The great edifice of democracy, jamhooriyat - the often heard term in the rhetoric of

Pakistani politics and media discourse, has not taken roots in the imaginations of the
public at large. Its construct is merely in theory, often abstract if not vague. Theres little
tangible improvement in the plight of common man, and the fruits of this great dream
have yet to take a concrete realization in his life. This is feeding into a menace, which has
gained strength challenging the social and political stability of the society- socio-politico-
religious polarization. One may at first be baffled by the proposition, yet a close study of
the social trends and the social behavior of different segments of society support our
argument. Just to make it more cogent, we need to dig a little deeper into the problem.
But before that it would be pertinent to unequivocally discard any chances of technocratic
or military government as an alternative. Pakistan has experimented with both in the past
and the results were dismal. Retrospectively speaking, many of the dictatorial regimes
have done more damage than good to the sociopolitical fabric of the country. So this must
be kept clear while moving through the following lines. Precisely hows ineffectiveness of
democracy feeding into the polarization of society. An allusion to the growing gulf
between the political elite and electorate. While the newly reborn fragile civil leadership
struggles for survival in office and its optimization with the military establishment, the
people are often felt left-out of the daily political discourse. This creates an Us versus
them sentiment in the electorate especially in the lower strata of the society. You talk to
the daily wage earners like rickshaw drivers and factory workers, youll find a certain
apathy towards the system beneath their statements. And the apathy is validated by their
concerns and grievances about lack of effective social services by the respective
governments in provinces The notion of their world versus our world gets stronger by the
over-sized style of governance and the growing income inequality. Pakistan has almost
failed in achieving each of its HDI targets during the last nine years of democratic
resurgence. Its performance in achieving UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has
been abysmal, and gives a layman an impression that the ruling elite is inefficient or is
not interested to conceptualize an efficient way of good-governance. This disconnect of
issues, of aspirations and ambitions, leads to serious social divisions. They may not
apparently exist, but they form the undercurrents of many of the apathetic attitudes in our
society, especially of those directed towards common good. The political leadership
should realize the importance of effective and tangible service delivery to lower strata of
the society, for this would bring strength to the democracy through the trust of the masses.
Be it health or education or speedy delivery of justice, the political elite should reconsider
its approach towards entire social sector. Its not merely about the survival in the office,
and maintaining relationship favorable with the often un-easy military establishment its
about the people. Entire democratic edifice can only be stable if it is erected on the pillars
of public confidence. Or else the polarization of society would continue, creating a
quagmire of issues in an already fragile state of affairs. The cauldron of terrorism and
social injustice is the product of the same pot. Lets not fool ourselves with rhetoric of
democracy in theory, it must serve the practical ends.