Apathy vs passion…Ghazi Salahuddin
In numerous drawing-room conversations, there must have been considerable discussions on why the people do not come out on the streets to protest against the increasingly unbearable cost of living and deepening political malaise. There is little doubt that they are at the end of their tether, thoroughly engulfed by a sense of defeat and depression.
At one level, protest is a form of political action. Revolutionary struggles, involving the multitudes, are led by organised parties and groups. We may suffer from the lack of a genuine movement for change but the political parties are very much in the field. Yet even Imran Khan, who has demonstrated strong popular support, is not able to raise the tsunami that he had promised.
So, why are the people taking it lying down? Is it apathy, fear of reprisal, or some kind of a paralysis? Is Pakistans civil society too weak to generate a measure of unrest that could impact the turn of national events? And if this is what Pakistani society is, what factors have contributed to its abysmal state of inaction? Why is Pakistan so exceptional in its lack of moral, intellectual and political capacity to be alive and, yes, kicking?
I can understand why this expectation — or threat — of some kind of a popular uprising is engaging the mind of the common observers at this time. It is also an expression of ones inability to see any way round or through the present situation. Somethings got to give.
But I have been grieving about Pakistani societys pathological inability to be aroused by any provocation or pain or shock for a long, long time. We are too thick-skinned to be touched by any catalyst. Or is it a defence mechanism because we feel powerless to be able to do anything?
There are examples that boggle the mind and I have been citing them in my columns in the past. Let me recall just one. There was that Baldia factory fire in Karachi on September 11, 2012 in which about 260 two hundred and sixty lives were lost. It was an act of terror, after the factory owner had failed to pay extortion money.
What happened? Was Karachi in a collective state of bereavement? Was there any evidence of an administrative upheaval to deal with the tragedy and its consequences? Sadly, it seemed to be business as usual.
There was a somewhat similar fire in a garments factory in New York in 1911 in which 146 persons died. It became a national tragedy. Laws were changed. Documentaries and feature films were made about the incident. Books have been written. Four hundred thousand citizens lined the streets for the funeral.
One prominent social activist, during a conversation this week, identified two specific reasons for the inadequacies of our civil society: the rise of religious fanaticism and enforced disappearances of those who oppose the ruling ideas. It may be a lot more complex than this.
But there is the other side to this coin. I would invoke Yeats to exemplify this paradox: The best lack all conviction while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity. The fury and the passion that the ordinary citizens become capable of when they become a mob is also an exceptional feature of Pakistani society. We have had not just a few but many instances of individuals accused of blasphemy being killed in mob violence
I have noticed that the incidents of suspected robbers being lynched by a mob have increased in Karachi in recent months. Come to think of it, this may be a response to the present situation in which street crimes have also increased. People tend to resort to vigilante justice when they lose trust in the criminal justice system and when enforcement of the law is utterly flawed.
The act of the lynching of a man on a street by a mob is a very serious matter. It shows that society has lost its equilibrium, which is a precondition for social change. But since these crimes coexist with the apathy that prevails in civil society, it is difficult to get a sense of what they are doing to our society and if the powers that be are aware of what is actually happening.
About ten days ago, two suspected street criminals were burnt to death, after being tortured, in a locality of North Karachi. This particular incident in itself would deserve the attention of higher authorities. At least, it could have been reported prominently and analyzed in the media. But this was just one more atrocity of its kind. Hence, it had its run-of-the-mill coverage.
But consider what had happened in Karachis Machhar Colony three months ago. Two telecom workers were in the area on an assignment. It is hard to understand how but someone thought that they were child kidnappers. A mob gathered and they were attacked and beaten to death. This happened in the suburbs of Pakistans major city, celebrated for its glamour and lights. How many of us remember this calamity, have talked about it, have felt outraged about what it tells us about our society?
Let me conclude with a reference to a speech that the then chief justice of the Supreme Court Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani had made at a college in Lahore in March 2014. He told the students that they shared one office with the rest of the population, the office of a citizen. A citizen had certain responsibilities.
If you dont stand and speak on what you hold to be morally right you would leave the space for others to fill and paint their version of what is right and wrong.. He quoted Goya: Sleep of reason produces monsters. And he added: Today, these monsters are on the rampageThis flight of reason is a threat to peace and social harmony, but it is a creative challenge to all those who hold the office of a citizen to make a difference.
Courtesy The News