Time never follows a consistent path. It is always riddled with ups and downs. Though human beings are endowed with the ability to adapt to these changes, at some stage, the rapidly alternating face of time gets the better of our capabilities, leaving behind ravages which may be difficult to account for.
This reminds me of the time we are currently living through, the formidable challenges it continues to throw up and our depleting capacity to deal with them. But then, it is not that human beings would succumb to these pressures easily, no matter how enormous and onerous. In such trying circumstances, these challenges are met with a fair stock of reflection and resilience. As someone wrote once, “somehow calamity has a way of bringing out the best of the human spirit and we see it shine from the pages of men and women of history whose lives were shaped by the stories of their times”.
People spread throughout the world have had their experience of dealing with calamitous times, but those in Pakistan have been the absolute favourites of wading through turbulent waters surging in wave after wave. Respite is an unknown commodity. Quite often, one is consumed with the feeling that the next wave will wash us away but somehow, we manage to survive, ready to face another tidal challenge brewing a short distance away. It is as if it has become a habit with surprise reserved not for when the wave comes, but if it does not come charging in for some time.
Other than the personal pain that one may have to endure, it is also living in a general environment loaded with its unbearable share of suffocation that makes one suffer. Pain could be outward, which is mostly physical, that abounds in societies which are not governed by the discipline of laws and strictures contained in the statute books and which, instead, are run by diktats of individuals. But when pain penetrates one’s being and soul, and it refuses to heal then one has to stretch to the limit of one’s endurance for mere survival. Around us, one sees people having had to suffer such an experience with regularity, caving in one moment under its weight and struggling to rise the next.
Notwithstanding human capacity, I have also seen people breaking down owing to intense and ceaseless suffering. In recent times, our political environment has been replete with occasions when people have been subjected to the most inhuman treatment for no crime of theirs.
Just because they belong to the other side of the political divide, they are construed as adversaries who need to be managed through the use of brutal implements at the command of the state. These people mostly plunge into the depths of pain and despondency from where it is excruciatingly difficult to crawl out. Their life, thereafter, is an unbearable burden that they are condemned to suffer through the remainder of their stay in this world.
The stories of human resilience have no bounds. There are acts of courage which are a beacon for others to follow, and there are narratives which are written in blood. In present times, we have seen things happening that one thought resided beyond the realm of possibility. But we saw redlines crossed with crass impunity as the perpetrators remained completely immune to consequences for state and society. Law books were altered by resorting to methods which were illegal and unconstitutional. Not a conscience was pricked, not a soul stirred from among the ruling elite. A series of such enactments became laws to practice and live by with a sword constantly hanging overhead.
It was Albert Camus who said that “the only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion”. Is such a state even possible? If yes, one would be inexorably faced with the prospect of use of brutal measures to silence the critics. Haven’t we seen it all? Haven’t we had enough of these feuds, animosities, hatreds, and belittling of others?
Tragically, we have witnessed some gory events. We have seen a prime minister hanged who was denied a fair trial. We have seen two prime ministers, one serving and one former, murdered. We have seen prime ministers sacked and we have seen them brought back. We have endured the sister of the founder of the state declared a traitor. The label has been used ever so liberally for everyone who would dare step out of line. We have seen the Quaid’s foundational address delivered from the floor of the first Constituent Assembly hidden from public viewing for years.
We have seen the loss of more than half of the country without anyone held accountable. We have seen the virtual annihilation of the judicial arm of the state vide the 26th Amendment. We have seen the incarceration of a leader through fake, frivolous and fraudulent cases who commands the hearts and minds of the people of the country.
We have seen gross violations of human rights. We have seen the demise of constitution and democracy. We have seen murder and mayhem. We keep plunging deeper into the quagmire. We have been perched on the brink for decades, sliding down the abyss. This is just mindless. This is hara-kiri.
We don’t realise that acts committed will come back to haunt us. It may be too late then to undo the blunders of the past. What is important is to heed the call now and stop pursuing divisive policies which are alienating people from the state and those who manage it. This bond between the people and the state needs to be strengthened.
We should stop pasting labels of traitors on those who have given blood for the preservation of the country but have political differences with us. Their sacrifices should be acknowledged. They should not be marginalised simply because they don’t share your worldview.
It is time to pull back from the edge and initiate the healing process. There is an inspirational saying that “resilience is the capacity to believe that the future can be good again even in the face of darkness and fear. It is the capacity to choose future purpose over current pain”.
We need courage. We need resilience. We need a lot to mend this country. But, before all else, we need to stop fighting our own people. We need to give them their rights. We need to give them their voice.
The writer is a political and security strategist and the founder of the Regional Peace Institute. He is a former special assistant to former PM Imran Khan and heads the PTI’s policy think-tank. He tweets @RaoofHasan
