Daily Times

In the wake of what happened at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI’s) public rally in Kasur, is it not time to pause and rethink the fallout of a ‘tsunami’ and ‘revolution’ on our society? Do we, as a society, even understand the very basics of a revolution? It would help to start with the most elementary: what is a revolution after all? A condition when the social order that has been woven so carefully over the centuries goes topsy-turvy and when the country is suddenly up for grabs and for a certain class the new situation becomes a zero-sum game!

The ‘revolutionary’ uprisings in the Middle East seem to be contagious. Coupled with Imran Khan’s over-simplified rant, the misguided notion of revolution may have an adverse fallout on our society. Our urban, educated middle class, and especially the youth, has been particularly vulnerable. If Twitter and Facebook are anything to go by then they are dying (metaphorically) to revolutionise Pakistan under the ‘heroic leadership’ of Imran Khan. Borrowing from the ‘godless’ Karl Marx, this bourgeois class of ours carries smart phones, dines at modern trendy cafes and owns private properties. Ironically, their definition of revolution is venturing into the unknown while discarding the known (read corrupt, ineffective and callous political elite).

What could be the possible fallout of this ‘revolution’?

While deliberately bypassing the lessons learned from the French Revolution of 1789 (great Chinese revolutionary Zhou Enlai said, “It is too soon to say,” when asked on its impact), let’s imagine that Pakistani society has been ‘revolutionised’ along the lines of the Bolshevik Revolution. Remember Dr Zhivago, the movie? It may be a fine work of fiction as most movies are but it has a clear message for our bourgeois class: sacrificing self-interest for the welfare of the whole society. Imagine our servant and his/her family (proletariat) barging into our home and making it their own and there is nothing we could do about it. The concept of private property ownership simply disappears into thin air. The state is not willing to do anything since the revolution took place in our servant’s name. What would be the reaction of our trendy bourgeois class? Sharing is not exactly our national trait or is it? How many of us share our wealth with our less fortunate brethren in the form of taxes?

Or what if we turn into a ‘born-again’ society? And which Islam would we have a preference for: Deobandi or Barelvi? With the former we have Maulana Fazlur Rehman and with the latter the socialist-turned-Godly Munawar Hasan. Or would we prefer a rainbow alliance of various factions of al Qaeda-inspired and supported Pakistani Taliban? Remember in Iran there are only (almost) Shias, so it was rather easy for them to accept a fellow traveller as their messiah, but that is not the case here. The ‘revolutionaries’ here would have to accept one mullah over the other. But you know Iran could have very well turned out to be the Socialist Republic of Iran had the communists of Tudeh Party not been outsmarted by the Ayatollah and his supporters! How would this ‘revolution’ be received in the heartland of Punjab (read Jhelum-Chakwal) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where almost every family either directly or indirectly is associated with the military? If you recall, scores of Shah’s trusted lieutenants were ‘sorted out’ by the Ayatollah’s regime after the Shah fled. The Islamic revolution certainly stung them bad. And how many Iranians today, if they were to do it all over again, would welcome the Ayatollah is something that I leave for you to ponder on.

To make Pakistan a better place is one thing, defining what is ‘better’ for us and knowing its fallout, another. ‘Revolutionising’ Pakistan may very well be the empowerment of our servant over us or the other sect over ours. Would that be acceptable to us? So instead of venturing into the unknown, it would be better if we do something unprecedented: vote. Change the existing system from within by being part of it, rather than rocking the boat from outside with unforeseen and unpredictable consequences.

Beware what you wish for in this land of the pure!

The writer is an advocate of the high court