By  Mowahid Hussain Shah

July 04 , 2008

Let Lahore Be Lahore

When the need is to shift gears and change the script, it remains business as usual. 
Once again, there is a dearth of an action-driven agenda.  There is talk, plenty of talk.  Talk of hanging, talk of taking over the presidency and converting it into a partisan fortress, talk of turning Lahore into Larkana.  Ask Lahorites whether – during turbulent times – their foremost priority is to make their fabled city into a feudal backwater.  Empty sloganeering, it seems, is ahead of solid thought.
Just for the record, Lahore has been the least tribal and parochial city of the subcontinent.  It has been the hub of pan-Islamism and, along side Multan, the cradle of Sufism, with its universal appeal.  Lahore has been able to shun and transcend the tunnel vision of ethno-nationalism.  But for Lahore – where it was founded in Dr. Mubashir Hassan’s house in November 1967 – People’s Party would have remained confined to a rural provincial party. 
Let Lahore be Lahore.
As for the subject of hanging, is not the hanging of 30 years back one too many?  It polarized the polity, embittered the populace, and frayed the federation.  It left a legacy of vendetta and obscurantism, the repercussions of which continue to reverberate.  Instead of weakening it, such loose talk has the opposite effect of fortifying the presidency – just as the policies of the presidency strengthened the resistance to its writ.  The prolonging of the presidency is dependent on the over-reaction of its opponents.
And, then, there is the familiar stench of personality-worship, which is all the more egregious in a predominantly Muslim society.  When someone once tried to kiss the hand of the Quaid, he pulled away with a stern admonition, “Do not worship me.”  Mother Theresa-like virtues are now being discovered in those once banished from public life.  Roads and buildings are being re-named with a vengeance.  A more sustainable tribute to the memory of the departed would be to build new schools, hospitals, and roads.  Previous chair-occupiers, too, were praised to high heaven.  It resulted in a backlash of public fury. 
There is scant evidence of any ambition or determination to do public good. Cheating has become endemic and its pernicious effects and spread are visible in multiple spheres of activity. 
Perhaps the time is now to rally the nation to launch a march for the recovery and return of looted wealth.  If anything, it will help explain how some got to stand on pedestals.  And, in doing so, it may unveil many a ‘champion’ of democracy. 
One hidden factor why an untenable status quo lingers on can be attributed to apathy and inaction – in areas that matter – of the educated and computer-literate youth. 
There is smut on the Net, but not enough insight and wisdom.  One disturbing pattern is a section of the youth who are avid Internet browsers and are often trigger-happy with their comments and judgments, sometimes laced with venom and personal abuse, while hiding behind the wall of secrecy and anonymity.  Not only is this craven and unfair behavior but it also prevents the target of their attacks from confronting the accusers. 
In an era of grave challenges, it would be more effective – and responsible – if they bombard newspapers with letters to the editor, with their names signed on to their suggestions and point of view.  If this trend is left uncorrected, it may result in a generation of strong talkers and weak doers.  If the past generation of seniors were too strict with their progeny, today’s elders may be too indulgent and mollycoddling.  The outcome, in either case, has meant little commitment for change.
Meanwhile, hovering over it all is the cloud of the ‘war on terror’ which continues to cast its lengthening shadow, with its unforeseen implications for the federation.  These implications may well trump and supersede the ‘business as usual’ mode of domestic politicking and power plays.

 

 

 

PREVIOUSLY


Clash or Coexistence?

The Radical Behind Reconstruction

POWs & Victors’ Justice

Islam on Campus

Community of Civilizations

Rule of Law or Rule of Men?

Unpredictable Times

The Quiet One

Turkish Model & Principled Resignations

Live and Let Live

Leadership & de Gaulle

Dark Side of Power

2002: The Year of Escalation

Whither US?

Politics, God, Cricket & Sex

The Company of Friends

Missing in Action : The Kofi Case

Accountability & Anger

Casualties of War

A Simple Living

The Nexus & Muslim Nationhood

The Kith and Kin Culture

It Is Spreading

Road to Nowhere

Misrepresenting Muslims

The value of curiosity

Revenge & Riches

The Media on Iraq

The Perils of Sycophancy

Legends of Punjab

Mind & Muscle

Islam & the West: Conflict or Co-Existence?

The Challenge of Disinformation

Britain on the Backfoot

Paisa, Power and Privilege

The Path to Peace

On Intervention

Countering Pressures on Pakistan

A World at War?

Raising the Game

The Argument of Force

Affluence withtout Influence

The Shawdow of Vietnam

Heroes of '54

The Imperative of Human Decency

Hollywood and Hate

Living in Lahore

Fatal Decisions

Singer or the Song

Arrogance

The Power of Moral Legitimacy

The Trouble with Kerry

Green Curtain

A Nation Divided

Election 2004: Decisive but Divisive

Muslim Youth & Kashmir in America

The Big Picture: Wealth without Vision

Oxygen to Global Unrest

Punishing the Punctual

Change without Change

Don’t Be Weak

Passionate Attachment

The Confidence of Youth

The Other Side of Democracy

Campaign of Defamation

Pakistani Women & the Legal Profession

A Pakistani Journey

Farewell to Fazal

Mukhtaran and Beyond

Revamping the OIC

7/7 & After

Nuclear Double-Standard

Return to Racism

Hollywood – The Unofficial Media

The Sole Superpower

The UN at 60

A Slow Motion World War?

Elite vs. Street

Iqbal Today

Macedonia to Multan

Defending our Own

2006 & Maulana Zafar Ali Khan

Error against Terror

The Limits of Power

Cultural Weaknesses

Aggressive at Home, Submissive Abroad

Global Storm

The Farce of Free Expression

The Changing Mood

Condi & India

Xenophobia

Looking inward

Re-Thinking

A Tale of Two Presidents

Close to Home

Flashpoint Kashmir

The Spreading Rage

Confronting Adversity

The Illusion of International Law

Other Side of Extremism

Five Years after 9/11

The Educated Ignorant

The Decline of Humor

Icons

Six Years of Insanity

The War Not Being Fought

Munir Niazi

Compliance & Defiance

Counter-Message

Miscast

The Goddess of Wealth

The Meaning of Moderation

The Tora Bora of Fear

Clash of Civility

The Early Race

Challenge & Response

Will & Skill

Zealotry

Movie-Media and Pakistan

Hug with a Thug

Quest for Integrity

Unconquered

Vanity

Bringing Back the Past

Stuck in Iraq

Islam, Science and the West

Turmoil over Turkey

Leaders versus Leadership

Might Does Not Make Right

Kursi First

Vision & Will

Battle of the Billionaires

Assassination Alley

Extremism and Change

Rosy Expectations

Short-Term Gain, Long-Term Pain

Not Winning

Beyond Baghdad: Five Years after

The Hijab of Democracy

Hate, Fear & Hope

Weapon of Words

Hide N’ Seek

Yanking in the UN

Obama’s Breakthrough


2001

 

Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
© 2004 pakistanlink.com . All Rights Reserved.