Democracy, we have been reminded by social scientists from
Socrates onwards, is of all forms of governments the most difficult to
practise. It is in many respects easier to allow others to do our thinking for
us than to work out for ourselves our individual duty as citizens, and do it.
A democratic State depends for its successful working upon the corporate
effort of all its citizens.
Corporate efforts, therefore, require the harmonious fitting in of
individual angles for the benefit of the whole. Man in society is like the
well-oiled wheel of a machine, independent yet interrelated, individual yet
patterned by the needs of the whole. PROBLEM OF DEMOCRACY.
Thus the problem of democracy is the problem of producing
man, as the unit of civic life, who is individually developed yet socially
responsible, and that, we must admit, is the problem of problems,
especially when we look round and cast our eyes not on humanity in
general but put the man on the street under the scanning gaze of the social
microscope, and get nearer home.
Judged from these standards, if we examine closely our fellow.
citizens of the same town and the same street, we must confess we are far
below the normal. In our society today we sadly fall short of the
responsibilities of graduated citizens. Admitting our short-comings with
frankness gives a stab in the heart no doubt, but to see the reality of it in
naked ugliness we have only to go to a cinema show, “Barsat” shall we
say, and see the “riot” which takes place when people buy tickets, or go to
the railway station and see the tug of clothes and the push of shoulders
before you can find yourself in possession of a ticket. Even go to an
unemotional place like the telegraph office and you will see that you
cannot even dispatch a message without a miniature trial of strength with
your fellow-citizens. These scenes for an individual are as disgraceful as
they are humiliating to a nation. To be conscious of them and talk about
them is not an expression of any inferiority complex, but it is the first step
in quest of that regenerative force which must be tapped before we can
shake off the stupor of our people, and equip them morally for entering
into the conscious sphere of social responsibility.
SOCIAL CHAOS AND THE INDIVIDUAL.
Looking round one becomes painfully aware of the lowness of
those standards which govern our social behaviour. In our society money
has become the measure of value. It would be a sign of civilisation if that
standard regulated the buying and selling of commodities but we have
come to measure even human values in terms of money, and that is the
tragedy of our lives today. Do not deceive yourselves and deny this charge
by saying, “Look, our respect for Jinnah is not dependent on his wealth”.
I want you to talk of the standards with which you judge a man who
belongs to your sphere, within your reach, and judge your reactions
honestly and confess them at least to yourselves and be ashamed in your
own hearts. Be it the realm of politics or social relations we, as a people, are.
not fair to one another. From the cinema booth to private dealings, our life
presents a staggering
scene of social and moral chaos.
We are passing through a crisis which is national in its width and
psychological in its depth. And it is human fibre which is being tested in
the tug-of-war.
It has made us feel unmistakably that freedom could remain an
empty symbol unless our social morality moves on an upward grade.
Our leader be the essence of Godliness himself, but if the
character of the average man, the so-called man in the street, remains
nearer to the animal kingdom, that to the human species it augur ill for the
nation.
NEED FOR NEW VALUES
We must set the hurdle of public morality higher. This, in fact, is
our first national demand.
The whole world is busy today making a searching analysis of
social values. Labels matter little but what does matter is the realisation of
our moral degeneracy and what matters still more is our determination to
set up new standards by which social behaviour may assume a more
elevated tone, and life may become worth living among citizens who are at
least fair to one another, who keep their minds open to accommodation
and hearts open to toleration. Let us think concretely on these lines, not in
terms of slogans but in terms of actual measures which we need to adopt
on a national scale. Only by thus influencing the minds of millions and
rearing up a generation which readily listens to the voice of social
conscience can we produce a better nation which alone means better
Pakistan.