Civil disobedience: defiance or disruption?

KARACHI: Academics and analysts say that genuine civil disobedience targets specific laws peacefully, though actions like bill refusals can incur penalties, and that Asuch movements risk deterring investment and creating economic uncertainty.

Civil disobedience is back in the headlines after PTI founder Imran Khan announced a potential nationwide civil disobedience movement if his party’s latest demands -- release of detained supporters and a judicial commission to investigate the May 9, 2023, and November 26, 2024 protests -- remain unmet by December 14. Part of the PTI’s civil disobedience plan includes urging overseas Pakistanis to limit remittances and initiating a boycott campaign.

However, this call has reportedly sparked concerns within the PTI’s leadership, with many party members expressing doubts about its feasibility and timing.

Civil disobedience is not an entirely new concept in this region, and can actually be traced to British India’s struggle for independence. After that, say historians, post-Partition Pakistan did not quite see any such attempt as a genuine civil disobedience movement.

In 2014, Imran Khan called for civil disobedience during his protest against alleged rigging in the 2013 general elections. He urged citizens to stop paying taxes and utility bills. However, the campaign failed to gain significant public traction, with critics arguing it was impractical and harmful to the country’s fragile economy and pointing out that such movements risk undermining already fragile state mechanisms rather than achieving substantive reform.

Historian Ammar Ali Jan, a member of the Haqooq-e-Khalq Party, gives a quick overview of just what ‘civil disobedience’ means to our history: “Civil disobedience movements in our region are associated with the Non-Cooperation Movement that began after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919. This was the beginning of mass politics in the Subcontinent and turned the anti-colonial movement into a political force. Then in 1942, the Quit India movement was another civil disobedience movement that had a lot of support.”

Jan calls these movements “symbolic acts of defiance through which you challenge the legitimacy of the state”.

Have any groups or parties attempted a genuine civil disobedience movement in Pakistan? Ammar Jan says there may have been movements “close to that” but we have not seen in Pakistan “the kind of voluntary suffering that is part of civil disobedience -- you’re supposed to get yourself arrested, be peaceful, but also demonstrate your suffering to the world, make the tyranny of the system known to all. That is the key purpose of civil disobedience. You refuse to participate in the system and you publicise your suffering. This sort of concept has not been done in Pakistan. The claims and aims here are to get people out of jail, to avoid jail. The emphasis on peace is often missing as well”.

Talking about the potential civil disobedience movement of the PTI, Barrister Ali Tahir says that, while “the complete particulars of the civil disobedience movement are yet to come, it seems that perhaps a boycott will be initiated against companies associated with the military.”

For him, a civil disobedience movement “essentially reflects the displeasure of a citizen towards the state when they declare that there are certain laws or government orders they will not follow. However, the word ‘civil’ is included in civil disobedience because it is non-violent and peaceful. This means citizens do not stop following all laws, nor do they resort to acts like murders or robberies; instead, only certain specific laws are ignored”.

But when does a movement such as this become illegal? What would be the parameters of a civil disobedience movement or a movement that tries to inculcate part of civil disobedience? Barrister Tahir says that boycotting certain companies for example carries no penalty: “There is neither any unconstitutionality nor illegality involved in this action, and the companies being boycotted cannot do anything about it. Furthermore, there are no legal punishments for those participating in a boycott.”

But this would change if someone were to refuse to pay electricity bills or other utility bills since there are certain penalties in the law for these actions. According to Tahir, “the state retains the right to enforce any legal punishment for disobedience. However, the issues targeted by civil disobedience are often so specific that the penalties for them are usually minor, such as short jail terms or fines, without leading to prolonged imprisonment. For example, utility services may be disconnected, or fines and penalties may be imposed.”

Legal concerns are not the only consequence that needs to be looked at when thinking of a civil disobedience movement. There are serious concerns regarding what this could mean for an economy that has only now managed to barely stand up. With a focus on remittances and what happens if people refuse to send money back home on Imran’s call, economist Ammar Habib Khan provides some solace: “There will be little to no impact of any such activity, as remittances continued to grow over the last many quarters regardless of political stability. Expatriates sending money back home would prefer a better exchange rate, whether that is through formal, or informal channels”.

Dr Khaqan Najeeb, former adviser to the Ministry of Finance, tells The News that for him the effectiveness of any civil disobedience largely depends on its definition. Explaining further, he says: “Should it involve non-compliance with government regulations or a refusal to participate in economic activities, the consequences could be significant. Investors typically seek stability and predictability; thus, any escalation in political unrest can deter both domestic and foreign investments, leading to capital flight and reduced economic growth.”

On remittances, Dr Najeeb says that, given Pakistan’s relies on remittances from overseas Pakistanis, “reluctance on the part of expatriates to send financial support or use informal channels during a civil disobedience movement can lead to immediate liquidity issues ...and can hurt Pakistan’s fragile balance of payments account”.

More disturbingly, “any turbulence in Pakistan’s IMF engagement can be unsettling for the macro stability that has been attained so far”, adds Dr Najeeb who says that this is why all leaderships need to “consider the broader economic consequences of disruptions”.

Executive Director of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri reminds us of the “huge repercussions” of strikes, protests, and shutter-down strikes, and the government’s disproportionate response to such actions. He says that such frequent use of protests and the response from the government “also creates an overall environment of uncertainty which is a killer for the economy”.

Not to mention the disruption in internet services as a response to such calls, which he says “will make our goals for digital transformation impossible”.

What about remittances -- and the fear that the hundi system could return? Dr Suleri doesn’t see the hundi system getting restored. This, he says, is “because of tough regulatory regimes both internationally and in Pakistan. The informal mechanism of remittances through friends and family etc will continue though”.