Leaders, politicians and everyone else should rise above their own personal interests
MIRPURKHAS: The prosperity and progress of any society depends on how strong the bonds of love and sympathy are among its people. The education system plays a vital role in this regard. It is strongly realised that young children are a part of society and they cannot be successful if they don’t care for others.
It is a matter of common observation that if the members of a given society are strongly connected with one another through the bonds of brotherhood and oneness, the society remains firm and united during the days of adversity and crisis. Such people don’t lose hope in any calamity and they remain steadfast in any testing hour. They put a combined effort in steering their society towards development and progress. Their goal and efforts are uniform. Such society is an ideal one. And their unity becomes their greatest strength. On the contrary, a society where the forces of individualism and isolation loom large, is a deeply broken and weak one. History tells us that societies fall when there is the dominance of selfishness, when people live for themselves and attach no importance to the wellbeing of their countrymen. Hence, it is not difficult to conclude that anything that promotes wanton love for one’s own benefits is destructive for the whole society.
In our country, we are witnessing a very discouraging reality. People are becoming more and more self-centred. They are gradually losing the sense of oneness. People appear to strive for their own benefits. Seldom we hear someone saying that he or she cares for the larger interest of society. Otherwise, wherever we feel that something is benefiting us, we do not hesitate to take it for granted without any concern of what damage can our petty advantage causes to the greater good of society. This mindset is undoubtedly devastating in the long run. We must not forget the fact that our prosperity lies in the prosperity of our collective progress rather than individual achievement.
Leaders, politicians and everyone else should rise above their own personal interests and try to give a message that we care for our country, our traditions and our collective wellbeing. The media can play a vital role in this regard. It needs no explanation that in the present day, the world media is a powerful tool to change the minds of people. Why should it not be used to disseminate healthy principles rather than just the disturbing news of blood, anarchy, dirty politics and love for material things that ultimately trigger the forces of polarisation in society? There is a need to break this cycle of selfishness and promote love and sympathy.
Shakeel Ghouri
Published in The Express Tribune, February 17th, 2017.
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