Revolution — or evolution?

There has recently been a great deal of revolutionary talk in the country, some from MQM chief Altaf Hussain who argued for a French-style revolution in the country – presumably led by himself – and some from other politicians who have warned such events are inevitable. Their words should not be ignored entirely. But we should also attempt to keep things in perspective. Revolutions – for all the romance attached to them – are not always desirable events. The French Revolution led, within a short time, to the ‘terror’ when almost indiscriminate murder and consequent mayhem became the norm, with the original value of revolutionaries horrendously twisted. This era culminated in a new era of autocratic rule, under Napoleon Bonaparte. Other revolutions in Russia, in China have ended much the same way.

We need to be careful when considering revolution. Our nation needs change but perhaps this should come through evolution. People need protection from the miseries of inflation, unemployment and instability. But how this is best to be achieved is an open question. What we need to guard against is anarchy, which could destroy what we still have, or a new era of dictatorship which would do much the same. There should be little doubt that we need to adhere to a basic democratic roadmap. We must also strive to create change from within parliament. A start would be to demand they regularly visit their constituencies and hold meetings with people there. This could be supplemented by land reform legislation and detailed debate on the defence budget – which every year is a one-line item. By itself, these may not solve our problems but at the very least they will allow people’s voices to be heard and strengthen parliament and democracy. If that were to happen, the net beneficiaries would be ordinary people, especially taxpayers,and that would make for greater accountability.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2010.