"Pakistan’s Ground Reality and the Curse of Fascism" - Ishraq A. Hashmi

Pakistan today grapples with deep-rooted challenges that go beyond economic or political crises. At the heart of these struggles lies the pervasive shadow of fascism—a system that undermines democracy, stifles free speech, and suppresses the rights of ordinary citizens. This curse manifests in the concentration of power, erosion of justice, and the use of fear to control society. As the nation battles poverty, corruption, and instability, the grip of fascist tendencies threatens to derail hopes for peace, progress, and true freedom. Understanding this reality is crucial to breaking the cycle and paving the way for a just and inclusive Pakistan.

If you want to know the behavior of a good person or to know the mind of a city, it has been written in books that in the streets and markets, listen to the language of creation. Blessed are those towns where the inhabitants test the word and know the behavior of speech. Indeed, those countries have become unmarked, where words have lost their meaning, voices have turned into noise, and the book of reason has become dusty. These days, our land is suffering from this same torment. The history of our town has been hanging on the spear of a dervish's painful voice since ancient times. The dispute over the land between the people and the protector has gone through such intricate ravines that the battle lines have become disorganized. The difference between the soldier and the informer has disappeared. The lines of devotion and plunder have been swept away by the winds of the desert. The fields of the mansion were fields centuries ago. The heirs reap the fruitless harvest under the sun of their idleness. A few years ago, a dead bull that had grown taller than General Bahadur was taken care of by an army of his own men. A crowd of courtiers carried him on their shoulders and brought him to the big temple. A crowd of children from the streets joined the procession.

This skinny, wooden-clad man thought of himself as an emperor. That was the story of Syed Muhammad Ashraf of Sitapur, 'Nambardar Ka Neela.' Now the problem is that the tired old soldiers of the old armies refuse to tame the calf of the Samaritan. Wherever the young Telangans raise their voices, they throw a lot of abuse. Their history began on October 30, 2011. Passing through the dharna of 2014, it reached the Diwan Khas of the Royal Palace on July 25, 2018. During this time, the country's economy was destroyed. The foundations of the state's business were laid. National prestige was in the dust. Politics first became a spectacle and then, entangled in a whirlwind of conspiracy, fell face down on the threshold of the palace on April 10, 2022.

In the name of past indulgence, it rose and crashed against the city wall on May 9, 2023. Now, the 'Samaritan's calf' is scattered everywhere in the deserted field like the rebels of Milton's 'Paradise Lost,' and the old broken body and faded dream of this battle taunt the soldiers. It calls some fascists and accuses others of being courtiers. They themselves cling to the threshold of the throne and beg for permission to enter, but they sometimes accuse the unarmed soldiers who have been on the front line for decades of being courtiers and sometimes of being fascists. The stories of the court are the lives of those who have left the court. Ask us, who have seen this torment for fifty centuries, about the symptoms of fascism. Fascism transforms nationalism into a formless one through slogans, anthems, and visual symbols. Fascism violates the principles of human rights and justice. Fascism sometimes creates an imaginary enemy out of fear of scattering the masses and sometimes hangs the chains of treason and anti-patriotism around the necks of some weak groups.

Fascism spends resources on arrows and guns instead of providing the people with two meals a day. The army are given shiny medals by wearing attractive uniforms, and dreams of prosperity are shared among the people. Fascism promotes male supremacy. Apart from gender discrimination, this is also a tactic to enforce the principle of power. In fascism, strict restrictions are imposed on the media so that defects in the collective system cannot be identified. In fascism, national security is considered the main priority over the welfare of the people. Fascism is religious leadership. Inevitably, it allies itself with the capitalist groups in order to keep public opinion paralyzed under the guise of devotion and piety. Fascism provides every possible benefit to capitalist groups. The capital of the elite and the power of the state together deprive the people of their livelihood. In fascism, the productive process and the worker are given a derogatory status so that those who spend their sweat on the foundations of the economy cannot walk with their heads held high. In fascism, intellectuals are looked down upon, and the high arts are humiliated. In fascism, the focus is on crime instead of peace, and supremacy is established through the fear of severe punishments. In fascism, appeasement and corrupt elements are given special respect. In fascism, rigging and interference in the election of decision-makers are inevitable. The justice system is also included in this process so that the monopoly on the distribution of resources can be maintained. If Pakistan's fledgling revolutionaries get a break from the business of insulting and cursing, they should look into their own pockets and calculate what signs are recorded on their political journal.

It is a strange spectacle that one of the two groups that give a glimpse of the country from the high platform of business believes that the country's boat is moving towards the blue waters of development and prosperity. And the other group says that the country is being played with. In such a situation, some other question is floating in the eyes of 25 crore people standing on the scorching land below the poverty line. Why was the sugar available in the country exported, and now whose coffers will grow green by importing sugar again?

How will the one who has to pay the rent of a house pay the electricity bill? Where will the one who has to educate the children get the fuel expenses for the ride? How will the one who is not guaranteed two meals a day arrange for treatment in case of illness? Right now, there is no flood situation in the country; just rainwater has taken hundreds of lives, but out of every three deaths, two have died due to the collapse of walls and roofs. There is someone who has made paths in our courtyard when our dilapidated house collapsed.