IDEOLOGICAL CONUNDRUM

Every society or community is governed through its culture to

accomplish the sense of union and to become a nation. To assimilate
group of people on one point through consensus, culture plays key role.
Culture encompasses different ways, attitudes, practices, and the
behaviors that are incorporated in the lives of people. If people are
governed through different attitudes or behaviors, they become
distorted and disunified. The emergence of unified group of people –
that can be called a nation – took place, if they are governed by the rules
that are extracted from the very culture. Whenever any new idea,
practice and event take place in society under custom or religion, there
arises a difference of opinion among the members of society whether it
is good or not and finally it leads to a discussion of harsh arguments just
with dissension and criticism that eventually stratify society very deeply.
After discussion with arguments, there must be agreement, harmony
and consensus but why is it not so? The very dissension within the
society if, somehow, coverged into consensus and unity, it would not
only develop a nation but also be a prerequisite of great civilization.
Interrogatively, how can it be done? How can a group of people reach a
consensus-like situation and acquire modus vivendi? Here lies an answer,
IDEOLOGY.
Nation is connotated as assimilation of group of people that constitute
society, over an issue or any new social idea. It is always known by the
civilization – set of principles, rules and laws that exclusively constitute
ideology – it keeps. It is a group of people, community and the society
that has common custom, heritage and culture. Hence, arguably the
ideology, principles and set of rules are extracted or developed based on
common culture and custom – this is what civilization contains. So, the
gravity of ideology – based on culture – always keeps a group of people
attracted and revolved around itself. A camaraderie and bond between
ideology and group of people – a community or society – make the latter
nation and civilization. Culture-oriented ideology vis-à-vis society acts as
discernment tool that members of community adopt to see through it.
When society glimpse through specs of ideology, consensus-like
scenario, and modus vivendi is developed after difference of opinion
because ideology always has a confluence. But on the other hand, the
society failed to acquire culture-oriented ideology suffers from
ignominious rift among segments of society, over practices that these
should be performed in accordance with custom or religion or western
civilization, redundant difference of opinion without any equitable
consensus, and above all it despicably becomes divided, shattered and
highly stratified. Because non-ideologue filled society has not
discernment ability and differences always remain differences that
cannot be reconciled.
Unfortunately, the very pattern of rift, disharmony, and division; the
pop-up difference of class not economically but ideologically, various
segments of society who are equally powerful, and deeply rooted
distortion in society, exists in Pakistan because it does not have culture-
oriented ideology that has power to unify people and make them a
nation. Pakistan, since its birth has tried to adopt foreign ideology, but it
could not prove useful in term of making its people unified because
foreign ideology does not have compatibility and adoptability with its
culture. If an ideology is not compatible with culture of the society which
is going to be organized through it, then how different ideology can
provide a base and gravity to a different cultural society. Two opposite
ends never meet. But at the same point, someone claims that democracy
is the global ideology so we should wear the glasses of it to see through
society.
The democracy traces its origin back in Ancient Greek city-states, was
emerged to ensure citizens’ rights. In modern era, modern liberal
democracy is all about ‘freedom’ – the statue of liberty at the top of the
Capitol Hill Building above the USA facing the east, that represents the
firstly beamed object in the universe by the dazzling rays of the sun is
liberty. That phenomenon is culturally driven and highly synchronized
with European and American culture – also called western culture. The
modern democracy took pace through Magna Carta in 1215 to ensure
civil rights and in 16th and 17th century it acquired its refined and liberal
form of freedom and liberty orchestrated by John Lock and driven by
European Culture that was influenced by ‘The Reformation’ of Martin
Luther in 1514 and later John Clive. The Reformation took hundreds of
years to develop a culture premised upon freedom from papacy. It was
the concept of separation of religion from the matters of the world;
religion becomes just an individual matter. From this culture, the
ideology, democracy took its liberal form.
But on the other hand, in sub-continent, contemporarily, the movements
for the revival of the religion were carried out by great Sufi Mujaddid Alf
Sani and later many others. Through Sufism religion was incorporated in
the culture of Indian society whether it was Islam, Sikhism or Hinduism.
Hence, a religion-dominated and religion-influenced society emerged in
15th and 16th century in sub-continent. So, what happened in the west –
Europe and America, and what in the east – subcontinent, is
antagonistically different from one another. Besides, it is not possible to
put in place the western-cultural-driven ideology – the modern liberal
democracy – in such a society which has its own religion-dominated and
religion-influenced culture. Because the freedom and liberalism in the
eye of religion-dominated society is limited.
For Pakistan, the case is similar, and it is facing conundrum-like situation.
To aberrate from this predicament to envision and enlightenment,
Pakistan must develop an Ideology of democracy based on civil rights –
the essence of democracy, and culture – which is religion-influenced
culture, that must have such power of gravity to attract every segment
of society so that it can be called a nation and be known by its own
civilization. Unless Pakistan does not develop the ideology based on
religion-influenced culture, it cannot avoid the threat of distorted
society, dissent without consensus, criticism without reform,
stratification without synchronization, division without union, non-
acceptance of new ideas, and above all failure to govern country with
comprehensive and autonomous laws. Ideology serves as a preamble of
the society through which it achieves consensus to find a solution of the
problem that society faces. If it is not so, then how can you dis-synch
culture – the way of living of people, who are supposed to be governed
– from the ideology, principles, and rules, which are supposed to govern?