“The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future”—Oscar Wilde
Time, is not just the fourth dimension, it is the greatest mirror, teacher and healer—our friend and foe. Whether one needs to reflect on one’s image, or learn a lesson from the past or just look forward to healing a physical or emotional wound, time enables this to happen but it is ‘time’ that we hardly give any conscious credence or importance. As we move along, time follows or runs ahead of us, unlike our shadows that disappear when it is totally dark. Regardless of our inert desires time has a way of disappointing or lifting up our spirits. It is our companion in happiness and grief and keeps a watchful eye on us since conception right up to our last breath.
Punctuality is a characteristic only a few are endowed with, at least in our social set-up. Being late is normalcy in many instances, whether it is office, class or an event. On a number of occasions and despite repeated insistence of hosts that published schedule would be strictly observed, one finds that due to the late arrival of the chief guest, this becomes meaningless. Thanks to the strict rule in Punjab regarding closure of wedding halls by 10 pm, people have learnt to abide by the set timings but which is blatantly ignored in case of private lawns or farmhouses used for this purpose. So much for appreciating the concept of time!
Time is also viewed in relation to past, present and future. Every moment that is perceived as now or future, immediately becomes past but can this past become future? When we say that history repeats itself, we are actually alluding to time that is replaying itself. On a lighter note, the only way this is proven false is its inability to rewind one’s youth. According to Andaleeb Shadani “jhuut hai sab tārīḳh hamesha apne ko dohrātī hai; achchhā merā ḳhvāb-e-javānī thorhā sā dohrā.e tou” (Translation: “that history repeats itself is nothing but falsehood; because if it did then let it restore my youth”). Nonetheless, no one can deny the repetitive incidents that keep recurring over the centuries especially when it comes to politics and propagation of ideologies.
Studies in history and sociology related to rise and fall of dynasties depict more or less similar factors that seem to appear in various forms among which culture plays a pivotal role. Where homogeneity in terms of language, race, religion and tradition may contribute to a long sustaining epoch as in the case of Han Dynasty in China (206 BCE to 220 CE) when promotion of Confucianism as the state ideology helped to unify the vast empire under a common set of values and traditions. On the contrary, diversity may lead to conflicts and subsequent disintegration, like the Byzantine Empire (330 to 1453) or the Moghul Empire in India (1526 to 1857), although this may not necessarily be a major contributing factor.
We have witnessed in our lives, unity in diversity in countries like Switzerland, the United States of America, Canada, Australia etc., states that are still going strong despite the fact that peoples of all colors, ethnicity and religions are residing therein. How long this honeymoon will continue, only time will tell.
With such an indispensable element of time in our lives, one would imagine that people would benefit from it. While a great number has, but some, particularly those belonging to our region, have yet to identify their acts that have time and again led to nothing but chaos and unrest. Our nation as a whole, its leaders, its institutions, its civil and military bureaucracy have continuously repeated those mistakes that have fast forward been propelling the past into the future whereas there are other countries that have picked up the threads of time from where we left far behind and emerged as powerful and prosperous nations.
If the past is so irrelevant, then why do creative artists keep producing sequels to old classic movies (Godfather 2, Terminator, Spiderman 2, Star Trek 2 etc.) or best-selling authors write novel after novel (Harry Potter, The Southern Vampire Mysteries, The Expanse, The Mortal Instruments etc.), or old songs fused into new ones? The fact is that breaking away from the past is not only difficult, it is quite impossible. The wise benefit but the foolish and insane duplicate their actions expecting different results. Although we exist as of today but there is no harm in dwelling in the past only to the extent that it helps to understand the present for a better future.
One thing is definite. Politics of hatred and tyranny has always left indelible scars what to talk of loss of precious lives and vast tracts of destroyed lands. The effects of an uncontrollable bloated ego of a few and its manifestation on an entire nation are bound to be long lasting on both the physical and mental faculties of generations to come. Whatever is going on in the Middle East is not the outcome of an immediate policy but that of the past which has become the present and of course the future until something occurs to put an end to this insanity.
The recent events in Bangladesh are reflective of the hatred towards Pakistan as descendants of 1971 freedom fighters were being granted a quota of 30% recruitment to highly coveted civil service positions due to which these quota jobs were being bagged by supporters of the ruling party, Awami League. Although this quota system was abolished in 2018 by Hasina Wajid, but in June 2024 the country’s highest court declared the ban illegal giving rise to protests that were initially peaceful but became violent in the aftermath of a speech made by Hasina. She used the term ‘rajakaar’ to point out pro-Pakistan collaborators during Bangladesh’s war of independence that truly infuriated the protestors. To aggravate matters, government’s intolerance towards free speech and use of brutal force to subdue demonstrations added fuel to fire.
Much needs to be deduced from this chain of events because we stubbornly refuse to look straight in the eyes of reality and for the sake of a handful are willing to risk the destiny of 240 million in our own country. We better take recourse to a policy of compassion, particularly in Baluchistan, before these simmering souls flare up in an inextinguishable inferno.