Revolution...

Impoverished people, a growing divide between the rich and poor, rising inflation and a government that seems to be non sympathetic to the misery of the masses or just unable to steer this ship through choppy waters due to aristocratic and authoritarian leaders, these are the factors common to most Muslim countries today.  The story of a poor vegetable vendor awakened Tunisia and the revolution started, feelings of deprivation that had been simmering till then suddenly came to boil and the leadership couldn’t handle the heat and found escape as the only feasible option.  And as is the case with revolution the chain reaction began which knows no geographical, lingual or religious boundary and just unites people facing similar oppression and they draw strength from one another to overthrow the dark forces.  Algerians followed suit and soon Yemenis & Jordanians  were on the same track but the greatest show down that is still underway came in Egypt, where slowly but surely the people are winning back what was theirs.

There is talk of this revolution spreading and many have indicated that Pakistan is probably the next name on the list. The situation of Government and plight of the common man have stark resemblances to the factors that led to massive uprising in afore mentioned countries, yet the situation as similar as it may seem is different from all those countries.  So what factors make Pakistan different and why a different method to improve the plight of the common man needs to be adopted? Firstly in all those countries the head of the government had been in power for decades, secondly none of them were fighting a war inside their own territory to quell a rebellion. 

If a revolution of such sort was to take place in Pakistan it would have completely different implications as compared to Egypt or Tunisia for a number of reasons. People in Pakistan though they are faced with the same issues are not united as one, the lingual, ideological and political divide that is actually one of the reasons our society has decayed will always stand in the way of a common cause and each group would try to turn the tide in their own favor to ensure that they benefit from any revolution.

Another very important factor is that in Pakistan there is an elected government which was brought into power by people and even with the current issues facing the country there will a major group who for their own reasons would form a pro government group which will only lead to a rift in the society in the wake of any uprising by the people. Yet another important factor which differentiates Pakistan from almost all those countries under the influence of this revolution is the fact that there is a very serious threat from the many terrorist groups that are present and also have sympathizers in society and they can take advantage of any vacuum created by the fall of a government and this will only lead to chaos and people would have struggled for nothing. And the whole exercise would lead us from one grave situation to another.

Yet another factor that we may overlook is that in all those countries army didn’t step into mainstream politics, however in Pakistan we can rest assured that if any such situation unfolds the army would step in and take control of power using the hatred the people have for the current political setup.

Unless civil society organizes itself and provides a better alternative than the current rulers by selecting people from their own ranks who can handle the role of leadership, the whole effort of any revolution if any would just be in vain. It is a time for the politicians to mend their ways and for civil society to organize itself and provide an alternative to fill the vacuum a revolution is sure to create otherwise, what would start as a revolution would turn into a bloody civil war that would tear the very fabric of society beyond repair and all the people would be left with a bloody mess. So before we embark on any revolution we will have to address these issues and look beyond the obvious. We would need to organize ourselves in a manner that we as a nation, as a people are one. Unless are goals are clear we would only be starting a vicious circle which would engulf us all. It is high time the government took people in confidence and all political forces set aside their greed and differences and deliberate before it’s too late.

 A heap of ammunition in the form of growing despair of the people is stock pilled and it only awaits one final trigger charge and then the events that follow will not be dictated or controlled by any reason or justification. We all need a revolution but the means to it have to be decided very carefully, we all are stake holders, we all have to take responsibility, we all have to play our part otherwise we will all have to suffer yet again.

John F. Kennedy said,” those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable”. If today government and people of Pakistan do not come to grips with this important time in our present, the decision of our future may well rest with mobs on the street. It is a time to think, it is a time to act but most importantly it is a time to think before we act. The decision is up to all of us otherwise we would be left to ponder on these lines of Charles Dickens,

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”