Late in the evening (around 9pm) on the day of the last strike called by the MMA, the roads in Karachi were jam-packed with cars, buses, motorcycles, trucks, tankers, taxis, rickshaws and even donkey carts. People were trying to get done whatever work they could in the little time remaining till end of day. Shops that had opened up earlier in the evening had their shutters up till much later than their usual closing time, in the hope that they could perhaps cover a small percentage of the loss they would incur because of another ‘total shutter down strike’ strike. As always, Karachiites were trying to make the best of a bad situation.
By a rough estimate, the number of strikes that have taken place in the past twelve months in Pakistan, are 24. The strike calls include an assortment of issues (and non-issues) and diverse sections/organizations of the society who gave the call. These comprise the transporter’s union; the political parties — MMA, MQM, PONM, JSQM; Cloth Merchants Association; doctors; clerks; lawyers and other smaller factions. Whether they all made it to the slot termed as ‘successful strikes’ or ‘thwarted attempts’ is another matter.
Is there any such thing as a successful strike? Once a strike call is given, it becomes irrelevant how many people will observe it or reject it. The doom sets in with the strike call and the citizens prepare for another day to be battled through with more odds at work than usual. The meek resolve to stay at home and bear the consequences at work, while the hardened step out, battling their way through blazing buses and tyres in an attempt to reach their destination. One colleague who had suffered an extra hour’s rigmarole route before arriving at work in the last MMA strike simply flopped down in his chair with disgust writ on his face and quipped, ‘How many more political battles will be fought at our expense?’
Much has been said about the millions in national losses because of a strike and the damage to public property. In Pakistan, politics is only about personal agendas. That was how it was with democracies and that is how it has been with military regimes. In true ‘wag-the-dog’ style the MMA and the present regime have been playing poker on senseless issues, keeping the public as high stakes and counting their wins and losses by patting themselves on their own backs to get their supremacy acclaimed. What enlightenment and whither religion?
When a strike is called to (supposedly) protest against inflation, is there ever any thought spared for the labourer who misses one day’s wage and has no bread to place before his family? Does the poor man care if the strike is for inane passport issues or supposedly for his benefit? All he knows is that he couldn’t earn that day to feed his family of perhaps six children, who slept hungry crying for sustenance. The small time businesses that open shop everyday on little spaces accorded to them in public spaces also had nothing to take home that day, because the vigilant from amongst the strike callers had come up with batons and threats of fire if they dared attempted business that day.
Is there a difference in these tactics from the martial law rules that we have seen and the punishment meted out to those who broke the curfew? As for speaking out against the zealous tactics of one party or against the ‘brother leader’ of another party — the punishment is quite reminiscent of that dished out when we spoke against the mighty Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA) at one time. Night time abduction, severe beating or any other ‘suitable’ castigation.
The people have had enough of authoritarianism from political parties as well as from regimes — enlightened or otherwise. The average Pakistani just wants peace. Peace to work, to live and to rejoice in with his family. Strikes have only served to annihilate that peace every time. Whatever the underlying cause may be or how noble may the intentions of those who call for a strike be, once a day has been marked as ‘strike day’ — it should be presumed that business will suffer another day; justice will be delayed another day as no account has been taken for that old man or poor woman waiting for months for the hearing day of the crucial case; education suffers another day and medical aid is restricted to the suffering for another day. In fact, there might not be another day for some of the ill-fated who couldn’t get the needed medical attention because it was a ‘strike-day’. And while all this happens and the strike keeps the roads empty, the strike callers have the gall to say that ‘the strike was successful?’
Has success changed its meaning in the dictionary recently? It probably has. Since our President and Prime Minister have both repeatedly stated that the government’s ‘successful’ economic policy has given the country an economic boost. Yes, that’s true. When 30 bullet-proof Mercedes Benz and twenty latest model Toyota Land Cruisers were purchased for VIPs and VVIPs costing the national exchequer Rs35.5 billion, it was definitely an increase in economic activity. That does nullify the fact that over 35 per cent of our population continued to live below the poverty line and that almost 2,507 people committed suicide in 2004 where the over-riding factor was poverty.
And when the opposition once in a while does raise this moot point in the assemblies, the ruling members state that suicide is a global issue and rebuff the matter. It is on record that the Minister for Law and Justice, Chaudhry Wasi Zafar, had declared that no government had any control over suicides and the Human Rights groups and religious activists should look into this matter!
As opposition, it is the parties’ right to contest government policies and agenda, and more power to them (and democracy) if they did it through the parliament. Not if it is just for the sake of their recognition as a reckoning force. And not through strike calls, please! Strikes don’t just debilitate the national infrastructure, they incapacitate the common man and add to his burden. No significant effect is felt at the high government levels, where it is simply business as usual with another day of paper pushing and Merk cruising.
Late in the evening (around 9pm) on the day of the last strike called by the MMA, the roads in Karachi were jam-packed with cars, buses, motorcycles, trucks, tankers, taxis, rickshaws and even donkey carts. People were trying to get done whatever work they could in the little time remaining till end of day. Shops that had opened up earlier in the evening had their shutters up till much later than their usual closing time, in the hope that they could perhaps cover a small percentage of the loss they would incur because of another ‘total shutter down strike’ strike. As always, Karachiites were trying to make the best of a bad situation.
