No invader can occupy another country forever. Only a hundred years back, six nations had complete control over 85% of the world population and their lands. By the middle of the 20th century, their direct control came to an end, but not their hegemony and exploitation. Sometimes in the name of democracy, and sometime in the name of human rights, they continued ruling the world. Our own experience of former colonial powers is everything but human rights and democracy as all our dictators had their complete support of them.
While we were struggling for the restoration of democracy, they continued supporting them. Since Mr. Biden has come to power sounds of the revival of the cold war resonate. The short-sighted leaders of Pakistan’s ruling elites once again appear to be getting ready to dance to the tunes of the cold warrior. I wish I am wrong as I don’t want to experience a repeat of history at the age of 70.
Read more: The quest for independence in Pakistan
On its 75th birthday, is Pakistan a completely independent country?
If yes, then the next question is are our citizens remain free after using their free will – agency? I doubt it. But also, it depends on who is he. That means the state is not fair to all its citizens. On its 75th birthday, every law of the land is being implemented discriminately. If you are powerful, you can get away with dozens of murders. If you are powerful, you can siphon off billions of public monies you can send those billions through multiple channels with complete impunity. And one day you may become Prime Minister or Chief Minister. But if you are poor and caught red-handed, you would most probably face lynching by a mob and if you are spared and handed over to the police, you would be forced to pay the bribe.
On its 75th birthday, those articles of the constitution are vehemently implemented which help the elites to perpetuate their stranglehold, which provides legitimacy and further empowers them. Consider. Why did general elections take place according to the law, but local elections didn’t? May I then say that the state has violated the social contract? Why in the last 50 years not even once, has any President or any Governor of any province asked under article 29(3) the federal government or provincial government to present state of implementation of the Principles of Policy?
For instance, under article 38 ‘the state shall secure the well-being of the people, irrespective of sex, caste, creed or race, by raising their standard of living, by preventing the concentration of wealth and means of production and distribution in the hands of a few…” Since 1973, the opposite has taken place. According to a study, 33 families now control our corporate world. And roughly 200 dynasties occupy 90% of the seats of assemblies and the Senate. An outcome of state failure and completely opposite to the spirit of article 38.
Virtually, the state has divided the nation into two
Haves – one that is one percent of the population and the Have Nots –that consist of 99% of the people. Interestingly, a large percentage of the latter category doesn’t think they are Have-Nots. And this is the success of the ruling elites. But for how long it will remain as it is on its 75th birthday?
Antonio Gramsci (1893-1937) – an Italian Marxist philosopher could help us understand the phenomenon of capitalists’ hegemony. Gramsci’s concept of ‘manufacture’ of consent or Engels’s concern about ‘false consciousness’ are foundations of Gramsci’s theory of ‘hegemony’. To him the capitalist state stands on two pillars – ‘political society’ and ‘civil society (please don’t confuse it with NGOs). Both help evolves ideas and beliefs which ultimately create ‘hegemony’ ‘in cultural life through media, universities, and religious institutions to manufacture consent and legitimacy.’
Consider. Each year in August Aazadi celebration fervor is demonstrated on our vehicles and roads. Selling and buying flags of all shapes and sizes, badges and garments of Pakistan’s flag have become a fascinating phenomenon and business too. I remember in the 1960s and 70s, this form of independence celebration didn’t exist at all. No one knows who initiated it, why and who made it so popular. Isn’t worth probing!
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Gramsci also proposes a clear strategy to contest the hegemonic norms of the capitalist class. Some Marxist scholars including Paulo Freire propose consciousness-raising methods. For instance, participatory action research and analysis, adult literacy, and performing art, etc. ‘Gramsci’s definition of civil society is being interpreted by some scholars not just in the prism of state and market (neo-liberal), but also as actions in the public arena to ‘challenge assumptions and norms, and to articulate new ideas and visions.’
On its 75th birthday, there is a serious need to untangle the nuts and bolts of the hegemony of the elites in Pakistan. But also, it is imperative to examine the true nature of our elites and their allies, inside and outside of Pakistan. As mentioned above, for most of the 74 years of our independence, our elites sell our interests to the former colonial powers. For instance, Zia helped the USA to launch Islamic warriors in Afghanistan in 1980 and after 21 years another General helped the USA to eliminate them. Isn’t mind-boggling! That shows how our generals served the west for the sake of power. But that collaboration has always been presented as imperative of national interest.
Late Prof Hamza Alavi – in his landmark paper “The state in post-colonial societies: Pakistan and Bangladesh” elaborates on the relationship between ‘three propertied exploiting classes, namely the indigenous bourgeoisie, the metropolitan neo-colonialist bourgeoisie, and the landed classes.’ Alavi further argues that ‘under Metropolitan patronage, a bureaucratic-military oligarchy is allowed to mediate the competing interests of ruling elites in post-colonial societies. Such a relatively autonomous role of the state apparatus is of special importance to the neo-colonialist bourgeoisie because it is by virtue of this fact that they are able to pursue their class interests in the post-colonial societies.’
Alavi’s analysis proved true. Any civilian ruler who tried to liberate himself from that patronage and subordination faced punishment. Consider Bhutto’s execution and watch the ongoing state-sponsored vicious propaganda campaign against Imran Khan.
Corruption is now considered the mother of evils
On its 75th birthday, according to Transparency International Pakistan has one of the highest levels of political corruption. Electoral politics appears to be the ‘best pathway to easy wealth and influence peddling and it has weakened institutions and frustrated efforts to eliminate poverty.’ TI also ranked India as the most corrupt country in Asia. We were not like that.
Our founding leaders were extremely honest and upright. Mr. Jinnah left all his assets for Pakistan. Allama Muhammad Iqbal didn’t accumulate any wealth. There was a long line of honest leaders in our country. Across the border too, earlier leaders had no interest in amassing wealth. I believe corruption is the mother of evil. It destroys ethics, and values, it undermines merit, it makes the poor the poorer, it promotes criminal behavior, and it causes violence. And above all, it taints democracy, and governance and causes underdevelopment. Despite having honest leaders during the formative phase of independence, both countries produced some of the most corrupt politicians.
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You don’t need a scholar to compare the caliber and character of earlier (the 1950s-60s) politicians with the politicians of the last three decades. Though earlier politicians were terrible in every respect, they were extremely power hungry as any other politician is, but most of them never tried to make money through corruption. With few exceptions, today’s politicians are extremely corrupt, greedy, unethical, and power-hungry too. As a result, the earlier ones look angle in the presence of the current ones.
We could criticize Mr. Bhutto on many accounts but no one ever accused him or his cabinet members of corruption. Despite perpetual political instability, on account of economic governance, and rule of law the earlier period appears to be much better. There were no ghost schools and teachers, streets and drains would be cleaned every morning, and no one would dare to take even a bicycle out on the road without putting a light on it because of the fear of challan.
Today, no one asks a tractor driver even in the capital why his tractor is without the lights
Many political analysts argue that the continuity of democracy, in the long run, will help improve governance which will eliminate corruption consequently. The Indian democracy has proved that argument wrong. According to Prof. Amartya Sen – a noble laureate, India is trailing China because Indian politicians don’t care about its people, while Chinese leadership does. In recent years quality of democracy has deteriorated even in most of advanced countries. The western countries where the quality of democracy and governance is still good are those where the density of unions is highest. For instance, in NORDIC countries union density varies between 60% and 90%, which is the highest in the world and these countries stand right at the top of every index including HDI and quality of governance.
Read more: Pakistan to launch most advanced warships on Independence Day
In Pakistan, union density is one of the lowest in the world. Though India it is much better than Pakistan, it has declined since 1947. Unions and organic civil society are the best and perhaps the only organic check on capitalism. Since the imposition of the neo-liberal agenda – in the name of free market and privatization, trade unions and organic civil society were systematically destroyed. And as the labor oversight diminished, the quality of political leadership deteriorated which caused corruption and poor governance.
Though there is no quick fix, today, at the beginning of the 75th year of our existence as a nation, we must take the first step to improve our polity, and our governance and develop a strategy to make the powerful accountable. And the best way forward is to find out the farcical roots of the hegemony of kleptocrats. Simultaneously, building democracy by organizing organic civil society through consciousness raising is essentially vital.
Sarwar Bari is the former Secretary-General of FAFEN and he heads Pattan Development Organisation. Pattan has been working with disaster-prone and marginalized communities since 1992 when super floods hit Pakistan. Since its inception, the organization has evolved a holistic disaster risk reduction approach that stands on five themes: capacity building, gender mainstreaming, social action, governance monitoring, and defending human rights and civil liberties. Research-based advocacy is being used for public policy improvement. Currently, Pattan’s partners are working in 27 districts of Pakistan.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.