Dragon of Hate
By Mowahid Hussain Shah
A visitor to Pakistan often is struck by loose usage of harsh terminology, definite conclusions, sweeping statements, and arguments devoid of reasoning and factual evidence. Cumulatively, it contributes to an environment of hate. The relentless media focus on ‘breaking news’ ensures that there is no reprieve from sapping of morale and undermining of national self-esteem.
Pluralism had been a hallmark in this landscape, where people followed their faith in an ambience of coexistence. It helped foster values of family, fraternity, and friendship.
Millennials, who were supposed to be better, often are no better – mostly mired in social media, but not really wired with the real world.
There has been a regression from traditions of civility and respectful disagreement. Anathematizing the “other” can mean leaving behind the debris of forsaken strengths. Hate can unleash its own metastasizing toxic energy.
750 years ago, Maulana Rumi had warned that if the small ant of hatred within is not squashed in time, the same ant may morph into a dragon.
America itself is witnessing its unleashing from the Trump turmoil, with its open hatred of minorities and its fraudulent claims of “making America great again” (an encoded slogan for white supremacy).
Exploding population and shrinking employment opportunities mean more scope for populist encashment and a propensity toward fascist leanings.
An intolerant society, with its instinct to dominate, eventually devours its own. Ask the Germans and the Japanese who were born during the 1930’s. When hatred is not contained, it can set in motion a competition as to who can out-hate more.
1979 was a watershed year, wherein the Iranian Revolution intertwined with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, along with Zia’s program of Islamization to offset the hanging of Z.A. Bhutto the same year. This was followed by the Iran-Iraq War, which ended in 1988, coinciding too with Zia’s still unexplained death in an air crash.
Because of Pakistan’s geo-strategic location and its diverse demographics, the contagious ripple effects of Saudi-Iranian rivalry poisoned the pond. The jostling for space by extra-territorial actors, along with the capacity and reach to swiftly suborn local proxies, affected national solidarity.
The military, which was geared and trained to fight external foes, is now stuck in the quagmire of tackling the terror within – some of it blowback, some of it Fifth Column.
When hate is allowed to be sacralized then, predictably, the immunity system of the body politic of state and society is weakened. Denial of internal perils, and turning a blind eye, are tantamount to acquiescence and acceptance of a new normal.
No-one has a monopoly on terror or hate. Around the region, too, the dragon of hate for the ‘other’ has reared its head in Burma – which torments Muslims – and in Bangladesh, which hangs those it perceives as Pakistanis. India, because of its exclusionary Hindutva, is unlikely to become a global power.
19 th century Prussian statesman, Otto von Bismarck said: “Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.”
Hate doesn’t work, but it does the work of one’s most deadly enemies, who would be laughing hard.
