Everything
has an aesthetic aspect. Politics is one of them. The political aesthetics
appears, among other things, in two forms: Mannerism; and, Language. The others
may be: the beauty of political ideas; the way a politician connects his/her
ideas; the reality of political ideas in contrast to wishful political slogans;
the beauty of a political vision; the beauty of words and terms chosen by a
politician; consistency in the ideas of a politician, etc. The second list is
controversial; it’s useless to discuss it here. The first one is sort of methodical,
and I would dwell on it. One may raise objections on this or that type of
Mannerism or Language; however in Pakistan too there exists a consensus in this
regard.
Let
it be stated here that certain political leaders did not spare the methodical
things also. To them in politics everything, good or bad, is permissible. They
exploited them for their own political purposes and build their images. Libya’s
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and Cuba’s Fidel Castro are prominent among them. For
instance, where it is required that one ought to be in formal attire they
appeared in informal and casual dresses. They exhibited a mannerism that is not
formal and against the etiquettes, but which was used to deliver a message to
other party that they had not taken them seriously, rather denigrated them.
With
this startup, let’s focus on the present political scene. Never have I felt so
much ugliness about the politics of Pakistan that is being thrown now upon the
face of the citizens from the lush green capital city of Islamabad. The two
political parties, Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek, sitting
in the center of Islamabad, are day and night churning out ugliness by way of
their Mannerism and Language. It seems leaders of both parties have gone crazy
in their political pursuits so much so that they have lost every semblance of
aesthetic sense. Did they ever possess such a thing, in the first place, one must
ask?
No
one from the PTI or PAT is minding his Mannerism or Language. In their
desperation, Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri are using the language of thugs and
blackmailers. Likewise, their Mannerism is so outrageous that no sane and
civilized person may see them and listen to their tirades for long. It is this
Mannerism and Language of Imran Khan especially that he has been likened to
Sultan Rahi, a legendary actor, who invented an original style of acting of his
own, and in his private life, was a far better person and human being than all
the politicians combined together.
Obviously
the leaders of both the parties have an air of arrogance about them. Their
Mannerism and Language is reminiscent of fascists, but with one difference: the
fascists may be counted as the most disciplined. But the fascism of PTI and PTA
is most conspicuous in their desperation and arrogance towards other
politicians and their target, the prime minister particularly. That puts an
ugly face on the politics of both parties!
As
for Imran Khan, his demeanor, his way of talking, his choice of words, his
gestures, his deep-seated contempt for others present him as a man who is
outrageous and has never been trained in manners! It’s a horrible experience to
see and listen to him speaking. He has no trace of sobriety, rationality and
humanity let alone of a concerted and consistent stream of thought running
through his speeches, which are replete with volleys of abuses and scorn for
his imagined enemies.
Same
is the case of Tahir-ul-Qadri. Despite his scholarship in religious sciences,
he seems to have no inkling of moral sensibility. Though, his tirades are much
less uglier than his rival Imran Khan; but Tahir-ul-Qadri is equally harmful
and destructive to political aesthetics. Hence, the politics of both of them requires
more of a psychological and aesthetic analysis than a political one!
Also,
PTI and PAT may be compared with the Taliban, who were/are a lot of thugs and
blackmailers, practically believing in creating ugliness by executing by force
their fascist scheme of things. They relax/relaxed in ruthlessness and killings
and blood-letting: the ugliest remnants of a tribal culture. In the same vein,
PTI and PTA may also be likened to Sikandar Malik, who successfully managed a
one-man-show for hours in Islamabad. Just because he had in his company a woman
and a kid, and a loaded gun in his hands! That created an ugly scene for the
whole country to watch!
In
comparison, PTI and PAT have their followers, living individuals, as their
loaded guns to blackmail the government and the state. That’s the logic of mob,
which through unleashing chaos is always fatal to the beauty of order, and thus
in its rampage trample every value and norm. However, as Sikandar Malik was and
the Taliban are being finally dealt with sternly, the PTI and PAT may not be,
because they are political parties. That means if you are a religious or political
leader, you are absolutely free to say anything and to do anything! In a
nutshell, both parties are behaving like thugs and blackmailers. That’s how the
beauty of rule of law and equality of all before law is being sacrificed.
That’s creating ugliness and defacing the beauty of rules and laws which bring
order into chaos.
Thus
it may not be far-fetched to propose that Pakistan is an unfortunate state as
both at home and abroad it remains associated with the ugliest values of
terrorism and feuding politicians fighting since day one for the capture of the
state. The gist of Pakistani politics paints an ugly picture of starved vultures
intent upon eating living human beings. As of now the only way left for Imran
Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri is to get dozens of dead bodies to save their ugly
faces: i.e. ugliness breeds ugliness.
So
for the Pakistani citizens who possess an aesthetic sense the most crucial
question facing now is: how to cope with the Ridiculous and Ugly Politics? Centuries
back, Greeks defined beauty as residing in proportion; and the ugliness in
disproportionateness. In the social chaos and disorder, it were rules and laws
which helped bring order and beauty, without which no aesthetic pursuits could
be possible. However, as in arts it is said that breaking rules is permissible
only for masters. Likewise, it is not for duds like Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-
Qadri to bring order out of the disorder they are intent upon creating. Thus
negotiating with such political thugs will encourage other such groups to adopt
the same ways to get what they want. That will set a rule in motion for
everybody to take recourse to in order to create ugliness by breaking all the
rules and norms on which depends the beauty of a social and political order!
Note: This article was completed on August 19 and was originally posted in August 2014,
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