There is no easier or commercially acceptable way of saying this but Pakistanis, as a nation, need to fall out of love urgently. It seems our literal belief in the blindness of love has led to some blinding consequences over the last many decades. We have been in love with a very concocted past, present and future; we have been looking up from the pit of self-deception claiming to be on top of a mountain. Our unconditional love has resulted in an unconditional surrender of some of the most fundamental liberties and values humans depend on for a dignified life punctuated by a dignified death.
The foremost liberty we need most for a meaningful life is to be able to think, process and criticise ideas; this is the only way to learn and grow. So it is hardly surprising that we are stunted in more than one way. Our compliance, deference, fatalism, propensity to tolerate incompetence and our acceptance of hereditary transfer of power and authority all point to our inability to fall out of love with a system that is essentially killing us.
Pakistan is going through an exceptional period of war; the real war in Pakistan is not the one fought with weapons but the one being fought on the economic, social and intellectual battlefields. Our war of blood and bullets is a physical manifestation of our real war - the war of ideas. I do not know if we are winning or losing our real war but let us get something straight; the price for of losing will be truly grim for those who wait quietly for a messiah to arrive. Love will most certainly not save the day. Every leader-type in Pakistan demands unconditional love of a population too wasted to think straight; underlying all these demands is a sinister agenda of self-interest; this is why we are told that love and loyalty are two sides of same coin. Love is in great demand today because it serves vested interests of politicians, mullahs, bureaucrats, military generals, media personalities and many more.
Altaf Hussain claims that he has the undying love and support of people of a city that die daily of gunshot wounds, neglect and incompetence. Altaf Bhai may well turn out to be a nice man in a parallel universe - one which is powered by paralysing fear and is completely devoid of criticism and culpablity but as things stand there are extremely serious allegations against Altaf in this universe. One often hears MQM leaders tell detractors and accuser to seek redress from courts but then we all know what happens to naughty people who take legal action against MQM; anyone remembers the the five defunct witnesses in the Wali Khan Baber case? So when JIT found MQM involved in the Baldia factory arson which resulted in the horrific deaths of 260 people; Pakistanis were yet again told to seek redress in courts! The strange thing is Mr Altaf Hussain lives happily in the UK inciting violence in Pakistan; how does that work?
In the UK, stripping people of their nationality happens fairly regularly and quietly; that is no secret at all. Teresa May, the British Home Secretary, has stripped people of their British passports for a hell lot less than what Altaf Hussain stands accused of but for some reason she is almost deliberately looking the other way. The hate speeches of Altaf Hussain are very much in public domain and Imran Khan even went as far as providing documentary against Altaf Hussain to Scotland Yard but we are faced with stony silence. This gives credence to the theory that Altaf Hussain and his MQM may be a vital strategic asset of Britain in Pakistan. He is able to provide the kind of leverage to Britain in Pakistan that the America can only dream of. In the long run Britain’s strategic interests will be damaged far more if it continues to stick to its vow of silence on Aftaf Hussain. It is important that Britain is not only an unwelcoming place for violent extortionists but it is also seen to be so by the public in Pakistan.
I have little doubt dogma and loyalty are important to many but my question is at what cost? This is a question we need to address individually and collectively. Nawaz Sharif, Zardari, Altaf Hussain, Falzu and Siraj ul Haq need to be sent a simple message by the people; we are no longer willing to be part of the grand epic of a thousand and one lies; and in the words of Faiz;
مجھ سے پہلی سی محبت میرے محبوب نہ مانگ
Today on the 14th of February, the greatest imperative for us is to somehow fall out of love; we need to stop loving all things shiny and miraculous, we need to desist from the adoration of politicians living and dead and most importantly we need to stop prostrating ourselves in front of Eros of unconditional love.
So who wants to fall out of love today?