Pakistan is a wholly polarized country now. The extent of polarization may vary from the past, but it is no less than it. Polarization, in simple terms, is inclining an ideology to its extreme level and being focused on it even if it is contaminated.
In a polarized environment, there is no space for respecting one’s opinions. People who are part of this environment are always at the edge of cutting the throat of their antagonists. They don’t sit and cogitate over problems, but they choose to disconcert their opponents with how wrong, morally corrupt, and vulgar they are without giving any evidence to these claims. Polarization doesn’t go along with logic or facts but animosity, violence, and abuse.
Amid the political and constitutional jumble in our country, there was a viral video of a child blatantly speaking about one political party. He said, “You two brothers eat the whole country together, and we three brothers eat one bread together.” His outrage and anguish toward one political party was on show, as was his allegiance to the other, as he was dressed in PTI costume. It is what we as a society are infiltrating into our very young generation: polarization or political extremism. His response to the other political party could have been different if we had brought up facts and logically based statements and had taught him to agree to disagree. It’s just one of many viral videos, but it’s only the worst that is mentioned here.
For politicians, this polarization will benefit them for a short-term period. Still, it would be better if they signed a charter of democracy and exercised a healthy democracy which in the longer term would be benefitted to our country
The main cause of political extremism in our society is our incessant political chaos, disdain for politics, and acrimonious culture in rallies. Countries like Pakistan, which have been polarized through its genesis, become more politically radical when their leaders stand on the rostrum and call the opponents crooks, morally corrupt, and politically dishonest. They make fun of their jargon and discriminate against them based on gender. When these things are illustrated to their followers, they do the same. They advocate the reckless statements of their leaders and justify them at every junction, which disintegrates society.
Another reason that facilitates political extremism is the existence of populism in politics. Populism jeopardizes liberal democracies, and populist leaders make it arduous for democracies to run effectively. It doesn’t matter whether the populists are on the Treasury benches, for they still can cause substantial deterioration to the degree to which the citizens relish fundamental rights. Populism splits society into two categories (a) Good and righteous people and (b) evil and morally corrupt people. They put themselves in the former group, and all their opponents are in the latter group.
When illiberal democracies are exerted in a country, there is invariably a drift in polarization and political extremism. These facets put political discourse in a corner; it doesn’t allow two dissent groups to have beneficial political and cultural debates. When there is a scarcity of dissent in a conversation, it leads to a new form of polarization called Belief polarization.
It is more likely for yes-men or like-minded thinkers. When they sit down and talk about things and share similar ideas about those views, it bolsters their beliefs and makes them more politically extreme. Populists enjoy a massive cult, and in that following, there are hundreds of thousands of people who share identical beliefs. They become incapable of halting their beliefs, and it makes them intolerable to the populace who are of opposite views.
Political extremism has induced a widespread scathing culture in politics. Politicians come to TV, and they evade talking about essential issues, but all the time, they abuse their opponents on national TV channels. If they don’t feel satisfied by abusing on TV or face censor issues, they use their party platforms, that is, political rallies, to ignite more hate. By making misogynist statements about their opposing party’s women politicians, they feel satisfied, like they have achieved something big by disgracing themselves. It’s disreputable and disgusting, but unfortunately, it has been a norm in our country.
They need to apprehend that it is not only restricted to their rallies, but it has a spillover in society in the form of indirect violence and more intolerance. Children cannot make friends from the political party their parents are not backing. Family members have diverged under one roof, and they don’t talk to each other. Discussing politics in a typical Pakistani home is a habit, but unfortunately, people now avoid doing it because they know they emotionally pertain to it. When people are emotionally involved, they don’t consider rationality, and rational debates have vanished from the politically extreme society due to their unquestioning allegiance to their political leaders.
Political extremism has severe effects on the economy. When politicians are not willing to sit down and not going to talk about economic policies, and the politicians from opposition parties keep sharing misinformation and misinterpreted facts about the economy of the country, it will lead to flux in the market. Pakistan’s economy is still being pulverized, and another crevasse can induce an acute economic crisis.
It’s high time for our politicians to end this abusive political culture. If our country continued to stay politically extreme, that would cause severe violence in our society. A child whose video was viral is not at fault. He doesn’t seem to understand what is happening around him, and if we continue to keep injecting hate into his mind, then one day, we will be facing the music of all our blunders. That’s a natural phenomenon.
For politicians, this polarization will benefit them for a short-term period. Still, it would be better if they signed a charter of democracy and exercised a healthy democracy which in the longer term would be benefitted to our country.
