Capitulation - Dawn editorial on Pakistan today
NB: It is a long, complex and controversial history, but the steady slide towards tyranny was built into the communal politics deployed by the Muslim League in the 1940's. If the establishment of a civic religion (the use of religion by the state) was its goal in a power game; then the slide towards theocracy (the use of the state by the priesthood) was always a possibility. This became evident in the involvement of Muslim clerics in ML politics in the mid and late 1940's. It may provide comfort to some, but it is also pointless, to cite the 'secular' preferences Jinnah evoked in his Constituent Assembly speech, for once the process of communal mobilisation had begun, the way was open for clerics to gain the upper hand - and this began in the anti-Ahmeddiya riots of 1953.
There is simply no possibility of a stable polity in any part of South Asia if it is sought to be founded upon a single civic religion. (Here's a comment on Bangladesh). The Hindutva gang led by the so-called Sangh Parivar is hell-bent upon instituting their version of state Shinto upon India. This will cause much pain and violence, but it will fail. We may all note that ruling classes and elites in this region are not only quite open to radical extremist politics of the conservative variety, they also constantly pressurise ordinary people to become extreme and fanatical in their views.
The single uniform element in the politics of utopian extremists is their hatred and fear of ordinary life - they will simply not allow ordinary people to live in peace, according to their own preferences. We will be told what to eat, what to wear, what to believe, whom to love, whom to hate, what to think about the past and the future. Its is the present that they seek to control, and ultimately, to destroy. And the establishment is encouraging this relentless destruction of daily life. The 'mainstream' is extremist - it is for the rest of us to recognise the fight this nihilist system. DS
The single uniform element in the politics of utopian extremists is their hatred and fear of ordinary life - they will simply not allow ordinary people to live in peace, according to their own preferences. We will be told what to eat, what to wear, what to believe, whom to love, whom to hate, what to think about the past and the future. Its is the present that they seek to control, and ultimately, to destroy. And the establishment is encouraging this relentless destruction of daily life. The 'mainstream' is extremist - it is for the rest of us to recognise the fight this nihilist system. DS
It is a surrender so
abject that the mind is numb and the heart sinks. The deal
negotiated between the state, both civilian and military facets of it,
and the Faizabad protesters is a devastating blow to the legitimacy and moral
standing of the government and all state institutions. In one brief page
and six
gut-wrenching points, the state of Pakistan has surrendered its authority
to a mob that threatened to engulf the country in flames. The federal law
minister has been sacked - in return for a promise by the protesters to not
issue a fatwa against him. Whether a decision
made out of desperation or fear, the upshot is that the state has accepted that
mobs and zealots have a right to issue religious edicts that can endanger lives
and upend public order.
The decision to
compensate the protesters and use public funds to pay for the damage to
property caused by the protesters turns on its head the fundamental
responsibility of the state to ensure law and order. The pledge to prosecute
whoever has been held responsible by a government inquiry committee for
abortive legislative changes is to invite further protests and violence. Something profound
changed in the country yesterday and the reverberations will be felt for a long
time. How has such catastrophe befallen the nation? Devastating incompetence
and craven leadership by three sets of actors appear to be the reason.
The PML-N government
helped create the crisis and then managed to exacerbate it at every step. Until
the very end, when the government used the veneer of a court order to try and
forcibly evict the protesters from Faizabad, there were gargantuan failures of
planning and shockingly poor tactics. The political opposition also played a
miserable role, fanning a crisis for the most myopic of political reasons and
searching for a pyrrhic victory.
Finally, the military
leadership appears to have to let rancour towards the government in an ongoing
power struggle affect its role in bringing this phase of the crisis to an end. The government has
been humiliated and the military leadership has further improved its standing
with sections of the public for helping end the protests — but at what cost to
the country and its people? A menacing precedent has been set by the protesters
that will surely embolden others and invite copycats. It is no exaggeration to
suggest that no one is safe.
Zealots had already
demonstrated the power of mob violence and the strength of the politics of
intolerance and hate. Now, a blueprint has been created for holding state and
society hostage. Despair is not an option for a nation state, but neither can
there be a pretence that a significant setback has not occurred. Is there
anyone, in state or society, to help repair the damage?
https://www.dawn.com/news/1373351/capitulation
