Daily Times

The economy is in dire straits, law and order is getting worse, and arch enemies of our existence are encircling us for a kill. It is true that governance is not satisfactory, elections were not that fair, and the common man is crying due to the price-hikes. It is also true that the PTI government has turned its mandate from a 5-day test match into a T-20 match without any reason. But are these sufficient reasons to orchestrate an overthrow of the government? Or is it more to do with selfishness and egocentric motives?

Morbid self-regard is not new – we have enjoyed for long. It is the continuation of the mind-set where many claimed what was never theirs when they arrived in Pakistan; and others became what they never were. It was open season from there onwards. Defenders of our new frontiers started meddling in the affairs of the state, and custodians of our faith established their personal fiefdoms. Under the circumstances, politicians woke up to the new reality that they could only survive if they were in power. Therefore, they abetted others to divide and subdivide us until we regressed into the smallest possible denominations of cast, creed and professional tribes. Standing room in our hearts was only left for two idols – me and mine (wife, children, relatives, friends, job, house, car, etc). We serve both these idols, but worship only one.

Change will not come if we wait for another person or another time. This is just a bend in the road, not the end. Keep moving forward – we can beat this

We have since learned to play the role of a perpetual victim and incessantly complain about issues we have created ourselves. Not content on living as we wish to live, we expect others to live according to our wishes. We support those who can offer some benefit to us, follow the convictions that flatter us, and listen to those who think like us. We do not waste time contemplating the benefit of others, as only those people exist for us who can either help or harm us. Our only motivation seems to be to gain maximum comfort and pleasure for ourselves and shun all responsibility. We have developed no insightin to the obligations of a civilised society where all accept a share of responsibility and attain happiness in the process. We also denigrate those who try to break away from this rat race, because the inkling that there might be a way out scares us more than dying in this chaos.

We want to get what we wantat any cost. We are fascinated by how the strong are always eating the weak.If we are not in power, we do not care if anyone lives or dies, including the country itself. We are happy to pay, kill and/or sleep with anyone to get back into power as soon as possible. In order to escape culpability, we do everything in our power to promote forgetfulness. If secrecy, our first line of defence fails, we attack the credibility of the faultfinder – that he lies, exaggerates, and/or has a personal axe to grind. If we cannot silence him, we try to make sure that no one listens to him. We also employ blatant denials to the most sophisticated rationalization to hide our misdemeanours; and if nothing works, we say that everyone does it, and it is time that we forget the past and move on. The more powerful the offender, the greater is his entitlement to name and define our reality, and more completely his arguments are likely to prevail.

On the face of it, things seem to be stuck. Some want to hear how bad things are since the change of the regime;that everything is rotten, everyone is depressed, and this should not be allowed go on. If only this process of answerability stops; if only they had another chance to govern;and if only things continued as before – it would be so much better.They forget that we were also there, and are survivors of those ‘blissful’ times. By invalidating our experience, they are actually redefining an image of themselves inpower; not realizing that we the perpetually abused survivors, are often the strongest creatures. Because we were belittled, demeaned, and devalued for so long, but we still survived. Only the chronic beneficiaries of those torrid times, who had little experience of the circumstances we faced, feel uncomfortable and want to turn the tide.

You hadlost touch with reality, and we did not want to be trapped in our bones. We can understand your wish to remain secure in the pond but we wanted to grow by stepping out of our comfort zone. For too long, you had lost appreciation of human dignity and used every facet of human weakness to buy, bribe, threaten, and seduce people who destroyed the state institutions. You often clothed your motives in the name of virtue without realising that no gift can buy back a nation’s self-esteem. Why don’t you just fade away for never coming back?Meanwhile, change will not come if we wait for another person or another time. This is just a bend in the road, not the end. Keep moving forward – we can beat this.

The writer is a political psychiatrist based in London