ISLAMABAD: Students and young social activists gathered on Friday to discuss the factors hindering the Pakistani youth from bringing their own “Arab Spring” even though the underlying conditions, they agreed, are almost similar.
At a focus group discussion organised jointly by the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS) and Khudi Pakistan, most of the youth appeared clueless about what was required to trigger a “revolution” in the country.
While some demonstrated considerable understanding of Arab Spring, most took it as a mere symbol of revolt against the “corrupt rulers, dictators and hegemony”, without understanding its dynamics.
“I was so inspired by the Arab Spring... I wanted something like that to happen in Pakistan but I know it won’t because we are different from the Arab countries,” said an International Relations student from Quaid-i-Azam University.
“The Arab Spring originated from within the community and it would be unfair to attribute it to some foreign interference. Pakistan, however, should only deduce one lesson from it — that dictatorship does not work,” said one of his colleagues at the discussion.
Other students merely expressed their frustration while asking question ranging from asking what factors were stopping Pakistani youth from a revolution to what were the successes and failures of the Arab Spring.
“We have had similar rampant corruption and oppressive regimes in our country. Why don’t the people stand up against it? I believe that someday, people will do it,” said a student from Iqra University.
In reply to the feedback and questions, Professor Khadim Hussain gave some clarity to the youth. Hussain said no movement can cater only to a particular interest group or be completely homogenous.
“For any revolutionary movement to succeed in this country, it needs to give equal share to every interest group involved,” said Hussain. The paradox in this country has been that people who are in politics actually work against the political process, said Professor Hussain.
He was supported by Ahsan Kamal, a lecturer from National Institute of Pakistan Studies (NIPS), who said the youth in Pakistan lacked organisational support to mobilise a popular movement. “This is the reason such movements are always hijacked by the people who were trained in mobilisation,” said Kamal adding the hijackers were either political elements or religious parties.
Other speakers highlighted certain obvious differences between Middle Eastern countries and the state of democracy in Pakistan, certain that no Arab Spring would hit Pakistan in the foreseeable future.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 9th, 2012.
COMMENTS (8)
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free your nation from all jihadis, and make it a full fledged secular democracy.
I dont agree that our youth need organisational support. what I believe that our youth need is proper educations in addition to the professional qualification they acquire now a days. MBA, BE, MBBS must not the termed as education they are professional degrees and the irony is this that an engineer after reading his engineering subjects thinks of himself eligible to talk about everything.
We need the education that teaches us morality, values, priorities of life based on humanity not on materialistic approach, relationship with GOD, his commandments and the sense of Hereafter and with the help of this education we would be able to achieve that organisation which the writer has pointed out. No result can be achieved with the present status of approach no matter what inspiration we import from any where Arab spring or western way of protest.
I agreed with Rajendhra Kolkadhe sahab.
Clueless about Arab-style revolutions? While the Arabs have let people like Gaddafi and Mubarak rule over them for 40+ years, Pakistanis have always revolted against their dictators. Ayub Khan & Pervez Musharraf being the case in point. The fact is that at the heart of it what the Arab Spring is all about, Pakistanis have already fought for it in 2008- democracy, free judiciary etc. Pakistan doesn't need an "Arab Spring". It has already had numerous revolutions that have brought down dictatorships.
@Rajendra Kalkhande: Logically everything is justifiable, even slavery. I don't know if our passiveness is something to be proud of. May be that also means that we South Asians are too risk averse and timid to fight for our rights?
IF...Pakistan Uprising will be more an ethnic then suppressing the ruling class (Elite). Because these politicians for their sake use people against each other as you can see common man dying, suffering from load shedding, price hike in edible commodities and petrol etc does it happen in every wake of life.. For them bullet proof cars, free trip every year, petrol is free for them, so does they have controlling the prices of food items most of the politicians have their own factories of Flour, Sugar and others..
0ur own "springs" removed Ayub Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto from power, and recently Musharraf was removed by parliament. These all were "Pakistani" springs!
To best of my knowledge Indian sub-continent had only one uprising in entire recorded history and this was of 1857 against East India company. Even Indian freedom movement was nothing like any uprising. Uprisings usually bring dictatorial regimes and may not necessarily be good in long run.