Tunis, normally a peaceful place, is suddenly in the midst of what is being called a 'Jasmine Revolution' - named so because the country's national flower is jasmine, just like Pakistan's. Calling these unfolding events a revolution may be an exaggeration, but it is a catchy and, hence, attractive term to describe political change.
It all started with the desperate act of a desperate young man. Only 26-year-old and well-educated, Mohammad Bouazizi could not find a job, so he started selling vegetables. Last month, the police took away his vegetable cart saying he did not have a licence for it. Jobless and hopeless, in a shocking act of protest, he set himself on fire, dying a few days later in a hospital bed. The incident proved to be the last straw for the ordinary Tunisian. They took to the street to vent their pent-up anger and frustration over unemployment, inequality, corruption, high food prices, and the absence of democratic freedoms.
It was a spontaneous uprising. The country being under one-party rule, there were no opposition figures to provide leadership. Yet it kept growing from strength to strength for nearly four weeks, finally succeeding in ousting the 23-year dictatorial rule of President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, who fled the country last Friday to take refuge in France, but ended up in Saudi Arabia. The prime minister formed a 'unity government', promising to hold elections within six months. But the people are unwilling to accept the old regime's remnants, and continue to protest. Four new ministers who joined the interim government quit on Tuesday, saying they won't come back as long as the ousted government's supporters remain in positions of power. The Jasmine Revolution, therefore, is still in the making.
It will be a while before things settle down in Tunis. But they surely have unsettled Arab governments. Tunisia is the first country in the Arab world to bring down a leader through street protests. It has sent shockwaves throughout the region. It is difficult to gauge what the reaction is in the closed Arab societies ruled by monarchs, sheikhs and dictators. But wherever internet and satellite television facilities are available, reports of the uprising in Tunis must have given ideas and courage to the people to take on oppressive authoritarian regimes.
In the relatively open societies, there have been instances of copycat reaction. In Cairo where, Hosni Mubarak, a key pro-US regional player, has been in power for nearly thirty years, a man set himself ablaze on Monday, protesting against poor living conditions. Algeria is another country, ruled by military backed governments since the 1960s, where at least four men are reported to have set themselves on fire in different towns during the last week. Algeria has already been in turmoil for the past several weeks. Many Jordanians, Egyptians and Syrians have been expressing jubilation over the Tunisian people's triumph by holding celebratory demonstrations in front of Tunisian embassies. Which says a lot about their own aspirations.
But should any of this alarm our rulers, too? On the face of it, they face no such threat. This government is the product of a peoples' movement. We have seen and done it all. It was more than forty years ago, when a popular uprising toppled our first military ruler, General Ayub Khan. The second, General Yahya Khan, was removed by his own associates after an embarrassing defeat in a war which resulted in the break-up of the country. A mysterious intervention killed the third, and arguably the most repressive, military dictator, General Ziaul Haq.
A resolute civil society movement led by the legal fraternity helped push our latest military dictator General Pervez Musharraf out of power, and out of the country. Hence the credit for removing our first and the fourth military dictator is entirely for the people of this country to claim.
That way Pakistan is very different from the Arab world, where people have tolerated authoritarian rule of different hues for generations, without a break. That though does not mean the desire there for democratic change is any less strong. People everywhere aspire for freedom, better economic opportunities, and equality.
But repressive circumstances in some instances may be more difficult to surmount, as is the case in most Arab countries, than others. Periodic eruptions of street protests in some of the relatively open societies, such as Egypt, Algeria, and Jordan, show the urge for democratic freedoms is just as strong as, say, in Pakistan.
But democracy, needless to say, is a means to an end, not an end itself. It certainly is not about political leaders taking turns at the helm, and using it to enjoy pelf and power; it is about serving the people, providing them equal opportunities for social and economic well-being.
It is worth noting that the factors that acted as a catalyst for political change in the jasmine country are unemployment, vast income inequalities, corruption, and high food prices. All these conditions prevail in this society as well. Although employment is a major indicator of an economy's health, no government department maintains employment statistics in this country a) because no one seems to care about the hardships ordinary people endure and b) because a large part of economic activity takes place outside the formal sector, allowing a sizeable section of the rich and powerful to keep their incomes tax-free.
The wealthy land owners, who dominate the government and Parliament, pay zero tax on their agricultural incomes. And of course, corruption is endemic. Food inflation is three -digit high. The brunt of all these wrongs is borne by the common man. Those who cannot bear it have actually been committing suicides, taking their entire families with them.
So the situation is rife with possibilities for the eruption of public anger on our streets too. In fact, for a while many, including PML-N leader and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sahrif and Tehrik-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, have been voicing warnings of a 'violent revolution' in case something is not done soon to alleviate the suffering of ordinary people, albeit with little effect on the ruling party's style of governance.
The disconnect that characterizes this government's attitude towards the needs of ordinary people shows no sign of abatement. If it fails to mend its ways, something like the tragic suicide of Bouazizi in Tunis, might set off the tinderbox of unfulfilled expectations in Pakistan as well.
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