by Faraz Ahmed Chandio
Since the world has begun to recognise human rights, Pakistan has seen a range of repressive measures, from banning social media to taking harsh actions against national activists. Continued disappearances, forced conversions, the prohibition of student unions, the marginalisation of minorities, and the absence of an independent judiciary are all issues that have called into question the true nature of freedom and liberty in Pakistan since its independence. Simply put, the essence of freedom is missing in Pakistan. Liberty, in its truest form, should mean the ability to act according to one’s will without external restraints—an ideal that remains a distant dream. The question arises: has independent Pakistan ever truly achieved real freedom? As a fundamental right, freedom enables humans to achieve intelligence, creativity, genuine status, humanity, and happiness.
Although absolute freedom is a utopian concept and exists nowhere, the evolution of human conscience has been met with a corresponding evolution in the state’s and those in power’s methods of suppressing it. This has led to what can be termed “controlled freedom.” In other words, the state determines the “dos and don’ts” and their extensions or effects while granting rights such as freedom of speech, movement, assembly, expression, thought, and religion. For example, replacing student unions with “councils” on campuses is an attempt to control young students through simulated political initiatives and reinterpretations of unionisation rights. Similar restrictions are imposed on other liberty rights.
On one hand, such regulations and restrictions curb the misuse of vaguely defined concepts of freedom and liberty, yet they privilege some individuals at the expense of others. In other words, freedom for wolves means death for sheep. This demonstrates that an unequal society can never be truly free. In practice, whenever democracies become “the best revenge,” the liberty of the people begins to be controlled. Paradoxically, regulating and controlling freedom implies that freedom itself becomes the biggest enemy of freedom, undermining its own essence.
Historically, four factors have contributed to the control of freedom and liberty. Firstly, all power vested in the federation creates a hierarchy with the state at the top, holding the highest authority and power, while citizens are at the bottom, required to abide by laws designed to control their liberty. This hierarchy must be reversed, placing citizens at the top and the state and its institutions at the bottom, to end the superiority complex of those in power. This would help the state better serve its citizens.
Secondly, the increasing influence of corporations treats citizens merely as market commodities, resulting in laws that regulate individual freedoms to align with corporate interests. This programmed freedom restricts individuals to either doing what is permitted by law or doing nothing at all. There is no middle path except ‘pure tolerance,’ which is, indeed, intolerable.
Thirdly, the global trend towards the political development of industrial capitalism compels states to promote tolerance instead of freedom. This trend transcends unnecessary and irrational limitations on freedom. Consequently, laws often penalise acts performed in the exercise of the right to liberty and freedom under the pretext of ‘acting beyond limits and laws’ or ‘subject to the law’. Instead, the law should clearly provide a globally acceptable definition of freedom in the true sense.
The fourth factor is institutionalised inequality. Liberty and freedom should be virtues of democracy, but in Pakistan, things are not practised as they are written in the constitution. Instead, existing laws and policies institutionalise inequality by making people more tolerant so that capitalists don’t face any conflicts within the market. If there were genuine freedom, people would not tolerate what is evil and intolerable, such as enforced disappearances, poverty, unemployment, unequal education, and gender disparities in Pakistan.
One might agree with Thomas Jefferson, the US founding father who drafted the Declaration of Independence, who said: “The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalised version of the first.” However, despite constitutions, governments and states continue to suppress freedom. This dilemma is evident in Pakistan, where the state regulates and controls freedom, imposing its authority over liberty through laws designed to ensure smooth governance of business, regardless of their impact on the nation.