disenfranchisement of women. This was surely not the first time that women had not voted in some areas of the province. We can be sure that this was the result of a tacit understanding between the candidates and the parties.
One question that worries me is that if successive elections have not been able to dent the tribal and conservative patriarchal outlook of entire communities than what is the rationale for a democratic dispensation. After all, democracy is meant to empower the ordinary citizens and promote as well as protect individual freedoms. The main issue is social change.
The pity of it is that one of the two main candidates belonged to the ANP – a party that professedly is progressive and liberal. Here is one more suggestion that it is now reduced to an ethnic and regional entity. Even then, it must not condone the disgraceful act of not allowing the women to vote. The argument that the women stayed away voluntarily, without any exception, may be taken as comic relief in a grim situation. Is it a matter of national shame that five women of Pakistani origin have won elections to the House of Commons in Britain?
Anyhow, the status of women, particularly in the tribal and feudal domains that our democracy has not been able to influence, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the rigging of the Pakistani society. A more alarming indicator is the assassination of a number of defenders of human rights and the oppression of the spirit of artistic and literary creativity. The desertification of the Pakistani mind is something that threatens the very survival of this country.
When the specific election tribunal sent the federal railways minister home, the focus in the verdict was not on any planned rigging but on glaring irregularities and inefficiencies of the polling staff. This is instructive. I think that similar transgressions would be present, to a higher or lower extent, in almost all constituencies. With the existing levels of monetary and intellectual corruption, fortified by blatant incompetence, the bureaucratic structure that we have is inherently incapable of, among other things, holding the general elections. This is not to say that in some constituencies, candidates and parties did not indulge in extensive rigging. The bottom line, though, is a system that is broken. In other words, we do not have the ability, in a collective sense, to do anything right.
Look at how the ordinary lives are rigged in all their encounters with the administration. We have a government, with its majestic buildings and a show of pomp and power, that simply cannot run primary schools or hold public examinations. The managerial expertise of the legions of government servants is manifest in the performance of departments that deliver services. This week, Karachi has suffered a water crisis that reflects an entire range of fearful maladies.
One hears credible accounts of corruption that boggle the mind. For me, the quality of education, including in the private sector, is a larger threat to our future. In the health sector, too, you find intimations of disaster. Every day, we see sights and hear stories that challenge our feelings as a human being. But perhaps, as a defence mechanism, we have learnt to ignore this reality. Or we prefer to remain in denial.
Against this backdrop, how does society deal with a small number of individuals who feel committed to making a difference? We know the answer. The latest example is that of Sabeen Mahmud, who was gunned down in Karachi on April 24. Her death has rekindled the memory of another brave woman of Karachi who was struggling for social justice in her own way as a director of the Orangi Pilot Project. Parween Rahman was killed by unknown gunmen in March 2013. On Thursday, social activists observed the first death anniversary of Rashid Rehman, a human rights lawyer who was gunned down in his office in Multan.
We have other stories of courage and commitment to higher values of freedom and justice. There is, of course, Malala who has astonished the world with her passion for education. That she feels compelled to live abroad says a lot about how our society is rigged by bogus and brutish forces that stand in the way of a democratic dispensation.
I wonder if our leaders were able to look at The Economist of May 2. It devoted its obituary page, reserved for individuals of global importance, to our Sabeen. The title: ‘Karachi’s wild child’. It is a tribute to Pakistan’s potential for survival. But who will stop the elimination of such precious and brave human beings and create room for sanity and hope in this country?
The writer is a staff member. Email: ghazi_salahuddinhotmail.com