Politics of narratives and redlines

Baroness Onora O’ Neill, in her Reith lectures on BBC (2002), published in book form by the Cambridge University Press, in the first lecture, titled spreading suspicion, quoted an advice given by the Chinese thinker and sage Confucius to King Tsze-Kung, that three things are needed for government. Weapons, food and trust.

If a ruler cannot hold on to all three he must give up weapons first and food next. Trust should be guarded to the end: ‘without trust we cannot stand’. The founding fathers of Pakistan, it seems, in great moments of their high achievement and towering hopes to build Pakistan as a welfare state, while passing the Objectives Resolution (1949), inscribed therein an edict for the posterity: ‘wherein the state authority shall be exercised by the chosen representatives as a sacred trust’.

This relic and ornamental promise has been part of every constitution but seldom followed. Power and trust do not go well in this land of the pure.

Neglecting those golden words all regimes in Pakistan invariably breached that trust while in power and betrayed masses as authority was never exercised as a trust. To cling on to power, politics in Pakistan is now caught in diatribes, narratives and redlines.

Truth and trust lack everywhere in this ugly pursuit of power that leads to self-enrichment. This plundering without any fear of God or accountability is a breach of trust by the people who run state institutions and who hold high public offices.

This huge deficit of trust accumulated over decades has been breeding uncertainty and uncertainty beclouds reality and affects judgment and decision making that determine the fate of this nation. Uncertainty also brings along instability and instability halts the wheel of economy.

The state of economy which Pakistan and two hundred fifty millions wretched find themselves in today is the direct result of that breach of trust and consequent instability. The country is on the verge of an economic default.

The federal government assures people almost every day that things are going to be fine but since there is a lack of trust in state institutions, the government and people who are at the helm of affairs and as this uncertainty is unwilling to dissipate and failing to kindle any ray of hope, with every passing day things are getting worse.

Even if with the help of some fresh borrowing and support from traditional sources this default may be avoided for now but it will only be a momentary relief and a pointless effort unless some serious and immediate steps are undertaken to get rid of this economic misery and vicious cycle. With this sorry state of political instability and failing economy Pakistan will remain economically vulnerable and this crisis will continue looming over it.

Unfortunately, the situation is so bad and serious and multiple problems are so deep that there are no quick solutions. The irony is that the ruling clique, establishment and a political lot saddled in power, are unwilling to learn and mend their ways and change their extravagant life-style and agree to an austerity that is a need of the hour.

When foreign dignitaries land in Pakistan they fall under a deep spell of disbelief by seeing ostentatious ways of public representatives and civil servants and officials wearing branded suits, shoes and travelling in imported expensive cars and running palatial offices full with foreign decorating pieces.

A country who has a foreign debt of over one hundred billion US dollars, its top officials have no right to travel in executive class imported vehicles with squads. In ordinary life many of them may not have afforded even a small car. This shameful show of extravagance cannot hide inner shallowness of minds and souls.

As the power now means and leads to a free excess to public money and foreign expensive gifts given by foreign states to men in power and after all half-hearted and controlled efforts for conducting a fair and across the board accountability were allowed to miserably fail by providing purportedly ‘lawful protections’ by using the legislative processes and since many public office holders and institutions claimed immunity from accountability in the name of institutional accountability, a complete farce and negation of the rule of law and the constitution, the whole system betrays the trust of people.

It is in their name and over their lawfully obtained mandate the edifice of a lawful government stands on. In order to justify unlawful acts, prolong less than moral rule and illegitimate authority, narratives are contrived and redlines are drawn, which mock the constitution.

To project these false narratives and draw redlines the newest tools of information are employed by using public money and by extending favours to the media houses and platforms. Current affairs programmes with highly paid anchors air these narratives in chorus with political leaders of all rank and file and so-called experts on politics, current affairs, defence matters and constitutional law, who purportedly sell their words and employ their tongue to funnel and promote these false narratives that betray truth belie reality.

To give credence to these narratives for promoting political and other ends usually important information is selectively shared in advance. Generally, these narratives have poor content and are based upon very poor knowledge of the issues involved.

It is now well known that most of these leaders and their supporters are basically a flock of seasonal birds who fly for power from party to party and door to door of the power-houses and lack moral depth, courage and scruples and have no ideological base or political purpose except power. Politics has become a profession and runs in families.

These narratives choreographed to promote political agendas are usually false, planned and purpose oriented. Once a narrative achieves its purpose it is buried and a new one is launched for the next task not realizing that these false narratives live in memories of the people and create distrust in politics, leaders and institutions.

Regimes become victims of these false narratives and a new team of laundered leaders is allowed to take over after a while. Now with the flood of social media, Twitter, Facebook and news channels, truth becomes victim and trust is sacrificed at the altar of expediency. Unending.

There is a constant disconnect between power and people. The constitution that is supposed to be the ideal and the bridge between people and men in power with an inbuilt system of accountability but it remains a silent spectator in this game of power. Its mutilating silence allows powerful groups to get away with their agendas for power by building false narratives and drawing redlines.

This disconnect and consequent failure of the system is simply for the reason that the constitution remains a document of the power clique and it has failed to become a parchment and deed of rights for the common man who got only future and loud promises, be it rights, power or transfer of ownership of the system.

The common man has no money to claim these promised rights and become owner of the system that is run his name. He lives on these narratives while others draw redlines to protect them from him.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022