VIEW: The king and ‘I’ —Andleeb Abbas

When the ‘I’ becomes bigger than the ‘We’, the writing on the wall predicts doom. However, the writing is visible to only those who have a vision to see beyond their egos; this moral blindness is a virus, which infiltrates into each organ and like a carcinoma cell destroys the living functionality of the organ itself

Some tragedies move mountains; the heartrending scenes of the plane crash and the shocking haplessness of people trapped in unstoppable floods are enough to make all who ‘feel’ try to get out of their comfort zone and lend a voice or hand of support. Unfortunately, those who are responsible for preparing, preventing and dealing with these calamities are totally oblivious to the plight of the millions of people who are homeless and stranded, waiting for some action from the government to take them out of this drowning and suffocating onslaught of wild waters.

The president perhaps believes in the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ cliché, as it has been a regular feature of his reign. His recent visit to Britain has become extraordinarily contentious. David Cameron’s inflammatory remarks sitting next to the Indian prime minister on Pakistan exporting terror are an audacious political insult. A visit to Britain and a meeting with Cameron is like condoning this verbal atrocity and encouraging the British prime minister to dare to become more intrusive and accusatory.

However, the president was adamant to visit Britain and the reason given for this was that he wants to personally take up this issue with David Cameron. The story becomes even more ridiculous considering that David Cameron has categorically stated that he stands by his remarks. These trips never have a measurable goal and almost always end up becoming one more nebulous attempt at developing ‘some’ relations with countries that matter economically or politically. The present trip by the president had a lovely escape from the summer heat schedule encompassing France and Britain. The cost of this extravagance is enough to provide huge relief to millions of people who are waiting for a morsel of food and a roof on their head to make them believe in the restorative power of fate. With such extreme disparity in the lives of those who rule and those who are ruled, and such disconnect between what the public wants and what the leaders are running after, it is but natural that the country is going through the grip of extremism where the marginalised public either take their own lives or the lives of other people.

Leaders without self-respect do not really care how they are looked down at by all and sundry. When the ego overtakes the mind and the heart, the call to conscience is muffled and buried under the glitter and din of position, status and material comforts. These are normally addictive in nature and intoxicate such people into the belief that with their position lies their happiness and thus they do whatever is necessary to sustain this position. In the blind pursuit of the retention of their position they lose the trust and respect of the very people whose vote gave them the access to this. This lack of foresight makes them miss out the obvious signs of leadership downfall and demise.

We, as a nation, have sworn not to let autocratic forces rule our country; our leaders have promised to let democracy survive and thrive forever. However, sham democracies are politically toxic. A one-man rule is autocracy no matter what name you choose to give it. Such disrespect of democratic forces is the very reason that the country becomes a victim of political self-doubt on the efficacy of the democratic structure in Pakistan.

It is this form of inequitable extremism that is the root cause of all extremism. While the rulers live in the first world, the ruled live in the lowest cadre of the third world. While the rulers spend more on their security than the health budget of the country, the public is left mercilessly in the hands of natural and man-made calamities with total apathy; while the rulers use and abuse their power to bend and break rules and laws, the ruled become a victim of injustice and oppression. With this huge disparity and disillusionment, our society has lost its balance. We see the culture impregnated with reactive frustration. Everything seems to be on the edge and exhibits itself in extreme emotion. Pakistan cricket team winning the Test match against Australia created a national euphoria; the same team losing against England sent the country into national mourning.

When the ‘I’ becomes bigger than the ‘We’, the writing on the wall predicts doom. However, the writing is visible to only those who have a vision to see beyond their egos; this moral blindness is a virus, which infiltrates into each organ and like a carcinoma cell destroys the living functionality of the organ itself. The ears’ ability to listen to the truth gets fatally damaged, causing deafness to the voice of integrity. The heart’s ability to feel the pain of others is numbed by an extreme love for one’s own self. This disfunctionality of the vital organs kills the soul within, turning a human being inhuman, who maybe living but is not alive. Leaders! Beware of this state of mortality as its permanent abode is in disgrace and dishonour.

The writer is a consultant and can be reached at andleeb@franklincoveysouthasia.com