Daily Times

The year 1947 brought independence for South Asia, and Pakistan came into existence out of the womb of the Indo-Pak subcontinent. Still, the decolonisation of this territory has not taken place in the real sense of the word. Fanon, the famous theorist, and critic from Algeria, says that the absolute independence was not fought for, and the colonialist was not thrown out; freedom was bestowed upon us by the coloniser, and hence we Pakistanis as a nation are suffering from multiple ailments and sufferings because of the legacies of colonial mindset. The post-1947 era is termed postcolonial, which entails that physically the coloniser left but ideologically, he keeps on existing. This is what needs to be decolonised to achieve a level of independence.

The Kenyan writer and theorist Ngugi wa Thiong’o propounds that the formerly colonised states and nations need to decolonise their minds to walk on the path of absolute freedom. Although his essay is about the English language and its dominance compared to the local language, it emphasises the same approach to decolonising as that of Fanon, regarding the colonial mindset to purge the formerly colonised countries of the legacies of colonialism. The colonial legacy must be decolonised from the echelons of power down to the commoner from top to bottom. The politician of the day is still standing in the same place and thinking of himself as the true inheritor of the power of the white man after his departure, but he must not forget that the white man was the coloniser, but the local leader was not. The same holds good about the change in his attitude. Fanon has further suggested that the indigenous people attempt to become part of their coloniser by imitating him and his culture. In the second stage, they try to absorb the same, but the master coloniser refuses to let him do, and so he comes back to his people to gain power and become their leader, while in the first two stages, he does not look back and even looks at his people with his master’s gaze.

The colonial legacy must be decolonised from the echelons of power down to the commoner.

The same is the case in today’s Pakistan that even after 75 years of independence, the influential people believe in using their power to colonise the minds of the masses and hence, gain control over their minds and bodies. If one is not decisive, the same becomes power once he has amassed vast money. Whoever has plenty of money at his disposal becomes a politician in our country, and hence, his strength is further increased. And when some other superior power confronts him, he returns to his people to prove that only he is their true leader. But until he is not confronted by any authority foremost to him, he never reverts to his people to change their fate and life for improvement.

This is not only the approach of political leaders but also the leaders in almost every field of Pakistani life. The business tycoons, the supply chain controllers, the producers, the manufacturers, and even the media oligarchs think in terms of power. Over time, it has become their belief that they must amass plenty of wealth and power if they want to ensure their survival. In almost every business, the concept of “Own Money” has entered, and it is the common man who is suffering and has to hand over his hard-earned money to the powerful capitalists for his simple needs even. These days, the best example is the real estate business and car booking and buying process in Pakistan. In the universities and other institutions of higher education, a foreigner or a qualified foreign scholar is preferred to an indigenously produced one only because we are still impressed by the alien mind. The irony of the situation is that even after having hundreds of qualified foreign scholars in Pakistan, we have been unable to produce any scholars in terms of quantity and quality that may rid us of the need for foreign scholars.

But we must know, that this is our country, and we live in the 21st century, where the information revolution has opened new horizons of communication and sharing information. If any institution or individual is found doing anything untoward, he cannot escape the watchful eye of social media. Social media may have its limitations and drawback, but it is still a powerful tool in the hands of people. Therefore, the time has come for the nation may opt for the leaders who are from among them and have a fully decolonised approach so that actual progress and development of the middle class-the core strata of a democracy–may take place. This is the need of the hour that our leaders in every formation and field of life need to decolonise their minds and drop the approach of gaining power through their leadership. They must strive to become the leaders to better this nation and give them the chance to perform and develop.

The writer is a professor of English at Government Emerson College, Multan. He can be reached at zeadogar@hotmail.com and Tweets at @Profzee