Hate and Democracy

Today I celebrate democracy. The right to choose.  The privilege to make a decision. The freedom to express myself. The responsibility that comes as a result to meet the challenges with a brave heart along the way. I recognize the need to allow other’s the space to breathe and the importance of a dialogue to come to some mutual understanding. I choose democracy not just for myself but for others as well.

I am quite tired of living in a culture that is run by hate. We hate the government for taking away our right to sleep peacefully at night. We hate the fact that our lives hold not much worth today than ever before. We hate the terrorists for constantly interrupting our educational programmes. We detest the CNG prices going up. Oh the annoyance that sets in when there is no gas to light our ovens and no electricity to follow the news. The news aggravates us further with stories that give us no hope and solutions. We need our ID cards to buy sugar!

This hatred has overcome our ability to think positively or believe in the possibilities that are plentiful. We spend hours cursing our unfortunate lives. We shake our heads in hopelessness the minute the power is shut-off. I have even heard people wish death for the poor chap who sits following orders to shut-off the power from 2pm to 4pm!

It frightens me to see this anger that can actually destroy our capacity to make logic and accept realities. We must take a minute to analyse our thoughts. We will be shocked to discover that they are filled with animosity.

“If you are overwhelmed with problems, take some time out to reflect and distance yourself from your pain. It’s not easy, but persistence with it will pay off. (Anonymous)

We must take a moment to realize the damage that we transfer to our children every day. This negative energy does get transmitted to our children. They are our future. But we forget their role and relevance in the long run. We feel no problem in stating our hopelessness or sharing our desires to shoot the damn losers running our country. I honestly feel that we must protect our children from this hatred. We don’t want them to grow up in this pitiful environment that resonates spite and revenge.

I remember accompanying my parents to a gathering of their friends. I was about 14 years old and was a silent observer. The discussion that alarmed me was on our Father of the Nation, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. There was a section of people who found no charm in him and considered him to be a complete failure. I was a student and Jinnah was a historical legend to me. He was a National Hero in our Pakistan Studies. I was quite angered by their casual remarks. The hatred with which they expressed their views was shameful. I thought to myself, they find him to be a failure, I wonder how achieved they feel in their own lives. 

The ability to derive the best from a situation or concentrate on the positives of a Human, are skills that need to be inculcated in our children. The ability to see the glass as half full and not half empty.

“We do not inherit the world from our parents, we borrow it from our children!” (Anonymous)

Today we forget our surroundings. We don’t feel the need to reserve our comments. We vomit our emotions anywhere, becoming completely oblivious of how others might perceive our state of well-being. Anger has destroyed our competence to differentiate between petty and grave issues. We have forgotten the lesson to choose our battles. The venom has penetrated our senses to the point that we fail to look beyond the obvious.

We desire for a democratic set up, but fail to reform ourselves to manage it well. Our plan of action at not having electricity or water is mostly uprooting the electrical poles or burning effigies. We incite the more vulnerable groups to go on rampage igniting the hatred further. We can’t bear to listen to the other side of the argument. And blindly follow trends. Any questions from our children that require reason or logical explanation anger us and we label them as ill-mannered and over inquisitive. We aren’t prepared to take to the Witness Stand and face the facts.

Democracy demands patience. It is a complete processing unit. The view or opinion enters the system. It goes through the procedure of digestion where various other opinions are added on to soften the edges and make it easier to absorb. The positives are separated from the negatives which are eventually disposed off from the machinery. What remains are the effects of a civil and peaceful dialogue that is a reflection of the various flavours of a common concern.

We are a nation who has been subjected to so many political upsets that the sound democratic programme just could not be followed through. As an educationist today, I strongly feel that ‘Democracy’ should be introduced as a core subject in Pakistan. Our children need to absorb its principles fully to be able to handle it when blessed with its power in all entirety. ‘Effective Communication Skills’ must also be introduced as a subject at an early stage so that the young minds can be moulded to encourage an even better democratic set-up.

In a democratic state, individuals are free to view their opinions, but a culture of hatred almost never allows those views to bring any rewards.

Nevertheless, once we are ready to acknowledge our own shortcomings, we do have hope to resolve our issues. Let’s try to prepare ourselves for an Effective Democracy with a little more focus and insight.

“All our problems, all our disputes, all our disagreements can be resolved quickly to mutual satisfaction if we address the question.” (Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed)