No power on earth

Pakistan has had anti-status quo political parties since its inception. The Communist Party of Pakistan was such the first such party, striving for the rights of the downtrodden. It was banned in 1954. However, its cadre as well as its student wing – the Democratic Students Federation – continued working secretly for years.

The Azad Pakistan Party, the Awami League, the National Awami Party and the PPP were also considered anti-status quo at some point of their history. In addition to that the MQM and Sindhi nationalist parties see themselves in the same light even though their opponents label them as ‘GHQ products’.

Though the Pakistan Muslim League rose to power through the backing of the GHQ, its soft-spoken leader Mohammad Khan Junejo infuriated the establishment and his benefactor Zia by taking an independent line on foreign affairs. Junejo crossed the red lines by questioning the perks and privileges of the uniformed senior officers. He was eventually sent packing. So, the brief ‘anti-establishment’ politics of Junejo came to an abrupt end.

Nawaz Sharif started off as a devout follower of Zia, vowing to accomplish the retrogressive “mission” of the dictator. For three years, the industrialist-turned politician showed up at Zia’s grave to pay tribute to his political mentor. In order to prove his unflinching loyalty to Zia’s memory, Nawaz implemented legislation that must have comforted his restless benefactor’s soul. But soon, cracks started appearing in the ties between Nawaz and his political patrons. He remained uncomfortable working with army chiefs and grew bold enough over the years to sack General Jehangir Karamat. This turned him into the most powerful chief executive of the country after Z A Bhutto. However, the sacking of General Musharraf put an end to the assertiveness of the prime minister.

The coup against Nawaz in 1999 and the type of humiliation meted out to him during his incarceration, transformed pro-establishment Nawaz. This heralded an era of “anti-establishment” politics in Pakistan, forcing the two mainstream and some smaller parties to get united over the question of army’s constitutional domain. This culminated in the signing of the Charter of Democracy. The passage of pro-democracy amendments after 2008 reflects the commitment of the parties to the charter.

But this spirit of working towards strengthening democratic institutions soon evaporated. To their utter surprise, the public soon witnessed the imposition of governor rule in Punjab, which was reciprocated by the PML-N with Shahbaz Sharif threatening to drag Zardari along the road and Nawaz appearing in a black coat before the Supreme Court in a bid to oust Zardari. The PML-N resorted to ultra-nationalist rhetoric during the Memogate scandal to prove that the PPP was anti-state. A few years later, Bilawal Bhutto used anti-India bashing during polls in AJK and declared that Nawaz was a “buddy” of Indian Prime Minister Modi.

If we analyse the first phase of anti-status quo politics in Pakistani, we will notice that the ideological political parties opposed the most powerful institution for allying with the Western, capitalist world that was busy suppressing popular movements and democratic forces all over the world during the cold war. These parties were well-connected with the public, having roots among peasants, workers, students and the legal fraternity. For instance, left-wing student unions waged a valiant struggle against the dictatorship of Ayub Khan. They not only fought for their own rights but supported workers, peasants and other marginalised sections of society. The National Awami Party organised a mammoth gathering of peasants in Toba Tek Singh in 1970. Left-wing parties and progressive elements within the PPP forced Z A Bhutto to implement pro-masses legislation. When Bhutto deviated from pro-people path, he faced a backlash from the very same segments of society.

The second and current phases of anti-establishment politics began with the matters related to personal like and dislike. For instance, Nawaz Sharif wanted to grant an extension to General Beg, which infuriated General Asif Nawaz. His bickering with General Abdul Waheed and Zardari’s tense dealings with General Kayani and General Pasha had nothing to do with any grand ideology.

The recent agitation of the PTI, the JI and the PPP clearly indicates that politicians can go to any extent to attract the attention of the powerful players in the land of the pure. Since people are considered to be a non-entity, the nonchalance of political parties towards their hardships can be seen everywhere. For instance, brutal state repression was carried out against the Okara peasants in recent months. But no major party went there to heal their wounds. The workers of the Pakistan Still Mills have not been paid their salaries for several months, forcing at least two employees to commit suicide in recent weeks. But it did not affect our politicians. In the working class areas of Karachi and other urban centres of the country, the toiling masses have to face 10 to 12 hours loadshedding even though they pay hefty bills. People who live in villages are deprived of power supply for 18 hours a day. These concerns feature nowhere in the priority list of political parties. Enforced disappearances in Sindh and Balochistan find no place in the statements made by our top politicians.

Political parties need to remember that serving the people is their greatest strength. For instance, when the elected government of Hugo Chaves was toppled in Venezuela, the public took to streets, forcing the generals to surrender to the will of the people. The long absence of the Sandinistas from the political scene of Nicaragua could not erase the memories of the services that they rendered during their brief stint in power in the 1980s. If the political parties serve people, no power on earth can dislodge them.

The writer is a Karachi-based freelance
journalist.

Email: egalitarianism444@gmail.com