You are not required to think

Pakistanis, it appears, have given up thinking altogether and now only talk in clichés or stock phrases they have heard somewhere, that sound good but have been given no thought. We have words flying around like ‘if you don’t agree with the party line, resign’, ‘a bad democracy is better that a good dictatorship’, ‘what’s the alternative — the Taliban?’, ‘nobody starves in Pakistan, people live in rural areas and they all get something to eat — India is much worse’ and more.

Is it just enough to throw these phrases around or should we think about what we say and how it impacts us?

There is a tendency to allow people to say the same thing over and over without questioning the veracity of what they say, it gives comfort in that you don’t need to apply yourself to the problem and eventually it becomes popular belief. It’s frightening when you realise how easily we have allowed apathy to become the dominant national characteristic. As a result, we can claim no policy of our own, no vision and no plan to lead this country out of the unenviable position we find ourselves in.

What would happen if we decided to think, to question, to ask why? A great deal, I suppose, if our recent past is anything to go by. We forget far too soon and as a result have never built on our gains. What would happen if we followed up on the gains made during the lawyers movement? It was unique in that it brought all segments of society together over something intangible called the constitution, rights and the rule of law. Most motivated by the movement were young people. Young lawyers like Shahid Saeed, student activists like Maham Ali, political activists from Hazara and countless others remain committed to upholding the rule of law.

So when people talk, in loud authoritative voices, about how questioning what we see as blatantly wrong will destroy the system and bring it crashing down they are as unthinking as those who say ‘what has democracy done for us?’ The question is what have we done for ourselves? We have spent our lives devising short cuts and quick fixes as a result nothing is a big deal. Or is it?

Ask the youth, they say it is. They say that the fake degree issue is a big issue. Politicians may not think so, they defray the issue by talking about other far more important issues like terrorism, inflation, the energy crisis, the economy, target killing and more but it all boils down to the same thing — the complete absence of the rule of law. The question is why is it that the state cannot enforce its writ? Is it because it is so compromised it lacks the capacity and authority to do so?

Terrorism does not just exist courtesy of religious extremists in the north, it exists in upper Sindh where tribal chiefs decide who lives and who dies and whose land they want to take over. It exists in most parts of the country where women are treated as a commodity traded at the will of men. It exists in our cities where we blame everything on nameless land mafias, drug mafias and gun mafias all the while claiming that everyone knows who they are. If you know who they are get them. Or can you not do that because they are you?

It’s easy to do nothing and let it fester. This includes the citizenry. It’s time to think, to speak out, protest and most importantly to act. To look around at their contribution to the mess, be it physical or otherwise, and start cleaning it up.

PML-N MPA (in Punjab) Sanaullah Mastikhel, blames it all on the three Js – journalists, judges and “jenerals”. And they say we need no education. Or did he just, true to his name, say it in fun? Don’t let this be cast in stone, for as Shahid Saeed and others have shown — ours is to reply, to reason why, not just to do and die.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th, 2010.