March 29, 2006	Wednesday	Safar 28, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, March 28: Political parties are finding themselves in a tight spot because they lack conviction and do not have the right language to reach to the masses. This was stated by Director Liberty Institute, India, Barun Mitra while speaking at a dialogue “Shrinking space for political activism” at the Centre for Policy Alternatives on Tuesday.

Under this situation, he said, it was impossible to create an impact.

Mr Mitra was of the opinion that the political parties would have to find an appropriate strategy to take their message out to the general public and must have confidence in their message and the audience they are targeting.

The most important thing, he believed, however remained how the message is carried.

This state shows that the political parties concerned do not have confidence in what they are saying, he said and added: “If we think our ideas are valid to be accepted then we wouldn’t have any problem.”

He based his thoughts about the issue on Gandhi who, he said, created his own space by reaching out to the people. He quoted the example of the salt march.

After Gandhi, he said, the only other instance in Indian political history when the political parties reached out to the masses was that of destruction of the Babri Mosque by Hindu fundamentalists. “The message was really motivating,” he added.

Bushra Gauhar, a political activist, seconded what Mr Mitra said. She gave the example of Kalabagh dam, when intense public pressure from NWFP and Sindh compelled President Musharraf to rethink his plans for the construction of the dam.

Ms Gauhar was also critical of the role of NGOs who, she said, were thought to be an alternative to the political leadership but ended up doing more harm than good.

She said a change could come only through a political process. The political space, she said, was not shrinking rather it has not been fully exploited.

Speaking about the condition of political parties, she said, they were failing, encouraging Gen Musharraf to stay in uniform and were also patronising feudalism. “Feudals are strengthening their roots in NGOs and political parties.”

Drawing a very bleak scenario of politics in the country, she said it was being dominated by money and was being made an Zafarullah Khan said political parties in the country were mere groups of like-minded people that were personality driven and fragile, lacked public support, their position on policies and issues was vague and economic base weak.

He said people had limited chance of participation. “Pakistan is like a museum where feudalism and tribalism hasn’t been abandoned.”