Name and shame?

Blame-game and mudslinging is an issue in Pakistani society. The nation as a whole is accustomed to pointing a finger at institutions as a whole as it goes on to vent its anger. This literally impacts the collective wisdom of the institution(s), and perhaps that is why we have not been able to build strong institutions. Senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, exhibited his sagacity as he brought to fore this factor, and was quite categorical as he said that henceforth people may go on to condemn individual characters by name for their unconstitutional actions, if any, instead of the institution they belong to.

This point must be universally acclaimed, and should go on to become an agreed principle of our diatribe culture. Some pertinent points he made are: there are good and bad people in every institution, but that does not mean that institution may be maligned. He said no one should be immune from criticism be it a Judge, a General, a public office holder or a bureaucrat, but the fine line is to stay aloof from discrediting the parent body he/she belongs to. The learned judge said name-taking should be the order of the day. But this is where the problem rests!

The patriarchal and class-conscious society we live in is retributive when individuals are named or blamed, and the state machinery reacts by penalising the person concerned. There are unending tales of excesses and, of late, we have pointed examples wherein journalists, lawyers and elected representatives were demeaned, tortured and prosecuted for airing their grievances with punitive measures. Justice Isa is talking of a culture in making. Pakistan is in need of erecting an egalitarian society, wherein fundamental rights are upheld and institutions and individuals are answerable to the law under the ambit of the Constitution.

The enigma is that personality cult all these years had triumphed over collective wisdom and institutions. That is why democracy, constitution and institutions were a victim at the altar of protecting individualism. Better to name and shame, than maligning all and sundry