Equality Exercise Drives Pakistani Nation towards Modernism

There are advantages and disadvantages in the exercise of ‘equality right,’ which is constitutionally available to each member of society. The problem is the illiterate people in majority, who happen to be unaware of their legal rights under the 1973 Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

It would be worth mentioning here that right after the military coup on October 12, 1999, General Pervez Musharraf reassured the Pakistani nation that his was not an obscurantist (religious) agenda, and he referred to the “Ataa Turk model” as his inspiration in his mission to rescue the sinking country out of deep trouble. He meant guaranteeing the EQUALITY with MODERNISM to all citizens across the country. Around that horrible period of official paralysis and mismanagement, the corrupt democratic governments of PPP and the PML (n) mishandled the ongoing ‘governance crisis.’

Ironically, they were back and forth into power democratically as well as through the legal recourse from the apex court level. Though it’s discomforting to mention, yet the reality was none of the two governments were able to prevent the economic decline.

In 1999, the national exchequer had almost bottomed out with no hope of any ‘topping up,’ despite the Nawaz Campaign of “dollar mangaao qarz mukaao scheme.”

The incentive-package was attractive enough to have lured some hard earned dollars of the Pakistani expatriates abroad. Even, this didn’t work to rectify the menace. So the severe economic derailment turned into chronic financial ailment to a point where all the dollar deposits went missing without a trace unfortunately.

And, this actually led to a huge build up of financial mess in the 1990s. Hence, main blame goes to the immature people of that period who were clinging onto power despite their incompetence and the inherent inability to deliver to the nation in terms of EQUALITY.

In 2014, we are still going through the worst form of the economic scenario with even harsher ground reality. With mega inflation, the poverty way below the poverty line, the terrible energy crisis and the fear of terrorism 24/7 are the worries that are responsible for jeopardizing the right to equality. Nevertheless, modernism is still intact, rather it’s on the rise.

Thanks to the enlightened moderation which has curtailed and dented our religious rights of equality. Proxy war against Islam and Pakistan is an ongoing phenomenon with no end soon in sight. Unless the whole nation is on the single page to protect the writ of State and secure our practice of Deen, the right of equality will be further deteriorated.

Though, the military dictator seemed to have adopted the modern ‘secular’ & liberal credentials,’ yet his notion of ‘Enlightened-Moderation’ did adulterate the social and religious norms of the Pakistani society. The said enlightened moderation is here to stay as the internet access is there to facilitate the youth; that’s how, the practice of his concept has almost turned into a reality.  On top of that, the young minds are getting ruined by the sexually explicit material which is just a click or so away, hand held devices including the mobile phones which are out of parental control. This is a type of “Remote Control EQUALITY’ which is aimed at nothing but corrupting the civil society as a whole.

Indeed, with this paradigm shift, several sociological changes in the country are taking place.  A strategic shift in ideological positioning within the women’s movement has been noticed along with debate over religion and secularism in relation to women’s political participation.  However, there are understandings and contradictions of “Islamic & secular identity politics” in the women’s movement.

Like the most of other nations, the Constitution of Pakistan is based on the concept of equality to all its citizens without discrimination.

Based on the required age and other pre-requisites, the document on constitution of Pakistan (dastoor-e-Pakistan) offers all citizens: (a) an equal opportunity,

(b) right to live in any part of the country, (c) have a profession of their choice.

The grown up adults have the rights to contest elections and select the leaders of their choice. Unfortunately, when it comes to politics, there is too much violation of the document. The equal rights are smashed by the power hungry powerful elite. There is a lot of rigging and ballot stuffing. Especially, the village and the tribe culture directly hit the document of ‘Dastoor-e-Pakistan’ and the voters’ rights of voting are either stolen or their votes are cast not by the rascals of the vested interests. This means, these votes are taken care of by the interested rogues/agents of the candidates.  So the pressure tactics work against the right to equality.

In the real sense, the concept of equality is good for development of a sense of respect among citizens.

Employee-employer environment: As the equality is beneficial for all, it’s vital. Yet there are organizations that fail to avoid discriminating on the basis of caste, color, race and gender in a number of cases. This attitude is injurious to the concept of equality; hence becomes a painful reality suddenly.

On the other hand, if the employees are allowed to enjoy equal opportunities, they have sufficient alternatives for contributing towards the growth of the organization. They are more than willing to work for maximizing their potential, thus leading to the targeted growth of the company they work for.

Mental Satisfaction helps deliver immensely: The feel of ‘being fundamentally equal’ brings a lot of satisfaction and pleasure among the work force.

Furthermore, equality leads to morality and justice, translating into an easy access of services where workers are able to fulfill their potentials without any fear or apprehension. Thus, the exercise and practice of equality will be providing fair behavior to all while identifying that everyone is different.

The problem is our employers/organizations are hardly working on the basis of equality. They are not very good at providing equal opportunities to their employees indiscriminately. Thus, the dream, of an equal and fair access to a variety of jobs, training and promotion, has not come true as yet.

Positive fact: Despite, the difference of opinion among various quarters of Pakistani society, there is no bar on women being in the workforce including the educational institutions and even in various business sectors. Isn’t that great? Of course it is. WOW!

The female pilots (commercial or military), the women legislators, female doctors, female engineers, female judges, female lawyers, female professors, female teachers, female IT specialist, female police officers, and the female members of the armed forces and the list is unending. Pakistan even had a female prime minister.

So the women of today are far more liberated than the previous generations. The constitutional rights of women are becoming easier and easier to exercise day by day.

Compatibility and competition:

In fact, it’s competition which is name of the game. Most of the credit goes to the constitution of Pakistan whereby the rights of all individuals and institutions are guaranteed, yet one has to deserve but prior to desire. Let’s be qualified enough to reap the benefits of guaranteed equality regardless of class.

Conclusion: A society that is blind to gender, race and sexual orientation, color, creed and the ethnic background will always choose the best person that is the most competent for the political office or for employment in any industry in the private or public sector without discrimination.

Equality goes hand in hand with modernism. And, those who don’t go with the flow are always left behind.