rotest demonstrations against soaring electricity bills have made headlines in the media.

It seems that the public outrage is not about just the electricity tariffs and fuel prices. It’s a manifestation of the ‘epistemic violence’—to borrow a phrase from Gayatri Spivak, the post-colonial theorist. Spivak critiqued the imposition of Eurocentric knowledge on the Third World. Today, the people of Pakistan find themselves in a web of false narratives meant to protect the interests of a tiny minority at the expense of the majority. The power elite have constructed a narrative that makes it sound as if the ordinary consumer is to blame for power theft and line losses. Meanwhile, WAPDA employees and people in high places enjoy free electricity worth more than Rs 10 billion a year.

The Leftists, meanwhile are guilty of reductionism. Their narrative does not empower the masses. Instead, it makes them dependent on the so-called intellectual saviours.

Let’s not forget the elephant in the room. The anger over high and rising electricity and fuel price has led to a cacophony of public protests and emergency meetings. A cursory glance at the news reveals a narrative replete with phrases like “public anger,” “nationwide protests” and “tariff hikes.“ The picture looks grim. It is worth analysing however how the public sentiment is channelled and whether it leads to substantial change. Anecdotal evidence suggests that it is more likely to quiet down in a while.

One sees protesters shouting slogans, burning electricity bills and blocking traffic on public roads. However, one does not see any substantial change. The Power Division might amend a rule or two to take away free units from a few beneficiaries. However, this will not solve the structural problems.

One could argue that this is because the narrative is supplied. It is already written for us. It is like Spivak’s example of the practice of Sati in colonial India. We’re told, “The government is looking into it.“ Some of us feel that we’ve been heard. It is as if our outrage has made a dent. But, as Spivak would argue, this is a form of “truth construction.“A manufactured reality is trotted out to pacify the masses while ensuring the perpetuation of the existing power structures.

The narrative of public outrage in Pakistan is often distorted to fit the agendas of the elite. The real issues — corruption, institutional failures, socioeconomic disparities — get sidelined. We are told that the problem lies with the consumer and not the system.

Some people might argue that the recent protests show that the masses can think on their own and are capable of challenging the status quo.

However, it is clear that the agitation in the streets is often no more than “sound and fury, signifying nothing.” One could also contend that the emergency meetings demonstrate a willingness on the part of the government to address public concerns. The fact is that these meetings are no more than a smoke screen, a theatrical performance designed to pacify the masses.

In the end, the story of the recent protests echoes that of Bhubaneswari Bhaduri, a woman whose life and agency were profoundly discussed by Spivak. Bhaduri committed suicide, not as the result of a failed love affair as her family later framed it, but as an act of protest against an association she was unwilling to be a part of. Her narrative was twisted, her voice silenced, her agency erased. Her suicide was rewritten as a sentimental tragedy, a narrative more palatable to those who wished to define her reality for her.

Likewise, the narrative of public outrage in Pakistan is often distorted to fit the agendas of the power elite. The real issues—corruption, institutional failures, socioeconomic disparities—are sidelined. We are told in the that the problem lies with the consumer and not the system.

The plight of Bhubaneswari Bhaduri serves as a cautionary tale of how easily narratives can be rewritten, how quickly voices can be silenced, and how conveniently truths can be constructed.

The writer holds a PhD in sociology of knowledge from the University of Paris-Saclay, France. He is an associate professor at the School of Sociology at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. He can be reached at isabir@qau.edu.pk