Khaleeq Nazar Kiani
Autocracy or dictatorship has few merits and many demerits, but every sane person supports democracy with all its weaknesses. Pakistan is ruled by military despots more than democratically elected representatives. In recent history, the dictatorship was the leading cause of the dismemberment of Sudan and former USSR Countries.
The 1970 election has torn apart the Jinnah’s Pakistan because the dictator was reluctant to transfer the power to the leading party from East Pakistan. Sadly, the main elected party from West Pakistan also sided with the military junta instead of supporting the democratic people of East Pakistan. Resultantly after a bloodiest civil war, a new country Bangladesh emerged on the world globe. The word West was deleted from the rest of Pakistan, and it was the rebirth of a new Pakistan.
Pakistan Peoples Party with neo-socialism slogan and being a single largest party enter into the Islamabad. Bhutto made a second big mistake, and instead of reconciliation with the left parties, he relied on the state machinery and let the NAP (left part) join hands with the JUI, an orthodox religious party. Nationalists and religious parties joined hands against the PPP government with a strong base in the NWFP (now KPK) and Balochistan provinces. Bh-utto dismissed the Baloch-istan government, and an armed resistance movement started. The generals, annoyed with the politicians, got the opportunity and imposed martial law.
Much has been said and written on Zia martial law, which was a blot on the democratic history of Pakistan. It has changed the country’s complete DNA from the neo-socialist liberal PPP-led government to an orthodox military-run government. Soviet intervention in Afghanistan provided a high calorific fuel to orthodoxy in Pakistan. The power struggle between the two extremist left and right thinking not only destroyed the beautiful social and moral fiber of Afghanistan but also mutated the genetic structure of Pakistan.
The orthodox gene created and developed in Ra-walpindi’s lab was spread to every nook and corner of the country. At the same ti-me, liberalism made blight in the eyes of the uneducated people of Pakistan. M-ullas were the privileged cl-ass in the ruling elite. Per-haps at that time, orthodoxy was the need of the West and oil-rich Middle East c-ountries. They promoted a particular sect and introduced the gun culture for fulfilling the specific agenda. Money was no problem, and orthodox nurseries flo-urished like a mushroom. But due to the limited following of religious parties, they were knotted with neo-orthodox parties like PML with many alphabets.
After the retirement of hardcore orthodox-minded generals and Develop world’s changed behavior about religious politics, the transition process from orthodoxy to neo-orthodoxy also started in Pakistan. They may still not be able to openly support the liberal because the mutated gene will again take decades to come in its original shape. The revolution in social media is a significant blow to religious politics. Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman’s decision that his kingdom will not fund religious organization abroad is also a red flag to the mullah factor in Pakistan.
It appears now that the transition from orthodoxy to neo-orthodoxy is complete or in the final stages. The last two elections were shocking for the religious parties. The flag bearer of religious politics, JUI and Jamat e Islami, was first sidelined in the provincial set-up and then discreetly and silently said goodbye in the center. It was the second time that JUI is not part of the provincial government in Balochistan.
Now the PTI (neo-orthodox party), whose leader is clean shaved, educated in the West, and enjoyed the youth in the clubs, is the establishment’s blue-eyed political party. He speaks about Riasat e Medina but likes the China system and praises the West’s moral ethics. But in practice, he is the supporter of the status quo. In contrast, his big fanfare belongs to mummy daddy culture and does not know much about religion. This type of person now suits the masters sitting behind the curtains as he is not clear-headed and easily to mould in a time of need. There is a realization in the establishment that developing a moderate culture in Pakistani society is a challenging and daunting task. They don’t want to revive the religious base or sect-based politics and tried to limit the new factor of Tehrik e Labaik. They successfully applied the full hand brake to the sect-based politics in Balochistan.
Neo-orthodoxy is a kind of revisionism and insult to its original concept. It doesn’t work for a longer period, whether it is neo-Christian, neo-Nazi, neo-Marxism or neo-Islam. It is essential for Pakistanis not to fall into the neo trap.
