Author: admin

THE humidity hangs heavily in the air but doesn’t deter the quiet protest by a small group of women. They sit silently, their heads bowed, a small splash of colour against the grey concrete. With their old-fashioned hand fans, they occupy a sheet of plastic in the middle of the road.

The nearby green areas, which once allowed Pakistan to bring its problems to Islamabad by holding protests there, is closed to these women. The earth and grass are far too comfortable for them to be allowed there. They have to sit on the road, close to a busy commercial area, but away from the business in the area, as traffic barriers create a boundary, separating them from life in the capital. They have been here for a month but have not managed to disturb the life of the city or the government. How can they when even the doors of the washrooms of the press club close by are closed to them? Those who should be the flag-bearers of freedom of information are now a part of a system which bears down on citizens rather than standing up for the oppressed.

So it’s not just the washrooms but also coverage which is denied. These protesters are ignored, blacked out. There was a time, when such a gathering would have galvanised enough opinion to put any government on the back foot. Not anymore. The women’s steadfastness in this heat and in these circumstances moves no one. Perhaps partly because most people do not even know they are here and partly because this government has no space to even pretend to care about human rights.

The protest has been rendered invisible.

But then the political suffering of women has been normalised in the abnormal times we live in — the women in Islamabad who are not even allowed to sit on grass lest it prove too comfortable, or Mahrang Baloch who has been imprisoned with little chance of any relief in the near future. In Lahore, Yasmin Rashid has been behind bars for two years, with little concern for anyone outside of her party (which can barely do more than pay lip service to the matter). Her age moves no one; neither do the elderly women sitting on the road in this heat in a corner of Islamabad, carrying pictures of their missing loved ones in their heavily wrinkled hands. Their endless wait is for closure as well as some compassion from those in charge.

Ask the government about anything untoward and they simply shrug it off.

But suffering and lack of compassion have been normalised in the abnormal times we live in. As has been the indifference of political parties, which can no longer even pretend to care. Not even those who continue to bask in the glory of a woman who was once the lone symbol of suffering and the target of the powerful ones.

This is not all that has been normalised.

Consider journalism. Arrests, FIRs, disappearances — temporary and permanent — were part of what journalists signed up for. What it meant was that only the brave ones would continue down certain paths (most opened the door and walked through to the compound where awards adorn one’s resumé). But despite this, we have seen a fair share of brave souls who continued to face the dangers. Here too, though, there is an effort to remind them that this may not prove enough.

In recent times, at least two journalists have spoken about how the bank accounts of family and even acquaintances have been blocked. Parents, siblings and even vendors who made the mistake of selling to pesky journalists have been affected. The only recourse left to them were the courts, which, too, are now enveloping themselves in the mantle of indifference. But the message is that collective punishment is the fate of those who will not heed more specific messages about falling in line. Or that the element of surprise will always be their fate. When blocked bank accounts did not prove enough, one of them was stopped from flying out of the country recently. Since then, a PTI politician’s daughter has also found her way to the list. Her father is neither in power nor in parliament and is perhaps not in a position to make any decision but still had to be sent a message. And for this, a university student was stopped from leaving the country, putting her education at risk.

In all of these random, seemingly disconnected incidents, there is a commonality — no one can be asked about them or even shamed. The government has moved beyond this — ask them about anything untoward and they simply shrug it off. There must be a reason, a valid reason, is the only answer. If it’s a journalist, he or she must have done something wrong to attract the ‘long arm of the law’. And if there is a story involving a politician from the opposition, the easiest response is to either hint at the former’s non-patriotic credentials or feign ignorance and move on.

Indifference has been normalised in these abnormal times.

And while some of us do express horror, grief and shock, it amounts to little; the second such incident is taken in its stride. It has already happened to others and if the previous incident was accepted, so should the new one. The shock and horror turns into acceptance.

But then, these are abnormal times, we tell ourselves. And they might not last and neither will these stories. However, this provides little comfort for I can remember when we first began to hear of ‘missing people’; when stories about the missing were read avidly because it was so new. Or when suicide bombings first happened in Pakistan. Then the times changed, leaders changed but we learnt to live with the missing and the suicide bombers. Times don’t last necessarily but the abnormal soon becomes normal.

The writer is a journalist.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2025

NONE of our past regimes established durable progress and many have even put us back. But perhaps only Zia’s era, our worst one by far, matches the reversals we have seen under the current hybrid set-up in just 18 months, contrary to claims of making major progress.

The main harm has been done to democracy as civilian sway is at its lowest in key areas. While our two oldest parties are ruling overtly, they seemed to have nixed the political progress of yore. They began by violating their Charter of Democracy oath not to win power with the establishment’s aid. In 2013, they had ensured our only fair civilian power transfer but won this time through arguably our most rigged poll since the 2002 one held under martial law. To end rigging by incumbents, both had adopted the global good model of neutral caretakers that bars them from joining the next set-up to reduce conflict of interest. But in 2024, they bent their own good law to induct caretakers in cabinets.

Our post-2009 higher judiciary hiring system too was among the best globally as its use of judicial and balanced bipartisan assembly committees ended the executive’s hold. But instead of improving it by adding merit criteria and open applications, they re-cemented the executive hold, which has harmed the judiciary. A crackdown is underway against the PTI, nationalist Baloch and KP groups and even ordinary citizens reminiscent of the Zia era. Media and other freedoms are being nixed via bad laws. While they had rightly criticised the PTI’s era for such political sins, their own have now left the former behind.

The government has achieved fragile economic stability but is clueless about durable growth. The real economic reversal, though, is the loss of ambition. CPEC, along with the Gulf inflows, was a solid way of industrialising. But 10 years later, greater attention is focused on US ties in controversial areas like crypto and natural wealth — a globally feared curse for misruled states like ours — plus remittances and establishment-led farming. The last seems to reflect a concern that greater industrialisation may bring in meritorious rulers, and so dubious sectors are a better focus for the rulers’ narrow interests. Zia had done the same. Ayub and Bhutto had at least adopted varied, though faulty, state-led ways to industrialise. But Zia moved the focus to predatory sectors such as US aid, real estate, etc.

The main harm has been done to democracy.

Insecurity is increasing and negatively affecting the gains of the 2008-18 era. While this set-up rightly pins the blame for this trend on the PTI-era hybrid government for resettling TTP fighters in KP, its own steps have exacerbated matters. Its forcible approach to Balochistan, even towards peaceful marchers, is pushing common people away from normal politics. Oddly, we tell other states facing terrorism to address the root causes but avoid doing so ourselves in Balochistan. Many say the state’s distinction among ‘good and bad’ Taliban stokes terrorism in KP and new operations will only add to people’s miseries.

The big reversal externally is the rekindling of that old, on-off romance with the US via personal, non-civilian ties instead of normal state ties. While the regime calls it progress, many vividly recall the damage three decades of such ties did. The chances of us being fourth time lucky are slim as the key actors on both sides resemble past ones. For us, it’s again a set-up desperately seeking global patrons to overcome its low domestic legitimacy and su­­­-rvive. For the US, it’s a very short-visioned and self-centred (Trump) regime even by US norms. So, many fear the results may benefit our ruling elites but harm the masses.

So, all the reversals approach those in non-civilian eras, making one wonder if this will be the worst civilian era ever and how much more harm it will cause. Sages say talks are the best way out of the mess. But strong autocracies don’t voluntarily concede; instead, they use talks to pressure dissidents to yield and give themselves legitimacy. The current set-up might only accept calls for fair polls, civilian sway, judicial freedom and end to crackdowns if dissidents form a strong joint platform, which seems unlikely for now.

Though the nation is angry, it remains divided. Diverse angry groups are angry on diverse issues and often don’t relate to and even oppose the basis of anger of other angry groups. So, regime may cave in under the weight of its own missteps, as always pushed gently and jointly by dissidents.

The writer has a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, in political economy and 25 years of grassroots to senior-level experiences across 50 countries.

murtazaniaz@yahoo.com

X: @NiazMurtaza2

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2025