The Death Drive: Islam Given A Militaristic Interpretation In Pakistan
By Hussain H Zaidi
3 September, 2012
The psychologist Sigmund Freud once paradoxically stated that “the goal of all life is death.” What he meant was that people have a strong, unconscious wish to annihilate themselves. However, confronted by life instincts, the death drive is directed towards others and expressed as aggression and violence. Freud regarded this inclination towards aggression as the most serious obstacle to a smooth social life
The Freudian theory finds its confirmation in the current situation in Pakistan, where blood sport seems to have become the favourite pastime for a sizeable section of society. From Quetta to Gilgit and Karachi to Waziristan, we rejoice in killing and persecution for the sheer fun of it, dressing up our insatiable death drive at times in ethnic, at times in sectarian and at times in religious garb. The society we live in is increasingly becoming fascist and fanatic, bigot and brutal, belligerent and extremist in which the voices of sanity and reason, of logic and moderation, of tolerance and dissent are falling on deaf ears. Little wonder, then, that brutal gangs, malevolent mafias and blood-thirsty terrorists rule the roost.
Killing and molestation, loot and plunder are the order of the day. People are increasingly taking the law into their own hands. The entire society is swept by emotionally charged, high-sounding words of demagogues in different garbs here and there. They pass some nasty remark and scores of lives are lost in no time. The very next day they retract their statement but the damage can’t be undone.
Yes, governments, past and present, are partly responsible for the mess we’re in. They injected religion into politics, not for some moral end but only to save themselves. They mismanaged the economy and squandered and plundered national wealth. They wittingly perpetuated the culture of poverty and illiteracy and befooled the people in the name of Islam and democracy, Shariah and popular sovereignty.
But, as nineteenth century English philosopher J S Mills once noted, the most potent threat to civic liberties stems not from the government but from society itself, which cannot bring itself to accepting diversity of views. This observation is perfectly applicable to us-a multiethnic society composed of people professing different creeds and speaking different languages. The edifice of such a society must rest on the pillars of a pluralistic philosophy, which accepts diversity of beliefs and ideas, practices and codes, and languages and cultures without trying to reduce the diversity to a unity.
However, in our case religion and politics have increasingly been used as instruments of hatred and animosity, violence and disruption. The political parties which claim to have a nationwide character have no qualms about playing the ethnic card when they find that to their advantage. Religious parties and scholars deliberately promote religious bigotry and fanaticism. To them, the root cause of all our problems is the existence of more than one sect or creed and the panacea for all problems is simply the elimination of all rival sects and creeds and the establishment of a monolithic society. To them the state, instead of grappling with such pressing problems as poverty, unemployment and a precarious security situation, should devote all its energies and use all its resources to accomplishing a single task-establishing the supremacy of one sect or creed in the name of Islamisation. And if the state is not willing to do so, the clergy will do it on its own.
While religion can provide moral basis to politics. Unfortunately, in our case it has been abused for political purposes and given a militaristic interpretation. In the eyes of many religious outfits, killing innocent non-Muslims or Muslims of another sect is jihad if it helps promote the cause of their creed. A society where poverty, unemployment and ignorance are endemic and an analytical, rational approach to problems is lacking, and where lethal weapons are easily available, it is not much difficult to use people as a tool for committing violence in the name of religion. Religious extremism apart from sharpening differences among the followers of various schools of thought, has taken a toll on the economy. Nothing is more fatal to investment, domestic or foreign, than an environment of death and destruction. Even the best investment packages offered by the government are of little help in investment promotion if the law-and-order situation is bad.
The fascination for the so-called jihad has gone too deep into our national psyche to be exorcised merely by setting the counterterrorism strategy right. The militaristic view of Islam has made an indelible impression on society at large. The jihadi ideology precludes tolerance of any dissent, difference or opposition as, they believe, tolerating any antithesis would constitute kufr. Thus, according to that ideology, democracy and parliament are illegitimate, being a Western concept and institution, and thus an antithesis of the Islamic political system. The Constitution, the legal system and all subordinate institutions which are based on democratic ideals are likewise branded as heretical. Those who profess a different creed or have a different moral standard are looked upon as an evil. Women who do not put on veil or men who do not have a beard are considered impious. Men and women who mix with one another are regarded as essentially wicked. Those who listen to music commit a grave sin. All such “wicked” or “impious” people have to be reformed-by the use of force, if need be.
Based on this ideology, in recent times the Taliban established a monolithic, retrogressive society in Afghanistan where even slight departure from the enforced code of conduct was severely punished. Such a society was nearly established in Swat by the Sufi Muhammad-Fazalullah combine and is the goal of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and allied movements. Such an ideology is obviously incompatible with the modern society, which is multiethnic, multicultural. In such a society, social order has to be based on a pluralistic philosophy-tolerance of religious and cultural differences within society permitting the various groups to practise their distinctive cultures while cooperating in larger social, economic and political life.
We’ll do ourselves and the generations to follow a big favour if we cast aside the notion from our collective consciousness, a notion which has gained wide currency, that our country was meant to be a citadel of Islam and that it’s the responsibility of the government and people of Pakistan to be at the beck and call of Muslim resistance movements wherever they spring up. Yes, we do have become a fortress but only of militancy. At any rate, it makes little sense for a country which itself is a prey to the diabolical forces of religious extremism and terrorism and addicted to foreign aid to come out with such lofty claims.
Hussain H Zaidi is a freelance contributor based in Islamabad.
Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-9-129729-The-death-drive
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-terrorism-jihad/the-death-drive-islam-given/d/8554