Fascism: An alarming situation for Democracy

February 2, 2017 OPINION/NEWS

Reuters photo

 

By

Muhammad Shoaib Khan

Today, in the world of globalization, it is easy to access everything within the sphere of the universe. It is considered a remarkable achievement considering the ancient era.

These developments help in categorizing the world in three basic regions; developed, under-developed and third world countries. The latter has a strong history and struggled to achieve survival and their objectives. The main strength of their effort was democracy.

Democracy is a system of governance by the people and for the people with the decision of rules and rulers made by the citizens of the world. As one of the great saying is; democracy is of the people, by the people for the people. Western countries have been struggling for almost a century to achieve their aims of democracy. Globally states are practicing with different models in order to reach the milestones. Each of these models has their pros and cons. Systems such as capitalism, communism, and socialism, instead of providing benefits, affects the societies by obliterating the fundamental rights of the people. The civic liberties were humiliated in the past across the world in the form of Nazism or any other ism. In North Pakistan, it is because of communism that the government is wealthy but the people are still struggling for their basic rights.

Fascism is one of these systems which are exploiting the fundamental rights of the nation. It is the system of governance by one individual or small group with no input from the citizen allowed. In this, the human rights have been exploited and necessities of life are not being provided by the rulers. That’s why it is more dangerous to the democratic societies, especially in underdeveloped republics. Sovereigns have being taking advantage and exploiting the freedom of speech, expression, education, etc. The authority lies with one individual who has power to control the institutions of the society. The dominant individual mediated the government affairs and claimed it to be for the betterment of societies and the general public.

Considering the recent example in this context, East Pakistan is considered one of the largest democratic states. Internally the government is not fulfilling the basic rights of the general community which results in the emergence of separatist movements across the country. The same is happening in the neighboring states such as India. The concern of the former Chief Justice of India was about the violation of international humanitarian laws which might lead to fascism, which will only be controlled by supreme authority.

In fascist societies, freedom of speech is controlled by the government and claimed to be the largest interest of the state. This system is also being practiced in so called secular states but in reality the case is different, specifically in South Asia, fundamental human rights are being violated. The categorical distribution of general public on the basis of demographics, race, and ethnicity disturbs the social order of any democratic society.

In Pakistan, the not so considerable political achievements affected society more than that of the martial laws. But there is a silver lining in the form of a prevailing representative system in this region. The media plays an utmost pivotal role in strengthening the democratic system because it makes the base of the society in modern world. The media is also known as the middleman service provider in any social order, creating awareness and educating the general public to think on the national issues. Now the media is known as the major pillar of any state that helps to prolong democracy. The alarming situation is that in the fascist societies, the media is controlled by the multinational corporations, MNC’s; having their own agenda so they manipulate things according to their own goals.

The Middle Eastern societies deliver more than the latter. This is the biggest reason for their prosperity, and in the West also. So there is a clear distinction between the two societies.

The role of the United Nations to overcome fascism is not so effective. For a democratic system to succeed, the UN could put its efforts in a more constructive way so that democracy can be practiced more appropriately in under developed countries. Pakistani society have learned from its past and now every institution is working together to strengthen democracy. So if fascism will not be opposed, then it will be an alarming situation for democracy as we have seen in the past.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Muhammad Shoaib Khan

Muhammad Shoaib Khan

Muhammad Shoaib Khan is a journalist from Pakistan and has worked with NEO TV, Independent News, PBCand The Nation.

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