By Naveed Khan
ISLAMABAD: In Pakistan’s deeply polarised political landscape where maintaining neutrality feels like walking a tightrope, stepping back and taking an impartial view becomes critical to understanding the simmering flaws plaguing the South Asian country.
One such pressing challenge is the recurring phenomenon of sit-ins organised by political parties.
While protests spearhead political parties’ quest for power, their true cost is borne by those who rarely get anything out of the relentless showdowns.
Those are daily wage earners – the silent victims of hungry power games.
What is supposed to be a tool of democratic expression in such times becomes a source of widespread disruption and adds to the misery of those already struggling to make ends meet.
For a daily wage earner, a single lost day of work can mean going hungry
In most cases, cities considered to be political and economic hubs of the country become an epicentre of these showdowns.
Protesters converge in these urban centres to make their voices heard but contrary to their expectations, the government rarely indulges in meaningful dialogue and resorts to confrontational measures.
Thus begins the agony of ordinary citizens when their bustling streets turn into battlegrounds for clashing groups.
This endless tug-of-war between feuding parties leaves no room for the concerns of those on the margins — the labourers, vendors, and service workers who rely on daily earnings to put food on the table for their families.
A glance at the life of a daily wager makes his, and those of his fellow workers’ struggles, if not more, evident.
Every day, they take out their tools of subsistence, sit along roadsides, in marketplaces, or near construction sites, and patiently wait for potential employers for the day.
Although meagre, their incomes sustain households and foster dreams.
Paradoxically when protests erupt, their world transforms. Streets are barricaded, markets close, and potential employers vanish. In such cases, these disruptions are not mere inconveniences; they are existential threats.
Previous political upheavals, provide a stark illustration of the real toll of dharna (sit-in) politics.
A study by researcher Irfan Mahar, published in the South Asia Journal, revealed that the 2014 sit-in, Pakistan’s longest protest, cost Pakistan Rs547 billion, alongside property damages of Rs10 million.
Although such studies recount the economic toll on the nation, the suffering of people living hand-to-mouth is harder to quantify.
Governments can manage the aftermaths of such upheavals through loans or policy adjustments, but for a daily wage earner, a single lost day of work can mean going hungry.
Political experts say this isn’t just about numbers; it’s about priorities.
They allege governments while calling for austerity measures in public services, somehow find the resources to rent hundreds of freight shipping containers to seal down entire cities in the name of maintaining law and order.
Let’s take the case of Islamabad. During one major political demonstration, the government rented 600 containers at a daily cost of Rs40,000 each, amounting to Rs24 million.
A comparative analysis of this spending against the monthly earnings of a common labourer reflects the irony of our governance system.
Containers, meant for trade and economic development, are repurposed as tools of suppression which also exemplifies why Pakistan continues to struggle with crisis after crisis due to its strategy of controlling dissent rather than addressing the root causes.
The Other Toll
The toll of blockades goes beyond street vendors and labourers as Pakistan’s nascent digital economy, a beacon of hope for many young people, also suffers immensely.
For millions dependent on internet connectivity for a living, widespread blockades and internet shutdowns are devastating.
A report by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) spotlighted the fact that internet disruptions alone cost Pakistan Rs65 billion in 2023.
The Remedy
The antidote to these issues is simple but all of this boils down to a very pressing question of whether those in power genuinely desire to engage in meaningful dialogue to end the political strife.
Protests are a democratic right, but leaders need to rise above personal ambitions to break free from the vicious cycle of disruptive tactics that dent the progressive spirit of the country.
A comprehensive and people-centric strategy devised by multiple stakeholders can at least put the country’s politics on the path of healing, marking a departure from the cyclic nature of disruptions.
