By Ijaz Kashmiri
The Chinese government system is different from the government systems of Pakistan and Jammu Kashmir. Pakistan’s democracy is dependent on periodical elections. The people of the country elect the members of the National Assembly that further elects the leader of the house, called Prime Minister.
The prime minister of the country can be blackmailed if he/she does not have a sufficient majority. Mostly members of the National Assembly are rich people, landlords, mill owners, religious leaders, or Pirs from different shrines. The whole house represents influential people.
The representatives of people do not make laws for the poor. If the prime minister has a desire to make a law for the public interest, they blackmail him. Even, religious leaders of different sects and so-called Pirs forget the divine fear and stand shoulder to shoulder with the mill owners and landlords.
So, the poor people are bound to bear the brunt of a culture of worshipping corrupt leadership. They sell their loyalty for petty benefits- sometimes even for a plate of Biryani Rice and Qeemay Wala Naan (a kind of bread that has meat sandwiched inside).
The legislators do not legislate on laws, instead, they emphasize on getting development funds to spend in their constituencies for getting votes and getting their commission. Pakistan has a multi-party political system. All parties do not have a particular ideology as their ideologies do not survive when they have to compromise for power.
The illiterate and less educated voters are good for the callous politicians. The votes of a Ph.D. degree holder and an illiterate person has equal status in the eyes of such politicians.
Can wisdom accept such kind of voting? The Quran questions whether the illiterate and learned can be equal? There is no comparison between ignorance and knowledge. Such a kind of democracy that gives everyone the equal right of voting is ridiculous. Ignorant voters are easy to purchase, easy to dictate, and easy to govern. Politicians in such a democracy do not empower people. They keep masses ignorant by depriving them of health, education, and other investments of human resources.
They focus on pump and show, they focus on building roads and visible projects so that they may befool masses to vote them because such politicians pay attention to win next elections. They don’t serve for the next generations. Many religious leaders and Pirs also forget the message of the Quran and the message of Allah (SWT) when they enter this satanic arena of capitalist democracy.
The Chinese Political System
One Party System
The Chinese system of government is entirely different. There is only one party system that runs the biggest country in the world by population. National People’s Congress (NPC) has around 3000 members who form the laws of the country.
The NPC has legislative power. It makes law for the whole country. With some assisting ministries, it oversees the whole system, and President and Premier are the key offices as they work as institutions.
There is no MNA or MPA. There is no traffic jam on the roads when members of the Communist Party come on the roads. People even do not know when a state minister visits their city. Everything goes on normally. Provincial governments have complete authority to run their province within the cover of the constitution of China.
The Devolution of Powers at Local Level
China got united during the year 1949 and they formed their constitution in the year 1954 but Pakistan got freedom in 1947, they formed their comprehensive constitution in the year 1973.
The local- bodies system in China works independently. There is strict monitoring of religion and politics. Provinces have power, districts have power, counties have power, towns have power over neighboring villages.
Shanghai is run by its municipality and has been excluded from any province for lessening burden over a province and easing self-governing for better development.
The Chinese government has done a lot for the basic human rights of the people. People are happy because they have every kind of facility so they have nothing to agitate. “The wise” of the nation are leading the nation and they are leading the nation in the right direction.
The Respect for Women in China
Cindy Liu taught us the subject of picture description during learning the Chinese language. She advised us not to enter in opposite toilets. She told that male entrance to female toilets is very serious in China.
The Chinese government has invested money for uplifting the living standards of the people. When I was studying DVM in Hyderabad, I used to travel on the train. Every time, I finished traveling I had to take shower because there was dust during the whole journey.
Once, I went to Nanjing from Yangzhou to meet Dr. Abdul Haseeb. I traveled by train. It was a slow train with fewer facilities but the seats were just like the seats of a plane. Toilets were clean and after all, there was no dust. I started comparing it with my dust-journeys between Lahore and Hyderabad.
China has communism and it has been delivering since its inception. Views of Confucius play a vital role, particularly when it comes to the delivery of services to the masses.
Chinese people are happy with their development and they show gratitude towards their government. Pakistan should enforce a strict governmental system at least for 20 years so that the policies can continue. A strict system that must not have a fear of being demolished and must ensure the continuity of the policies.
(This article has been taken from Ijaz Kashmiri’s book titled ‘‘My 793 days in Yangzhou’ . Ijaz Kashmiri is a Ph.D. Scholar at Yangzhou University, China. He is also a Poet and has published four poetry books in Urdu.)
