Political Empowerment

Those who believe that Pakistan’s polity is democratic, are victim of self-deception z they know it. They are the people who have always remained in power in the past, who continue to remain in power and plan to keep their dynasties in power for ever, father to son and son grandson and so on. How much of democracy we have in our ongoing system can be assessed under:

One: Is the individual that is the building block of the society, duly blessed with f. political empowerment? The answer is simple no. He has been given the right to vote that supposed to be an essential ingredient of a democratic system but the power to make use of h vote that is to express his conscience freely, does not lie with him. It has many strings attached which are pulled by hidden hands to their advantage. He is a pawn in the hands of influential people who maneuver his moves on the political chessboard to serve their vested interests.

Two: the sacred trust called the vote devalues to become a commodity that can be sold t profit, purchased under coercion, usurped under threat, pulled, pushed, led by the nose, misused at will, corrupted, and disabled to suit the political design of the influential candidates. The same vote is often cast more than once. The vote, under the ongoing democratic order, suffers from many other handicaps. With illiteracy as high as 60 to 70 percent the real worth of the vote of ar. uneducated person cannot be put at par with the vote of the learned one. Numerical counting would declare a majority of votes by the ignorant over the minority of the learned ones. The vote is often miscast in the absence of political awareness or the voter does not take the trouble of getting out of the comfort of his house, go to the polling station to cast his vote.

Three: The ambitious candidates transport truck-loads of such voters to the polling booths, brief them where to put their stamp or thumb impression. Having achieved their aim the disappears along with their trucks in which voters were brought to the polling station. The hapless voter manages his return journey back home on his own. The women voters have their own predicament. In certain primitive and orthodox sections of our society the woman folk either find no place on the voters lists or if somehow they are bestowed the right to vote, they are physically stopped to cast their votes. However, if they ever manage to reach the polling booth they have t cast the vote as directed. Economic empowerment reinforces the power of the vote as the symbol of the spirit u democracy. It is an asset with the citizen. It remains his pride possession so long as it symbolizes the expression of his free will. Vote is his political empowerment which is of little Importance. Unless backed by full economic empowerment. How can 70 percent of the population living below the poverty line think of higher values of life? Its prime concern is procurement of the necessities of life like food, clothing, shelter, health and education for the members of if, household. Despite tall claims of massive economic progress and poverty alleviation programs the state of economic condition of the masses has gone from bad to worse. With economic independence individual gains confidence in himself. He becomes aware of his duties as a citizen of the state. Vote is the voice of his conscience which he can listen only when his minimum basic needs have been met, which is possible through his micro economic uplift. But unfortunately highly flawed policy of achieving macro-economic stability alone is being pursued relentlessly. This is to create as much wealth as possible to increase gross national product (GDP), with if. hope that wealth created thus would trickle down to promote micro-economic progress. If the past’ experience has any lessons to learn, it should be realized that wealth has already been generated in abundance. But instead of trickling down it has concentrated in fewer hands. Poverty has increased further due to mal-distribution of wealth. The gap of inequality in incomes between handful of wealthier people compared to the destitute billions is so vast that it has led to serious social and political consequences. The end result of this macro strategy is more wealth, more poverty. It is so because the present political and economic system is designed to pump wealth upward. It leaves little to trickle dawn. The modest trickle of Small Saving Schemes was made to dry up. It was decidedly poverty promoting measure. That is only one example. Others are: creation of unprecedented inflation through easy bank credit that has sent prices of houses, education and food items sky high to the misery of the poor. The rich is fast becoming richer, the poor poorer. Not a single antipoverty measure appears to have been taken up so far. What is the remedy? The income. generating strategy must be blessed with a mechanism of equitable distribution of wealth. The question how to do it, is not difficult to answer especially by the economists at the helm of affairs who enjoy world-wide reputation as highly successful trouble shooters of economic systems. The needful is not being done because of two reasons. One, lack of political will because they themselves are the product of the system that has multiplied their riches ever-since Independence. Two, people in power wish to remain in power and would not like to offend their power base that is composed of feudals, waderas, tribal lords etc. To give economic empowerment to the individual to enable him to make use of his vote in the best possible democratic traditions, following measures should be taken: (a) Distribute means of production: Land distributed among millions will distribute incomes widely. Abolish feudalism. (b) Let the labour own share interests to earn dividends in addition to the wages. (c)  Weave a network of cottage, handicraft. Small scale and medium agro-industries throughout the country to create employment and incomes at grass root levels through agents of devolution. (d ) Achieve 100 percent education. Feudals have kept this nation uneducated or more than half a century. They will keep it illiterate for ever, if they are permitted to persist. The politico-economic policies pursued in the past have built a few mountains of wealth creating numerous deep and vast ravines of poverty. Our economy has head of gold. Its body and legs are made of clay. How long the body will be able to sustain the head? Social justice and equitable distribution of wealth, unlimited riches are un-Islamic. Ownership limits of wealth and property as prescribed by the Holy Quran are not preached even the men of religion. They are the feudals of the religious domain who have identified themselves with the rest of the feudalistic class of the society. They fail to’ project the Quranic commandment of Al-Adl that demands the enforcement of social justice which means extension f equal opportunities to every one in all walks of national life. Access to education, nutrition, shelter, employment, health care etc should be considered birth right of every individual. They el shy of upholding the commandment of Wal-Ehsan that demands the enforcement of equitable distribution of wealth among all sections of the society. Pakistan woefully lacks in both. The Divine wish is: level down the mountains of affluence to level up the troughs of poverty. That alone can make the nation literate and consequently put a check on population growth, do away with innumerable social vices that have been let loose by the feudalistic culture. The question is why don’t we listen to the word of God? What has gone wrong with us? After all Pakistan demanded for the welfare of the common man and not for a chosen few.