Daily Times

Smiling is an offence. Chuckling is a crime. Whispering is an act of terror. Dare to stare is asap arrest. No, we are not talking about the Stalin era. No, we are not talking about King Louis in the sixteenth century. No, we are not talking about the Changez Khan conquests. We are talking about the present regime in Pakistan at this very time. The Islamabad police arrested four youths for laughing in a restaurant at the ruling PMLN leader, Attaullah Tarar. According to news reports, in a surprising move, the Islamabad police kept four youths in lockup for more than 24 hours without registering any case against them on the charge that they had laughed at the PML-N leader. Four youths identified as Zain, Taimur, Salman and Qadeer were put behind bars in the Kohsar police station ‘on the order of Tarar’.

This is so bizarre that this seems all made up. That is why the news reports are quoted to prove it is real. What happened was just not possible in a decent, democratic modern world. Imagine a few youngsters having a great time in a local restaurant and laughing over whatever the topic. Imagine how astonishing that somebody who is in a government position walks in and just calls the police to pick them up and put them behind bars. How suffocating is this? How ridiculous is it? What a huge blow to our “so-called democracy” is this? And, to top it all how little this topic is being discussed in our mainstream media? That is why writing on this, debating on this, and raising a voice on this are so important. Fortunately, this incident that got ignored in mainstream media got highlighted on social media enough to get the boys free from jail. This is a small incident that is huge and has been undeservedly pushed under the table by those who believe that gagging will delete the truth. The government’s efforts to deny media space, shut channels, fire anchors, and arrest critics is just too stale and too predictable for their success. If the objective of all this gagging is to suppress the voice and stifle opposition, let us look at why it is counterproductive:

The government’s efforts to deny media space, shut channels, fire anchors, and arrest critics is just too stale and too predictable for their success.

1. Instead of building their counter-narrative, kill the opposing narrative- When you try to dig other people’s graves, you fall into it yourself. The whole focus of the government and its allied institutions is to somehow smother, suffocate, and suppress the opposition. They are so busy following every word that PTI is saying and consumed in devising a strategy to somehow nail Imran khan b picking on his words on some legal ground that they have completely forgotten to develop a counter-narrative that competes on their credentials. They came with the stance that they were going to decrease inflation and stabilize the economy. The inflation has increased by more than 100% from 17% to 42% and the growth rate has dropped from almost 6% to less than 3%. Their explanation of default being avoided is not making many rounds. On top of that when you openly try to kill the opposing narrative by banning, gagging, shutting, arresting, and threatening people who speak up, you are making it a debate on every forum. With an absence of their narrative, they have made the opposing narrative the only one that is doing rounds on social media, debates Vlogs etc despite offloading it from the mainstream media.

2. Fuelling the Public Angst-The biggest problem of doing this negative approach of shooting the messengers is that the messenger becomes upset and starts defying the shooter. Aside from what happened to the four boys in Islamabad, the Ahsan Iqbal incident at Bhera is an example. These “shut up calls” go viral on social media, and they upset the masses. The counter-narrative that the chanting family went to Narowal to apologize to Ahsan Iqbal was also negated when the close people of the family revealed how they were threatened and forced to give a narrative of apology. Additionally, Ahsan Iqbal’s visit to the USA where he was addressing the Pakistani doctor’s association APNA saw how Pakistanis grilled him and he could do nothing. This contrast of their public dealing where they have power and clout and where they do not make people very upset and are more determined to defy, become louder and challenge these restrictions.

3. Pushing the International Media- The international media was not paying too much attention to these curbs on freedom of expression. Then started a campaign by Overseas Pakistanis tagging their governments, senators and international bodies like Amnesty International on the violation of rights happening in Pakistan. When Imran Khan was charged with terrorism for his comments on the inhuman torture being met to Shahbaz Gill, the international media just could not keep quiet. Statements from all major bodies like Amnesty International and especially the head of the United Nations brought automatic media coverage to these acts. He urged that respect for law and human freedoms must be maintained and a fair trial needs to be conducted. This concern at the highest level is a big pressure on the government and would have never come if the limits of clamping down on people and opposition had not crossed limits. In trying to suppress local voices they have now added international voices to this demand for rights, fair treatment and justice.

4. Eliminating their own Choices- The unexpressed voices become lava that is ready to erupt whenever given the opportunity. As people were punished to write, talk, smile and laugh they took their vengeance in the local Punjab by-election by beating the government hands down despite the 15 parties and institutions’ rigging and resources. As the Punjab government slipped out of its hands, the government finds itself restricted. They are now a government that has only Sindh left with them. They are a government now unable to compete in elections, unable to develop a narrative, unable to run the economy and unable to develop credibility with the international community. They announced elections in 13 constituencies but after finding it that they will lose badly, they got them cancelled on the pretext of floods. In reality, most of these constituencies are not in flood-affected areas.

The whole game of limiting the opposition by limiting their voice has resulted on the contrary. Just imagine where PTI’s popularity was when they were in government and where it soared when ousted. Another example of this gagging and making it even more popular is what happened to ARY and especially BOL. Compared to other channels BOL was not very popular. As soon as restrictions were put on the viewership of BOL, they rose phenomenally. Similarly, anchors whose YouTube channels had moderate ratings became watched by hundred and thousands as soon as they were fired or banned. Fear and threats are always temporary stops that sooner or later give way to reactions that are uncontrollable and unstoppable. Fear and force techniques are mirrors for those who use them. Many ask if all these things are producing contrary results as seen and visible everywhere, why cannot the government see it? Perhaps the answer is that they have sight but no vision, or, as John Heywood said ” there are none so blind as those who will not see.”

The writer is a columnist, consultant, coach, and analyst and can be reached at andleeb.abbas1
@gmail.com. She tweets at @AndleebAbbas