KARACHI: Regrettably one of the underlying flaws in our society is a culture which is visibly shifting towards lack of accountability, negligence and irresponsible behaviour.
We as a nation do not focus on long term sustainable progress and advancement but are constantly looking for shortcuts and the easy way out. When something goes wrong we love to blame someone else or even God for its occurrence. We do not take responsibility for the failure.
Merit and accountability need to be pursued and bred at every level. To me this is the greatest barrier for progress because if we as a nation do not start using our intelligence and ethical values to build our country we will perish.
Quaid-e-Azam had very aptly summarised the values most important for the survival and long-term sustenance of Pakistan 65 years ago in just three words: Unity Faith and Discipline. Looking at our dismal situation today it is clear that we have lost touch with all three. In fact these 3 values are totally missing from the characters of our leaders and general population.
Pakistan unfortunately is a victim of this convoluted mindset and attitude and it all stems from lack of faith in our religion. We are not the same Muslims as envisioned by the Holy Quran, and we merely act out the motions to justify our existence as Muslims. Like praying five times but not refraining from unethical acts like corruption, nepotism, etc. We fast the whole month of Ramazan but never do anything for the poor and destitute which is the very reason we are requested to fast. We use government resources for our benefit; even Hajj a required covenant of Islam which should be done only if you can afford it is done on government expense which clearly is not acceptable in the eyes of Allah, but no one cares.
The plight of our society stemming from this lack of faith will never be addressed if we do not go to the basics, basics of humanity, basics of our faith, basics of what role an inspirational and true leadership should be playing and role modeling.
We must move away from fanaticism and intolerance ruling our day to day life. We must start caring for each other especially our fellow Pakistani’s living below poverty level.
We desperately need to do an introspective evaluation of our values and faith, we must call a spade a spade, only then will we have any chance of coming out of the current quagmire and get on to the path of development and self sustenance.
The writer works in the corporate sector and is active on various business forums and trade bodies.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2012.
COMMENTS (5)
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@Ali What is the cause of the result in your example? Follow the causation back to the beginning and you will see its a string of poor decisions (from the top, all the way down) based on short sightedness.
Please sir, open your eyes a little further and see that the situations of the poor are thus because the government, neighbors and national fellows (as a whole) cannot be counted on have some pity on the suffering of the others and look past their own nose to help others in greater need.
Faith - Unity - Disciple They are more than abstract principles, they are ideals to strive for, dreams to reach for, and aspirations to attain. A society with these principles in its core is more apt to provide for others in greater need. because it is for the greater good of the sum of the people.
"A man's reach should exceed his grasp; else what's a heaven for?" - Robert Browning
@Abid abid sahab if two days your children dont eat and on eid day dont have new dress to wear then i will ask you have faith in break fast unity in lunch time and deciplime in dinner time.
Mr Saad when you talk of accountability have you seen how you people at PG and Gillette hire candidates. A lot of the good applicants are not put through all the stages as someone from the hiring/interviewing team doesnt know them and these candidates are just left to themselves. When you talk of accountability you must start with your company only then you should advise others.
Unity, faith, and discipline can provide jobs, sustenance and shelter. Creating, incentivizing, and supporting a culture that demands the three from its followers is a recipe for long term sustainability rather than a short term strategy to address only the immediate need.
It's easy to delve into problems of day to day living and lose sight of the big picture. The trick is to see the forest rather than the tree by considering the long term impacts of the decisions we all make every day.
Ask yourself what your children or your childrens' children would think or say about your actions. Life happens, its how we choose to conduct ourselves that defines the character of each and every one of us, and by extension, of the nation.
jobs bread and house for sheltring are more importent than just unity faith and decipline mr saad ........