Or the need for one
It is with good reason that Pakistan has become known as a ‘hard country’. It is not just that the fifty-thousand-plus dead and the existential war has fatigued us, it’s that we have allowed ourselves to be overrun by regressive attitudes. There was a time, not long ago, when Pakistan had a visible, and impressive, soft side. Spring was celebrated with Basant, with numerous festivals to follow. There was religious harmony, and tolerance, and each participated in the other’s festivities. But then we allowed a small but powerful segment to instil selective xenophobic tendencies, and these forces slowly dug their claws deep into the soil of Pakistan.
That ban on Basant is just one example of this malaise. Many argue, with good reason, that the N-league forced the ban under pressure from its core right-of-centre constituency. The mullahs view Basant, like all forms of celebration, as an offence to their reading of religion. And it is worrying that the ruling party caves into such demands so readily. It is difficult to refute such ‘theories’. For, had illegal string really been the problem, the government could have moved to prevent production and sale, and there would have been no reason to discontinue the ancient tradition.
Those in power need to realise that this war will not be won without a concrete national narrative. Pakistan lost its way during the years of strategic depth, and those that worried about outreach ignored, despite repeated warnings, the consequences of implosion. Now that our prized chickens have come home to roost, the government needs to be ahead of the curve in dealing with terrorism, and since the enemy has leveraged religion – and people’s most core sensitivities – this war will not be won till people’s hearts and minds are won. As Zarb-e-Azb degrades the enemy’s command and control apparatus, and intelligence agencies blunt their advances in the cities, the government needs to promote a campaign of truth, one that will unmask the imposter and advance the writ of the state.
