Infantile Gibberish

Infantile Gibberish Day in and day out, all sane minds in Pakistan are pounced upon by the ruling elite's rhetoric and mind boggling verbose through print, electronic and social media, which compared with the established democracies and real civilized statesmen, can be termed as Infantile Gibberish. The undue and unreal hostilities demonstrated especially through the TV Talk shows, press briefings and even from the floors of the parliament and high offices are indicative of decline from average to below average discourse. One could write a book on the reasons and factors contributing towards such a decadence. Nevertheless, this short piece is aimed at just pointing at the backlash of this unfortunate phenomenon, with the hope that it may contribute two cents towards improving the state of affairs.

First and foremost, the unrelenting verbal and physical brawls among the ruling elite add to the anxiety of the hapless listeners & watchers, who are unable to shield themselves due to unlimited ingress of media in our lives.

The agitated psychological state caused in such an acerbic environment is contributing in raising peoples’ frustration, which is often demonstrated through ill tempers in domestic and public lives. That leads to public violence and social unrest. Different types and levels of public protests and hostility experienced on the roads, streets and most public places is a testimony to this sorry state. Remember, a fish rots from the head!

 The second most serious issue is the political fissures caused by thoughtless and juvenile behavior, which further expose and even add to the existing fault lines. It is hard to find a place in our beloved country, which is not plagued by ethnic, linguistic, sectarian, religious and political polarisation. The ongoing state of affairs in Pakistan bears testimony to that effect. Burying our heads in the sand without putting a check on the inflammatory dialogue would not be able to wish away the dreadful outcome that we continue to confront 24/7. The unprovoked aggression by Pakistan’s arch foes and with ongoing multi directional threats, any natural or man-made calamities, and even the daily supreme sacrifices rendered by men in uniform to safeguard the country and people, results only in a few seconds feelings-less lip service; and then back again to their hate filled rant. Obviously, in such a degeneracy, everyone is bound to be slapped with a question, ‘who will bell the cat then?’

Third, the ownership of the print and electronic media by the ruling elite, besides the ability to influence the non-owned channels and newspapers has almost deprived the public from knowing the truth. The misuse of social media adds fuel to the fire. Consequently, falsehood seems to stand on firm feet, while naked truth remains buried under false narratives. Unfortunately, the tendency to silence or curb the sane voices is quite alarming and too obvious to be denied. Obviously, it badly impinges on the quality of media and on the freedom of responsible speech. It is frustrating to hear and see the haughty disposition of some frequent talkers on daily TV Talk shows where anchors act as firefighters and referees. Nevertheless, the lack of political maturity and foresight of the people in the helm of affairs stands fully exposed; which threatens national unity and cohesion. 

Fourth, the present-day narcissism by the ruling elite has far surpassed all past records. The shameless self-projection and self-praise by mercilessly spending of public funds is mind-boggling. And everyone seems to be in a race  to take a lead.  The recruitment of political followers in police, besides creation of some uniformed fancy forces by federal as well as Chief Ministers reminds of Z.A. Bhutto’s 1972 model FSF; not to forget its fallout! Our own history of Pakistan alludes to the fact that such forces are created to feel strong and to appease young political followers who act as armed militia to subdue political opponents as well as scare the general public; but ultimately primed to become Frankenstein's monster. The incumbent government needs to abolish this tendency, being too dangerous for the federation and for the existence of a fragile political system in Pakistan.

It goes without saying that the three established pillars of the state i.e. legislature, executive and judiciary, are constitutionally created with well stated roles and orbits to operate in for efficient, honest and true management of the state affairs. They are all public servants not rulers per say; and therefore need to think, speak and act as per the constitutional roles clearly defined for security and wellbeing of the State and the people. Abraham Lincoln’s quote,“Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people” that played pivotal role in making USA a super power despite countless intrinsic differences and diversity; however, at present the US is also facing some internal and external challenges due to incumbent President's bombast. It has even more applicability for Pakistani, which has consistently struggled to function as a true Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Needless to say that we need to guard our thoughts that become our speech and actions!