Dawn Editorial 11 October 2020

Bewildering words

A FAMOUS king once said, “after me, the deluge”, while another emperor claimed, “I am the revolution”. Therefore Prime Minister Imran Khan was in good company when he proclaimed on Friday, “I am democracy”. Certainly, the prime minister’s chutzpah may compensate for what is missing among his numerous virtues. In the present context however, he may have done himself no favours by choosing his words without care. The hubris of power ill suits any leader struggling to govern through a weak government. Mr Khan’s speech at a lawyers’ forum may have been sarcastic by choice, but the arguments he put forward will raise more questions about the way the government is run than about the shenanigans of the opposition. For instance, when he referred to former DG ISI Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam demanding the resignation of the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, it came across as an endorsement of the retired spymaster’s tactics. He also said that he had nothing to worry about the intelligence agency finding out anything about him because he had nothing to hide. Again, this sounded like a validation of the security apparatus’s penchant for probing into the lives of elected leaders.
Such statements invariably create an impression that the top political leadership sees nothing wrong with the military holding politicians to account for their acts of omission and commission. It is peculiar that someone who claims “I am democracy” seems to have no objection to an intelligence agency playing the role of arbiter in the country’s political affairs. This is not for the first time that the prime minister has traversed this path, which suggests that these remarks are not a slip of the tongue but a reflection of his thoughts. Such beliefs require a rethink. The military has a role to play in advising the government on matters of national security, but it should not be needlessly involved in issues that an elected leadership has to deal with. By politicians repeatedly invoking the military as the ‘umpire’, the national institution is dragged into needless controversy. The prime minister is fond of saying that his government and the military are on the same page, but he needs to differentiate this from accepting the military’s role as a supra-political player.
Friday’s speech has also reinforced the image of a government that is refusing to look beyond the opposition. Almost the whole of Mr Khan’s speech mocked his political opponents and there was very little by way of the government’s plans to control runaway inflation and unemployment. More than halfway through its term, the government should really be getting over its obsession with political opponents and speaking more about policies. However, increasingly, it appears that the PTI government is unable to grow out of this long-running phase. This is hardly the way to run a democracy.

 

 

TikTok ban

THE government’s ban on TikTok has come as a devastating blow to the video-sharing platform’s devoted community in Pakistan. Dubbed the “people’s platform”, the app, used and loved by citizens from all walks of life, was blocked overnight after an initial warning in July.
According to reports, Pakistan is the company’s 12th largest market, with 43m downloads — a testament to how accessible the app has been for people regardless of whether they live in a bustling city or a village. Millions of users are angry and dejected. For them, TikTok was an avenue for creative expression, commentary, comic relief and bizarre musings.
The app created ‘TikTok stars’ out of ordinary citizens who are otherwise shut out from traditional paths to celebdom; it gave so many a stage to showcase their talents. In many ways, the popularity of the app here was a celebration of how internet and mobile phone penetration can democratise a society. But unfortunately, the PTA put an end to that when it banned the app for “immoral and indecent” content. The dramatic decision came after a similarly worded statement was issued by the regulator some months ago; yet the statements offer no clarity on what the questionable content is and how it is harming the public.
It is disappointing that an app that provided hours of enjoyment has been denied to a young population living through a pandemic and devoid of entertainment. With every passing day, the state is growing bolder in its attempts to police morality. Whether it is the ban on a biscuit advertisement or apps such as Tinder or TikTok, the justification that something is ‘obscene’ is often invoked to roll out restrictions. What is more dangerous is that this outlook is endorsed by the prime minister who has been quoted as saying that TikTok is “vulgar” and “hurting societal values”.
With so many political and economic challenges, why is moral policing a top priority? The move to ban such platforms betrays paranoia and ignorance. Not only does it fly in the face of the promise of a ‘digital Pakistan’, it undermines the government’s pledges about giving opportunities to young people. This ban will hurt scores of users who leverage their social media following to generate revenue through ads. It also bodes badly for the future and will encourage more government bans and restrictions.

 

 

Busy cricket season

AFTER having seen little to no international cricket at home for nearly a decade, Pakistan finally has much to look forward to. A busy home season is lined up that will see Pakistan host Zimbabwe for an ODI and T20 series beginning Oct 30. The next year should hopefully see the arrival of leading teams like South Africa and New Zealand, followed by England and Australia in 2022, besides some ‘A’ team tours. This is a significant development that is primarily the outcome of a dramatically improved security situation at home and the efforts of the PCB. Besides presenting a softer image of the country, these tours will lift the morale of this cricket-crazy nation that has seen little sporting excitement in the decade gone by. Up until early last year, the return of full-fledged international cricket to Pakistan had appeared a remote possibility. Despite visits by a World XI and a few other under-strength teams, there was not much to dispel the gloom. The major teams continued to stay away in the aftermath of that 2009 firing incident on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore. The long period of isolation for Pakistan seemed like an eternity.
But a high-profile, incident-free tour by the MCC in November last year convinced the ICC and others that Pakistan was ready to host foreign teams again. The two-Test tour by Sri Lanka last December saw international cricket restart in the country. That was followed by a Test and T20 tour by Bangladesh and a month of contests by the PSL which was entirely relocated on home turf for the first time since its inception in 2016. A key catalyst in this turnaround for Pakistan cricket has been the positive feedback of the 40-odd foreign players who participated in the PSL V matches in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi early this year. It is imperative that the government and PCB play the part of perfect hosts to foreign teams to keep up the momentum.

 

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