Political Crisis On A Silent Street

The renowned sociologist Saskia Sassen, having witnessed the

suspension of Pakistan’s Constitution during her recent trip to

Lahore, raises a critical question in her Guardian article: will the

street rise? Based on her experience of the street in Lahore she

concludes that “(m)y experience…was of bustling shops and bazaars:

no closed shops, no drawn shutters.” In brief her categorical answer to

the question, which I agree with, is that no the street in Lahore will

not rise. Unwittingly Professor Sassen’s Guardian article raises a

question and a concern that continues to befuddle the good General:

why is he in a deep political crisis given that food and shopping remain

the mantra of the urban street; and is there something behind the

surface of the street that may yet strike him down?

These are non-trivial questions. There was no teleological certainty

that would have predicted General Musharraf’s deepening political

crisis. Musharraf was hailed as Caesar by all hues of Pakistan’s urban

middle class and its urban elite—then as now the street remained

silent. He was hailed as the embodiment of personal sincerity and

honesty, a statesman with a sense of purpose and for his constituency

this was enough—as for the street it maintained its silence.