KARACHI:
The coming together of the opposition under one banner in Pakistan is far from a novelty. But their interest in aligning with the preservation and attainment of true democracy is unprecedented. What is even rarer is the active, overt criticism that the opposing force has propagated against those who run the affairs of the country. The PDM comes as a warning to those in power and calls for an end to the influence of the deep state on our developing democratic institutions.
Yet, many would argue that this revolution is fortuitous, its motivations are paradoxical and it represents the prerogative of the questionable tried and tested, who are acting merely to safeguard their interests. Some would go as far as to say that the PDM is actively working against the collective public interest, since the government has already labeled them as traitors.
Whatever shade the dissenters are painted with and however real the nature of the allegations are, their rebellion represents a departure from the passive indolent inertia of the past which dominated the democratic drive of those who seek political representation and of those who represent. It is unfortunate that the usual suspects are the ones entrusted with the goal of preserving a semblance of democracy. On the other hand, we have a government which simply does not accommodate the idea of an opposition. We have a government working to achieve a one-party technocracy.
Within this political melee, the voice of the common man has been suppressed. Democracy was never a desire for either side of the political spectrum. It was always a joke; an accessory needed for validation. Democracy has been an isomorphic mimicry, a charade, a queue formed every five years, a meaning lost in pleonasm. The reality is that our cosmetic democratic institutions have been hijacked by something far more sinister than we can imagine.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 15th, 2021.
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