Daily Times

Hitler and Mussolini did not rise to power without the support of the masses. They exploited the abysmal situation which people of Germany and Italy were facing and garnered the required support from their frustrated nations, who were fed up of the system and wanted to turn it upside down for the betterment, but history is testament of the fact that it was one of the ghastliest periods of human history. While history repeating itself in such a way does not stand a chance, the idea of tolerance in society to prevail is still a pipe dream.

The primary quality which differentiates a civilised society from a radical society is tolerance towards opposing ideas of others. Pakistan has witnessed a new wave of intolerance in wake of the general elections held recently. This type of intolerance is being displayed by supporters of political parties who are enthralled by their respective political leaders. Usually politics is considered as the art of the possible, through which a myriad of issues are resolved.

Criticising a political party leader is no different than hurling stones at a hornet’s nest, whether it is a social media platform like Twitter and Facebook or a local café , one has to beware of expressing this views otherwise be ready to be stung from all corners without getting enough time to hide.

The irony is that knowingly or unknowingly these intolerant followers are infringing your basic right of the freedom of speech which is secured by Article 19 of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Now the radiation of this wrath has reached journalists who do not sing encomiums for their favorite leader, recently Hannah Vaughan Jones from CNN interviewed Imran Khan’s former wife Reham khan, and this trend of bashing did not even spare her, and within hours she was subjected to undue torrent of abuse on her twitter account. The million-dollar question is why people have started walking down this ugly path of bigotry and since when did they start to deify their political leaders like zealots.

It is because of frustration. Yes! This frustration caused by political, economic and social pressures had been brewing inside their minds and now has reached its tipping point. Moreover, leaders have also left no stone turned and have played the role of a catalyst in this exothermic reaction.

Instead of uniting the nation under Pakistan’s flag they have called others names, ridiculed them, refer to followers of other political parties as animals while glorifying their own voters as educated, civilised, paragons of virtue who have fought against the rule of evil

Instead of uniting the nation under Pakistan’s flag they have called others names, ridiculed them, refer to followers of other political parties as animals while glorifying their own voters as educated, civilised, paragons of virtue who have fought against the rule of evil.

All of this has infused a false sense of superiority among the followers of different political parties like a mild version of the Nazi concept of Herrenvolk. Resultantly these followers look down upon followers of opposing political party in a condescending manner. The paradoxical thing is that these followers who heap slurs upon others, abuse them claim to be educated and sophisticated. Indeed, the height of ignorance is being ignorant of your ignorance.

We are losing our right to hold a different opinion before our very own eyes. If we failed to take cognizance of this menace and do not nip it the bud, then it can have catastrophic ramifications for our national integrity. In a longer run such attitudes will not just be confined to the political domain but will become a part of our everyday culture.

Since we are already short of time the need of the hour is to start by devising a policy to tackle the issue. We need to start educating the nation. The greater onus lies on our political leaders as they are responsible for galvanising masses to such extremes and only they can help pacify this wave of intolerance.

Furthermore, subjects of social sciences including philosophy and history must be taught in every program to under-graduates at universities as that would help instill ideas of tolerance and a better understanding of the true essence of democracy.

The democratic process of Pakistan is in its incipient stage, we have just witnessed a second successful democratic transition after a struggle of 70 years, the opportunity to take Pakistan towards a path of stable democracy does not come every once in a while and none of us would like this chance to slip out of our hands.

For the sake of our posterity and country’s future we need to wake up and unite as a nation and learn the art of agreeing to disagree.

The writer is a freelance columnist

Published in Daily Times, August 6^th 2018.