Daily Times

A politician in a formerly colonized State like Pakistan is not a political leader but rather a ruler of his people and is constantly engaged in proving his legitimacy more to the external forces than the indigenous ones. The legacies of the Colonial Era have not let democratic politics succeed in such States, and the politician, therefore, is only poised for the security of his rule rather than his people’s welfare. The politician of the postcolonial state is trapped more in the global world of capitalism. He is not free to exercise his will, even domestically. He must become part of the international agenda propagated by the powerful and elite multinationals managed mainly by the formerly colonizing world. While attempting to please these multinational financial entities, he angers his people, and to justify his anti-people behaviour, he uses force to subdue his people’s will and perpetuate his rule. Consequently, democracies and the choice of people remain unable to assert themselves, so the democracies in such states are simply ineffective and unable to stand equal to the European democracies.

The powerful global forces, in return, grant huge loans and funding to such postcolonial states apparently to spend on its people for reducing the misery of the lower and middle class but never without terms and conditions which are primarily meant to stifle the already straitened life of the people in general. On the hand, much of this funding is siphoned to the inherent weak system prone to corrupt practices because of the lack of political will to be loyal to the people and their benefit. So, the loans and grants add more fury to the misery of the people, and only the rich reap the benefits, and the life of the people, in general, is burdened with heavy taxes to pay back the debt services. The politician, therefore, remains unable to change the life of his people.

Pakistan has never been able to provide the fruit of democracy to its people mainly because it sided with the selected global powers.

The claims to the geographical boundaries of the territories have been the cause of wars of enormous scale, but it has been further enhanced to the next level because of colonization and decolonization. The process of decolonization left the disputed borders unresolved and, in many cases, created further disputes. The glaring examples are that of Kashmir and Palestine, where the conflict has cost the fortunes of the nation, but the life of the people could not be improved. And the politician of such states is incapable of solutions mainly because of the vested interests of the global forces. The politician of the postcolonial states remains unable to become a leader of their people because of the international and national establishment and its agenda. He is forced to support international wars; otherwise, he will lose power and face dire consequences. The international establishment takes care that ruling politicians must be their allies in their wars and conflicts, even at the cost of the people.

Democracy makes politicians the true leaders of their nations, but real democracy does not exist in the political parties themselves. The political parties are mostly person based or are family legacies of all types. Usually, the head of the party is the man who controls leading sources of the country to try and win all party elections, and so this approach of political parties promotes more dictatorship in the party ranks rather than a democratic attitude. Therefore, the system makes the person powerful, and the people and the state become weaker.

Democratic attitude not only in the party ranks but also in the ruling corridors is the only way to promote and extend the middle class, reduce the lower class, and curb the upper class. The essential tool for this to succeed is to let the people speak, object, and criticize the working of the ruling politician. But instead, people’s voice is curbed in postcolonial states through control regimes on freedom of expression. Even the opinion is managed, controlled, and sanctioned on social media. In such a situation, the politician of a postcolonial state is more like a dictator than a leader. Unless the politician becomes the leader of his people, the real benefits of democracy cannot be extended to the people. The experiment has become partially successful in Turkey. For example, politicians struggled safely to become leaders; therefore, the people are comfortable, and their voice is heard and even acted upon.

Pakistan is also a postcolonial state and so shares a similar fate to such states, and so has never been able to provide fruit of democracy to its people mainly because it sided with the selected global powers, supported their wars and conflicts, and so let these forces influence the politicians for their gains, and consequently, the people of Pakistan and their benefits have been put at bay. The first step to putting Pakistan on a successful path of progress is to let the politician become the leader of his people, which is impossible without decolonizing the people’s minds and politics.

The writer is a professor of English at Government Emerson University, Multan. He can be reached at zeadogar@hotmail.com and Tweets at @Profzee