“First time you share a tea with a balti, you are a stranger. The second time you are an honoured guest. The third time you shared a cup of tea, you become family”. This depicts a culture so rich in values that even sharing cups of tea naturalizes you in a family. Culture, society, tribes and communities are the bedrock from where human behaviour sprouts. George Orwell in the famous 1984 said “until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious”. Such strange is the human behaviour. First question is to have all the right answers about identity, the national identity. This leads to a straight concept of narrativity, what is the national narrative of the people of Pakistan. Is it religious hue all around, is it multicultural panorama, is it populist branding of extreme left liberals , is it the securitization of the state or is it yet to be defined. Americans have their national narrative in the American dream, which they guard at all cost. Indians narrative is hindutva being the only hindu state in the world.
This is the defining moment in pakistan’s history not because it is at crossroads but due to the reason that now the delineation of national narrative is a existential compulsion. The moment of epistemological modesty has arrived for each and every Pakistani. The national narrative of any ideological state breeds in the layers of society.
Before building a state or the country , society is a sin-qua-non. The war on terror was a part of political warfare unleashed against the people of Pakistan . Political warfare unhinges any people from their both geographical and ideological roots. The road ahead is not a meandering mountain track; it is straight path with simple driving rules to follow. One, build the culture. Already has one, no qualms, still scaffold the edifice. Culture of deep humility is the answer to emotional coldness.
Apathy leads to the crisis of social solidarity. Without social solidarity no society can function. Widening inequality results into polarisation, that is why states address the problem of poverty with all the seriousness. Poverty line is the line, if crossed to a certain level, will result in a deluge which sinks everything. Social classes and moral ecology is another thing which is to be defined in the national narrative. The hierarchy of values are imbibed in the narrativity. Who defines these values, the parent, teacher and the student triangle is the answer to this(too simple). Weak triangle will result in a loop sided sub set of values. Another thing to augment any culture is to address the concept of excessive individualism. West tried to mitigate the negative effects of individualism through populism; they got over liberalisation of human society. The orient tried to address the individualism and got tangled into tribalism.
Even it sometimes lead to patriarchialism and resulted into a restricted world view. The progress in technology and advancement of science , could not even pierce this dome, which eventually creates groups , cartels and cliques. The meritocracy and moral ecology thus becomes a farce of shylock and a ballad of Shakespere, offcourse unsung. Pakistan’s exodus narrative is a meaningful phenomenon which actualised into a promised land to practice the moral ecology and the hierarchy of values. People did not made choice to give up choice. So the culture and society should be the first priority to reach to a national narrative based on the simplest definition of identity.
Secondly the focus is required upon the character building of individual , Dostoevsky’s crime and punishment is the psycho-analysis of human behaviour but does not define the road to character. Chinese and Indian government despite all odds and slow progress are trying to induce character building in the ethos of every individual . Not able to control the ever rising number of rapes in India is a direct consequence of rampant birth control measures, in which only the child of male sex is allowed to be born.
There the societal imbalance occurred and thus Indian male became the instinct loaded hunter and a beast. Indian sociologist are to be blamed for just sipping their three cups of tea when the ganges is on fire. This again hyphenate that society is to be reformed first before even arranging the loans for dams or correcting the balance of payments. Commitment is the virtue along which every human is wired, faith is a commitment, devil’s vow is a commitment, friendship is a commitment, marriage is a commitment and peace and war, everything is a commitment.
Teach individual to have commitments. Hans morgantheau , kissenger or mearshiemer defined the theories of state behaviour leaving a ever increasing gap at the first tier of level of analysis that is the individual. Stomach level sadness is rising for the lone warrior (the identity soldier) , more loner today then ever.
So commitment as per modern practioners of popular psychology is based on four promises , first promise of commitment to spouse and family, second promise of commitment to faith and philosophy, third promise of commitment to vocation, office and work place and lastly promise of commitment to country and community.
Four promises are actually the road to character, less traversed, very less travelled and even less treaded. The willingness to be vulnerable is simplest definition of a leader. As political spectrum of Pakistan is changing under the constant of political warfare, therefore the societal approach to the reconstruction of society is the option which will bear fruit in shortest possible time.
The porcelain of both the cups and the kettle requires a little shine over. Lets join hand to raise the flag of commitment, green over white is the colour of horizon. The people of Pakistan for the first time after years are yearning for a true change, time for slow evolvement is over, it is to be induced through measures of subtlety, shrouded in simplicity of character and commitment. Everyone has to show the commitment not just the leader, because green over white belongs to you, me and them.
The writer is a free lance who contributes regularly on security related issues. He is also a Ph.D Scholar who can be reached at sindhulatif@gmail.com
Published in Daily Times, August 12th 2018.
