THE POWER OF SYMBOLISM

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/02/25/the-power-of-symbolism/

People appear to be divided between two opposing camps, one that believes there is eternal glory in store for those who give up their lives in war.

The other says there is no glory in war, and that it produces no heroes; that glory comes from actions that prevent war, that heroes are the ones who implement these actions.

It is hard to believe in the absoluteness of either view, surely there is something in between? Something that says that those who die in war – if they die knowing that they die for a greater cause, something that would save lives and make this a better world, such persons only are heroes. Which means there would be little glory in killing your enemy and being killed by him if he – for example – spat on you (Hazrat Ali).

Whether there is eternal glory is known only to Him who is able to grant it. What is sure is that such heroism is not to be aspired to over and above peace on earth, and each of us must do all in our power to make that peace a reality, and refuse to be impressed when they are just words in the mouths of people who seek to gain power via that peace, or that war. And that is what is happening these days with the PM across the border expressing anger at the violence in Pulwama, and the PM on this side protesting his dedication to peace. While it is clear that with elections coming up soon in India, across the border is spouting election rhetoric and depending on the drums of war to beat up support, you do wish that PM Khan’s protestations were genuine. Or let us assume they are, but what is being done to live up to them?

The suicide bomber whose act of detonating 350 kilos of explosives that killed 44 Indian soldiers was a resident of Indian Held Kashmir. It was probably the highhandedness of Indian troops in his homeland that compelled him to do what he did.

But the group taking ‘credit’ for the attack, Jaesh-e-Mohammad, which has links to Al-Qaeda, a group that previously functioned under another name, is based in Pakistan. Their leader Masood Azhar is a resident of this country. The attack in Pulwama is not the first they have been implicated in. Yet the group runs mosques and seminaries here. The goverment of Punjab sealed one mosque seminary complex in Bahawalpur following the attack, another such complex was similarly sealed by the Counter Terrorism Department in Sialkot. Surely, the government of Pakistan, previous and current ought to have made it a matter of priority to shut these down earlier. Much earlier.

The ceremony would be funny if it were not imbued with patriotism, when it is perceived as impressive, even though all it is is high/goose-marching men who raise their legs above their noses, wearing starched turras on their turbans, who stomp their feet and shout and glare at each other

There are other things that could be done. Some are symbolic. Note the ‘symbolic’ all by itself, unqualified by ‘only’ or ‘just’. Symbolism is powerful. One of these things is the Wagah Border Flag Ceremony, which began in the late 1950s, the flag lowering ceremony on either side of the border which is framed as an entertainment geared to tourists who come to view the sight of the Pakistan Rangers on this side and the Indian Border Security Force on that, recreating the pomp and ceremony of a battlefield — because only tourists and overzealous patriots who believe there is eternal glory in store for those who give up their lives in war can imagine a battlefield as possessing pomp and ceremony.

The ceremony would be funny if it were not imbued with patriotism, when it is perceived as impressive, even though all it is is high/goose-marching men who raise their legs above their noses, wearing starched turras on their turbans, who stomp their feet and shout and glare at each other for almost an hour, recreating the two countries’ warlike attitude and contempt for each other.

I cannot speak for the Hindu set of beliefs, but Muslims believe in the power of symbolism, in the power of acts such as bowing five times a day leading to a genuine submission to Allah. Is it not amazing then that if peace were ever sought between the two nations, Pakistan at least should not have tried to replace this pantomime with something less aggressive? Something that would suggest peace to its people, and congeniality, rather than war and animosity?