Dawn Editorials (with Summary and Vocabulary)

 

DAWN EDITORIALS

January 17, 2024 (Wednesday)

Day’s Vocabulary

  • Flaunted.   display (something) ostentatiously, especially in order to provoke envy or admiration or to show defiance
  • Charades.   an absurd pretense intended to create a pleasant or respectable appearance
  • Forte.           a thing at which someone excels
  • Repose.       a state of rest, sleep, or tranquility
  • Dais. a low platform for a lectern, seats of honor, or a throne
  • Renditions.           a performance or interpretation, especially of a dramatic role or piece of music
  • Anathema. something or someone that one vehemently dislikes
  • Partake.      join in (an activity)
  • Faux. made in imitation; artificial
  • Aping.          imitate the behavior or manner of (someone or something), especially in an absurd or unthinking way
  • Inextricably.        in a way that is impossible to disentangle or separate
  • Noxious.     harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant
  • Pervasive.  (especially of an unwelcome influence or physical effect) spreading widely throughout an area or a group of people
  • Lest.  with the intention of preventing (something undesirable); to avoid the risk of
  • Juggle.         continuously toss into the air and catch (a number of objects) so as to keep at least one in the air while handling the others, typically for the entertainment of others
  • Divested.    deprive (someone) of power, rights, or possessions
  • Semblance.           the outward appearance or apparent form of something, especially when the reality is different
  • Hustings.   a meeting at which candidates in an election address potential voters
  • Maelstrom.           a powerful whirlpool in the sea or a river
  • Traction.    the extent to which a product, idea, etc., gains popularity or acceptance
  • Glaring.       giving out or reflecting a strong or dazzling light
  • Accentuated.        make more noticeable or prominent
  • Salience.     the quality of being particularly noticeable or important; prominence
  • Triptych.    a picture or relief carving on three panels, typically hinged together side by side and used as an altarpiece
  • Intriguing. arousing one's curiosity or interest; fascinating
  • Corroborating.    confirm or give support to (a statement, theory, or finding)
  • Proletariat.           workers or working-class people, regarded collectively (often used with reference to Marxism)
  • Epitomised.          be a perfect example of
  • Muster.       assemble (troops), especially for inspection or in preparation for battle
  • Strident.     loud and harsh; grating
  • Travesty.    a false, absurd, or distorted representation of something

The curse of being busy

Summary

  • Being busy has become a status symbol, but it wasn't always this way.
    • In the past, having leisure time was seen as a sign of a good life.
    • The Victorians and Mughal royalty, for example, flaunted their leisure time.
  • Multitasking and the cult of busyness are harmful trends.
    • They lead to stress, anxiety, and burnout.
    • They also make it difficult to focus on what's truly important.
  • The worst offenders of the cult of busyness are those who are actually not busy.
    • They often cultivate an illusion of busyness on social media.
  • It's time to stop glorifying busyness and start valuing leisure time.
    • We need to make time for rest, relaxation, and self-care.
    • We also need to be more mindful of how we spend our time.
  • The exploitation of workers has not changed, but it has become more hidden.
    • The exploiters of today are those who project an image of busyness.
    • This denies the truly busy the opportunity to point to their exploitation.
  • If you are constantly busy, you may have bigger problems than simply over-commitment.
    • It's important to be able to take care of yourself and to have time for leisure activities.

Article

There used to be a time when the ultimate symbol of a good life was being able to have plenty of time for leisure activities. One can still read about it in literature.

The Victorians, for instance, rich thanks to the wealth looted from India and other colonies, flaunted their leisure time. They took grand tours on the Continent — which was essentially slow travel and spending months in a single city or country. They also collected curios that they displayed all over their living rooms, where they hosted everything from afternoon teas to a game of charades.

The enjoyment of such leisure was not just the forte of the British. Before their time in India, the pursuits of Mughal royalty were well known. In fact, art, music and literature flourished because there was a leisure class that was available to consume and enjoy them. Many a Mughal miniature shows ladies in repose, lounging on a dais.

The men of Mughal royalty got around to doing a bit more. For instance, many hunting scenes have been depicted. It might, however, not be very easy to find renditions of the hunting Mughals as academicians.

There was hardly any multitasking for the leisure classes of yore. There were many times that people did nothing at all; when they did do something it would appear as if that was the only thing they did.

This idea is going to be anathema to the next generation; indeed, it probably already is for members of Gen Z and the succeeding Gen Alpha. Turn to any social media platform, and you will be confronted with people who are ‘multitasking’.

Many women showcase their skincare routines but it is never just that; they are also providing life updates, sipping on protein shakes and answering texts on their phone. Multitasking is just about everywhere. And the more ‘everywhere’ it is, the more the rest of us are expected to partake of it.

All those who find it necessary to project their faux busyness should remember that they are aping oppressors.

Inextricably linked to the multitasking epidemic is the more noxious cult of ‘busyness’. Nobody shows off like the Mughals or the Victorians anymore by commissioning paintings that depict them as relaxing and doing nothing other than having fun.

Quite the opposite. In the modern era, the order of the day is to be seen as constantly, endlessly ‘busy’. It does not matter which big city in the world you may find yourself in; you will run into the same conversation — people complaining about how busy they are, how they have no time for this or that or themselves.

Such is the cult of busyness that it has generated other trends. Among the more pervasive inclinations, is to portray the business of taking care of oneself. Indeed, the novel concept of ‘self-care’ is all the rage. Taking a nap is self-care, washing your face is self-care, not answering texts for a few hours is self-care. Self-care exists and has to be defended, lest others think you’re not busy enough and pile more things on you, or worse still, think you’re a nobody and are, in fact, a loser with nothing to do.

None of this is good for us as human beings. In fact, the focus on self-care can be regarded as a desperate measure in a world in which the individual is overwhelmed with the demands of appearing busy to others.

The worst offenders of the cult of busyness are those who are actually not busy. These may include, for instance, women of leisure, for whom cultivating an illusion of busyness is a social media badge of honour. It follows that these people, and others like them, are invested in further popularising ‘busyness’.

When novels depicting our times are written, they will be full of this sort of self-projection; ie, people busy being too busy. In the meantime, those who are actually busy — say, the working mother who has no option but to juggle her job, her kids, her husband and various other family members — will rarely make an appearance in these catalogues of our moment.

If civilisation were to end tomorrow and Instagram was the only thing to survive, whoever came after us would think that we spent all our time using filtered images of ourselves to show what moisturiser and sunblock we used or the number of designer handbags we had in our closet.

It is entirely possible that the cultural commentators of eras past were similarly disgruntled by the long stretches of free time available to the landlords and the princes while the labourers and peasants toiled throughout their waking hours. It would be seen as an issue of injustice, because the leisure of one was dependent on the toil of another.

The sad truth is that this exploitative loop has not changed over the ages. The exploiters of today are simply cleverer. If you are constantly ‘busy’, then the people who actually have no time to breathe are denied even the small joy of pointing to your leisure as evidence of their own exploitation. Everyone else who finds it necessary to project their faux busyness should remember that they are aping oppressors and not those who are truly busy.

So perhaps it is time to introspect for those projecting themselves as being ‘busy’ and using ‘busyness’ as a way to exhibit some imagined coolness. If you are truly too busy to not be able to do one task at a time or get some sleep or bathe regularly or take a nap sometimes, you have problems bigger than simply over-commitment.

And if someone else complains about how busy they are, stop them in their tracks or at the very least roll your eyes. We all have time to do that.

The judgement and after

Summary

  • The Supreme Court's decision to strip the PTI of its election symbol is criticized for breaching democratic norms and depriving political participation.
  • The ruling, just weeks before the polls, forces PTI candidates to run as independents, putting the party at a disadvantage.
  • The decision is seen as part of political manipulation to keep the PTI out of the contest, raising concerns about the judiciary's impartiality.
  • The controversy highlights divisions within the judiciary, impacting public trust and reinforcing the perception of judicial involvement in political polarization.
  • The article questions the selective application of rules, citing double standards in handling intra-party elections, particularly comparing PTI and Awami National Party cases.
  • The ECP's role is questioned, with allegations of elections being manipulated and a partisan caretaker administration favoring the establishment.
  • The judiciary is urged to play a more active role in protecting democratic rights, but the recent ruling is seen as failing to uphold fundamental democratic principles.
  • Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa's reputation for integrity is questioned, with doubts about his ability to restore the credibility of the apex court.

Article

It ranks among those inglorious decisions taken by the top court which have been long remembered for breaching democratic norms.

The verdict of the three-member bench led by the chief justice has not only divested a political party of its election symbol, it has, arguably, also taken away the fundamental right of political participation. The controversial ruling depriving the PTI of its iconic bat symbol has seemingly stripped the electoral process of whatever legitimacy it was left with.

There is not even a semblance of fair play as political parties prepare to go to the hustings. The hope for a democratic transition has now been dented further by Saturday’s late-night decision. More importantly, the ruling has come as a disappointment to those who believed that things would change at the top judiciary under the new chief justice, with his reputation for integrity.

Instead, the verdict announced by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, after hearings telecast live, evoked memories of some of the most controversial rulings in the past by the Supreme Court, which had caused irreparable damage to the democratic process in Pakistan.

As Reema Omer, a leading constitutional lawyer, has put it, the “judgement upholding ECP decision to deny PTI election symbol is an excessive, punitive response to not conducting intra-party polls as per law”. It may not be the first time a political party has been deprived of its symbol, but there is no precedent of candidates of a major political party being denied the right to fight elections on a common symbol.

PTI ticket-holders will now have to contest the polls as independent candidates, thus putting a major electoral contender in an extremely disadvantageous position. The decision, just weeks before the polls, is being described by some as part of the political manipulation aimed at keeping the PTI out of the contest. There is hardly any precedent in our chequered political history of such action.

The hope for a democratic transition has been dented further by Saturday’s decision.

By validating the controversial decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the Supreme Court has lent itself to criticism of not being nonpartisan. Nothing could be worse than the judiciary getting sucked into the political maelstrom. The ruling follows the resignation of two senior judges. It has come at a time when divisions within the institution are out in the open, reflecting the deepening crisis within.

There may be nothing wrong with the judges being divided in their opinion, but the open rift could have further impaired the public trust’s in the judiciary. The controversial ruling on the PTI’s symbol seems to have reinforced a growing public perception of the superior judiciary becoming part of the prevailing political polarisation. This view has gained traction, given the overall persecution of the PTI and the evident aim of marginalising the party.

This is certainly not a good omen for a country facing systemic collapse. Continued political instability has made it extremely difficult to deal with our multiple challenges, some of them presenting an existentialist threat. Indeed, one cannot justify the PTI’s own failure to conduct a transparent intra-party election, and there can also be no two views about the importance of intra-party democracy, as pointed out by the chief justice, for democracy to work. But the criteria must not be seen to be applied selectively.

Indeed, it is obligatory for the political parties under the ECP rules to hold intra-party elections and there may be flaws in the way the PTI conducted the mandatory exercise. But it is also a fact that elections within other political parties can hardly be called democratic. In this country, where most political parties have been turned into family enterprises, there is no concept of intra-party democracy. Intra-party elections are just a farce to fulfil a political obligation.

Interestingly, the ECP has never questioned how democratically the elections in other parties are conducted. One glaring example of the double standards being applied on the issue is the case of the Awami National Party. The party has not conducted intra-party elections but the ECP merely imposed a fine and ordered it to hold elections by May 10 this year. The party has not been stripped of its symbol.

But the rules have been applied differently in the PTI’s case, despite the fact that most of its leaders are either behind bars or have been forced to quit the party after being picked up by the intelligence agencies. Arguably the most popular party, the PTI is not even allowed to hold public rallies as part of its election campaign. There have also been several reports of PTI candidates not being allowed to file their nomination papers.

All this raises the question of whether the ECP is fulfilling its constitutional responsibility of conducting a free and fair electoral exercise. The candidates of a particular party are being picked up without being charged to prevent them from campaigning. There is a ring of truth to the allegations that the elections have already been stolen. A partisan caretaker administration appears to be acting for the establishment.

This state of affairs requires the judiciary to play a more active role in protecting the fundamental and democratic rights of the people. Unfortunately, the institution is confronted with its own crisis of credibility that has been accentuated by the latest ruling on the PTI’s electoral symbol case, which has, in effect, disenfranchised a large segment of the population.

The chief justice has remarked on flawed judgements in the past that validated authoritarian rule and on the need to rectify mistakes. But the court’s ruling on Jan 13 does not indicate a departure from the questionable rulings of his predecessors.

With his reputation as an upright judge, it had been a valid expectation that Justice Isa would uphold fundamental democratic rights and restore the credibility of the apex court. Is this reputation at stake? It remains to be seen how history will judge him.

Ready to shift

Summary

  • Pakistan announced a pivot from geopolitics to geo-economics three years ago, but has made little progress.
  • Pakistan's economic woes are due to its prioritization of elite interests over those of the people, and its focus on security over development.
  • Pakistan is well-positioned for geo-economics due to its location, but is not yet ready due to structural economic weaknesses, poor governance, and lack of political stability.
  • Pakistan must reform its economic policies, which have been designed to protect the elite, and address its human capital crisis in order to realize its geo-economic potential.
  • Geopolitics will continue to play a role in Pakistan's foreign policy, and it must reach an understanding with the US on strategic and security issues in order to avoid limiting its geo-economic prospects.
  • Pakistan's geo-economic potential will not be fully realized until Afghanistan stabilizes, ties with India improve, and it becomes a hub for pipelines and trade with Central Asia.

Article

Nearly three years have passed since the announcement regarding Pakistan’s pivot from geopolitics to geo-economics. So far, this policy shift has proved nothing more than rhetoric.

A country’s geopolitical value signifies its relevance in international relations beyond its own region, especially its capability as an ally or partner in Great Power rivalry. The country has a place in geo-economics if, by virtue of its geopolitical location, infrastructure, or resources, it can play a meaningful role in the global economy — perhaps as a manufacturing base or a link in supply chains. Or it could be a source of energy, or serve as a hub for transit trade or energy flows.

Pakistan is relevant to both geopolitics and geo-economics. But its policy planners should ask themselves if they really have to choose between the two. Or whether such choice is indeed possible. Also, is geopolitics the problem and geo-economics the solution to Pakistan’s economic woes? The truth is, Pakistan did not prioritise its people’s socioeconomic well-being. Its governance model preferred the elite over the people, security over development, dependence over self-reliance, and status quo over progress. The system is now damaging more than the economy. Pakistan may be eligible for geo-economics but is not yet qualified for it.

Geopolitics is only partly to blame. It remains important to Pakistan’s foreign policy, though the extent of its relevance has changed. Situated between South Asia, Central Asia, Iran and the Middle East, and living in the strategic shadow of China and Russia, Pakistan has geopolitical salience, putting it at the crossroads of geopolitical rivalries and ambitions it can take advantage of. But geopolitics can only be an asset if Pakistan is stable. For an unstable country, it is a liability and poses risks. For instance, if a big power loses, its ally loses too, as has happened to Pakistan in America’s wars.

Pakistan must rethink its geopolitics and geo-economics.

Washington’s war aims have always been different from Pakistan’s, and its strategy often flawed. If the pivot to geo-economics means Pakistan would no longer be part of such high-risk geopolitics, this is to be welcomed. America’s wars also incited Pakistan’s own geostrategic ambitions, that brought it as much harm as did US policies. If Pakistan has relinquished this policy, it is a good step.

Geopolitics remains a guiding principle for US-Pakistan ties except that it now provokes conflict in the context of US-China rivalry. Pakistan is seen as advancing China’s geopolitical aims. It will have to rea­ch some understanding with Washing­ton on strategic and security issues, otherwise these will keep colliding with prospects of cooperation with the US, a crucial economic partner, and thus limit Pakistan’s geo-economic role.

Even in the Gulf countries, Pakistan’s traditional friends, economics now beats to the rhythm of geopolitics as these states navigate between the US-Europe-India axis and China’s geopolitical outreach. Geopolitics will figure in Pakistan’s relations with them, too.

Pakistan thus must rethink not only geopolitics but also geo-economics. The fact is, its real value in geo-economics won’t be evident until Afghanistan stabilises, ties with India improve, and it becomes a hub for pipelines and trade with Central Asia. However, given its structural economic weaknesses, poor governance, and lack of political stability, Pakistan’s economy is not quite prepared for geo-economics. The change will not come easily, as there is a clash between elite interests and sound economic policies.

Pakistan’s poor economic policies have been a way to safeguard its elite-led syst­­em. Policies, es­­­­pecially those related to taxes, subsidies, tarif­­­fs, and exports, were designed so as not to lead to the erosion of the social structure that maintains the feudal system, or collide with the financial interests of the business/industrial elite, not to mention the extraordinary allocation of resources to the defence sector. The system must reform.

Pakistan might be able to improve the economy on the margins without systemic changes, and have a higher growth rate. But what good is the growth rate if it makes little difference to poverty, social indicators and human security? A population with poor education and healthcare is hardly productive economically. Martin Raiser, World Bank regional vice president for South Asia, recently spoke of Pakistan’s “poor human development outcomes and increasing poverty”, and underlined the necessity of addr­essing the “acute human capital crisis”.

Pakistan cannot abandon or escape geopolitics. And geo-economics will remain beyond its grasp if it fails to make the necessary reforms. The alternative: Pakistan will be stuck where it is, at best.

Lenin’s legacy

Summary

  • The article discusses Lenin's legacy and the impact of the Russian upheavals of 1917 on the world.
    • Lenin's vision of replacing absolutism with bourgeois democracy faced challenges after the overthrow of the tsar.
  • The survival of the new regime was threatened by the White Army, but the Red Army, led by Leon Trotsky, ultimately triumphed.
  • Lenin, aware of his limited time, sought to alter the revolution's trajectory by reorganizing the Communist Party and the economy.
  • There is a common misperception that Stalinism seamlessly followed Leninism, but the article suggests the Soviet Union might have been different if Lenin had survived longer or been succeeded by a collective leadership.
  • Lenin opposed 'great Russian chauvinism,' and his influence is seen in Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika in the 1980s-1990s.
  • Despite the USSR's dissolution, Lenin's audacious project's triumphs and tragedies continue to influence discussions about a different future in the 21st century.
  • The article emphasizes the importance of understanding Lenin's legacy beyond mere worship, acknowledging both triumphs and failures.

Article

An intriguing triptych included in Iqbal’s second volume of verse, Baal-i-Jibreel, envisages Vladimir Lenin in the presence of God, explaining why the state of the world prompted his disbelief and wondering when divine intervention would rectify global ills. In rhythmic verse, the angels sent to investigate report back, corroborating the Russian revolutionary’s narrative.

In the last and best known of the three poems, the angels are commanded to instigate the overthrow of the existing order, kicking off with a verse that echoes The Internationale — in Victor Kiernan’s translation, “Rise, and from their slumber wake the poor ones of my world!/ Shake the walls and windows of the mansions of the great…”

That’s a reflection of the extent to which the Russian upheavals of 1917 affected the rest of the world, not least the vast expanse of the colonised Global South. The direction Russia took towards the end of World War I inspired shock and awe. The overthrow of the tsar and the prospect of replacing absolutism with bourgeois democracy was dramatic enough, but by the time Lenin returned in April from his exile in Switzerland, he realised the meagre gains were unsustainable.

Even some of Lenin’s closest comrades were taken aback by his enthusiasm for a takeover, but the prospect of ‘all power to the soviets’ — the elected bodies of workers’, soldiers’ and eventually peasants’ representatives that shared power with the post-tsarist government — and the promise of land, bread and peace — resonated with the proletariat of Petrograd (as St Petersburg had been renamed to banish the German influence).

What’s left of the revolutionary a century after his demise?

The takeover was eventually almost painless, but the survival of the new regime was unlikely. The tsarist White Army, assisted by American, French and British forces (among others), joined hands to bury the Bolsheviks. But a late recruit to the Bolshevist cause, Leon Trotsky, turned out to be a formidable commander despite his military inexperience and, after much death and destruction on both sides, the nascent Red Army ultimately triumphed.

The Russia that emerged from this maelstrom was a far cry from what Lenin had envisaged, and he set about trying to rectify its wayward course. And he made no secret of it. Laid low by an assassination attempt in 1918 and subsequently stricken by strokes that led to bouts of paralysis, Lenin was just about well enough to speak at the fourth congress of the Communist International in November 1922, in what turned out to be his last public speech, acknowledging that “we have done, and will still do, a host of foolish things”.

He knew by then that his days were numbered, but from his sick bed later that year he still sought to alter the revolution’s trajectory with a series of dictated notes that focused on reorganising both the Communist Party and the economy, banishing the tsarist bureaucracy that had survived the revolution, and sidelining Joseph Stalin, who had acquired too much power within the party and could not be trusted to use it wisely. He obviously could not have known at that stage that Stalin’s absolute power would lead in the 1930s to the execution of Lenin’s closest comrades.

The common misperception shared by both friends and foes of the transformative Bolshevik endeavour is that Stalinism flowed seamlessly out of Leninism. There can be little doubt, though, that the Soviet Union would have emerged as a rather different entity if Lenin had survived for another decade, or been succeeded by a collective leadership. Lenin was adamant that accession to the USSR must be voluntary.

It didn’t quite work out that way, but the relatively peaceful dissolution of the Soviet Union nearly seven decades later testified to his relentless opposition to the ‘great Russian chauvinism’, epitomised by Vladimir Putin’s stupid invasion of Ukraine. Mikhail Gorbachev remained an admirer of Lenin, and his glasnost and perestroika in the 1980s-1990s were partly echoes of what Lenin sought to achieve in the 1920s.

Neither worked, but memories of what Lenin sought to achieve linger on. The Russian nostalgia for the Soviet past may not pass muster, but the idea of a transformative takeover in nations reduced to misery by capitalist forces lingers. Lenin’s failure to achieve what he had in mind should not detract from efforts to pursue the unfulfilled dream of a different future.

Even the most strident enemies of Bolshevism acknowledged that Lenin’s death on Jan 21, 1924, stripped the Soviet Union of an invaluable guide. The worship of Lenin thereafter, with little understanding of what he stood for, was a travesty he would have detested.

Notwithstanding the USSR’s fate, if a different world is to emerge in the 21st century, the triumphs and tragedies that embellished or thwarted Lenin’s audacious project cannot be ignored.

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