Recently there was much criticism of the sorry spectacle of academics in handcuffs. This was precipitated by the arrest of the former vice chancellor of the Punjab University, Dr Mujahid Kamran, by NAB for having made illegal appointments etc. However, this is not the first time we have seen assaults on the dignity of citizens in the country. Only a few days before this incident the former vice chancellor of Sargodha University, Dr Akram Chaudhary, was arrested in the same undignified manner. And even earlier, in 2015, Dr Khwaja Alqama was handcuffed and treated in such a cavalier manner. The people who defended the undignified treatment meted out to Dr Kamran appealed to some medieval, pseudo-mystical formula of ‘respect for the usataza’ etc. While I do not believe in these medieval clichés — which were honoured more in the breach in history — there is every reason for being critical for these assaults on dignity. What the ‘ustaza’ argument leaves out (besides the fact that academics and chief executive officers of universities are not medieval school teachers anyway), is that other white collar people accused of misuse of power and corruption are left out even when these clichés of some people being sacrosanct are parroted out. My contention is that bureaucrats (Ahad Cheema, Fawad Ahmad Fawad etc), politicians (the Sharifs) and businessmen too need not be arrested for white collar crimes or, rather, allegations. These people can be put on the Exit Control List if there is a chance that they will run away but to put them in handcuffs and fetters is an avoidable and unnecessary outrage against their self respect and public reputation.
Self respect and the right to dignity, like many other rights, are correlated to one’s power, the power of one’s family and, above all, the power of one’s institution. That is why the common man with no power at all is handcuffed and fettered with nobody even bothering to report the triviality. The middle class person can be assaulted if he or she dares challenge the powers that be. In 1981, for instance, QAU academics Jamil Omar, Tariq Ahsan and Dr Saleem were arrested and jailed because one of them, Jamil, was disseminating a pamphlet called Jamhoori Pakistan which was critical of Ziaul Haq’s military regime. Political activists, no matter what their class, especially those who are from peripheral areas, are picked up and disappear into the black hole where the habeas corpus legal principle does not operate. The death of Hassan Nasir (1928-1960), a communist activist, in Ayub Khan’s period in the Lahore Fort was a symbol of such excesses by the state for those of us who still remember the sixties. Now, of course, these things are so common that nobody keeps the record.
Self-respect and the right to dignity, like many other rights, are correlated to one’s power, the power of one’s family and, above all, the power of one’s institution. That is why the common man with no power at all is handcuffed and fettered with nobody even bothering to report the triviality
My point is that all citizens, including politicians, should be treated with the dignity which is the right of every human being. If a former prime minister or chief minister is paraded handcuffed on the streets common people lose faith in all politicians and in the institution of the civil government itself. Whether there is an increase in sympathy votes for the politician in question is arguable, but the overall result is loss of faith in democracy as the only viable way of running a modern state. That is why the use of invectives against one’s political rivals, if it goes beyond the norms of parliamentary language (The UK’s record of parliamentary speeches and exchanges are a model to use), is really not in the interest of anyone in politics.
As for the bureaucracy, which is sometimes maligned unnecessarily though at other times for good reasons, it simply cannot function if it is held up to ridicule and contempt is heaped upon it as a way of venting one’s anger or simply getting back on political rivals. Dignity is earned not only by one’s personal conduct but also by the support one gets by the system under which one operates. Those who have read documents about British officials will agree how the system was very sensitive about keeping the prestige of the ‘white man’ in the colonies. Of course this was to continue to rule the peoples of Asia and Africa but now that we are ruling ourselves, the practice is one to which attention may be paid. These days this is all the more important because everything is exposed to the public gaze, and public comment by the social media is an ubiquitous trial to which we are all exposed. In such circumstances an allegation has the effect of a conviction. A reputation once lost, even if it is by an undue transfer, can demoralize public functionaries to the extent that they stop taking positive initiatives.
The disgrace faced by public figures also has the effect of forcing journalists and writers to indulge in self-censorship. Their own colleagues label their desire to speak as the desire to become heroes. As this can lead to the withdrawal of lucrative advertisements and even the closure of the channel, the prospective hero feels like a murderer — after all his or her colleagues will lose their jobs. The casualty is always the truth with the loss of credibility of all institutions, especially journalism.
The world has seen over seventy years of the rise of democracy and aspirations of the ideals of peace and respect for human rights. Of course in many cases there was neither democracy nor peace nor human rights. Also, in the interest of global capitalism and the rise of the United States as a world power, these words were abused to start wars to grab resources, dominate the world and secure markets. But despite these harsh realities, these words did have a resonance for many. The big change which is sweeping the world now is that even this resonance is being whittled away. The right wing is rising as it did in the 1930s. Then we had the Nazis in Germany, Mussolini in Italy and imperial Japanese generals in the Pacific. All were supported by their people. Now we have right-wing regimes promoting hatred for the underdog, promoting jingoism, calling for censorship in the name of ‘national interest’, whittling away personal space and freedom in the name of security and generally assaulting our dignity as human beings. Everyone knows that at the end of the 1930s there was the World War II and the holocaust. What is in store for us now? This we do not know but we can thrill to what Faiz said in his inimitable verse:
Nisar teri galiyon pe aye watan ke jahan/chali hai rasm ke koyi na sar utha ke chale/ jo koyi chahne wala tawaf ko nikle/ nazar chura ke chale jism o jan bacha ke chale
(May I be sacrificed to your streets oh my country where/ this new custom has come up that nobody should walk holding the head up high/ and should those who love the country come to perambulate around it in reverence/ they should walk with averted eyes and shielding their selves and bodies defensively).
The author is an occasional, freelance columnist
Published in Daily Times, October 24th 2018.