Social unrest may be defined as organised and unorganised activities such as

protests, strikes, lootings and riots by a group of people directed against

government or other groups, causing breakdown of social fabric, metamorphosing,
under enabling conditions, into ethnic cleansing or civil war or changing the course
of history through a revolution. It is mostly triggered by economic problems, which
in essence are:
a) Poverty, signified not only by the shortage of resources, but also of opportunity,
and
b) Inequality, not only of income, but also of accumulated wealth as well as access
to land, education, employment and exclusion from decision making hierarchy.
Both breed anger, sense of injustice and hopelessness and foster feelings of
frustration and disempowerment, made worse by the presence of islands of
opulence midst a sea of poverty where riches are paraded on television and other
media.

The last two to three years in Pakistan have been marked by growing social unrest,
due to shortage and high prices of food items, and worsening power outages
causing considerable inconvenience to the public. This is not all, terrorism and
lawlessness, unemployment and poverty, and upward revision of the prices of oil,
electricity and gas by the government at frequent intervals have made matters
worse.

The last two to three years in Pakistan have been marked by growing social unrest, due to
shortage and high prices of food items, and worsening power outages causing considerable
inconvenience to the public. This is not all, terrorism and lawlessness, unemployment and
poverty, and upward revision of the prices of oil, electricity and gas by the government at
frequent intervals have made matters worse.
About a fortnight ago, a rally was staged in Baluchistan to protest against target-killings in
Karachi. Two students were reported to have been killed when the security forces fired at
certain violent elements in the rally. People have been almost regularly demonstrating
against one thing or another, most important issue being load-shedding of electricity and
gas. Last week, power- looms workers were reported to have come on the roads in
Faisalabad, after many power-looms were reportedly closed there due to serious
interruptions in power supply.
It may appear strange that analysts have warned about the possibility of an upsurge in
social unrest not only in Pakistan, but many other countries as well. These analysts had
expressed their apprehensions in reports, published in the national Press. Social unrest,
according to these analysts, would be triggered by a multitude of factors such as higher
unemployment in the wake of recent global recession, widening gap between the rich and

the poor, spurt in the international oil and commodities prices and adverse climatic
conditions resulting from global warming and climate change, which would reduce foodgrains production and raise their prices.
The industrialised nations had not so far recovered from the effects of the recent global
recession, although some signs of recovery were lately witnessed in some of these
economies. In the United States, the unemployment rate is still hovering around 10 per
cent. The analysts have expressed the fear that 7 million Americans who lost their jobs
during the recent recession may not be able to get a job during the next 2-3 years.
Americans are, reportedly handicapped due to decline in the values of their homes as well
as stocks, non-availability of adequate credit facilities and upward trend in oil prices. Due to
the aforesaid factors, consumer spending in the US is likely to remain weak in the near
future, which means lower GDP and a weaker economy in the coming months.
The World Bank had expressed the view that the global economy showed some
improvement recently due to the multi-billion stimulus packages launched by the
governments. In order to maintain the aforesaid improving trend, governments have been
advised to continue with their stimulus efforts.
In the industrialised countries, the current high level of unemployment accompanied by the
widening gap between the rich and the poor may pose a threat to social stability. In the
past, the strong safety nets in these countries in the form of food stamps, free education
and healthcare facilities and unemployment relief etc. were able to keep social unrest in
control. However, the recent global recession had weakened the industrialised economies
and they might not be able to spend on the aforesaid social safety nets, as before. In
addition, rising food prices accompanied by stagnant agricultural production due to
unfavorable weather resulting from global warming and climate change could also aggravate
the situation and trigger social unrest.
All the above-mentioned factors apply to Pakistan, also. Unemployment has assumed an
alarming proportion due to terrorism and lawlessness, energy shortage and weaker
economic growth. Class discrimination has been widening in the past and the process
continues as before. Food prices have been increasing with the result that the poor is now
finding it difficult to feed himself and his family. The long dry spell is staring the agriculture
sector in the face and the analysts fear that agricultural production could go down by about
20 per cent or so, if the winter rains remain less than normal. With a decline in agricultural
production, food prices would rise further.
Load-shedding for extended periods is another threat to social stability. Besides
inconvenience to the people, it has led to the closure of many power-looms and smaller
manufacturing units, throwing thousands of workers out of employment. The problem is not
likely to be solved any time soon and during the coming summer season power outages
may be much more painful for the people.
Rampant corruption together with an exploitative culture is a constant source of social
unrest and heart-burning in Pakistan. According to the social science encyclopedia,
corruption refers to the abandonment of expected standards of behavior by those in
authority for the sake of unsanctioned personal advantage. Common forms of corruption are
bribery, unauthorised extraction of money by officials from members of the public and
misuse of official information for personal gains. Indirect bribery may take the form of
promise of a post-retirement job, provision of reduced-price goods or the channeling of
business to a legislative or to members of his family.

In fact, the term corruption may include many more acts of a similar nature. In Pakistan,
the well-known forms of corruption have been tax evasion, loan default without legitimate
grounds, overinvoicing and underinvoicing etc, may be included in corruption since they are
abandonment of expected standards of behaviour those in authority.
Corruption has led to an exploitative culture, due to which it has become a major source of
social unrest in this country. Corruption by the rich hits the poor directly. For instance, when
the rich do not pay direct taxes, the government imposes indirect taxes, which have to be
paid by the poor, as well. When the rich default on their loans obtained from the commercial
banks, the banks reduce the rate of return on the deposits to compensate their loss which
hits small depositors. According to a study undertaken by the United Nations sometime ago,
the poor do not mind higher income of other people if it has come as a result of honest hard
work. However, if the higher income is the result of corruption and exploitation, the same
becomes a major source of social unrest.
In order to prevent social unrest from reaching an explosive grade, it is of utmost
importance that the government should make all possible efforts to reduce corruption and
exploitation and establish a just and equitable order in the country. The question, is can
corruption be eradicated? The answer would be that it can be eradicated if the leadership
has a will to do so. Those of us who got an opportunity to visit the Passport Office in the
1960s must be remembering that no one in those days could get a passport issued in his
favour without greasing the palms of someone in the passport office. When Z.A. Bhutto took
over as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, he wanted to send thousands of workers abroad to
provide them with jobs and, also, bring much-needed foreign exchange into Pakistan.
Accordingly, he gave the task of ending corruption in the passport office to his Interior
Minister Khan Abdul Qayum Khan.
In the following months, the passport manual was amended and a revised passport manual
took its place. Action was taken against officers having an objectionable reputation. The
procedure for the issue of a passport was simplified and gradually it was made a one
window affair. As a result, corruption went down from 95 per cent to 20-25 per cent within
the next few years. This scribe had an opportunity to visit the Passport Office Islamabad in
recent years. The office is now a pleasure to watch. The entire office is accommodated in
one big hall. The applicants need not even fill in a declaration form. They only have to carry
with them the receipt of the fees deposited, the National Identity Card (NIC) and the old
passport, if any. At the first counter in the big hall, a computerised photograph is taken. At
the next counter, the applicants particulars are recorded with the help of their NIC and old
passport, and at the final counter they are given the date on which to collect their passport.
It has now become simple beyond imagination.
Eradication of the corruption and exploitation culture could no doubt go a long way in paving
the way for social harmony. The poor in this country have been hard-hit by growing
unemployment and rising food prices, the government would have to provide utmost relief
to those in need of it. A welfare state could be the best guarantee to ensure social stability,
in the present circumstances. In order to mobilise necessary resources for meeting the
requirements of a welfare state, government should collect taxes from everyone having a
taxable capacity. In order to show our solidarity with those belonging to the lower income,
we must shun ostentations and follow the principles of simplicity and austerity in our daily
lives.

My first memory of social unrest is from the late 60s when students protests forced
Ayub Khan to step down. ....that twenty two families controlled 70 percent of
manufacturing and 90 percent of banking and insurance business in the country
jolted his regime to its foundation, says Dr Meekal Ahmed in the book, Pakistan,
Beyond the Crisis State.
Social unrest may be defined as organised and unorganised activities such as
protests, strikes, lootings and riots by a group of people directed against
government or other groups, causing breakdown of social fabric, metamorphosing,
under enabling conditions, into ethnic cleansing or civil war or changing the course
of history through a revolution. It is mostly triggered by economic problems, which
in essence are:
a) Poverty, signified not only by the shortage of resources, but also of opportunity,
and
b) Inequality, not only of income, but also of accumulated wealth as well as access
to land, education, employment and exclusion from decision making hierarchy.
Both breed anger, sense of injustice and hopelessness and foster feelings of
frustration and disempowerment, made worse by the presence of islands of
opulence midst a sea of poverty where riches are paraded on television and other
media.
The revolt against Ayub Khan, expected to usher in an era of democracy, equated
with economic justice, turned out to be a mirage. Since then every oasis of
democracy has been as barren and cruel as the desert of dictatorship, proving that
the root cause of the problem is not the form of government, but inequality of
wealth and power. Political democracy without democratisation of wealth is
meaningless.
Poverty, inequality and social unrest have been the hallmark of developing
countries, but after the collapse of the USSR, capitalisms unabated fury and
ascendency resulting in financial meltdown, austerity measures, joblessness, and
concentration of wealth and power in fewer hands, has left even the developed
world vulnerable to it, evidenced by scenes from around the world: 1999 Seattle
riots during WTO meeting; August 2011 UK riots, 2011 Occupy Wall Street
Movement and now Chicago teachers strike in the USA; series of Greek protests in
2010-2012; movement in Spain against welfare cuts and unemployment, and many
others. At the heart of Arab uprising is the unjust power structure, excluding
masses from the decision making process.
Even though social unrest has become a daily phenomenon all over Pakistan, some
areas are hit harder than others, reasons are complex but a common thread runs
through them all, i.e. economic injustice.
Grievances of Baloch people about discrimination in allocation of resources and

power sharing structure of the country is at the heart of violence against Punjabis,
who have become symbols of this discrimination. Brewing resentment and inability
or unwillingness of the state to address this issue fairly has led to the separatist
movement.
Violence in Karachi is fundamentally a struggle to control the citys resources, made
worse by influx of large ethnic groups, worsening competition for already meagre
resources, just like in the USA where immigrants are welcomed in times of
prosperity and resented during hard times. In Karachi, presence of powerful vested
interest groups like land mafia, bhatta groups and armed gangs backed by various
political parties complicate the situation.
The recent Rimsha blasphemy case is most likely an attempt to extort land from the
Christian minority. The issue of Shia killings and other religious extremist actions is
complex and multi-factorial, but one major reason is the proxy war between
external forces to gain control over the regions resources.
Weak state institutions, lack of mechanisms to address grievances and when people
have nothing to lose, lower the threshold for social unrest. Historically, first
response of the state, a representative of the elite, is to use force to quell people
uprising. Initially, this may succeed, but in the long run it back fires, as we are
witnessing in Balochistan.
When cost of using force becomes higher than giving some concessions to the
poor, political and economic reforms are implemented. For example, in the West,
voting rights were extended, social safety net programmes were set up and welfare
programmes were introduced when the wealthy were threatened by the rise of
socialism. More recently, financial handouts to Saudi citizens by the King were an
attempt to avert the danger of spread of Arab Spring. Or the Balochistan
Development Package was announced.
So, what is to be done? I believe that the only answer is a fundamental, structural
change in the current economic system, a change which reduces income gap,
minimises accumulation of wealth and corrects historic injustice.
I quote the following paragraph from, Inheritance of Loss, a novel by Kiran Desai:
The wealth that seemed to protect them like a blanket was the very thing that left
them exposed. They, amid extreme poverty, were baldly richer, and the statistics of
difference were being broadcast over loudspeakers, written loudly across walls. The
anger had solidified into slogans and guns, and it turned out that they, Lola and
Noni, were the unlucky ones who wouldnt slip through, who would pay the debt
that should be shared with others over many generations.
In Pakistan, unless this debt is paid, there will be anarchy and destruction, if not
today, then tomorrow. So who will pay the debt? Rich will not do it; poor cant do it,
leaving the burden on the shoulders of the middle class. There is a need for a

conscious, conscientious and organised effort for economic justice. Will Pakistani
middle class rise to the challenge? They have the most to lose!

Kashmir
Isreal Palestien
India Pakistan