Daily Times

The reason one generally prefers to write articles on social science issues, since the focus on current affairs, headlines, and tickers makes us to miss the broader picture. A lot of commentary is focused on “he said/she said” and just a narrow focus on current happenings, without seeing the same in the larger context.

Recently, there was a news item that a social media outlet, Facebook, has closed down certain accounts in India and Pakistan. It generated a lot of commentary, yet, there is need to see such headlines in the context of the collusion between the state institutions and corporations all over the world. It is no longer that only the capitalist class or finance capital that drives the world; state institutions also control the corporations. There is a symbiotic relationship between the state institutions and big capital; and they both work for each other, and reinforce each other. It is as much applicable to the US, Western countries, as well as to countries like India and Pakistan.

Arundhati Roy in her recent interview with straight.com has highlighted that big corporations run India, its politics, media, and culture. According to her research, the big corporations in India such as the Reliance, Infosys, Essar, and Tata are using methods similar to the big corporations in the US such as the Rockefeller and the Ford Foundation. According to Roy, “the Rockefeller and Ford foundations have worked closely in the past with the State Department and Central Intelligence Agency to further U.S. government and corporate objectives”.

The truth is that Pakistan is no different from any other country in the world. If the state institutions are considered to control other significant sectors in Pakistan; the same happens everywhere in the world, be it is the West or East. India, our next-door neighbour is no different. Given the deep history of praetorian state in Pakistan; we Pakistanis are much more skeptical about our state and its institutions

It is just not the Rockefeller and the Ford Foundation, one would assume that similar and perhaps even much stronger nexus exists between the US state institutions and the digital giants such as Apple, Google, IBM, as well, as the big social media platforms such as the Facebook, and Twitter. After all, the internet came into being as the result of research and development in the defence industry in the US.

State institutions in Pakistan and the US (in particular and the West in general) have a long history of partnership and collaboration since the mid-1950s. There may be some areas of disagreements from time to time; yet the overall pattern of collaboration and watching out each other’s interests is much stronger. The big corporations in the US and West, as well as its digital corporations would not subvert the interests of state institutions in their own countries by going after the state institutions in Pakistan and India. Facebook might have taken off some account in both the countries in the Subcontinent. However, it might be more of a gimmick, rather than anything substantial and this aspect is ignored in the commentary. The US and the West know that any potential solution to their longest war in Afghanistan is not possible without the consent of the state institutions in Pakistan. This becomes even a bigger pattern given the history of collaboration between the West and Pakistan since the mid-1950s. Therefore, there is need to view things in the proper perspective.

Similarly, the interests determine the behaviour of countries in the international politics. Therefore, it is entirely possible that the US, the West, some middle eastern countries, India and Pakistan closely collaborate with each other to achieve a particular objective, yet some of them may differ with each other over some other objectives. Hence, it is necessary to go beyond the headlines and current affairs focus.

In Pakistan, we believe in “Pakistani exceptionalism.” For a lot of headlines-obsessed focus, we consider that it is only happening in Pakistan. The truth is the Pakistan is no different from any other country in the world. If the state institutions are considered to control other significant sectors in Pakistan; the same happens everywhere in the world, be it is the West or East. India, our next-door neighbour is no different. Given the deep history of praetorian state in Pakistan; we Pakistanis are much more skeptical about our state and its institutions. Whereas the continued democratic rule in countries like India has made the majority of their population to naturalize the rule of their statist dictates. The fact is that in this globalized world, Pakistan cannot function too different from other countries in the world. If there is nexus between the state institutions and other sectors in Pakistan; it is the same everywhere in the world. Continued democracy in Pakistan will go a long way to overcome the “Pakistani exceptionalism” notion by moving beyond the country’s praetorian history.

The writer is an Islamabad-based social scientist.