Defining Pakistan

Author:

Sir: In my Sociology class, I recently defined Pakistan’s society as ‘a conformist society chasing after a democratic system inadvertently.’ I still believe it to hold true for a large majority of us. More than half of Pakistan’s populace fails to answer the question — What is democracy?

We are a nation where people are so used to moving in a herd like fashion, largely inculcated by political and religious leaders. We neither reflect nor question the social order, the ideas, the notions or fundamentally, the system. Democracy is reflected when a state is under the direct or representative rule of its people; most importantly it is joie de vivre which our society lacks. In case of Pakistan, there is no evidently ‘peoples’ power’.

The so-called power of electing a representative government is sabotaged by unfair elections, and the power, sanctimoniously remains with the political parties that are hungry for authority and shows no interest in providing a liberalistic stage to the people.

The majority in Pakistan are educated illiterates who let these political agendas, of gaining power under the umbrella of democracy, play with our minds. What we need to do is to wake up, scrutinize and question the system! If it is really liberalism that Pakistan is moving towards, then why are there no apparent changes to be observed?

RUMSHA SULTAN KHAN

Karachi