“My ancestors -/For they were unaware of manacles and fetters./ The thoughts that I transcribe using my pen/ They would etch by the tip of their sword./ And what I chronicle with a dip in ink/ They would carve with blood upon stones and sand.” – Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Fret that we may, there is much that is beyond human control. Time is one such element that establishes its authority through its ceaseless movement. From morning to evening and from dark to the rising of the sun, it is this perpetual motion that signifies the passage of life and all that is associated with it. The intertwining factor of this reality makes this movement unique. T S Eliot encapsulated the essence of this connectivity: “Time present and time past/ Are both perhaps present in time future,/ And time future contained in time past.”
From the debris of a past to the pinnacle of a future, through the suffering of a present, makes for a kaleidoscopic view of the expanse of a life cycle. In this juxtaposition, we cannot afford to forget the potential impact of each of the three constituents at any stage during our lifespan.
What we may have done in the past never really becomes irrelevant, as not only may it shape our present and the future, but it may also come back to haunt us. The same is the case in the life span of nations as time irretrievably connects their past with their present and the future. What we are experiencing today cannot be delinked from what we did in the past, as seeds of our current times were sown over the years and decades gone by. But, even more importantly, what we are doing today will impact our future and determine whether we live to enjoy that phase or suffer the consequences of our deeds.
Like I said, life is an ongoing phenomenon. It is never devoid of colours and shades and its mix of highs and lows. We enjoy the highs and suffer the lows, but it never becomes monotonous. That, in a way, is its intrinsic beauty that gives us the strength to live through its years with all that it has to offer. Notwithstanding the sufferance of a past, it is one’s hope in the future that gives us the resilience to sustain through our present. And this life cycle moves on irrespective of what it may have in store for us.
While time provides opportunities to make amends for our misdeeds, everything we land up with in the end is of our own making. In the current times, there is not much to cheer about. The economic conditions and the consequent suffering caused for the sprawling destitute segments of the society are unbearable. One is lost for relevant words that can encapsulate the pain and agony that they are subjected to every day they live. It is in such times that the dream of life turns into a nightmare and promise of a future is lost in the challenges of the present.
While we suffer the consequences of what we did in the past, it is vital to realise what we leave behind for our children. Unfortunately, they are alive in times that cast a dark shadow on the reservoirs of dreams they cherish. Laden with the throbbing passion of youth, they step out to translate their innocent aspirations into reality, only to be greeted with a ceaseless streak of darkness stretching into the distance. In his poem ‘Intisaab’, Faiz sahib transcribes this heart-wrenching state: “In the name of the students/ Who thronged the doors of those/ Beating the drums of learning./ With their hands held in supplication,/ They went in pursuit of the book and pen/ But did not return to their homes./ Those innocent angels in their simplicity,/ Hoping to ignite a tiny flame in their lamps,/ Travelled to places/ Only to be immersed in the shadows of unending darkness.”
It is time to take a dispassionate stock of not only our current state, but the legacy we are leaving behind for our future generations. It appears that we have resigned to surviving in repressive conditions with no exposure to avenues to nurture our dreams and sustain our ideals.
We seem to be lost in piles of uncertainties and are consumed with fighting for morsels which are the throw-aways of those relishing the spoils of power. They are insensitive to the pain of the people. They are intoxicated in pursuing means to enhance further the capital of their personal empires which can be ensured only if the sufferance of the downtrodden continues unabated. For the ones at the receiving end of these inhuman indulgences, even avenues of protest have been blocked.
Rather than take steps to come out of these harrowing times, we are engaged in depriving people of their basic rights to express themselves. While the world is scaling unprecedented heights of achievement, we are intent upon pushing our people deeper into pits of regression and despondency, thus forcing them into the domain of corruption and crime.
Nations don’t prosper when tied in restrictive chains. They prosper when they bask in the freedom of their thoughts and the grit and resolve of their actions. While the world moves towards abolishing the chains of captivity, we legislate to wear them more tightly. While the world expands the canvas of freedoms enjoyed by citizens, we enact retrogressive laws to deny even the basic rights to them.
While the world thrives in an environment of justice, we adopt grievous aberrations like the 26th Amendment to demolish the edifice of an independent judiciary. While the world respects the freedom of the media and uses its output to adopt corrective measures, we muzzle the spoken and written word by resorting to extreme limits of censorship, even securing court injunctions to ban YouTube channels critical of the government.
We have chosen a path that does not lead to our political, economic and social deliverance. The shackles we are tied up in are the means to further enslavement. The prospect of initiating collective discourse to improve the working of the state and the lot of its people is jeopardised by the illicit interests of the self-seeking ruling conglomerate imposed upon the country.
This is a prognosis for total collapse. It is time to extricate ourselves from this pit of darkness and let a ray of light filter through to show us the right path – a path to freedom and justice.
The writer is a political and security strategist and the founder of the Regional Peace Institute. He is a former special assistant to former PM Imran Khan and heads the PTI’s policy think-tank. He tweets @RaoofHasan
