Is this Amnesia or Dementia?

August 18, 2008

Dear Pakistani Awam,

So today Musharraf has resigned, and I've felt the urge to write us this letter.

I am addressing this to myself, and to the Pakistani awam to which I belong. I'm not a scholar, or politician, or religious leader. Therefore, I cannot employ fancy words. I will speak to us in a simple, and straightforward manner.

More than anything, I 'd like to talk to us about two words: Escape and Hope.

Hope is what we lack. Without hope, we have merely sought escape. We have resigned ourselves to merely "passing life", instead of living it fully. We have decided to abscond our responsibilities to the "Hands of God".

Ours is a fatalistic thinking. We suffer on two accords:

1. On the religious front: "Everything's been written down", "It's all according to Allah's will". "I leave it all in Allah's hands". These are common statements. Yet, one must ask: "what is free will then?". Has Allah not asked us to "do"? Why is it that Indonesia and Malaysia, that pray to the same God, do not abandon their own responsibility to better their conditions, to make progress?

Why do we scapegoat Allah for our own inadequacies, inefficiencies, faults, laziness and ill deed s? Has not Allah put our destinies back into our own hands by telling us that we shall be judged on our actions? "Actions": to do something?

So why do we use Allah as an excuse?

2. We now blame everyone but ourselves for our faults. We cannot seem to remember our actions. If there are any problems in Pakistan, they are always due to America, India or Israel. Surely they cannot be responsible for everything?

So why do we resort to this fatalistic/magical thinking?


ESCAPE.

We seek to escape the cause and effect of our actions and inactions. We seek to escape the reality of life, by subscribing to the futile and magical thinking that Allah will live our lives for us.

Yes, we have some valid complaints. Let me acknowledge that. We are so oppressed, and have been for so long under the massive foot of the collective "Man", that we have forgotten the world outside of this oppression.

The foot of the feudal lords has been on our necks, and he does not let us till our own land, grow our own crop, educate our children, vote as we wish.

The foot of the corrupt police is on our necks. He does not serve nor protect us. We fear him. He refuses to file cases against th ose that have wronged us. He jails us and tortures us if we complain against the powerful.

The foot of the corrupt judicial system is on our necks. It's bogus laws, it's bogus judgments. Its insistence on punishing the raped and freeing the rapists, jailing the robbed and protecting the robbers, this enemy of the poor and oppressed; This judiciary that we, in our collective state of amnesia, have hailed as the next savior.

The foot of the politicians is on our necks. The same 10 or 12 families, the ruling elites, have ruled us in one shape or another for the past 60 years. The country is a dangerous business for them. There are high rewards, but it is possible that you may get assassinated when you're in power. These politicians, whose rallies we attend to alleviate our boredom, they resemble the criminal mafia more than they resemble the humble lawmakers, the public servants that they claim to be.

The foot of the mullah is on our necks. He has a hatred brewing inside him. Misused as a child, as a pawn for a struggle of spreading fundamentalist ideologies, he has grown up with a Orwellian view of the religion, and women are his main antagonists. He wants us to grow our beards, raise our trousers, imprison our women, and give chanda to the mosques.

The boot of the military is on our necks. It always touts its organization and discipline as something us, the wretched masses, lack. It always acts like it knows what's best for us. Yet, these so called warriors do not fit in their uniforms, so fattening are the buffets of ill gain they feast upon. That boot has been on our necks the longest.

In this oppression, we do not see a bright future, we do not see possibilities. We merely see that there is still life to be passed, and wonder how will we ever manage.

Oh that heaven looks so promising. No foot upon the neck.

Escape, escape, escape. That's what we want.

Amnesia is our ally. It helps us forget. The leaders merely take turns at molesting us. We, in turn would rather fall into a zombic stupor than face the reality.

So this brings me to the second word: HOPE

Instead of amnesia, let's invest in hope. Let's plant the seeds to this gentle plant, let's tend to it, let's help it flourish and grow, and blossom and bloom.

Let's look at our own hands, for we must grasp our future firmly into these hands. Yes, sometimes the ruling class looks invincible. But we must remember that they are mercilessly outnumbered. By us. The British looked invincible too, but how many of them were there? When our ancestors in India got together, they kicked the farangi out. The illusion of invincibility was shattered. So too, our ruling parasitic elite must be pushed right out.

When there is hope, we look forward to a bright future, we cease to seek Escape, and we remember.

A nation, a people, can only move forward when it has hope, when it remembers, when it learns, when it forgives, but does not forget.

There is hope all around us. Let's study it. Let us learn. To learn we need to educate ourselves. Let's reach out and help eliminate illiteracy. Then let's read about the Japanese, how the nation rebuilt itself from the ashes of two nuclear holocausts, and without the posturing of armed forces, in a supposed complete submission.

Let's learn from our fellow Muslim countries: Indonesia and Malaysia. How they have advanced forward, while remaining true to their faith.

Let us look towards Latin America. Where the people have voted in leaders that are looking out for the interest of the people. There is a revolution of monumental proportions that is washing across the Latin Americas. We can look to that and see how it is possible to remove an entire system of the ruling elites.

Escapism makes us look to the next messiah. Like addicted gamblers, we continue to bet our futures away with each new face. We look to a Messiah to save us. We indulge in the politics of personality.

However, there is no Messiah. We have to realize that. As long as the same ruling elite structure remains in place, we will be robbed of hope, feel dis-empowered, and seek nothing but escape.

As long as we blame others, we are victims. In reality, the collective feet are upon our necks, because we have not risen up to demand equality. We are many, they are few. So why are we so compliant? So pliable?

Today Musharraf has resigned.

Will we lapse back into the same amnesia and seek escape and receive Zardari with open arms? Or are we going to grasp on to hope and realize that the future rests in our own hands?