Source: Dawn
Op-Ed by Shahzad Roy
When I was 10 years old, I saw on the nine o’clock news on PTV a woman with a dupatta draped round her head saying, “Pakistan tareekh kay aik naazuk mor say guzar raha hai.” Then I turned 20 and again saw a woman, this time not wearing a dupatta on her head, saying with eloquence on the nine o’clock news, “Pakistan tareekh kay aik naazuk mor say guzar raha hai”.
Déjà vu… why? I tried to analyse the situation to find out how come Pakistan is still stuck at the naazuk mor even after the passage of many long years. I reached the conclusion that 50 per cent of our knowledge lies in asking the right question. Government functionaries, intelligentsia, armed forces, critics, human rights activists and, for that matter, all stakeholders ask questions. But they end up slinging mud at each other, for the simple reason that the questions they ask are never right in the first place.
The question usually asked is: “Why is the state of health and education in Pakistan in such dire straits?” The complacent response is: “At least we have some schools and a few hospitals. Something is better than nothing.”
After pondering over the state of education and health in our country, I realised that the “something is better than nothing” view cannot apply to education and health. Just imagine, would so many youth have agreed to become suicide bombers if proper education had been provided to them by the state? If they had been only taught to ask the right questions and had inter-faith dialogue at the institutions they attended, they would have thought thrice before embarking on mindless missions and most definitely have refused to be used as a pawn in the hands of others.
When it comes to healthcare, a lukewarm (something) effort — by a doctor of questionable credentials (something), to cure a patient by giving him a substandard (something) medicine or injection — has a high probability of killing the patient rather than curing him.
Quality education is every citizen’s right and its responsibility lies with the state. A paradigm shift is required in the mindset of state authorities, the people and the education system to save our future generations from destruction. The first step towards this shift would be changing the textbooks.
Just by building schools, training the teachers, increasing administrative controls, the issue of providing an education that makes a ‘thinking’ individual, will not be addressed. A student must learn from the textbook how to learn, change and inquire freely rather than becoming a “lakeer ka faqeer”. If we want our future generations to ask the right questions then a culture of discussion, interaction, proactive thinking and asking questions needs to be encouraged.
It’s high time that a quantum leap was taken in the education and health sectors. Nothing is as powerful as the idea itself, whose time has come.
The problems of education and healthcare are just the tip of the iceberg. Multiple interventions are required to turn the country around. To name a few: The state’s failure to provide timely justice (more than 70,000 under-trial prisoners are languishing in Pakistani jails), housing, power, employment, communication, clean drinking water (without which 250,000 children die annually) has created problems that should prompt the rulers to declare an emergency.
Whenever these questions are raised or talked about, most of us say, “Oh bhai! This is Pakistan.” My answer to this cliché is, where you live should not determine whether you live happily or live poorly and die.The difference between a developed or developing — rather declining — country is that people in the former are given a ‘reason to believe’ by the state and the media, that they are working to achieve and maintain a decent living. Whereas in the latter case, the state and the media fail to create this ‘reason to believe’ for the citizens. In the absence of this ‘reason to believe’, citizens lose a sense of direction and move and act aimlessly. The absence of this also leads to lack of thinking, questioning and movement by the citizens.
Only having a ‘reason to believe’ sets the ball rolling — slowly, but in the right direction. It is not strange when extraordinary people do extraordinary things. But when they have a ‘reason to believe’, even ordinary people start doing extraordinary things. That is precisely the moment when a group of people start turning into a great nation.
The writer, a pop singer, is president of Zindagi Trust, an organisation working for child welfare and education.
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Tags: education, Health, Pakistan, shahzad roy, zindagi trust
6 responses so far ↓
1 oal // Jan 28, 2008 at 8:05 pm
English culture, language, and literature cannot, do not, will not suffice to transform the precepts and values embedded in other language cultures. The above, idealistic and eloquent, provides a good example of that by setting out a sensible enough script while far overlooking sentiments expressed in translation that run on their own and frequently opposed course.
To the defining character and spirit that courses through each and every one of the world’s languages, add the egotism and will of those who seek political power. In addition to balls, major politicians have their own psychology and unique handles on the various levers–i.e., funding sources, social relationships–that help them position for leadership. To the two elements mentioned, add the ability to willfully divide and inflame constituents.
“In the normally peaceful Rift Valley town of Nakuru, a mortuary worker said on Monday that 64 bodies were lying in the morgue, all victims of the past four days of ethnic fighting.”
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28458948.htm
In Kenya, however abysmal conditions became and for whatever reason, it took time for politicians (with opposition leader Raila Odinga taking the lead) to “re-ethnicize” the national landscape.
“In the normally peaceful Rift Valley, ” where, undeniably, people of varied origin lived side by side for decades, young men are now hacking with machetes at enemies that have been remanufactured to answer for the kind of frustration, lack of guidance, or perceived unavailability of other paths that indeed come of the neglect of long festering political and public policy problems, including variance in the allocation of assets and opportunities across the body politic.
Keny, I think, makes a good foil for “seeing” some parts of Pakistani political behavior in that it sheds light on the origins or, truthfully, invention of conflict in language and leadership outside of Islam.
Getting Shahza Roy’s ideals realized through the political system may involve looking over how key opponents or contenders use language to build followings while putting off formulations that would better serve voters across the board.
2 naeema nisar // Jan 31, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Asslam-Alaaikum.how are you.sir main job kartey huo islamabad main. main ap ke sat be kam karan chate huo.ap mujhe reply karna
3 S. Muhammad // Jul 27, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Dear Shahzad Roy,
I have to agree with your assessment of our situation, but I believe that our woes are entirely of our own making. The country we live in, the leaders who come from us, are corrupt and uncaring because we as a people have devolved into that state.
I suggest you check out a website, www.takebackpakistan.com, that suggests that long-term and permanent change will only come when we examine who we are. When we decide to change ourselves, the evolution towards a civilized society has to happen. Its about time, however, that intellectuals and educated people in Pakistan step up to the plate. It’s taken 60 years for us to realise that something is wrong with us, but as far as this is concerned, truly, ‘better late than never’.
4 oal // Jul 28, 2008 at 1:23 am
Egalitarian democracies neutralize feudal societies to the extent to which voters have been enfranchised and ambitious personalities from all walks enjoy equal conditions–freedom to speak; financial wherewithal; security–in their competition for office.
Assassinations, politically-motivated bombings, and threats of various sort (toward murder or the harm of family) undermine democratic political processes.
With certain security institutions established, Pakistanis have the choice of getting into, getting behind (supporting), and getting on top (through investigative journalism and aspects of peaceful political process) of those service organizations to marginalize the roles that fear, violence, intimidation, and, to a certain extent, disinformation play in an open politics.
By definition, zealots, of any cause, not only religious, have strong motivation for acting to their own advantage in any political arena; however, it’s very much everyond else who has to live with the consequences of that kind of lopsided participation and, eventually, representation.
Involvement is the best cure and improvement in the transparency with which security elements operate may be essential to encouraging and supporting the broadest span of involvement possible.
5 frnd // Sep 14, 2008 at 7:58 pm
a.salam , h r u ? i agree with u and under ur supervision i want to do something 4 PAKISTAN and PAKISTANIS , so plz reply me how i do all this plzzzzz
6 oal // Sep 15, 2008 at 9:02 am
If you’re asking me, several behaviors–personal choices resulting in some positive and progressive change in the political fabric across the country– might help.
First, this may be the best time (without even saying a word) to value and trust Pakistan’s Defense Forces and General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
http://www.pakistanidefence.com/
In that troops are active and taking on casualties, there may be — I don’t know, but you may know or find out — some area of participation through which to help ease that suffering.
In the political arena, there are many traditional ways of judging leaders, starting with the family legacy or esteem in religious circles and moving sideways, perhaps, to who produces some good in a community (or, for being a tough warlord, makes things happen), but there are other ways, and locally–whether 16-square-block or 16-square-kilometers–identifying men, and they may come from any walk in life, who themselves can identify problems affecting all in a given area and propose realistic solutions and administer the same, may be a good place to start.
Too often, I think, politicans in struggling states want to transform their societies, and too many, like Siad Barre of Somalia, wind up dictators.
Getting in for every Pakistani education, food, health services, and shelter need not take “sweepting reforms”–it may take some money, for sure, but more than anything it takes adept and good–possessing the quality of goodness–administrators. If they’re good, they’re going to want to take care of people, not just their own, but all.
Depending on one’s location, one might start with looking around and noting who, locally, regionally, would make a good elected leader, one able and trusted to work to improve the lives of everyone, opponents included, in the area for which he’s empowered and responsible.
Make a list or many lists and get the best of that sort into office.
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