The Confidence of Youth
The
great strength of youth is the confidence
of youth. And, conversely, the great
weakness is when youth is lacking in
confidence. Confidence breeds daring,
optimism and the capacity for risk-taking,
which is inherent in any endeavor of
consequence.
Look at the Pakistan cricket team in
Australia. They showed little fight
and will to win. Their body language
depicted despondency and defeat before
even entering into the arena. And so,
too, were the lack-luster utterances
and statements in media. Australia,
they suggested, was too strong and ‘what
can we do’.
In the US, too, many Muslims think that
anti-Muslim vested interests are too
strong and ‘what can we do’.
In the Muslim world, elites contend
that the West is too strong and ‘what
can we do’. Such despair comes
from over-inflation of others’
prowess and under-estimation of ones
own strengths.
Fortunately, Quaid-i-Azam did not think
like that. If he had, there would be
no Pakistan today. Although suffering
physically, with two spots on his lungs
the size of ping-pong balls, he had
unshakeable confidence in his mission
and his spirit remained indestructible.
Fazal Mahmood – when Australia
first came to Pakistan in 1956 with
legends like Ray Lindwall, Neil Harvey
and Keith Miller – proclaimed
that he would get them out for under
100. He bowled them out for 80 at Karachi
in October 1956.
Imam Hussain could also have said: ‘what
can I do.’ But he chose not to.
He did not have backup from any army
or counterpart of today’s UN or
OIC. His strength lay in his faith and
his abiding rejection of tyranny and
usurpation, despite indescribable costs
to person and family. He marched to
Kerbala 14 centuries ago and continues
marching 14 centuries later through
human imagination and inspiration.
Self-respect breeds self-confidence.
But it cannot be conjured out of thin
air. Resilience of spirit in face of
setbacks and disappointments is the
key. As Richard Nixon once famously
said: “A man is not finished when
he’s defeated; he’s finished
when he quits.”
Chechnya, Palestine and Kashmir all
have been occupied by forces with military
and technological might, but the confidence
of Muslim youth have prevented these
lands from being conquered and subdued.
Their never-say-die spirit is one of
the untold epic stories in the annals
of resistance against occupiers.
Bernard Shaw had said: “Youth
is wasted on the young” since
they do not recognize the gift they
possess. But some of that gift can be
preserved through character, conduct
and confidence.
