Daily Times

An eminent left-wing stalwart and a die-hard PPP enthusiast, Jehangir Bader, passed away in the early hours of 14 November 2016. Mr Bader was one of the last living icons inspired by the democratic, constitutional and leftist struggle that had ensued in the aftermath of Z.A. Bhutto’s ignominious ouster from Ayub Khan’s cabinet in 1966. Mr Bader’s demise and the concurrent failures of Pakistan People’s Party to relaunch itself onto the national political canvas symbolise the death of the flimsy haggard ‘left-wing politics’ of Pakistan. Even though other left forces, which include the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Awami National Party (ANP), have trembled in the face of adversity too, PPP’s former federal status implies that its cleansing is, in fact, the cleansing of the entire left.

Ethnic disputation, radical extremism and unfettered religiosity have all engulfed the country’s polity in the last three decades. The right-wing has been able to assimilate itself profoundly into the country’s socio-political structures as its outlook and political ideology has evolved with the changing voter preferences and political landscape of the region. The left, on the contrary, has been comparatively consistent and firm to its ideological roots, not to be read as policies, and thus its applicability and localisation to the current polity is compromised and predominantly questionable.

It is not surprising that Pakistan ended like this when considering the ethnoreligious divisive politics that had led to its formation. But given the political diversity — along with the lines of identity liberalism and structural evolution — it had achieved during the 70’s, one was convinced that the odds of it imbibing any radical extremist tendencies again were quite remote. However, with the onset of Zia-ul-Haq’s controversial Islamization plan, Pakistan’s natural rift with India and the regional situation post-9/11, the balance re-shifted and the right-wing populism regained the ground it had lost to the left, particularly Bhutto in the 70’s and then quite regularly to his daughter throughout the late 80’s and 90’s. Even though many would contest the semblance of Benazir’s politics to that of a typical leftist, her work for gender equity through amelioration of the socio-economic status of women was, by all means, leftist and duly recognised as such.

Backtrack to the 70’s; it was an era that brought a fresh wave of politics in Pakistan — everything from the established state institutions to cultural norms, ideas and political principles were taken by storm. Democratic unions and groups who regularly contested for constituency and popular support were activated to the extent that once someone, who had lived quite actively through the politics of the 70’s remarked, “Such was the political diversity and robustness of the 70’s that you’d find a worker’s union for the ‘tonga wala and rickshaw wala’ too.” As a testament to this claim, one could observe how most of the established democratic grassroots leaders of Pakistan’s current politics, including the iconic late Mr Bader, hailed from the 70’s.

The left-wing flourished under Bhutto even though there were concerns regarding the dictatorial and autocratic nature of his political outlook. But this should not undermine the fact that so did the right-wing. The largest movement triggered by the formation of the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) led by Maulana Mufti Mahmood, which had provided justifiable grounds for the ultimate ouster and hanging of Bhutto, was a typical right-wing populist alliance as it vowed for an increased religious intervention in the matters of the state and more rigorous controls over the liberal and secular tendencies that had mushroomed quite imperceptibly in the 70’s.

Thereafter, the boundaries between the two ends of the political spectrum continued to blur having reached an extent where it is endangered to lose the political diversity and balance essential to the establishment of a real working democracy. Albeit concerns that Pakistan’s political structure, though akin to democracy, doesn’t have much semblance to what a real western democracy is, the criminal cleansing of the left-wing can cause further, presumably irreparable damage, to whatever sham imitation of democracy that is currently functioning.

Pakistan’s political spectrum had struck an ideal balance in the 90’s. With Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and PPP in Sindh and the Congress-clone Awami National Party in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the two provinces had ideal left-right balances. Punjab wasn’t much different either — a province which could be dubbed the epicentre of Pakistan’s political activity had been the real battleground for two major power players in PPP and Pakistan Muslim League. While PPP was obviously a staunch adherent of the left-wing principles, including social and economic justice, gender equity and libertarian governance, the other was a typical centre-right populist party that drew inspiration from and attributed its mission and vision to a nationalistic movement that had culminated in the very formation of this country. Interestingly, out of Pakistan’s four major provinces, only Balochistan seems to be devoid of any historic role of a major left-wing party. The PPP had some constituency and support in the province but that has largely been fickle and inconsistent.

The Balochistan case, in fact, is a reflection on how an incomplete and imbalanced political spectrum can result in serious growth and institutional deficits. Disproportionate powers and concentration of authority with a certain ideological group may result in a lack of accountability, misallocation and misappropriation of state funds and resources. The plunder of mineral resources in Balochistan by the local Sardars, most of whom associate themselves with right-wing populist forces, is a clear manifestation of what uncontested power can do.

However, one also needs to concede that the obsession with right-wing populism is not exclusive to Pakistan — with a Trumpian United States, Modi India, Le Pen France and May Britain, the tides are turning globally and the nationalistic jingoism that has had devastating effects on the global economy and peace in the past is unfolding before our eyes again. The political transformation that is set to take the world over is acknowledged in Fareed Zakariya’s recent article published in the Foreign Affairs magazine titled “Populism on the March” (Link: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2016-10-17/populism-march), where he discusses the meteoric rise of populism, typically that of the right-wing, globally. Although he doesn’t recognise the menaces associated with the rise of right-wing populism explicitly, his insinuations suffice in seconding the assertions put forth here.

While the dangers of jingoistic nationalism that are supposed to nurture on the premise of right-wing populism are evident and easily pre-emptive, Pakistan’s susceptibility to such a happening is much fiercer and can cause more damage than it could to any other state that has fallen to the right in the past few years. This is obviously in the background of the country’s history with ethno-religious nationalism, recurrent military interventions and near-to-total extermination of the left-wing. While the US, Britain, France and India might have right-wing populists at the helm currently, the left forces in each of these countries are robust, active and functional. Apparently, this is not the case with Pakistan. Voters in the country need to rationalise their preferences in view of the potential implications of losing the essential political diversity. While dismal development and economic performance of the left could’ve contributed to the challenges it currently faces, voter rationality could be ensured through a greater focus on constitutional, legal and social progress made during the left era instead of merely focusing on the economics.

Clearly, media organisations and political parties of the left have an extensive role to play in terms of making their best work known.

The writer is an Acting Director at the Shahid Javed Burki Institute of Public Policy and a Lecturer in Lahore. He can be reached on Twitter @AsadAijaz