Young Socialist's Triumph Exposes Pakistani Rulers' Double Standards
The recent election victory of Zohran Mamdani as New York's youngest South Asian socialist mayor represents a significant political milestone that has unexpectedly revealed the deep hypocrisy of Pakistan's ruling establishment. While celebrating this democratic achievement abroad, Pakistan's power elite continues to systematically dismantle democratic institutions at home.
Mamdani's election triumph occurred against formidable odds, emerging during a wave of capitalist and xenophobic sentiment backed by former President Trump and his billionaire supporters. This victory marks a celebratory moment for New York residents and humanists worldwide, demonstrating that progressive values can prevail even in challenging political climates.
Pakistani Elite's Opportunistic Response
Pakistan's ruling class, having consistently failed their citizens for decades, immediately seized upon Mamdani's success as validation of their own ideologies. They launched calculated messaging campaigns aimed at different audiences with contradictory purposes.
Internationally, they positioned themselves as champions of shared democratic values, hoping to gain goodwill and legitimacy. Domestically, they portrayed themselves as redeemers and true friends of the people. This dual-faced approach highlights their chronic political dishonesty.
The fundamental irony remains stark: while applauding democratic processes in other countries, these same rulers have systematically undermined democracy within Pakistan's borders. The values and rights they praise abroad—including the fundamental right to vote—are precisely what they deny their own citizens.
Systematic Erosion of Democratic Rights
Through decades of misgovernance, Pakistan's ruling elite has accumulated such control that they rarely feel accountable to the public. They have deliberately degraded, compromised, and surrendered the people's voting rights in exchange for maintaining their own power and wealth.
The current regime, operating with what many consider a questionable mandate, has been particularly aggressive in suppressing people's rights, democratic norms, and constitutional principles. What they demand from others internationally—a meaningful vote, expressive freedom, independent judiciary, informed intelligentsia, and truthful media—they actively suppress at home.
Pakistan's institutions, including the media, judiciary, and religious leadership, often align with those in power rather than serving the public interest. While praising universal freedoms abroad, they frequently submit to authority domestically.
Media outlets and religious figures justify worsening public conditions, while the judiciary sometimes legitimizes oppression and constitutional violations, closing avenues for legal redress. This collusion has produced numerous anti-people achievements that benefit the powerful at citizens' expense.
Legacy of Failed Governance
The ruling establishment's record includes numerous legislative and constitutional measures that have diminished democratic space and public rights. These include the PECA Act, the 26th Amendment, the conquest of superior judiciary and mainstream media, reduced civilian space, devalued public voting, deepening socio-economic divisions, skyrocketing inflation, extreme poverty, rampant corruption, and the impending 27th Amendment.
This extensive list represents deliberate failures that have harmed the country and its people. The speed with which Pakistan's rulers claim credit for others' international achievements stands in stark contrast to their sluggishness in serving their own population.
Had they demonstrated similar urgency in addressing domestic needs, they wouldn't need to appropriate others' successes. The ultimate question remains: if Mamdani had attempted to run for office in Pakistan, he likely wouldn't have remained in the country or maintained his political identity under the current system.
The contrast between celebrating democratic victories abroad while suppressing them at home reveals the fundamental contradiction in Pakistan's political leadership—a contradiction that becomes more apparent with each international success they attempt to claim as their own.
