Daily Times

Although there is a deafening din of fierce political rhetoric and debate in the media and the domineering political brouhaha of the ruling elite, yet there is a stark indifference towards politics amongst the ordinary people. There is such a raucous blare and yet such a poignant silence of the people. This is not without a cause. The politics and the policies that are convulsing society have no content for the harrowing grievances of the teeming millions. The problems they face, the tragedies they endure and the miseries they suffer have no expression, no content, what to talk of solutions in the political diatribes that are raging at the helm of society. But there is a seething discontent burgeoning just beneath the surface of the temporary lull and stagnation that the rulers consider to be eternal.

The ideological differences between the dominant political parties of the elite have become more and more elusive as the economic crisis of capitalism, the system to which all the political elite subscribes, has plunged into a seemingly irretrievable crisis. The strategists of the system are clueless about how to pull back the economic decline from the downward spiral it is trapped in. In reality, they have left the economic decline to its own fate. Gone are the days where at least the economic experts at least made attempts to put the economy on a growth trajectory and try to develop some policy or plan for poverty alleviation and social development. In this gloom and dejection, they are blindly following the disastrous recipes of the IMF and the World Bank. These policies of privatisation, deregulation, restructuring, liberalisation and austerity are in fact aggravating rather than resolving the economic mess that is pulverising society.

Ever since the 1980s under the vicious General Zia dictatorship, the informal economy has been growing like an aggressive cancer that gave a temporary impetus to the economy, but at the same time eroded it so damagingly that it became addicted to doses of black money. This tumour of the black economy has now grown even larger than the total formal economy. The black economy’s character of investment is of short stint, mainly in the services and social sectors where it can plunder exorbitant profits. Under these patterns of economic management and investment, social instability and turbulence are bound to exasperate. The violence, terror and crime that is engulfing Pakistan is the byproduct of this socio-economic hybrid of a formal economy enmeshed in a larger informal sector that is beyond state control, taxes, auditing and authentication.

Lenin once said, “Politics is but concentrated economics.” The political superstructure reflects this economic base. The erratic and convulsive nature of this economic foundation results in irregularly regular political eruptions with mainly rightwing demagogues stirring up sections of the petty bourgeoisie and primitive sections of society temporarily and then fading away into oblivion, with the incumbent government, allies and the opposition playing quixotic blame games to maintain the status quo from which they are rampantly enriching themselves, oblivious of the agonies they are inflicting on the oppressed masses. They are on a binge of plunder, as they seem to be in a hurry with no confidence in the economic future of the system they represent.

However, there has been a salvo of non-issues pelted onto the mass consciousness in the last five years, as the ruling elite failed to resolve any of the burning issues inflicting the vast majority of the population. The prevailing wrangling on the election commission and the transitional/caretaker government shows the increasing factions of contenders amongst the ruling classes vying for power to increase their stakes in the booty. The question of the caretaker government is important because most drastic economic decisions and the new agreement with the IMF on debt rescheduling and new loans would be signed on even harsher conditions. Apart from other austerity measures, the IMF would be demanding a drastic devaluation of the rupee, which is already overvalued, leading to a soaring stagflation. With fast depleting forex reserves, the interest and debt repayments are already straining the exchequer. These debilitating measures would be implemented by the new elected regime that would be probably comprised of an even looser, wider and unruly coalition. This time it will be an arduous task for the imperialists and the experts of the ruling class to tailor favourable results and manage a viable coalition.

The judicial hyper-activism, ferment within the armed forces, demoralisation in the police and the security forces and the fissures in the bureaucracy are symptoms of the malaise that has set in in the main pillars of the state due to the severe economic and social crises in society. The ferocious debate about a prolonged transitional set up and the ambiguity surrounding the elections exposes the new low in the confidence of the ruling classes. The insurgency in Balochistan, carnage in Karachi, the imperialist aggression with drones and the black terror of the Islamic fundamentalists lay bare the dwindling writ of the state. Its internal contradictions are straining its cohesion and discipline. The very forces Pakistan is supposed to fight and eliminate are getting covert support from sections within its structures. Some of the most reactionary elements are roaming around the country and giving venomous speeches on TV shows scot-free.

Most bourgeois analysts are pessimistic, even terrified about the future prospects of the country. They predict more bloodshed during the elections. If there is a contemptuous attitude and callous indifference of the ruling classes towards the masses, there is also seething rage amongst the people towards this coercive system. Its reality has been blatantly exposed in the eyes of the masses. There are two skies over the heads of the ordinary people. There is the blue sky and there is a yellow sky on which the political, social, cultural, religious celebrities and those from other walks of life are doing the rounds and playing their games. In ordinary times, the masses are bogged down with delusions in this gimmickry. But then a time comes when they begin to see this yellow sky not from below but from above. Once they have a glimpse of this sight, the hypocrisy, deceit, treachery and reality of the ruling classes will be laid bare as never before. The illusions will be shattered and the seething revulsion will burst into open rebellion against every norm, ethic and law of the ruling system. In Pakistan, that stage is approaching fast. Once that happens, the fireworks will begin.

The writer is the editor of Asian Marxist Review and International Secretary of Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign. He can be reached at ptudc@hotmail.com