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VIEW: Heading towards revolt or disaster?
BY Nizamuddin Nizamani
The French queen, Marie Antoinette, might have been surprised, or probably even shocked had she lived and seen our oligarchy, feudal and industrial
lords
The recent chain of events and circumstances unfolding in Pakistan remind me of the dramatic events before the French Revolution in 1789. There seem
striking parallels between Pakistan of 2010 and France in the last quarter of the 18th century.
Since 1774, France, during the rule of the weak King Louis XVI, lived under chaos and consternation. There were repeated bloody peasant uprisings, the
masses were aggrieved and exhausted due to unemployment, price hikes, shortage of food supplies, infectious diseases, high street crimes, murders
and widespread unrest due to heavy taxes on the common populace.
On the contrary the oligarchy, nobles and clergy, oblivious to these realties, enjoyed their unhindered luxurious ceremonies and continued their dirty
intrigues in the royal court.
In France, the price of goods rose steadily by 50 percent during the 18th century due to population growth, followed by a general decline in agricultural
and industrial production.
In Pakistan, the price of goods has multiplied manifold and our population is growing rapidly — around 50 percent of it in the puberty stage. We have
faced three flour and three sugar crises during the last decade and, at the moment, are passing through decidedly the worst sugar and other
commodities crisis.
Changing demands have encouraged farmers to opt for cash crops and fruits with export demand. The prices of some fruits and vegetables like
bananas, mangoes and chillies have increased by as much as 2,000 to 3,000 percent at the cost of food crops like wheat and rice, and fodder required
for domestic animals.
The bad harvests of 1788 and 1789 in France aggravated the food crisis and increased the price of a loaf of bread, which resulted in bread riots where
the hungry masses attacked bakeries and grain silos across towns and villages in France.
In our case, cropping patterns have deprived the peasantry of traditional employment and food protection. They are compelled to work as land labourers
and buy inflation-laden daily commodities, thus creating widespread poverty. A few dozen reported suicides and the selling of children in some parts of
the country is just the tip of the iceberg; the gravity of the crisis seems much deeper.
The bread riots and other factors triggered mass migration from the villages to towns in France and the same happened in Pakistan. Declining basic
amenities, crime, lawlessness and unrest in rural areas have created uncertainty, and a weakening of state institutions has caused an awful amount of
distrust among the masses, leading them to concentrate in overloaded urban areas already host to many social evils.
France, despite its internal issues, jumped into the Anglo-American war to settle its prolonged issues with the British Crown. Similarly, we have been
poking our noses in Afghanistan. Available circumstantial evidence proves that we have been interfering directly or through so-called ‘non-state’ elements
in neighbouring countries, something that has backfired to make us face violence, large-scale kidnappings for ransom, bomb blasts, inter-provincial rifts,
a weakened federation, political strife, terrorism and mass killings every day.
Interference in North America cost huge debt burdens to France. The French government used to pay half of its total yearly income, which was around 472
million livres, towards meeting these debts but still defaulted on them. We inject more than half of our yearly budget into debt servicing and have no plans
to adjust the principal amount of $ 55 billion.
The French queen, Marie Antoinette, lived an extravagant and luxurious life, neglectful of all disasters facing the state at that time. Our ruling elite and
upper class surpass even the French queen with their lifestyles and behaviour towards the country. She might have been surprised, or probably even
shocked had she lived and seen our oligarchy, feudal and industrial lords.
The French clergy enjoyed a celebrated position during that era. They were granted extreme privileges and worked hand in glove with the royal court and
aristocracy. There was a popular maxim in those days: “Nobles fight, clergy pray, people pay.”
State crises created different schools of thoughts in Paris, led by two principal groups called the Jacobin Club and the Cordelier Club. The Cordelier, led
by the lawyers, was conservative while the Jacobin, led by Maximilian Robespierre, contained radical revolutionary ideas.
Ironically, we have the King’s party in different shapes and forms, and some progressive groups. Additionally, the media has created another power
sharing segment known as ‘anchorocracy’, where anchors from different media channels try to impose their school of thought, and indirectly indoctrinate
the public with the ideology designed by the ‘controlled’ opposition.
Religious seminaries are in full swing; ever increasing industry does booming business and remains unaffected by the socio-economic shocks and
crunches faced by the common populace. People are paying for the clergy, nobles and aristocrats of the day.
Aristotle once revealed that hunger either leads to revolution or crime. In France, Robespierre and his aides led a bloody revolution and sent the king
running in humiliation after which he was ultimately executed. He passed brutish decrees that resulted in thousands of executions, ultimately bringing
him under the same guillotine blade. However, after around one century’s bloody political experiences, including Napoleon Bonaparte’s lethal military
adventures, the French people successfully established a people-friendly welfare state.
Unfortunately, in Pakistan, despite strangely similar circumstances, there seems to be no leader who possesses the capacity to lead a revolution. God
forbid, we seem to be heading towards Aristotle’s second possibility of anarchy and disaster for which an ample cast of actors are already playing and
evidence is already in place.
The million-dollar question remains: do we wait for a charismatic leadership, go ahead with the status quo, or create fresh, alternative leadership? We
need to think about it.
The writer is an MS in Social Sciences, a professional trainer, researcher and peace activist. He may be contacted at nizambaloch@gmail.com
www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010%5C02%5C21%5Cstory_21-2-2010_pg3_3
BY Nizamuddin Nizamani
The French queen, Marie Antoinette, might have been surprised, or probably even shocked had she lived and seen our oligarchy, feudal and industrial
lords
The recent chain of events and circumstances unfolding in Pakistan remind me of the dramatic events before the French Revolution in 1789. There seem
striking parallels between Pakistan of 2010 and France in the last quarter of the 18th century.
Since 1774, France, during the rule of the weak King Louis XVI, lived under chaos and consternation. There were repeated bloody peasant uprisings, the
masses were aggrieved and exhausted due to unemployment, price hikes, shortage of food supplies, infectious diseases, high street crimes, murders
and widespread unrest due to heavy taxes on the common populace.
On the contrary the oligarchy, nobles and clergy, oblivious to these realties, enjoyed their unhindered luxurious ceremonies and continued their dirty
intrigues in the royal court.
In France, the price of goods rose steadily by 50 percent during the 18th century due to population growth, followed by a general decline in agricultural
and industrial production.
In Pakistan, the price of goods has multiplied manifold and our population is growing rapidly — around 50 percent of it in the puberty stage. We have
faced three flour and three sugar crises during the last decade and, at the moment, are passing through decidedly the worst sugar and other
commodities crisis.
Changing demands have encouraged farmers to opt for cash crops and fruits with export demand. The prices of some fruits and vegetables like
bananas, mangoes and chillies have increased by as much as 2,000 to 3,000 percent at the cost of food crops like wheat and rice, and fodder required
for domestic animals.
The bad harvests of 1788 and 1789 in France aggravated the food crisis and increased the price of a loaf of bread, which resulted in bread riots where
the hungry masses attacked bakeries and grain silos across towns and villages in France.
In our case, cropping patterns have deprived the peasantry of traditional employment and food protection. They are compelled to work as land labourers
and buy inflation-laden daily commodities, thus creating widespread poverty. A few dozen reported suicides and the selling of children in some parts of
the country is just the tip of the iceberg; the gravity of the crisis seems much deeper.
The bread riots and other factors triggered mass migration from the villages to towns in France and the same happened in Pakistan. Declining basic
amenities, crime, lawlessness and unrest in rural areas have created uncertainty, and a weakening of state institutions has caused an awful amount of
distrust among the masses, leading them to concentrate in overloaded urban areas already host to many social evils.
France, despite its internal issues, jumped into the Anglo-American war to settle its prolonged issues with the British Crown. Similarly, we have been
poking our noses in Afghanistan. Available circumstantial evidence proves that we have been interfering directly or through so-called ‘non-state’ elements
in neighbouring countries, something that has backfired to make us face violence, large-scale kidnappings for ransom, bomb blasts, inter-provincial rifts,
a weakened federation, political strife, terrorism and mass killings every day.
Interference in North America cost huge debt burdens to France. The French government used to pay half of its total yearly income, which was around 472
million livres, towards meeting these debts but still defaulted on them. We inject more than half of our yearly budget into debt servicing and have no plans
to adjust the principal amount of $ 55 billion.
The French queen, Marie Antoinette, lived an extravagant and luxurious life, neglectful of all disasters facing the state at that time. Our ruling elite and
upper class surpass even the French queen with their lifestyles and behaviour towards the country. She might have been surprised, or probably even
shocked had she lived and seen our oligarchy, feudal and industrial lords.
The French clergy enjoyed a celebrated position during that era. They were granted extreme privileges and worked hand in glove with the royal court and
aristocracy. There was a popular maxim in those days: “Nobles fight, clergy pray, people pay.”
State crises created different schools of thoughts in Paris, led by two principal groups called the Jacobin Club and the Cordelier Club. The Cordelier, led
by the lawyers, was conservative while the Jacobin, led by Maximilian Robespierre, contained radical revolutionary ideas.
Ironically, we have the King’s party in different shapes and forms, and some progressive groups. Additionally, the media has created another power
sharing segment known as ‘anchorocracy’, where anchors from different media channels try to impose their school of thought, and indirectly indoctrinate
the public with the ideology designed by the ‘controlled’ opposition.
Religious seminaries are in full swing; ever increasing industry does booming business and remains unaffected by the socio-economic shocks and
crunches faced by the common populace. People are paying for the clergy, nobles and aristocrats of the day.
Aristotle once revealed that hunger either leads to revolution or crime. In France, Robespierre and his aides led a bloody revolution and sent the king
running in humiliation after which he was ultimately executed. He passed brutish decrees that resulted in thousands of executions, ultimately bringing
him under the same guillotine blade. However, after around one century’s bloody political experiences, including Napoleon Bonaparte’s lethal military
adventures, the French people successfully established a people-friendly welfare state.
Unfortunately, in Pakistan, despite strangely similar circumstances, there seems to be no leader who possesses the capacity to lead a revolution. God
forbid, we seem to be heading towards Aristotle’s second possibility of anarchy and disaster for which an ample cast of actors are already playing and
evidence is already in place.
The million-dollar question remains: do we wait for a charismatic leadership, go ahead with the status quo, or create fresh, alternative leadership? We
need to think about it.
The writer is an MS in Social Sciences, a professional trainer, researcher and peace activist. He may be contacted at nizambaloch@gmail.com
www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010%5C02%5C21%5Cstory_21-2-2010_pg3_3