The pedestal

Masks, chants and misogyny have been on full display in the house of elected members. Unexpectedly, not much has changed since the last time these places convened. The cult of personality is alive and thriving. New office holders speak of loyalty to a person, and do so loudly and with gusto. The high pitch is rewarded — decency in discourse is viewed as weakness. In this hyper narrative, no one seems interested in asking the most obvious question — what happens the day after when the person on the high pedestal is no longer around?

The anti-cultists have their own pedestals and cults. They still believe in a man with a magic wand who will bring the dollar to an arbitrary value and work other miracles on the side as well. There are other mini-cults popping up as well. Current ministers using X via VPN, and making sure their own picture is at the centre of their announcements, talk about how incredible their own performance has been while ignoring (or even mocking) the difficulties faced by people who want to make an honest living.

The pedestal-messiah phenomenon unfortunately goes beyond people. Most recently, we have been told that “tech” is a game changer. A commentator of a very popular online documentary series recently discussed with his guests the question of tech saving Pakistan. While there is no doubt that technology can have a substantial impact on economy and improve the quality of life, there is also no doubt that the core problem facing the society is not about the penetration of technology. Apart from the fact that tech operates in a system, and not the one which is constantly tinkered at the whim of a person or an institution, there are perhaps even more fundamental questions that have nothing to do with technology. When elected officials find pleasure in evil language against a woman parliamentarian, when a mob can be mobilised in broad daylight against a woman, when journalists are sent to judicial remand for their opinions — we should know that tech is not the solution for many of our problems.

But maybe we have been looking at the wrong place all along. The inspiration will not come from bombastic claims online or in loyalty pledges. It will come from learning from those who believe in human dignity and live a life shaped by that set of beliefs. In the last five months, I have had the pleasure of learning from three different women from three different cities (Islamabad, Karachi and Bannu) who are working around the clock to save lives in Gaza. These three incredible women work for different organisations, but do so with a sense of purpose, dignity and exemplary spirit. At a time when the apathy of the supposed custodians of human rights is nauseating and the dehumanisation of Palestinians is in full swing, there are people who are focused not on self-centred advertisements or hollow tweets, but on action on the ground. One of these three colleagues leads projects that tackle malnutrition in conflict settings and has had a long history of incredible work in vulnerable communities, another has been working with partners on aid logistics and delivery, and the third is leading efforts on the ground to save lives at the risk of water borne diseases.

Of course, the magnitude of the pain, tragedy and injustice of Gaza is unimaginable, and I am not saying that the work of these incredible colleagues is somehow addressing all the devastation in Gaza. That will take a very long time, and a different world where all human lives matter. But my point is that there are people, from our own communities, who do what matters without the need of grand pedestals or quasi-worshipping cults. I know that there are many more, all around us, who believe in the highest values of human dignity and do everything to uphold those values. Technology, a new cool toy, or a person is not what is going to change our fortunes. People and toys come and go, but values stay for a lot longer. We should make a better investment of our time and energy.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2024.

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