Resilience of Pakistani People Against Dictatorships
By Aasma Farhad Foundations of Pakistan lie in democracy. Democracy here means rule of the people. Like other successful democracies the power of administration is determined at the grass root level through electorate. It then moves upward in the administrative hierarchical structure and is then dispensed off downwards. Other state institutions including defense, judiciary and bureaucracy complement democracy. Though there have been incidents where one or more institutions conspired to help establish dictatorships but public resilience at large have been too overpowering to let dictatorships flourish unchecked. Consequently three of the four military backed dictators had to step down in the face of growing internal pressures. Public rejection to one man rule is what is quite uncommon in other third world countries like Nepal, Iran and China, where democracy remains a relatively new concept.
Although a country defined by an over ruling sense of religious nationalism than by geographical boundaries, Pakistan unlike Saudi Arabia or Iran lacks monolithic majority of any single sect. A country created for the political sovereignty of subcontinent’s Muslims, the society remains divided into many different religious factions within a larger Muslim community. There are Shias alongside Sunnis and then Sunnis are further categorized into Deobandis and Barelvis. Individuals further have a strong political sense of identity with their castes and baradaris. There are many small factions of the society and non-Muslim minorities as well. With such diverse ethnicities and religious pluralism, Pakistan’s survival lies in democracy. Democracy therefore, in Pakistan is as much a necessity as it is a challenge.
This month second consecutive democratic government has successfully ended up its tenure of five years and handed over its power to a care taker government. This is a great achievement for a country where military and civilian governments have been playing musical chairs
Although a country defined by an over ruling sense of religious nationalism than by geographical boundaries, Pakistan unlike Saudi Arabia or Iran lacks monolithic majority of any single sect. A country created for the political sovereignty of subcontinent’s Muslims, the society remains divided into many different religious factions within a larger Muslim community. There are Shias alongside Sunnis and then Sunnis are further categorized into Deobandis and Barelvis. Individuals further have a strong political sense of identity with their castes and baradaris. There are many small factions of the society and non-Muslim minorities as well. With such diverse ethnicities and religious pluralism, Pakistan’s survival lies in democracy. Democracy therefore, in Pakistan is as much a necessity as it is a challenge.
This month second consecutive democratic government has successfully ended up its tenure of five years and handed over its power to a care taker government. This is a great achievement for a country where military and civilian governments have been playing musical chairs
Cited: * Inam Aziz; STOP PRESS, Translated by Khald Hasan © 2009 Oxpord University Press Pakistan * Tahir Kamran; DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE IN PAKISTAN. Published 2008 South Asia Partnership Pakistan * Anatol Lieven; PAKISTAN –A HARD COUNTRY © Copyrights Anatol Lieven Newyork *