Re: History of Intolerant political culture in Pakistan
It is unfair to judge pakistani political culture separately. It is perfect reflection of south asian politics. I don't see any difference.
All the traits about personality worship, family worship, political dynasties, bullying tactics, show of street power etc are part and parcel of south asian political culture.
Agree and posters from India already conveyed this point. But while there were good changes among Congress over the period, Muslim League lost its credentials very early. What do you think could be the reasons for that?
Re: History of Intolerant political culture in Pakistan
I'm talking of the culture that had life of common men miserable. Not a single week goes without traffic jams due to rallies by political parties. There is no sense in political leadership to address this issue.
These issues start from a statement and then political workers show street power to block traffic and sometimes destroying public property. Not a single political party has any concern about this situation, because they don't find it odd.
Statements against someones character were given since per-partition era. Today, Imran Khan is called playboy, Mr Jinah had also got some titles (not to be mentioned). Shaikh Rasheed was quite free to compare Bilawal with Faisal Saleh Hayat, but in per-partition, Muslim League workers labelled wife a Muslim Congress leader as 'Kafira', though the lady had nothing to do with the politics and remained under purdah all her life.
It's just sad how street power in South Asia (or Pakistan) is being used for wrong reasons. Otherwise, street power in Western countries had achieved wonders, it changed the face of politics. To me, it's quite surprising and baffling to see how so much is expected from Pakistani 'political parties', it seems like everything must come from them whereas in Western societies, it's actually the independent pressure groups that make way for the change. They are the ones why lobby with political parties and get them on board with certain policies. In Pakistan, we need pressure groups, Union movements, independent voices, professional lobbying to get some of the things moving and raise new issues. We need more activism, better collaborations between different groups and organizations. It is quite fair to say that Pakistani political culture is quite immature in that regard and the people are are seriously missing out.