Culture and character

Goethe once remarked that culture is developed in solitude and character in the stream of events. Jung would have said that the fusion of opposites (Enantiodromia) will lead to harmonious and useful living. In Pakistan we have neither character building nor culture development. It was a habit with me to sit in solitude for one hour after a day's effort to work out the pros and cons of the day's work; to see if I had erred in my duty not to the government of the day but to the people of Pakistan. This was ingrained in me by parents who said that since you have been given the authority to serve then make sure that you serve. What is the attitude of the current civil servants? They are busy behaving like the proverbial parrot and without any vision of their own. Such was not the civil Service of Pakistan. There are many contributing factors; the chief one amongst them is the abuse by the politicians so that they are softened and then they can be made to do anything. We have this situation in the country where no one is willing to take any risks and undo the uncertainty in the governing system of the country.
Inflation has made sure that the parents do not have time for parenting. Either the father has two jobs or the mother is also seeking employment. I buy my own vegetables and kitchen items so that the trend in prices can be checked. No vegetable is less than Rs 80 a kilo. The fruits are prohibitive and the meat can only be bought if the money is earned by other than legal means. All these millennium goals that Shaukat Aziz and Ban Ki-moon developed are meaningless. The West has a fetish with money and when they do not have any answers to Third World countries problems they throw a lot of money. The assumption there is that they have the knowledge and all that they require is financial aid. That brings me to the current package for the farmer(s). The goons that advised another goon should have known that two goons make for another goon. They would not know about infinity and therefore it is not required to inform them of their growing infirmities. Knowledge is acquired by burning the midnight oil.
These growing infirmities cannot be checked unless there is a meaningful presence of the government in the local positions. You can have as much local government elections as you want and the ground realities will be zero. There was the civil service that could fix the governance factors and thus make the state credible and reliable. Where are all those goons that suggested and the advice that Musharraf bought lock stock and barrel?
Culture and character and any other manifestation that we have do not go together in our country. In fact what do go together is not law and order but police and disorder. The recent and past happenings where police had the licence to kill (much more serious a licence than 007) is a clear indication of their brutality and cruelty. While 007 went for the infidels of the system our police go towards the innocent citizen of this country. There is no gender differentiation as well. I had raised serious questions when Musharraf had sought these reforms. Musharraf asked a Lieutenant-General Moinuddin to go ahead. General Naqvi also obliged. The reforms were in actual fact deforms. There are isolated cases of tremendously honest police officers and I can tell you their names but then the others will go for them. Yes - hate and prejudice go together. Even in the police there are vultures when it comes to competition. In the bureaucracy the venom is extreme and the game of divide and rule played by the politicians is getting Pakistan in to a mess. Canine virtues are required for anyone to survive in a government's time span. So bureaucracy has a double jeopardy, the existing government and the next one. Therefore they sit on the fence post when the indications are coming through of a change in government. The only way to survive is to have a reputation for honesty and fair play. Once in a while one gets a reasoned minister and I have been lucky in working with Lieutenant-General Majid Malik, Nawab Yousaf Talpur and Dr Shafqat Jamote. You would notice that two out of three are from Sindh. I have had disastrous consequences when dealing with cranks from my own province of Punjab. A lot of them are now busy saving their backsides.
The culture and the fashion of culture is developed by written and not by the verbal word. So the anchors will not develop any culture. The verbal word no matter how wise simply vanishes in thin air. The abusive verbal word however hangs on every one's lips. It is the written word that remains. It takes courage and conviction to have the written word. For then one is exposed to the goondas of the system. Simply look at the assets of the politicians and you will find a relationship that is inversely proportional to the written word; in other words the more powerful and the more rich the less the educational levels. TV allows them the right to expound stupidly on the policies of the government. One would have thought that some had been trained in one thing or the other. No they are virgins in the technical world. My paanwala in Lahore is rich. He has four houses in Gulberg, a shoe factory and some taxis in Lahore. He now has a shoe shop in Lahore on the Mall Road. No grudging him for he works like hell and has a tremendously good product that will always sell - the paan. It is the one that is not given to hard work that is source of some irritancy? Be that as it may, Pakistan is in for a roller coaster pathetic existence. No matter how well meaning the people in power they will have to pay for their dishonest mistakes. The tragedy is that in this those that are not involved in any way will also be swept away by the social forces that will come in waves. Remember East Pakistan. A pity that we have no historian that can record the events fairly and honestly for posterity; for how else can Pakistan prosper except through honest rendition of the past. I remember asking the Nawab of Momdot to do this (1968) for Pakistan. He promised but never fulfilled that promise. Perhaps the rigours of writings are such that they are beyond the confines of the political system.
So far as the present lot in power is concerned they refuse to sit on a table and chair so that they can do something with their own mind. No sirs they are dependent on the staff and more orders are carried verbally. The staff is having a tremendous time while the powers that be feel that by not signing they can escape any of the traumatic situations that they have created. The use of power with no responsibility is not understood by many. The license to be corrupt and to make as many assets as they can is now a foregone conclusion.
But white collar crime as the NAB is now understanding requires a different kind of in-depth Knowledge. How is mental corruption to be tackled? We had a choorman (actually chairman) in the P&D department in the Punjab who was an epitome of slavish mentality. Governor of the day used to send the files of my boss to me. I said that the procedure was to be followed. The reply by the Governor was what am I to do with 'wise guys'? The person was so full of complex that he thought that I would replace him. That I could not do as I was already occupying a senior position over and above my grades.
The moot point is that one has to have a pristine service in the country. A service that can tell the political ministers to work as state officers and not as personal servants to the government in power. The civil service cannot be brought back in its original form as that is now a dead chapter. You will keep on having one disaster after another. The law and order situation will now spread to the rural areas after completing its work in smaller towns. There will be hell to play. The National Action Plan (NAP) or no plan, there will be telling actions in the social system. Pakistan will move from one disaster to another.
I have been saying that the root cause is to be eliminated; but no, they will try and get the symptoms out of the way. The political systems have a short-term view and therefore want to amass as much wealth as they can. A signal-free corridor to Rawat - why Rawat? Ask yourself some basic questions. Jangla bus why? Why and why? My request to amassers of wealth would be that do not push the poor against the wall. They will fight back in the way that they know best. You do not have the para-military forces to handle the situation. Remember culture and character go together. One is made in solitude the other in situations. Parents would do well to check and seek redress from the prices of essential commodities of everyday life. Otherwise D&D [dog and donkey] meat shall be yours to eat. That is why the political system is using its legs [daulatti] and its tongue more (noise the other word is too severe).
Savvy!!!