Wednesday, March 21, 2012

If not Imran Khan, then who else?


I follow no aim in this case, so there is no question of any effort to sabotage any political campaign of Khan. To me he is a great cricketer of his times and a nice philanthropist. The dare he took in establishing first cancer hospital in Pakistan and an educational institution is worth-praising. But, there arise “buts” in his political position. I wonder still people think that one day they will wake up to find that I or people who have questions in mind about IK are the US lobbyists or alike, but Alas! That is highly improbable. Being a Pakistani I have equal right to feel concerns for my nation as do other people have and being a Pakistani one should be equally worried.

Sadly, our youth follows things that they understand from a very narrow context they have been made known to; failing to develop insight into the political history and political order of Pakistan. Huttington followed by Fukuyama are of the view that the rebels do not arise from the slums or palaces, they arise from the middle class, what Huttington stated in 70's got proven in Egypt and Tunisia lately, where the people rising against tyranny were from lower and upper middle class youth; evident from their use of social networks as campaigning tools. When frustration increases due to the lack of basic civil rights, unemployment, social injustice, tyranny, feudalism and lack of basic facilities, people certainly get fed up of their existing setup. They start finding out solutions. Some bring educational revolution, other get rebellious. 

The solutions may lie in one of these three things, Rebellion, leadership or education. 

Rebellion can not be pursued in the local setup of Pakistan, where the corruption is in our culture (nepotism being the main example). The rebellion against ourselves is highly uncertain because the corruption is rooted in all levels. A person standing against corruption may kill others for it but won't be able to kill his own close relative, for example.
In Pakistan leadership is created and destroyed by certain elements and not people. When people think they have created a leader, they must focus on the favorable environment prevailing around that leader, which he/she is feeding on. Logically, the leaders are people who face maximum resistance from the established systems.
Education is quite a slow process. Yet it is an effective tool. If people are given chances of getting education and opening their minds towards knowledge, the maximum output can be achieved. Yet, the problem lies in curriculum and its manufacturers. Still, you can bet on this option.

The feared rebellion, however, will not be favored by the folks not wanting it. An easy way to vent the frustration from society is to create leaders among people who chant representative populist narrative. This surely brings a hope but it is neither a long lasting solution nor is it effective. The emotional and hopeful inclination of youth towards such a narrative is highly likely and in this specific case it is quite evident.

Democracy is a slow process. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, out of 64 years it could not get enough time to breathe and develop. The interferences by dictators and undesired influences led these efforts astray.

In recent scenario, however, there is some hope if we could develop and create open minds in the coming generations through education which may develop their political maturity as well. A nation comprising of multiple faiths and cultures is surely in need of it. And with that, hope can sustain, may it be any leader.

The country where about 70% people, not be up to snuff their voting right are comprising ninety percent of the group criticizing the system. If these people add to the mainstream of democratic setup realizing the importance of their vote, then hope can be prevailed. But, by mere belief in a savior to come and doing nothing by themselves will hardly bring any positive change. Putting burden of all our problems on another shoulder does not solve the problems. It just shifts the weight for the time being. Be it any political party, any affiliation, the efforts should be ours with a realistic attitude instead of emotional traumas. If not Imran Khan, then who else, the answer is “it is us, the people”.

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