The Real Jehad

My young Pakistani friends:

This 55th independence anniversary is as good a time as any to reiterate some observations. Please forgive me for proselytizing. These things have been said in the past and need to be revisited again.

There are two parts to this letter.

I---Pakistan Specific:

Look at the calendar. As I write these words it is Wednesday evening, August 08, 2001. Seems we spend an inordinate amount of time discussing the past: nothing wrong it if it is fruitful and objective but not at the cost of neglecting the present or the future.

There are assigned limits---natural or imposed---upon everything. There are approximately 1440 minutes each day. We can spend them any way we want. Working, laughing, sleeping, frolicking, meditating, accusing, learning, teaching, eating---the gamut endless: the minutes limited.

Similarly enthusiasm, effervescence, dedication, consecration all have limits placed on them: internal, external, natural and self-imposed.

Except for Khizr who has reputedly tasted elixir from the fountain of youth, Aab-e-Hayat shall remain elusive in a physical sense. We have our allotted minutes here.

Realizing these limitations we will have to learn how best to utilize this time. How well we decide to use this time will impact on us singly and cirply.

Let me explain this cirple (circle + ripple) effect. Consider yourself in the center of these outwardly expanding circles. What we do or do not do will have an immediate effect in C1, our cirple. Our enthusiasm, dedication, sincerity, and energy level will determine the impact our life will have beyond C1. (C2 will be our immediate family; C3 the extended family; C4 the neighborhood; C5 our town or city; C6 our country; C7 the region; C8 the world.)

Think and focus on our life and see how many cirples are affected by it. To go beyond C3 or C4 we may have to re-think our attitude toward life. Anything beyond C4 will need a lot of planning, thinking, evaluation, effort and cooperation of many other persons in achieving those goals.

Forget going solo. That is for the birds.

We will do well to focus on our goals early on. A friend of mine, Murteza Haider wrote me once, “Nation building is one long term goal that often consumes the youth, strength and dedication of generations before it bears any fruit. It has to be....based on natural rather than forced progression.”

Politics is not only a tool for nation building but also a final arbiter to attain national goals. This truism suffers in third world countries which lack in education and support structures. It is easy to think of entering the domain of politics to ameliorate the lot of citizens. But all good intentions come to naught in the absence of solid institutions and infra structure. To be a gardener one needs a garden.

Consider Pakistan as a large area of land on which we have to build a park --- with lawns, shrubs, trees, herb, flowers, annuals and perennials, springs, lakes --- to be used by us and by future generations. It will take a lot to build up this garden. Collective and gargantuan effort and dedication bordering on obsession is needed to make this garden bloom.

The crisis of the hour in our short history is to attend to this garden. And in turn this will strengthen the hands of a good gardener, just as strong and vibrant parts lead to a strong and vibrant whole.

One of the biggest dilemmas facing the nation is the runaway population growth and its effect on our resources, particularly education. Each year approximately 4 million more school going children come of age. Optimistically, between the government (5-10%), private sources (4-5%) and Deeni Madaris (10-12%), only 800,000 to 1,000,000 new students can be accommodated. In twenty years the cumulative total of only these uneducated Pakistanis will exceed 55-60 million. And this total will not reflect the illiterates from previous years.

Pause and reflect on these numbers and the mayhem they will cause on the national fabric. Birth control and Education together should be the focus of our Jehad. But they are not the only issues that need to be tackled with an immediacy.

There is no dearth of the individual path we select. And once we select a course we should persevere. The results may not be visible in our lifetime. But our persistence is bound to pay up. Ensure that whatever we do is inclusive and not exclusive and

make sure of cross gender participation.

Some of us are already involved in a few projects. We can and should do more. Here are some other areas that we can start learning about. And once we have become reasonably familiar then we can seek out other like-minded individuals and start making a difference.

---cleaning, beautifying our neighborhood, planting trees

---using the local mosque for adult literacy; as a community action center

---setting up a network of local self help groups (Edhi; Burney; the Khans)

---or joining an existing group if you are overseas (e.g. http://www.iop.org.pk/)

---lobbying for:

1---streamlining police and judiciary: for effective and timely delivery of justice

2---zero tolerance policy: on preaching of hatred; for possession of drugs or guns; for honor killings; for inciting violence

3---capital punishment for rape, child abuse and drug trafficking

4---introduction of transparency in inter and intra government dealings

5---establishing Net-lobby groups for national and international causes

6---raising community awareness for sanitation, ecological and environmental issues

7---setting up help lines and support groups for mental disorders; discrimination

8---creating awareness for HIV and Hepatitis testing before marriage

This is not a complete gardening list. And these issues are not for the young Turks only. All able, concerned and willing Pakistanis should join in and be counted. Collective apathy and misery can only be lessened and resolved only through collective long term institution building efforts.

II ---Chowk Specific:

It pains me to see incredible amount of our energy wasted dwelling on the past. Have we not learned anything from those who prefer to live in the past and have utter disregard and contempt for the present and the future?

How can we afford to spend even a little of the available precious time on the past when so many daunting problems are staring us in the face?

And what do we find when we come to Chowk? A major portion of our time is wasted in fighting unnecessary battles. How I wish we look at the date on the calendar today and resolve to do something---anything---to attack the various ailments in Pakistan’s body politic.

Whose dead heroes are better or worse; whose women are respected or treated more miserably; who kills more of their women folk and how? Where the minorities are treated better or worse? And all this not with an aim to alleviate or resolve the issues but just to score brownie points.

Fifty or a hundred years are nothing in the history of a nation.

Please learn to appreciate that each nation has its set of heroes and role models. Learn to see the need and appreciate the positive role the heroes play in their nation’s psyche. A direct consequence of acknowledging our need for heroes is to acknowledge other individuals and nations’ need to have their own heroes.

Just as you would be irritated by others belittling you heroes, others may feel equally offended when you belittle their heroes. This war of words can escalate and, besides being irritable and never satisfactorily resolvable, it is counter productive. Energies that should be directed towards serious gardening matters are burnt up in this unnecessary and easily avoidable conflagration.

These heroes, when judged from a distance, or by neutral or objective analysts, historians etc., may appear less than stellar, cracked or distorted by their viewing angle, viewpoint, or prejudice.

Learn to extend respect to the heroes of others. Respect means just that, not necessarily agreement. If we extend this respect to others, they will extend the same to us.

Dealing with certain naysayers (I would not even dignify them by mentioning their names here) the best approach that would hurt them the most would be to ignore them---just simply ignore their outbursts---deny them the recognition. If you begin to overlook their petty outburst designed to elicit hurt responses, I don’t promise they will disappear---but this non-recognition would hurt their little egos most. Ignore them and let them roast and brew in their own hurts and hates. Let us use our energy elsewhere: wisely and positively!

Look at the calendar. Let us focus on the future. See if we can have our impact felt in the city we live, our country and the world around (C5 and beyond.) That will be the real jehad.

yours sincerely,

t