Democracy in Pakistan Essay (450 Words)
The progress of democracy in Pakistan has been most irregular (fitful) and unsatisfactory, Pakistan was supposed to have a completely democratic system of government within an Islamic framework. However, democracy was not allowed to work well.
Firstly, more than 80 percent of our people are either thoroughly illiterate or only some of them know how to write their names or how to write the basic ABC. They do not understand what is happening around in the country or the world. They cannot vote intelligently at all.
The prime duty of our first governments was to introduce a universal education programme in the whole country on a war footing (when the population was also much smaller). They did not do this to the utter (complete) harm of the nation.
Secondly, the existence of the formidable (difficult to defeat or deal with) “zamindari” or feudal system allowed the big landowners to control and direct the lives of millions of farm laborers and farmers working under them. These laborers and petty farmers and their families still constitute (form) the majority of the country’s total population. They are almost all illiterate and most backward.
Seeing the political strength of the “jagirdars” in the assemblies, the biggest industrialists or magnates also jumped into the political arena (scene). The political history of Pakistan, thus, is that of these “jagirdars” and industrialists at the top joining hands with military dictators and bureaucrats / (civil servants) and facilitating military rule. The stage for the enactment of the tragedy of democracy in Pakistan was prepared and erected by the first political leaders after the Quaid-e-Azam.[the_ad id=”17141”]
In the whole political set-up of the country, intellectuals, scholars, teachers and truly devoted and able patriots were mostly kept out of the electoral process or the power corridors.
Thirdly, democracy in Pakistan has been seriously hampered (checked from developing) by other factors between 1979 and the present war in Afghanistan, the rise of drug culture in and out of the country, the rise of terrorism, the growth of provincialism and sectarianism (division of society into sects or groups of their own faith), population explosion and rapid economic decline.
The separation of East Pakistan was the result of mismanagement of state affairs in the political and economic fields. We should take a lesson now at least and decide to create the best social, political and economic conditions for the promotion of national unity and democratic progress. Democracy will die its natural death if we do not put an end to the major evils like illiteracy, terrorism, bribery, corruption, economic inequality, and feudalism or the “jagirdari” system
Democracy in Pakistan Essay with Quotations (1000 Words)
Democracy is called and acknowledged as the government of the people, by the people and for the people. Role of people in democracy has proved to be the key factor in making it the most desired and admired form of government. Democracy offers freedom to people which other forms of governments forbid. A bird’s eye view of the system of governments around the globe shows that democracy is the most frequently applied form of government. Going through the pages of the history of Pakistan, it can be said that Pakistan has a history that shows that democracy could never prosper here.[the_ad id=”17142″]
“Democracy is a charming form of Government.”
It is a fact that democracy is the most dominant form of Govt. all over the world. But unfortunately, it has never enjoyed full bloom in Pakistan. Democracy has many drawbacks Democracy cannot be defined comprehensively and perfectly. So some elements i come together to explain democracy. These are called the essentials of democracy. The five essentials of democracy are people, majority, equality, political parties and patience.
“Democracy is a civilizing force.”
Democracy offers people the freedom to choose their leaders. Only the educated and the nations with the sense of responsibility successfully do this. Otherwise, this freedom proves to be a curse as people choose wrong leaders and pay the price.
Democracy gives people the chances of regular elections. This exercise is a big blessing as the use of right to vote can be used as a double blessing: one to choose right people and two, to remove wrong people. This contribution of the people does make a difference to the fate and history of the country. No other form offers such a chance to its people.
Democracy offers elected governments the best chances to make right decisions. The policy-making and application is done in a better way. People have and they can exercise their influence in guiding the leaders in the right directions. People of the country can perform the role of opposition against the govt.
Democracy demands the nation to be educated, conscious of their rights and aware of their strengths only then it improves the society on the individual as well as the national level. The leaders offer the chances for improvements in these areas and increase the chances of the prosperity of the nation. Political education of the nation is a big advantage of democracy.[the_ad id=”17150″]
All in all, it can be said that the freedoms offered by democracy are very useful in nation-building. The nation has the freedom to choose, to make amends to decide the present and the future and to speak their minds, shape their opinions and implements their ideas. Democracy lends people a chance to rule the country as they wish. It is a test of their maturity and perfection as well.
“In democracy, the people are the ultimate source of power”
The essentials of democracy play a very vital role in the development of democracy. But all these elements have never enjoyed unity. Sometimes the majority gave a wrong decision. And Sometimes equality could not be maintained. Sometimes democracy was hanged at the altar of political clashes. Thus Sometimes dictators lost patience and crushed democracy.
- The People: Democracy is known as the Govt. of the people, by the people and for the people. it starts with the unity of the people and ends due to the disunity of the people. Public opinion is the base of democracy. But unfortunately, it is newspapers or media based and personality oriented.
- Majority: Democracy is the rule of the majority. But it is a bitter fact that fools are many and wise are few. In Pakistan, this has been the major cause of failure of democracy. The few clever leaders befool the masses and are elected. A wise man has rightly said
“A majority can never replace the man just as a hundred fools cannot make one wise man.”
- Equality: it is another pillar of democracy. There are two faces of equality. One is that democracy creates equality, as it is the Govt. of the people. Another aspect is a demand of democracy that all the citizens should be equally interested in the affairs of the state. But both these principles do not exist. Equality is neither implemented nor maintained. In Pakistan, people are more concerned with their family problems than democracy.[the_ad id=”17144″]
- Political Parties: Politics in Pakistan has never been a pleasing issue. There have been differences than consents among the political parties. The democratic Govt. rules in the most undemocratic atmosphere. So the time is wasted in personal clashes.
- Patience: Democracy demands patience. But in Pakistan, it has never been observed. The impatient leaders, opposition and other factors never allow democracy to prosper. Leg pulling and corruption, no confidence and new elections are the routines of democracy in Pakistan.
“Democracy is the best Revenge.”
Unfortunately, democracy has never been implemented in Pakistan. It has failed badly. Since birth Pakistan has faced the problem of unstable Govt. The greatest causes of this fall are the illiterate masses, political leaders and parties, and the dictators. If these evils are removed then democracy will prosper.
In Pakistan, democracy has also failed due to its inherent problems such as political inequality, poor policies, malpractices, weak and poor leadership, injustice in sharing of power and distribution and misuse of influence.
“The love of democracy is that of equality.”
In the end, we can say that it is a universal truth that with all its drawbacks democracy is far better. than any other form of Govt. because it makes the masses happier and more responsible than any other system of Govt. As Quaid-e-Azam said
“Democracy disciplined and enlightened is the finest thing in the world.”
Democracy in Pakistan Essay (350 Words)
- Failed democracy
- Legacies of the military regimes
Democracy is a system of government in which all the people of a country can vote to elect their representatives. Through this system, the aim is to create stability and certainty in society. Public approval of a political party to form government gives it political legitimacy and social support to manage public affairs, and formulate and implement policies. At the center of this system is the idea of fundamental rights, political equality, social justice and individual freedoms.
According to the resolution of the Constituent Assembly, Pakistan adopted democracy within an Islamic framework as a form of government since its birth. Unfortunately, the application of the democracy in the country remained irregular and unsatisfactory for the following reason:
Democracy works successfully anywhere when the people, as a whole, are educated and well informed. As a large number of people in the country are illiterate, they do not know what is happening in the country. How a poor and illiterate can make sensible decisions in the electoral process?[the_ad id=”17151″]
Pakistan is an agricultural country where most of the people earn their living from field labour. The landlords exploited this situation to control and direct the lives of millions of farm labourers. Feudal lords prevented these land workers to get educated and rise up socially. Industrial bigwigs and military educators also kept the common people out of political arena.
In this sorry state of affairs, intellectuals, scholars, learned and devoted people are mostly kept out of the electoral process or power corridors. Consequently, the ruling elite are always selected from the rich and the affluent and the same ruling families return to power again and again.
The development of democracy, let us not forget, has been hampered by the troublesome legacies of the military regimes, including war in Afghanistan, the rise of drug culture, the rise of terrorism, the growth of provincialism and sectarianism. The arrival of the Afghan refugees caused a free flow of arms into the country.
Sindh in particular has become the hotbed of crimes. The production and smuggling of drugs like heroin not only increased the number of drugs addicts but also enriched the drug merchants. The drug mafia began controlling politics, offering bribes in assemblies to boost their parties.
Democracy is a natural system for an ethnically diverse and culturally pluralistic society like Pakistan. And this is why after every failed and discredited dictatorship, we turned to democracy. We need to make out democracy better in the interest of the common man. And it is a collective social enterprise that we cannot leave to the dominant elites.