Can Democracy Wait?

It’s been more than a week since 14 August when all these inqilabi and azadi marches started their journey towards the capital. For the past week there has been nothing on TV and newspapers except for news updates and developments on these marches. Even those who weren’t part of any of them were sunken deep into the ever changing situation. These protests have made an entire city hostage, life has literally come to a still and everyone is hoping for it to end soon.

No matter how much we despise them and hold them responsible for derailing democracy and putting up unconstitutional demands they somehow make sense as most of their demands are what we as average Pakistanis also want. The only difference between them and us is that we are willing to wait another 5 years for the sake of democracy just as we have been waiting since the last 60 years!  We don’t want any protests, rallies, dharnas or any kind of systematic changes during this period as we believe that just by letting democracy run smoothly we can achieve these goals magically.

If we want true democracy in Pakistan we have to set some things right first, otherwise the argument that “give democracy sometime” will never hold true as it will always be derailed by similar protests. To make democracy work we have to make some very solid changes in our justice system as well. The justice system in Pakistan is one of the most corrupt in the world. Common people like us are so afraid of police stations and courts that we rather not report petty crimes (mobile snatchings, thefts, deception, over-pricing) at all just to avoid the hassle and have almost no hope of any kind of recovery whatsoever. There has never been a single fully independent case hearing of the innumerable corruption cases against former/current politicians. Can they get away with anything? Even murder? 14 people were killed by police and still no FIR was registered just because the people involved are above the law? Still we want things to settle down and this fiasco to end.

Electoral reform is the foremost demand in both these protests. If we do not make changes in the election system these protests will occur every 5 years after General Elections. So either we make these changes now or keep on dragging the system for another term with similar protests every year weakening democracy further.

The azadi march was announced 2 months ago after failure to negotiate terms with government on their very valid demands; but government never paid any heed to it. Not even the opposition who is now very active in trying to sort things out between the two just to save the “system”. Similarly the other march started merely because people were killed and timely justice was not served. Regardless of the number of people protesting on streets, it is a democratic government’s responsibility to give people their rights and fulfill their justified demands.

However this drama ends, one thing is for sure, people won't tolerate incompetent and corrupt rulers anymore. Even if things settle down they won't last much long until another group stands up against the same rotten system. So might as well elongate this protest and set some things right, even if it calls for an interim government for some time. Democracy can wait.