Street protest and realpolitik

Looking across a basket of foreign media sources including The Washington Post, Le Monde and The Guardian, recent months have seen what amounts to cautious optimism regarding Pakistan, the state and viability of the current government, and what the future may hold. There are caveats, and huge ones at that — the reliance on large infrastructure projects to woo the expanding middle class, the failure to reform the tax system and the inability to get on top of the endless power cuts to name but three — but a crude evaluation would give the government some credit for bringing a modicum of stability. As for durability, much is made both within and without of the street protests organised by the opposition parties, and their effectiveness or otherwise. The last week has seen a return to the streets with more of the same promised after Eidul Azha, with the push being to ultimately unseat the government and trigger an early election.



Analysts observe that street protests in the country in recent years have in reality achieved little. There is a view that the most recent chain of demonstrations in response to the Panama Papers has also largely run out of steam, and failed to stir the imagination of most of the population apart from the protest-going minority. The realpolitik-attuned eye and ear will detect no smoking gun, no leverage and no chance of bringing down a government with a secure parliamentary majority.

That said, one has to admit that the street protests perform a vital function. They are irritants, not quite the grain of sand that produces the pearl, but sufficiently abrasive to let the government know that it ignores the common man at its peril, that there are many millions who do not agree with or support its policies no matter what, and that there are real grievances that need to be addressed, urgent questions that need answers, from the Panama Papers imbroglio to the investigation into the Model Town killings of 2014. Extra-parliamentary activity is in the national political DNA, and with none of the parties making the most of what parliament has to offer, the street is the best alternative — but peacefully, please. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th, 2016.

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