by Dr. PRITAM K. ROHILA
For the last few years news reports about violence, extremism, mistreatment of minorities, and poor governance have been become more frequent. And there is a sense of gloom and doom about the nation’s future among Pakistani peace activists and civil society members. Many people fail to realize that every morning millions of Pakistani men, women and children get up and go to their work sites and educational institution, and return home safely in the evening. Thousands of daily bus, train, and flight services operate in the country, as scheduled. Hundreds of banks, malls, and stores conduct their business five or more days each week. Many citizens still visit parks and historical monuments, frequent restaurants and cafes, go shopping, participate in political rallies and religious celebrations. In spite of what ails it, there must be something right about Pakistan that makes all this possible.
Surely, some of what is happening in the country is a source of serious concern. But the situation is not as hopeless as some people believe it to be. Anyway hopelessness does not serve any useful purpose. In fact, it prevents us from doing even what we can, and are able to do, to make things better.
Certainly Pakistan is not a lost cause. It is still possible for the well-wishers of Pakistan to change things for the better.
At the very least, we could take better care of our own bodies and minds. We should get along better with our family members, and our neighbors. And we can attempt to be better citizens of our villages, towns and country. We could learn to choose better people to represent us, and to hold our representatives and public officials accountable. Also, instead of hating and condemning the extremists, or wishing them to just disappear, as peace activists and civil society members we should learn a thing or two from them. We could learn from them how to make our messages brief and simple, so that they can be easily understood by even those with limited or no education. And we could learn how to generate among people the same zeal and commitment about our mission, which they have about theirs.
Dr. Rohila is the Executive Director of the Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (www.asiapeace.org & www.indiapakistanpeace.org). He can be reached at asiapeace@comcast.net