Raoof Hasan

The symptoms of excessive violence being exhibited as a matter of routine by various segments of our society have been on display for long, but they have only now begun to be translated into a consistent collective character trait. This has rendered the society into becoming unmanageable and unwieldy, with conflicting violent groups that are operating mostly to assert their will on the rest of the society. We have succeeded in painting a picture that is an extremely perverse version of how we should have evolved as a nation.

When I was growing up in the late fifties and early sixties, I remember a society that was extremely tolerant of the way others were. Even if there were stark differences, they were overridden by understanding and giving others the right to live their lives the way they wanted to. There was no sickly urge to impose oneself over others and force them to submit to the way you perceived the world to be. There was little to no discrimination on the basis of religious, cultural or social affiliations.

This was all washed away by the religious bigotry unleashed on the country by the Zia dictatorship. Much of it emanated from the lack of legitimacy of the despot who believed that no one would be able to oppose him if he espoused the cause of religion as the principal objective of his military coup. His decision to push Pakistan into the Afghan cauldron exposed the country to extremism and violence.

The best part of the proposed 18th Amendment to the Constitution is removal of the name of Gen Ziaul Haq from history as a president of Pakistan. This move will bring the country much closer to the true cause of its creation. There is more to be done in terms of dealing with the legacies of other dictators, including Gen Musharraf and the way he brought infamy to the country. But you must credit him with provoking and precipitating the movement for the independence of the judiciary that can easily be termed as the single most significant achievement of the people of Pakistan over the last 62 years.

It is strange how the dictatorship malaise has permeated our daily lives, impacting the psyche of a whole nation. It has been instrumental in eliminating the power of logic and reason, replacing it with a tendency bordering on an insane espousal of the concept of self-righteousness with an inherent urge to pontificate and show others the “correct” path. This has invariably led to the elimination of the instinct to set ourselves credible goals and the urge to make a genuine and sincere effort of moving towards their attainment. Instead, we have been overridden by the belief that we are aware of all that moves under the skies, and what is left is only to let others understand that we know more and better than all of them put together.

This is an unmistakable sign of plunging to the depths of depravity of a mindset that not only blocks all avenues to progress but also curtails one’s ability to be able to think straight. Instead, a know-all syndrome sinks in deep that plagues one’s ability for lateral comprehension and objective appraisal. Thus we become a stunted people without the ability to initiate a process of self-appraisal to determine what assails our ability to think straight.

If this is the ultimate that we envisaged to achieve as a nation, then we are right there, having attained infamy and the unmistakable title of the preachers of violence in our midst as well as throughout the world. We have reduced ourselves to becoming an incongruous phenomenon that the rest of the world believes has to be dealt with urgently and effectively. Consequently, we are insulted at every port of entry to any civilised country of the world. We are meted out a treatment more deservedly meant for some other kind of species. But it is we who have brought it upon ourselves.

If we are to develop as a nation and a distinctive polity, we have to address the issue in its entirety. We have to revisit the causes that may have provoked this plunge into notoriety and evaluate ways and means to extricate ourselves from the clutches of intolerance and violence. It is only then that we would be able to take the first step on the road to achieving salvation and link up with the ideals of our creation.

The writer is based in Lahore. Email: raoofhasan@hotmail.com