"Before a democratic government can stabilise, the middle classes, schooled in the Pakistan Military Academy narrative, start aching for another saviour on horseback, but none exists."
The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : The alternative to the slow boat of democracy in Pakistan is failure: General Zia-ul-Haq tried authoritarian rule, with dangerous personal Islamic vision. The narrative he chose to guide the state was incompatible with peaceful co-existence in the region and with democracy. It promoted jihadist militias and covert foreign adventures and undermined already weak democratic traditions and organisations. After he exploded, his vision continued inside a partly Islamicised, partly mercenary military high command and a spectacularly stupid public ideology that now floats somewhere between the Jamat Islami and the lunatic fringe.
If Zia-ul-Haq's Islamic vision were to be enforced at all, it would destroy the existing cultures of Pakistan and it would lead to an endless civil war and then to wider war in the region, undermining any possibility of serious economic development.
The fundamental problem with the army's vision and its "system" is that it repeatedly collapses before it can reach the Promised Land, each time leaving bigger problems behind. Then the "failed politicians" return, but without obtaining full power, especially over the army and its agencies. They are constantly harassed and "legacy problems" remain outside their purview, further undermining any possibility of real progress.
The question is not about democracy versus authoritarianism. It is about whether an "under-developed" state, such as Pakistan, can develop as a capitalist democracy without going through a fascist phase. It either stabilises as a democracy, or it violently fails.
Since there is NO good authoritarian alternative, it may be time to go the slow route of democracy!
If Zia-ul-Haq's Islamic vision were to be enforced at all, it would destroy the existing cultures of Pakistan and it would lead to an endless civil war and then to wider war in the region, undermining any possibility of serious economic development.
The fundamental problem with the army's vision and its "system" is that it repeatedly collapses before it can reach the Promised Land, each time leaving bigger problems behind. Then the "failed politicians" return, but without obtaining full power, especially over the army and its agencies. They are constantly harassed and "legacy problems" remain outside their purview, further undermining any possibility of real progress.
The question is not about democracy versus authoritarianism. It is about whether an "under-developed" state, such as Pakistan, can develop as a capitalist democracy without going through a fascist phase. It either stabilises as a democracy, or it violently fails.
Since there is NO good authoritarian alternative, it may be time to go the slow route of democracy!
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