Daily Times

Emile Durkheim’s concept of anomie finds resonance in the present state of lawlessness and disorderliness prevalent in Pakistani society. We as a nation and society are in the throes of an anomie wherein the state and the society are equally culpable of a lack of moral direction for individuals. Despite democratic pretensions of a modern state the true democratic ethos and communitarian spirit is absent in our present society. Along with continual upward GDP growth and the claims of alleviating poverty and inequality in our society is also growing with Gini Coefficient touching 0.41.

Inequality fuels horizontal as well as vertical polarisation in the society leading towards social angst amongst the deprived segments of society. With 39 percent of the population below the poverty line and an unemployment rate of 5.9 percent, the rage of the dispossessed is becoming the new normal in the socio-economic milieu of Pakistan.

The revolt of the masses in Pakistan can be understood with reference to Michel Foucalt’s theory of power and knowledge. The theory excoriates the state and society’s attempts to use power to manipulate knowledge about the powerless segments of the society. The masses as per Foucalt, rise up in revolt against a social structure that does not provide legitimate space for their socio-economic advancement.

The amelioration of the public weal and the politico-economic inclusiveness is the main raison d’être of any socio-political structure. If the structure does not accommodate the public interests and the state also abdicates its basic responsibilities then a classic state of anomie takes hold of that socio-political structure. Pakistan exhibits the classic signs of that malady. A disconnect between the elite interests and the masses is getting glaringly obvious through a general lawlessness and propensity to flout rules wherever and whenever possible by whomsoever.

A soft state, an apathetic elite, and an enraged populace compounds the problems of a developing nation confronted with such existential crises like religious militancy, terrorism, water shortage, population explosion, environmental degradation, energy shortfall, and economic meltdown.

The finite and dwindling resources of the state are not keeping pace with the speed with which more mouths to feed are being added continually. Even if any other problem did not exist the runaway population was sufficient to drown us in the absence of sustainable natural resources, confronting the state with a Malthusian spectre of food insecurity.

In the absence of a political system responsive to the public needs, the people have by default sought comfort in the lap of religion. Due to the demise of communism and the non-responsiveness of capitalism the religious parties have caught the public imagination. The rabidly fanatic religious fringe every now and then ratchets up religious tensions on any excuse to remain relevant to national politics. The current siege of the Capital by a religious group is a case in point. The rise of religion as a political force in the absence of a viable political ideology responsive to the needs of the people has emerged as a phenomenon that threatens democratic stability

When the barriers to physical and economic security appear inseparable due to state incapacity and disenchantment then a state of frustration and alienation grips the public imagination leading towards defiance of all symbols of the state’s authority. That defiance gets a shot in the arm when the state elite forms a modus vivendi with the criminal enterprises to keep the state enervated and the cartels strong.

A state that can neither collect taxes nor ensure their proper utilisation is in fact instigating a revolt of the masses. The world over a local government system empowers people locally to collect taxes, control finances, manage police, and plan development activities. Alas, not in our neck of the woods where an avaricious mafia refuses to part with power and pelf at the cost of the poor masses.

When the masses contact the government anywhere in this ‘anocracy’ their belief in the government further erodes fuelling anger and defiance. When at every step the poor have to buy public goods like security, health, education, justice, and basic civic amenities their frustration boils over in a display of road rage, flouting of traffic rules, and vandalism of civic infrastructure.

The people tired of a state of anomie resort to flagrant flouting of rules taking voluntary leave of civic sense. By creating a seething mass of angry and undisciplined people the ruling elite and the rich create their islands of affluence through gated communities. A sizable portion of their wealth is parked abroad as an insurance against a state meltdown and disorder in the country. Little do they realise the virulence and strength of the raging currents of public disorder and anger swirling around their islands of affluence.

Our elite are naïve enough not to understand the consequences of this public discontent and state apathy. How long would their islands of affluence hold against the obstreperous waves of public discontent? What would their progeny do in a future marred by a general disorder and chaos in society? What roads would their children travel if no mass transit is planned? What air would their descendants breathe if the environment gets a constant beating under their watch?

These and other questions obviously are beyond the ken of a plutocracy that has made its fortunes in an unjust and inequitable system. The unbridled quest for power and pelf creates an environment where violation of rules, public heists, and predation of state resources for private gains becomes a norm. When a society reaches this state it is either enslaved or engulfed by anarchy. Since nature abhors vacuums, a new ideology or political nostrum steps in to fill the void. The nation tried Ayub’s totalitarianism, Bhutto’s Islamic Socialism and Zia’s quasi Islamism before reverting to the democratic panacea of Westminster polity. None of the systems has worked to connect masses with the state through a system of stakes that has everything for everyone.

In the absence of a political system responsive to the public needs the people have by default sought comfort in the lap of religion. Due to the demise of communism and the non responsiveness of capitalism the religious parties have caught the public imagination.

The rabidly fanatic religious fringe every now and then ratchets up religious tensions on any excuse to remain relevant to national politics. The current siege of the Capital by a religious group is a case in point. The rise of religion as a political force in the absence of a viable political ideology responsive to the needs of the people has emerged as a phenomenon that threatens democratic stability. The masses meanwhile are already showing symptoms of revolt.

Ethnic particularism and feudal politics are two competing trends in Sindh fuelling that revolt. Loss of state writ in tribal areas and a lack of development has alienated the Baloch people, who are being misled by external forces inimical to Pakistan to indulge in anti state activities. The poor having long despaired of an uncaring state have begun to seek refuge in the proximate identities of ethnic and tribal ties. Religion, interestingly has emerged as a counterpoint to these proximate identities but unfortunately is too riven with sectarian politics to act as an integrative force.

The revolt of the masses in Pakistan does not have the panache of a Spartacus like revolt, rather a slow and insidious hollowing out of the state sinews. In this state of anomie a moral guidance from the state is direly required to arrest the fissiparous tendencies and unite the nation. It is time to jettison politics of exclusion and proximate identities. The country needs a strong government with enough moral strength to provide leadership and discipline to a population habituated to disorder because of years of misrule. Discipline and justice need to trump all other considerations in the realm of governance if this revolt by the masses is to be quelled.

The writer is a PhD scholar at NUST, email rwjanj@hotmail.com

Published in Daily Times, November 22^nd 2017.