Immoderate and unenlightened
By Ghazi Salahuddin
The News, March 18, 2007
"Why are our rulers bent upon proving that Pakistan ghalat bana tha?" I was somewhat taken aback by this question from a stranger just as I entered the lobby of a hotel in Lahore. He was watching Geo television and, recognising me as a journalist, just gave vent to his anguish over the developing story. Obviously, this was a rhetorical question and all I could do was to shrug my shoulders and move on to the reception.
I have narrated this encounter to many friends because it set me thinking about how the 'suspension' of the chief justice and the assault on the media, culminating in the national shame of police attack on Geo office in Islamabad, had played out in the minds of common citizens who cannot be classified as analysts or observers or legal experts.
The incident I have recorded had taken place on the day when it all began: Friday, March 9. I had arrived in Lahore late in the evening and had just entered the hotel. I had to join -- and moderate -- a national consultation on investigative journalism, held on Saturday in collaboration with the Pakistan Press Foundation and The Asia Foundation. Here was an occasion to share views with some very senior and respected journalists. It was difficult not to keep reverting to the unfolding story that centred on treatment meted out to the chief justice.
It so happened that I was again in Lahore this Friday to attend a regional consultation sponsored by South Asians for Human Rights, with a focus on democracy, human rights and diversity. There were so many social activists from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and also Afghanistan to deliberate on the sorrows of South Asia. But when the news on the attack on Geo flashed on Geo itself, with such striking images, one could sense the concern that it evoked about Pakistan's sense of direction, particularly when the day had already witnessed such disturbing events in Islamabad.
I do not intend to refer in this column to analyses made by informed newsmen or the so-called experts who rotate around television talk shows. Nor would I refer to the immediate fallout of the police attack on Geo office in Islamabad, though it will remain a point of reference for a long time. Instead, let me concentrate on opinions I gathered from strangers -- including taxi drivers, waiters in dinning rooms, shopkeepers and people I happened to strike a conversation with. I flew back to Karachi on Friday night when all of them were discussing the Geo incident.
Journalistically, this is a valid exercise. It gives you a sense of what can be described as the public mind. I would also like to refer to, at this point, the concept of 'zaban-e-khulq' -- the voice of the people and how it is deemed to be the God's proclamation. We should assume that intelligence agencies also monitor the voice of the people on a regular basis. They may have a proper, scientific method of collecting and interpreting public opinion. However, another thought, terrifying in its implications, is that the agencies, even if they know what the people are talking about, just do not care about its significance. Or, have they been told to disregard whatever evidence they get on this front?
Come to think of it, our official policies, pronouncements and manipulations remain totally out of sync with the needs and expectations of the people. As if the people's opinion does not at all matter. Not only that, there seems to be a conscious effort to insult the intelligence of the people and to subvert any remnants of pride and confidence that they may have retained from the days of populist politics.
Another dimension of this wilful deception is the sorry spectacle of how a few ministers can tell lies, straight-facedly. Watching, for instance, Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani on various talk shows this past week compelled you to suspend your disbelief. You could take it as excellent comedy if it had nothing to do with the lives and future of all of us. At the other end of this ministerial masquerade is Law Minister Wasi Zafar and his remarks in a VOA roundtable, expletives not expurgated because it was live, may survive as a footnote in the history of the present crisis. For some reason, his apology on Friday night was also nauseating
Now, I need not reproduce all the opinions and impressions that I have collected during my casual encounters on the streets and in public places. Normally, I get a little uneasy with comments made by the common people since they can often be ill-informed or naïve about the major issues. In this case, too, I could see that many of them were not fully aware of what had actually happened. But their feelings, and the manner in which they express them, remain important.
I encountered unanimous sympathy for the chief justice -- and with Geo in the latest context. I did not find even one person who would be on the side of the government. The most charitable remarks pertained to expressions of regret over what was happening. Expectedly, the general view was that the chief justice should not have been treated like that. Yes, there were many comments about the role of some ministers but I would not like to share these comments with the VOA.
Finally, I was very impressed by the analysis of a bearded taxi driver of Karachi who hails from the Frontier. This was before the attack on Geo. I first thought that he was a member of the radical brigade. But he professed to be a friend of the Tableeghi Jamat. He began by saying that if the chief justice of the country could be treated like that than the poor people like him could not expect any justice or respect from the government. And this is what others had also suggested in their own way. The attack on Geo belonged in the same category.
However, this driver of a rather decrepit yellow-top taxi who said he was unlettered, went on to argue that the government was doing these things to create terror -- 'khauf' -- in the hearts of the common people. This was really perceptive. As an aside, let me admit that this particular conversation improved my impression about the wisdom of the common people, the proverbial awam who are not generally allowed to have a voice.
We can be sure that this taxi driver, another stranger to me, had no knowledge of who Machiavelli was. You cannot say the same about the wise men who advise the 'prince'. Their thinking obviously is that it is better to be feared than loved. The only problem is that Machiavelli will remain relevant for as long as there is no democracy. Perhaps they will also take care of that vulnerability.
The writer is a staff member. Email: ghazi_salahuddin@hotmail.com
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