A dear friend of mine from Indian-held Kashmir, a medical doctor by profession and a political activist, jokingly asked me the other day: “Is it because the Pakistani people have been fed donkey meat, and dead donkey meat at that, that they are unable to choose their political leaders intelligently?”
He observed that the Pakistani populous seem to pick their leaders rather blindly; after all, the Zar-Naw brothers and their families keep on making political comebacks time and again in spite of the fact that they carry such heavy baggage of unimaginable, inexcusable and unpardonable corruption as well as misuse of their political power for personal vested interests. He said only fools are capable of such repeated self-violence. What could explain the enormity of such foolishness and lack of political consciousness and judgement in this time and age when the masses all over the world are struggling to rid themselves of the entrenched political-economic status quo from the past?
Proposing a pseudo-medical opinion, my friend suggested that perhaps this state of mind of Pakistani citizens at large could be attributed to their questionable eating habits, which are causing disorders including emotional-mental distortion. The point he made is, of course in a kidding manner, that since donkeys are known to be foolish, dumb and brainless, eating their meat might affect the human psyche, the center of thought and behavior. There is a scientific link between culinary habits and mental-physical conditions, so it must be, then, that most Pakistanis are unknowingly eating dead donkey meat! He even implied that it was a planned political project aimed at getting these results.
Of course, I disagreed with my friend’s proposition, even though there was a scandal recently of this nature. Indeed, we all know that donkey meat was sold, but this mischievously conceived undertaking was based on a contemporary cultural trend widely prevalent in the country now, at all levels of society, from top to bottom, that making easy profits is all well, good and allowed, with psychopathic acceptance that all ends justify the means and there is seemingly no ethical or moral constraints in conduct in the public domain.
Then we ended up in a philosophical discussion of why there are certain “taboos” in all human societies. Why is it a taboo to eat donkey meat when humans are known to eat snakes, crocodiles, monkeys, dogs and whatnot? My view on the matter of societal “taboos” is that no society can survive within the realm of civility until certain taboos are strictly observed. Central to our survival as civilized communities, the observance of those taboos is an essential and mandatory pre-condition.
Thou shalt not cheat your brother…Thou shalt not deceive your customer… Thou shalt not betray your friend’s trust… Thou shalt not treat your parents with disrespect nor dishonor them … Thou shalt not treat your elders, neighbors, or minority community members with disregard or impertinence…Thou shalt not ignore the education of your children… Thou shalt not cultivate unhealthy living habits… Thou shalt not elect dishonest, untrustworthy, indecent, self-centered local and national leaders… Thou shalt not spit on the roads, and so on and so forth.
Your elected leaders shall not abuse the national trust…They shall not demonstrate contempt, disrespect, or disobedience, nor malign the country’s major organs of governance or national culture and heritage.
Your leaders shall not create confusion, controversy, contention, or disputes for personalized reasons… They shall not implant discord, altercation, contradictions, personalized quarrels and rebelliousness against national institutions.
Your leaders shall be honest, dedicated to public welfare…They shall not embezzle public money… They shall safeguard public security, public health, public education and public properties… They shall be available to their constituencies… They shall demonstrate extraordinary capabilities in national problem resolution and public management…They shall induce hope, trust, confidence, optimism, reliance, faith, belief, assurance, reassurance, promise, enthusiasm, aspiration, anticipation, expectation, hopefulness, and demonstrate intellectual worldly imagination for the nation’s good.
A national leadership shall be a role model of efficiency in the public domain, in character, function, and conduct, and be relentlessly relevant to the requirements of the time and age in which a nation lives and survives and goes forward…
In the novel Secrets, Nuruddin Farah argues: “That what sets humans apart from other animals is not the generic ability to speak, or that we are capable of thinking in complicated mathematical equations, no. It is the human’s obedience to a set of tenants governing an overall behavior, taboo tenants that are observed, because they affect the community’s life at large.”
Farah elucidates further: “…I believe that a balance is struck between what is permitted and what is not. This is how an ethos is established, how taboos are formulated. Thou shall not kill! …This is my wife, therefore…!…We reason, we construct a mechanism of self-restraints, of guides, we construct further constraints into our logic of being. Not to be misled by our primordial instincts, we formulate political platforms, we join parties, we vote…Taboos cover a wide range. You are forbidden to eat certain foods. You are debarred from approaching places of worship without performing certain rites,” and all of these should be compared “to the lattice in a wall, crossed laths overlooking an open space, the political merges with the personal.”
My contention is that in today’s Pakistan, the bad cancels out the good. What we are faced with is the open violation of taboos at every level of society – with the country’s so-called democratic leadership in the leading roll. The elected defenders have been launching a dreadful assault against what they have been chosen to defend, and they have done this with absolute insolence and disregard to moral-ethical taboos observed all over the rest of the democratic world.
Look how David Cameron, in a matter of just days after the Panama Papers disclosures, explained to lawmakers how he got money from his parents when questioned by the country’s law-making body. Many other politicians resigned over this scandal, including the president of Iceland. But the former Pakistani Prime Minister continues the charade of “muje kyun nikala” in spite of knowingly holding billions worth of property and bank accounts in foreign countries as well as in Pakistan – even though he has been given ample opportunity to lawfully explain the sources of his family’s wealth.
Do you see the connection with our political leadership’s behavior and that of the traders who plotted to sell dead donkey meat to the public? Do you get how an unethical and corrupt leadership corrupts the entire fabric of a society?
All is not bad news at the end. A Google search has revealed some interesting information for Pakistani donkey meat promoters. Donkey meat compared to traditional mutton and beef has far less fat and far more protein, plus plenty of vitamins and minerals good for the human body and health. Donkey milk, too, is a remarkable treatment for joint pains and strengthening bones in the human body . Not conclusive, but it might help in the enlargement of some human muscles.
So go ahead! Feed more donkey meat to people – make humungous profits with no investment. Why worry about traditional taboos? Our political leadership has decided to ignore them and has turned democracy into a family-owned enterprise. So why not donkey meat for the rest of us?
Pakistan has survived the Zar-Naw brothers. It will survive donkey meat as well!
Dr. Haider Mehdi 