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A good reason to protest
Kamila Hyat
Thursday, May 10, 2012
The writer is a freelance columnist
and former newspaper editor
Talk of long marches and vociferous slogans continue to be raised in the National Assembly, demanding that the prime minister step down. The PML-N insists it must defend the judiciary; there has been mention of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf joining forces with it, and altering the existing shape of our political reality.
These parties of course raise points that are not entirely invalid. While the legalities are far from clear, the sheer immorality of our political system is frightening to witness. Because of it we have landed ourselves in a quagmire of complications, from which there appears to be no escape. This is not a situation any nation would want to be in. But even so, the question arises if there are other issues which should be placed higher up the list of priorities by political parties.
It seems strange for political parties to be so concerned about saving the judiciary and it’s dignity but not bothered at all by the plight of millions of people in the country who are barely able to survive.
While we hear rhetoric about inflation and related issues almost every day, the fact that so many people are quite literally at a point of starvation does not seem to register. While suicides caused by poverty are reported from time to time, the situation of the people who go on with life but wage a daily battle to put even the most meagre meal on the table is rarely heard about.
No one speaks out for them. Surely political parties who express so much concern about the people of our country should be endeavouring to gather them all together and lead marches and rallies which draw attention to their condition.
It should not be very hard to bring these people together. All that is required is the leadership to do so and a belief among people that these leaders genuinely care for them rather than their own interests.
The tragedy of our country is that at the moment there seems to be no political organisation which can bring the people together and persuade them to take a lead in an attempt to create a better future for themselves and for their children.
Most people, when spoken to, refer to all the major political parties with a similar lack of conviction that they are really out there to bring any lasting change.This holds true even for those who raise the most vociferous cries in the name of the masses. The response of the people to them has however been rather half-hearted.
There is no evidence that they see them as real alternatives to the political set up that exists now. The views of these people are of course based on logic.As has been the case through most of our history, they know where their interests lie, even if their opinions have not always been respected.
In the times we live in today with the costs of nearly everything required for life rising sharply and relentlessly the people need a force which can guide them towards change.So far no economic formulas to achieve this have been put forward by any party. The focus appears to be simply on bringing down the present government – or at least its prime minister.
What this would achieve is far from clear. What we really need is alternatives and a vision of what can be made possible in a country where hope is dying rapidly and the small flickers of light that people once saw before them are being snuffed out.
There is a requirement for radical change. Even the army chief has admitted to this, speaking at Skardu after visiting the site of the recent glacier tragedy which killed a whole battalion, emphasising on the need to spend more in development and to work towards better ties with India, so that resources can be freed for this.
It is unfortunate the COAS’s acknowledgement of a need for change, a need to look beyond the national security paradigm has not been picked up on by the political parties.
Of the problems we face now, the question of what happens to the PM is somewhat immaterial. Of course we need an adherence to the Constitution, of course we need institutional harmony with each body playing a part in this and acting within the boundaries laid out for it and of course we need an end to corruption and misgovernance.
But even more than that we need parties to focus more on the issues that directly affect the lives of the people and not leave them trapped in a pit down which no rope leads. That rope can be lowered down only by a party that truly cares, is willing to go beyond attacks on the existing set-up and instead ensure it falls at the next election by offering people real options that can lead to change.
Those options are simply not visible to the people at the moment, who hear only loud – and not always inaccurate – criticism of the present government but little detail on what kind of order would replace it or how their own lives could change under such an order.
Rather than the confrontational warnings of a march on Islamabad and the equally senseless retaliatory threats of a rally at Raiwind, we need parties to spell out quite how they will usher in change.
In times as desperate as ours, the fashionably alliterated manifestos put down before us are not enough. We need something more meaningful; something more substantial.What the people expect from political parties is to lay out a map leading towards the future. This map must include suggestions, proposals and solid promises as to how change is to be achieved; education provided to everyone, a means of livelihood offered to every family and means found to put food on empty tables.
Until this happens, talks of ‘revolution’ or a ‘tsunami’ are worth nothing at all.People appear to have recognised this already. They also see no leader on the horizon who is worth following.And this is perhaps why we are watching our country disintegrate right before us without so much as a whimper being heard even as loud bellowing of other kinds fills the air.
Email: kamilahyat@hotmail.com
Kamila Hyat
Thursday, May 10, 2012
The writer is a freelance columnist
and former newspaper editor
Talk of long marches and vociferous slogans continue to be raised in the National Assembly, demanding that the prime minister step down. The PML-N insists it must defend the judiciary; there has been mention of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf joining forces with it, and altering the existing shape of our political reality.
These parties of course raise points that are not entirely invalid. While the legalities are far from clear, the sheer immorality of our political system is frightening to witness. Because of it we have landed ourselves in a quagmire of complications, from which there appears to be no escape. This is not a situation any nation would want to be in. But even so, the question arises if there are other issues which should be placed higher up the list of priorities by political parties.
It seems strange for political parties to be so concerned about saving the judiciary and it’s dignity but not bothered at all by the plight of millions of people in the country who are barely able to survive.
While we hear rhetoric about inflation and related issues almost every day, the fact that so many people are quite literally at a point of starvation does not seem to register. While suicides caused by poverty are reported from time to time, the situation of the people who go on with life but wage a daily battle to put even the most meagre meal on the table is rarely heard about.
No one speaks out for them. Surely political parties who express so much concern about the people of our country should be endeavouring to gather them all together and lead marches and rallies which draw attention to their condition.
It should not be very hard to bring these people together. All that is required is the leadership to do so and a belief among people that these leaders genuinely care for them rather than their own interests.
The tragedy of our country is that at the moment there seems to be no political organisation which can bring the people together and persuade them to take a lead in an attempt to create a better future for themselves and for their children.
Most people, when spoken to, refer to all the major political parties with a similar lack of conviction that they are really out there to bring any lasting change.This holds true even for those who raise the most vociferous cries in the name of the masses. The response of the people to them has however been rather half-hearted.
There is no evidence that they see them as real alternatives to the political set up that exists now. The views of these people are of course based on logic.As has been the case through most of our history, they know where their interests lie, even if their opinions have not always been respected.
In the times we live in today with the costs of nearly everything required for life rising sharply and relentlessly the people need a force which can guide them towards change.So far no economic formulas to achieve this have been put forward by any party. The focus appears to be simply on bringing down the present government – or at least its prime minister.
What this would achieve is far from clear. What we really need is alternatives and a vision of what can be made possible in a country where hope is dying rapidly and the small flickers of light that people once saw before them are being snuffed out.
There is a requirement for radical change. Even the army chief has admitted to this, speaking at Skardu after visiting the site of the recent glacier tragedy which killed a whole battalion, emphasising on the need to spend more in development and to work towards better ties with India, so that resources can be freed for this.
It is unfortunate the COAS’s acknowledgement of a need for change, a need to look beyond the national security paradigm has not been picked up on by the political parties.
Of the problems we face now, the question of what happens to the PM is somewhat immaterial. Of course we need an adherence to the Constitution, of course we need institutional harmony with each body playing a part in this and acting within the boundaries laid out for it and of course we need an end to corruption and misgovernance.
But even more than that we need parties to focus more on the issues that directly affect the lives of the people and not leave them trapped in a pit down which no rope leads. That rope can be lowered down only by a party that truly cares, is willing to go beyond attacks on the existing set-up and instead ensure it falls at the next election by offering people real options that can lead to change.
Those options are simply not visible to the people at the moment, who hear only loud – and not always inaccurate – criticism of the present government but little detail on what kind of order would replace it or how their own lives could change under such an order.
Rather than the confrontational warnings of a march on Islamabad and the equally senseless retaliatory threats of a rally at Raiwind, we need parties to spell out quite how they will usher in change.
In times as desperate as ours, the fashionably alliterated manifestos put down before us are not enough. We need something more meaningful; something more substantial.What the people expect from political parties is to lay out a map leading towards the future. This map must include suggestions, proposals and solid promises as to how change is to be achieved; education provided to everyone, a means of livelihood offered to every family and means found to put food on empty tables.
Until this happens, talks of ‘revolution’ or a ‘tsunami’ are worth nothing at all.People appear to have recognised this already. They also see no leader on the horizon who is worth following.And this is perhaps why we are watching our country disintegrate right before us without so much as a whimper being heard even as loud bellowing of other kinds fills the air.
Email: kamilahyat@hotmail.com
