Daily Times

They said that freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence, and we believed them, for they looked like honourable men, with due respect to the Bard and all credit to him for the term “honourable men”. They said if freedom of speech is taken away, the people will be led to slaughter like sheep. It sounded reasonable and who wants to get slaughtered anyway? More importantly, they did appear to be honourable men. They said freedom ensures justice, equality and the right to the pursuit of happiness unobstructed. That sounded exciting and so we went along because everyone said that they were honourable men.

They said we are not free because we never wished for freedom, because we were never bold enough. Seriously, it was our fault all along? We will change that because this sage advice was coming directly from the wisdom of honourable men. They said freedom is a chance to be better and would bring peace and happiness. That sounded like utopia and, if freedom is all it takes, why not? After all, they are honourable men.

In a nutshell, they said a lot of things about freedom and we believed everything. They finally ended the narrative with a concluding remark: democracy will ensure freedom. And, once again, we believed them. After all, what else could we do for they were honourable men with big guns.

There was always a small minority that, for numerous reasons, remained sceptical about the whole freedom thing, the theory of the rulers and ruled class being the foremost. Nonetheless, they bowed to the popular new deal in the spirit of things and because they never had a choice. Also because they figured if freedom did actually bring about the change honourable men bragged about, then why not? Rationally, however, this minority maintained the view that the right to criticise freedom was part and parcel of being free, until they were labelled anti-democrats and avoided like the plague. Dissent always had the positive intent to evoke productive debate. Unfortunately, no one likes to be criticised, even honourable men who promote freedom at every turn. Still, no problem. After all, this was a very small price to pay for a happy, fulfilling life!

Today, Pakistan has been enjoying democracy for over six years and, for the first time in its history, a democratic government handed the reins of power to another democratically elected government. Conclusion: hurrah, we are free! These celebrations cannot be termed as premature. The existence of a much publicised free media and a strong, assertive judiciary the honourable men said, were proof of freedom. So it is great to be free but what about everything else that was supposed to accompany this exciting freedom?

Economic security for the masses remains an illusion with rising unemployment, burdensome inflation, load shedding that adversely impacts economic activity and exorbitant utility costs, if the services are available in the first place. The positive changes in the judicial system at the top have yet to trickle down to the common people, who meanwhile are controlled by an antiquated policing system inherited from the British Raj. Freedom of speech is mostly listening to talk shows on television that generally create sensational breaking news to improve ratings. Equality remains an illusion and even honourable men seem to struggle in addressing income inequalities in their very own domain. Peace and happiness can hardly thrive in the current security situation. Something seems to have gone wrong with the freedom narrative.

Logically, the government does have a point. For one, they just have not had enough time in spite of all the hard work they are putting in and considering the length and depth of the country’s problems. This begets the realisation that honourable men never mentioned how long it could take for freedom to bring about all the positive things they sold. Secondly, and again rightly, how can the government focus on issues when it is kept busy with political dissent, long marches and severe critique at every step? Finally, they were given a mandate under a system that everyone was led to believe was the best for all of mankind and, hence, feel they have a right to be the government. On the other hand, some of the opposition, a key institution within the freedom framework, insists that the elections were not fair and it is their right to have political demonstrations. Accordingly, the nation faces a political stalemate. Who is right is not important perhaps, but what is wrong is that nothing is getting done.

One thing freedom has ensured is that everyone has time to give an opinion and offer, when not even solicited, conspiratorial predictions about the eventual outcome of the current political entanglement. The top trending debate today can easily be titled, “What is your opinion on what will happen on the 14th?” But if anyone could actually see the future, making money perhaps might be a better calling compared to political forecasts. What freedom did not unfortunately cultivate was the patience to listen to all that poppycock.

Nonetheless, the problem is not what happens tomorrow, the problem is where it all will end. Political musical chairs will continue if the losing party is not willing to ever accept sitting on the fence for five years, which seems to be the case. Hypothetically, even if there was another election, where is the guarantee that the next time around the loser, whoever it is, gracefully bows out? Whatever way this is played out, the only recent example for the final outcome appears to be Egypt or Thailand, which perhaps no one looks forward to.

Seriously, somebody needs to hit the books on the freedom theory and figure out a solution because until that happens, all the good things that were promised with freedom will remain a mirage and pretty soon the populace will realise that what the honourable men said was mostly, to put it politely, stories and nothing but.

The problem with a newspaper column is that by the time one gets into the swing of things, the allocated space runs out. So, a short and sweet conclusion: democracy needs to get its act together pretty quickly and start doing all that it promised for the common man because, guess what? The common man is not interested in the system. His only priority is to improve his lot, his quality of life and, in that equation, what is important is everything and anything but freedom.

Eid Mubarak, in advance, with a prayer that things take a turn for the better in the best interests of Pakistan. Ameen.

The writer is a chartered accountant based in Islamabad. He can be reached at syed.bakhtiyarkazmi@gmail.com and on twitter @leaccountant