Cynicism: the national past time

Naysayers, sceptics and the self righteous

Criticizing and doubting people’s intentions just for the sake of it have become quite a norm. An old wise man once said, “I do not judge anyone for only God is entitled to judge people, not me.” However, unfortunately, it has attained the status of a national attitude in the countries of the Sub-continent. A few months back, I got a chance to travel to India for a cultural festival organized by the Art of Living. While I was getting my money changed to Indian rupees at the Delhi Airport, the money changer remarked rather nonchalantly that Ravi Shankar, the founder of Art of Living, is earning loads through this so-called festival. Upon investigation, I came to know that the reality was entirely opposite to what the moneychanger had told me. Ravi Shankar is an honest and dedicated humanitarian but the people of his own country are leaving no stones unturned in tarnishing his good name.

This judgmental attitude has also plagued Pakistan with equal intensity for the past few decades. Take the example of Malala Yousafzai. A number of people claim that she was never shot and that this was all a part of a publicity stunt.

This has a lot to do with our societal thinking as a whole. The news of someone’s success makes us, only doubt the way it was achieved, instead of being ecstatic collectively. Unfortunately, as has been mentioned earlier, this has become our national attitude. We start believing in our own self-assumed facts and this is where the problem comes in. If we pause for a second and analyze our own selves, it will become vividly clear that in fact, we are the root cause of this predicament. Every human being harbors in himself, a combination of good and bad. However, we only choose to look at the bad side even if we do not have solid proof to support our claims. Judging people in the first place is problematic to begin with and has been the reason behind so many psychological problems in the society. Even Islam denounces this practice entirely. But the story does not end here.

The social implications of this phenomenon range far and wide. They are not restricted to the person who is being judged, but to the judging parties as well by inducing a sheer sense of inferiority complex in both. Inferiority complex leads to reduced growth of human minds and consequently, ends in a horrendous situation where nobody is willing to grow as a person. Take the example of Pakistan. There is a colossal number of businessmen who achieved success after relentless hard work but still chose to stay in the country even though they could afford to settle abroad. They decided to invest in their own country and help the poor by providing them with employment opportunities. However, we never look at this aspect of their lives. All we see is their wealth and assume that it has been acquired through unfair means.  Sharmeen Chinoy, for instance, brought home Pakistan’s first ever Oscar. However, people censured her every effort on account of a self-assumed American propaganda. Similarly, it is convenient for us to continuously criticize our government without realizing the fact that it is indeed democracy that has allowed us to speak our minds freely. A mere look at the Muslim countries where freedom of speech is suppressed will prove sufficient in making us realize that we are indeed living in a free democracy.

It is time we start valuing our country. India is far ahead of us in most of the things however, when it comes to nature and its beauty, we are still ahead of India. If you compare Delhi and Islamabad, it becomes crystal clear that Islamabad is way more attractive. One thing that everyone agrees on is the fact that corruption should be curbed in the country. There have been humungous corruption scandals in the past but the number of corruption scandals faced by the current government has diminished to a significant extent. Its priorities may not be in the perfect order but it cannot be denied as well that, overall, the development level has increased. Terrorism has been on a constant decline and this could not have been possible without the help of the current government. Pak-China project, lesser load shedding and improving the energy shortfall in such a short period are a living testimony to the efforts of the present government. It is always good to criticize but it must not be done at the expense of the positives for this leads to a perpetual state of depression. Moreover, our government’s attitude with establishment is commendable as well which has led to a political balance in the country.

Moving on, there have been a number of loopholes in the election process of the country. The none of the above rule (NOTA), for instance has to be put in practice. NOTA is basically an extra slot on the ballot paper with “none of the above” option. With most voters opting for NOTA option, a re-election would take place in that specific constituency and consequently, the disqualification of all current election candidates in that particular constituency. This option in ballot paper has been in practice in many countries around the world. Pakistan can benefit immensely from NOTA as it would cleanse our political landscape and hence bring forth the real change we have been craving for. Therefore, what we need is a positive attitude. We should advise and suggest rather than just criticize and crib. There is still hope and there is undoubtedly a silver lining. Therefore, it is high time that we adopt an encouraging attitude towards our government and society as a whole for it is needed now more than ever.