Laraib Nisar
The political culture of a state has a vital role to play in posing a positive image of a state. The countries with democratic ethos enjoy a prestigious position in the international community while others face serious image issues which further adds to the problems of state. Unfortunately the political culture in the Pakistan is marked by this political tactic named “sit in” commonly known as a “dharna”. This dharna culture can be traced back to the pre-partition era where Gandhi adopted these devices in his nonviolent civil disobedience movements. The strategy has been used by different political parties and religious groups in Pakistan time and again. The dharna culture witnessed a major revival in Pakistan some 6 years ago and has sadly become a yearly ritual now. The current political situation of Pakistan in the wake of dharna politics doesn’t only bring a bad name for the country but also has some serious impacts on the social fabric of the country.
Normally in a sit-in the protesters occupy a space where they sit and protest peacefully until their just demands are addressed, but unfortunately in Pakistan the protesters intending to do a dharna occupy a space of strategic significance and by sitting there, they can easily paralyze the whole capital. The economic sector suffers the most with such a situation, since a typical dharna in Islamabad mostly leads to closure of the main highways and roads, hence people are unable to reach their workplaces, supply chains are broken and the people working on daily wages mostly living under the poverty line are generally affected and face difficulties. With the absence of cellular network, online businesses including cab services, food delivery services etc. face great hitches and mostly stop operations during the dharna season. Another sector which faces the negative effects of dharna and closure of roads is the education sector. Educational institutions are closed due to the students’ lack of access to mobility and hence exams are postponed, classes cancelled which affects the students adversely. Moreover, the whole scenario makes the provision of medical supplies and services very hard. Several patients in critical situation lose their battle with life in an ambulance which is unable to find a way to the hospital. In addition to all these problems created by a dharna, the biggest of all is the embarrassment it brings to the government as the capital of the country is almost hijacked at the hands of a few protestors. Now in the wake of COVID-19, such a situation could act as the breeding ground for the virus; still such a public engagement has been observed in the recent past without keeping an even stronger and lethal second wave of the virus in mind.
Despite government’s quick response and arrangement of negotiations with the protestors and resolving the situation, dealing with dharnas is a crucial problem which needs to be addressed immediately. The first step in this regard could be to mark spaces across the country at district levels for protests and do proper legislation to make it a municipal concern under the jurisdiction of the local government. Moreover, the government should try to hear the grievances of the people timely so they don’t have to indulge in mass protests and dharnas. In the meanwhile, the citizens should also understand that such protests are not the only option to get their concerns heard, and should understand the cost of such activities for the prosperity of the country. The government can also learn some lessons from the developed countries like UK and USA in this regard, in a protest against the British Prime Minister a large number of peaceful protesters gathered holding play cards, who were allocated a marked space and a fence was put alongside roads for the peaceful demonstration which no one could cross. In case of violation to the marked space, strict rule of law was applied without discrimination. Similarly, in Washington DC during demonstration by Democracy Spring almost 400 citizens were arrested due to “unlawful demonstration activity” that was a protest against the relevant authorities. Since they had gone through legislation to facilitate their citizens they could apply strict rule of law in case of violation. If the government imitates such models and does proper legislation and makes rule of law its first priority along with facilitating the people, the dharnas can be managed efficiently without posing any harm to the writ of the state. Here another thing that the public needs to understand is the fact that the global pandemic has already done great damage to Pakistan in all aspects, the citizens should try their best not to be the reason for any further damage to the country.
The author Laraib Nisar is a Defense and Strategic Studies’ graduate, working as a research intern at CRSS.
