As the election time draws near, a sample of what the young voters are thinking about the political system presents an extremely worrisome picture. A British Council survey entitled "Next Generation Goes to the Ballot Box" based on interviews with 5,271 persons of 18 to 29 years age- who form over 30 percent of the electorate- shows majority are disillusioned with the democratic system.
According to the survey, there is a high level of support for the military. 58 percent of the respondents disagreed with the statement "democracy has been good for Pakistan" in the past four years. A mere 29 percent said democracy was the best system for this country while 38 percent favoured Sharia rule, saying it is best for giving rights and freedom and promoting tolerance.
Deeply disappointing as the survey result is, it should not be surprising. The people are concerned more about the content than the form of the system. What matters everywhere, including in advanced democracies, are the bread and butter and security issues. Unfortunately, however, the last five years of rule by an elected government, which replaced a military dictatorship, did nothing to improve the lot of the common man. On the contrary, it is associated with corruption, mismanagement, a severe energy crisis and resultant high levels of unemployment, steep rise in price indices and a general atmosphere of lawlessness. Needless to say, a democratically elected government's failure to deliver must not be seen as a failure of democracy. But a large number of young people are not willing to bother if the system failed them or a particular government's policies led to unbearable hardships. All they know is that they are unhappy because things have not worked for them.
As for the other issue, people in this country have fought long and hard to build a modern, democratic society. Pakistan has always been a seemingly quasi-religious society, but profoundly unreceptive to extremist, bigoted interpretations of Islam. Whenever given an opportunity to exercise their choice, the people always voted for the mainstream parties, consigning religious parties to the periphery. First time they did that with complete clarity was in 1970. But Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's government got Article 260 (3) (a) & (b) passed-defining what means to be a Muslim and non-Muslim. Thus Quaid-e-Azam's vision of religion, caste or creed being beyond the provenance of a state died a legal or ideological death. The present surge in religious sentiments is attributable to the US' wars against Muslim countries, especially the one in Afghanistan and its lack of sensitivity towards the suffering the fallout of the Afghan war brought on this country's population. Reinforcing those sentiments for 18-29 year age group are also the school curriculums introduced during the Zia era that have continued to promote retrogressive religious beliefs. The failure of the state to deliver improvement in quality of life due to economic stagnation especially under civilian rule is forcing citizens to seek refuge in religious history. One of the young men interviewed during the British Council survey seemed to mix the two reasons in taking an anti-democracy stance when he said "as a Muslim, I believe in Khalifa rule. Democracy is like giving your country and faith to America."
This is a grave indictment of the democratic system. All political parties have a responsibility to restore the next generation's trust in democracy. The key responsibility, of course, would lie with whichever party forms the new government. It must put in place policies and plans aimed at creating equitable opportunities for economic betterment as well as efficient public service delivery arrangements; and also update school education. The people will believe in democracy when they are sufficiently convinced they have a stake in its survival. The outgoing legislature failed to fully examine the consequences of laws which acquit going-rapists to uphold misogyny, bear false witness against the vulnerable that lead to the massacres we are witnessing. Intolerance whether religious or otherwise needs to be curbed; it is eradicating the foundational fabric of this country.