Adil Najam
This picture is of PIA employees in a violent fist fight (haatha-paee) at Karachi airport during a strike by PIA employees. The strike, its reasons, the political economy that led to it, the state of the national airline, and the politics that surround it are all important topics and all worthy of discussion. So is this picture as a picture.
At one level the context of this picture matters little. It is a representation of an angst and an anger that has now become a national disease. It is a representation of an anger that we see around us everywhere – and all the time. Anger is a natural and normal phenomenon. But there is nothing natural and nothing normal about the level of anger that seethes in our society. Indeed, within all of us. An anger you see here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here. Indeed, you cn see it on display all over our comments section.
The first step in anger management, we are told, is to recognize that one has a problem. Let us begin, please, by doing just that!
There are a lot of reasons for anger.
Price hike of essentials, load-shedding, water bills, petrol prices, shortage of gas, heat, weather etc. Someone might be angry about not getting the job despite the bribe and ‘sifarish’. Someone else is angry because they dont have the sifarish and bribe. Someone is angry about not getting the overseas visa. Someone is angry about waiting 5 years to get the plot issues sorted. Someone is angry about traffic congestion. Someone is angry about Pakistani players getting banned.
There are many reasons really. When it becomes as big a phenomena as it is in our society, I dont think anger management and psychology can help. It can help a handful of people, not millions of people.
In the books of psychology, Anger is not a natural behavior but a learned one. You learn to resort to it when you start to believe that it is the easiest way of getting to your goals. This obviously happens when you give low priority to others’ will and don’t want to keep a just balance between you and others.
Religions tend to make laws according to natural needs of the individual and the society. And interestingly most of them profess against anger. So the earlier we accept it as a learn-able (and definitely a forgettable) trait, the earlier we can excel in anger management.
Dr Najam, while you have brought to light a very important issue that afflicts our society, what is the cure? Certainly anger management classes are not feasible given the size of the population. Is their something wrong with the Pakistani DNA? One look at our talk shows and its amply clear that our entire society needs a catharsis of sorts to begin with. Alas, who will start the process
But there is also so many reasons to be angry. No?
A very brave and forthright piece Dr. Najam. Few words and so much meaning.
Now get ready for angry Pakistan to get angry at you! Afterall we are so good at it :-)