New Social Media and Socio-Political Movements in Pakistan

Pakistan has turned from a challenge into a mystery. Apart from aid donors, drones and special envoys, a constant stream of foreign correspondents are pouring into Pakistan. From Nicholas Schmidle to Sharmeen Obaid, reporters, scholars, observers and documentary makers are visiting Pakistan in an attempt to unravel the mystery. Media reports and expert analysis on Pakistan have painted a rather grim picture of the state of affairs in the country. From the growing threat of Taliban to concerns about safety of nuclear weapons, from the weak political leadership to deep social schisms, Pakistan appears to be immersing into deeper crisis.
However, the media glare and emphasis on the obvious has ignored a remarkable element of Pakistani society: resilience of the Pakistanis. In the midst of negative attention, one encouraging development in Pakistan has been overlooked. This refers to a growing number of public protests in Pakistan along with the increasing use of social media tools for mobilizing the people. Most of these protests may not be part of the solution but nevertheless amplify the voice of the Pakistani civil society.

[Picture courtesy: GlobalVoices Online]

Information on and reporting about public protests in Pakistan appears more frequently in the social media. Mark Granovetter’s work on the strength of weak ties argues that weak ties between individuals are more important than strong ties for the broad dissemination of information. The social media outlets are proving to be the weak link in gathering information about how common Pakistanis are reacting to the current state of national crisis. Mainstream media and think-tanks are recycling information and analysis, missing out on some interesting developments on the ground. Technology savvy Pakistanis are using the web to spread information about the much ignored dimensions of the ongoing crisis in Pakistan. Reports by the common Pakistanis may not compete with those of seasoned journalists as the headline grabber, but is the most authentic communication of the ground reality.
The lawyer’s protest movement in March 2009 was the first in the recent series of public protests in Pakistan. Lawyers, political activists including leaders like Nawaz Sharif and common Pakistanis prepared to march to Islamabad demanding the reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. Reinstatement of Justice Chaudhry by the PPP led Government was clearly a historic victory for the people of Pakistan. The long march is also hailed as a case study of digital activism in Pakistan. The campaign utilized the full range of digital tools, from blogs to social networking and citizen journalism, through the use of old and new technologies. According to Dr. Awab Alvi, one of the organizers of the Long March, See ‘n’ Report created an SMS number which was also supported by an MMS and email address, so that people joining the march could send live updates. People used Facebook and Twitter widely for spreading word about the progress of the march. The widely scattered information was consolidated through CoveritLive, which became one of the most viewed tools through the protest phase. In the words of Dr. Alvi, “…the social web was essential in spreading awareness to the digital savvy individuals in Pakistan.  The traditional media and electronic media coverage was biased as well as slow. In many occasions we had far more updated information as compared to any media outlet in Pakistan, merely because it was from the people actually taking part on the ground.”
Success of the long march sparked a chain reaction across Pakistan with increasing number of public protests. From boycott of sugar in protest against hoarding and price rise to opposing official policy towards Taliban, the people of Pakistan have found new faith in agitational politics.  Youtube, blogs and twitter carried a public appeal campaign for boycotting the purchase of sugar between November 5th and November 12th,  2009. Aim of this boycott campaign was to assert that even though trading corporations may control prices, the consumer is not powerless and can assert displeasure against rising prices.
In April this year, Pakistanis participated in a peaceful protest against the official policy towards the Taliban. The citizens gathered at the General Post Office of Mall Street in Lahore. The protestors posted letters to the President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice and COAS calling for military action against the Taliban. The text of the letter was made publicly available through various avenues including Facebook. The campaign was highly organized with details about congruent front size for the letter, complete postal mailing addresses and a reminder to bring change for paying postage costs being circulated to thousands of people.
The shut-down of schools and universities by the Government of Pakistan following a series of terror attacks across Pakistan in October was opposed by the students in large numbers. Students in Islamabad and Karachi took to the streets, denouncing all acts of terrorism and protesting the closure of educational institutions.  In Karachi, Pakistanis from various universities formed a group, Jaag Meray Talib-e-Imam, and demonstrated outside the Karachi Press Club. In Islamabad, Pakistan Young Journalists Forum (PYJF), in collaboration with the Pyaam Foundation and Future Leaders of Pakistan (FLP) organized a peace rally at the International Islamic University.
Even with limited internet penetration, merely 10.6%, the Pakistanis are utilizing the web to communicate with each other and voice their concerns. It is encouraging to note that Pakistan is among the five dynamic economies of developing Asia in terms of increased penetration of mobile phones, internet and broadband. 13,716.3% growth in internet usage between 2000 and 2009 further enhances the prospects of web acting as the new medium of interaction in Pakistan. Earlier this year Google and CIO Pakistan organized a meet of bloggers under the theme ‘From people to Tweeple’. It was an attempt to promote tools of micro-blogging among Pakistani bloggers. Pakistanis are showing a keen interest in familiarizing themselves with new mediums of web communication.
Outreach of the new social media tools in Pakistan is being gradually recognized across the globe. The most convincing evidence of this is the recent initiatives of the U.S. State Department and White House in communicating President Obama’s updated Af-Pak strategy. State Department has issued video messages from Secretary Clinton, available in Urdu, Dari, Pashtu and Arabic, explaining President Obama’s approach to the region for downloads through the internet and on cell phone devices. It is for the first time that the State Department has sought to use avenues outside the mainstream media to reach out to the people of another country.

Well-connected political leaders like former President Pervez Musharraf also have a Facebook account now!
Greater use of the internet along with growing public assertiveness might not resolve the crisis in Pakistan but is generating pressure for responsible leadership. Personalization of political institutions and looming threat of military dictatorship has restricted Pakistan’s ability to deal with national challenges. Public activism and resolve could act as the much needed stimuli for responsible governance in Pakistan. The protests in Pakistan need to be lauded for two reasons. One, these are peaceful and have not caused any disruption of public order. Two, the protests are not parochial, in terms of demands or segment groups; most protests are national in nature involving issues that concern all Pakistanis.
While the international media and scholars debate about the future of Pakistan, the Pakistanis are attempting to mend their present. Global mainstream media may be oblivious to some developments in Pakistani civil society but the Pakistanis are utilizing global communication technologies to create a people’s movement in the country.