What is democracy? What are democratic attitudes? How is the development of democracy possible? How is it possible to provide basic human rights in democratic societies? How are public interests harmed in non-democratic societies? How can rules and regulations be violated in a dictatorship? These are questions that are debated every day in the statements of political leaders as well as political experts. Thousands of words pass before our eyes carrying these questions. Our ears hear these words hundreds of times throughout the day.
Whether it is democracy or democratic attitudes, we are not only far away from it in the real sense of the word, but we love this distance. Dictatorship or authoritarian attitudes are actually our preferences and we want to develop our political and social behavior with them. For the difference between democracy and dictatorship, we always see politically a political party winning the elections to take over the power or an individual taking over the power. But if you look carefully, it is not like that at all. Democracy or dictatorship is not related to any institution, party or individual. Nor is power the center of these justifications. Basically democracy or dictatorship is related to our attitudes.
We always think of authoritarianism as evil, but we can easily find dictatorial tone and character around us in people wearing coats, pants and jackets. The political history of Pakistan is passing through a very important phase. On one side stands pro-establishment political thought (in their own knowledge), and on the other side the critics of the establishment are aligned (in their own knowledge, as both sides have neither democratic attitudes nor practices). Surprisingly, both of these are intellectual fallacies. Both have authoritarian behavior.
At present, Nawaz League and People’s Party are basking in the bath of power, while Tehreek-e-Insaf is being criticized as the only opposition. On both sides, democracy has not gone far. If there was democracy, today all positions in Nawaz League and People’s Party would not have been made servants of their own household. Similarly, the source of power in Tehreek-e-Insaf would not have been the caste of a captain. Even while in power, the democratic Prime Minister of Tehreek-e-Insaf adopted dictatorial behavior to run the power, on the other hand, now Nawaz League is serving the dictatorship well considering itself to be rational. We have been proving dictators as absolute rulers. But in hindsight, our political parties are beginning to define absolute dictatorship more fully.
Recently there was a ruckus in the Islamabad rally. When a democratic thought within the party wanted to raise its head on the language used by the administrative head of a province and wanted to negate this speech, the dictatorial mood within the party crushed this democratic thought. If the political party really had a democratic way of thinking, oppositional thinking and critical statements would also be given equal importance. But the statement of a leader was taken by the whole party as its own thought. That is, the dictatorial behavior of a certain dominant thought stifled the voice of those who called wrong within the party. Is this democracy? So what is dictatorship? Such is the behavior towards Nawaz League or any other political party. Political parties are starting to consider arguments and differences as their death. Be it Tehreek-e-Insaf or Nawaz League, People’s Party or JKM League, all are pieces of the same plate. Be it religious parties or linguistic concerns, all have authoritarian practices and cry for democracy. Parties do not like even a voice that disagrees with their argument.
If we want to study the totalitarian authoritarian behavior, then all the political parties of Pakistan meet the definition that where decisions are taken by individuals alone, the thinking is of specific families, nepotism is strong at the practical level, adversarial and Critical thinking is being stifled. When oppositional thinking in political parties is considered democratic traditions, then the difference between dictatorship and democracy in the real sense will be possible, otherwise Nero will continue to play the flute of China and Rome will continue to burn.
