A RETWEETING-CHOMSKY CM

The Chief Minister of the Punjab, Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, is known as a very agile, untiring, promising, and target-oriented administrator. He is really sympathetic with the poor and wants to upgrade the standard of their life. That is why, in spite of his bad health, he is seen busy in kicking off and accomplishing some really valuable projects; for example, Danish Schools, Sasti Roti Scheme, Aashiyana Housing Scheme, etc. In spite of the perpetual victimisation of the centre’s injustice, the Punjab is still developing, and developing at a great pace. The credit of this development in the presence of sheer adversity installed by the centre goes to Shahbaz Sharif. We have seen that within no time, he has done wonders in the Punjab.

It was after the return of the Sharifs, once forcibly exiled by a dictator, that the Pakistanis have seen a change in the mindset of the PML-N leadership. Now they are, at any cost, not ready to strengthen the hands of the undemocratic forces. Moreover, the sympathy for the poor has become more intense and more visible. The glimpse of which could be had from the public meetings where Shahbaz Sharif sings Habib Jalib. The PML-N leadership nowadays is in a cordial relationship with the left-wingers and the progressive. They are seen to be visiting and lecturing at the SAFMA as well.

Does it mean that they have embraced Marxism and have become ‘progressive’? Or only following Tayyip Erdogan’s, and Morsi’s footprints, who, through their moderate policies, made themselves acceptable for the leftists?

Shahbaz Sharif every now and then re-tweets Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Dissent, Revolt Slogans, Overt Dictionary etc; Marxists in the core.

These lines are an effort to understand if the CM’s habit of re-tweeting-Chomsky has any relevance with his actions or he merely uses the dissident voice of Chomsky to assert that he too is fashionable enough to meet the social demands of the elite, for appreciating Che or Chomsky or the likes of him (Manufacturing Dissent, Revolt Slogans, Overt Dictionary etc) is a status symbol; or it is just a desperate effort to win the vote of the moderate.
That is, does the CM mean what he re-tweets?

We know that Chomsky, and his spiritual mentor Karl Marx aspire for a classless society where a man earns according to his need and works according to his capabilities. And, most importantly, no exploitation is exercised from any corner of the society. Equity and justice become the hallmark of that society.

We have seen that since its independence, Pakistan has been a laboratory for the military junta’s experiments as to how to rule a country with absolute power. As a repercussion of each experiment, the class-consciousness, along with various other ailments gripped the society.
Military reign kept changing the garbs; but the class-consciousness remained constant.

Let’s look at this phenomenon from the angle from where the picture looks clearer.

The chain-of-command in the army is vital to remain intact if it wishes to work efficiently. It’s the inviolability of the chain of command that an army goes to a war with confidence. If that is not respected, an army cannot function for even one day. Therefore, if we call it the soul of the organisation/institution we know as the army (security forces), we shall be quite justified.

Militarily, this is very essential to be extremely sensitive of the sanctity of the ranks. But, socially, it creates a serious mess.

For example, if a second lieutenant does not pay due respect to a captain, or sets aside the orders issued by a higher up, he must be penalised. Because defying the chain means an attempt of disturbing the whole system. He should be deemed as a person who is trying to jolt the foundation of the system.

The sanctity for the chain/ranks, thus, is made a part of the unconsciousness of the soldiers when they are in the training phase.

But, when it comes to the civil side of the society, it creates serious problems. Looking down upon those who work for you becomes a social norm, which is never a dream of either Chomsky or Marx, or a true Muslim even.

And if someone in power is constantly seen buttering the otherwise class-consciousness-reinforcing-agents of a civilian society, what should we should think of the person in power?

Should we deem of him that he is the supporter of a classless society; or a companion of those who bring class-consciousness to the civilians whenever they formally come to power?

We know that a dynamic chief secretary of the Punjab, the captain of the CM’s team, was immediately removed because a retired colonel died in an accident when he was hit by the car of the CS. If it was only an accident, why the chief secretary was removed? Can a re-tweeting-Chomsky CM answer to this question? Didn’t he try to please the all-powerful status-conscious, class-conscious institution only to save the civilian government from any threat? Was this act a step towards turning the dream of Chomsky into a reality or the dream of the oppressors was meant to address?

Another paradox; look at the Kalma Chowk flyover. You shall find bouquets all along scenting the flyover. Do you find the same bouquets on the Muslim Town flyover as well? This flyover was built right after Kalma Chowk’s. Why even the sockets for the bouquets haven’t been constructed? Instead, an ugly long metallic pipe with green rings runs along the flyover.

Moreover, the Muslim Town flyover has a landing track coming from the posh area to  Wahdat Road; whereas, from Wahdat Road, no track has been lifted to join the flyover to reach Ichra. The rich have been facilitated. But the poor who live around Wahdat Road, if want to join the Ferozpur road via the flyover, haven’t been facilitated. No technical hindrance is noticeable though.

Should not we think that this difference has been maintained by keeping the difference of wealth in view? Difference of status, difference of class in view? The former flyover is surrounded by three posh housing societies, i.e. Gulberg, Model Town, and Garden Town. These societies abode the upper middle class of our society. Whereas, the Muslim Town flyover is located near Ichhra, Shah Kamal, Rawan etc; the lower middle class residential areas.

That is why, the Kalma Chowk flyover is decorated with the bouquets and the Muslim Town flyover has not been decorated at all.

The very status difference is manifested through the architectural difference of the pedestrian bridges located in front of the Kinniard College, and the Canal road versus the ones located on the Multan road.

Interestingly, our civilian and ‘progressive’ CM, who loves to re-tweet Chomsky, doesn’t trust the civilian firms when it comes to the development projects in the Punjab. Most of the projects have been handed over to those who inspire class-consciousness in the society; of whom the lines above tell in detail. Putting them to work is not bad. But the gesture of calling them to the development projects by not trusting the civilians is dangerous.

Then, the young doctors’ chaos was not dealt with wisely, and the foj was called in to rescue the civil administration. Our veteran columnist Nazir Naji alerted us in a column published this July in daily Jang that calling in the foj to tackle with the YDA chaos might go against the interests of our darling democracy. He cited the venture of the ghost schools which was successfully carried out by the foj on the ‘orders’ of the then CM (Shahbaz Sharif). The venture was appreciated in the State Department of the US where the foj was admired instead of the CM. And, afterwards, the very foj took over.

And the most paradoxical of all, the CM cherishes to recite Jalib, re-tweet Chomsky; but has not introduced any land reforms as yet. He has done nothing to break the idol of feudalism into pieces. He has done nothing to legislate against the concentration of wealth in few hands. Is he unaware of the fact that the private education mafia is nurturing at the speed of light?

Has he done anything to curb them?

Has he devised any system which could strengthen such institutions which empower the poor? How many ‘really’ have-nots belong to his cabinet, even the assembly?

Empowering the individuals by providing them with laptops is good, but what’s about a whole lot of the unemployed?

Has he done anything to break into the gruesome nexus of the mass media mafia to falsify the propaganda model devised by Herman and Chomsky? This media marginalises the dissent voices and serves the purpose of only the cruel exploiters, we know as the elite. This media has nothing to do with the poor, their dreams, their life, etc’

The PPP and the PML-N have been ruling the Punjab for about three years or so in coalition. During this period, the CM’s pace of developing the province had been extremely slow for some obvious political reasons. For, he never wanted to let the PPP too take the credit of the development. Because of which, the people of the Punjab suffered in every sphere of life. The plight of the public transport tops the all. People used to commute in an utterly inhuman way while the members of the parliament continued, rather kept on improving the standard of travelling by their lavish and the state-of-the-art highbeam jeeps and cars.

Then, the CM had been conditionally supporting the IJT in the University of the Punjab and helped them hold the congregation last October. This practically tamed the efforts of the VC to introduce moderation, enlightenment and freedom of expression in the university. Students remain terrified of the IJT activists hunting innocent students in the name of the Islamic teachings. Such steps by the CM encouraged intolerance, extremism and injustice to flourish in the university.

Does such politics from the CM reflect any shade of the colors Chomsky paints his ideas with?

Looking at some of the specimens of the paradox our re-tweeting-Chomsky CM exhibits, we are compelled to infer that the CM loves to only recite Jalib and retweet Chomsky, which is unfortunately regarded as a status symbol in our society; but indeed he serves the purpose of the capitalist ruling class. Actually he has nothing to do with the poor, with the dream of a classless, a just, modern, tolerant, and an educated society.

As far as other rulers of the country are concerned, they don’t even qualify to be discussed in perspective of Noam Chomsky’s idea of Manufacturing Consent with Marginalized Dissents.