What distinguishes man from beast? The ability to think, perceive and analyze thus having the potential to test hypothesis and form conclusions and beliefs. It is discerned that slavery is a concept, which tries to equate man to a beast of burden but there is another kind of slavery, which shackles the mind and curbs independent thought. This is called ideological slavery and while physical slavery has been outlawed, this kind of slavery is ripe today.
In older times the slave-owners mostly used their slaves to conduct physical labor, times have changed and the new masters have come to the conclusion that man is worth much more and thus is to be used accordingly.
Politics is a strange business; it works as a magnet, which attracts power to it automatically. And where, you might ask, does the power come from? It comes from the people. Not independently and objectively thinking people but ideological slaves who have submitted their intellectual capacities at the feet of their masters.
Since when did undying loyalty become more worthy of a trait than critical analysis/thinking? Why should faith supersede cognitive abilities? Are we still merely sheep waiting for the command of the shepherd or are we finally going to take responsibility for our failures?
Pakistan has emerged as a nation which produces fine slaves but not nearly as worthy leaders. If we closely analyze the collective performance of our leaders, we will come to the conclusion that every leader had one trait in common: the ability to fool the masses. The average Pakistani has gained nothing from the games played by our leaders. What we are left with is extremism, weak institutions and a nexus between politicians, generals, businessmen and civil servants who think, very rightly so, that they own Pakistan.
Sometimes I wonder how different life would have been under British rule. We have been taught that it was a brutal regime with no freedoms for Indians yet we don’t find any cases of people dying from hunger and able-bodied men committing suicide for not finding any work. Is a separate identity more important than bread? Let’s compare the imperialist rulers to our leaders. They gave us the railroad, telegraph and scientific education. Even if they did have discriminatory practices, are they different from today’s politicians? In a country where people actually die of hunger, our leaders have an appetite for the finer things in life. President Houses, Governor Houses, Secretariats built to royal standards, dozens of bullet proof vehicles and hundreds of armed guards to inflate their already inflated egos.
What is this if not imperialism? Can anyone justify the millions of rupees spent everyday in the name of essential luxury? Look into the mind of a villager in south Punjab or interior Sindh and imagine how drastically his/her life will change if he knows that he will get food three times a day. Can we not classify this divide as one between royalty and peasantry? I’m sure in older times, when a prince killed an innocent passer-by by mistake; he would at least have the courtesy to apologize for his heinous crime. Today’s princes drive past without a second glance.
The majority of Pakistani citizens are merely slaves. They are good for physical labor and they are good for voting. How dare they start forming their own opinions? They have a unique sense of patriotism and religiosity enshrined by the very people who go on to take advantage of these sensitivities.
Perhaps it is about time that someone starts to talk about the slaves.
