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IDEOLOGY 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, averted 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
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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
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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
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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?

Muhammad Junaid Aslam