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Youth of the nation: By LUMS professor Rasul Bakhsh Rais
Nov 13, 2007: The sudden rise of the social movement rejects the conventional analysis that
the youth is depoliticised and mainly interested in advancing their
careers
What we are witnessing in Pakistan these days is a new social
movement that is remarkably different from the ones launched against dictators
in the past. It is not being driven as much by the old-fashioned, deal-making
power elites as it is by strong popular sentiment among the Pakistani youth
inside and outside the country. What is this popular sentiment, and why are the
Pakistani youth at the centre of it? What explains the rise of this new social
movement? What are its aims, and its chances of success?
It is heartening
that while the power-elites were still debating how the imposition of martial
law in the country would hurt them or create fresh opportunities of cooptation,
college and university students along with young media and legal professionals
instantly realised the enormity of the act of trashing the constitution and
throwing the vast majority of judges of the superior judiciary out of the
system.
It is perhaps for the first time in the political history of the
country that legal and constitutional issues, hitherto a domain of the expert,
have entered into the popular imagination with a powerful reminder that what
happens in the superior judiciary is a matter of public concern. The unfolding
of political events since March and the manner in which the media presented and
debated the question of independence of the judiciary on the one hand, and the
efforts of the executive to subvert it, brought into sharp relief the value of
rule of law, dissent and the larger question of representation in the structures
of power.
The judicial crisis and the lawyers' movement captured the
attention of all sections of society. But more than any other, the youth became
interested in the identity of their state - who controls and runs it and for
what purposes - and learnt their first lesson in politics. The lesson was that
one or few individuals associated with powerful formal institutions and informal
social structures have absolute control over the state and do not care about
public interests.
In the past, ruling elites got away with acts of
corruption, martial laws and emergencies because they could easily manage and
control society through a co-opted intermediating class comprising landowners,
caste and tribal chiefs and other socially influential figures with an inherent
stake in the elitist power structure, often directed and manipulated by the men
in uniform. Their recent moves against the constitution and the judiciary are
based on the old assumptions about society. Their reading of the changes that
have occurred on a global, regional and domestic level does not seem realistic.
Demographically, the youth constitutes the largest part of Pakistan's
population. Some of them are enrolled in various modern educational
institutions, while others in madrassas. A major portion of the youth, however,
remains uneducated and unemployed. Despite belonging to different social strata,
they share disrespect for Pakistani power structures and systems of governance.
They also have a common vision of a state that is representative and responsive
to the needs of society, something elite-dominated or military-ruled states are
not.
Not all sections of the Pakistani youth possess the same social
capacities, political vision or leadership qualities because of their different
social backgrounds and degree of exposure to the modern world. College and
university graduates have assumed the vanguard role in the emerging social
movement of Pakistan. This is a very different generation from the one that had
participated in the anti-Ayub agitation. It is distinctive in intellectual
development and skills, and is technology savvy. It is wired with the
international civil society and likeminded groups everywhere, and can access
real time information about events.
The most important thing about the
rise of the new social movement is that the young Pakistanis have acquired
political socialisation in a globalised context with deeper knowledge and
understanding of positive changes taking place in other countries, and how their
own country is being governed. This generation opened its eyes in the martial
law of Zia-ul Haq and has matured in the double martial law of Pervez Musharraf.
They are justified in being dismayed and discontented over how their nation and
statehood have been repeatedly violated by rapacious military and civil elites.
The sudden rise of the social movement rejects the conventional analysis
that the youth is depoliticised and mainly interested in advancing their
careers. A movement starting in an elite institution like LUMS tells a very
different story about this student body, both in private and public
universities, that has been organising protest meetings, rallies and
demonstrations since the proclamation of emergency rule. They are more
interested in the future of their country: how it is ruled, by whom and for what
purposes.
They have a very different sense of patriotism as they want
the country to be civilised, respected internationally and governed under
universal norms of law and justice. Let there be no mistake about the new social
movement: it is not about resuming political musical chairs with the usual actor
or actors turning on and off the tune. This movement, though in its early
stages, is essentially about structural change: it demands the restoration of
the constitution and the judiciary, the twin victims of the current martial law.
It is also about freedoms, rule of law and basic human decency - values at the
heart of modern civilisation that the ruling cliques have violated at will.
We can't leave this discussion without asking the question: will it
succeed? Given political developments over the past forty years, the old system
of power is so unnatural, humiliating, and even unpatriotic that it cannot
survive for too long. There is national revolt against it, to which the youth,
more than any other sector, is contributing to with an unusual motivation and
commitment.
This is not likely to end even if the presently
dysfunctional regime of General Musharraf takes immediate remedial actions, like
holding elections or lifting the state of emergency. The focus of the struggle
is the constitution and an independent judiciary, including reinstatement of
judges axed by the martial law, and redefinition of the role of the military in
Pakistani politics. This is bound to happen, but the when and how is yet to be
seen.
Signs of the demise of perhaps the last martial law are
everywhere. Defiance is growing, and is taking new and innovative forms. And,
there is close networking among civil society groups and resistance is being
aided by technology.
The primitive, elite-led state faces a serious
challenge from a very modern civil society. It would not be difficult to
foretell the winner.
The author is a professor of Political Science
at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. He can be reached at
rasul@lums.edu.pk (Daily Times)
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| Education News | | Updated: 25 May, 2012 |
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