence of our own narcissism, many among us are therefore convinced that it will deliver positive results with lightning speed. In a post-revolution Pakistan, most reckon that the government will lay down the foundation of a utopian state, guaranteeing in a matter of a few weeks (if not sooner) across the board accountability, restoration of law and order, provision of justice at the doorstep, punishment for all the corrupt politicians, bringing back laundered money and establishment of the rule of a pious and a selfless leader. Yes, just one leader like a comic book hero, in our opinion, is sufficient to manage it all as long as he is sincere and honest, even if he is a megalomaniac and irrational.
Historically, the idea of revolution is not new to Pakistanis; it is almost as old as the country itself. Unfortunately, even after so many decades, it still is ambiguous and lacks both clarity and uniformity. It has many shades that can range from peaceful protests to violent insurgency. For some people, revolution means the emergence of a strong and modern leadership through the democratic process like in Turkey to steer us out of our predicaments. In their minds, it is a form of soft and legal revolution that, in my opinion, is not a revolution at all; instead, it is the logical result of any democratic process.
The second form of revolution, although it is a little more radical, still does not promote violence and mostly endorses peace. To an extent, its essence is democratic but the details of this option again are opaque and are probably unconstitutional. According to this view, which I think Tahirul Qadri is proposing, a grand long march or a series of widespread protests in the country similar to those in Tahrir Square, Egypt, would soon crop up and somehow result in the formation of a popular, honest and competent interim or revolutionary government that will sail the drowning boat of Pakistan to the shores of progress and prosperity.
The third option is already well known to all of us. It is when an army general seizes power through a coup d’état and with his firm grip on the system, is able to rule for several years. We have already suffered four of these unconstitutional ‘revolutions’ in the last 67 years and each of them has created mountainous problems for us. This action, always lurking behind the cloak of accountability, can also be considered a form of manmade disaster.
Then there is the real revolution, which is messy, cruel, grisly and gory; it is a genuine tsunami. It is highly violent and leads to the loss of thousands of lives. In recent years, such a revolution — also known as civil war — has been witnessed in Syria and Libya. Both countries have failed to obtain the aforementioned objectives of their movement and have only led to the loss of thousands of lives followed by chaos, tyranny and religious extremism. Our uprising will not be any different, bending more towards the Taliban-style Afghan experience or the form of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). In that situation, sharia law will be abused to maintain control, freedom of speech will be revoked, the voice of dissent will be considered treachery and women will be incarcerated in their homes. We have seen a glimpse of the implementation of a similar sharia law in Swat where criminals disguised as clerics ruled the valley through pure terror just a few years ago, hanging the bodies of men in public places and flogging women in the streets. The question is if this is what we really want and if we are ready for it. I know I am not.

The writer is a US-based freelance columnist. He tweets at @KaamranHashmi and can be reached at skamranhashmi@gmail.com