Irrelevant fascinations, a national pastime
Iqbal Mustafa
Printed in NEWS 27 June, 2004

I have been thinking to write about a peculiar feature of our society, which is a perverse fascination for intrigue and scandals in the political domain. It has been said that, "Little minds talk about people; mediocre minds talk about events and great minds talk about ideas." Scandals have always fascinated ordinary mortals in every society; yellow journalism has thrived on people's morbid curiosity of famous personalities. Tabloids outsell serious papers by large margins. That is a fact of life, everywhere, since people are people, no matter where they are. Christina Keelers and Monica Lewinskis eek out little nooks in the annals of history through reflected notoriety of scandals.

I would not be writing this column if Pakistan was any different. But it is different in a very fundamental and not a very wholesome way. Duplicity of values runs very deep in all but the lowest of all classes - middle class carrying the yoke more than others. Societies with such moral opacity normally have rather repressive regimes ruling the roost and freedom of the media is constrained to tow an officially approved line. In Pakistan, we have a strange amalgamation of considerable freedom of the media coexisting with quite a Victorian society where organic morality is wrapped in layers of theological and cultural hyperbole.

A free media, logically, would have a field-day peeling the layers but it doesn't. The unwritten code that the media follows actually puts more veils on reality and distracts public attention to irrelevant matters. Grandiose illusions are created to further becloud the ill-informed mind of the public. Vernacular press leads the way in this intellectual deception. TV channels (except PTV), catering to the mindset created by the vernacular press, adopt a more subtle approach in advancing the illusions of sovereignty, freedom, democracy and pride in cultural heritage. English press to some extent and some TV political talk shows try to induce a modicum of reason.

To begin with, there isn't another country that devotes five or six TV channels to political talk shows and analysis. We have PTV, GEO, Indus, ARY and a couple more that allocate considerable air time to political analysis, talk shows and interviews. Now if these programmes were indulge in political developments relating to real-life issues like economics, tariffs, trade, social issues, legislative issues etc. one would assume that Pakistan is a highly politically-aware nation. There are channels dedicated to news and politics - like BBC, CNN, SkyNews and FoxNews - that are predominantly information channels but they provide much more than endless interviews and partisan diatribe. They have investigative reporting, documentaries and in-depth analysis of global issues in diverse areas.

Here we have groups of people sitting mulling over political manoeuvres and manipulations or politicians logger head with each other in allegations and counter allegations endlessly. Legitimacy of institutions, official positions and Legislature is constantly being questioned - a Pandora's box that doesn't close ever. It's a political soap opera that everyone seems to relish without yawning. The damage that this obsession with inane political games causes is that it confers undue significance and respectability to the chaos created by politicians and the establishment, instead of exposing the charade that it really is.

Independent and objective analysis should highlight the anomalies and distortions in the professed political system. There are many centres of power represented by individuals trying to grasp as much power as possible. Prime Minister, who is supposed to be the chief executive of the state in a parliamentary democracy, is perhaps the weakest person under attack from many directions and trying to keep afloat desperately. A contrived coalition of immature political parties has little to do with running the state of affairs. Defence, foreign and economic policies are being conducted by the Establishment through parallel government. Individuals are constantly jostling for powerful positions within the coalition. Mushrooming rumours about P.M's precarious future has become a national obsession. P.M spends most of his time quashing such rumours while the powers that be hold the nation in killing suspense like a deft screenplay writer.

Amazingly, the cynicism that underlies this make belief game of democracy is in total contrast to the reverence conferred to the system in the media. The opinions expressed in public are scoffed at in private by the very participants who make them. Ironically, politics has become a grand game of Monopoly played by key players while the nation watches and cheers. We have come to accept and embrace a total dichotomy between reality and posturing as a perfectly respectable way to manage public affairs of the State.

The realities are shoved under the bed and kept safely there. In an Islamic ideological state with stringent laws to punish moral turpitude, the scale of violations is monumental. The wagers placed on cricket, horse racing and card games perhaps exceed the national budget by many times yet it remains a subject that is not to be discussed whatever its implications. Just making it legal and taxing it would solve all of CBR's problems in one stroke. Alcohol is banned except for Christians to celebrate religious occasions, and their spirit (forgive the pun) of sharing far exceeds their own festivities. It flows more freely than water under the Attock bridge. On weekends in Islamabad the humidity in the air rises a couple of points; and it is not because of foreign diplomats popping Champaign bottles. Trade in flesh, the oldest profession, flourishes from the squalor of Tibbi Gali near Heera Mandi in Lahore to the plush residences of posh localities run by modern day courtesans of no ill-repute.

The widening generation gap in families compels the youth (especially girls) to adopt hypocrisy as second nature, distorting their personalities for ever. Tensions between parents and children and between spouses are cracking up families, increasing mental illnesses and advancing use of drugs. Oblivious to all this, we revel in a supercilious contempt of the western culture that is profligate and decadent to our values.

We never scandalise these harsh realities and turn a blind eye to them. We would rather get our adrenaline flowing on whether Jamali will weather the storm or weather General Musharraf will take off his uniform in December because that is Kosher game to play.

The national reaction (over-reaction) on Imran Khan's divorce made my insides churn. It is a private matter, and he graciously made the announcement through his party office. Whatever we thought of his marriage, we should appreciate the honesty and candour with which he terminated it, and just sympathise. Apart from the sensational innuendos about Jemima's persona, some elements used it to tar his political image. Why pick on his personal matter? If we were to look openly then many idols in our society have feet of clay. But then there is that unwritten code that allows only irrelevant fascinations.

Iqbal Mustafa
1130 words
24 June 2004