Democracy in a Diverse Society An Enigma of Socio-Political Development in Pakistan

Kishwer Khan

doi:10.46422/jhss.v11i1.106

Abstract

Democracy is a system of the government in which things and affairs are shaped and run according to the general will. In this system, the will of majority matters and minorities’ rights are protected through a social contract agreed by all the stakeholders. In such a system, how much it is likely that the masses or the society should be homogenous, or it should be diversity controlling society? If the society is predominantly a diverse society, then how much are chances of development of democracy in such society and is it justified to say that diversity is a hurdle in the way of democracy if the latter is taken in lieu of majority’s will? These are some of the questions directly attached to the issue of national integration and the development of democracy in Pakistan. Pakistan is a very diverse country by all means. It has a colossal diversity of race, ethnicity, religion, culture and so on. With this huge diversity, it was created as a single separate country in 1947, with vivid ideas of democracy and federalism. However, since the time of its inception, these are the same ideals that suffered the most. The annals of history suggest that Pakistan is a democratically failed state with intermittent authoritarian rules, the secession of its one province in 1971, and multiple separatist movements still going on in various regions of the country. Deprivation and exploitation lie as the root cause of this failure which ultimately marked the very process of national integration. Historical accounts tell that whenever the question of national integration was raised, it was dealt with the rhetoric of ‘unity in uniformity’. This flawed notion of unity in uniformity itself suggests that among all the hurdles in the way of democracy, diversity is the biggest one. Is diversity really an obstacle in the way of development of democracy and national integration? This paper is intended to find out the answer to these questions and also aims to investigate the positive correlation between democracy and diversity for the cause of national integration and democratic development in Pakistan.

Highlights

Democracy is a system of government which is run by the general will
If people are heterogeneous according to their religions, they are homogenous in their language or culture, like Hindus in Sindh or Sikhs in Punjab. This heterogeneity of Pakistan has been its distinct feature, but all the rulers tried to undermine it for the cause of national integration by the flawed notion ofunity in uniformity‘
Pakistan is a heterogeneous country by all the means, its national integration should be based upon the notion of ―unity in diversity‖

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Democracy is a system of government which is run by the general will. It is meant for the protection of the rights of all the citizens. Pakistan is one of those countries who serve as the best example of this common belief It is predominantly a diverse country, having a collage of several types of diversity ranging from ethnic and religious to language and culture, even to the social and economic status of the citizens. Its history suggests that the founders of the country were well aware of the fact that the state they have been striving for, is going to be heterogenous one with colossal diversity of many types Even they were determined to make it a democracy. The subsequent governments in Pakistan have been hammering the cause of uniformity or homogenization of all citizens, irrespective of their differences, for the very cause of national integration They forgot or avoided the idea that democracy works with the general will, and the question of general will arises when there is a diversity of opinions. Once the track of the democracy and development is set or shifted in the wrong direction, or from upside down, the country is moving there with all its vigour and dedication

Correlation between Democracy and Diversity

CONCLUSION