Today Pakistan is in the grip of extreme political and social suffocation, which can only be understood as a silent martial law. Journalists are abducted, powerful television channels are censored, political parties are crushed and activists are hounded. The silencing of dissent intensified with the rise of Imran Khan, itself one of the most manufactured mandates in recent history. Since he assumed power, the process of authoritarianism has only accelerated, with more curbs on the media, a clampdown on academia reminiscent of the Zia era, and a pervasive climate of fear and paranoia across the country.
This cruel status quo is widely dubbed a "hybrid regime". The rules are consistent with a number of similar formations from our beleaguered past. A weak prime minister was brought to power with support of the entrenched military establishment. The PM has the capacity to attack civilian political opponents but is not permitted to utter a word on the corruption or misuse of power by the commanding Generals. An example is the recent case involving General Asim Bajwa, who secretly ran an empire of Papa John's restaurants across the US. Despite the uproar by opposition parties, the matter was swiftly buried and the General was retained as the head of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, a $67 billion project involving multiple investments. Any mortal charged with massive fraud would have been deemed unworthy of leading such a project, but the "sanctity" of the military means that the generals are granted endless concessions.
We must remember that ideology veils itself through the language of neutrality and objectivity. Its aim is to create a point of fixation for the public that prevents them from deciphering the situation in its entirety. Ideology has the role of manipulating the genuine sentiments of the public in the service of the ruling order. Other than the cynical use of Islam, the phrase "corrupt politicians" is an ideological instrument used by the ruling system to veil the structure within which this corruption is embedded, foreclosing the possibilities of a genuine political debate. One of the aims of this book is to widen the ambit of discussion by focusing on the systemic exploitation, gangsterism, militarism, extremism and lawlessness that shapes our political economy, locating "corrupt politicians" as symptoms of a dangerous disease.
Perhaps the most vivid and disturbing example of the ruling system's logic can be seen in the province of Balochistan that is under the control of the military, its economy asphyxiated by relentless exploitation and its political life haunted by increasing cases of enforced abductions. Similarly, former FATA remains a theater of direct and proxy wars, perpetually destabilizing society and uprooting hundreds of thousands of Pashtuns from their homelands. To make matters worse, Pakistani elites and ordinary people inhabit different worlds, with the former living in gated communities cut off from the rest of Pakistan. This spiritually bankrupt and financially corrupt system is maintained by excessive policing of the general population, inscribing militarization onto the material infrastructures of our everyday life. This spatial apartheid and excessive violence against dissenting forces points to a dystopian future.