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| India-Pakistan |
| Democracy and governance |
| 2015-10-11 |
| [DAWN] GOOD governance, human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... and individual freedoms, and rule of law are among the main features of democracy. A democratic state cannot choose one, or some, of these and reject others. Common citizens may see good governance as a priority because this is directly linked to their daily life needs. But the significance of freedom and other attributes of democracy cannot be discounted; they are equally important to fulfil one's physical and emotional needs. Denying emotional, spiritual and aesthetic needs to people does not mean these cease to exist. This is as simple as it is evident. Complexities arise when certain state institutions or groups of people start to believe that people need only what the power elites think they need. Eventually, the power elites start seeing the people as their subjects who have only physical needs; other needs, in their eyes, fall in the domain of religion. At the same time, these elites try to also regulate religion because they fear 'miscreants' can exploit it and create trouble in the way of good governance. Although the Muslim world on the whole is facing this dilemma, the Arab world is a chronic example of this model of governance that looks after only the physical needs of the people. The Arab Spring epitomised the fact that people are not merely subjects; nor are their needs merely physical. In some cases, power elites provided more space to their people to resolve the crisis. In others, power elites refused to do so thus plunging their states into turmoil. However, the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... it is becoming increasingly difficult for power elites in these countries to use this model of governance as a tool to suppress freedom and democracy. Ironically, Muslim countries including Pakistain, which are in a process of democratic transition, still seek inspiration from failed models. One's interaction with power elites in Islamabad would suggest that the concepts of democracy and freedom do not figure in the latter's ideas of state-building. For instance, Middle Eastern controlled-regime models continue to inspire many retired military brass hats and some of them even talk about replicating these models in Pakistain. In their case, it is understandable because they come from a disciplined background, but when former diplomats and ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and Malaysia as model states in terms of governance, democracy and freedom of expression. |
| Posted by:Fred |