WHY DEMOCRACY?

 https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/12/27/why-democracy/

• Is democracy worth holding on to?

For those who want to hold on to democracy it is important to remember that democracy─ the real democracy which rarely exists─ is the rule of the people. That does not necessarily mean, does not even often mean, the rule of what is right.

So then, what is ‘right’? Doesn’t the concept of ‘right’ vary from thinking person to thinking person? For example, some people might think it is fine to compare religions and then decide which applies to you, while others might prefer to take the faith approach and hang on unvaryingly to what they once accepted as correct. Which of them is ‘right’? What’s more, who is to decide?

It often seems as though ‘right’ as a definite circumscribed set of things exists only in the minds of the herd which accepts because they’re expected to accept without much thought.

Which seems to make democracy acceptable solely because it is the will of the majority, not because it is right.

For democracy to be ‘right’ the decisions of the majority need to be right as well. That might work in an educated society (although not necessarily so) such as Switzerland which is probably home to the ‘realest’ form of democracy on earth, but what of the less educated places, or the wildly less educated places such as Pakistan and India? Would you say it is right to persecute people because of their faith? That certainly appears to be the majority opinion in India and in Pakistan. Is it right to generally base one’s opinion on a narrow view of the world such as happens in these two countries? If such is the view of most of the people in these countries, then can any real democracy exist in countries like these?

So should democracy be sustained  not because it is necessarily right, but because it makes people happy? Does democracy make people happy?

Sadly, that does not appear to be the case either.

Eric Weiner, a few years ago, studied that very question and speaks about Moldova, once part of the USSR. He found Moldova to be the epitome of the unhappiest set of people in the world. That is not because the country is not democratic, it is, or because Moldovia is poor– it is poor but not as poor as Bangladesh for instance, but because of certain cultural attitudes that ‘belittle the value of trust and friendship,’ values that ‘leave no space for the happiness of hope.’ So, an unhappy democracy. Is that an oxymoron?

Eric Weiner once again quotes Inglehart as saying that “to assume that democracy automatically makes people happy is to assume that the tail is wagging the dog.” Comparing China with the countries of the former USSR, the Chinese are apparently much happier than the Russians are. As for one of today’s apparently democratic countries, the USA, as per a 2019 Pew Research result, it came up with 58 percent of its people saying they were unhappy, specifically with the way democracy was functioning in their country. So no, the tail is definitely not wagging the dog.

So why is democracy such a big thing?

It is a big thing because there is no alternative. Yet democracy is in crisis, which must be addressed.

Arundhati Roy says: ‘The crisis of modern democracy is a profound one. Free elections, a free press and an independent judiciary mean little when the free market has reduced them to commodities available on sale to the highest bidder.’

Roy is, as always very right. But in this case she does not go far enough. There is that thing called the constitution that allocates power: who holds the power, and how much.

Think USA. One must keep doing that because that country has so pushed itself under everyone’s nose as the greatest democracy in the world. It had not reckoned with Donald Trump who arrived, it must be admitted, because of democracy. That in itself must be enough to push the whole concept into the ground, but one must not be as arbitrary as that. Yet it was Donald Trump who ensured that the Supreme Court was loaded with his personal appointees prior to the elections. Trump’s accusations of unfair elections have failed in every state, mainly because there was no proof to support the claim. He has claimed that his accusation should be heard by the US Supreme Court but himself accepts that this will be difficult to achieve. Probably, if there were a way to take matters to the Supreme Court Mr Trump may succeed in overturning the elections by means of his appointees in that Court.

Instead he has resorted to a pardoning and murdering spree before he is forced to leave office, executing death row inmates, and pardoning proven criminals who have claim to his friendship.

Why is this President, or any President, given the power to pardon and execute? How does that fit in with the capabilities of a man or woman who was elected to govern the country and who in Mr Trump’s case has no legal knowledge at all, who would be hard put to pronounce legal terms if it ever came to that. If a person is guilty of and has confessed to a crime, it is the law courts who must punish that person or let the person off. If a person is condemned to die, it is the law courts who must assess their behaviour and their crime, it is the law courts that must take steps to free them or carry on with a punishment.

A judge, be it in any country must be a neutral, well paid individual which puts him or her beyond bribery. He or she must not be a political appointee which completely negates the idea of neutrality. Any hint of such a thing should be considered a crime worth the highest punishment.

A person who contravenes the neutrality of the judiciary must be liable to the same punishment as awarded for treason. To uphold the independence of the judiciary, to strive for justice must be the supreme factor in any democracy.

And it is only a free press, and a public that is free to speak, that can ensure this.

The leadership of Pakistan appears struck by the problems faced by the newly elected President of the USA with regards to a handover from the previous government. That is valid. But will the leadership also take note of how important it is for the judiciary to be independent? An independent judiciary with judges free from persecution is the most important factor in a democracy. Without that there is chaos and no justice.

ACCHA

 https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/12/19/accha/

The Cambridge dictionary this month made ‘accha’ available to the English speaking public. As incorrectly pronounced as ‘Iraq’ by the dictionary’s own British and American English pronunciation guide, the word is defined as an exclamation meaning ‘yes!’ and a word of agreement as in ‘that’s good.’ But really, the word is much more versatile than that.

There’s the triumphant “Accchha” when Donald Trump lost the elections, a reaction that had little to do with a Republican defeat and everything to do with the defeat of the particular person holding office all that way across the world.

Then there is the incredulous eye rolling “Accha!” as when Imran Khan claimed there was no mention of Jesus Christ in history.

There are other examples.

A disgusted “Accha!” and an incredulous one as a comment on Sheikh Rasheed’s appointment as Interior Minster. Sheikh sahib, if you remember, felt it necessary to add to Imran Khan’s intelligent statement about a possible military confrontation with India by reminding India that Pakistan was a nuclear power with small warheads capable of targeting and destroying particular targets. Sheikh Rasheed was then the Minister for Railways.

“Acha!” in the same tone follows the appointment of (Dr) Firdous Ashiq Awan, who in yet another cabinet reshuffle recently has been appointed special assistant on information to the Punjab Chief Minister Mr Usman Buzdar. Dr Awan rolled over from the PPP to join the PTI and was once focusing on the healthcare system not too long ago when she was still with the PPP, and was then unaware of the existence of time release capsules. There she stood, staring down at an expelled capsule and her incredulous and perplexed “accha!” was heard through the corridors of the drug regulation department, and led to the unfortunate removal from office of some people who were better informed such as the then Federal Government Analyst.

The “Accha?!” following Dr. Awan’s appointment is aptly followed by a ‘Good Lord!’ particularly since she has recently made the intriguing remark that the mask is insufficient protection as the coronavirus can sneak in via the nether regions.

Whatever the reason for such appointments, including that of Mr Vawda, they serve to do nothing but drop one’s opinion of the current government, if there were space for it to go any lower.

So then there’s the happy ‘Bohat Acha!’ a ‘Very good indeed’ when the Pakistan born molecular biologist Asifa Akhtar recently won the Liebniz Award, one of Germany’s most prestigious awards for scientific research. It’s good to get such positive news, particularly these days. Ms. Akhtar works for the Max Planck Society. Eighteen scientists from this society have been recipients of the Nobel Prize. Perhaps Ms. Akhtar may one day receive that honour as well, although again perhaps it’s better not to wish that on her, seeing the fate of other Nobel Laureates from Pakistan.

Such as Malala Yusufzai the activist who merits a sad, resigned “Acha.” Malala, the youngest Nobel Laureate ever, a young and courageous Pakistani woman we should be proud of, instead her countrymen shunned her following the events that led to her Nobel Prize.

Such as Abdus Salam, the theoretical physicist and Nobel Laureate, also from Pakistan. Recently his house in London has been declared a national heritage site. The house has a plaque on it which reads: ‘Abdus Salam 1926-1996, Physicist, Nobel Laureate and Champion of Science in developing countries, lived here.’

Yes he did. He had to, because he was not allowed to remain in Pakistan. ‘Accha,’ (with a pained look and a sigh) for him.

It is sad that the pleased ‘Accha’ is rare with reference to what takes place in this country.

It merits a disgusted ‘accha’ as well as an incredulous one that the President of Pakistan has recently signed off on an order that allows chemical castrations of men accused of rape. Rape is rarely a simple sexual matter. It is mostly a twisted manifestation of power and is often accompanied by murder or extreme violence. For this reason it is common in feudal societies such as Pakistan, and even more common in homes where the fact that a husband rapes a wife or a child is ignored, or in this society not considered to be rape. This is a society where judges are rarely neutral and officialdom is easily bought off. To castrate or kill a person accused of a crime is fraught with danger. It is very likely that only the poor will be subject to punishment and the rich let off. There is also the danger of the wrong person being accused of a crime on purpose.

Far more than the crime is the need to concentrate on the attitudes that make such crimes occur, that make them so common in Pakistan where women have few rights. But for a government that wishes to be seen to be doing something….accha…., chemical castration makes sense for the government.

THE LONG AWAITED VACCINE

 https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/12/12/the-long-awaited-vaccine/

Russia has started vaccinating using the Sputnik V vaccine, although it is still in the process of being mass-tested. The Pfizer vaccine has been approved in the UK where vaccinations are well under way. Pfizer has approval in Canada, and has just received the same in the USA.

Pakistan hopes to have a vaccine ready to use by the first quarter of next year, perhaps the Chinese CanSino Biologics, a single dose vaccine which is going through its phase 3 clinical trials, with volunteers from several countries including Pakistan.

Whichever vaccine appears on the scene in Pakistan, one hopes it will be handled with due planning and organisation, and with a genuine view to help the people of the country instead of the privileged few. It is not something Pakistan can pride itself on generally, neither planning nor indiscriminate provision of benefits to all.

The ‘flu vaccine which, when available is expensive, and thus that puts it out of the reach of most people. This season it has not been available in Pakistan at all. This, despite warnings that this year in particular people need to be vaccinated against influenza.

Pollution this year has probably been worse than in previous years. As with the ‘flu, respiratory problems associated with pollution make people more susceptible to other infections. An added risk is that if a person is infected with covid-19, a cough will spread the covid-19 virus to all within range. Yet nothing much has been done to improve the quality of air in places like Lahore and Faisalabad, which is important in any case regardless of covid-19. Yes, some factories that (mind-bogglingly) use rubber and plastic as fuel have been shut down. Such shut-downs happen every winter. It gives rise to the obvious question: how did/do such ventures manage to exist and function in the first place?

Several things need to be prepared in advance for covid-19 vaccinations, proper storage facilities such as freezers, sufficient equipment such as protective gear and syringes, and oxygen. There has to be provision for emergency care in case of adverse reactions. There must also be facilities for proper disposal of the syringes used in the vaccination.

The population of Pakistan is about 220 million. Even if quarter of those people get vaccinated that means 55 million syringes in addition to the syringes used as a norm in the country. That is a lot of hazardous plastic waste. Nice thing if next year these syringes are used for fuel by those factories that have just been shut down. Also what an irony if, after getting a grip on covid-19 the incidence of HIV rises steeply because syringes were re-used, as happens.

Recently in Peshawar covid-19 patients died because there was insufficient provision of oxygen for their use. Given that one of the features of this disease is the need for oxygen in serious cases this is an almost incredible oversight.

Another factor to guard against is misinformation that spreads as fast as the disease itself.

The American CIA did Pakistan no service by using the callous, thoughtless methods they did in their hunt for Bin Laden, using the services of Dr Shakil Afridi, who however says he did not know that he had been employed by the CIA.

Dr Afridi conducted a hepatitis-B vaccination campaign in the area around the house where Bin Laden was hiding. The plan was to analyse the used syringes to look for any DNA belonging to relatives of Bin Laden.

A relative’s DNA was not identified, but the DNA of a man known to have close links to Al Qaeda was. Bin Laden was captured as a result, but the ones who lost out were the people of this country.

The religious brotherhood had long been spreading fears that vaccines were causing harm to people, and that vaccines were a tool by means of which ‘The West’ sought to render the people of Pakistan infertile. Well the people of Pakistan do not appear to be infertile in the least but the accusations about vaccination programmes being a Western tool were certainly borne out thanks to the CIA, although not exactly the way it was claimed.

The long and short of the incident was that vaccinations have taken a hit, as have the men and women charged with administering them. It has been many years since that event but since then the incidence of polio in Pakistan– which had dwindled– has risen dramatically.

The Taliban called for a ban on polio vaccines and action against those administering them. As a direct consequence many polio workers and security personnel protecting them have been killed.

Similar rumours and misinformation are likely to latch on to the covid-19 vaccine.

Indeed religious extremists have been a thorn in the side of the country since its inception, yet nothing has ever been done to curb them. Even something so innocuous as the adhan (call to prayer) which can be beautiful and a real call to prayer if well executed is obviously not within government control. It issues five times a day as loud as a horde of Mongols– badly pronounced and utterly unattractive.

Another point, by no means the last but a big one, is the question whether or not the covid-19 vaccine ought to be mandatory. Whatever decision one comes to, the same would apply to other vaccines such as the polio and other childhood vaccines unless it is medically advised against for some reason.

This is a debate which must be resolved. There appears to be a rule in existence making vaccinations ‘compulsory’ in Pakistan, yet like many other injunctions there is no follow-up and no one checks to see if this rule is upheld.

Is it even possible to uphold it? It is doubtful.

And yet. Manslaughter is a legal term for homicide. It is less culpable than murder since murder includes an intention to kill, while manslaughter does not. Yet manslaughter is punishable by law.

Not taking a vaccine can and does lead to a rise in the incidence of infection, as we have witnessed often but most recently now when there is as yet no vaccine against covid-19 and people persist in neglecting adequate preventive measures such as masks. Nobody intends to harm but harm does result.

How, therefore is not taking a vaccine any less than manslaughter?

But seeing how almost impossible it would be to make vaccines mandatory, it has been suggested that making them mandatory could be achieved on an institutional level. This question needs some thought.

For governments that are in the habit of thinking, and planning, these points and questions are of crucial importance. Is Pakistan one of those countries?

SAY GOODBYE TO 2020

 https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/11/28/say-goodbye-to-2020/

Just as a virus changes or mutates─ and we’re more familiar with the idea now than before, language changes as well. The words we use and the phrases that are popular from one generation to the next are shaped by various factors, and many of these words and phrases change or disappear depending on the times they flourish in, the people who use them and events that occur at various times.

Even legal terms can find themselves into common parlance like Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code which deals with ‘cheating and dishonesty,’ 420 has come to be known by the people of the subcontinent as another term for a fraud. It’s the same with 9-2-11 which is something similar and means ‘an absconder’.

With that in mind, the end of the year may be a good opportunity to guess what other changes are likely to take place in the language we speak. To start with there could be sentences like ‘it turned out to be a complete 2020’ which would refer to something during the course of which everything went wrong. Optometrists will need to come up with another description for perfect vision also, because 2020 has not been a year known for a good vision.

Stuff like ‘doing a u-turn worthy of IK,’ when a complete turnabout─ even in apparent matters of principle─ takes place, is now old hat and a bit tedious because it has lost its novelty. But there’s always the term ‘a puppet theatre deserving of Pakistan’ which well describes current affairs and which could be used in the future for anytime someone imagines he or she has a hand in matters when he or she does not, despite all Rafi Peer Theatre’s attempts to give puppet shows a positive cultural spin.

And then, for example, is anyone still happy to hear ‘you’ve come up trumps’ as a compliment if someone means you have completed something successfully and well? It’s very doubtful. Perhaps a Trump reference will become the same as a four letter word from now on, and its use will be restricted to ‘trumped-up charges’ or to refer to unsavoury matters, accusations, or other such things. There may be other usage, such as the next time we have elections and the previous leadership refuses to concede defeat, that will henceforth be referred to as ‘doing a trump.’ Really, that phrase could be used in a number of ways, when a tenant refuses to vacate a house, or when a person lays claims to success when the evidence points to quite the opposite. All of these are things occur all the time so it’s possible that a Trump legacy does exist.

For example, ‘playing a base trumpet’. Such a phrase would be ideal for times when someone says something really despicable. Such as our Special Assistant to the Prime Minister’s recent comment when she spoke of Nawaz Shareef ‘parceling’ his dead mother home from the UK to Pakistan. That was uncannily reminiscent of the POTUS interrupting Biden in their first debate to say “I don’t know Beau,” speaking of the now President’s dead son. That was base cruelty if anything, or ‘a base trumpet (ism).’

I know, one gets kind of stuck on that theme. So let’s break away from it. But wait, there’s one more. What will you say in future when a person is allowed to get off scot-free despite admitting to grave crimes? ‘Getting Pardoned with the turkey?’ Yep.

So closer to home, how about ‘doing an Isa’, what will that mean in future years? It is likely to be used for when someone does everything he or she is supposed to do but still cops plenty of unfair flack because e or she has courage and principles.

Or a thief ‘getting nabbed’… in future perhaps that will bring up feelings of anger instead of satisfaction because it would be understood that the thief who was nabbed was the wrong one, caught on purpose to allow all the actual ones to run away.

Of course the phrase that has the most impact will have to be ‘She’s a positive person.’

Watch everyone take cover and disperse.

God help us all get through 2020 to a better ‘21.

GENIE IN THE BOTTLE

 https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/11/21/genie-in-the-bottle-2/

To learn who rules over you simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize─Voltaire

If today’s world had to be defined by a single word, that word would be information. Information about places, people, things, ideas– past, present and future. And now, along with the right we have greater ability to meet people from around the word, to visit whichever place we can, use some things and adopt certain ideas– so now we need to know about them. When someone or some organisation prevents this readily available information from getting to people because they feel this information is ‘bad’– if they are right, then using their own arguments they might well be preventing those same people from seeing this ‘bad’ for themselves and reaching out and over to the good. In such a stultifying atmosphere there would be no progress. The world would simply be a horde of human-faced sheep following each other away from the baa-ad (excuse the pun).

In today’s world, even the so called democracies and ‘free’ societies are not free from the scourge of censorship. To speak of societies other than our own– since our own seems to elicit such a response– it was censorship and authoritarianism at its most pathetic when the ex-President Trump fired Chris Krebs, the election security official who contradicted him by setting up a website that debunked election misinformation. The interesting point is that by firing Krebs that misinformation did not go back under the carpet, the act of firing only called attention to it. That is what always happens.

Wired reports that Krebs’ website ‘has been rapidly checking and debunking all manner of conspiracy theories and misunderstandings and outright disinformation circulating online.’

For many Americans, the firing might have been the first time they even heard of either CISA or Krebs, and yet he might just be the lone figure to emerge from the (Trump) administration with a better reputation than when he entered it.’

To go back to an almost prototypical example for our country one must revisit Salman Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses which may never have been read by more than a few people had the ultra-conservative element in society not made such a big hoo-ha about it. As it is, it was snuck into the country (where it was banned) in people’s suitcases and widely read. And yet the powers that be never fail to learn that they must not censor if only for this reason.

And so the Pakistan Ministry of Information and Technology which moves in strange ways its wonders to perform has come up with a set of rules that social media companies and internet providers have alike condemned and termed ‘draconian’.

These rules have been named the ‘Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content’ and are supposed to be a subset of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (PECA).

If nothing else, such moves prove that those in charge of information and technology have much to learn about it.

One of the most outstanding features of information in this age which rides on the back of electronic media is that information is exactly like the proverbial genie that has been let out of its bottle – it cannot be put back again.  There are innumerable ways to get around any such attempt, and users can mask where they live, they can change their identity, they can hack sites– and in the end they will get the information they need. It only needs one person to achieve this and the others will have it before you can say ‘Stupid!’ We are now addicted to information. We cannot do without Google, DuckDuckGo, Bing, Yahoo. We need them to tell us everything about the world around us, the weather, its monetary climate, its day-to-day occurrences; we need them to plan our travel, pay our bills, talk to our loved ones and view their faces.

And we need them to spread misinformation. How would Trump tell us he won the 2020 elections without Twitter? In the absence of the media, and then social media, how would we have known that Germany and Japan are neighbours and that they worked together to re-build the world after World War II? We would not have known either that Jesus was not mentioned in history books, not ever.

Yes, even misinformation helps us choose, to understand and to decide what to do next. But that is the problem, that this choice, understanding and attempts to decide, does not suit those who put out ‘officially approved’ information and depend on it.

AN ACUTE POVERTY OF MIND

 https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/11/14/an-acute-poverty-of-mind/

This newspaper recently published a report about how South Asia ranks highest in incidents of ‘child stunting,’ based on a study by Laura Hammond.

Another national daily reports that four out of ten children in Pakistan are ‘unlikely ever to meet their cognitive and developmental potential’, which is “44 percent nationally, the third highest in the world.”

An insufficient diet, which means an insufficiency of required nutrients can lead to ‘stunting,’ which leads to children failing to achieve normal growth, and can also lead to permanent damage to the brain. This insufficiency can occur while the child is still unborn if there is insufficient food for the family, including the mother, it can occur after a child is born when it is growing, or both. The study includes the Global Hunger Index (GHI) on which Pakistan ranks at 106 out of a total of 116 countries. That means in plain terms that in this country there is a horrific incidence of people not having enough to eat.

Covid-19 has only added itself to the long list of already existing diseases that prove much more dangerous to those who have an insufficient or improper dietary intake. An improper intake implies too much processed food, or food that is too high in salt, sugars or other undesirable ingredients.

A sufficient intake requires both an informed choice and the financial ability to obtain it. So it is a spiral: poverty leading to lack of education leading to an insufficient earning capacity– leading back to poverty which means an insufficient diet, and/ or one full of all the wrong things. On top of this is the unfair inflation of prices these days; a slippery slope that requires urgent attention. They keep saying they’ll do something about it, but ‘something’ has yet to be seen.

The country is poor, the government uninterested. Even if it were interested it lacks the scale of funds required. Private individuals donate a great deal to charity in Pakistan, but an even greater effort is needed.

A few years ago there was the case of Sakina, a poor peasant woman who was ill but could not afford medical care. The husband was too poor to afford basic food items. The family, which included two children, was starving. Sakina eventually ended her life by consuming pesticide. She is one of the many for whom death seems to be the most peaceful option.

Such cases take place all over the world, as in Syria where over 22 persons starved to death a few years ago, and in Yemen where millions were close to starvation in 2017.

But ever since covid-19 put in an appearance the situation has become even worse. Unless measures are taken, something like 12,000 people a day are likely to die of hunger around the world for reasons directly related to the current pandemic, Oxfam reports.

In Dadu a young labourer recently offered one of his sons for sale, because he had lost his job following the pandemic. As a result his wife, children and his parents were facing starvation.

In a large fishing community strung out on a series of islands off the coast of Thatta in Sindh, since covid-19 appeared on the scene, and the usual fish markets shut down, the already poverty-stricken lives of these fishermen suffered further. The community now faces starvation on a large scale.

Meantime Oxfam has warned that more people are likely to die of hunger caused by covid-19 than of the illness, and an incredible number have already died of the disease. Oxfam also mentions that women suffer even more since they are so often the target of discrimination.

After all this information which cannot really be news to most people, and it may come as a surprise that the main focus of this column is not hunger, or poverty or even stunting. It is in fact the exact opposite of all these things: repletion, riches and obesity, all of which were on display recently at a function to celebrate the marriage of two business families who clearly did not know what to do with their excessive wealth.

In the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, in the midst of a world suffering from disease, poverty and death two families saw fit to spend their money on rivers of food, flowers and rich clothing. An insane amount of money was spent on the function, apparently something like Rs 200 crore. The function broke not just religious injunctions (Allah loves not the wasters: al A’raf, 7:31) but also ignored safety measures, and managed to break all rules that limit the number of guests and number of dishes at such functions. There must be any number of well lubricated palms floating around the city at present that have little to do with Nivea or Oil of Ulay.

It seems not to have occurred to these families that the tailors and artisans who stitched their prohibitively expensive clothes, the men who set up their chairs and elaborate dais, the cooks who prepared their food and the waiters who served it came from families that were many of them close to the brink of starvation, who must have looked at the riches around them and questioned life itself.

The FBR, which moves in mysterious ways, asked the event managers and those who performed at the wedding to explain themselves following the wedding. Somewhat as an afterthought they have also, and very rightly so, questioned the two families involved.

Whether this questioning will result in any answers or simply some smirking individuals, we are still to discover. But several people one knows have decided to get their tiles from elsewhere, and have switched their grocery preference to other outlets.

What else could have been achieved with this money? How much food could it have bought for thousands of persons, for the fishermen of Thatta, for the young children of impoverished fathers? How many Sakinas could it have saved from killing themselves, how many children saved from hunger? How many persons could it have educated so they could support themselves and their families? How much heartache for how many millions─ and yet all it did was feed those who already eat too much. Such acute poverty of mind has to be as much a tragedy as any other.

SEPARATED AT BIRTH?

 https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/11/07/separated-at-birth-2/

• What makes the people and politics of the USA and Pakistan so similar?

US politics these last few years and very much so the past few days has been all too familiar for us in Pakistan: the violence, the riots, the killings, the police atrocities, irrational attitudes, and the racism. And now, the President’s baseless and unpleasant allegations of fraud (election results as of writing this have not yet been finalized). We in Pakistan are familiar with it all, familiar with the overstatements, with the partisanship, the lies and histrionics, as well as with leaders digging in their heels and refusing to leave. Having said which, Mr. Zardari’s exit after losing elections all those years ago was a notable exception for us, an unexpected performance, uncharacteristic and dignified. Mr. Trump could learn something from it. Perhaps Mr. Zardari should write a book: How to Leave Office for Dummies.

What makes the people and politics of the USA and Pakistan so similar? It is like discovering a twin separated at birth. We are after all two very disparate cultures with regards to religion, customs, history, political framework, with a great difference between our financial capacities. The USA is the 11th richest country in the world, according to its GDP, while Pakistan ranks at 138th. As for literacy, it seems the USA is about 99 percent literate with no disparity between male and female literacy, while Pakistan’s literacy rate in the 15-plus age group three years ago stood at about 74.5 percent with male literacy at 81.3 percent and female at 67.5. There’s a fire-breathing dragon right there, nestled in those figures.

Why, if the USA is so much more literate than we are, do our people’s minds work so similarly? Why are the religious zealots in both countries as extreme, the common man as misinformed and as easily taken for a ride?

Neither country possesses a thriving democracy. Few in either country possess education which, mind you, is distinct from literacy. Few in either place it seems, judging from recent events, are taught values such as tolerance, fairness, work ethics, a disinclination towards greed, and a distaste for violence.

It implies a similarity between our education, the sort that encourages an interest in reading and learning, as well as our values which are mostly a product of tarbiyat (upbringing). It also illustrates the difference between literacy and education.

Values have little to do with finances. An example is Allama Muhammad Iqbal, a great poet and philosopher whose father was a humble tailor without formal education. His mother too was uneducated but she was known to be wise, generous and charitable. Yet they were far sighted. Iqbal graduated from Government College in Lahore, then went on to Cambridge and Lincoln’s Inn as a lawyer. The products of his intellect and his values are known to us all and require no introduction.

If the most basic aim of life is to exist, the ultimate is to exist rationally and with kindness, to try and understand the meaning of life while helping others to do the same. Education and values enable one to reach the ultimate whereas literacy is but the basic rung, the first step towards climbing up if you choose to do so.

It is the habit of reading born of real education that makes a person choose to climb further.

Reading– which presumes something other than of the Mills and Boons genre– is like an extendable cobweb brush. It helps you reach otherwise unreachable areas, to become aware of ideas other than those that exist around you. It helps you to examine and evaluate those ideas and come to conclusions, perhaps different ones to those that may be generally accepted in your society. No, there is nothing wrong with that. The general public– that phrase sounds rather snobbish but isn’t meant to be– is not wont to read, nor is it exposed to much of the world outside. An obvious reason is the pace of life, the basic struggle to exist that keeps most people from thinking beyond their livelihood, and from travelling. Also the fact that reading may not a common pursuit in the home they grew up in. Most schools do not lay much stress on further reading. They definitely do not in Pakistan, although they should. Instead the powers-that-be outright discourage people from thinking, as evidenced by the liberal implementation of bans and censorship.

Ghamidi sahib put it best when he said that we desperately need to learn the rules of disagreement and debate, learn to listen, reason, evaluate and research. We need to inculcate toleration, and to think before we speak. Less need for U-turns then, aside from other advantages.

When all these things born of real education become a way of life, is when politicians will be unable to lead large ignorant segments of the population by the nose like horses.

The reason Mr Trump has so many supporters is that he is able to say whatever he likes and his supporters are unlikely to verify his statements. The reason our government is able to take credit for the low numbers of covid in Pakistan for example is because no one checks, because they are too busy trying to plain stay alive. While the police and public by and large fail to wear masks, despite it being a mandatory requirement in Pakistan these days, we still hear that the government did a great job in keeping covid under control.

The reason both societies are so prone to riots and violence is that our people are not used to reasoning, neither are our governments prone to listening.

The USA, probably alone among the western countries, does not stress social welfare. It lacks affordable health care for its people, and has a poor support system for those without jobs. So much like us. And the police in that country is prey to the same faults as ours.

It is when all these things are addressed, when education right from the start encourages people to think outside the box, when rational steps are taken to make life easier for the masses so they have the leisure to do other than work, that people get into the habit of thinking.

The question is: does a wiser, less gullible, public suit those who govern? Will you answer that or should I?