The Pakistani Spectator

I have written extensively about the nature of our elite based politics, and social system. However analysis needs to be understood in terms of the changing social structure. The changing social construction is juxtaposed to the stationary one. I shall discuss both forms of this structure in this essay, and link it to the apolitical youth and their allegiance to the military.

The first class that I shall discuss is the stationary elitist bourgeois. This class comprises mainly the high ranked bureaucrats, ex military officials and some right wing journalists, to borrow a term, “televangelists”. As my previous article explained these TV personalities have been the mites in the recent wave of conspiracy theories. This social class has strong affiliations to power based politics, which rest on the premise of armed, one man, autocratic control. These famous personalities belong to the part of the extended establishment, which permeates in to our daily lives to brainwash us about the perils of democracy.

They offer explanations of how democracy is a western concept, and may not be compatible with our region, or religion. This group indulges in naked support for the military to move in to politics, or at least be in charge of foreign policy when it comes to our easterly neighbor. The “India” card is perhaps the greatest tool in the hands of our security establishment to muster up support for their otherwise unpopular policies. The largest piece of evidence can be seen in the defense budget, which takes a larger chunk of the pie every year under the deception of “national security”. These people pledge their support through nationalist sentiments, and anti Indian demagoguery. It is hard to stay away from such emotional impassioned speeches, it is enough to lure in the staunchest of believers. Half-baked facts, and alleged invasion fears startle and frighten the already beleaguered masses. Therefore whenever a democratic party is voted in, these are the first of the social groups who start destabilizing the nature of the politics.

It is not to say that the politicians are innocent, and time and time again have I repeated this, but it is always easier to try those who are brought in by the masses, it’s a long drawn evolutionary process, but it has some light at the end of the tunnel, a vision, which is absent with military takeovers.
The first group of people have undying support for the security establishment, however it is not these sycophants, which should worry the nation. It is the ever-increasing lobby of elite based politics, which are swaying the youth away from politics and democratic control.  These are the teenagers, living in urban areas, belonging to petty bourgeois families, and some to elite bourgeois families.

The problem is simple, however the solution is not. These urban elite students, have become apathetic to the political structure- no surprises there- however as my earlier articles mentioned, they lack a very important ingredient in their judgment, “critical insight”. Perception becomes reality. And what are the best ways to mould perception? Well of course! we have the tube, and other perception altering mechanisms. It is easy to assume that the judiciary is independent, that democracy has returned to Pakistan, and the TV channels are finally free. But this is the perception. This becomes the reality if one fails to look at the entire picture. None of the above institutions are free, and they can never be, but for now they are heavily controlled, corporate interests, bureaucratic interests and of course the establishment interests are key in molding the content of these instruments. Due to the increase in internet technology and TV watching, the elite youth are more interested in immediate information absorption, this being the media, since reading books, and research has become a parse activity, we have a very educated, book smart young population, who have a very distorted knowledge of the events in Pakistan, historically and present.

To link this analysis of the structure to the problem we face, lets discuss a very recent example. About three months ago, it seemed as if the TV channels had quit their main job of reporting, and had resorted to a government bashing, anti American rhetoric. This was exemplified in the Kerry-Luger Bill, that the congress had decided to give to Pakistan. The bill consisted of large donations to the Pakistan government, and for the first time in the history of the relation of the two countries, it was geared to economic development of the Pakistan and not military support. The strong men could not tolerate this, they hollered, bellowed, and exclaimed that Pakistan’s sovereignty had been compromised. TV channels were rampant with discussions on how the national security could not be sacrificed. The vilification and demonization of the politicians started, and it argued that the so-called democratic leaders had “sold” the country, drone attacks were blamed on the PPP.

Now if this was true, we may have been in a position to worry, but the unfortunate truth is that there is nothing in KL bill, which signifies our loss of sovereignty, at least not more than what we have already lost. But since most of us are so used to just arguing without proper evidence, we failed to realize that, a majority of the people who came on TV, had no idea what the bill offered. (The full bill can be read on the NYT website).

As soon as the money started pouring in, there was no semblance of dissonance; KL bill was never discussed again. The army for the first time seemed fallible, when it was decided that assistance would not be given during dictatorship. It was a chance to strengthen democracy, but then the generals troops, marched to its defense, even in matters completely outside their jurisdiction. The only difference was, that the KL bill was adopted, the drone attacks continued, but somewhere no one blamed the military. Was it not the military that wanted to take charge of both events? But why do people forget about drones now, even though they still occur at an ever-increasing rate? This is where the hidden states, exhibits its countless forms of defense against any threat, which could make democratic, control stronger, and bring the expansion of a military/ bureaucratic enterprise under control.

The youth are urged, to read between the lines, and not just believe pro establishment conservative theories, which mask themselves behind nationalist principles.