Dictatorship’s Path: Silence, Control, and Lost Democracy

✒️:. Zahoor Rather

No dictator is born in a single day, nor do people lose their freedom all at once. Dictatorship always emerges gradually, just like water heats up before it begins to boil. At first, people are bought with facilities, slogans, and emotional promises. Then, the same people are deprived of the right to disagree. Anyone who raises dissent is labeled a “traitor” or a “terrorist,” and eventually, freedom becomes nothing more than a dream.

History provides us with many instructive lessons we should have learned. For instance, in Germany, the Nazi Party promised employment and national strength. The people became absorbed in dreams of prosperity, but gradually, the party stripped away their fundamental rights. First, every political opponent was branded an “enemy of the nation.” Then, complete control was seized over the media, and ultimately, Germany fell under the grip of a dictator. Hitler led Germany to a place where a conscious, thinking public would never have wanted to go.

Similarly, Mussolini took control of Italy with the same dreams, promises, and fervor. Gradually, he captured the media, judiciary, civil rights, and institutions, placing himself above the law.

The basic steps dictators follow are always the same:

Playing with people’s emotions

Stirring up religion, nationalism, and slogans of movements

Labeling critics as enemies and traitors

Seizing control of institutions—judiciary, administration, journalism, and election commissions

Turning law into a weapon and imposing black laws to crush public freedom

Isn’t this the very strategy of today’s political parties?
Don’t we see the same things happening in our own country?
Isn’t the media under control?
Aren’t all possible efforts being made to silence opposing voices?
Aren’t minorities kept within circles of suspicion and fear?
Aren’t those who raise their voices and stand with the people silenced under black laws like UAPA and PSA?

Today, history is being written and shown in such a way that people forget the real issues. Aren’t the masses being kept busy in mosque-versus-temple conflicts? Through revised textbooks and films, aren’t they being blinded and trapped in endless arguments?

This is the same path that dictators across the world have taken: to entangle people in religion and nationalism so they remain unaware of the real problems—unemployment, inflation, failures, corruption, and other weaknesses.

Conclusion:
History teaches us that when people fall silent, stop asking questions, ignore the responsibilities of the government, and remain satisfied with empty promises and slogans, a dictator emerges.
Democracy lives only where people remain awake, question authority, and stand up for justice.