For democracy’s sake

It is easy to establish rituals of democracy but the real challenge is to inculcate its spirit of tolerance, mutual accommodation in society and create a democratic culture.

The International Day of Democracy was observed on September 15 and this year’s theme was Engaging Young People on Democracy. This year’s focus on youth is owing to the fact that the youth in developing countries constitutes a major portion of population who need to be educated and trained about the letter and spirit of democracy. If the youth learns how to balance its rights and civic obligations, the prospects for democracy will improve.

Democracy and democracy alone remains the ultimate collective destiny of the people of Pakistan because it is in harmony with the vision of Jinnah, the great leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, his daughter Benazir Bhutto and other democratic leaders who sacrificed their lives for the rights of the people of Pakistan and their empowerment.

Democracy ensures fundamental rights to all regardless of gender, race and creed.  This system of governance is nothing short of a human right which should be enjoyed by all.

We need to stand up for the Constitution, the continuity of democracy and the rule of law. Democracy is not an event but an evolutionary process that develops over time. We need to be patient, we need to work with ideas, we need to work with the system. In order to bring the youth into politics and encourage a peaceful voice of dissent we need to analyse two things. Firstly, the system as it operates, its ideological manifestations and operational efficiency and secondly, the quality of the youth brought into politics i.e., we need to see if youngsters are inherently democratic in their upbringing or not.

The literature and coursework that is assigned to the conventional Pakistani adolescent encourages a strange myopia that leaves them sceptical of basic human rights.

It is for this reason that every single infringement on freedoms becomes an ‘international conspiracy’ against Pakistan and the Muslims; it is for this reason that shortcuts are viewed as ‘opportunity’ and ‘process’ as a limitation. Democracy, however, relies on the completion of due process in order to be fostered and nurtured.

As is clear from popular ‘youth’ uprisings in the Middle East and the subsequent disintegration of those societies into chaos that the involvement of the youth in politics is not necessarily a positive thing. That is not to say that youth should not be involved in politics more and more; it is merely to suggest that the youth must, themselves, qualify certain criteria in order to be ‘relevant’ and ‘positive’ for democratic and, hence, social development.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2014.