Pakistanis are born with numerous innate problems not only as
an individual but also as a nation. There have been several politicians,
policymakers, bureaucrats, writers, and many unknown individuals who worked and
wished for the prosperity of this country; many of them are present even today.
They dearly want the country to straighten its course. However, preaching
morals, ethics, and policy corrections is only viable when practice is
intended. Else the words of wisdom have no soul to work for themselves. Even
aware of all the disregard that the words of many wise people before me have
received; I still venture to elucidate the already explained ideas of our
hereditary lack of consciousness.
First is our criterion of idealizing individuals as heroes.
We as a nation (maybe unconsciously) idealize smugglers, tax evaders, callous
murderers, corrupt politicians, and biased nationalists as our heroes and
leaders. This, somewhat unconscious but canny, yardstick for the selection of
heroes and leaders is the foremost reason why we are so miserable as a nation
and as a state. There are numerous reasons why we idealize such innately
corrupt people; however, the key reason is our alien affiliation with the
country itself. Except for the exceptions, most of us live here like
sojourners, and sojourners don’t bother about the eternal problems of the place
either. They know that they neither are going to live there forever nor are
their next generations. This is the root cause of our boundless ego and
selfishness.
Some major contributors to this alien attitude of ours are
vaguely defined notions such as generosity, love, etc. I, as well as you must,
have observed that some naïve commoners believe and idealize smugglers, tax
evaders, ruthless killers, and corrupt politicians because of their fake and
evil generosity. I deeply get astonished and anxious about this concept and
indeed I compare it to a scenario where a starving thirsty man thanks a person
for peeing in his mouth to allay his thirst. Well, the vaguely defined terms of
generosity and help need to be redefined instantly if we want to change the
false idealization of thugs around us because help with “Haram” is no help
either. These crooks earn billions by destroying the lives of thousands of
young men by intoxicating them with drugs and murdering innocent people
callously, or by evading taxes needed to provide for the poor, and then a
meagre amount of a few hundred thousand is spent back on society in the name of
charity and help. Should we not ask ourselves a question regarding this generosity?
We must!
Secondly, we all cry about the untangling knots of elite
capture. However, if inspected we are the ones who provide the basis for the
ever-strengthening elite capture in Pakistan. Democracy by no means is a
failure if we practice by the rules. However, when people are elected based on
their caste, creed, and color without weighing their competence and
impartiality towards all, spoils the real purpose of democracy.
Democratic setup has only become a route to power and
prestige for the elite, and numbers do matter in this game of thrones. Thus,
the greater the number of sheep of the same caste, creed, and color that decide
to walk behind you; the more powerful you become. The irony of fate is that we
have never idealized someone from our caste, creed, and race who is educated
and competent. We are so limited in our options that one after the other we
choose mercenary ‘Nawabs’, ‘Sardars’, ‘Khans’, and ‘Mirs’ of the same legacy as
our leaders. It indeed depicts our utter cowardice too that we cannot dare to
challenge the status quo and choose a leader out of the ambit of caste, creed,
and color; though we cherish ourselves as valiant and brave beings on the
earth.
Another bitter truth is that we as a nation are morally
corrupt. We don’t want to pay any tax for the public services (if any) that we
receive. The pretext is that we are not provided with basic services, so why
pay taxes? I blame the people (the commoners) once again because we are the
ones who vote for leaders who do not pay back to society. Thus, this cycle of
evil ego carries on that we won’t pay taxes because we are not given due
services, yet we will elect the very people who won’t give us anything. What
eventually happens is that by evading taxes we are demolishing the very institutions
of governance and education that are important for the survival of the next
generations; however, we are reluctant to change our vision of idealizing
individuals and electing corrupt leaders because of our egoistic self-interest
and nomad nature.
Thus, I offer as a solution, that we as a nation need to
change our views of idealizing individuals which must not be based upon false
definitions of divine notions such as generosity, love, and unselfishness,
rather the definitions must adhere to the true spirits of love, and rule of law defined by
the divine scriptures. Secondly, we need people who truly are competent to
drive this country to prosperity regardless of the fact whether they belong to
our caste, creed, or race. To change not only the destiny of this blessed
motherland, but also the destiny of our future generations; we need to go
beyond the distinction of caste, creed, and color. Else we are destined to
drown in the deep oceans of misery and regret.
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