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FOLK wisdom tells us that if at first you dont succeed, then create a furor and try again. When it comes to getting people riled up, our omnipotent angels as they are euphemistically referred to these days are second to none. Unable to secure the desired result in the wake of the Hamid Mir allegations, the angels happened to chance on a dramatic case of religious slander aired on the same channel that had earlier invoked their ire.

It is thus that the countrys biggest media group is reportedly on the verge of being shut down after a rapid mobilisation campaign featuring the religious establishment and the formers media competitors. There are many aspects of this series of events that should be discussed. Most glaring is the shameless manner in which rival media houses rip into one another, confirming that liberal capitalism, with all its pretensions of civility, is an essentially no-holds-barred survival of the fittest.

At a more general level, contradictions within the corridors of power are becoming increasingly visible. In theory, the sharpening of contradictions should not worry progressives because it is when systems of domination start to dysfunction that the possibilities of substantive change increase.

Yet I have come across many progressives who are profoundly concerned about what they believe is a tilt in the balance of power back in favour of the men in khaki and reactionary political forces. Leaving aside the question of when the balance of power ever tilted decisively against the right, I want to suggest that we try and understand the nature of evolving contradictions from a different perspective.

Compare the sensibilities engendered by the images beamed out by television these days with those of the arch-conservatives that are the most mobilised constituency in the country.

On the one hand are the glitz and glamour of globalised capitalist culture, with its uninhibited titillation. Otherwise sacrosanct taboos are unashamedly challenged on the screen. That tens of millions keep tuning in every day to see more confirms that TVs appeal is growing rapidly.

On the other hand are the stringent rules and regulations of public religiosity, enforced by institutions and ordinary people alike in all realms of social life. Moral standards are firmly established and challenging them leads at best to excommunication from the community of believers and at worst to severe punishments, even death.

Which is the real world that the majority of Pakistanis inhabit? Both, insofar as most ordinary people participate in each consciously. Yes, they adopt different dispositions in either case, but this does not mean that one set of dispositions is real while the other is false.

While the future cannot be mapped out seamlessly by social scientific inquiry, the rapidity with which TV and by this I mean all information technologies is shaping social life in the present century means that everything that comes in the way is likely to be transformed. Which means that the reality of globalised capitalism is going impose itself more and more on the reality of public religiosity.

This is important to bear in mind if only because it confirms that the media houses rejoicing at the misfortunes of their rival are as much bearers of infidel cultural symbols and could tomorrow be just as easily accused of religious impropriety. In the big, bad world of Pakistani politics, there are no friends, only interests.

Originally posted here:
The silent majority must be mobilised by progressives.