Sinking the ship of democracy essential for Pakistan’s deliverance

Sinking the ship of democracy essential for Pakistan’s deliverance

Pakistan is going through a time of great tribulation and rather than seeking a viable solution to steer the country towards salvation, we are falling deeper into the abyss by believing the rhetoric of our politicians. We believe that our favourite democratic leaders have already devised a plan to rid the country of its troubles and the “saviour” is simply awaiting an opportunity to land himself in a position where he can take begin the process of transforming Pakistan into Utopia.

It is time to snap out of our delusions and open our eyes to reality. As demoralising as it may sound, the politicians have absolutely no plan or intention to help the country. Instead, their incompetent administration and governance is adding to the miseries of the nation. While all this is quite obvious, we have opted to live in denial and left the responsibility, or what many truly believe to be a burden, of trouble-shooting Pakistan’s problems in the hands of the incompetent politicians.

Reality bites, especially when it turns out to be something contrary to what we had thought. In this scenario, the shattering of the pseudo-reality, which has high regard for democracy in Pakistan, would definitely be followed by a strong backlash. However, the expected criticism is not enough to keep me from coming right out and saying that the roots of Pakistan’s misfortunes lie primarily in one thing; democracy.

The politicians, media and think-tanks are beginning to sound like broken records by repeatedly stating democracy as the solution to the grave issues that currently envelope Pakistan. If it wasn’t for this wretched political system, we would not have been in this mess in the first place. While democracy may be a suitable tool for harmony and development in other countries, it isn’t suitable for Pakistan, at least not yet.

Democracy grants all adult individuals of a nation the right to choose their representatives through balloting. While the general idea behind this selection process makes a lot of sense, one tends to overlook a few critical factors: the credibility and reliability of the people casting the votes.

While this may sound harsh, the Pakistani people are not ready to be handed over such a huge responsibility. In a country where more than 40% of the population is still illiterate, democracy only proves to be a bane instead of a boon. The people lack awareness and sound judgment, which has a lot to do with the lack of education and limited awareness of the real issues that need to be addressed. People are still slaves to their traditional and cultural beliefs and allow their emotions to cloud their better judgment, extending their loyalty and putting their trust in politicians who are adept at manipulating their vulnerable minds.

With a gradual increase in literacy rate, more and more people are denouncing democracy, recognizing it as the root cause of all evil in Pakistan. It is extremely difficult to understand how a land-lord, an industrialist or a celebrated athlete can claim that they can relate to the problems of a common man and carry a solution to these problems. It is also heart-wrenching to see people with fake degrees and college diplomas coming into power, formulating policies for economy, education, health etc. despite holding no or obsolete knowledge on these matters.

The consequences of allowing incompetent people to take the steering wheel of Pakistan are something that we are all quite well aware of. However, we still let the media and politicians brainwash us by repeatedly referring to democracy as an essential tool for combating the issues faced by Pakistan.

We either need to devise a new governance system, something along the lines of caliphate system, or else let the technocrats take control of the country while the nation is prepared for democracy, a process which can take years, or maybe decades.

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Posted by Muhammad Qasim Hassan on Oct 21 2011. Filed under Opinion, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry