Daily Times

The phenomenon “psychology of oppression” represents the psychological effects of social oppression and the psychological needs that are vital to withstand social oppression. Psychology of oppression also takes into account the “psychology of oppressors,” whereas psychological debilities and the acts of enforcing political policies that correspond to the interests of the privileged class and the powerful in a society can be recognised as measures of psychology of oppression and “social oppression.”

Unfortunately, psychology of oppression and oppressors appears to be deeply rooted in the Pakistani society. The psychological debility of the Pakistani sovereign class can better be seen in its reaction to a recent news report titled “Act against militants or face international isolation, civilians tell military,” published on October 6, 2016 in one of the country’s leading newspapers Dawn. In a rather unique response to the said news story, the Prime Minister (PM) Office, following a meeting of the top military and civilian leadership, issued a statement that said: “The participants were unanimous that the published story was clearly violative of universally acknowledged principles of reporting on national security issues and has risked the vital state interests through inclusion of inaccurate and misleading contents that had no relevance to actual discussion and facts.” The staff member of Dawn, Cyril Almeida, who wrote the news report, was also put on an Exit Control List (ECL).

Despite the news writer’s intended plan to travel abroad, it is beyond understanding as to why his name was added to ECL since he is a journalist not a criminal. Further, notwithstanding the reality of the story, a denial of the story by the PM office was widely publicised on national and international media including Dawn, and therefore, the rationale behind putting the news writer on ECL is difficult to comprehend. More so, labelling the story as against vital state interests makes no sense at all. However, what does make sense is that such an absurd response to the said news story portrays the fact that the Pakistani ruling class heavily suffers from psychological debilities, which are so severe in their nature that the ruling regime was desperate to ease the tensions that emerged between the civil-military relations in the wake of the story in Dawn. Apparently, political governments, during their political tenure, spend significant time and make relentless efforts to cool down tensions between the civil-military leadership rather than making real efforts on country’s socio-politico and economic development.

Contrary to state officials’ assertions that the whole world used Dawn’s story as a charge sheet against Pakistan, the state’s officialdom is well aware of the fact that the existence of banned extremist organisations in Pakistan is not hidden from the world. Such matters cannot be disguised in this era of widespread mass media and technological advancement. The point, however, is that the state’s interests lie in the fact that Pakistan has come to a point where the state’s functionaries should be prepared to openly discuss the psychological debilities and to eradicate anything — whether banned outfits or anything else — that tends to undermine national interests.

The reaction of the PM Office in the wake of Dawn’s story can be described as a disproportionate interference not only to the fundamental freedom of speech, expression and freedom of the press as guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution of Pakistan, but also to the universally accepted fundamental freedoms. More so, a right to have access to information in all matters of public importance is a fundamental right of citizens protected under Article 19A of the Constitution of Pakistan.

The first paragraph of the preamble of the Constitution of Pakistan reads as follows: “Whereas sovereignty over the entire Universe belongs to Almighty Allah alone, and the authority to be exercised by the people of Pakistan within the limits prescribed by Him is a sacred trust.” Nonetheless, in practice, there are semi-gods of society who have been running the affairs of the state for the past several decades.

Looking into the story within the context of national security and categorising it as against vital state interests is a bit too harsh. In present times, media is considered to be one of the pillars of the state, and freedom of media is vital to the existence of any democratic society. Everyone should have freedom of speech and expression, and journalists in their professional work, all over the world, simply exercise their freedom of speech and expression as enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

On the other hand, it is also worth emphasising that media’s role is vital in shaping a healthy society by acting as a watchdog and giving widespread awareness, by pursing fair and impartial reporting beyond the bounds of vested interests based on rigid competition and commercialism, rather than controlling the psyche of the common people by developing stereotypes and constructing psychological ghettos on the behest of the rich and the powerful. This is the only way media can help to open the third eye of the common people as well as victims of psychological oppression in the contemporary neo-imperialist world, and once the oppressed start to open their third eye, no semi-god of society will get a carte blanche.

The writer is a lawyer/solicitor and a left-wing political activist. He is a director of the London-based law firm, Synthesis Chambers Solicitors