Imagination and memory
The writer is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute professor of Biomedical Engineering, International Health and Medicine at Boston University. He tweets @mhzaman
Mere coincidence? I think not! This is how most elaborate explanations (read conspiracy theories) start. We are in the midst of a series of highly imaginative such explanations at the moment. Perhaps the previous season never actually ended. About a year and a few months ago, it was the letter that came from the pocket, waved in front of the cheering crowd, and then moved back into the same top pocket of the waistcoat. Hype was created and many (including otherwise quite reasonable people) consumed it hungrily. Over the course of the months that followed, the message started to change, until it became even more bizarre. There were new blameworthy conspirators every month. The contradictory statements were followed by utterly fascinating mental somersaults of the die hard.
It would have been depressing enough if this all had ended there. But our imagination has neither any ceiling nor is it ever short of new energy. As the political winds shifted, the other side has come up with its own fascinating tale. We are told by them (both in several Urdu op-ed pieces and in increasingly common vlogs) that actually what happened last year was a normal democratic process, but what has happened afterwards is a giant conspiracy (hatched once again by the Americans and their allies) to derail Pakistan’s close relationship with China and Russia.
On the face of it, all of this seems both bizarre and fascinating. How could people concoct a new fantastic story so quickly? On a deeper level, however, these stories are all exactly the same. Both sides argue essentially the same thing (with different outcomes of course). They both argue that the other side is benefitting from direct and indirect support of the US that is increasingly unhappy with Pakistan’s relationship with China and more recently Russia. Yet, when the going gets rough, both sides who would ask the US congressmen and congresswomen, media personalities and lobbying firms to raise their voices and use everything at their disposal for supporting their cause.
While our imagination is a self-propelling engine that continues to run and run, our memory on the other hand continues to fail us every day. It was not very long ago, that one of the current ministers (who is often on TV these days) demonstrated despicable levels of misogyny in the parliament. In many places, that would have meant an end to his career. Not here. No one even remembers it now. We also do not remember how the ministers of the previous government (including those who have left the party in the last few weeks) threatened journalists or anyone who disagreed with them. That too would have been enough to end their careers. Few remember the disgusting tweets, the thinly veiled threats and celebrations at the misery of others. Rarely anyone talks about the repeated interviews of the former prime minister where he made unacceptable remarks about the Hazara while they were grieving, and his statements on why many national problems are due to lack of modesty among Pakistani women.
Imagination and memory are both personal traits — and how much one likes to imagine, or what one chooses to remember or forget should be their business alone. Yet, when it starts to create a public narrative and influences policy, then it is no longer a personal matter. Our imaginative stories of grand conspiracy affect our own ability to take charge of our problems and recognise our own failures. Our disappearing memory allows us to bring the same characters in positions of power who have failed us repeatedly. Maybe the trait we need most at this stage is accountability — fair, honest and across the board. This includes accountability of those in uniforms and those in black robes, for actions today and those that were carried out in the past. What we need to imagine is not another shady conspiracy, but a society where human respect, dignity and the rule of law would be paramount.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2023.
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