London Wallpaper: Fwd: "The bridge of indignities"

ANALYSIS: The bridge of indignities —Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

Leaders, both good and bad, have a direct relationship to the level of social and political awakening in the populace. The public is always as good or bad as its leaders because politicians are role models

Law-flouting elite rulers are the norm in Pakistan and not an aberration. Their immense influence and power is unchallenged because the people are unable to challenge their violations and transgressions and even if someone does, they simply ignore it.

An example will illustrate the brazenness with which the authorities disregard people's rights. Mr Naeem Sadiq is a public rights activist and environment consultant. He wrote to the Sindh Education Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), seeking information under the 'Freedom of Information Act' on 'ghost schools' and the number and names of factories in Karachi that were and were not in full compliance with the National Environmental Quality Standards. Four months passed without reply, after which he approached the Sindh Ombudsman. Another three months passed before the departments were asked to appear and explain the withholding of information. He appeared twice before the Ombudsman in April but the summoned departments did not turn up. His query about 'ghost schools' still remains unanswered, while the EPA instead of giving the required information sent irrelevant information about Kotri. If the Mohtasib-e-Ala Sindh is treated thus, imagine what awaits commoners.

A brief recount of history may put things in proper perspective. During the long brutal British colonial rule, due to the obsequiousness of the elite, the people here were cowed into submission. To make matters worse, the new rulers after independence rode roughshod over their 'subjects', further demoralising them.

The new rulers were mainly Urdu-speaking migrants because of their domination of the Muslim League and bureaucracy, and from Punjab because of their overwhelming presence in the army. They set themselves the task of making all conform to the Pakistan ideology. Urdu as the national language, the Objectives Resolution and One Unit were imposed to deny the Bengalis, Baloch, Sindhis and Pashtuns their identity and to coerce them into accepting and adopting the new ideology and culture. However, these measures failed to erase the millenniums-old identities.

Chaudhry Ghulam Mohammad, a bureaucrat, though incapacitated by illness, became the Governor General on October 17, 1951, and ruled arbitrarily till October 6, 1955. The politicians submissively served him and his dissolution of the Constituent Assembly on October 24, 1954, was challenged only by Maulvi Tamizuddin.

Interestingly, the Muslim League politicians metamorphosed into the Republican Party after meeting the new Governor General, Iskandar Mirza. My paternal uncle Mir Rasool Baksh Talpur, who resigned the gubernatorial position under protest during Z A Bhutto's rule, had aptly described them then as "nylon socks that would fit feet of any size and shape".

Encouraged by the politicians and consequently people's submissiveness, the military — instead of idly watching the bureaucracy reap benefits — stepped in. They realised that if the patwaris and thanedars could keep the people acquiescent, they could do it better. A decade of military rule, supported by the ever accommodating 'nylon sock' variety politicians, followed Ayub Khan's October 1958 Martial Law.

Wherever political bullying failed; brute force was employed. There was defiance by the people and some leaders in Balochistan, Bangladesh, Sindh and Khyber. The defiance of Nawab Nauroz Khan and his companions was exemplary. The surrender of licensed arms was ordered to belittle Baloch leaders. Nawab Khair Baksh Marri complied, but after sawing the guns into umpteen pieces.

Fatima Jinnah's 1964 elections galvanised an upsurge among the people and Ayub was eventually ousted in 1969. General Yahya's policies, supported by conniving politicians, led to the unforgivable brutal crackdown on the Bengalis. Sadly, a majority of politicians and people under a false sense of patriotism abetted or remained silent spectators to the atrocities. The silence on Bangladesh atrocities was deafening and the worst example of submissiveness.

Bhutto ruled according to his whims, resulting in Zia and his disastrous 11 years. Then came the musical chairs era with Benazir and Nawaz Sharif alternating each other at the establishment's will.

Musharraf's 1999 coup was a natural corollary of the army's belief that it is the panacea for all civilian-made messes. The 'nylon socks' again gelled into the ruling party. Disillusionment with this democratic dispensation's cronyism, nepotism and quid pro quo politics under the guise of consensus, is rife.

People have continued to suffer since independence. The present inordinate and ever-increasing prices of essentials, utilities, petroleum products and the power crisis have put people in a stupor; mired in troubles, they do not even have the chance to think about the larger picture. Economic woes and physical insecurity combined with pusillanimous politicians and leaders make people extremely submissive.

A popular anecdote illustrates the curse of abject submissiveness and reminds us of the ignominy of acquiescing to injustices and indignities. I repeat it with due respect for those who resist injustices.

In a kingdom, the people had to cross a river daily for work. Hoping to increase revenue, the king built a bridge. Surprisingly, the revenue fell. On the Vizier's counsel, he imposed a toll. He assumed protests would erupt but the people meekly paid up and thereafter whenever the revenue fell, the tariff was jacked up.

Planning to provoke protests, he stationed a person at each end to whack passersby with shoes. A few days later the entire populace converged on the palace. Hoping they would protest, he was shocked to hear them say that with only two people whacking them, this was a cause of inordinate delays and the people demanded that more people be deployed to quicken up the process. He concluded that people who cheerfully crossed 'the bridge of indignities' could be ruled capriciously.

Leaders, both good and bad, have a direct relationship to the level of social and political awakening in the populace. The public is always as good or bad as its leaders because politicians are role models; with leaders accepting indignities and insults for the sake of power, the people adopt these as laudable qualities. Leaders of Ho Chi Minh and Nelson Mandela's calibre are able to make people wreak miracles. Sadly, there are no Mandelas here and the 'nylon sock' variety of politicians and leaders abound.

Mir Taqi Mir was prescient about these times when he said,

"Kis Tarah, Aah! Khaaq-e-Muzzlat Say Main Uthhoon

Uftadaa Tar Mujh Say Jo Mera Dastgeer Ho."

The key for achieving rights and liberty is resistance to unjust actions and perseverance in adversity. Friedrich Nietzsche says, "It is not the strength but the duration of great sentiments that makes great men." Nelson Mandela's persistence defeated apartheid. We need hundreds of thousands of Mandelas here to bring about meaningful and durable changes. The people in authority will transform and submit to laws governing all when the people refuse to submissively follow the politicians across the 'bridge of indignities'.

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur has an association with the Baloch rights movement going back to the early 1970s. He can be contacted at mmatalpur@gmail.com

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\05\09\story_9-5-2010_pg3_4

London Wallpaper

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Fwd: "The bridge of indignities"

No comments:

Post a Comment

Blog Archive