We often come across the term liberalism in print and social media being blamed for all the evils of the land of the pure. Such dogmatic hatred for this term surprised me and looking into the history of the whole movement it turned up contrary to what is being projected in the media by the staunch supporters of the status quo and the right-wing supporters.
Liberalism is defined as a political and moral philosophy based on liberty, consent of the governed, and equality before the law. Historically it is based on the belief in freedom, equality, democracy human rights curtailing the powers of the monarchy, and the supremacy of the Parliament. Liberal generally supports individual rights, human rights, civil rights, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to choose religion, and a market economy.
Philosopher John Locke is credited with founding liberalism as a distinct tradition based on social contract arguing that each man has a natural right to life, liberty, and property and the government should not violate these rights. It was Hobbes who rejected the idea that citizens owe allegiance to the sovereign and that citizens are the king’s property. The Magna Carta was a series of agreements, beginning in 1215, arising out of disputes between the barons and King John. The Magna Carta eventually settled that the king is bound by the rule of law. By the mid-1300, concepts of individual rights to trial by jury, due process, and equality before the law were more firmly established.
Classical liberals advocate that liberty and private property are intimately related. They insisted that an economic system based on private property is uniquely consistent with individual liberty and is seen as an embodiment of freedom. They believed that unless people are free to make contracts, sell their labor, invest their incomes as they see fit and free to launch enterprises, they are not free. The New liberals challenged this intimate connection between personal liberty and private property based on market order and doubted, that classical liberalism was an adequate foundation for a stable, free society as Keynes argued.
Most liberalism in Europe is classical liberalism The American concept of liberalism divides it into classical or libertarian, modern or simply liberals. British glorious revolution of 1688 American revolution of 1776 and the French revolution of 1789 used the Liberal philosophy to organize the revolt against the oppression of the ruling elite. It was used to critique the political establishment and to appeal to science and reason on behalf of the people.
The nineteenth century saw the spread of liberalism and the establishment of Liberal governments in Europe and South America. In Europe and America, the spread of liberalism caused the creation of the welfare states. The fundamental elements of contemporary societies have liberal roots. Liberals have advocated gender and racial equality, universal suffrage, and access to education. Liberals led the campaign that abolished Britain’s slave trade in1807 and slavery itself throughout the British dominions in 1833. In France, the liberals led the movement for abolishing the privileges of the feudal. Throughout Europe liberal movement led to the creation of constitutional states with the rule of law. In Europe liberalism was a transforming force that led to the downfall of feudalism, aristocracy lost its privileges, monarchs were curbed and it led to the idea of a constitutional government accountable to the people.
In the USA, liberalism is deeply rooted in the United States’ constitution.
Most of the recent reformist movements such as the Arab Spring in North Africa and the Middle East were inspired by liberal ideas. Arab spring started in 2010 in North Africa and challenged the authoritarian regime of its time. The first protest started in Tunisia as a result of the self-immolation of a street vendor Mohamad Bou Azizi. This movement also called the Jasmine revolution spread all over the country and led to the stepping down of President Zine El Abidine. A similar protest started in Egypt on January 25 2011 and resulted in the downfall of President Hosni Mubarak after 30 years in power. Similar protests erupted in Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, and Syria but not with similar success.
In Pakistan, there has always been a struggle between the liberals and the fundamentalist who advocates the status quo. On 7th October 1968 National student’s federation started a Demands Week against the celebration of the Development of the Decade by the Ayub Khan regime. This movement spread all over the country a student of Rawalpindi Polytechnic College Abdul Hameed was shot dead. According to Mubashar Hasan 239 people were killed most of them, students. This movement was joined by trade unions and peasants. It resulted in the resignation of Ayub Khan.
The movement for the restoration of democracy MRD formed in 1981 had a lot of left influences as Awami Tehreek, Mazdoor Kisan Party, Awami National Party along with Pakistan Peoples Party were the part of it with the primary objective of restoration of democracy during the Zia regime.
In 1984 student unions were banned as they were thought as a breeding ground for political activists challenging the authoritarian rule. There was a 100-day protest against it led by National Student Federation.
Civil society and lawyer movement in 2007 against President Musharraf this pro-democracy movement led to the restoration of the Chief justice of Pakistan and finally to the sacking of President Musharraf.
Student Solidarity March first happened on 30th November 2018 and it has been going on since then yearly. This march was initiated by the student action committee and joined by progressive organizations the main demand was to increase the education budget and restoration of student unions.
Aurat March which started in 2018 to bring together Pakistani women to raise a collective voice against oppression in both private and public fields.
We see that all these movements which were for the benefit of the masses rather than the ruling elites have been influenced by liberal philosophy.
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