Adil Najam
I blog from Islamabad airport.
My flight to Karachi has been delayed, which means that my first meeting of the day will have to be canceled. But that is not what weighs heavy on my mind. What worries me today is all the talk of violence of one kind or another that seems to be all I have been hearing around me. My blood pressure seems to always sit on edge, but all the more so when all anyone can seem to talk about is violence.
The latest, of course, is the carefully leaked story about the attempted assassination plot of Gen. Musharraf by Sheikh Omar, the killer of journalist Daniel Pearl. Beyond relief that the plot was a failure, I do not wish to comment on this story. I have no reason to believe that the story is false, but it smells - no, stinks - so much of a planted leak that I would rather not give much more satisfaction to the “planters” than I already have.
Much more than that I worry about all the jingoism and and chest-beating I have been dished out on the “war clouds” with India.
Was is a horrible thing. And war with India would be very horrible, indeed. But I worry less about that because I do not think there will be war. This hype seems manufactured by TV talk show hosts on both sides of the border who seem to be having great fun (yes, I use the word advisedly) with their chest beating and naara baazi. What does worry me, however, is the fact that we are all so worked up about a war that is not happening and unlikely to happen, but so very content with the wars that are real, ongoing and killing Pakistanis every day. Everyone seems ready to thump their chests in hollow patriotism about the the tensions with India on the Eastern front, while the drones continue to pound our Western flank. Even more than that the Taliban’s war against Pakistan rages strong as ever. Nearly 2000 Pakistanis have been killed in in real war against Paksitan already, andonly this year. Why, I wonder why, are the real deaths of real Pakistanis ignored while foretold threats of the future amuse our sensibilities?
But this, too, has become routine. Denial it may be, but we can learn to tune out the noise.
What I cannot tune out right now is the noise around me earlier today as I entered the airport here in Islamabad. Its Hajj season so the place was teeming with people as the ‘welcoming delegations’ descended on the airport along with the returning Hajis. As I rushed in, a person a few feet from me brushed into another. Before one knew what had happened, they were exchanging punches. Not only them, but now three others were involved in what seemed to be a growing fistfight over nothing with most of the punches hitting the bystanders.
Naive that I am, I tried to break the fighting parties apart and ask for calm. In the process I got a few punches on myself, but more importantly I realized that everyone - including the growing throng of spectators - was now more mad at me for trying to break up the fight than at any of the fighters! And I thought that such reaction to those talking of peace happens only on blogs!
As I picked up by bags (and now aching shoulder) I wondered if maybe this ’small’ and ‘individual’ violence in society is therapeutic. Maybe it is a way to deal with the larger insecurities and institutional violence around us. Or, maybe just maybe, it is systemic - an emblem of the larger violence within all of us. I certainly hope it is not the later. My faith in the goodness of ordinary people remains firm. But I wonder what all the violence and talk of violence around us is doing to us!
And, so, I sit here at the departure lounge. They just announced that my plane that had earlier been delayed two hours, is now delayed another two hours. The guy next to me announces that he is fried! So are the meetings that I was going to Karachi for. But that is not what gives me heartache right now. Yes, my shoulder still hurts from the punches I got. But what hurts much more and much more deeply in my head as well as my heart is the reminder that the violence we live with is not just in the headlines. The violence is all around us. Maybe, even within us.
When a society has tremendous gap between the rich and the poor, educated kala angrez and poor nauker, violence is a natural outcome. When the average networth of a Pakistan Army general is 8.5 million dollars and poor man does not have enough to eat and send his kid to school, violence becomes necessary. When most of our so called awami leaders are jagirdars, chauhdris, and makhdooms who treat their kisans as dirt and abuse their wives and daughters, violence will remain prevalent in our society.
Dear Prof. Najam, I am so glad that you made it safely to Karachi and so glad that you gave that great talk at T2F. It was one of the best talks on world politics and Pakistan that I have ever heard. I had first thought I woudl not come because of the rain but am glad I did. It was a real eye opener. I now know why ATP is so vibrant. Your talk made ATP come alive and your hard hitting analysis was tough but honest and I thank you for it.
Stay Safe.
I work for one of the fortune 10 company and am officer in the company. Last year before my visit to Pakistan (stop during my business trip), i had to get security clearness from my company before i can book the trip. They contacted some people in Lahore and karachi, and confirmed that i can visit but not without a security/body guards. It was ironic and sad to visit country i so love.
Also, I was once asked by CEO of the company, whether i will recommend opening a office in Pakistan, sadly i said not at this point.. my recommendation was to get talent from pakistan but opening a office in pakistan won’t get us anywhere due to security and infrastructure. I might be wrong in my judgement and am very open for someone debate to change my mind otherwise.
I left Pakistan in the late 1970s and have returned for visits frequently. My own assessment is that the decade of the 1980s in Pakistan, with the religious fervor and Jihad indoctrinated in the generation that came of age during Zia’s military regime, has made our nation much more self-righteous and ready to engage in violence on the slightest of pretexts. It’s a lesson that we must learn from this experience of continuing violence against each other and try and raise our younger generations with a better sense of respecting “Huqooq-ul-Ibad” (the rights our fellow beings) rather than impose our concept of “Huqooq-ul-Allah” (rights of Allah) by force upon them. We must not forget that if we do wrong unto others, even Allah will not forgive us for those wrongs. Allah will only forgive violations of “Huqooq-ul-Allah”, not “Huqooq-ul-Ibad”.
We need a better balance in how we think of the rights of Allah and the rights of our fellow humans. We must fight the evil within us before declaring Jihad against others we disagree with.
“Maybe, even within us.”
Your last little comment really sums it up all. You are right, violence in Pakistan has gone up tremendously over the years. It is not that people in other countries do not have “violent thoughts”; I am sure they do too; and, in that context the people in Pakistan are no superior or inferior to the humans in the rest of the world.
Perhaps, the difference is (a)what is a totally unacceptable expression of these “violent thoughts” in a society; limited either by “the fear of the law of the land” or constrained by what may be considered “an unacceptable beviour as a member of the civil society”. (b)Some groups of humans have come to this realization that “violent thoughts” emanating from a stressful situation need to be expressed in a different way other than bringing into action the arms, legs, fists; etc (c) After having this realization, these humans have embarked upon a continuous effort to learn new behaviour patterns to express their anger.
Maybe, men (including me) can learn something from how women deal with “violent thoughts” … now, don’t tell me woman don’t get those thoughts (would be hard to believe). Perhaps, we the men need to learn how to express our “violent thought”=anger; regardless of the cause of anger; be it a body brush, a different religious opinion, a different political opinion, a different point of view to deal with a specific situation; etc. Maybe we need to use the words “Mu’afi chahta hoon” more often.
Perhaps, we need to become a little more reflective of how might we have handled a situation in a different manner! Is there a chance that this behaviour pattern might turn contagious?
Dr Sahab, sorry to hear about your encounter. Haji’s or no Haji’s, garma garmi and fighting with one another is the norm in our society. Having an ‘Akhaara’ along the lines of a ‘Smokers Corner’ at every venue like airports and train stations should provide some relief to our violence hungry awaam with open mike so anyone can challenge anyone.
You may want to see a good maalishi before heading back.
I wonder why there is such a difference between Pakistani men and women in this regard. Our men are always ready to display their machismo, whereas the women are generally timid. Of course, we are brought up this way, but if we were a violent society, wouldn’t the women be violent too? We know that too often women are themselves victims of men’s cruelty and violence. Are they transferring their suppressed rage to their sons? Any thoughts?
Our society has ALWAYS been an extremely violent one. What has happened is that our cities used to be usually more civilized (i.e., less violent) than the countryside. This was probably a result of the British Colonial State imposing a totally alien ‘law and order’ on our larger urban areas and the remnants of the Gora Saab’s training and indoctrination keeping things going (more or less) for some time afterwards.
If you don’t believe me, look at the violence of Partition–humara asli roop nikal aaya.
Post-1979, the violence level countrywide has crept up: due to the easy availability of arms, money and the barbarizing influence of our Afghan ‘guests.’ Have you ever made a photocopy from a photocopy from a photocopy from a photocopy…. Using a not very good copier? What does the nth copy of a copy look like? The photocopy is our current leadership/civil service/military, the copier is our training institutions and culture. Guess what you get.