Pakistan - News and Discussion 6

[Naresh]

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<b>Sahnoon kee — Mian Ijaz Ul Hassan</b>

What is happening? I haven’t the foggiest idea. I wonder what we wish to make of ourselves. Every one is lost to the others. I am reminded of a person with a plateful of halva striding to a blind old man with bent back sitting at a street corner. To register his presence he said aloud, “Hafiz jee, halva!” The old man turned his head in his general direction and replied rather severely, “What is it to me?” “Hafiz jee, it is for you.” The old man immediately pulled himself up and said rather cockily, “In that case, what is it to you?” Many of us appear to be getting similarly blind to reality and indifferent to the fate of others.

<b>They say those living next to open drains become insensitive to stink.</b> They need to desensitise themselves in order to survive. After a while some of them actually begin to like the strong odours. <b>I know of individuals who like to sniff their armpits in private. Very well, of course, as long as they don’t consider it a virtue and make a public exhibition of it — or regard it a sport or an art form. I have seen people rubbing their toes and then leisurely sniffing their fingers. They seem to prefer the smell bred between moist toes in tight shoes on a hot summer day</b>. A matter of personal taste and sensibility; though I would prefer a perfume — any time. <b>It is a matter of national concern that horrible sights and odours, relentlessly invading the national prospect, have blighted our vision and smothered our sense of scent. We have gradually acquired an immunity aur hamein burree cheezoon say badboo kam anay lagee hai.</b>

I am reminded here of a girl who got married to a distant cousin who lived in a village. Her in-laws had a spacious courtyard where they lived in close companionship with farm animals. During the day the buffaloes were escorted to the village pond where they remained immersed in water or were tied under tree shade. In the evening they were herded back to the courtyard and milked. A horse and a donkey followed them, the former pulling a rehra, the latter a rehree. The animals were fed before the family ate and retired for the night. Throughout the night while the men and women tossed and turned or fought the invading mosquitoes, the animals urinated and expurgated.

Every morning, the bride was rudely woken up by flies crawling on her face. A strong whiff of pungent odour greeted her. She tried to bear the rude awakening with fortitude but could not resist mentioning to her jathani (the wife of her husband’s elder brother), every now then, <b>“There is too much stink around here”. Tired of her lament, the latter one morning amiably vouched to her, “Don’t worry dear, it will go away soon. It used to bother me too when I was new here”.</b>

It cannot be disputed that a person will bear almost anything for a gain. For his ideals and passions he will ride through harsh trials. Being close to animals may be counted a blessing. The donkey helps him transport fodder for cattle, the buffaloes give him milk, the horse enables him to sell it in the town. Even the dung is useful as manure and as fuel. The mosquitoes are easily tolerated on a sated tummy and the promise of money to be made next morning. Farm manure may be offensive to urban nostrils but it is gold for the farmer — it can even be a measure of his wealth.

<b>But what about the sh1t that litters our country?</b> It doesn’t seem to affect our sensibilities as sharply as it did in the past. Is it because we now prize it as a measure of our collective pride or wealth? There was a time when people were interested in collective good. Today they are interested only in individual welfare and disinterested in common causes. The attitude is aptly expressed by the phrase, sahnoon kee (what is that to me). Some of us wouldn’t care if a whole village went thirsty as long as they get a water connection. They may not realise that unless the village has a water tank and a tubewell to pump water into it, the promise of individual water connections is a lie. Impelled by their dire needs many citizens will readily believe such lies.

<b>The good news is that the prime minister will soon manufacture for us lollipops flavoured by a growing GDP.</b> Had the country not run out of sugar, I am told, the lollipops would have been in the stores by now. What makes these lollypops special is that those licking them in moderation while standing in the midday sun will be able to overcome poverty and the need for education. In his generosity, the prime minister has agreed to prescribe for those adamant on remaining poor, jobless and ill three lollipops a day on an empty stomach — one at dawn, one at noon and the third at midnight. This should silence the poor. If this doesn’t work, the PM has assured people, the President is working on a goli (pill) to be distributed free during the coming elections.

It is amazing that many people are now following the political mullahs. How could we become so insensitive to reality that we fail to notice how they have transformed Islam into a deadly divisive force. Islam became a universal religion by readily absorbing all that was good in other cultures and civilisations. Today it is being marginalised and usurped by fanatics who have crafted into an instrument for fanning hate and fostering violence. Their agendas have little to do with human welfare. They openly reject tolerance and peaceful coexistence. They call for unity but are bound only by hate. They live in the past and have no vision of the future.

One of the best known attributes of our Prophet (peace be upon him) that the bigots will not emulate was his deep concern for the present; how people could live a more humane and enlightened life. According to him virtue that enabled the believer to ascend to heaven resulted from his social conduct. Virtue was to be demonstrated, not traded.

The nation should thank those who enabled the fanatics to form governments in Balochistan and the NWFP. In the past the religious parties never got more than seven seats in the National Assembly. <b><span style='color:green'>In the first place, no one should have been allowed to form political parties on the bases of religion.</span></b> Religious parties divide the nation into sects. The mullahs who cannot keep peace in a mosque cannot be trusted to govern. Most of them are good only for creating discord and derailing democracy in the country.

<b>Par sahnoon kee. Sahnoon te koi bo naheen andee.</b>

<i>Prof Ijaz Ul Hassan is a painter, author and political activist. He can be reached at ijazulhassan@magic.net.pk</i>

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