I may not necessarily agree with Ms Ayesha Jalal on her opinion that Pakistanis live on an unhealthy mixture of collective self-denial, but I do believe that as Pakistanis, we sometimes stop rationalising things at the expense of emotionalising them. I have met thousands of patriotic, God-fearing, honest, hard working, moderate and law-abiding Pakistanis, who believe that Pakistan is the bastion of Islam, Pakistan is the victim of outside forces, or perceptions to that effect. I don't doubt that Pakistan has been a victim of the great geopolitical games in the past, and may very well continue to be. I also don’t refute the fact that notwithstanding the arguably secular motives of the founders of Pakistan, the country was obtained in the name of Islam. What I will propose is that whenever these or many other arguments, which affect us all, are brought up by seemingly educated, rational, moderate Pakistanis with exposure to the modern world, they are often tinged with emotionality.
Emotionality is, of course, not a bad thing, especially where passionate beliefs are concerned. However, sometimes this emotionality of ours is not amenable to the permeation of alternative ideas. Interrupt the flow of these emotions and you may be met with scepticism and even outright hostility or be branded unpatriotic or something like it. Again, that passion is common to many people of the world who have gained independence after great struggle and sacrifice, but there is a difference in the Pakistani narrative. It is now almost always the narrative of victimisation; Pakistan almost always seems to have been dismembered, not allowed to work, or conspired against. Again, that is not abnormal; states try to disrupt the growth of rival states that they deem as threats, and on the heels of such perceptions, the actions of many states in the world have been less than honourable. Violations of territorial sovereignty, interference in governance or espousing violence by outside forces are never condonable and should rightly be met with justified indignation.
However, this narrative needs to be tinged with some self-introspection as well. It just cannot be true that every malady that ails us currently is imposed by some outside entity and neither is it true that we have courted every problem that has befallen us; it has to be a mixture of many variables. Everyone will tell you that Pakistanis are by large sufferers of poor socio-economic opportunities; it's partly true, but this should not detract from understanding the underlying political, social and cultural causative conditions. I do not believe that there is any Pakistani endemic inertia, which drives Pakistan closer to the abyss. Pakistan's current imbroglio is a result of cause and effect, an inevitable causality which follows decades of neglect and mal-governance. However, even then, Pakistan continues to survive. Besieged by terrorism, unemployment, energy shortages, economic deficit, corruption and bad governance, Pakistan is very much there. We could probably blame some entity for any or all of our problems, but unless we make an informed analysis, we will not be able to make an informed decision. I could go on and on, but the point I want to make is that sometimes we need to sit down, individually and collectively, to think rationally about the problems that face us today, without indulging in emotionality which may overshadow logic. Of course, this may not solve all our problems immediately; rational thinking can bring about enormous benefits to society, but one cannot expect every decision reached in consequence to be immediately remedial or even effective. What this will achieve is that we may start getting closer to the roots of our problems. We may then learn to blame ourselves as much as we sometimes tend to blame others for our problems.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 17th, 2013.
COMMENTS (28)
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@VINOD:
Are you telling us or asking a question? Your claim about the 'world's knowlege is flawed. We are not required to teach history without a fee, but if you were to formulate your question in a friendly form and have not the time to research the history, perhaps the author or one of the bloggers could oblige.
Rex Minor
@Rex Minor: Please grow up "MINOR" and try to understand the underlying answers in the questions raised. The world knows that no struggle for independence was launched by the people who created Pakistan against the British occupation of India. Not a single person went to jail or sacrificed his/her life for end of British rule in India. Wide demonstrations and riots were engineered not against British but against Hindus to emphasize a myth that Hindu and Muslims can not live together. So it is true that Pakistan is an out come of arm chair diplomacy by the rich Muslims to preserve their land and rights to rule over rayat and that is what is happening.
Vinod & GD,
Immaturity is the incapacity to use one's intelligence without the guidence of others. . You raise leading questions and then challenge others for answers. This is not the way to learn from the knowledge society.
Rex Minor
@G. Din: Thanks. I thought the writer will respond.
@VINOD: " Can any one indicate how many and who all went to jail, fought the British,or lead the demonstrations etc. " "How many and who all went to jail": NONE. "...fought the British...": NONE. "or lead the demonstrations...": Plenty, against Hindus. "...etc.":NONE because there was nothing else to do.
@observer:
What is not true cannot be rationalised. It is a fact that the rationale for the yanks march into Iraq was based on preventing Saddam Hussain using wmd which later proved to be false.
Rex Minor
@Author
I do believe that as Pakistanis, we sometimes stop rationalising things at the expense of emotionalising them.
Sir,
The problem precisely is that Pakistanis 'RATIONALISE' everything. As you know (or may be do not) Rationalising means, Attempt to explain or justify (one's own or another's behavior or attitude) with logical, plausible reasons, even if these are not true.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rationalise
So, when Pakistanis say that 'Hindus broke up Pakistan' or 'Terrorists can not be Muslims' they are justifying their own or other's behaviour by assigning reasons that are not true. In short- They are 'Rationalising' events of 1971 or Terrorism.
I believe the word you are looking for is 'Rationality' or Rationally.
@Enlightened: Not quite so stateforward. Secularism means the separation of the church from the Govt. and was for the first time agreed between the vatican Church and Hitler and Mussolini, per the concord which is still valid. Prior to the concord the catholic Church more or less control the elected Gvts. The UK being the anomoly since the anglican church after separating from the catholic church came under the control of the monarchy which is also the head of the democraticaly elected Govt. In other words the religion authority is restricted to the religon institutions whereas the Govt.has no authority over the religious institutions or their affairs. .. .
Rex Minor
Secular! - in Pakistan it means something other than its true meaning as seen in democratic societies where everyone is equal and religion is a private affair.
The word 'Secular' is mostly misunderstood in Pakistan as its dictionary meaning is twisted to be against religion and Islam whereas the concept of secularism is totally different ie treating all religions and citizens with respect and equality with right to practice their rituals as per their religious beliefs and rituals without any discrimination.
Every human has the inborn intuition to dream and desire to be more than what he is capable of, have a higher vision for himself for which he has not the adequate qualificationst , God the creator promises to make the improbable into probable, impossible becomes possible and merely the dream takes the form of reality. The author thoughts in the article express this desire and this was to be followed by the majority of the people, nothing wil and can stand against the realisation of peoples want. This is what is contained in the scriptureseeis. Faith and faith alone with persistance and peoples unity of purpose will be reaised.
The attribution of negatives to talibans and Islam or jehadi resistance approach are diversions.
Rex Minor
@Dr. A.K.Tewari: " The constitution of the country is being questioned openly both at national and international forum . Liberals are getting support and strength day by day ."
Please provide reference.
Two nation theory has been irrigated with hatered and jehadi approach over the years . Now the theory is on the fair test . The constitution of the country is being questioned openly both at national and international forum . Liberals are getting support and strength day by day . Now it is high time to mobilize the forces of change in the country so that after the election the govt. In power can hit the root couse responsible for the pathetic condition of the country . No to taliban and no to the Islam they want to propagate is the key to the success in this regard .
How can the ignorant think! Yeh jo dus crore hain, jehl ka nachor hain (Habib Jalib)
I do not think writer is correct about Pakistan when he says "Again, that passion is common to many people of the world who have gained independence after great struggle and sacrifice,do not think that " I wonder what struggle or sacrifices were made for Pakistan. Can any one indicate how many and who all went to jail, fought the British,or lead the demonstrations etc. Pakistan is product of arm chair diplomacy of some elites, based on a theory that has yet to prove itself.
When Kamran Shafi in a television programme suggested that the TTP and the baloch movement cannot be equated - because the former are terrorists and the latter are oppressed people seeking justice - he was called an indian supporter - because how dare he go against the establishment's tune that india is behind the baloch crises
Dear Author,
Two things I would like to point out, not necessarily unrelated. Pakistan was not a secular idea, in fact two-nation theory was the last denominator of communalism in the pre-divided India. The only thing secular about Pakistan during its formative days was the personal life style of Mohammed Ail Jinnah. Therefore, when you write columns in English promoting liberal ideas about equality, secularism and peace, you are more often than not preaching to the choir, and that too the neighbors choir. You will be pillared for your views by middle-class Pakistanis and lapped up by the middle-class Indians. What divides them both will this illiberal idea of Pakistan, one wants to believe it because it is a reality and other mocks it for its supposed secularism. However, there is a difference here, both will be equally un-secular in their personal life but in the larger scheme of things one finds secularism an abhorrent idea and the other will find it but only natural.
I do have a suggestion, start writing up in Urdu if you really want to have any impact on the national political life of Pakistan. Maybe you do too, if that is so then all the best, if not the best of times is now.
A long winded article that admits Pakistan itself could be the cause of some of its own problems, mind you not all of them, not even most of them. My dear brother, the day you realize you and only you are the cause of all your real and imagined problems -- you will find a way to solve them. When you want to cook a great dish, at least start with a recipe, not dreams.
The author is telling about being a victim of geopolitical games of outsiders, what about the strategic games played by Pakistan to destabilize its neighbors or even within the country which saw the country split into two.
But in the end, I agree with the author it is time to look inwards for any meaningful survival of the Nation rather than being happy on existence.
God helps those who help themselves .
All people must read Mubarak Haider's Tehzibi Nargasiyat and Mughaltay Mubalghay, it can cure most of our narcissistic misconceptions.
great narrative.
When in trouble the first reaction is to blame other potential culprits. Pakistanis have been doing that for as long as one can remember. Now it has become the nature of most people individually and collectively and hence time for a psychological reset. The author is being candid and is making a good suggestion. However, when he says Pakistan survives, what does he mean by that. The land will always be there and it will be called Pakistan no matter what the situation is. If half the population is hungry or poor or perishes the country would still be there. Sometimes we euphemistically call it resilience of people where as in fact it is a situation where people have no choice but to carry on living. Introspection is a powerful tool and a good first step towards solving problems.
Hope is good; it is essential for survival, but while surviving, it is also essential to reflect on what is being hoped for-more of the same with peace and stability in economy or something different and better?
"rational thinking can bring about enormous benefits to society" - I don't want to go here anymore than necessary but the spirit of PAK constitution ie: the preamble, is irrational, and illogical, and will continue to give more of the same unless PAK sit and think about it rationally.
The root of all maladies of PAK is in the preamble, in black and white. In the preamble, there is nothing to aspire for. The time will change it in the future, which I am certain of it.
A very sane advice.
A good start will be to ask politicians and leaders to say they are proud to pay tax, and be open about how much. This is the best sign that they believe in the law of the land and their own political decisions.
''notwithstanding the arguably secular motives of the founders of Pakistan''
Dear Author: Two-nations theory is NOT secular. It is an anti-secular theory based on religious nationalism. So, the motives of founders of Pakistan, who were guided by the two-nations theory, cannot be secular. It is for this reason that seculars were, are and will continued to be considered traitors in Pakistan.
Best regards,