Who is Threatening our Democracy?

Democracy in our country is threatened not by political rallies and slogans, but by the government itself and its own allies

Rallies, processions, protests and demonstrations have always been an integral part of political, social and economic movements all over the world. Even today, most of the cities in Europe and the United States are echoing with the demonstrations related to the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement. In the same way, hundreds of thousands of people are out on the streets of the Middle East, protesting against the dictatorial regimes of their tyrannical rulers. Such mass demonstrations and rallies have become an indispensable feature of all sorts of movements, particularly in the Asian countries. For this very reason, in our own country, we have a long list of fiery orators. While addressing huge political gatherings, the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto introduced a new and extremely popular style of oratory, characterized by intense emotional excitement and dramatic acting. Rolling up the sleeves, throwing away the overcoat, tumbling the microphone, giving ridiculous names to the political adversaries, making witty remarks in a popular way and even abusing the opponents were the hallmarks of his unique style. It is an all-admitted fact that despite numerous attempts, no one has ever been able to imitate Bhutto’s highly mesmerizing style of making public speeches.

When democracy is firmly based, institutions are strong and stable, values and traditions are of a solid nature and fluctuation of political temperature does not threaten democracy, such public gatherings and rallies beautify and promote political and democratic culture. In India for instance, mammoth public gatherings attended by hundreds of thousands of people, do not produce any destabilizing impact for democracy; and the heated debates among political leaders are only considered to be a source of public entertainment. But the situation in our country is of a different type. After several years of military dictatorship, when democracy has finally been restored, its condition is still similar to that of a female deer which timidly looks around with its raised ears, for fear of hunters. In the same way, our nation which yearns for taking long breaths in an open democratic atmosphere, is always apprehensive that some lustful hunters lying in wait on the nearby rooftops, may at any time again turn their guns towards our hard fought and long sought democracy. As a natural consequence, political gatherings, demonstrations and rallies, the fiery speeches of political leaders and their bitter war of words, often give rise to the fears that our democracy may once again be derailed by the army, which may once again seize power on the pretext of anarchy and chaos in the country.

Keeping in view our past history, these fears and apprehensions are fully justified. But does it mean that the only way to prevent future military takeovers is that all political parties should shrink into one corner like a hatching hen, instead of condemning that government which has shaken the very foundations of Pakistan? If we are really keen to preserve and strengthen our democracy, we shall have to accept all those things which are considered to be the essential ingredients of a truly democratic culture. The primary objective of every active political party in a democratic set up is to reach the corridors of power, in order to give a practical shape to its particular agenda; and for achieving this goal, it has full freedom to devise its own strategy. It cannot be denied the right to launch a mass contact movement. PMLN which is one of the two major political parties of Pakistan, could not complete its five-year tenure on each of the two previous occasions, when it won general elections in the country. Now, it is fully justified in hoping that the people who are dissatisfied and disillusioned with the PPP’s policies, would assist it in coming back to power for the third time. PPP on the other hand, also has the right to make effective plans for capturing power for the fifth time.